PR EFA C E

T HE O S O P H I C A L literat ure fro m t he o u t se t o f t he great

,

mo ve m ent it i n augurated has been largely concerned

,

with previ ously unknown laws governing the origin

.

3
and destinies o f h umanity the birt h and p ro gre s
,

ao f worlds t he co herent design o f the So lar System

,

0 and , in short, wi t h the interpretation in the , light o f

kno w ledge till recently reserved for a very few o f t he ,

stu p endo us Divine p u rpose underlyi ng physical mani

fe st a t i o n
. My own earlier books Th e Occu lt ,

World and Esoteri c Bu ddhi sm forecast rather ,

t ha n embo died teaching along such lines revealing ,

the existence o f tho se who m I called the Elder

"
Brethren o f H umanity who had risen above the level
,

o f generally curren t civili z ation and t hus had to u ch

.

with the wisdo m o f t he Di vine Hierarchy An .

experime nt was in progress to ascertain if ordinary

cult ure had attained a stage at w hich it would a pp re ci
ate a floo d o f new t hought relating t o a science loftier
t han an y dealing exclusively wit h phenomena per
c e p t i b l e to t he physical sens es and in co nnectio n wit h
,

t hat ex p eri ment I was pri vi leged to receive a con

sid e rab l e vo lume o f information relating to the early

his to ry o f mankin d millions o f years antedating t he

range o f historical record ; also to the concatenatio n
o f worlds and the ultimat e destinies o f o ur o wn .

Tho ugh crud e an d inco mplete this preliminary ,

sketch o f o ccult sc i en ce and o f the agency thro ugh

w hich tho ugh unknown to the multit ude the purpos e
, ,

o f creat i on was being worked o u t o n the physical

plane thrilled the readers of the message all over the
,

5
6 P r efa c e
civi lized world to an exten t which gave rise to an
organ ization the Theo sophi cal Society w hich no w
, ,

covers Great Britain E urop e generally an d the , ,

United States o f America wi th innumerable branches .

Fres h teaching and information relating to t he grea t

s ubj ects enumerated above has meanwhile been
flo wing into my hands and much has been embo die d ,

in my book Th e Growth of the Sou l ; also since

, ,

the p ublication o f t hat book in a large nu m ber o f ,

articles in reviews pamphlets and Transactions
, ,

of the London Lo dge o f the Theosophical So ci ety over

which I preside The present vo lume collects thes e
.

scattered contrib utions to o u r super physical know -

ledge s till gro wing an d expanding in its scope and

,

value At so me later date the fundamental principles

.

lai d down in the earlier books the illuminating inter ,

p re t a t i o n o f these in the essays now repro duced and

further light o n mys teries previo us ly o bs cure may ,

constitut e so met hing res embling a complete spiri tual

science B ut st udents need no t wait for this result
.

before assimilating t he knowledge already acquired .

During this life we are each o f us impriso ned in t he

ve sens es ,
and tho ugh tho ught reaches o u t far
,

beyond them its range is limited by the capacity o f

,

the physical brain I n time that capacity will .

expand I deas easily grasped by the man o f m odern

.

culture are beyo nd the co mprehensio n o f t he savage .

The improved intellect ual mechanism o f fut ure

generations will no do ubt deal freely wit h conceptio ns
which present cult ure canno t appreciate Spiri t ual .

science however is an i n n i t u de and no attempt to

, , ,

interpr e t it in physical plane languag e wi ll ever be

more than suggestive and alluring .

But it is equally true that human faculty o n this

plane o f life wi ll develo p as time goes o n under the
inuen ce o f effort to exp and its range Unconscio u sly .

in mo st cases students o f the spi ritual science within

 P r efac e 7
our reach will do more than prot by understanding
it so far They will have established a claim on
.

N ature fo r improved vehicles o f conscio usness in -

later lives and will have contributed to raise the

,

level o f hum an understanding I am sure the ex .

p eri e n ce o f many theosophists will show that within

the limits o f the current life i deas can now be easily
handled in tho ught which co uld no t have been held
,

in the mind during earlier perio ds o f study These .

may s till defeat the reso urces of physical plane s p eech ,

but they forecast intellect ual conditions that will

ultimately o utrun those resources That state o f .

things sho uld be a s timulus to theo sophical study in

whatever direction it m ay tend and few o f the essays ,

in this vo lume wi ll be fo und d estitute o f hints t hat

will attract tho ught into some new channel of
spiritual or at least o f s uper physical enli g hten
, , ,
-

ment .

In no direction as w e press forward exploring the

,

mysteries o f N ature may we expect to attain nality

,

Bro ad principles may be rmly establi shed and at

rst t hey seem to be clearly o utlined Search for .

d etail soon renders t he o utline s hado wy wit ho ut

suggesting any distrust o f the broad principle For .

example the most fundamental teaching o f Theo sophy

,

i n relatio n to current human life shows us Rein

carnation as essential to the spiritual growt h o f each
Ego I n o n e o f the essays in t his boo k on The o
.

sop h i ca l Tea ch i n gs l i able to be Mi su n derstood so ,

much detail is added t o the original teaching o n this

subj ect that when we absorb t his t he bro ad i dea
witho ut that detail seems as likely to mislead as to
instruct . Earlier s tatements concerning the
m echan ism of the So lar System the planetary chains , ,

t h e successive manvantaras etc were vi vi dly

,
.
,

signicant at rst They re m ain as revelatio ns of

.

natural trut h that we can n ever lose to uch with bu t ,

surro un ded by t he later interpretation dealt wit h in
so me o f the present essays c on cerning the w ay i n
,

which the p l anetary chains are co ncatenated to g ether

an d the way in which the manvantaras e xpand an d

c o ntract
, the rst sketches o f the truth are seen to
fail altogether in s howing i t illustrative of t he

bea u tiful symmetry and purpose o f the Divine design .

So me readers o f t h e earlier boo ks are t o o easily

satised The genui n e occul t student will nev er stand
.

s till Henry V preparing for battle at Aginco urt

. .
, ,

de clared t hat : I f it be a si n to covet hono ur I am

,

t he mos t o ffending so ul alive .
An d t he occ u lt
s tudent may t hink o f knowledge the true knowledge

,

t he co mprehension and appreciation o f Divine ma n i

fest at i o n i h the s ame heroic spirit

.
 CO N T E N T S

T H IS W O RL D
S PLAC E I N T HE U N IV E R SE

R E L I I N UNDE R R E PA I R A R E PL Y P R E SS R L I ND S A Y
G O : To OF O 64

TH O CC U LTI S M I N TENNY S N S P E TR Y

E O O

C REED S M RE O LE SS C RED I L E
OR B

I MPRI S NED I N T HE F I E SEN S E S

O V

Q U R V I S I T S T H
ToI S W RL D O

T HE MA S T E R S A ND T HE I R M E T H D S I N S TR U CTI N O OF O

E "PA NDED THE S P H ICAL KN W L ED E

O O O G

T HE N AT U R E C N S CI U S NE SS
OF O O .

T E P LA NE TAR Y C H A I N
H .

T HE A S TRAL W RL D . O .

T HE I N I N IT E F U T U R E
F .

T HE P Y RA MI D S A ND ST NEHEN E O G 1 89

T HE S P H ICAL T E AC H I N S L IA L E
O O G M IS UNDE R S T D
B TO BE OO 218

T HE SU P E R P HY S ICAL L AW S
-
N AT U R E OF

T HE H I HE R O
G U CCM
L I IS

T HE O J B E CT S T HE THE S PH I CAL S CI E T Y
OF O O O
 C O L L EC T ED F R U IT S OF
O C C U L T T EA C H IN G

TH I S W O RLD S PLACE I N TH E UN I VE RS E

R E L I G I O U S emo tion was till recently at war wit h

, ,

science
especially indignant with astrono my for
disturbing primitive conceptions as to the way this
world was rst Opened for business B ut a bold .

application o f the principle that biblical language need

no t be taken at the foo t o f t he letter gradually en
l arg e d its interior meaning until t he ro tundity and
annual revo lution o f t he earth were tted in to the
s to ry to ld in Genesis Evo luti on as acco unting for
.

t he human form t hen came within sight o f a gloomy

to leration i f Mo dernist s insisted o n i t That how

.
,
'

e ver, which religio us emo tion has no t yet quite

realized is the sublime trut h t hat the more we are,

e nabled to penetrate t he deep mysteries o f N ature ,

t he more pro fo undly reverent we b ec o me in contem

p lating the impenetrab le i n n i t u d e s o f that Divine
Power which operates alike in guiding the growth o f
pro toplasm an d t he maj estic mechanism o f t he So lar
System Cri tics wh o preferred when Dar win rst
.

shattered the paraphernalia o f medieval theology ,

like a bull in a china sh0 p to remain o n t he side o f

t h e Angels made t he immense mi stake o f suppo sing

,

that the Angels ( regarded as agents o f Divini ty )

wo uld be disestablished if we began to appro ach an
understanding o f the way they did t heir work A .

view growing familiar wi th some st udents o f Nature

11
12 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Teac h i n g
invo lves t he idea t hat even natural fo rces are t h e
expression o f conscio us will o n so me exalted levels o f

S piritual po tency ; t hat t he so called laws o f -

N ature are denite Divine enactments no t merel y

blind attributes o f matter An d we can hardly beg i n .

t o form a rational conception o f t he world s develop

men t under Divine contro l wit hou t including thi s

i dea in o u r t hinking .

The reconciliation o f religion and science has been

advancing by leaps an d bo unds o f late and Seven ,

Men o f Science all o f t he foremo st rank recently
, ,

p ublished a collection o f addresses frankly declarin g

their beli e f in Go d as a fundamental i dea underlying
,

scientic study The record o f the o ld Conict

.

i s n o w ancient history But this result is n o t a co n

.

elusio n I t i s o nly a beginning The seven scienti c

. .

leaders quit e in agreement as regards the main

,

proposition may be groping in vario us directio n s

,

in the s earch fo r a denite mental picture O f t he G o d

in who m they beli eve Perhaps all wo uld admi t t hat
.

the reality do es no t lend i tself to the fo rmatio n o f

a mental picture Religio n reco nstructed o n scienti c
.

principles mus t build up a conceptio n o f Divinity b y

working from below upward The earlier fas hio n .

attempted to work fro m above downward I n the .

beginning certain t hings happened we were to l d ,

by teachers who quite reasonably in dealing wi th

,

yo ung people ignored the idea that Eternity has n o

,

beginning B ut now that embryo logy mus t b e

.

recognized as a metho d o f creation when we talk abo ut

t he human form we feel t he need o f an embryology
as applied to planetary creation And so we come .

to recogni ze the subtle mysterio us laws o f organi c

,

growth no t as displacing the Divine creative Will

,

but as the agency by which i t is fullled in p hysica l

manifestation
So by degrees wi th help available at the present day
, ,
 Thi s Wo rld s Pla c e th e U ni v ers e

in I
3
fo r tho se especially who realize that human co nscio us
ne ss can be reached by o ther channels o f percep tio n

b esi des the ve senses we reach the i dea that Divine

,

a gency is wo rked o u t thro ugh an enormo usly elabor a te

a n d magnicent hierarchy o f Spiritual Beings bey o nd ,

who m in dazzling and ( as yet ) impenetrable mystery

, ,

t here exists an inco mprehensibly sublime Power o f ,

w ho m the S u n may be thought o f as the physical

symbol .

I n the mental search for Go d we may pause at this

s tag e o f the e ff ort H uman intelligence i s more
.

limited in i ts scope than early philosophers imagined ,

but is quite limitless as regards its expectations I t .

presumes to talk abo ut t he Divine power which

a cco unt s for the whole universe Distant stars .
,

tho ugh to be co unted by millions and mostly gigantic

compared wit h the st ar o r Sun to which we belong
, , ,

must co me into t he same creative scheme as the

sparrows in Kensington Gardens The Sunday Schoo l .

t eacher can be content wit h no thing less t han a G o d

who is responsible for t he Milky Way as well as fo r
t he milky mo thers o f the eld And medieval .

p ainters have even presented us wit h his portrait .

I n so me foreign gallery I have seen him included

in a family gro up t he Father with a lo ng beard is i n

an armchair with the Third Person o f the Trinity

as a pigeon perched o n the back and the So n in a ,

chair o f so mewhat lesser dignity beside him Em .

lightened members o f t he English Church wo uld

generally be sho cked at this gro ssly materi alis tic
presentation o f t he Divine Mystery forgetful o f t heir ,

o wn declaration o f belief that Christ ascended into

H eaven and sittet h o n the right hand o f Go d the ,

Father Almighty . Fro m The Fu dge Fa m i ly i n

P a ri s we learn that a certain forcible expressio n ,

impossible in English doesn t so und half so S ho cking

,

in French an d o n the same principle an idea merely
,
I4 . C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
formulated in words t hat no o n e stops to invest wit h
a meaning is n o t half so sho cking as the same i dea
depicted o n canvas by means o f o i l co lo ur .

I n the days o f the o l d Conict t hose who dealt

with i t Draper and o thers dwelt especially o n the

savage fero city with which the early Church e n

de avo u re d to stie astronomical discovery Faith .
,

at that time might have been co rrectly described as

,

the faculty that enables us t o believe what we kno w

,

to b e untrue I t wa s endangered by t h e ast ro n o mi ca l

'

emphasis o f the untruthfulness in question but in t he ,

long run as astrono my held the eld fait h fell into

, ,

line with discovery and in spite o f ecclesiastica l

,

Opposition became ennob led in character The G o d .

o f a Semitic tribe might wit h an e ff ort o f ima gination

be tted into an armch air The Go d o f a So lar .

System including a central Sun many t ho usand

,

times bigger t han the Eart h and the orbit o f N eptune

tho usan ds o f millio n miles in diameter w as in a

di ff erent order o f magnitude And if we attemp t .

to strain imaginatio n by looking upward in t ho ught

at t hat inconceivable splendo ur we may realize the ,

futility o f the effort by attempting to gaze direc tly

wi th open eyes on a ne day at the physical Sun .

Human sight will n o t to lerate t he unveiled light .

H uman understanding will no t bring t he Go d idea -

,

once cleared o f blundering theo logy to a denite fo cus , .

B ut astrono mical disco very do es no t co me to a

standstill even after measuring t he orbit o f N eptune
and acco unting for the canals o f Mars nor after ,

attempting however unsuccessful ly to set time

, ,

limits to the radiant energy o f th e Sun We are all - '

.

agreed tho ugh astronomy a ffords scope for disag re e

ment in so me directions that the who le Solar

Sys tem the Sun attended by his family o f planets

is moving through space at abo ut t he rat e o f twelve

to fo urteen miles per second Whit her is it bound ?.
 Thi s W o rld s Pla c e i n t h e U ni v e r se

5
I

Green wich authorities w o uld hardly yet vent ure o n a

denite reply b ut we may if we like indulge in
, ,

connection wit h t hat question in the fascinating ,

purs uit known to scien ce as extrapolation t he

application to regions o f t ho ught o utside the range
o f denite observation o f the assumption that laws

operative wi thin that range ho ld goo d to i n n i t u des

beyond Almost all t he H eavenly bo di es quite al l
.

if we mer ely except meteorites and so me co mets

move i n elliptical o rbits more o r less closely a pp ro x i
mating to the circular form Plainly it is much m ore .
,

probable t hat t he Sun s motio n is in conformity wit h

t his general principle than t hat it is a blind rus h

,

in a straight co urse which wo uld infallibly i n t he

,

long run give rise to a cosmic catastrophe I f t he .

uniformi ties of Nat ure are maintained t he Sun must ,

b e revo lving in an orbit aro und some denite sidereal

centre O b viously such an orbit must be so vast t hat
.

any measurable arc will appear to be a straight line .

Now I must venture to o utrun even extrapo latio n in

the explanation I have to give I have been p ermitted .

in the pages o f the N i n eteen th Cen tu ry to maintain t he

position that in the co urs e o f the present Arm age d
,
"
don , Unseen Powers embo dying lo ftier knowledge
t han co mmon humanity has yet reached are taking
part in t he struggle Some o f us in conscio us to uch
.

wi th t hem are sometime s wi th their help enabled

to anticipate scientic discovery I n t hat way I .

was concerned so me do zen years before t he dis

,

co v ery o f Radium wit h a nticipations relating t o t he

,

constitution o f matter ultimately veried by that ,

discovery and subsequent work based upon i t .

H appily those anticipations were p ublished at the

time so their character as a successful forecast is no t
,

o pen to dispute I n ano ther direction certain future

.

co nclusions in connection wit h astrono my may be

a nticip ated in th eir turn The centre aro und w h ich
.
IO C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Te a c hi n g
the So lar System is gravitating wi ll be fo und to be
the star Sirius Co mmo n knowledge gives u s an
.

appro ximate measure o f so me stellar distances The .

gure accepted by astrono mers fo r t he mo ment as

t he distance o f Siri us taki ng light years ,
as the -

unit i s
, o r call i t eight and t h ree quarters A -
.

light year is the distance light crosses in a year

-
,

movi ng at the rate o f miles per second So .

it would be inconvenient to give s tellar distances in .

m iles Moreover there is a wi de margin for possible

.
,

errors in calculations concerned wi th the parallax o f

stars Perhaps i t wi ll be fo und t hat Sirius is a bit
.

farther o ff t han t he currently accepte d calculatio n

assumes but anyhow the real dis tance is in t he same
,

order o f magnitu de Estimates o f the size an d

.

luminosity o f Sirius vary very wi dely fro m 30 0 to

1 0 0 0 ti mes t he si z e and brightness o f o ur Sun but ,

either guess ts in with t he main i dea to b e grasped .

O b vio usly o u r Sun canno t be the only o ne that revo lves

aro und Sirius Directly that idea is appreciated
.
,

we reali z e that Sirius must b e t he central sun o f a

vast system in which such suns as o urs must be to
, ,

Sirius what the p lanets are to o ur Sun

, .

That t his is so can only be ascertained denitely

,

by those in to uch wi th sources o f information no t ye t

thin general reach but at all events meanwhile
, , ,

as a hypo thesis the s tatement is clearly in harmo ny

,

with t he uniformities o f N ature To regard o ur .

Solar System and all the o thers presumably rep re

sented by the millions o f stars in t he sky as scattered ,

at rando m abo ut space wo uld be ins ulting to Supreme

Wisdo m and O mnipo tence The co n ceptio n co uld .

only be accep table to thinkers at the kindergarten

stage Certainly up to the mi ddle o f the last century
.

grown and grave men did discuss the question whether

this was the only inhabited wo rld in t he U niverse ,

but increasing intelligenc e has rendered us at once

 This Wo rld s Pla c e in th e U n i v e r se

1
7
wiser and more mo des t than when a do ub t o n that
subj ect was possible I need no t go over t he evi dence
.

t hat makes an i m p o rt an t gro up o f astro no mers certain

that Mars ( to conne o ur attention for a mo ment to .

o u r o wn Solar System is the abo de o f life no t entirely

)
unlike o u r own The o ther p lanets may no t have
.

climati c conditions like o u r o wn b ut t he reso urces

,

o f N at ure may easily provi de vehicles o f life appro

i
p a t e to any conditions o f t emperat ure ; while t hose
r

o f us who know something more abo ut life conscio us ,

ness an d spirit ual growt h t han mere surgery wo uld

s uggest regard with dis dain the i dea t hat any worlds
,

whether aro und o ur su n or in the i n n i t u des o f
space can be mere in a nimate masses o f matter

destitute o f the lo ftier p urposes t hat life implies .

J ust fo r the present all information relating to the

Sirian Co smos mus t remain hypo thetical unti l the
astrono my o f the future overtakes t he forecast but ,

its value as illuminating reverent imagination

reaching in t he direction o f Divinity is very great .

I t helps us to realize that in all such upward reaching

we must blend with t he idea o f which we are i n
S earch the idea of innit y I n the search within t he
, .

limits o f o u r own So lar System we are hopelessly

d a z z led long before we to uch those limits But the .

conception o f t he Sirian Co smos shows us t hat i n

co mprehensible as the So lar Divinity may b e
That (o u r miserable word he is degrading in
s uch u se ) can only be in so me dependent relations hip
to the Divinity guiding the whole Sirian Cosmo s ; in
o ther wo rds t hat Go d i s an innite hierarchy .

Fa i n t ly we realize that Go d when we think o f the

Sirian Co smos is in so me wholly inco mprehensible

,

way greater even ( in a s tupendo us degree ) than

,

Go d when w e think o f t he So lar System and o f t he

,

vario us worlds within i t o f which o urs is o n e And .

,

indeed human intelligence limited in its grasp o f

, ,
I8 C o ll e c te d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
detail unlimited when reaching o ut towards i n n i t u de
, ,

perceives t he mo men t t his last i dea is to uched that

, ,

t he Sirian Cosmo s itself must b e in relationship

wit h so me still more expanded and s ublime organism ;
that Sirius canno t be a stationary bo dy b ut mus t
itself attended by all i t s family o f so lar systems
, ,

be dependent o n so me o ther centre o f energy o n ,

so me o t her superior manifestation o f the innite Go d .

I t is futile even to speculate as to where o r wha t

that centre may be but t he feeling that it must exis t
,

vaguely hints at a unity pervading the who le visible

universe Al ong that line o f tho ught ho wever l i es
.
, ,

a mental bewilderment that b ars further progress .

We can play in imaginatio n still wit h astrono mical

gures The bright s tar Arcturus i s said to b e 1 4 0
.

l ight years distant fro m u s and yet it shines nearly

-
,

as brilliantly as Sirius What must be its actual

.

magnitude and lustre What must b e its place in

t he universal scheme ? And some o ther stars o f
almo st equivalen t brilliancy are beyond p arallactic
mea surement altogether But the p urpose which all
.

full must be within the grasp o f innit e Divinity .

Science growing more and more intimately welde d

,

with spiri tual aspiration as human intelligence ex

pands grants us so me mental illuminatio n as we seek
,

to p enetrate so far as that may be possible t he

, ,

mysteries o f the Divine Hierarchy Certainly if .

,

we turn o u r attention from the appalling magnitudes

of astrono my to t he pheno mena o f the innite ly little ,

the measurements we have to deal with are equally

bewildering Physicists tell us that a cubic centi
.

metre o f water co ntains t hirty trillions o f mo lecules .

That if a glass glo be fo ur inches in di am eter were

abso lutely empty and air mo lecules a dmitted at t he
rat e o f a hundred millions a seco nd years
wo uld elapse before the glob e was full S uch gures .

are more amusing t han instructive b u t t hey may ,

 20 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e a c hing
of t he Divine Hierarchy i s reached when we reali ze
t he principle o f agency as working thro ugh it The .

mind leaps to the conclusion that t his princip le

must b e operative right down to the subtle activities
o f N ature that we are in t he habit o f s umming up in

t he word Evo lution Fo r t he verication o f this
.

conj ecture we must o bvio usly b e dep end ent o n

information received from tho se sources o f super
physical knowledge above referred to s uch informa ,

tion in turn being only s ubj ect to t he check imposed

by o ur own critical faculties Does it appeal to o u r
.

intelligence as essentially reasonable in i ts character

Leaving that question to be determined later I wil l ,

rst endeavo ur to describe t he agency thro ugh which

the purpose o f the Divine Power presiding o ver t he
planetary s cheme to which this world belongs app ea rs ,

to be worked o u t in p hysical manifestation .

We have to t hink o f the Unseen realms o f N ature as

inhabited by hosts o f spiritual beings concerned
with the direction o f t he forces ( emanating from
super Divine Will ) which no t merely gui de organi c
-

growth but provide fo r the growth of t he spiri tual

essence with whi ch s uch gro wt h i s a sso ciated .

Language is ap t to break down in on e s hands as a

means o f conveying ideas that are inextricably blended

wit h still more subtle underlying id eas We are .

living in a world the whole ra i son d tre o f which

resi des in t he opport unity i t a ffords for t he growt h and

expansion o f spiritual conscio usness The experiences
.

o f conscio usness in asso ci ation with physical environ

ment are t he conditions provi ding fo r i ts growth .

We may plunge down in search o f the beginnings o f

s uch growth to levels o f consciousness far belo w t h ese
o f humanity .But leaving t hat vast area o f thought
untro dden the growt h o f spiri tual consciousness as
,

focussed in humanity is itse lf under t he guid ance o f

Divine agency w hose per fect uniform ity of intenti on ,
 Thi s W o rld s Pla c e i n the U n i v e rs e

2 1

fullling the Divine p urpose would i f we co uld , ,

se e only a little more clearly presen t to im agination

,

a system o f natural l aw o n the moral plane as u n

alterable as the natural laws relating to physical
matter that we deal wit h in t he C hemist s laboratory
.

Those natural laws o f t he mo ral plane are entangled

wit h vari able inuences arising fro m human free will ,

but that only renders the task o f t he Divine agents

who guide t hem more delicate no t less specic ,
.

The rst glimpses we get in t his way o f t he intricacy ,

of the work carried o ut by t he hosts o f Divine agents

'
engaged in guiding the wo rld s growth prepare us ,

to nd t hat a distribution o f function is carried o ut in

t hat wonderful realm o f activity so t hat while o n e ,

g reat ho st is concerned wit h the growth o f conscio us

ness ano ther is concentrated on the task of guiding t he
,

growt h o f form o f carrying o u t the idea that for

-
,

want o f a better co mprehension o f t he process we call ,

the principle o f Evolution And such agency works

.

again in it s cont act with matter thro ugh lower agency

right down to the manipulation o f the molecule .

The Divine Hierarchy is innite bo t h ways ; i n co n

cei v a b ly exalted and inconceivably minute b ut in ,

the direction o f minuti ae still conscio us and purposeful .

I ntelligence wit h a certain range o f freedo m within

,

limits guides no t only the gradual improvement o f t he

,

human form pa ri p a ssu with t he progress o f spiritual

,

growth b ut t he humbler development o f form in t he

,

animal kingdo m and even variation in t he co lo uring

o f plants and owers The agency concerned wit h
.

such work canno t be dis cerned by t he physical senses ,

b ut ner senses can already so metimes cognize its

operation tho ugh mos t o f us are still too yo ung in
,

evo lutio n to h ave co me into full possession o f all t he

faculties late n t in human nature We are ancie n ts
.

of the earth and in t he morning o f t he ti me s .

So brief a sketch as thi s must b e content in so me

22 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e ac h i n g
directions wi th mere faint hints H o w do the Di vine .

agents concerned as declared above with t he ev o lu

, ,

tion o f form translate t heir s uperphysical powers to

the p hysical plane ? The answer has to do wit h
what may be called t he semi intelligent mechanis m -

o f N ature . The mere phrase is b ewi ldering bu t i t ,

deals wit h certain aspects o f N at ure t hat sc ience must

concern itself with before long Elemental .

Agency canno t properly b e regarded as belonging

to t he Divine Hierarchy even in its lower levels b ut ,

i t constit utes a vast S ubsidiary evo lution by itself ;

'

cosmic in i ts character : related to much more than

the interests o f this world alone ; beginning o n levels
co mmensurate wi th the electron in magnitu de an d
importance rising t o conditio ns in which denite
,

forms in certain ne orders o f matter are i dentiable

by o bservers with adequately clairvoyant senses as
, ,

asso ciated wi th specic functions in N ature Ele .

m e n t a l s constitute the link between wi ll human

o r Divin e
and physical manifestation O bvio usly .

the subj ect is o n e o f st upen do us magnitud e No re .

co uld burn n o plant co uld grow no human being

, ,

co uld live o n the physical plane and carry o n all t ha t ,

b usiness transacted within his bo dy o f which he i s

wholly unconscious wi tho u t elemental agency
,
.

When science co mes to grapple with the intricacies o f

this so far hidden asp ect o f Natur e i t will look back ,

to i t s present condition as o n e barely emerging fro m

the dark ages .

Thus vast and co mplicated is t he agency by which

Divine Will is fullled But we have to s truggle as
.

bes t we may wi th the i dea o f hierarchies wit hin

hierarchies The worl d is a t heatre in which a
.

stupendo us drama i s in pro cess o f performance The .

s cenery and deco rations are provided by Divine

agency , and t he actors are responsible i f we push

t he metap hor to its extreme limits for the p arts

 Thi s W o r ld s Plac e the U n i v e r se

in 2 3
t hey play I n o ther words while Divine agency
.
,

invests t hem with their opportuni ty t heir o wn free will ,

i s left to determine t he use t hey make o f this B ut .

they must no t be allowed t o wreck the whole under

taking by t oo gross a misuse o f t hat free will Th e .

drama i s intended to have a happy e n ding So o ver .

and above o r apart fro m the hierarchies that provi de

t he co nditio ns Divine ordination provides fo r a
governing hierarchy t hat do es no t actually co ntro l
the acto rs put wo rds into their mo u ths so to S peak

, ,

o r manage them like mario nettes b ut cau ses t hem

to feel disagreeable consequences fro m blundering ;

invests t hem with larger conscio usness as t hey
willingly fall into line wit h the Divine i dea O f .

co urse t hat governing hierarchy is merged in its

lo ftier levels with the superior agents o f innite
Divinity but o n its less exalted levels i s in close
,

to uch wi th o u r own humanity This tho ught leads

.

up to what i s perhaps the most important i dea o f all

that I have been endeavouring to suggest H umanity .

itself recruits the go verning hierarchy I ts members .

o n the rst i mportant level above o rdinary humani ty

h ave been at so me remote perio ds in t he past human

, ,

beings like ( the bes t o f) o urselves We speak of them

.

now those o f us who have the privilege o f more o r

,

less knowing them as great adepts Masters o f Wisdom

, , ,

Bro thers o f the Great White Lo dge o r by any o ther ,

phrases appro xi mately appropriate They are in .

normal perio ds equal t o the task under Divine

inspiration o f which they o f co urse are vivi dly

, ,

conscio us o f carrying o n the government o f t he

world in so far as i t needs adj us t ment o r interference .

They are o ur Allies in this ghas tly abnormal p erio d

in which humanity i s con fronted by an attack fro m
s uch elevated levels o f spirit ual po tency that great ,

as their power undo ub tedly is they can only fo r the

,

m oment re s ist the awful unseen fo e inspiring o ur

24 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O c c u l t T e a c hi n g
physical plane enemies whils t awaiting intervention , ,

ultimately certain i f it becomes necessary fro m lo fty ,

levels o f Divine Power .

Will t his V iew o f the great current crisis seem to ,

so me critics at variance wit h t he main i dea that t hi s

,

world like all o t hers is governed by an innite

, ,

Divine Hierarchy o f quite limitless capacity and

directing human evo lution fro m the realms o f innite
Lo ve ? The pro blem has been dealt with at so me
length in articles fo r t he N i n eteen th Cen tu ry and
1
,

need only b e referred to now Freewi ll in one word .

, ,

is t he answer The ultimate evo lution o f individual

.

humanity can only b e accomplishe d by inves ting each

unit wi th the Divine attribute o f freewill in a greater
or less degree Half e dg e d humanity o f t he kin d
.
-

aro und us in abundance is hardly co nscio us o f t he

extent to which it enj oys t his attribut e I t beco mes .

more an d more available as spirit ual evo lution

pro ceeds By t he hypo thesis i t may be exerte d to
.

full t he p urpose o f Divine love in so far as t hat may ,

be discerned o r it may be p erverted to antagonize

,

t hat p urpose Wit hin the limits o f o u r humanity

.

t he perversion may n o t b e carried to any extreme

degree But o ther humanities have preceded o u r
.

own and have reached exalted conditions in which

free will for goo d o r evil was enormo usly exp anded
in its scope I n that way it has co me to pass that
.

spirit ual evil has assumed colo ssal proportions until

at last it has challenged Divine Power o n very high
levels That i s t he challenge with which we o n o ur
.
,

humble level are no w co ntending We feel s ure o f

, .

ultimate success because t he mighty spiritual powers

o f e vi l a t w ar wit h the Divine i dea o f humanity (on
.

t his plane with o urselves the Allied armies ) have ,

1 O u r U n se e n E n e m ie s an d A llies an d W he n t h e Dark
i he d Cen tu ry a n d Af te r O ct obe r
"
H o st s a re Van qu s , N i n eteen th ,

an d No v mb e e r, 191 5 .
 Thi s W o rld s Pla c e i n U ni v e rs e

th e 2
5
had a denite origin that we can discern and have
reached a den ite height o f spiritual power Ho w .

ever exalted that power i t is nite The Divine

, .

Hierarchy is innite At whatever level Satanic

.
.

power may confront it on equal t erm s Divine re ,

so urces above that level are limitless I f exerted .

they must subdue t he nite power and we have ,

reaso n to feel sure that soo ner o r later they will be

exerted to avert the ruin o f the world .

I have said that o u r Allies in this great struggl e

the Masters o f Wisdo m o r by whatever name we like
,

to call them the Chieftains o f H umanity o f who se

,

existence till recent years humanity at large was

, ,

who lly ignorant are recruited fro m amongs t o urselves

,

altho ugh none the less constitu ting the rs t great

stage o f advancement co unting fro m belo w upward
, ,

o f the Divine Hierarchy B ut while beyo nd them

.
, ,

conditions o f exist ence begin to transcend p hysical

brain comprehension we can understand to so me
extent t he capacities and powers o f t he beings who
have attained to them and the functions appertaining
,

to t heir stage o f evo lution Certainly that mighty

.

organi zation includes so me who reached high spiri tual

dignity befo re t his world s children had emerged

fro m early races in one sens e t heir nurs ery B ut

,
.

none the less it includes some who have b een to

o utward appearance wit hin historic perio ds mere
ordinary men The world indeed has never been
.
, ,

wit hout a great ruling Bro therhoo d tho ugh at one ,

time it was indebted for this to a Senio r human ity .

The phrase need samplication to be fully intelligible .

but a very little thought will give reason to t he idea

th at the h isto ry o f this world an d o f o ur human

races is no t a comp lete short sto ry in itself b ut , ,

an episo de in univers a l history .

As o ur humanity became s u f ciently evo lved to

furnish recruits for the great ruling Bro therhoo d
26 C o ll ec te d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e ac hi n g
its existence was allowed to lter o ut gradually into
the conscio usness o f the few candidates available .

These were the few whose ardo ur in t h e p ursuit o f

lo fty knowledge and who se moral development were
such t hat they co uld be trusted no t to misuse enhanced
knowledge The world a t large was no t generally
.

ripe for the proper appreciation o f the fact that

powers an d knowledge beyon d o rdinary experience
were attainable by certain means A premature .

d isseminatio n o f that i dea might have had unfortunate

consequences B ut for t he chosen few i t was re
.

vealed and so it has co me to pass t hat at the present

,

day the great Bro therhoo d includes many mem be rs

who have been men like ( the best o f) o urselves within
a comparatively recent p erio d .

Exp erience o f ordinary life do es n o t enable us t o

understand their place in Nature altoget her and
complet ely They work to a great extent o n planes
.

o f conscio usness beyo n d the cognitio n o f the o rdinary

senses They wield forces as yet unknown to Science

.
,

using t he physical bo dy merely as a vehicle to be

o ccupied o r left aside as convenience may suggest
the nest clairvoyance which o rdinary stu dents o f
t hat wo nderful faculty have ever met with is co m ,

pared wit h t heirs a rushlight to an electri c arc ;

,

and p hysical matter itself is plastic i n t heir hands .

I n t he higher vehicles o f conscio usness dist ances abo ut

the world mean nothing and withal t hey are o f
,

co urse in absolute harmony wit h t he Divine Will .

The view t hus reached that shows us t he humanity

to which we all belong as designed to recruit t he

rst as we loo k upward o f t he S piritual degrees that
, ,

in the aggregate constitute t he Divine Hierarchy

is o f supreme signicance Properly understoo d i t
.

invests humani ty wit h an entirely new meaning as ,

co mpared wi th t hat which merely treats each i tem

in that humanity as destined to an innitely continued
28 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Te a c h ing
of future worlds and fut ure candi dates fo r Divin e
evo lution .

B ut we need n o t torment imagination by fo llo wing

that t ho ught too far I t i s eno ugh to know tha t
.

here and now we are candidates for Divine evo lution ;

t ha t there is no so lution o f con tinuity fro m this s tage
o f existence up to tho se that have been faintly
suggested in these p ages and are hopelessly dazzling
to mental vision as we dwell in tho ught o n thei r
attributes and power This humanity o f o urs even
.
,

as we contemplate its visible varieties fro m t h e

s avage to the greatest philosopher is o bvio usly a ,

vast pro cession moving thro ugh t he ages each ,

immo rtal spirit ever seeking new and new incarnation s

ti ll gathered experience and e ffort entitle i t to tho se
o f the lo ftiest order The appreciation o f t his i dea
.

marks a huge advance beyo nd t he primitive con

c e p t i o n o f an eternal perpet uation o f each gro tes quely

inco mplet e being But s uch an appreciation is merely

.

a step in the d irectio n o f the grander conceptio n .

The highest level o f mo ral and intellect ual attainment

o n the stage o f this world s po tentialities i s b ut a new

beginning a point o f departure for a progress beyo nd

,

the precise co mprehension o f physically incarnat e

intelligence but happily no t altogether veiled fro m
,

o ur view No matter for the moment whether there

.

be o ther worlds a ff ording still more favoura ble

o pportunities for embo died co nscio usness That is .

no co ncern o f o urs We may be fully content to know

.

t hat however t he preparatory processes leading up

to t he Divine Hierarchy may be provided for in o ther
worlds t his o f o urs has a place in t he Univers e in
,

direct relation wi th all the i n n i t u de s t hat simple

word represents with all that the mo st illu minated

reverence can suggest when we presume to S peak o f

Go d .
 FUT URE LI FE
AN D LI VES
N A T U R A LL Y enough the tragedies o f the War have
imparted t hrilling interest to so me questions care
lessly disregarded by the multitu de during normal
perio ds I s there an after life for all o f us when we
.

die Can we nd o u t anything abo ut it in

a dvance ? Can we co mmunicate wit h those who
have already passed on Mo st current essays
d ealing with such perplexities have a ludicro us aspect
fo r millions o f spiritualists in constant to uch wi th
departed friends fo r all o ccult students and for most
,

p sychi c researchers A writer in these pages las t

.

mont h calmly asserts t hat co mmunication wit h t he

d ead has never been denitely proved t o be anything
b ut delusion o r fraud I f equally ignorant in o t her
.

d irectio ns he might deal in the same way wit h a ny

scientic discovery say t he retrograde mo tion o f
, ,

so m e planetary satellites o r the transmutations o f ,

radium The vast literat ure o f spiritualism i s oo ded

.

with proo f o f t he main i dea More recently t he .

literature o f o ccult research is rich in detail con

c erning t he conditions o f the after life To say t hat
1
.

1 i pl
S m y t o sh ow t ha t I am l ki n g at ran d om I will m e n
n ot ta
t i on a fe w b k
oo s t h e pe r sa l of wh i ch wou ld g u ard wri t rs o f a
u e

ce rta n
"
i l
c a ss from ma ki g t hem se l ve s ridicu l ou s : Spi i t Id n ti ty
n r e ,

P sych ogra ph y , Th e H i gh er A spects of Spi ri tu al i sm , Spi ri t Teach

i n gs, A Wa n derer i n Spi ri t La n ds Th e Story of A h ri n zi ma n , C ol l o
,

q u i es wi th a n Un seen Fri en d, Ou t of th e Vorte x, Af te r D ea th , N ot

Si l en t th o u gh Dea d, In th e Next Worl d, D o Th ou gh ts P eri sh Th e
H i dden Si de of Th i n gs Th e In ne r L ife Esote ri c Bu ddh i sm, The
, ,

G rowth of th e Sou l , Th e Occu l t World , The Secret Doctri n e A S tu dy ,

i n C on sci ou sn ess, Th e A n ci en t Wi sdom So me of t h e o o s n a me

. b k d
29
30 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e a c h ing
knowledge thereo f h as made no s ubstantial progres s
'
whatever is like asserting t hat S ince G a lvan i s
experiment wit h frogs legs o u r knowledge o f elec

t ri c i t y has made no progress w hatever R ay m on d .

,

attracting deserved attention o n acco unt o f i t s

authorship is only t he latest contribution to i n
,

n umerable records o f a similar kind t he cumulativ e ,

signicance o f which i s overwhelming while all wh o ,

are patient and painstaking get personal convi ctio n

for t hemselves .

Spiritualists for t he most part are content wit h this .

They know their departed friends still live and get

assurance o f t heir welfare They look forward wi th .

condence to their o wn future O ccult students nd .

t hat besides evi dence of t hat o rder minute i n

, ,

fo rmation relating to t he conditions o f t he after life

can be o btained by people still in t his life when gift e d
with clairvoyant faculties o f an appropriat e kind .

Abundant information is accumulating in the

literature o f o ccult research along t hese lines I n n o .

department o f human activity h a s more remarkable

progress been made during the las t thirty years t han
in this branch o f superphysical science That progress .

has carrie d the o ccult student far beyond elementary

discoveries relating to t he immediate experiences o f
t he next life Certainly these are intensely interesting
.
,

but do n o t in themselves enable us to o b tain a com

prehensive grasp o f t he who le scheme o f evolution
to which humanity belongs Co mprehension o f the .

next phase o f life marks a great advance beyond t he

crass ignorance that do ubts o r denies even t hat bu t ,

i t o nly helps u s relatively a little way in t he direction

o f understanding o u r place in Nature and o ur ultimate
destinies Later developments o f o ccult s cience
.

l t o Sp iri t u li sm som t o Th
re at e a , e e o so p hy lt i
o r o ccu sc e n ce g e n er

a ll y
. They r a m er
a e han df l e u co mp d wi t h y
a re an co m pl e te

bi blio graphy of e i t h r su bje cte .

 F u tu r e Li fe
an d Li v e s 3I
enable us to appreci ate bo t h the value and limitations
o f spirit ualism " . mediumship o n which it relies
is better understoo d now than at rst Physica l .

pheno mena are bro ught abo ut when certain invisible

factors in the medium s constitution can b e withd rawn

for use by elemental agency Messages come thro ugh .

when certain organs in t he medium s bo dy respond

to s ubtle vibrations t hat most people fail to perceive .

B ut t he medium in either case is a passive instrument

in the hands o f invisible Operators an d these are o f all ,

varieties That acco unts for the nonsense t hat o ften

.

discredits t he metho d The lower regions o f the

.

next world swarm wit h t he ( morally and intel

le c tu a lly ) lo wer classes o f humanity dying constantly
by tho usands and ( fo r a time at all events ) remaining
,

as unintelligent as they were in life Their inuences .

and messages are igno ble and stupid b u t even then ,

t hey serve their purpo se They S how us in to uch wi th

.

ano ther plane o f existence And meanwhile more .

enlightened inhabit ants o f that plane also co mmunicate

as the literature o f spiri tualism shows .

But spiritualism having broken down the deadly

,

materialism into which t ho ught was drifting during

the las t century paved t he way for the development
,

o f o ccult science The later literature referred to

.

above illuminates i t s origin and progress The new .

view o f Evo lution o f human d e stiny and t he

, ,

eco no my o f N ature generally which i t has unfolded ,

for us canno t be fully interpreted wi thin t he limits

,

o f a Review article but may b e bro adly suggested

, .

The stupendo us conception o f t he future which shows

at physical life has spiritual pro gress fo r its p urpose ,

t hat this world is the region in which that progress

has to be accomplished that o ther realms o f existence
,

are the regio ns in which t he work done here bea rs

fruit and provides for invigorating rest leads us to
, ,

t h e i mportant co ncep tion that each physical life is

32 C oll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O c cu l t T e a c hi n g
merely on e o f a series ; t hat whatever experiences
intervene between each we shall all o f us co me back
again and again to life o f the kin d we are familiar
wi th here that Reincarnation is a s certain a law o f
,

N ature as the circulation o f the bloo d .

Reincarnation when rs t s cientically dened some

thirty o dd years ago was quickly seen to so lve man y
-

previo usly insoluble problems The hi deo us i n .

equalities o f human condition no longer seemed to

insult Divine j ustice Suffering became intelligi bl e
.

when the conditions o f each new life were realized as

the consequences o f previo us doing ( or Karma ) .

The supercial o bj ection that t he su ff erer di d no t

,

remember his former misdoing was dissipated as we

,

realized that the Higher Self did so and proted by ,

each physical plane exp erience Further kno wledge .

s howed that humanity is still in i ts yo uth A few .

more advanced than the multitude do remember

former lives The who le co urse o f reasoning need no t
.

be repeate d here The appreciation o f rebirth as

.

essential to a comprehension o f human life is alread y

widely S pread By reason o f mis understanding details
.

many people regard it with dislike and t he disli ke ,

has been accentuated by t he eagerness o f t ho se who

seized upon it at rst to deal wit h it as t ho ugh i t
covered all mysteries o f the fut ure To t hink o f the .

future as simply a return to t his life i s as great a

blunder as to think o f the life which Opens up to the
person j ust set free fro m the physical bo dy by i ts ,

deat h as entering an everlasting existence o f a super

,

physical order O nly by failing to understand i t

.

correctly can anyone fall into t he habit o f criticizing

the Divine s cheme o f evo lution unfavourably The .

personalit y o f a brutal criminal in t he slums is clearly

no t t for eternal p erpet uation The bishop in his .

palace if he honestly considers t he matter will co m e

, ,

to t he same conclusion as regards hi m self We are .

 F u t u r e Li fe
and Li v e s 33
ancients o f the Earth etc and as we look back
,
.
, ,

o n t hos e who millions o f years ago were more ancien t

still we can se e h o w better wort h perpetuation we

,

shall be when wider experiences o f life shall have

lifted us as far beyond o ur presen t condition as we
now are beyond that o f Ou r Stone Age predecesso rs
o urselves in former lives Pro bably indeed t here
.
, ,

will be no stage o f gro wt h fro m which t he perpetuation

o f that stage wo uld be conceivabl e Spiritual pro .

gress must be innite b ut with that which lies beyond

,

the perfection o f humanity we can only be co ncerned

much later o n p kO u r present purpose sho uld be to
understand t h e laws o f reincarnation so as to realize
t hat it do es no t conict in any way with the wi de
ranging possibilities o f life o n higher realms after
bo dily death and to understand th a t life so a s t o
,

realize that i t do es no t interfere wit h t he necessity

o f returning here to gat her fres h experience and get
ready for loftier spiritual enlightenment o n happier
levels again Tho se o f us who have t aken adequate
.

advantage o f mo dern o pportunities need n o t speculat e

abo ut t he chances o f s urvival after deat h That is .

utterly familiar knowledge and wit h varying , ,

facilities many o f us are in co mmunication wit h

,

friends who have p assed o n t ho ugh i t do es n o t ,

always happ en t hat t hese have acquired any scientic

co mprehensio n o f t heir own destinies beyond t he
stage actually reached Even for t ho se o f us here
.

who have taken best advantage o f current O p p o r

t u n i t i e s there are horizons beyond which o u r know
ledge do es no t extend but t he region in whi ch peo ple
,

wake up after they have discarded the physica l

vehicle o f consciousness i s already a pay s de con
n a i ssa n ce fo r many o f us and t here is pat ho s as well
,

as absurdity in t he fact that for much larger numbers

, ,

conventional teaching has left them still in do ub t

whet her t here i s any waking up at all .
 C o ll e c t e d F ru i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
34 .

The Astral Plane is the term generally used by

o ccultists to designate t he vast realm o f unseen life
immediately surro unding this globe I t is no t a well .

cho sen term as the region in questio n has no thing

,

to do with the stars b ut i t has beco me roo ted i n

,

o ccult phraseo logy and we canno t now escape fro m

,

i ts u se . I t is really a vast concentric sp here o f

matter that does n o t appeal to o u r physical senses ;
far greater in size than t he physical glo be it embraces ,

including an enormo us variety o f conditions so me o f ,

them highly disagreeable ; but o f these it is needless

-

to speak fo r t he mo ment as the vast majority o f

,

decently behaved people will have no thing to do wit h

them but wi ll pass at o nce when free o f the bo dy to
, ,

regions where they will n d themselves happier than

they are likely to have ever been even under favo ur ,

able circumstances i n t he physical life Naturally t he

, .

character o f such happiness i s determined by the use

t hat has been made o f t he earth life and t he ext ent
o f spirit ual develo pment that the So ul (o r Ego ) has
reached in its long pro gress thro ugh t he ages i t s ,

innumerable immersions in physical life its former ,

incarnations The distribution o f the varied condi

.

tions i s well understoo d by tho se among us who se

faculties are equal to t he task o f cognizing astral
conditions b ut for peop le who are n o t merely wi tho ut
,

s uch faculties but have no t been in to uch with t ho se

,

who do enj oy them so me explanation is needed in

,

reference t o matter and sense p ercep tion -

.

Witho ut plunging into metaphysics in t he direction

o f B erkeley it is o bvio us t hat the reality o f matter

for us i s due to the appeal it makes to o u r senses .

Even o n this plane so me kinds o f matter mos t gases

make n o appeal to t he sense o f sight b ut we kno w ,

o f them by means o f o ther senses o ther avenues to ,

conscio usness B ut most o f us have no s enses

.

thro ugh which astral matter can a ffect o u r conscio us

 6 C o ll e c t e d F ru i t s of O c c u l t Tea c hi n g
3
ac t ually immersed in t he bo dy o f t he earth are ,

r egions o f s u ffering wi t h which none b ut the very

worst o ff enders against Divine laws have anyt hing
to do The third su b plane above the eart h s surface
.
-
,

,

is still a co mfortless region in which peop le who have

been t o o deeply abso rbed by the lower interests o f
physical life may have to spend a perio d o f p urication
before ascending to happier levels ; but t his vast and
highly varied range o f experience may be ignored
for the moment a s i t need no t dist urb the a pp re
h en si on s either o f p eople who lead fairly who lesom e
liv es whil e incarnat ed o r o f th e large numb ers o f,

gallant victim s o f the War who o n passing over , ,

nd the normal consequences o f minor S hortco mings

o bliterated by t he sacrice they have made o f t heir
earth lives in a no ble ca use They and the fairly .
,

well behaved maj ority will slip thro ugh the t hird ,

su b level witho ut nding themselves entangled in i t

-
,

and awake t o conscio usness o n the fo urt h level o f

the astral world t he circumstances o f which are almost
,

innitely vari ed b ut on which however varied happi , ,

ness is the underlying princi ple o f all sensatio n and

experience .

O bvio usly the conditions that make fo r happiness

will be very di ff erent fo r people who however ,

creditable in a humble way their earth lives may have

been do not represent advanced intellectual develop
,

ment The great man o f science fo r example an d

.
, ,

the simp lest mai d servant may share o n e charac

-

t eri st i c Both may regard so me o ther human beings

.

with genuine love Their happiness o n the fourth

.

level wi ll i nvolve reunion wi th such perso n s i f these

have passed o n rst ultimate reunion i n either case ;
,

and if they have t o wai t fo r this there will be partial

reunio n meanwhile for the Egos o f people In phys i cal
,

life are especially during sleep in clo ser to uch wi th

, ,

the astral plane than they realize in the norma l

 F utu re Life
and Li v e s 37
waking state B ut the highly advanced Ego s t he
.
,

great men o f science and o thers have capaci ties for ,

t he enjoyment o f o t her astral O ppo rt unities o ver and

abo ve those relating to personal a ff ections O n .

higher levels o f t he astral to which s uch capacities ,

wo uld b e auto matically the passport magnicent ,

Opportunities fo r the expansion o f knowledge along ,

t he lines already lai d do wn in p hysical life wo uld ,

o pen o ut An d for s uch Ego s centuries o f glorio us

.

intellectual achievemen t are provided by t he O p p o r

t u n i t i e s o f the higher astral levels They wi ll all .

co me back to incarnatio n event ually for no matter how ,

great they may be measured by o ur present standards

,

t hey are merely o n t he way to wards the summit

po ssibilities o f human evo lution ; b ut there is no
hurry and as a matter o f fact all the great scientists
, ,

poets and artists o f t he las t t hree hundred years or

,

more are still o n t he higher levels o f the astral world ,

even though they may have access to still higher

realms and may avail themselves o f that privilege
,

fro m time to time The higher astral levels fo r .

,

intri cate reasons are especially adapted for t he

,

expansion o f s uch kno wledge and capaci ty as t hey

generally desire .

Those lo fty levels share so me characteristics with

the fo urth level but are less earth like in their super -

ci a l aspect The conditions o f t he lower fo urt h

.

for t he sub planes include much variety are

-

curio usly earth like Li fe there is free fro m all t he

-
.

tireso me lower needs we are tro ubled with b ut people ,

live there in ho uses enj oy beautiful scenery and so cial

,

interco urse altho ugh the delightful principles t hat

,

prevail there sort them so to speak into congenial , ,

gro ups besides respecting the indivi dual attachments

,

o f a genuine character passed o n fro m the love ex

e ri n c e s o f the eart h life The pro gress upward

p e .

to wards sublime spirit ual heights ultimately attain

38 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s o f O c c u l t Te a c hing
able by all human beings is a gradual pro gress j ust ,

as the a co rn beco mes the o a k by degrees no t between ,

t o day and t o morrow

- -
I f anyone is discontented
.

with this explanation because he thinks o f a beloved

daught er ( fo r instance ) as turned into an angel o f
light the day after her death and i n to uch wit h the
, ,

throne o f o mniscience he has failed to appreciat e the

,

magnicence o f t he scale on which human perfectio n

is gradually develop ed So me o f us may already be
.

exquisite in goo dness as we measure character so me

, ,

o f us already splendi d in intellectual grandeur b ut ,

i n n i t u de i s a long sto ry Eternity canno t b e .

hustled . The achievement o f the mo dern o ccultist

has to do wit h the illumination o f the relatively
immediate future .

And so me details o f t hat fascinating perio d are

already wit hin t he range o f o u r comprehension .

Astral matter is plastic to t he creative power o f

t ho ught With a vivi d imagination here we can
.

mentally almost visualize obj ects we might desire t o

possess O n t he astral plane under similar conditions
.
,

the t hings desired appropriate clo thing fo r example

, ,

pictures furni ture ho uses even wo uld assume

, ,

o bj ective reality and even durability when many

,

creative t ho ughts co operate But as familiari ty

-
.

with t he delightful freedo m fro m b ody necessities

that the astral life confers enables people gradually
to realize that they do no t need ho uses furniture and , ,

so o n , t ho se cease to make t heir appearance o n t he

higher levels where scenes o f natural b eauty provide
,

for all t he wants o f inhabitants incapable o f fatigue ,

hunger o r t hirst unconscious o f either heat o r cold

, ,
.

They may be fully conscio us none the less o f t he , ,

intellectual interests they have been concerned wi t h

in physical life and may continue in to uch wi th the
,

progress o f art o r discovery down here in a way i t is ,

hardly po ssible to describe in a few words '

.
 F u t u r e Li fe
and Li v e s 39
This o utline sketch o f the astral life co uld indeed b e , ,

lled in wi th much further detail and even b e supple

m e n t e d wit h so me descrip tio n o f planes or S pheres
higher and beyond t he astral But in attempting t o .

explore t hes e incarnate human int elligence i s up

,

agains t co nditions that defy t he reso urces o f language .

For every Ego indeed each exp e rience o f astral life

, ,

must co me to an end soo ner o r later t ho ugh i t may ,

extend to many centuries o f o u r time and must almost ,

always culminate in so me to uch wit h the lo fty plane

beyond ; b ut for the humbler less developed entities ,

t his to uch wo uld hardly invo lve conscio usness wo uld ,

merely b e the prelude to an unconscio us plunge back

into incarnation The better understanding o f that
.

plunge by t he great many people i n the pres ent day

who recognize the necessity o f reincarnatio n as a
principle but dislike t he i dea for want o f compre
,

hending i ts metho d i s supremely desirable

, .

The law applies to all but i s so elastic as to t

,

in wit h very di ff erent vo lumes o f circumstance .

First we must remember that Egos ripe fo r rein

carnatio n represent very di fferent s tages o f develop
ment The humblest o f these leaving o u t quit e savage
.
,

races that we need no t t hink abo ut for t he mo ment ,

i s n o t a very expanded being when after a long stay ,

o n the astral , he has shed all memories o f his last li fe

and remains its spiritual nucleus The law gui ded .
,

by Divine agency puts that spiritual nucleus in to uch

,

with a new b i rt h a n d there is n o t much conscio usness

,

left o n higher planes to b e tho ught o f as the Higher

Self o f the new personality But in t he case o f t he
.

highly developed entity astral experience instea d o f ,

o bliterating unimportant memories has enormo usly ,

expanded those t ha t are important The Ego as i t .

stands ready for reincarnation is a being o n t he Astra l

Plane o f immense co mplication b uilt up by t he ,

experience o f many lives in the past by t hat o f many ,

 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e ac hin g
intervening astral episo des H e is probably some .

thing much more t han can b e full y expressed in its

next immersion in physical matter H e wi ll remain .
,

all thro ugh t he earth life to co me the Higher Self ,

o f the visible entity o f which t he visible entity in its

,

p hysical brain will have b ut little conscio usness .

But by t he hypo thesis eno ugh o f t he real co mplete

, ,

being will be expressed o n t he physical plane to make

t he new incarnation greater t han ever along the lines
o f its former growth I f a great scientist before
.
,

a greater scientis t again I f a great po et a greater

.
, ,

and so o n Bu t t he point to be emphasized fo r t he

.

moment is that while t he new bo dy i s growing t he

, ,

actual great intellectual being destined to u se i t a t

maturity i s doing little more than looking o n fro m
above I f that i dea can once be properly grasp ed it
.
,

do es away wit h the fear so me people seem to feel ,

to t he e ffect that th ey wit h t heir present vo lume o f

conscio usness will have to go thro ugh babyhoo d and
all the experiences o f the nursery when t hey co me
back to earth life D uring all t hat time they wi ll
.

simply be looking o n fro m above To understand .

fully how i t will co me to pass t hat t he baby and t he

yo ung child will in a certain sense be conscio us also ,

is very di fcult for mo st o f us but ho wever faintly tha t , , ,

is what has t o be realized There is so little o f the .

real Ego in t he new child up to s even years o f age that

i f it dies within t hat time the trace o f conscio usness,

i t has been expressing simply reverts to the Higher

Self wh o makes ano ther attempt a little later o n and
,

begins to animate a new form not infrequently in t he ,

same family as the rst The mo ther s pretty belief

.

t hat a later child is her rst baby restored to her is

o ften the o utco me o f a literal scientic truth .

I f all go es well the rs t seven years o f t he new

child s life is spent in the growth o f certain in visible
accessories o f the bo dy which medical science will
,
 Fut r
u e Lif e and Li v e s 4 I

sooner o r later be conc erned with investigating .

An d again t he next seven years are spent in further

, ,

developments o f t he same order but by t he time the ,

boy o r girl i s fo urteen a goo d deal o f t he real entity

is beginning to express itself No t the who le by any .

means no r even the who le o f that part designed for

,

expressio n in t he new life But now t he o ld astral .

is beginning to be want ed no more I n t he new life .

t he Ego is fo rming for itself a new astral The .

Higher Self remaining in to uch with lo fty planes

will fo r any expressio n it may need o n t he as tral
,

plane make use o f the new astral O f co urse all these

, .

changes fade one into ano ther like disso lving vi ews .

Nature is rarely addicted to abrupt metamorpho ses .

Mu ta ti s m u ta n di s the pro cess o f incarnation as

,

described above with reference to a well developed Ego -

is applicable also to people at intervening stages o f

g ro w t h The return
. to physical life i s never attended
by inco nveniently premature conscio usness in the
new bo dy O r t his bro ad rule is only in rare cases
.

partially infringed H ere and there fo r example

.
, ,

yo ung children have been known to show musical

talent at a ridiculo usly early age I n s uch cases t he .

Ego o f the great musician in the backgro und is so

eager to express itself o n t he physical plane that i t
canno t wait till t he new instrument i s properly t uned
for t he task But even Mo z arts who play the piano at
.

si x are no t all there Their condi tion i s so e x ce p

.

t i o n a l t hat
it need no t be minutely examined in
connection wit h any sweeping survey o f t he laws
go verning reincarnation .

B ut o n e ess ential p ri n crp le must never be forgotten .

Gui ded by supreme wis do m and power each new ,

incarnation is conditi oned by t he merit o r demerit

o f t he Ego returning to physical life St udents o f .

heredity gen erally make t he mistake o f supposing that

ancestral attribu tes are t he cause o f characteristics
 '

C o ll e c te d F ru i ts of O c c u l t T e ac hi n g
4 2

repro duced in the descendant The descendant has .

been planted in that family because bo dily heredi ty

wo uld t here provide i t with a physical ve hicle
qualied t o give expression to its o wn inner nat ure .

And beyon d this because the circumstances o f t hat

, ,

life s program me t in with t he requirements o f

absolute j ustice as regards t he clai ms o f t he Ego

for happiness o r i t s deserts as regards tro uble The .

innit e skill of the Di vine Power regulating t he details

o f each rebirth blends t he intellectual o r artistic

necessities o f t he Ego with a worldly enviro nment

appropri ate to its moral condition i ts goo d o r bad ,

Karma as the case may b e The working o f this
, .

law is intensely interes ting and marvello usly intricate .

The consequences o f goo d or bad action in one life

partly reect themselves to begin t he explanation , ,

in happiness o r the reverse during the astral life .

But that i s only the rst part o f the story A funda .

mental law equivalent o n higher levels o f nature

, , ,

to the conservation o f energy in mechanics asserts ,

itself with every entity co ming back to incarnation in

the earth life Moral action goo d o r bad must b ear
.
, ,

consequences fro m life to life The external con .

d i t i o n s the happiness o r the reverse o f each life

,

are the expression o f forces se t in activi ty d uring the

previo us life o r so metimes going back behind that
, ,

during previo us lives And again t hough t hey

.
, ,

canno t controvert that law aspirations in any given ,

life when sustained and intense are an important

, ,

factor in generating t he environment o f the next .

To work with the S implest example a person in a ,

humble rank o f life may b e wishing all the time t ha t

he o r S he belonged to a superior class The lo nging .

wo uld have no effect if it were t o o vague A carpenter .

t hinking he wo uld like to be a king do es n o t kno w

enough abo ut the kingly life to long for it with pre
c i si o n But he knows a goo d deal abo ut the con
.
44 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e ac hing
s upremely bad order t he purifi cation may be rathe r
,

a slow pro cess but assuming that the character o f the

,

person going thro ugh i t is tainted merely no t pre

do minantly evi l t he ultimate passage to t he happy

levels already ( very imperfectly ) described is assured ,

no t merely in t he long run b ut very likely in a short

,

o ne .

I n awfully serio us cases the co urse o f astral life i s

very di ff erent There is one variety o f human wicked
.

ness t hat is altogether in a di ff erent category fro m

those that are mere vices The sinful character o f .

these the mere vices is o ften exaggerated ; but

cruelty that wors t and horrible form o f cruelty

,

which takes actual pleasure in t he inictio n o f and

sight o f pain and s u ff ering in o thers is an attribut e ,

t hat drives the authors o f such hi deo us mis doing

down into that appalling submerged level o f t he
astral worl d with which mos t o f those even in need o f
p urication have no t hing whatever to do Even that .

region must be tho ught o f as purgatorial I ts fearful .

experiences may a t las t cure or begin t he cure o f t he

mos t ghastly offenders agains t the Divine law o f love
( o f which cruelty is t he exact reverse ) Bu t imagina .

tion shrinks fro m t he attempt to realize the detai ls o f

t he s u fferings incidental to existence on the terrible
submerged level Their duration i n t he worst cases
.
, ,

may be co unted in centuries o f o u r time I n o thers a .

,

brief experience o f this character may give rise to the

needful revulsion o f feeling B ut t ho ugh i t wo ul d .

be un wise to attemp t a survey o f the astral worl d

thou t taking cognizance o f its lower depths i t wo uld ,

be worse than unwise to refer to them in any way that

co uld excite fear o n the part o f harmless inno cent ,

people t o o prone as a consequence o f clumsy religio us

, ,

teaching to imagine themselves miserable sinners
, .

Talk o f that kin d is fo r t he most part silly nonsens e ,

culminating in so mething much worse when asso ciated

 F ut u re Li fe
an d Li v e s 45
with ghastly i maginings concerning eternal su ff erings
in hell . NO decoro us language is equal to the
emergency in dealing with the cri minal fo lly o f tho se
who terrify children and insult Go d by describing
burning tortures to be inicted fo r ever on hapless
victims o f Providential atro cit i es N at ure do es pro .

vi de a penitential reformatory for so uls o f diabo lica l

criminality bu t even there reformatio n is the purpo se
,

in view I t need o nly b e tho ught o f a s co mpleting t he

.

broad concep tion o f after deat h conditio ns that mo dern

-

research in spiritual science enables us to form Fo r .

t he poor inno cent miserable sinners o f t he churches ,

t he view we are now in a po sition t o o btain o f happy

life o n t he higher levels o f the astral worl d is t hat wit h
which they are personally concerned But that view .

even is in need o f amplication The m erely happy .

restful life to which people o f ordinarily goo d life may

condently loo k forward is no t t he only po ssibility
that t h e astral wo rld ho lds o u t To un derst an d the.

design o f the fut ure correctly we mus t realize rst

,

o f all t hat t he who le scheme o f e v olution provides

for a gradual progress t hro ugh many eart h lives a nd
,

many episo des o n higher planes towards a co ndition ,

enormo usly s uperior to t hat yet attained by t he most

advanced representatives o f current civilizatio n on
earth By mo st o f the human family s uch condi tio ns
.

will ultimately be attained after perio ds o f ti me that

are be wildering to t he imagination But when the .

distant po ssibilities o f human evolu tio n are fairly

well co mprehended in advance in the light o f such ,

teaching as o ccult research ( and mo dern revelation )

enables u s now to deal wi th we se e t hat it i s po ssi ble
,

for those who appreciate the opportunities available

to make a much more rapid progress than is provi d e d
for by t he natural drift o f events in reference to t he
multitude So me members o f t he human family have
.

been able to accomplish t his long ages ago and alrea dy ,

 6 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Te a c hi n g
4
s tand o n levels o f progress o n which t hey beco me agent s
o f Di vine purpose in pro mo ting the spiritual gro wth

o f mankind These are referred to in o ccult literat ure

.

as t he Masters Of Wisdo m and they are always ready

,

to help forward t he abnormal progress o f people

who have acquired so me comprehension o f t heir
place in N ature and are lled wit h eagerness to get
,

o n a s rapidly as po ssible in t he directio n o f thos e grea t

heights The earth life is the opportunity for b e

.

ginning such e fforts In t his supremely impo rtant

.

aspect o f the s ubj ect as in minor matters the earth

, ,

life is the perio d for so wing all s piritual seed Th e .

astral life i s the perio d in which i t begins to bear

fruit A p erfectly co mmonplace earth life however
.
,

harmless and inno cent bears appropriate fruit in t he

,

astral world in t he S hap e o f happiness an d rest An .

aspiration during earth life to wards real spiritual

gro wth colo ured by s uch knowledge as is no w
,

available fo r all b ears frui t in the shap e o f personal

,

to uch wi t h those Masters o f Wisdo m who may gui d e

t he aspirant to incarnations i n which he may
acco mplish results t he dignity and grandeur o f which
canno t easily b e exaggerated So mething beyond .

mere personal happiness i s then seen to be the o bj ect

o f attainment This world i s t he expression o f Divine
.

Will : i t i s governed by Divine Law b ut it i s so t o , ,

speak managed in detail by t he agents o f Divine Will

,

evo lved fro m the scheme itself To become a part .

of, t o b e identied with that s ublime agency is ,

t he goal aimed at by those who fully realize the true

meaning o f spiritual growth That s uch a co nditio n .

involves a sp ecies o f exalted beatitu de which is so me

t hing greater t han and beyond perso nal happiness i s
a tho ught that may fairly be associated wi t h true
S piritual aspiration but o n e t hat do es no t cover the
,

whole i dea too subtle perhaps for C le ar denitio n in

,

language tho ugh so me trace o f it sho uld always colo ur

, ,
 F t r
u u e Life
and Li v e s 47
for advanced thinkers all reference to t he changes
,

inaugurated by each p hysical de at h When t he grave .

swallows any particular vehicle o f co nscio usness t hat

we have done with it certainly marks an important
,

stage o f o ur progress thro ugh the i n n i t u de s o f life ,

and represents a very tiresome circumstance connected

wit h t his early perio d o f human evo lutio n ; b ut only
while we are s uff ering fro m t he sad imperfections o f
conventional teac hi ng is the grave s urro unded with
terror .

The purpos e o f this article has no t been merely

t o dissipate that terror but to elucidate for t hose
, ,

who may long S ince have ceased to feel it t he detailed ,

circumstances o f the passage to t he life beyond ;

and above all to S how ho w t he all important principle
,
-

o f reincarnatio n does no t in any way conict with

natural aspirations for spiritual existence after bo dily

deat h Reincarnation is no hurried pro cess There
. .

is plenty o f time in Eternity Does anyone imagine .

that a t ho usand years o f spiritual life after the fatigues

o f t his o n e will n o t be eno ugh fo r him I f he con
t i n u e s hereafter to entertain t hat view t hen he will ,

have mo re O r if he has no s uch far reaching aspira

.
-

tion and nds himself content with t he simple

,

enjoyment o f t he astral life on its less exalted levels ,

he will fall asleep and drift back to physical life in

o bedience to natura l law at t he appropriate time .

And bot h in his case and in that o f his more advanced

contemporaries the return t o physical life will be
,

acco mplished as easily as the pro cesses o f sleep and

waking during phys i cal life wit h t he inner mechanism
,

o f which for that matter most people are n o b etter

, ,

acquainted t han wit h t he metho d o f rebirth the ,

fullest acquaintance wit h which carries wit h i t the

most co mplete acquiescence in the wisdo m beauty , ,

and harmony o f t he whole design .

 REL IGI O N U N D E R RE PAI R
ON the i 4 t h o f April 1 9 1 7 Th e Ti mes publis hed
, ,

an article entitled Sheep wit ho ut a Shep herd ,

which gently and wit ho ut bitterness but in u n

,

equivo cal terms described the conventional religion

,

o f t he Churches and all t heir creeds as hopeles sly

ou t of date Thinking men and wo men were

.

represented as convinced that r eligion must be

rediscovere d fro m the beginning The clergyman .

and h i s religio n belong to a dead past Thinking .

people turn away fro m t he Churches more and more

as t heir interest i n religion grows What t hey need .

is a conception o f the Universe In which they may

take their place They believe in Christianity b ut
.

they need an expression o f it t h a t will satisfy i n t e l li

gence . The time o f cleansing for the C hris ti an
t heology has been delayed so long t hat there is a
danger les t t he mass o f men sho uld think i t all litter

an d dust o f the past The Churches have fanc i ed
.

that the danger wo uld be staved o ff by the slow ,

reluctant relinquishing o f t his o r that belief as i t

became impossible
Th e real need is fo r disco very
.

and growth The Church mus t n o t b e content any

.

longer to talk pio us no nsense in the hop e t hat i t wi ll

seem sense because i t is pio us .

O ne might have supposed that so sweeping an

indictment as t his directed against vested interests
,

rmly roo ted in social life would have provoked ,

a storm o f criticism and a oo d o f sympathet i c

reiteration H as ortho do xy preferred silence as o n
.

the whole safer t han defence that wo uld pro voke

48
 R e ligi o n u nd e r R epai r 49
fresh attack I f so t he fear is misdirected because
, ,

it is based on a misunderstanding o f the at tack .

The clergyman accused o f talking pio us nonsense

thinks t he accuser an atheist denying Go d The .

accuser i s simply indignant wit h the clergyman fo r

caricaturing Go d There wo uld still be a place fo r
.

us if he co uld be taught to
Has that attitude o f wise
reverence by any o f t he earnest thinkers
discontented wi th t he clergyman s teaching ? H as

discovery really anticipated the demand fo r i t se t

forth in the article q uo ted ? Are t here answers
available for peop le who a sk real questions abo ut

the nature o f the Universe an d may there n o t b e ,

already a consi derable number o f o thers who have

proted during t he las t thir ty years fro m wi de
publicity given to super physical knowledge at o n e

time reserved fo r a peculiarly qualied few

The true answer to that last questio n i s in t he
afrmative and t hose who have been concerned
,

during recent years with t he assimilatio n o f i deas

reected i n t he Higher O ccultism b elieve themsel ves ,

at all events in possessio n o f denite kn o we dg e which

,

meets the intellectual craving represented by The

Ti m es article Many books co nvey t his to all who
.

care to read and describ e the so urces from which i t i s

,

derived For so me o f us who are students o f o ccult

.

science and philosophy t he authors o f t he tea ching

given o ut are seen to have extraordinary claims o n o u r
trust The nature o f these claims can better b e
.

appreciated after we have fairly considered t he

general o utline o f the teaching they convey It .

constitutes a co mplete response t o t he dem a n d

se t fort h in Th e Ti m es article I t do es give us a.

comprehensive view o f the Cosmos to which we belo ng .

I t embo dies a revelatio n which is for t he world at ,

large a discovery o f previo usly unsuspected tru t h
, ,
 C o ll ec t e d F ru i t s of O cc u l t Te a c hing
5 0

concerning the fundamental facts o f spiritual silence

underlying all forms o f religion I t do es much more
.

than this because i t gives us a perfectly clear vi ew

o f the co urse o f human evo lution dissipat ing all t he
,

darkness t hat surro unds death ; lighting up the

co nditions o f t he new life t hat immediately fo llows
the change and pointing o u t the path to be ulti mately
tro dden leading to i n n i t u de s o f progress The vi ew
,
.

o f Divinity ,Life and N ature t hus a ff orded con

v e n i e n t ly to be described as t he Higher O ccultism

makes its rs t claim o n respectful consi deratio n by

its own inherent reasonableness I t is vas t in its scope ,

wi dely rami fying in all directions b ut perfectly co ,

herent scientically harmonio us ; all parts o f the

,

who le mutually supporting each o ther I n on e way .

,

t hat is a di ffi culty for the beginner appro aching t he

s tudy o f the H igher O ccultism The comprehension
.

of
no t necessarily the who le because the who le is
an i n n i t u de but o f a grea t vo lume o f s uper physical
-

knowledge is essential to an adequate app reciation o f

its parts separately B ut eventually when eno ugh is
.

grasped con viction sets in as an intellectual necessit y

, ,

and then among o ther conclusions the honest

, ,

stu dent realizes that the Higher O ccultism has been

a gift to the world fro m Teachers who are o bvio usly
entit led to pro fo und trust But his perceptio n o f this
.

is no longer needed as a guarantee o f t he t eaching .

I t embo dies i ts o wn co nrmation .

Perhaps this can o nly be fully appreciated after a

more exhaustive study o f super p hysical science than
-

can b e pro vi ded for wi thin t he limits o f a Revi ew

article ; but a mere o utline sketch o f the knowledge
acc umulating o n o u r hands wi ll go far to wards
j ustifying t he claim made above I ndeed the mos t .
,

elaborate attempt to deal wi th detail wo uld still leave

us gazing at remo te horizons beyon d which human
vision canno t penetrate but t hat is by itself a co n
,
 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Te a c hing
5 2

The claims for o ccult science j ust set forth may be

examined one by o n e I t do es no t s hrink fro m t he
.

use o f the word Go d except in so far as t he word

has been degraded by igno ble creeds But Supreme .

Divinity i s necessarily innite and must have referenc e

to manifestations in millio ns o f worlds besides o ur
o wn And yet we feel s ure t hat Divine Co nscio usness
.

permeates this world O ccult teaching ass ures us t hat

.

o u r o wn indi vi dual conscio usness is a Divine emanation ,

t ho ugh limited i n its scope an d range o f power by the

vehicl e o r S heat h in which i t i s working for the

mo ment The i dea i s s usceptible o f exp ansion All

. .

conscio usness i s a Di vine emanation t hat wo rki n g i n

animal forms i n vegetable forms even also that

working in s uper human forms o n planes or realms

-

o f N at ure loftier than t he physical The idea at once .

leads to an appreciatio n o f t he s ublime magnicence

o f the Divine Hi erarchy int ervening between o ur
humanity and t he nearest manifestatio n o f t he
innite Divinity Reasonable occultists do no t pre
.

sume to formulate a rigid conceptio n o f that n earest

mani festatio n b ut they know that the So lar Sys tem
,

i s a denite enterprise wi thin t he manifested Universe

and therefore that in so me way i t can be i dentied
wi t h a vortex so to speak in innite Divinity and
, , ,

that is generally referred to as the Logos o f the So lar

Syst em Words are n o t well adapted t o such tho ughts
.
,

but we must be content to u se the best we have go t .

The simple Christian wh o wants to discern a Father in

Go d may b e chilled by this awfully sup er physical -

i dea b ut he need n o t be so i f he clings to h i s fait h in

,

Chri st which the o ccultist h as no wish to dist urb .

Medieval creeds which t he Churches perpetuate have

caricatured the Christ idea amongs t o th ers but t he, ,

o ccultist clearly understands Christ a s belo nging to t he

Divin e Hierarchy in close to uch wit h this world and
, ,

that understanding carries with it a reverenti al

 R e lig i o n u nd e r R epai r 53
feeling that no co nventio nal Christian can possibl y
improve upon O f co urse t he Hierarchy o f Beings
.

representing vario us stages o f spiritual evo lutio n and

a vast vari ety o f functio ns i n N at ure include s ubli me
entities o n all I maginable levels b ut t he fundamental
,

all important i dea to be held rmly in thinking o f the

-

hierarchy is that i t co nstitutes t he Agency t hro ugh

which t he Divine purpose i s worked o u t in manifesta
tion This is o ne way i n whic h a sci entic co m
.

plexion i s p ut upon o ccult religion Agency runs.

do wn to the minutes t activities of N ature There is .

no break in t he uniformity o f the metho d Archangelic .

Beings full the Divine p urpose o n their levels .

Elemental beings o n levels o f conscio usness be low o ur

co mprehension are agents in pro mo ting the growt h
o f plants o r carrying o ut the laws ( t he Divine purposes )
,

o f chemi cal a fnity This last tho ught relates to a

.

huge branch o f o ccult sci ence in a borderland t hat

physical research must soo n invade .

A hierarchy t hat includes Beings o f t he Archangelic

order ( and also o thers o f still lo ftier spiritual rank )
together with humbler agencies below the level o f
humanity concerned wit h the working o f nat ural law
, ,

must o bvio usly also include beings b ut relatively

little above t he human level And t his t ho ugh t
.

illuminated by denite information brings t he o c c u l

t i st into to uch wi t h a real m o f knowledge bearing
equally on t he government o f t his world and t he
possibilities o f human evolution There is a level .

of the great hierarchy denitely recruited fro m

humanity Co mmo n conceptio ns o f human evolutio n
.

have co rrectly hit o ff the idea t hat it is recruited itself

fro m lower forms o f life Prevailing belief ho wever
.
, ,

has no t gras ped the no tio n t hat i t expands into higher

forms witho ut any break o f co ntinuity At an earlier .

perio d in the world s histo ry t his was more generally

appreciated than i t has been in recen t years I n .

54 C o ll e cte d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T e ac hing
ancient E gypt for example t ho ugh t he v e or si x
,

tho usan d years beyond w hich mo dern research do es

no t extend were a mere decadent re m ainder as co m
pared wit h still earlier Egyptian civilizations the

peo ple generally knew t hat some few hierophants

had risen t o a high condition o f knowledge an d power
as co mpared with ordinary humanity Denite sys .

tems o f initiation were known t o lead upward towards

t hose heights Tho ugh later generatio ns have lo st
.

S ight o f t his deeply signicant truth it i s still as true

,

as ever The (relatively ) lower levels o f t he Divin e

.

Hierarchy are still recruited in t hat way For recen t .

ages the system has been veiled fro m co mmon

o b s rv a t i o n The p rogress o f humanity i s worked
o u t in accordance wit h a denit e Divi ne plan For a .

time it was necessary that intelligence s ho uld b e

trained in t he study o f p hysical nature The improve .

ment o f brain capacity was t he task before t he i n c ar

nat e vanguard o f humanity Super physical kno w
.
-

ledge t he fascination o f which wo uld have attracted

,

t he pioneers o f brain culture o ff t he path designed for

t hem was hi dden away for a time Thos e men o f
, .

scienc e w ho r esent the movements o f t ho ught

bringing i t to the light o f day again are s urvivals o f
the regime to which t hey have no t yet ceased t o belong

unconscio usly b earing t estimony amusing to the ,

o ccultist to the accuracy o f his diagnosis

, .

Th e principle j us t hinted a t that human evolution

do es n o t stop short at t he stage reached by t he most

brilliant representatives o f current civilization
leads o n to the appreciation of the idea t hat i n n i t u de
is applicable to that evolution as to the lo ftier con
,

c ep t i o n o f Divine nature The i dea is best understoo d

.

by tracing i t back to some extent into the past .

Conscio usness which eludes research in the di s

sec t i n g roo m
is in a certain s ense uniform in i ts
, ,

nature ; inco mprehensible as regards its e ssence b ut ,

 R e ligi o n un d e r R e pai r 55
vaguely acceptable as so mehow o f Divine origin .

As above pointed o u t its scope and range are de

,

t erm i n e d by the vehicle o r sheath in which i t is

invo lved The full development o f t hat i dea puts
.
g

a new face upon t he who le theory o f evo lution I n .

any animal form we like to think o f conscio usness ,

has obvio usly a very li mi ted scop e co mpared wit h

o u r o wn . The splendi d light Darwin threw o n
Nature sho wed us the growth o f form fo llowing ,

certain physical plane impulses The o ccultis t at .

rst only fo und fault wi t h t he t heory as ignoring

the simultaneo us evo lution o f consciousness A .

clearer view has since been o btained I n t he lower .

animal forms consciousness has no t been indivi dual

i ze d
. But an aggregate vol ume o f conscio usness
animating many lo wer forms gradually feels t he need
of animating higher ones Fully develop ed the .
,

descriptio n o f t he pro cess wo uld b e very pro tracted .

Eventually in t he highest animal forms conscio usness

i s indivi dualized and passes under well understoo d -

co nditions into t he human fo rm no t at o nce into o n e

,

o f high development By t his time however t he

.
, ,

indivi dualized conscio usness may be treated a s an

Ego subj ect t o t he law o f reincarnation At rst its .

progress m ay b e t ho ught o f as t he growth o f the Ego

its spiritual growt h going o n concurrently wi th t he

i mprovement in the human form and the perfection
o f the brain B ut ho w is t his view to be reconciled with
.

the theory t hat conscio usness i s i dentical in essence

thro ugho ut N ature Quite easily fo r all wh o prot ,

by what i s known concerning the laws governing

reincarnation Desire i s one o f them D esire fo r an
. .

improved form pro vi ding improved scop e fo r co n

sc i o u sn ess wo uld b e distinctly Op erative But the .

man at a humble level do es n o t kno w eno ugh to

formulat e such a desire explicitly H e do es i t .

a utomatically by making the best use o f the form

5 6 C o ll e c te d F r u i ts of O cc u l t Te a ch ing
o r vehicle h e has go t

N at ural law then gives him
.

a better one in his next life and so o n a d i n n i tu m .

The principle properly understoo d acco unts for

lo fty as well as humble progress in evo lutio n The .

man in the beginning do es no t kno w what he wants ,

b ut gets it by unconscio usly co nforming to the law .

O n a higher level he o beys it co nscio usly and t he result ,

is the same O n all levels o f co urse short o f those

.
,

that are very exalted action goo d o r bad Karma

,

,

to use the technical expression goo d or bad hastens ,

o r retards the result and a mere recognition o f t he

,

laws concerning reincarnatio n and Karma go es far

to explain and j usti fy t he conditions o f t he world as
we nd i t wit h all its ghastly irregularities o f physical

and mo ral welfare That i s a huge branch o f o ccult

.

st udy by itself But in tracing t he manner in which

.

humanity is linked wit h t he Divine Hierarchy the

o ccult interpretation o f the minor mysteries o f curren t
life o n Earth may b e left asi de fo r the mo ment .

A pro fo undly signicant phrase bo rrowed I believe , , ,

fro m so me O riental scripture runs as fo llows What,

ever i s is has been o r will b e H uman
, , ,
Those few .

words cover the whole sweep o f t ho ught concerning

t he o rigin and destinies o f Man t he meaning o f ,

creation t he essence o f all religion Such tho ught

,
.
,

o f co urse melts into t he inco mprehensible if p ushed

,

backward o r forward into the i n n i t u de s o f Eternity ,

but is magnicently full o f suggestion That it .

acco unts for all lo wer forms o f life and the earlier
co nditions o f this world is relatively uninteresting .

I t acco unts fo r t he Divine Hierarchy That upward .

gro wth that we can trace fro m lo wer to higher fo rms

o f human life is no where arrested O ccult science has .

sho wn us fro m t he rst that living fo rms are n o t

b uilt merely of physical matter During this familiar .

eart h life even fairly advanced representatives of

-
,

humanity are capable o f passing from time to ti m e

 R e l i gi o n u nd e r R e pai r 57
into vehicles o f conscio usness b uilt o f ner orders
o f matter than t hose which build up esh and bloo d .

The full development o f t hat subject wo uld claim a

lo n g dissertation but fo r t he mo ment t he i mportant
,

point is that t ho ugh physical humanity i s an essential

,

p hase t hro ugh which differentiated conscio usness

passes a time co mes when physical form i s needed
,

no more and progress go es o n wit ho ut any break

,

in t he process towards conditions o f being that con ,

t e m p l a t e d in i maginatio n fro m the physical plane

level seem to represent di fferent orders o f creatio n
, .

Beings o n t hat level are simply among the members

o f t he Divine Hierarchy referred to by the wo rds
has been in t he phrase quoted above .

But that do es not mean that they have been

simply hu man at any perio d in t he history o f t his
planet Fro m t he point o f view o f occult science
.

no world is a co mplet e undertaking in itself Life .

,

t he infusio n o f Divine co nscio usness into matter is a ,

vast co herent pheno menon in N ature lim i tless in all ,

directions The i dea may be approached by co n

.

si deri n g its bearing o n t he So lar System itself as we , ,

are enabled now to reali z e a co herent scheme o f ,

manifestation all its parts inter related o n e wit h

,
-

ano ther and as a who le inter related wit h a larger

,
-

Cosmo s .

Co mmon astrono my deals wi t h t he magnitudes '

,

distances and movements o f the v ari o u s p l an e t s co n

,

st i t u t i n g t he Solar System and to so me extent wi t h ,

t heir relative s tages o f development Jupiter for .

,

example is o bvio usly a world in an e aIIy stage o f its

,

growt h because i t is still h o t almos t incandescent

,

.

O ccult astrono my which might be called Vital

Astrono my deals wi t h the life going o n in each planet

,

or for which e a ch is in preparation I n mos t cases .

each planet is part o f an ( apparently ) independent

scheme o f evo lution Thus t he planet Venus belongs .
 8 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t Te a c hing
5
to a senior scheme as co mpared wi t h t hat which the
Earth represents H uman life there has already
.

been carried to s tages o f growth enormo usly in advance

o f the s tage yet reached here B ut there as here.
, ,

indivi dual growth has b een a ff ected by t he play o f

indivi dual Free Will ( which presents no mystery to
t he occultist ) and t ho ugh a very large majority o f
, ,

t he original human pop ulatio n o f the Venus scheme

have attained to highly exalted conditions so me have ,

dropped o ff in the co urse o f bygone ages the Ego s ,

ha vi ng failed to attain co nditions qualifying t hem to

reincarnate among t he more a dvanced maj ori ty .

Their destiny is intensely interes ting as i lluminating ,

the econo my o f t he So lar System as a w hol e There .

is no nal perditio n for t he failures o f each planetary

scheme in t urn They p ass o n to the n ext schem e
.

The failures o f t he Senior Venus scheme are merged in

t he humanity o f t he Earth scheme The further details .

o f this pro cess are o f increasing int erest The failures .

concerned t hough left behind by the successful

,

candidates for progress o n Venus fell o ff fro m t heir ,

proper human family at a later s t age t han t hat

generally reached so far by t he foremo st races even , ,

o f t he Eart h s cheme So the present conditions o f

.

Eart h humanity do no t yet afford t hem appropri ate

incarnation N ature deals wit h t he diffi culty in h er
.

usual co mpetent fashion b ut to make t he solution,

i ntelligible t he conditions o f o u r o wn planetary

scheme must b e taken into acco unt I n o u r c ase .

t hree planets are linked toget her in o n e co mpre

h e n si v e evolution O f co urse t he reason o f this is
.
,

intelligible bu t t hat wo ul d be a long story by itself

,

and may be left aside for t he mo ment O ur human .

family is at present distrib uted over t hree worlds

Mars t he Earth and Mercury Silly criticis m based
, , .

o n ignorance may fall fo ul o f this statement o n the

gro und that Mercury s o near the Sun must be too

60 C o ll ec te d F r u i ts or O cc u l t T e ac h in g
possi bly deal wi t h We see human evo lutions ex
.

tending upward witho ut any break o f co ntin ui ty

, ,

to t he nearest levels o f the Divine Hierarchy We .

realize t he unbro ken continuity o f conscio usness

beyond t ho se levels so that knowledge o f the kind
,

t hat seems at the rst glance to belong to Divini ty

i tself must l ter down to t he lower levels o f th e
Divine Hierarchy Then we begin to understan d
.

how t he Beings on t hose levels i n to uch in o ne

direction with relatively I nnite Wisdo m in the o ther ,

wit h ordinary humanity may se e t to pass on to

some qualied p upils in o rdinary humanity some

information illuminating the world and the Cosmo s
to which that ordinary humanity belongs I ndeed .
,

it is o bvio us that sooner o r later such information

m u st be passed o n to provide for the fullment o f t he
,

Divine Plan At earlier stages o f growth humanity

.

was no t in need o f all t his lo fty t eaching I t had .

to accomplis h certain achievements now fro m t he

,

higher point o f view essential preliminary under ,

takings H umanity had to learn simple bro a d

.

principles o f moral s cience to grapple wit h t he vagu e ,

i dea t hat there was so me Divine mystery pervading

t he world The religions o f vario us p erio ds met t his
.

need with more o r less success I t di d no t much .

matter at rst t hat t hey were irrational in t heir

design I n days o f o n e early papacy for example
.
, ,

when priests disp uted as t o whet her Christ was the

rea l so n o r an a dop ted so n o f Go d religious intelligenc e
, , ,

was n o t ripe fo r more suitable discussion concerning

t he Divine Hierarchy The writer o f t he article o n
.

Sheep witho ut a Shep herd seems to t hink t he
Clergy o f t he present day are no t much more ready
for it However this may be some o f them must
.
,

be ready and o utside t he Church a s u ffi cient number

,

have been fo und ready to j ustify the full ow o f t he

,

teaching which t his paper partly embo dies Then .

,
 R eligi o n u nd e r R e pai r 61

a gain for t he last thousand years o r so humani ty

, ,

has been getting ready fo r higher teaching by per

fe ct i n g i t s thinking capacity The stu dy o f physical
.

science has polished human brains to a high degree o f

delicacy That had t o be done before religio n co uld
.

be levelled up H abits o f s cientic t hinking have

.

certainly paved t he way fo r appreciating the credi

b i l i t y o f o ccult teaching better t han t he mental
,

training o f the t heo logian plo dding in t he pat h o f

medieval creeds A co nsi derable n umber o f people
.

t hus prepared are ripe fo r superior enlightenment

mo re t han ripe : denitely craving for i t I t h as .

become incumbent o n t he custo dians o f the superior

knowledge t o give o u t that knowledge far mo re freely
than was necessary o r desirable in t he past O nly .

a s we beco me possessed o f t he knowledge can we

appreciate t he o bligation The further growt h o f

.

humanity to wards higher conditions o f being can only

be acco mplis hed by a humani ty co mprehending i t s
purpo se and potential destinies That level o f the .

Divine Hierarchy nearest to and i mmediately above

ordinary humanity has to watch over guide and , ,

pro mo te t he spiri tual growth o f that ordinary

humanity AS t hose ready for new co nditions
.

beco me more and more n umero us the work o f those ,

who link humanity wi t h t he hierarchy beco mes more

and more importan t and exacting The occu lt .

student generally refers to t hose who are t he links i n

questio n as t he Masters o f Wisdo m The title will .

serve for t he mo ment t ho ugh we may event ually adop t

,

a better Whatever name we u se t hey are t he

.
,

immediate agents o f Divinity in carrying o ut the

design in which t h is world and its inhabi tants p lay
a part and as time goes o n and they have more
, , ,

and more to do in a world ripening by degrees ,

t heir numbers must be recruited That can o nly be .

done as the more advanced claimants fo r spirit ua l

62 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hin g
enlightenment are mentally and morally cultivated .

The evo lution o f a humani ty in fact i s analogo us to , ,

t hat o f a S ingle entity I n childhoo d his gro wt h

. .

well being and educatio n depend o n o thers Teac hing

- .

gradually enables him to realize that his o wn wi ll

and e ffort must be bro ught into play to acco mplish
growth b eyond a certain stage His lat er development .

mus t depend upon himself So with h umanity at .

large The evo lutionary law works under lo ftier

.

guidance for a time ; but t he race canno t improve

beyond a certain s tage wi tho u t understanding its plac e
in N ature W itho ut realizing t he s ublime trut h that
,

i t mus t fo r its later development gui de its own

evo lution govern itself
, .

We are no w at an important turning point in the -

World s history even as the situation might be

,

co nsidered witho ut reference to t he enormo usly

S ignicant fact that t he super physical Powers o f -

Goo d and Evil are engaged in t he ercest struggle for

supremacy that has ever been waged in t he whole
history o f the So lar System The issue o f t hat .

s truggle i s n o t in do ub t Beyon d t he horrors o f t he

.

nal crisis there stretches t he assured vision o f a

beau tiful fut ure but its beauty wi ll be partly d ue to
,

t he continual expansion o f t he knowledge which

has been gradually po uring into o ur hands during the
last thirty o dd years t he ever growing appreciation
-
,
-

o f which is no less certain t han t he ultimate defeat

o f t he Satanic power hit herto directed among o ther ,

purpo ses to stie and impede i ts dissemination

,
.

That defeat acco mplished t he World s progress along

,

desirable paths will proceed with a rapidity for which

no previo us experience has prepare d us and t he ,

inuence o f that co mprehensiv e view o f N ature and

Divine truth that has hitherto been o ccult
veiled o r partially o bscured will permeate religio us

t hinking and soon lead to a reconstruction even o f t he

 R e ligi o n u nd e r R epai r 63

ort ho do x clerical presentatio n t hereo f so that there

,

will no longer be any inclination to regard t hat as

litter and dust o f t he past The unseen laws
.

governing the world and human evo lution t he con ,

scio us agencies thro ugh which they are administered ,

the higher realms o f life inti mately asso ciated with

the p hysical life on the Earth s s urface will all come

,

within the range o f human understanding in a n ear

future and wi ll brin g abo ut such a blend between
science and reli gio n t hat each will b e regarded as the
,

complement o f the o t her t he piety o f t he Church

no longer nonsense in the S ight o f Science and t he ,

critical insight o f Science no longer a terro r fo r a

Church which will lean o n i t fo r support .
REL I GI O N UN D E R RE PAI R : A R E PLY T O
PR O FESS O R LI N DSAY
E N DE A V O U R I N G to frame a crushing rej oinder to
my attemp t to S how that conventional religion is
badly in need o f rep air Pro fessor Lindsay wri ti ng
, ,

in the N i n eteen th Cen tu ry provided his readers wi th

,

so fair a summary o f i t s contents that he is e u

titled to my thanks fo r bringing t hese afresh to

t he no tice o f any among t hem who may have over
looked their rst presentation B ut in failing to
.

appreciate their importance he shows clearly how

minds untrained in the st udy o f N ature s sup er

phy sical mysteries are embarrassed wi th p rep o s

sessions p artly derived fro m medieval theo logy an d
partly fro m materialistic habits o f t ho ught prevalent
in t he last century Current t hinking meanwhile
.

has been deeply colo ured by t he recognition o f so me

capacities o f human cons cio usness that transcend the
physical senses There are s till many amongs t u s
.

who resent subtle discoveri es o utrunning t heir o wn

e x p e ri e n c e A W h a t they can t underst and they refuse
l

t o believe and must be left in the rear o f mental

,

progress But fo r thos e who do no t pro tect t heir

.

opinions by carefully guarding their ignorance so me ,

bro ad convictions at all events are gathering strength 1

, ,
.

Foremo st among these is the certainty that t here

are avenues to perceptio n over and above thos e pro
v i d e d by the p hysical senses . I f anyone now denies
t he possibility o f clairvoyance he do es no t express an
,

opinion ; he merely shows himself unacquainted wi th

certain develop ments o f scientic research Again .
,

while crowds o f blat ant assailants ab us e the multit udes

04
 R eligi o n un d e r R e pai r : A R epl y 65

who kn ow t hat they have to uch wit h conditions o f

human life following o n t he change called death dis

belief i n t hat matter where it exists i s merely due to

ignorance o f t he wo rk done in t hat department o f
research Those who challenge eit her o f t he state
.

ments j ust made are no t entitled to attack a writer

who takes them for granted The l itera ture dealing
.

wi th t hem i s abundant No one a ddressing intelligent

.

hearers concerning any fresh develo pment o f super

physical research can b e fairly called o n to waste h i s
time in going afresh over the rudimentary discoveri es
o f fty years ago A mo dern chemist writing abo ut
.
,

the ato mic weight o f thorium lead do es n o t include

-
,

in his essay an elaborate argument to S how that the

measurement o f atomic weight i s po ssible .

The stream of cri ticism Pro fessor Lindsay directs

agains t my exposi tion o f lately expanded teaching
concerning human and s uper human evo lutio n may-

be partly s ummed up in the question Ho w do yo u

know expressed in vario us phrases few o f whic h ,

o ffend goo d taste in t heir form B ut t he answer i s

.

embo died in the vario us books I have written in t he

last t hirty o dd years and I do not want to go over
-
,

all that gro und again I will s ummarize i t briey

.
,

recognizing this as by far t he most important question

that can b e put by anyone meeting wi th t he later
res ults o f o ccult research before having grown
familiar wi t h t he earlier achievements o f t hat great
undertaking B ut i n the rst instance I am tempted
.

to deal wi t h so me amusing obj ections levelled by t he

Professor against vario us assumption s I have
ventured to put forward as in n o n e e d o f elaborate .

proof .

My remark t hat o ccul t research anticipated many

o f the conclusions arising fro m the dis co very o f
radi um is twisted into a statement that i t anticipated
the discovery o f radium and treated wit h sarcasm
,
66 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g

accordingly The fact as I stated i t is simply

.
, ,

indisp utable to anyone who will take the tro uble to

read the boo k I referred to Occu l t Chem i stry an d , ,

o bserve t he date o f its p ublication I t is o bvio usly .

impossible to repeat t he contents o f t hat book here .

I t wi ll be fo und deeply signicant fo r all persons

intereste d in chemi cal science .

Pa n t h e i sm l There i s so me resemblance between

the true doctrine and the sp eculation going by that
name j us t a s there i s so me resemblance b etween
,

m etempsycho si s and reincarnation b ut also all t he ,

di fference that t here i s between a lump o f gold be aring -

quartz an d a nished go ld coin Spino za s pantheism .

absorbed Go d in Nature and left no Go d behi nd .

O ccult p ant heism recognizes N ature as an emanation

o f Go d , b ut also recognizes t he innite supreme , ,

Divine inco mprehensible Being o f o mnipot ent con

sc i o u sn ess which i s G o d a s losing nothing by i t s
, .

infusio n into mat ter Thus o ccult pant heism includes

.

Deism while clearing that conception o f its limitations -

.

I t is true that almost all t he nished mental pro ducts

o f mo dern o ccult research have been crudely antici

p ated in a great many early philo sophi es an d scrip

tures The splendo ur o f t heir mo dern presentatio n
.

i s due to t he extraction o f t he interior truth fro m the

ro ugh o re i t s re stat ement in terms of Western
-

s cientic thinking That i s t he answer to t he o b je c

.

tio n t hat my t heory i s as o l d as Gno sticism and ,

to t he so mewhat inane charge t hat my pretension s

to unfo ld a new and satisfying cosmi c world vi ew are -

S imply ridiculo us That which is ri diculo us is t he
.

s uggestion t hat in its present form with mo dern

s cientic precision and detail i t can be fo und either

in Gnos tic writings o r even in Sanscri t Upanis hads

,

wit h which by t he way o u r Pro fessor may no t b e

intimately acquainted as he refers vaguely to
Hindoo p hilo sophy That phrase might be
.
 '

68 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t Te a c h ing
materialistic science o f the las t century tha t Tho ught ,

is a force Again t hat is a statement t hat peo ple

.
,

ignorant o f all t hat h as been done in psychic research

during the last quarter o f the last cen tury will no t
understand and therefore will foolishly deny The
, , ,
.

inuence o f tho ught on future incarnations has been

elaborately traced in my o wn and o ther current bo oks .

I n truth i t determines t heir co urse And w hen .

,

understoo d reincarnation becomes no t only acceptable

,

but the only t hinkable m etho d o f carrying o n human

evolution So me people are frightened o f it because
.
,

they foo lishly i magine that i t means their o wn

indivi duality and conscio usness i mmersed i n a baby
form and miserable in s uch a condition Their
, .

conscio usness d u ring the baby perio d wi ll be on a

higher plane in ano ther vehicle They will no t e n ter .

t heir new bo dies t i l l these are mature far beyond t he

stage o f the nursery H o w can I co nvey a glimmer
.

o f t he truth in a few words The spiri tual entity o f

an a dvanced representative o f a highly ci vili z ed r a ce
may be older t han this world His or her incarnate .

personality in any given case may b e only a partial

, ,

incarnation There is a Hig h er Self t he part o f the

.
,

w ho le self o n a spiritual plane all t he while Clair

, .

voyants adeq u ately endowed can see the law at work

, ,
.

Mesmeri c practice wi ll o ften enable o n e to get to uch

thro ugh a personality wit h his o r her Higher Self ,

and t hus n o t merely verify its existence but acquire

vo lumino us information concerning t he conditions
o f t he sup er physical realms o f conscio usness belonging
-

to this world These beco me so familiar to t he

.

qualied o ccult investigator t hat current discussions

,

as to whet her they do really exist or no t are more

ludicro us in his sight t han the o utsi der who never
concerns himself with such inquiries can easily
i magine And students o f o ccultism will be even
.

m ore amused by t he Professor s criticism to the e ff e ct

 R e ligi o n u nd e r R epai r : A R epl y 69

t hat t heir studies thro w no light o n t he pro blems

o f life and conscio usness Their literat ure is sat urate d
.

wit h ethical teaching o f an exalted order which ,

bears o n every imaginable problem o f life and co n

soi o u sn e ss. So me Theosophical writers indeed are , ,

so do minated by the t ho ught t hat no thing matters

except the cultivation o f the lo ftiest moral virtues ,

t hat t hey are less interested in t he knowledge co n

cerning t h e previo usly hidden mysteries o f Nature
which i t has been m y special b usiness to unvei l as far
as possible To say t hat t he Higher O ccultism which
.
,

embraces o r includes Theosop hy do es no t concern ,

itself with moral pro blems wo uld be like saying t hat

,

t he branch o f s cience called Physics do es n o t concern

i tself wit h electrical pheno mena .

So now let me t urn to t he s upremely i mportant

question Pro fessor Lindsay p uts impressively wi t h

reference to a s tatemen t I made abo ut Venus and

Mercury Ho w does he know Quit e u n co n
sci o u sl y he answers his o wn questio n when intending ,

to be satirical he says :
, Mr Sinnet t wo uld appear
.

to have so urces o f informatio n no t generally avail

able . Precisely so I rst came into to uch with
.

t hose so urces o f in fo rmation in t he year 1 8 79 and a ,

year or two later wro te a book The Occu lt Wo rld , ,

fully detailing the Circumstances under which I o b

t ai n e d that to uch a n d so me o f t he intellect ual results
,

t hat ensued fro m i t That to uch has been maintained

.

to t he present day and i t i s hugely important t hat

,

t he consequent authenticity o f Theosophical and

O ccult te aching sho uld be properly appreciated .

Explanation o f t he reasons which le d many o f us to

trust t hem in the beginning and o f experiences co n
,

rming t hat trust in later years i s t hus d ue no t so ,

much to any casual critic exhibiting hostile i n

creduli ty as to the ever increasing multitudes who
,
-

are sympathetic a lly attracted to o ccul t teaching o n

70 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e ac hi n g
its o wn inherent merits Already the Theosophical .

Society which do es n o t by any means exhaustively

,

comprehend the vast movement o f Theosophical

t ho ught numbers according to last year s genera l
,
-

report 9 8 9 distinct branches or Lo dges all over

the world w it h members leavi ng enemy ,

co untries o u t of acco unt I n t he interest o f t hese .

-
n o w constituting the second generation o f Theo

sophical members for I am almo st t he only s urvivor

,

o f quite the rst generation as well as in the i n

t e re st o f t he far larger numbers w h o will assuredly

appreciate Theosophical teaching as time go es o n ,

i t is supremely desirable that t he actuality and nat ure

o f that O ccult World describ ed ( very imperfe c tly )

in my rst book sho uld be correctly realized All .

knowledge on which o u r welfare depends must be

constantly bro ught up t o date A conviction o nce .

denitely and j ustly established in the mind o u ght

never to fade b ut for many people s uch convictions
,

require to b e refreshed fro m time t o time So in .

,

reply to an inquiry which on i t s o wn merits alone

,

need n o t perhaps have claimed very earnest treatment ,

but m ay have a dull wi de echo if undealt with I

, ,

S hall venture to explain once more how I know

and what are my so urces o f information .

The grea t developments as far as t hey concerned ,

myself began in 1 8 79 and t ho ugh the Pro fessor

, , ,

thinks that Mme Blavatsky and t he Mahatmas a re

.

a little dem ode the events o f t hat perio d paved t he

way for supremely important results A s anyone .

who will read my rst boo k will se e Mme Blavatsky , .

exercised abnormal powers It is futile t o suggest .

that later o n sh e w as accused o f practising imposture .

These accusations related to events o ccurring long

after I left I ndia They are Scorned by t he multit udes
.

who still r everence her memory b ut it is no t my ,

business to deal wit h t hem The record o f her .

 R eligi o n un d e r R epai r : A R e ply 7 1

magical doings which I p ut forward has n ever b een

challenged Nor can it be challenged except o n
.

t he hypothesis that I am n o t t elling t he truth .

I f t hings o ccurred under t he circumstances I describe ,

no possible t heory can be framed to acco unt for them

except the theory that sh e exercised power o ver
forces o f nature as yet unknown t o science pro ducing ,

effects that were a deance o f co nventional b eliefs

relating to the natural laws governing matter No .

critics o f my story accus e me o f intentional falsehoo d .

They wo ul d be laughed at by t he large number who

know me if t hey di d They may accuse me o f having
.

been deceived b ut that accusation falls to the gro und

,

fo r all who read my records because if t hings hap , ,

pened as I describe them t here was no roo m fo r ,

deception That posi tion co uld only b e established

.

afresh by a tedio us recapitulation o f denite o ccur

ren e es and it is useless for critics to assail it unless
,

t hey will refer to the o riginal statements and show

how under t he ci rcumstances t here wa s roo m fo r
, ,

imposture For t he mo ment I must be conten t to

.

repeat that such showing i s impo ssible I was far .

more deeply interested at t he time than anyone can b e

now in eliminating fro m t he experiments I ma de all
,

possibility o f fraud .

Anyhow t he result was t hat I came to kn ow t hat

Mme Blavatsky exercised or was t he agent thro ugh
.
,

who m were exercised super normal powers That

,
-
.

made me inclined to listen to her statement as to how

such powers were o btained The statemen t was to .

t he e ffect t hat they were a relatively feeble reection

o f mightier po w ers and wi der knowledge po ssessed

by certain men who m sh e had personally known .

members o f a great Bro therhoo d representing a higher

stage o f human evo lution than had been attained by
t he foremo st even of tho se representing t he progre ss
o f scientic knowledge in t he op en world at large .
 C o ll e c te d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T e a c hing
7 2

This statement t ho ugh s triking a nd impressive did

, ,

no t seem to me incredible Why sho uld human .

perfectibili ty after cro ssing s uch gulfs as t hose which

separate o u r greatest exponents o f intellect ual evo l a
tion Faraday N ewto n Copernicus Pyt hagoras etc

, , , , .
,

etc fro m the man in t he street ( no t to speak o f t he

.

s avage ) why s ho u ld i t st 0 p s hort at t he stage re p re

,

s ented by t he names quo ted Nor was any mental

diffi culty invo lved in t he idea t hat still loftier stages
had to do wit h knowledg e and powers ensuing

from i t t hat could no t desirably be di ff us ed t hro ugh

t he world at large in its present stage o f development .

That is o bvio us and it acco unted for t he reserve and

,

s eclusio n o f the advanced Masters o f Wis do m o r , ,

to u se t he favo urite Eastern term the Mahatmas ,
.

When I began to write abo u t them S hallow minded ,

-

readers fastened o n a story which len t itself to derision ,

while more intelligent listeners in large numbers

began to think serio usly o f Theosop hy t he co m ,

prehensive term assigned t o the new views o f nat ural

p hilo sophy opening o u t before us .

Satised myself ( to go back to t he beginning ) t hat

t he exponents o f t he higher knowledge must e xist ,

I was eager to get into to uch wit h t hem an d su c ~

c e e de d First a pro tracted correspondence began

. .

Ho w did let ters pass between myself and unknown

correspondents in Himalayan seclusion ? By that
,

time I kn ew (se e The Occu lt World) that o ccult po wer

co uld transport p hysi cal o bj ects thro ugh space .

I fo und that the Master co uld take my letters

by means unfamiliar to t he po st co uld give me t he ,

answers in strange and unexpected ways B ut t he .

wonder o f t hi s grew gradually subordinate to

the i mportance o f the communications themselves .

Mo reover it was eclipsed by personal experiences o f

,

a super normal character t hat p ut me in closer t o uch

-

with the O ccult World than that established by th e

 R eligi o n u nd e r Repai r : A R epl y 73
correspondence I a m no w merely sketching t he
.

co urse o f events To describe them i n detail wo uld

.

mean re writing so me o f my books but t he sketch

-
,

will a t any rate suggest the nature o f tho se so urces

, ,

o f in formation w hich are within my reach t ho ugh ,

no t generally available And a mo men t s re
.

ec t i o n wi ll S how how reasonable it is to believe t hat

the Masters ( to use t he Western equivalent for t he
I ndian word Mahatma ) are able i f willing to give , ,

such information concerning t he o ther planets o f t he

So lar System and its general design as t hat which
I made u se o f in my former article for the N i n eteen th
1

Cen tu ry and in many books

, Co mmon knowledge .

here amongst us relating to the capacities o f o u r o wn

C lairvoyants ( t ho ugh t here are people claiming to be
cultured who remain abso lutely ignorant o f t hem )
shows us the way in which senses ner t han the
fa miliar ve wi ll reveal what is going o n at great
p hysical distances Developed by Masters o f super
.

p hysical science is it surprising t hat t hey sho uld re a ch

ou t to o ther worlds o f o ur system ?
Again amongst us everyo ne fo llowing t he progress
,

of modern psychic research will know that i t i s

possible for t he conscio usness ( So ul Ego call it what , ,

yo u like ) to pass o ut o f the physical bo dy fo r a time

d uring life to bi d a co nscio us goo d bye to t he
,
-

physical bo dy left asleep and ro am the spaces o f t he

,

astral world i m mediately aro und us brin ging ,

back recollectio n o f s uch excursions when resuming

the use o f the physical bo dy And during such .

excursions i t may be possible for t hose p ermi tted , ,

to have speec h with Masters a s well as with lesser ,

human entities who have gone t hro ugh t he change

called deat h and thus learn lessons o f priceless
,

interest .

Se e N i n eteen th C en tu ry an d Af te r Se t e m
, p b
er 1 9 1 7, pp .
5 36 ,
 C oll ec t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T e a c hing
74 .

There are indeed o th er ways o f gathering in s uch

teaching an d t hese have been to some extent at my
,

service S ince t he far away days o f t he beginning t hat -

I have been describing up t o t he present time I am ,

.

n o w in a position to deal much more denitely t han ,

t hen with the functions o f t he Masters in co nnection

,

wit h the government o f the world and o f the st u p en

do us Divine Hierarchy to which t hey belong .

Vast numbers among us are ripe n o w to appreciate

this revelatio n t ho ugh o ther vas t numbers are s till
,

intellectually cramped by conventi onal prej udice

fro m which t hey canno t escape and i t i s to t ho se ,

thus rip e t hat I venture to address what remains t o

be sai d rather t han to assailants impatient wit h t he
,

disturbance o f their cherished limitations .

The condi tion d e scri b e d a s Mastership can o nly be

attained by the sanction o f still higher authority ,

when the mo ral and spiritual evolution of the being

i n question has reached a condition which I have
described in an earlier writing a s follows :
W he n h e is i n a p it i
h l proc s on whi ch
os on to su r e y v th e w o e es

th h m
e u f m ily i s l
an ah d from i t s b gi i g i t h e r m ot
au n c e , e nn n n e e

p a t t o i ts c cl si i t h l m t i mm as r bl y dista t f t r ;
s on u on n e a os e u a n u u e

wh ll t h
en a t r l l aw
e na ud f orc s whi ch p l y r
a d i t l i wi t hi
s an e a ou n e n

hi co m p r h
s i o a d g r sp wh t h r t hey re Ope rat i v o t h
e en s n n a , e e a e n e

p hysi a l p l wi t h i t w d rf l om pl xi ty of m ol cu l s a d
c an e s on e u c e e e n

forc or n t ho o t h r p l s i vi i bl t o ordi ary sight whi ch

e s, o se e an e n s e n

i t rp tr t i t or s rro d i t d r m or b wild ri g i t h ir
n e en e a e u un an a e e e e n n e

co m p l x i t y st ill ; wh
e ll th m y i d ig m f g o o d a d e v il
en a e r a en as o n ,

of si d orr w
n an d h p
s r r so l v d i t o i t llig b l e m e
o , an o e, a e i g e e n n e i an n ,

an d it h r t h
ne th b l w
e th
e e ar h v ab o v e o r lif ,
or n or e ea en s e, n o e, n

d t h h ld y iddl f m h i
ea , o an rd t di g t h A d p t i s
es ro s un e rs a n n , e e

q a li d t
u e tt i th o l r k i t h v t con c t ti o o f
a a n e na an n e as a ena n

p og s w h v b s rv y i g
r re s e a e e en u e n .

Concurrently with the a dvance in knowledge and

power t hus suggested the Master has been correctly ,

described by anot her writer a s necessarily endowed

with perfect compassion an absolutely seless ,

d evo tion to t he welfare o f all sentient beings an d ,

7 6 C o ll e c te d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T ea c hi n g
in an East ern as o ften in a Wes t ern incarnation H e .

belongs to t he World "n o t to any single section o f its

people however large t hat section may be
, .

The main i dea in rela tion to the Masters t hat I want

to enforce is t his : t hey belong to the Divine Hierarchy
t hat presides over t he evolution o f mankind a n d as ,

regards their work in guiding human progress as ,

denitely as t hey are able are absolutely at o n e i n , ,

t hought and intention with t he s till higher agents in

,

that s ublime hi erarchy They may n o t always nd .

i t possible to steer humanity exactly as they wo uld

wish We in this life collectively constit ute a craft
.
, ,

that o ften fails to answer to t he h elm And as I .

,

endeavo ured to explain in a former article entitled

1
O ur Unseen Enemies and Allies we are terri bly ,

mixed up wi th inimical agencies bent upon interfering

with t he Di vine purpo se at every availa ble O pp o r
t u n ity I f i t were no t for the ceaseless untiring
.
,

e fforts o f o u r unknown pro tectors to s hield u s fro m

t he consequences o f s uch attacks t he civiliza tio n o f ,

the world the furt her evo lution o f t he whole hu ma n

,

race i ndeed wo uld be utterly wrecked

, ,
.

For vario us reasons i t is highly desirable t hat t he

world s ho uld understand t his The services th e .

Masters render us in harmony with t he inuence o f

,

t he whole hierarchy to which they b elong wo uld b e ,

rendered j u st as zealo usly however ignorant we ,

might be o f t he benets conferred upon us Divine .

agents do no t work fo r reward B ut i f the matter is .

rightly understoo d i t wi ll be seen that we are t he

people who wo uld be richly rewarded if we became ,

cognizant o f t he benets conferred and were so to , ,

speak grateful accordingly I t is true indeed that

, .
, ,

if such gratitu d e were wi dely felt and asso ciat ed wi t h

clear co mprehension o f t he way in which o u r Elde r
Brethren t he Unseen Masters are struggling on s up er
, ,

1
Se e N i n e teen th C en tu ry an d Af ter, Oc tobe r, 191 5 .
 R eligi o n u nd e r R epa i r : A R epl y 77
physical planes wi th t he Powers of Evi l o n o ur behalf ,

t hey wo uld in a certain degree be strengthened in t he

struggle t hey are carrying on Success do es no t
.

depend o n such reinfo rcement o f strengt h ; that is

certain an d assured but the duration o f the struggle
, ,

o n which the duratio n o f the War depends might be ,

t o so me extent a ff ected in the way above described .

Meanwhile t he more s ubtle reward we S ho uld secure

by gratefully appreciating the pro tection a fforded us
has to do wit h a law o f Nature familiar to t he o ccultist ,

and o f growing importance to humanity as evo lution

pro ceeds Spiritual help o f t he kind a ffecting t he
.

spiritual welfare and progress o f each human unit

can only be rendered by higher beings in response to
aspiration fro m the level o f this life We must look .

up in order that t hey may loo k down in t he manner

, ,

affecting indi vidual progress The progress o f the

.

world collectively will go o n anyhow when t he , ,

terrible crisis thro ugh which i t is passing is o ver b e ,

cause so me o f us will a ssuredly be loo king up and ,

t hese in t he co urse o f time will drag o n t he rest I n .

that way the evo lution and progress o f the race as a ,

who le i s provi ded fo r b ut i t will be appreciably

, ,

accelerated if those w ho loo k up in t he way described

, ,

beco me appreciably more numero us than t he mere

laws o f average wo uld ensure And the acceleratio n of
.

pro gress as regards the upward lookers t hemselves

,
-
,

might be more remarkable t han t hey can readily

i magine No t indeed t hat such a spirit ually sels h
.

mo tive o ught to be mainly operative i n bringing abo ut

the state o f feeling t hat sho uld prevail Fro m t he .

point o f view o f t he mere o ccult student o n t his p lane

o f life i t is disgusting t hat t he great multit ude
,

aro und us s ho uld be so to speak sopping up the

, ,

benets conferred upon t hem by the Masters co l

l e ct i v e ly and failing even to feel decently t hankful .

Any Master who may take cogni zance o f t his t hat

 8 C oll e c te d F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e ac hing
7
I am writing wo uld I fanc y laugh at t he no tion t h a t , ,

t hey co uld be supposed to want gratit ude but none ,

the less all that I have written above holds goo d and ,

anyhow I know that t hey are eager to help all who

are ready to be helped and t herefore are more t h an ,

pleased when such help is conscio usly invoked At .

earlier stages o f t he world s growth they had to

remain concealed ure

.

chambers o f the Church a who tri ed t o

pro clai m any faith no bler priests .

The Masters had to bide t

eir time
has no w It s religio us

tho ught the Sublime

realities and t he dangers o f

allo wing free fro m medieval
have at e negligible .

A goo d deal in advance o f the mo dern o ccult

development a boo k called A Su ggesti ve In qu i ry i n to
,

th e H erm eti c My stery published fty years ago , ,

gave o u t so me information abo ut alchemy ( the

o ccultism o f t he Middle Ages ) that some devo tees o f
t ha t study at t he time tho ught dangero usly frank .

The author answers the criticism by anticipation in

words which I wi ll leave in conclusion as applicable , ,

also to such explanations as i t has been my privilege

to p ut fo rward :
If we h av b e ee n f re e in ou r e xp i t i os on s th e Sp i i t w
r a s n ot th e
m ore re c kl b e ss, ut b
h ld f ig or ce ar lr ad y
e ca u se t h e t h re s o s o n an e a e

o v rp st
e a Th y r
. ll w i d l o wh w r f rm rl y
e a e a no n c re u us o e e o e

dr d d i t h ir b li f d d t h t f g rdi hip w l v
'

ea e n e e e , an un er a sa e ua an s e ea e

t h m h pp ily s p i
e a i th v i t i t h t o r c d t will
u ne n e c on c on a u on uc

ne i t h r b t tr t iv
e e a i t lligibl m ch l pr t i cally s f l
ac e n or n e e, u e ss ac u e u ,

t o th pro f e m l t i t d o f m ki d
e an u u e an n .
 TH E O CC ULT I SM I N TEN N YS O N S P O ETRY

A FEW among t he great host o f his devo tees who ,

besides appreciating t he varied beauties o f Tennyso n s

po etry are in to uch wit h mo dern developments o f the

,

Higher O ccultism wi ll be a liVe t o the signicance

,

o f so me hints scattered thro ugh his writings S ho wing

h o w he in advance o f mo dern developments intuitively

, ,

divined so me important principles now emerging from

o bscurity into the light Even highly cultured and
.

appreciative readers unless also students o f o ccultism

, ,

may pass them by unno ticed Sir Alfred Lyall for .

,

example in his generally admirable survey o f Tenny

,

son s work contributed to t he seri es o f Englis h Men

,

o f Letters
t
o verlooks so me glaring hints o f the kind
,

in questio n while act ually d ealing with the mere

,

literary charm o f o n e po em mainly devo ted to t he

presentatio n o f occult i deas .

Th e elucidation of t he passages t hus hinting at

hitherto hi dden mysteries o f spiritual Nature i s t he
purpose o f t he present article b ut i t must no t be held ,

to imply t hat the writer s eeks t o enro l Tennyso n in t he

ranks o f pro fessed o ccultists O f co urse the splendo ur
.
,

o f his geni us s hone chie fl y in his treatment o f p urely

human emo tion And we who have passed thro ugh

.
,

life S ide by side with the po eti c stream o f h is creation

t hat owed thro ugh the greater part o f t he last
century have der ived o u r mo st intense plea sure fro m
,

the perfection o f his earli er verse apart fro m t he beauty ,

o f t he tho ught s i t co nveyed Then came the Idy l ls .

of th e Ki n g in their stately magnic e nce bu t they ,

have no t hing to do with o ccultism A truly great .

79
80 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T ea c hing
poet can never be a specialist in any one vein o f
creation tho ugh in whatever vein he i s follo wing
, ,

Tennyson seems fo r th e mo ment t o b e a specialist

i n tha t The La dy of Sha lo tt The D ay Drea m The
.
, ,

Lo tos Ea ters and many o thers o f that perio d s urp ass

-
, ,

in their musi cal charm any previo us verse in En gli sh

literature tho ugh Byron and Moore so metimes
,

to uched the same level And the way in which .

Locksley H a ll might be criticized like H a m le t as , ,

full o f quo ta tions S hows how Tennyson was a

,

speci alist among poet s in coining phrases that linger

in universal memory while t he Idy l ls of the Ki n g lead
,

so me o f us to forget that the supreme master o f

blank verse was equally unrivalled in dealing with
rhyme . B ut aft er all however highly we may ,

appreciate his art that merely renders t he s urface

,

worthy o f the s ubstance o f his po etry .

So much in advance t o show that t he interest so me

o f us may take in the ashes o f o ccult inspiration t o

be discerned in Tennyson s poems need n o t separate

us fro m t he sympat hy o f worshippers who live in a

more familiar a tmosphere No r from the point o f .

view o f o ccult students who have proted by the oo d ,

o f light let in o f late o n mysteries previo usly o bscure ,

wi ll the ashes in question S how that Te nnyson w as

completely in possession of knowledge which humbler
mortals a t the present day are inheriting wi tho ut an
e ffort I ndeed innumerable allusions t o death and
.
,

t he hereafter in In Mem ori a m are h ardly tinged with

i

any philo sophy deep er than ordinary religio us feeling ,

and in The Two Vo i ces t he seco nd voi ce which sweep s ,

away the comfortless reasoning o f the rst o ff ers ,

merely
A li t t l e hi t t o sol ce W o
n a e

A hi t a whi p r b re t hi g
n ,
s e a n l ow,

a mere hidden hope An d yet th e same poem .

contains a passage that might almo st be reckon ed

 81

Th e O cc u l t i sm in Te nn yso n s P o e tr y
among the ashes o f inspira tion suggesting the theory ,

o f life now reduced to a scientic shape and gradually ,

winning consent in all directions the doctrine o f

I ca n n o t ma k t hi
m a tt e r a n e s pl i ,

Bu t I wo u s oo t ld h
owe e r i n a , h
v i n ,

A ra n d o m a rrow ro m t h e ra n f b i .

It m ay b e t at n o h
e i s ou n , lif f d
h h gi b d
l
W i c o n y t o on e e n n e ou n
F ll l l d
a s o ff, b u t c y c e s a way s ro u n .

A ol d m y t h ol o gi s r l at
s e e e,

S m d ra ght o f L t h m ight aw i t
o e u e e a

T h sli pp i g t hro f m st t t o st at

e n ro a e e .

A h re we n d i t r c s m e
s e n an e , n

Forg t t h dr m t hat h pp s t h n
e e ea a en e ,

U t il t h y f ll i t r
n e g ai a n an ce a n .

I need no t exp and the quo tation The po em fro m .

which i t co mes will be familiar to all Tennysonian

enthusiasts and t he passage to which I call attentio n
,

embo dies a t ho ught far more fully treated in later

utterances ; b ut b efore dealing wit h them i t is wort h
while to turn back to o n e o f his very earliest fragments
entitled The My sti c written when Tennyso n co uld no t
,

have been more than s eventeen and to be fo und I , ,

think in o n e edition o f the P oems by Two Brothe rs

, .

I t begins
An g l s h av
e e ta l k d wi t h hi m
e an d Sh o wn h im t hron e s,

Ye k n ew him n ot , h e was n ot o n e o f ye ,
Ye sc orn e d
h i m wi t a n u n i sce rn n scorn h d i g ,

Ye c ou ld n o t re a d
t h e m a r e i n h i s e ye , vl
Th e s t i ll s e re n e a b st ra ct o n i he h at h f l t e .

Skipping a great deal to the same general e ffect ,

co me to the nal lines which are as fo llows ,

H ow ld ye k ow h i m Y we e ye t wi t hi
co u n e r n

Th e narro w r ci rcl e : h e h a d we ll n i gh r he d e -
e ac

Th l a t whi ch wi t h a re gi n o f wh i te m e
e s o a

Pu re wi t h t h eat i t o l g e r a i r
ou n a ar

U pb i g d
u rn n t h r o f b l ck b l
an an e e a ue

In ve st t h a d
e gird s all o t he r li v s
n en e .
82 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
As far as the form o f t his poem is co ncerned we
need n o t trace any o f the lines t ho ugh so me o f t hem
,

are dignied and worthy o f the s ubj ect to anything ,

in the nature o f verbal inspiratio n As the Mem o i r .

by h i s so n S hows us Tennyson wro t e verse when he

,

was o nly eight years o ld and the Memo i r gives us

,

so m e fairly long and harmonio us examples o f his

boyhoo d s work never published during his life written

, ,

when he was fo urteen o r fteen Everyone fami liar .

with the principle o f Reincarnatio n will readily under

s tand that so great a po et as Tenn yso n must have
been a poet already in former lives and co uld n o t ,

but bring over t he capacity for poetic expressio n so ,

t hat inspiration merely conveying an idea co uld

, ,

rely o n the new personality to clothe it in appropriate

language Thus altho ugh t he i deas underlying The
.
,

My sti c can hardly be regarded a s originating in t he .

mind o f a boy o f seventeen t he words conveying them

,

may have been entirely his o wn .

The description o f The My sti c is no t appropriate

to any o n e o n the ordinary plane o f life to who m that
term might apply Writers o n the phi losophical
.

system generally called Mysticism are Mystics
in o n e sense but may n o t have any characteristics
,

resembling tho se describ e d in t he po em Tho se are .

t he characteristics which wit h o thers belong to the

highly evo lved Elder Brethren o f the human race
-
n o w generally spoken o f as t he Masters o f Wisdom ,

o f who m -
since th ey themselves have communicated
more freely than in former times with the ordinary
plan e o f life we have come t o kno w a goo d deal

.

That they inspire many mo dern writers with ideas

for them to work up in the progress o f literature art , ,

and science is no w cle arly re ali ze d by their p upils

~

in o ccultism Conventional thinking has hitherto

.

made a t once too much and t o o little o f inspiration .

I t h a s been co nceived as only o f very rare o ccurrence

 84 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e ac h i n g
a deep an d s upremely important i dea concerning the
nature o f conscio usness This is o n e o f t he latest
.

developments o f advanced o ccult teaching Co n .

sci o u sn e ss that s upreme mystery that ba ffl es al l

physiological research is uniform in its character

t hro ugho ut all manifestations o f life There is o nly .

o n e kin d o f conscio usness : t hat o f human beings and

o f the animal creation i s the same t hro ugho ut I ts .

e ff ective value depends o n t he vehicle in which i t is

working I n the bo dy of an animal i t i s s ubj ect to
.

extreme limitations I n the bo dy o f a man it h a s

.

greatly expanded capacities I n the vehicles o f .

conscio usness belonging to higher planes i t nds thes e

capacities again expanded to an extent which ordinary
humanity at the average s tage reached in this world
,

at t he present time canno t even grasp in imagination

,
.

At every s tage of the pro cess t he same law works .

Any given volume o f conscio usness wi thin any given

vehicle gradually beco ming an indivi duality estab
, ,

lishes a claim o n N ature for an improved vehicle by ,

making t he b est po ssible use o f the o n e i t has go t .

Make i t as clean as yo u can and then I wi ll let ,

y o u a better .

We can understand the la w best by concentrating

attention o n humanity at rst The man at an early .

stage o f his progress canno t ascend to great heights

o f achievement H e may be t fo r little mo re than
.

t he ro ugher manual work o f p hysi cal life But b eing .

by that time a man he has i f only a glimmering

,

perception o f the di fference between right and wrong .

H e follows t he guidance of this perception H e makes .

the vehicle o f h i s conscio usness ( which i s himself)

as clean as he can I n his next incarnation he
.

infallibly acquires a better Thus the verse above .

quoted among o ther i deas clearly recognizes t he

, ,

principle o f Reincarnation which Tennyson evidently ,

accepted without reser v e and w orked w it h continually .

 Th e O c c u l t i sm in T e nn yso n s P o e try 85

I n t he Mem oi r of A lfred Lord Ten n y son by his so n ,

we are to ld that he left a No te to Section xliii o f .

In Mem ori a m which runs a s fo llows ,

i mm diat lif aft r d t h b o l y sle p a d t h S p i it

I f th e e e e e ea e n e , n e r

b tw t hi lif d t h xt sho ld b e fold d li k a fl ow r i a

e een s e an e ne u e e e n

night l m b r t h t h r m e m br c o f t h l ast i ght r m ain s

s u e , en e e an e e n e

as th sm lle d co l o r d o i t h sl e p i g owe r a d i t h at ca
e an u n e e n , n n se

th m m ory o f o r l ov wo ld l ast s t r
e e u d wo ld li v p r
e u a ue an u e u e

a d w ho l
n wi t hi t h S p iri t o f m y fri e d
e n t il a ft e r i t was
e n un un

folde d t t h br aki g of t h m om wh t h S l p was o v r

a e e n e en e ee e .

I n writing t his Tennyson was evidently co n ce n t ra t

ing tho ught o n t he i dea o f rebirt h and t he recovery o f
the love relations o f the previo us life Even if t he
-
.

intervening perio d were merely a sleep the true Ego

would reappear in the awakening life The more .

scientic view o f reincarnation o f co urse while ,

condently recognizing that i dea realizes the

immense importance o f the intervening life on higher

planes Sometimes indeed if the Ego i s at a humble
.
, ,

stage o f its expansio n t he intervening perio d tho ugh , ,

restful and happy is little better than a blissful sleep

,
.

I n o thers i t a ff ords magnicent opportunities for t he

cultivatio n of intellectual o r artistic capacity True .
,

s uch growth can o nly take place a s a consequence

o f so me e ffective s eed o f aspiration o r e ff ort sown

in the previo us p hysical life b ut even minute seeds ,

o f that nature are nuclei fro m which splendid co u se

qu e n c es may ensue witho ut in any way interfering ,

wit h the reviva l o f o ld loves and even minor friend

ships dating back to the p ast The disregard o f this .

important aspect o f t he s ubj ect Operates to render

the i dea o f reincarnatio n unattractive to peo ple who
understand it imperfectly They t hink o f themselves .

beginning a new life all alo ne as i t were This is a .

ri diculo us misapprehension o f t he natural law A .

moment s tho ught sho uld S ho w t hat probability points

to the idea t hat generations living abo ut the sam e

86 C oll e c t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T e ac h ing
time wi ll o n the av erage ge t thro ugh t heir i nter
b

v en i n g lives on hig her planes and be ready for ,

reincarna tion at abo u t the same time later o n Where .

personal ties o f love o r even less powerful a fnities

asso ciate Ego s together t heir return together b eco mes ,

a m atter o f certainty Adequately trained cl airvo y .

ance is equal t o t he t ask of verifying that principle ,

and tracing back even t hro ugh ages in t he past t he

, ,

former lives o f living people .

Whenever genuine mutual a ffectio n unites peo p le

o n this plane of e alwa have
been in a ff ection also .

There may have

t e l l ec t u al growt h
the ingenuity of t
th
ated
Karma the convenient term whi ch embraces

,

among o ther meanings t he necessity t hat moral ,

causes engendered in o n e life shall reap t heir appro

p ri a t e Consequences in lives o f later date .

No w let us turn to t he last verse o f t he bri ef poem ,

o f which the rst has been quoted above

I h v a e cli mb d t o t h e

sn o ws o f Age , an d I ga ze a t a ld i
e n th e
P ast ,

W he re I sa n k wi t h t h b dy e o at t i m es i n t h l ghs of a l ow
e s ou

d sir e e,

B t I h ar n o y l p o f t h be a st a d t h e M
u e e i q i e t a t l ast
e , n an s u

As h t ds on t h h ight s o f h i s lif wi t h gli m pse of

e s an e e e a a

h ight t hat i high r

e s e .

The last few words o f the last line a glimpse of a

height that is higher hint unmistakably at the
sublime possibilities o f Initiation There is no .

nali ty in the v ast pro cess o f human evo lution but ,

there are recognizable stages The perfe c t Man has .

re a ched o n e o f these stages from whi ch he looks ,

forward to spiritual attainment tr anscending any

condition that can be limited by the term h umanity .
 Th e O ccu l t i sm in T e n n yso n s P o e try
87

I need no t a ttemp t to elaborate t hat idea ; bu t we

shall see reason to believe that t he poet knew more
o f t he height that is higher t han he fo und it possible

to put into words .

The law under which Divine conscio usness in

humani ty seeks and secures better and better vehic l es
operates also thro ughou t the lower kingdo ms I t i s .

n o t easily traced through an i mal and veget able mani

fe st at i o n s but even faintly understoo d i t i lluminates

,

the whole doctrine o f E volution O ccult students .

a t o n e time were i nclined to nd fault with t he

Darwinian presentation o f the idea as ignoring t he ,

evolution o f conscio usness going o n concurrently

with the evolution o f form We see now t hat t he .

evolu tion of form denes the evolution o f conscio us

n ess Conscio usness i s very far fro m b eing a mere
.

attrib ute o f t he form as so me materialisti c scientists

,

Of t he last cent u ry imagined but t he expression o f its ,

innite capacities depends on t he form in which it is

working This view o f t he s ubj ect is worthy o f
.

protracted treatment ; but t here are o ther po ems t hat

claim examination .

A little fragment merely two verses enti tled The

Ma ki n g of Ma n is well wort h a ttention b ut do es no t

, ,

do more than reiterat e so me o f the ideas in the verses

las t discussed I t recognizes t he nature o f t he tiger
.

and the ape as necessarily mani festing in humani ty

at rst but ,

Pro ph e t -e y e s m ay h a gl ory sl owly g a in i g o t h shad

ca t c n n e e,

T ill t h e pe op l s ll r
e a d ll t he ir v o i ce s b l
a e on e an a d i n c h ori c en

H a ll l u j
e a h t o t h M ak r It i i he d M i s m a d
e e s n s . an e .

We may now t urn to the poem which is the fullest

expression o f o ccult inspiratio n among all that suggest
that origin The A n ci en t Sag e This indeed i n

.
, ,

e ludes evi dence sho wing that Tennyson in his o wn

conscio usness had attained to denite knowledge

8 8 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hing
rela ting to spiritual conditions far transcending those
fam iliar to t he average humanity o f o u r perio d The .

A n c i en t Sage was p ublished in the vo lume entitle d

Tiresias and o ther Po ems j ust preceding the latest ,

o f all Demeter an d o ther Po ems The Sage .
,

o bv io usly a Master o f Wisdo m criticises a scroll ,

by a yo ung companio n who has embo died scepti cal ,

almos t materialisti c views in very graceful verse

,
.

The s cro ll recognizes that the earth is fair in hue ,

B u t m a n t o d a y i s a n cy s-
f
foo l
A s m a n at e e r e e n h h v b .

Th e n am e e ss l P owe r , or P owe rs t , h a t ru e l
W e re ne v h
er ea r d or se e n .

The Mas ter co mments on t his

I f t hou wou ldst he ar t h e Na m e l e ss , an d w t il di ve
I n t o t h e Te m pl e ca v e o f t hi n e o wn
-
se lf ,

Th r bro di g b y t h c t a l a l t r
e e, o n e en r a , t ho u

M y st haply l ar t h Nam l s h t h a vo ic
a e n e e e s a e,

B y whi ch t h o w il t b id if t ho b wi
u a e, u e se .

Th e scroll still quarrels wit h t he mystery .

An d i
s n ce from wh en t hi s e art h be g a n

Th e N a m l ss v
e e ne e r cam e

A m on g u s, n e v er s p k a w t m an
e ih ,

An d ne v er n a me d t h e Na me .

An d the Sage answers w ith almost the bes t passage

in t he who le poem :
T ho u c an st n o t p ro v th N m l O my
e e a e e ss, so n ,

N9 1 c an s t th p ou ro v t h w ld t h m t i
e e or ou ov e s n,

T ho u can s t t p no ro v th t th
e t b dy l
a ou ar o a on e,

N or c a n s t th p ou ro v th t th
e a t Sp i i t l o u ar r a on e ,

N or ca n s t th p ou ro v th t th
e a t b th i o u ar o n on e

T ho u ca n s t t p no ro v th
e t i mm t l
ou a r or a , n o,

N or ye t t h at t ho u a rt m o rt a l
n ay my so n ,

T ho u can st n o tp v t h t I wh S p k wi t h t h
ro e a , o ea ee ,

Am no t t hy lf i se v wi t h t hy lf
n co n e rse se ,

For n o t hi g w t h y p v i g
n or b p v ro n can e ro en ,

Nor y e t d i sPro v e n : w h e re o ref t ho u be w ise ,

C l e ave e v er t o th e i
su n n e r s id e of do bt u ,

An d c li g t o F it h b
n a e yon d t h e form s o f Fai t h
 Th e O c c u l t i s m in T e nn yso n s P o etry
89

After a passage in the scroll relating to t he darkness

an d miseries o f life t he Sage replies ,

Wh o k h
b u t t a t t h e a r n e ss i s i n ma n
n o ws d k
d
Th e o ors o f N igh
t m ay b e t h e at e s o f L t; g igh
h b
For we rt t ou orn o r n or ea an d t en bli d d f , h
Su dd
enl y h ld
ea

h ow wou st t ou ory i n a ll
, ld h gl
Th e S pl d
e n ou rs a n d t h e o c e s o f t h e wo r vi ld
And t his leads up to t he most striking passage in the
po em in which t he Sage i n t his case Tennyson him
,

self go t o ut o f t he bo dy to use a p hrase familiar

,

to o ccult students by adopting a metho d with which ,

t hey are quite familiar This consists o f self induced .

-

hypno tism bro ught o n by repeating alo ne and alo ud

o ne s o wn name

The repetitions may have to be .

very numero us running perhaps into hundreds and

, ,

even t hen the e ffort may be futile unless t he person

making i t has so me psychic po tentialities in his
nat ure But granting that last condition i t is an
.
,

e ff ective pro cess and o n e which Tennyson seems to

,

have been almost in the habit o f using His reference .

to i t in t he poem before us is as fo llows

for m ore t h an o n c e w h en I
l v lvi g
Sa t a l l a o n e , re o n lf
i n m yse
d h bl
Th e wor t a t i s t h e sy m o o f m y se lf ,

Th e m ortal li i lf l
m t o f t h e Se wa s o ose d ,

A d p st i t o t h N m l s
n a n cl d e a e e s, a s a ou

M lt i t H v
e s n o I t o h d m y li m b t h e li m b
ea en . uc e s, s

W r str g ot mi n
e e an d y t o sh d o f d o b t
e n e an e n a e u ,

B t tt r l ar d t h ro l o of S e lf

u u e c e n e ss, an ss

Th ga i of su h l rg lif as m t ch d wi t h ours

e n c a e e a

W re S n t o p ark
e u sha d o wa b l e i
s words
un n ,

Th m l v e s b u t sh a d ows o f a sh a d ow wo ld
e se r .

I canno t i dentify any o ther allusion in the who le

'
range o f Tennyson s po etry that directly relates to
experiences o f t his nat ure b ut in t he Me moi r his ,

Son tells us that

in so m e gp h a se s o f t o u h ght an d fe e li n g h is id lism t n de d m or
ea e e

d ec i de dl y_t o_m y st i ci sm . H e wrot e : A ki d of w ki n g tra ce

n a n
 C oll ec t e d F r u i t s O ccu l t T e a c h ing of
9 0

I hav fr q t ly he e uen a d q it p f m b yh d wh
u e u Ih v b ro o oo en a e ee n

a ll l o eaThis h s n . a g lly m p m t h gh p ti
e n e ra co e u on e ro u re ea ng

my own n am e tw o or th ti m t m y lf S il t l y t ill ll
re e es o se en , a at

o n ce , a s i t we re i t y o f t h e co i o sn ss o f i di
ou t o f th e i n te n s n sc u e n

vi d li ty t h
ua i di vid li ty i t s lf s e m d t o dissol ve a d f d
, e n ua e e e n a e

aw y i t o b ou dl ss be i g
a n d t hi s ot a c o f
n e d sta t b u t t h e n , an n n u se e

cl e t of th e
ea r s l ar st t h s r t of t h r st t h e w ird st o f
c e e , e u es e su e , e e

th w ird st u tt rly b y o d w ord w h r d e at h wa s a n a l m o t

e e e , e e n s, e e s

l gh bl i m p ossib ility t h l o s o f p r o li t y (if o i t we r )

au a e , e s e s na s e

s m i g n o x t i ct i o b t t h e o l y t r e lif 1 Thi m ight b e sa id

ee n e n n u n u e s

t o b t h e st at whi ch St P a l d scri be s
e e W h e t he r i t h e b ody I . u e , n

ca o t t ll
nn o r wh t h o t o f th
e , bo dy I ca ot t l l " H e er u e nn e

e

co t i n d I m h m d of m y f bl d scri pt i o H v I
n ue : a as a e ee e e n . a e

n ot id t h e t t e i s t t rly b y o d word s B t i a m om e t
sa s a u e e n u n n

wh I co m b ck t o my n o m l t at e of sa i ty I a m re d y t o
en e a r a s n a

ght form i li b I h d h old t h t i t will l ast for a on s of a o s

e n e es c an a e e n .

I th s me w y h
n e a id t hat t h re m ight b e a m ore i ti m t e
a e sa e n a

c om m i o t h w co ld d m o f be tw t h e li vi g a d th e
un n an e u re a e en n n

d a d t a ll v t for t i m
e , a e en s a e .

So the spirit ualists may fairly claim Tennysonian

sanction for t he fundamental principle o f their belief ,

which indeed is quit e in harmony with t he vi ews

o f advanced o ccult students t ho ugh so me o f early ,

date were misled into a needlessly hostile mistrus t

o f the system apt in so me cases to be i tself rather ,

misleading but which as bro adly designed to ass ure ,

a worl d drifting at o n e ti me into materialis m t hat

t here is another life after this and so o u was a ,

genero us gift to civi lizatio n fro m levels o f higher

wisdo m .

Readers o f t he Mem oi r wi ll derive fro m a very ,

unexp ected so urce conrmation o f the fact that ,

Tennyso n made frequent u se o f t he rep eated n a me -

metho d o f attaining spiritual illumination I t appears .

that the author asked Pro fessor Tyn dall to make some
contrib ution to the work in hand I n the co urse of .

a long answer he says

I l ok d
o e up th e a c co u n t my rst
of vi its t o Fa rri n gford, an d

t h e re t o my p f ro o u n d a st o n i sh m e n t I f o d d scri b d t h
un e e at

e xp i e r e n ce of y ou r f t he r s w hi ch
a

,
i n th e m o t h f t h A ci e
u o e n n t
 9 2 C oll ec t e d Fri1i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
reaso n i t wo uld pro bably be rep eated for no deni t e
reason I f p uried t ho ught preceded its avoi dance
.
,

t he cure wo uld be p ermanent .

I t is needless to carry o n further the search for

o ccult allusions in Tennyson s po etry
Fai n t er hints
.
,

in t he order o f t ho se already quo ted might be po in ted

,

out in po ems less deni tely infused w i t h o ccult

inspiration than The A n ci en t Sage but the bro a d co n
,

e lusion to be derived fro m t he m all is suffi ciently well

established The deep er mysteri es o f life an d nat ure

.

were s till veiled fro m general knowledge during t h e

greater part o f Tennyson s splendid literary activity

.

I t was no t his task to tear down t he veil co mpletely ,

nor di d t he ri fts he made in i t here an d there afford

his readers anyt hing resembling t hat s cientic co m
prehension o f great nat ural trut hs lying behind i t
whi ch many o f us have ultimately reached Thi s .

attainmen t inaugura tes a new era o f t ho ught B u t .

Tennyson intuitively forecast the revelation impending .

And perhaps for t he cultured classes o f t his p erio d ,

slow hit herto to appreciate t he signicance o f th e

Higher O ccultism t he fact t hat i ts develop men t
,

was so clearly fores hadowed in t he writings o f a man

so universally reverenced as Tennyson may g uid e ,

mo dern sympat hies into regions o f t ho ught which

they might never have explored but for that augus t
leadership .
 CRE EDS M O RE O R LESS CRED I B LE
S I N C E the amusing peri od when Bis hop Co lenso
discovered that t he hare do es no t chew the cud a s

t he a uthor o f the Pentateuch had s uppos ed the

Allegory o n t he banks o f t he Nile and els ewhere
, ,

h as been busy chewing t he primitive faith o f goo d

p eople previo usly conten t to accep t statements in
t he Bible as necessarily true even w hen so mewhat ,

s urprising Tempers were o ften lo st d uring t he dis

.

c u ssi o n s o f the Co lenso and Darwi n days but Allegory ,

h as proved a more goo d humo ured beast t han he was

-

t ho ught to be at rst so that cri tics and t he Church

,

can give and take now wit h a supercial pretence o f

being friends in reality Beyon d this indeed t he
.
, ,

attitudes o f mind on bo th sides are undergoing change .

The ribald s co ffer is extinct The D D who still . . .

attributes the s u fferings o f the world to Eve s con

versatio n with the Serpent hi des quietly in cat hedral

town s Science and Theo logy are o n t he terms that
.

Talleyrand described as established between hi mself

and the Host w hen he raised h i s hat to a Ro man
,

Catho lic pro cessio n : No us no us saluo ns mai s

no us n e parlons p as And happily t hese relations
.

are still impro ving Science o f t he o ld materialis tic

.
,

order has had to endure many s ho c ks o f l ate A

, .

police magistrat e so me years ago refuse d to b eli ev e

overwhelming testimony in favo u r o f a sp iri tualis t
medium o n t he gro und that i t wa s contrary to the
known laws o f N atur e The members o f t h e Roya
.

So ciety are no longer so sure o f having co mplet ely

.

( c atalogued t ho s e laws An d t he do ubt makes t h em

.

93
 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Te ac hi n g
94
even resp ectful to t he t heory o f miracles Alter all .
,

t urning water into wine is child s play co mpared with

t he miracle acco mplished whenever articial incuba

tion t urns an egg into a chicken Peo ple who still .

disbelieve in t he pheno mena o f genuine spiritualism

as p uzzling as any records in Christian story must

guard their ignorance very carefully if t hey wis h to

preserve t heir Opinions Science in all directio ns
.

i s nego tiating wit h the unseen and t he wi s e church ,

man realizes that so me concessions on his part may

lead to a settled peace pro mising pro tectio n for
,

institutions and substantial interests he so metimes

felt to be in danger fro m t he battering ram Al ready .

t here is an en ten te more or less cordi a le b etween the

enlightened Free Thinker s hedding the folly o f

denying whatever he do es no t unders tand and the

churchman who knows t hat he must a dapt his faith

to t he uniformities o f N at ure that i t is o ften unsafe
,

to insist th at s acred writings always mean what

they s eem to say .

But questions have arisen t hat are more em

b arrassi n g t han t he recon ciliation o f Scripture with
o bvio us p hysical facts And thes e challenge state
.

men ts t hat canno t take s anctuary in any t heory o f

Divine inspiration The language o f t he Creeds must
.

at all events be ascribed t o human authorship This .

i s co mplicate d and to so me extent o bscure but in ,

criticizing t he Creeds we are n o t in tro uble wit h any

t heory o f verbal inspiration fro m Divine levels .

The Revised Version o f the Bible humbly attempting

to correct a few gross errors o f translation has

( according to a fami liar anecdote ) been treated with

faint praise by a sturdy exponent early faith
who preferred Go d s o wn words

the words .

adopted to dene Christian belief at Nic aea in A D 32 5 .

were simp ly those o f certain bishops who prevailed ,

o ver o ther bishops desiro us o f using di fferen t words ,

 C reed s M o r e or L e ss C redi bl e 95
so we canno t well bring I nspiration into the
Again the Nicene Creed was preceded by an ext
,

creed literature to use the phras e o f an ortho do x

writer t ho ugh i t wo uld b e scarcely possible now

,

to identify any writing as t he rst attempt to p ut

Christian belief o n paper No r do es the importance
.

o f the subj ect at the present time t urn upon its

histo rical aspect The question arising is this : Do

.

the Creeds as they are p ut into t he mo uths o f p eople

,

who a ttend church a t the present day express beliefs ,

they can possibly be expected to entertain ? The

question may fairly b e describ ed as having arisen ,

b ecause it has b een recently the subj ect o f corres

p o n d e n c e in T h e T i m es Cano n Glazebroo k in a
a g

boo k called The Fa i th 01 a Mode rn Chu rchm a n says

9

that the cl auses in t he Apostles Creed Born o f

t he Virgin Mary and The t hird day H e ros e again

fro m the dead
can legitimately b e interpreted
symbo lically. The Bis hop o f Ely in a letter ,

addressed to Cano n Glazebroo k and also p ublis hed in

The Ti m es refuses to accep t t his V iew and s upports
, ,

his refusal by quo ting a reso lution a dopted by the
bis hops o f t he who le Anglican Co mmunio n assembled
at the Lambet h Conference in which runs as
fo llows The Co nference in view o f tendencies
widely shown in writings o f th e presen t day hereby
places on record its co nviction t hat the historical facts
stated in the Creeds are an essential part o f t he faith

o f t he Church . Canon Glazebrook in a long letter ,

p ublished in The Ti m es o f May 2 1 do es no t argu e ,

the question o n its m eri ts b ut quo tes episcopal

sayings t hat deprecate undue limitations o n freedo m
o f tho ught and in quiry and attributes to the Bisho p
,

o f O xford a vi e wo f the Ascension which he summarizes

in t h i y way : O ur Lo rd co uld no t for astrono mical
,

reasons o f which the disciples were igno rant physically ,

ascend into Heaven B ut in order give to t hem a

.
 6 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
9
right conceptio n o f His change o f s tate H e rose to a
mo derate height in t he air and t hen so veiled Hi msel f
,

behin d a clo ud that t hey believed Hi m to have go ne

"
right up into t he v a ult o f t he sky I f the Bishop .

is fairly represented by t his summary t he suggestio n

needs exp ansion What was t he later co urse o f
.

events When o u r Lord having delude d H is,

disciples in t he manner described wanted to co me ,

down again how did H e conceal His reappearance

,

But while t he Bis ho p s hypothesis tempts furt her

co mment this might seem wanting in due reverence

,

for t he main i dea concerned so no more o n t hat ,

subj ect need be sai d for t he mo ment .

And yet t hat line o f speculation in reference to

alleged o ccurrences t hat o utrage co mmon sense is one ,

into which i t i s easy to b e driven i f p eopl e are content

to t hink o f N at ure as simply consisting o f that which
appeals to the ve s enses even tho ugh the whole,

may b e vaguely regarded as bat hed in spiritual con

d i t i o n s intangible as Tho ught o u t o f relati on wi t h
,

Space o r Time offering no thing to the imagination t ha t

,

can p re g u re a futu re existence except o f a kin d to be,

spoken o f wit h bated breat h and avoid ed as long a s

possible O nly for those happily a large and i n
.
,

creasing number who co mprehen d more o r less co m

,
'

p l e t e l y the intervening conditions o f N ature lying

between t he dense manifestation o f t he p hysi cal
plane and t he incomprehensible ( tho ugh no t less
real ) conditions o f exalted planes o nly by virtue o f

their sup erior enlightenment is i t possible to get ri d

rst o f the dread commonly connected wi t h t he

pro cess o f passing on and s econdly o f the embarrass
,

ment arising fro m o ccasional o ccurrences which

witho ut s uch enlightenm en t mu st either be dis
believed in deance o f evidence o r d ealt wit h by
so me gro tesquely foo lis h explanation .

That i dea applies very forcibly to t he stu d y o f t he

 C r ee d s M o r e or L ess C r e di bl e 97
Creeds The writers who reduced them to their
.

present s hape may have been using p hysical plane

language in a metap horical sens e or they may simply
,

have swallowed witho ut hesitation statements absur d

on their face B ut in either case we have to recognize
.
,

in t he light o f mo dern o ccult knowledge t hat so me ,

where in t he back history o f the Creeds s uch knowledge

must have been in t he possession o f so me person or
persons who inspired t he earliest writers o n t he
subj ect And we reach with the same condence
.
, ,

t he conc lusion that current versions o f t he Creeds

have been t he pro duct o f painfully clumsy editing .

Such work co uld o nly have been carried o u t properly

by editors saturated wit h knowledge o f n at ural
c onditions unseen by t he multitude while the actual ,

editors were certainly no t o f that type As a mere .

rst illustration o f that i dea we may take t he few

words in t he Apo stles Creed abo u t t he Resurrection

and the Ascension : The t hird day H e ro s e again
fro m the dead ; H e ascended into heaven and si ttet h

o n t he right hand o f Go d t he Father etc For , .

people who can only thi nk o f a Being still in to uch

wit h the Eart h as o f human esh and bones the state ,

ment must either be rej ecte d altogether as fabulo us ,

or must lead t o conceptions which followed o ut in ,

detail are deplorably degra ding B ut directly we

, .

begin t o understand how human personalities may

function in full conscio usness after es caping ( for a
,

time o r fo r goo d ) fro m i mprisonment in t he p hysica l

bo dy functioning in ano t her available vehicl e t he

,

astral bo dy we se e light shed on alleged phenomena

otherwise inexplicable Many o f us know now that

.

g
natural law e v en p ro vi de s for the temporary materializa
tion of the astral form so that i t may beco me apparen t
t o physical senses The story o f the Ascension thus
.

co mes within t he range o f co mprehensi ble o ccur

ren oes even if we make no attemp t to interpret i t
,
9 8 C o ll e c t e d F r ui ts of O cc u l t Te a ching
b y more pro fo und t hinking in ano ther way alto
gether .

Perhaps to understand its origin prop erly we mus t

pa y attention rst to t he rit ual adopted in ancient
Egypt in connectio n with initiatio n in the Mysteries ,

ages before t he Christian era The candidate lay .

down o n a great woo den cross ho llowed o u t s o as to

s upport t he gure ; was bound o n i t ( quit e lo osely
so as to s uggest t he voluntary charact er o f t he
sacrice ) and t hen was p ut ( mesmerically ) into a deep
trance which invo lved t he emergence fro m t he bo dy
o f h i s real conscio usne ss in t he as tral form The .

bo dy was t hen deposited i n a sarcop h agus to typify ,

b uria l I n t he astral bo dy t he real enti ty was

.

confronted with varied experiences educating hi m

in the idea that h e t he real entity was beyon d t he
-

reach o f inj ury fro m re water o r even t he subtler

, ,

perils o f the under world Then o n t he t hird day

-
.
,

the p hysical bo dy was bro ught up into t he light o f t he

sunrise and its
, res urrecti o n t he return to i t

o f the real Ego was acco mplished

-
.

Fo llowed o u t more closely t he Egyp tian ceremony ,

included o ther super p hysical suggestions t hat may

-

have been In t he mind o f t hose who sketched t he

earliest draft o f t he Creed Before being awakened .

the candidate had to uch o u t o f t he bo dy with s ublime

, ,

levels o f conscio usness as denitely an ascent into

,

heaven as t he under world experiences were a desce n t

-

i nto hell The under world in question is o f co urse

.
-
, ,

o nly a part a low s ubdivision o f the enormo us astra l

, ,

world that s urro unds the physical glob e and is ,

gro wing familiar in thes e days to many explorers .

It s loftier realms are wid ely expanded regions that

provide fo r happy conditions o f life and for happy ,

co nditions as varied as t here are variations amongst ,

people still in life o f aspirations pointing to happiness .

H o w did it co me to pass that allusions to t he ritual

100 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e ac hi n g
is an intro duction to life o f a more pro mising kin d
t han that which t he physical plane pro vi des fo r as a
rule The average clergyman meanwhile will no t
.
, ,

avail himself o f t he means by which h e wit h a more

cultivated mind might no t only realize t hi s much

,

but expand his comprehensio n o f the ulti mate spiritua l

possibilities awaiting humanity to an enormous ,

extent I f it were no t so pro fo undly distressing there

.

wo uld be something supremely ludicro us in the

spectacle o f a vast organization whose ra i so n d tre
,

is t he general human t hirst fo r gui dance in spiri tual

tho ught reso lutely keeping aloof fro m avenues o f
,

research proved by abundant exp erience to be richly

stored wit h spiritual wisdo m for all who explore them .

This view o f t he matter will beco me more and more

impressive when attention is turned to those passages
in the Creeds which relate to t he Virgin Birth Fo r .

thos e wh o only can t hink in terms o f p hysical plane

matter t he Virgin Birth seems to strain imagination
,

less than an ascent t o heaven by a tangible e sh and -

bloo d Christ Birt h o f any sort is a mystery A

. .

vi rgin birth wo uld be only a little more mysterio us

t han o n e o f the ordinary kind B ut the rst t ho ught
.

that suggests a pause fo r reection aris es fro m t he

undeniable fact that o ther religio n s before Chri stianity
claim virgin births fo r their fo unders I s t his merely .

due to a pio us desire in each case to dignify t he origin

o f the fo under o r can i t bear a more intri cate ex
,

planation This is certainly the cas e in reference to

the a daptation o f the familiar do ctrine to the Christian
story To get at the act ual truth hinted at meta
.

p h o ri cal ly by the virgin birt h i dea we must go rat her

,

deeply into mo dern developmen ts o f super physical -

science .

By its help we are enabled to recognize t he creative

achievement when a Solar System co mes into
,

existence as invo lving successive pro cesses : rs t t h e

,
 C r e e ds M o re or L e ss C r ed ib l e 10 1

fo rmation o f mo lecular matter fro m t he ato mic raw

material pervading all space We need no t talk abo ut .

the origin o f tha t any more than abo ut the beginning

,

o f eternity B ut a Solar System has a beginning and

.

a destiny I t i s an episo de in eterni ty and t he

.
,

creation o f a world is an episo de within t he enor

m o u sly pro tracted life o f a So lar System Mo lecular .

matter constituting in its vario us aspects t he chemical

elements ( as t hey used to be called ) beco mes available
for t he formation o f a glo be destined to be a living
planet We see t he pro cess still go ing o n in the
.

growth o f n e b u l m with which t he heavens abo und .

At a later stage Divine power po urs o u t fro m itself

t he life principle The vegetable and animal kingdo ms
.

co me into existen ce Later again when t he human

.
, ,

stage is reached a further emanation fro m divinity

,

invests denite beings wit h what is so metimes called

t he Divine Spark with t hat which renders such
,

beings immortal capable o f developing t hro ugh

,

s uccessive Eart h lives t he loftier attrib utes o f int ellect

-

and spirituality The three stages are described b y

.

many phrases : so metimes as t hree waves o f At m i c

inuence ; so metimes as t he rst second and t hird , ,

Logos ; so metimes as the Father Son and Holy , ,

Ghost .

No w when we attempt to see how t his view of

creation a ff ects t he language of t he Apostles and

Nicene Creeds we have to keep to uch wit h anot her

,

line o f t ho ught The histo ry o f t he Creeds points to

.

a denite human origin b u t t he hints t heir language

,

embo dies point ( as already suggested ) to inspiratio n

fro m a lo fty so urce o f wisdo m ; while it also betrays
t he corruption o f s uch hints as successive versions
have been prepared Lo fty wisdo m has always lain
.

hidden in the hands o f t he Elder Brethren o f t he

race who well knew t hat primitive co nditions of
,

civilization wo uld n o t allow o f i ts general di ff usion .

102 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c h i n g
The gen eral di ff usio n however o f large extract s
, ,

fro m i t is now in progress taking shape in t he Higher

,

O ccultism o f recent years Thus we can now discern

.

in much ancient wri ting of a religious character t he

streak o f inspiration and t he superposed blundering
of unenlightened transmitters o f t he inspiration .

The passage in t he Apostles Creed about t he Virgi n

Birth is a thrilling example o f both inuences .

The adj ective virgin has been applied in very
ancient literature to m a tter as due to the action o f t he
,

First Logo s o r the rst creative wave O nly when

, .

after intervening d evelopment i t is to uched wi th the

Third Logos ( o r Holy Ghos t ) can i t engender t he

Christ principle That idea gets twisted by primitive
.
,

i gnorance capable only o f t hought along the lines o f

the physical senses into the idea o f a concep tion by a
,

woman free o f the conditions t hat generally give rise

to conception And then in the Nicene Creed we get
.

the gross misunderstanding developed into t he u n

fortunate expression t he only begotten So n o f
,
-

Go d .

How do es this subtle interpretation o f the famili ar

language t in wi th the Go spel story which the Creeds
seem to follow The literal accuracy o f t hat story
has been challenged by critics who obj ect to miracles ,

and not hing t hat can b e called contemporary authentic

history a ffords i t any sanction ; b ut fro m the o ccult
point of view that is to say from t he point o f view

,

o f knowledge that relies o n something much more

trustworthy t han written history th e story i s con

t e m p l a t e d in a deeply reverential spirit but is no t ,

treated thro ugho ut as a mere record o f occurrences .

The o ccultist has reso urces at his disposal w hen

investigating t he past t hat leave mere literary re
search panting in t he rear The principle is intel .

ligible to all who appreciate t he signicance o f

clairvoyance in some o f i t s suggestive developments
,
.
104 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e a c hin g
ascended to great altitudes in t he Divine Hier archy .

B ut the Christ w ho made use o f t he bo dy he sur

,

rendered i n Palestine descended for t hat p urpose fro m

,

a loftier altitude sti ll .

The bundle o f mi scellaneo us statements a t the

end o f the Apostles Creed and also i mb edded in the

,

Nicene Creed need no t claim much attention except

,

so far as t he resurrection o f t he bo dy has been a

st umbling block fo r all who realize t he gross abs urdit y
-

o f t he phrase in its plain meaning and may no t ,

understand that the astral bo dy i s t hat which re

s urges B ut if we pass o n to a consi deration o f the
.

third great Creed with which ortho do x Christianity

i s entangled we have to deal with a blend o f wis do m
,

and folly t hat i s very well worth t he closest attention .

I n its naked brutality t he Athanasian Creed drives

many people o u t of churches in which i t is read alo ud .

Some clergymen wi ll no t consent to read it at all .

O thers who se ortho do xy is equal t o t he digestion o f any

,

horrors clo thed in t heo logical tradition are able to ,

do so Meanwhile t hose in a positio n to reconstruct

.

t he teaching ludicro usly caricatured by the language

o f t he At hanasian Creed may easily divest it o f i t s

blasphemo us absurdities and S ho w i t to have been

originally inspired by profo un d wis do m and know
ledge .

Summarized as i t stands it consists o f a s eries o f

a ssertions that contradict o n e ano t her toget her with ,

a broad assurance t hat all who fail to believe them

bo t h ways will be damned Peris h everlastingly .

is th e expression used at rst but a reference later o n ,

to everlasting re invests i t wi th more specic
meaning To avoid this fate we have to believe a
.

tring o f assertions frankly described as i n co m

prehensible Strange t o say i t i s easy for any o n e
.
,

who has proted by the light thro wn in recent years

on t he co urse o f human evo lutio n t o discern behin d ,
 C ree d s Mr o e or L e ss C re di bl e 10
5
the gibberish o f t he Athanasian Creed as it st ands ,

the pro foundly scientic i deas t hat so me exalted

teacher o f the past must have tried to suggest to so me
insu ffi ciently receptive min d engaged in the e ffort
to express them Fo r there is a p erio d in the history of
.

every great human race (o urs i s only o n e o f many )

when t he state o f each person s belief or cap acity
,

to underst and deep spiritual trut h has an important ,

bearing o n his subsequent progress The So lar .

System includes o ther human races besides o ur o wn .

Vari o us planets represent humanities at vario us stages

o f growth Super p hysical faculties even far belo w
.
-

t hose o f t he Masters o f Wisdo m (no w for t he rst

time in t his world s histo ry giving o u t such informa

tio n freely ) reveal t he design o f t he So lar Syst em .

Ano ther planet was senior to t he Eart h in its develop

ment and its humanity i s already o n a far higher

,

level o f evo lution than o u r own B ut human e v o l u .

tion is no t a process in which s uperior Divine po wer

p ushes t he pieces abo ut chessbo ard fashion witho ut
, ,

regard to t heir o wn free will The way in which t his .

so metimes seems to be done 1 5 at t he botto m o f a

hideo us theological fancy as gro tes que as t he ,

language o f t he Athanasian Creed to t he e ff ect t hat ,

by Divine caprice so me so uls are elect fro m t he

beginning and sure o f salvation fro m hell re o t hers
,
-

as surely destined fro m t he beginning to t hat fate .

B ut what really happens i s t his : so me use t heir

free will to accomplish spiritual progress o f innite
i mportance O thers neglect t heir opportunities so
.

persistently that they are left b gh i n d ; n o t doo med

to any horrible penalties no t annihilated as entities
, ,

b u t left to carry on t heir evo lution if they are willing ,

to do so in t he next great planeta ry scheme follo wing

,

on in due order after t he o n e t hey have faile d to

prot by to its ful lest extent O f co urse i t is i m .
,

possible t hat anyone can begin to understand all t his

106 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e a c hi ng
wi tho ut realizing t he law o f reincarnation as clearly
as we all re alize t he circulation o f the bloo d o r an y
o ther re B ut the .

appreciation o f tha t law to the state

reached by a child learning to read when he has ,

mas tered the alphabet .

Now in the light simply o f the principle j ust dened

as gui ding successive human evolutions in t he So lar
System we see in a as h the underlying i dea ca ri

cat u re d by the language of the At hanasian Creed .

Translate rst the phrase Whosoever wi ll be saved

fro m t he blasphemo us meaning saved fro m hell

re to t hat clearly intended by t he original inspirer

Whosoever wo uld be safe fro m failure to att ain t he

highest possibilities o f his place in N ature must ,

believe o r in equivalent language train himself
, ,

to understand certain great s ubtleties o f spiri tual

,

trut h which frankly fo r t he physical brain a t an early

stage o f i t s development are incomprehensible
i e beyond its grasp
. .
, Physi cal mental and moral
.
, ,

evolution pro ceed concurrently I n a world at a far .

more advanced stage t han o ur Eart h has yet reached ,

the majority o f t he Egos ( Souls spiritual entities , ,

call t hem what yo u will ) are engendering bo dies

adapted to express Egos o f similar advancemen t .

What i s t o be done by t he Powers that gui de and

,

control incarnations with the Egos t hat have been so

,

neglectful o f t heir past opportunities that t hey are no t

t to animate the bo dies o f t he kind t hat are being
born The Powers in question and fo r the o ccultist

they are conscio us Beings o n a very high level can

o nly do o n e t hing with them pass t hem o n to the

s cheme of human evolution next in order of develop

ment I n o t her words t hey have as a consequence
.
,

o f t h eir o wn negl ect incurred the inevitable necessity

o f beginning again They are not destined to perish

.

everlastingly but t hey are thrown back in evolution

,
108 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts or O c c u l t T e a c h in g
of decently behaved peop le even t ho ugh life m a y ,

have dragged o n till t he physica l vehicle is withered

and desti tute o f all the graces o f i ts yout h t he astral ,

bo dy in which t he Ego passes away fro m i t soon

, ,

undergoes a change t he exact reverse o f growing o ld

o n the physical plane The o l d man o r wo man nd s
.

hi m o r her sel f restored in app earance to t he aspect

worn in whatever has been t he best p erio d o f t he life
concluded All who are in to uch wit h t he astral
.

world t he rst s uper physi cal aspect o f t he Eart h

-

will be familiar wit h s uch changes ; which moreover , ,

in t he case o f p eople who have in t he co urse o f a long ,

life far transcended the mental and spiritual con

,

dition o f what may have been physically t heir bes t

perio d will so mehow s how by new expressi on in that
,

recovered best p erio d t he mental and spiri tual

attributes imperfectly developed during t he Earth life .

I t is sa d to t hink t hat multit udes o f innocent peopl e

are a llowed by ignorant teachers to grovel wit h t he
foulest misconception o f a beautiful natural truth ,

when t hey o ught to be instructed in the exquisit e

charm o f t he arrangements made by natural law
i n other words by Divine lov e for t heir happiness

and welfare between successive lives ( as t hey o ught

to be ) o f strenuo us e ffort o n t he physical plane .

And that same i dea spreads over t he who le area

o f conventional religio us t eachi n g Creeds incredible .

a s the y stand are matched by t heo logical doctrines

t hat degrade the popular understanding even when ,

rened away to so me extent by cultivated t hinking ,

an d represent t he Divine nat ure capable o f an anger

so ignoble that i t can be appeased by i nno cent bloo d
s hed The s ubli me Christian s tory in this way gets
.

itself twisted into a shape in which i t is o ff ensive

to any loft y concep tion o f t he Divine nature M ust .

the aut horities o f the Church go on a d i n n i tu m ,

afrai d to attemp t a drastic revision o f t he languag e

 C r e ed s M o r e or L e ss C r e di b l e 10
9
employed in i t s services for fear l est t he whole
,

ecclesi a stical structure s ho uld fall in ruins as a co n se

qu e n c e ? If that fear c h e cks t hem the fact o nly ,

shows h o w utterly t hey misunderstand the drift o f

enlightened spiritual t eaching availa b le for all now , ,

the veil has been drawn aside from what was previo usly
o ccult The wave o f interes t in that enlightenment is
.

sweeping all over t he civilized world And far fro m .

making people ho stile to t he theo ry o f an established

Church i t makes them t hink h o w beautiful a conditio n
,

o f things wo uld be r ealized if t he Church wo uld beco me

a true spirit ual University representing t he latest ,

developments o f super p hysical knowledge st udying

-
,

t he varied conditions o f life during and beyon d

p hysical incarnation t he possibilities o f attainment
,

inh erent in humani ty and t he stupendo us programme

o f the Cosmos to which o u r system belongs I n all .

l ines o f study with which intelligence can engage ,

if t he mysteries o f N at ure are concerned progress is ,

-

obvio usly the bright lure o f the future stagnation ,

an abs urdity And yet stagnation in t ho ught i s

.

cherished as a principle by t he defenders o f t he cut

and dried formulas o f medieval theology Such
-
.

defence can hardly be designed to shield fai th ; its

p urpose can only be to protect the instit utions
associated to their deep discredit with t he stagnant
, ,

t ho ugh t I t is ri diculo us almost beyond t he reach

.

of sarcasm that professed religio us teachers sho uld

be the only kind who parro t like repeat their lessons
,
-
,

unchanged fro m ye ar to year a senseless articulation

o f so und while o ut in t he worl d disco very an d

"

illuminated thought are widening o u r intellectual

horizons in every direction That clearing vision o f
.

spiritual trut h whic h t he champio ns o f stagnatio n

canno t dim is really t he explanatio n o f the strange
way in which mo dern civilization tolerates it s clergy .

All who prot by the gro wt h o f spirit ual knowledge

1 10 C o ll ec te d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T ea c hing
feel t hat t his will assuredly in t he long run per m eat e
, ,

the Church and t hat o nce emancipated fro m

, ,

medieval fetters t hat o rganization may be des tined

,

to a magnicent development The tr ust that t his .

may be possible depends perhaps o n a far sighted -

vi ew o f t he fut ure ; b ut when in its moral progress

civilization deprived ortho do xy o f its tort u re
chambers and t he stake a change se t in which may be
,

slo w like t he movement o f a glacier b ut is as certain

, ,

o f effect in t he long run as t he glacier ow and will

, , ,

ultimately t urn the fro zen ice into a dancing river ,

sparkling in t he suns hine .

1 12 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T ea c h in g
in endless series an d as turned back o n t he pas t
, ,

s how mo dern civilization but j ust emerging from

conditions analogo us to childhoo d .

The character o f the change achieved by those

illuminated by new s enses may best be co mpre
hen ded by focussing imagination o n t he condition
o f a person born wit ho ut t he most important o f the

v e the sense o f sight

H e hears fro m o thers o f
.

natural p heno mena he canno t himself cognize .

Descriptions will no t help him to realize colo ur o r

light H e will no t understan d what is meant by
.

seeing t hings he canno t to uch Then grant him .

by a miracle t he gift o f sight and picture in t he mind ,

t he complicated revelation t hat ensues The sudden .

endowment o f an ordinary civi lized man with senses

already po ss essed by so me persons in t he vanguard o f
human progress wo uld mean a revelation o f even
greater signicance than that s uggested in t he case of
the man born blind The liberation o f conscio usness
.

fro m previo us limitations wo uld be more t hrilling

in i t s e ffect t han any change that co uld take p lace
within those limitations H uman conscio usness in .

its nature is qualied to give scop e to perceptions all

but innit e in t heir range But with t he ordinary .

run o f mankind any given vo l ume o f conscio usness

incarnate i n a human being can only deal with t he
fruit o f t he familiar senses O f co urse fait h and .

imagination seem to yield much more but are cramped ,

by the familiar s enses a s s hown by so me ludicro us

features o f anthropo morp hic religion Fo r practical .

purposes the senses are t he channels t hro ugh which

we gain kn o wledge When we guess o r speculat e
.

along o t her channels t he mental conception o f o n e

,

generation i s apt t o b e thrown aside by t he next and ,

the history o f Philosophy beco mes an amusing cinema

lm t hat can hardly be called a kaleidoscope a
, ,

t here is no t much beauty abo ut it .

 I m pr i so n e d in the Fi v e S e n se s 1 1
3
By far t he most important discoveries which reward
the e fforts of those who escape from t he imprisonment '

of the senses have to do with the denite possibilities

o f spiritual progress associated with enlightenment
that may be attained t hro ugh new chann els o f per
c ep t i on B ut the laws and phenomena o f N ature are
.

no t really divi ded by t he hard and fast frontiers t hat - -

sense perceptions seem to dene Grant anyone

-
.

amongst us certain new senses and he will no t merely ,

be enabled to perceive new regions o f existence wit h

appropriate scenery and decorations brimming over ,

with life o f many kinds b ut will nd t he familiar

,

features o f the life aro und us all t hose o f t he physical

plan e much more full o f meaning t han t hey s eemed

to be previously I will illustrate t his statement by

.

descri bing a scientic research carried on within

the last few years by means o f super physical senses -
,

and happily involving so mething like a self contained -

proo f o f its conclusio n s .

I t began under my own guidance when working ,

with a friend brilliantly en dowed with super p hysical -

senses I had fo und that quite independently o f

.
,

results t hey gave us in reference to higher conditions

o f li fe beyond the change called deat h t hey were ,

ultra micros copic in their character as applied to

-

physical nature Co uld they be so applied as to

.

enable my friend to see an ultimate mo lecule of

physical matter The magnitude of such molecules
18 so minute that mathematical calculations with
which among o t hers t he great name o f Lord Kelvin
, ,

i s associated lead to t he conclusion t hat t hirty

,

trillion molecules o f water are included in t he volume

o f a cubic centimetre My friend undertoo k to try
.
,

an d I s uggested a molecule o f go ld as t he bo dy to be
examined My friend emerged fro m t he condition
.

in which he co uld attemp t to do t his declarin g that , ,

although the molecules o f gold co uld be individually

8
1 14 C ol l ec t e d F ru i ts o f O cc u l t Te a ching
discerned t hey were far too complicated to b e
,

described They each o f t hem consisted o f an

.

intricate combination of smaller ato ms clearly b e

longing to a ner order o f matter This o bservation .

led me to Suggest t hat perhaps molecules o f matter

o f less atomic weight t han gold wo uld be more
manageable and we next dealt with a molecule o f
,

hydrogen g as This wa s fo und to be composed o f

.

atoms like thos e o f the gold molecule but relatively ,

few in number They could b e co unted They

. .

were eighteen in number gro up ed in a denit e design

,

and in rapid movement The rapidity o f their .

movement did no t interfere wi th t he co unting for ,

reasons I need no t stop now to explain .

We then went o n t o examine a mo lecule of o xygen .

This was fo und to b e more complicated b ut still ,

Within the reach o f careful co unting The number .

o f minor atoms was 2 9 0 a gure t he signicance

o f which was at once seen to be remarkable Divided .

by 1 8 it gives us 1 6 1 a close approximation to t he

,

recognized ato mic weight o f o xygen Atomic weights .

,

o n the usual scale are calculated o n t he principle o f

,

reckoning the weight o f an atom o f hydrogen as unity .

The relative atomic weights of o ther bo dies are

derived fro m calculations dependent o n their varied
combinations again in a way I need no t go into here
, ,

as t hat has to do wit h co mmonplace chemistry Was .

the ratio 1 8 to 2 90 Operative in o ther cases The

ato m o f nitrogen wa s examined and fo und to consist
o f 2 1 4 minor atoms That again gave the recognized
.

atomic weight when divided by 1 8 The result was .

extremely suggestive but did not yet constit ute proof

,

that the law wo uld run all thro ugh the series of the
so called chemical elements
-
Meanwhile the minor .

a toms claimed attention They were apparently .

the really u lti ma te form o f physical matter atoms

o f ether t hemselves below t he limits o f sense per

,
-
 1 16 C oll ec te d F r u i t s o f O c c u l t T e ac hi n g
a n ato m o f ether carried a denite unit charge o f
,

electricity O rt ho do x opinions as to t he number o f

.

electrons in an a to m o f hydrogen vary wit hin very

wide limits Some give us gures fro m I to 5 ; some
.

o thers guess by hundreds and 70 0 i s rat her a favo uri te

,

estimat e The few o f us who trusted t he clairvoyant

.

research felt s ure t he real number was 1 8 Then .

i n a few years c ame t he proof o f t his a proo f again so ,

far ignored by science at large t ho ugh its ultimate

,

recognition is Ieal ly a matter of certainty .

The research o f 1 8 9 5 was only resumed severa l

years lat er by my clairvoyant frien d assisted then ,

by another qualied o bserver The task they under

.

took was much more elaborate t han t he former .

I ts p urpose was to ascertain by actual co unting the

-

number o f et heric ato ms entering into t he co mposition

o f a large number o f chemical elements also to depict ,

t he gro uping o f t he et heric ato ms The complexity .

o f the g rouping was bewildering Gold for ins tance

.
, ,

consists of t hree co mbined groups an exact description

,

o f which, unless illuminated by diagrams wo uld be ,

hardly intelligible The important i dea to realize is

.

that the counting could only b e e ffected by degrees ,

the etheric atoms in each gro up reckoned up s eparately

with t he assistance o f a secretary who wro te down
t he gures as they were called o ut and o nly added ,

t hem up after t he protracted o bservations were

co mplete The to tal was
. Then came t he
interesting question what gure wo uld t hat yield

divided by 1 8 The answer is 1 9 7 The recognized .

ato mic weight o f gold is 1 9 57 4 The deeply i n .

t erest i n g principle was vindicated and as t he pro ,

tracted research went o n o ver fty o f the recognized

,

chemical elements were examined and i n a l l ca ses t he ,

same principle was fo und to be op erative I have a .

table before me as I wri te sh o wing t he gures reached

,

in 57 observations o f elements co mmonplace and

 I m pr i so n e d in the Fi v e S e n se s 1 1
7
rare ; an d t he result is nothing less than a demonstra
tion o f the accuracy o f t he origi nal o bservation s how
ing the ato m o f hydrogen to co n sist o f 1 8 etheric ato ms .

The notion t hat the co unting can in any way have been
made to t the theory is dissipated by the co mplication
o f the work Nei ther t he o bserver nor t he secretary
.

co uld have foreseen h o w the gures given and recorded

by degrees wo uld t in wit h t he t heory when added
up Eight o f t he o bserved elements have over
.

ato ms each ; eight more have over And an

interesting hint supporting t he trustwort hiness o f t he
research is due to t he fact t hat the o bservers found
in the atmosphere two molecules t hat co uld no t be
i dentied with any known element Their electric .

atoms numbered respectively 54 and 4 0 2 yielding t he ,

atomic weights 3 and Now i n t he co urse o f

Sir J J Thomson s research ( by ingenio us electrical
. .

metho ds ) into the vagaries o f the electron he fo und

'
,

reason to believe an d t o anno unce t hat t here must be

t wo unknown elements wit h ato mic weights of ( abo ut )

3 and 2 2 H e little realized t hat t he announcement

.

vindicated a previous announcement to t he same e ff ect

giving similar results attained by clairvoyant research .

B ut the 3 and 2 2 discovery was o f insignicant

importance compared wit h t he discovery o f t he true
m eaning o f atomic weights No work done in .

laboratories in connection wit h t he electron o r radio

activi ty is o f such far reaching signicance as t he
: -

ato mic weight discovery due to t he clairvoyant

-

research I t s hows us et her to be ponderable matter

.
,

tho ugh in i t s uncombined form i t dees examinatio n

by methods appealing t o t he physical senses O ptical .

m ethods tell us a goo d deal abo ut the ether b ut are ,

silent in regard to its mechanical attributes Clair .

voyant research is the o nly kind that can expand o ur

knowledge o f N ature across t he threshold o f the region
w hich lies beyond mere laboratory resear ch .
1 18 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
I n describing the work done so far by the clairvoyan t
metho d as applied to certain pro blems in chemist ry .

I have n o t stopped to give chapter and verse in refer

ence to t he dates o f magazines o r pamphlets issued
fro m time to time and duly recording results In .

verifying what I have wri tten I wi ll gladly assist any

serio us scientic inquirer capable o f appreciating the
simple truth t hat t he research described is the mos t
important contribution to o u r comprehension o f
physical chemistry that has been made wi t hin any
recent perio d .

And yet s triking as it is i t is among t he leas t

, ,

important of the results attained by human i n t ell i

gence when once t hat breaks free fro m imprisonment
in the ph ysical senses The light s hed o n t he gradual
.

development o f t he human race by clairvoyant

research illuminates evolution and t he magnit ude o f
,

the design to an extent t hat renders t he earliest

,

Egyptian and Chaldean records mo dern history by

comparison Besides being ultra microscopic clair
.
-
,

voyance o f t he highest order is retrospective almost to

innity There i s no mystery in the matter as treated
.

fro m o n e point o f vi ew The duly qualied clairvoyan t

.

can get into conscio us to uch with the Memo ry o f

N ature which i s innite in its range
, Tha t is a grea t .

mystery no do ubt only to b e interpreted by very

, ,

lofty wis dom ; but witho ut reaching to such levels

the clairvoyant who h as but j ust broken o u t o f pri son
can share in t he universal memory to a certain exten t .

O ne of t he best books ( Samuel Laing s H u m a n

Orig i n s ) writ ten previo usly to recent clairvoyant

,

research but dealing with t he evidence a ff o rded by

,

geological strata pushes back t he presence o f Ma n

,

o n earth to the Tertiary perio d But a few hundred

.

t ho usand years represent a mere fraction o f t he time

since the earth was rst inhabited by humanity an d ,

n o t merely by humanity but by nations o f advanced

culminating i n t he great Masters o f science literature , ,

and art are no t likely to st 0 p abruptly even at t hos e

,

levels I ts higher progress may stretch beyond

.

co mmonplace vision as the ultra vi olet rays o f t he

,
-

spectrum are beyon d s uch vision b ut we can gain ,

certain assurance that ultra violet rays exis t in -

Nature and t hat those who may be descri bed as

,

Masters o f Wisdo m and Knowledge exist also .

Thus clairvoyant research and information co m

b i n e d enable us to trace t he o rigin and progress o f
Atlantean civi lization t hro ugh perio ds in the past to b e
co unted no t in t housands but in millions o f years .

An d behind them again back into o ther millions during

which the human form a s we know i t was gradually
, ,

developed fro m lower forms I ndeed i f we go far .

,

eno ugh b ack we shall nd li fe which fro m some ,

points o f view we may call already human functioning ,

in vehicles o f conscio usness no t yet entirely physical .

B ut leaving that part o f t he story o u t o f account t he ,

info rmation already accumulated concerning the

Atlantean races shows co nventional speculation re
lating t o anthropology and ethnology to be mere
groping in the dark Clairvoyant o bservation gives
.

us a clear daylight co mprehension o f t he actual facts

-
.

Co mmonplace t hinking on t hese subj ects is entangled

with phrases that are utterly misleading the stone
,

bronze and iron ages ; t he neolithic and the paleolit hic

,

perio ds Flint implements o f co urse have their

.
, ,

story t o t ell They S how that regions o f the wo rl d

.

where t hey are fo und at dates vaguely s uggested by

,

geology were inhabited by men o f a very primitive

,
'

type V e ry likely At early A t l an t ean p eri o ds before

. .

ci vilizat i on had developed migrat i ons o f early su b

,

races o f Atlanteans spread all over t he world They .

slowly o utgrew early conditions witho ut sharing the

stimulating inuences operative in the evolutionary
vortex from which t hey had been t hrown o ff Con .
 I m pr i so n e d in th e Fi v e S e n se s 121

currently wit h a stone age in so me fragments o f

land emerging fro m t he sea in the region we now call
Europe an age o f a dva1i ce d science o f stupendo us
, ,

engineering achievements o f i ntricate so cio logy was

,

in full activi ty in the West As the geograp hy o f the.

world was shaped anew i n so me Eastern co untries

immense progress was acco mplis hed there I n H u m a n .

Orig i n s Mr Laing is impressive concerning the certainty

.

that high ci vilization prevailed in Egyp t long before

Menes o r the 7oo o o dd years o f Egypti an history
-
.

Certainly it prevailed for hundreds o f t ho usands o f

years before t hen the direct gift o f Atlantean ci viliza
,

tion previo us to i t s decline .

Perhaps however the most deeply interesting aspect

, ,

o f t he who le Atlantean story has t o do with t he moral

changes t hat have gone on in t he world since t hat
strange perio d in which t he decline beco mes manifest .

I n t heir intellect ual perfection t he Atlanteans in some

ways were farther on t han o urselves They con .

trolled some forces o f nat ure we have no t yet go t

co mmand o f and t hey were past masters in t he arts
,
-

o f metallic transmutation which as a t heoretical

, ,

possibility o u r chemists have only j ust discerned

,
.

B ut t hey h a d n o t e ven go t a glimpse o f the m oral b eau t y

o f u n se l sh n ess care for t he welfare o f others
, love , ,

in any o f its loftier aspects Altruism philanthropy .

, ,

would have been ideas fo r which their language

furnished no equivalent expression .

Thus we gain a comprehension of human p rogress

on the large scale as a series o f spiral cycles in t he ,

co urse o f whi ch W e return to previo us conditions but ,

o n a higher level Mo dern civilizatio n is now return

.

ing to a stage in intellectual progress reached by

the Atlanteans at remote perio ds in the past but wi t h ,

certain very important embellishments Avi ation .

and transmutation now beginning to engage o ur atten

,

tion were as alrea dy said Atlantean achievements ;

, , ,
122 C oll e c t e d F ru i t s o f O c c u l t T e a c hi n g
but w e resume acquaintance with t hem plus moral ,

progress in which Atlantis was s adly decient

,
.

The limitations o f sense besi des o bscuring the p ast

, ,

veil the prospects o f the future O nce they are broken

.

thro ugh t he Divine plan o f human evolution stretches

,

o u t before us o n a scale o f startling magnicence .

Clairvoyance o f t he higher order intro duces us as ,

already explained to those a dvanced leaders o f o ur

,

race described above as Masters o f Wis do m and

Knowledge We are enabled to recognize them as
.

linki ng ordinary humani ty with the Divine Hierarchy .

This extends upwards to innity b ut we touch a ,

s ublime truth in realizing t hat on what may b e

called ( tho ugh only by comp arison ) i t s lo wer levels ,

i t i s recruited fro m ordinary humanity The prettiest .

among conventional conceptions o f t he after life -

show u s no more than happy conditions o f super

physical existence dignied no do ubt by the actual
,

recognition o f Divinity But such beatitu de seems

.
,

regarded by ordinary reli gio us teaching as a nality , .

Clearer vision shows the spiritual future as innitely

progressive and the sublime conditions attained by
,

Masters o f Wisdo m merely a stage o f progress : a s tage

which the maj ority of the human race o ught to attain
in the long run tho ugh t he length o f that run is all
,

but beyond the reach o f imagination As so me have .

attained it already many more may do so in t he

,

future greatly in advance o f its att ain ment by the

,

maj ority The conditions o f such relatively rapi d

.

progress are the principal subj ects of stu dy for pupils

o f the higher occultism I ncidentally in connection
.

wi th t hat study light is let in o n many regions o f

scientic research besides those to which allusion has
already been made .

Emerging fro m t he entirely primitive o r c hildish

view o f the Sun and Moon an d starry heavens as
designed merely to light up t he earth co mmonplace ,
1 24 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t Teach i n g
blende d as regards i ts vital p urpose with the human
life o f t he Earth while already t he human life o f the
,

planet Venus has attained t o far lo ftier conditions

t han we here have reached as yet is in fact a s enior
, ,

evo lution as comp ared wi t h o u r o wn an d o n e i n ,

which humanity is se t entirely free fro m t he li mita

tions o f t he p hysical senses I f anyone mentally .

still imprisoned in t hese obj ects to this statemen t

o n t he gro und t hat proximity to t he Sun must make

Venus and Mercury very ho t t he answer is t hat while ,

N ature has adapted esh an d bloo d to sui t ( wit h more

o r less success ) t he climati c con ditions o f t he Ea rt h ,

it is quite equal to t he task o f pro vi ding vehicles

o f consciousness fo r climates above o ur boiling point -
,

t hat can breat he comfortably in an atmosp here at t he

temperat ure o f s uper heated steam Chemistry has
-
.

still some discoveries to make and t he composition o f ,

liquids t hat provide Mercury for instance wit h lakes , ,

and rivers defying evaporation at say 30 0 F , ,

.

wo uld b e very interesting if i t co uld be ascertained .

B ut less so after all t han t he contemplati on possible ,

for o ur prison breakers o f t he delightful co nditions

-
,

o f harmony and peace which are t he keyno tes o f

existence o n Mercury and in a greater degree still o n

,

Venus .

The hints I have given so far o f t he way in which

senses avenues o f conscio usness superior to thos e

we are mos t o f us used t o enlarge o ur co mprehension

,

o f N at ure will naturally suggest the inquiry how

,

t hey a ff ect o u r comprehensio n o f t he co nditions each

o f us enco unters when we pass t hrough the change

called deat h The answer is simple They make t he

. .

change perfectly intelligible ; t hey render t he region

o f existence into which we s hall pass after undergoing

t he change a p ay s de con n a i ssa n ce That is t he fore .

mos t discovery wit h which t hey are concerned .

Current discussion as to whether we really do live

 I m pr i s o n e d i n th e Fi v e S e n ses 12
5
a gain a possi bility rendered do ubtful fo r many
-

people because religio us teachers seem to know so

little abo u t i t i s s adly lu dicro us in View o f t he

certain knowledge o n the s ubj ect lying ready for us

o nly j ust o u tside o ur prison doors People indeed .
, ,

s till within them are already inexcusable if t hey do ub t

the main principle fo r abundant informatio n has
,

been smuggled t hro ugh to t hem and telep hones ,

so to speak have been set up within t he prison walls

which enable us to talk w it h people o utside But one .

must get o utside fully to understan d what lies beyond .

Dartmoor is big but England i s bigger and beyon d

, ,

England lie o ther co untries o f stup en do us magnit ude .

The p hysical plane is an extensive region b ut region s

within t he cognizance o f superior senses are more

extensive in more t han a corresponding fashion O ur .

a stral world into which we pass when escaping fro m

t he prison o f t he senses is an envelop e surro unding

the physical globe but enormo us in co mparison
,
.

To the appropriate senses i t is as so li d and variegated

a s t his And t here are n umberless variations o f
.

c ondition fo r dwellers in t he vast astral glo be The .

Eart h life h a s been used by some in a manner pro ductive

-

as its consequence o f great happiness and wide views

o f N atur e b y o thers unhappily in ways that entai l

consequences o f a very di fferent order wit h which ,

p eople who lead commonly decent lives need n o t

tro uble their imagination ; unless indeed witho ut , ,

any self regarding apprehension t hey want to under

-
,

stand t he s ublime harmonies o f a Di vine design

which wo uld be violated disastro usly if t he ulterior
results o f goo d and b ad lives were uniformly t he
s ame Thus t he astral world pro vi des purgato rial
.

conditions o f highly varying intensity thro ugh whi ch ,

t hose who have badly misused the Opportunities o f

physical life must pass before attaining happier con
d i t i o n s w hile for a very large n umber o f peop l e w ho
, ,
1 26 C o ll e c t e d F ru i ts o f O c c u l t T e a c hi ng
have led fairly creditable lives the happy condition s ,

are reached at once The st udy o f t he way in which

.

these vary i n t urn meeting t he needs o f the simply

inno cent immigrants as appropriately as t hey pro vide

for highly evolved entities the foremost rep re

sen t a t i v e s o f earthly wisdo m an d achievement is a

profo undly interesting but a very elaborate study ,

to subserve which ho w ever abundant literature is

, ,

n o w in existence .

This moreover will enable anyone who wishes to

, ,

push the inquiry farther to gather so me information

as to the way in which the ve senses may be rein

fo rced by t he development o f new ones I n an .

imperfectly developed condition t here are two organs

in t he human brain which when fully matured will , ,

respond to the higher vibrations o f certain media in

which we are unconscio usly i mmersed and convey ,

impressions to t he brain as vivid as t ho se conveyed

b y t he eye when dealing wit h o bj ects normally visible .

These organs are t he Pineal Gland and t he Pituitary

bo dy I n some few cases t hey are already active ;
.

in so me o thers t hey might be cultivated into activi ty ;

in t he vast maj ority o f cases they are hopelessly
incapable o f such develop ment during the curren t
life o f t he Ego concerned Their development in t he .

next p hysical life depends on t he extent to which ,

in t he current life t he person in question devotes

,

t ho ught study and effort to super p hysical aspira

, ,
-

tion for the laws governing t he growth of form

,
-

recognize t hought and e ffort as potent forces con

tributing to the result .

I ndeed if we cling to t he prison metap hor t he

,

situation is abnormal in more ways t han o n e for t he ,

authorities are by no means anxio us to keep t heir

prisoners within their respective cells They mus t .

-
i n o bedience to still higher authority refrain fro m

act ually helping prisoners to escape but t hey do no t ,

128 C oll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
shaken o ff as the onward progress i s accomplished .

The work o f shaking them o ff i s di fcult in the b e

ginning Mo st people are imp erfectly aware o f th e
.

disabilities under which t hey labour The sens es .

have given t hem a rich an d app arently ever growing -

store o f knowledge and power They are the .

foremost o f t hem pro u d and content within t heir

Palace The multitu de have no t yet even risen t o

.

t he appreciation o f i ts op ulent reso urces N one the .

less t he Beginning for every single Ego o f t he co unt

, ,

less millions must be made fro m the p hysical point

,

of departure And o n the p hysical p lane t he

.

prison o f my favo urite metaphor the co untless -

millions will accumulate and remain until they

make it I n t hat fact lies t he clue to t he co urse that
.

has been p ursued in recent years by agents o f the

Divine H ierarchy who have gui ded the current o u t
burst o f information relating to the higher destinies
available for mankin d information which consti tutes
,

a feature o f e v er increasing importance in mo dern

.
-

civilization The s teps taken were impossible at a

.

former time Bigo try dominated t he mental atmo s

.

p h ere I gno rant po wer stamped upo n all m a n ife st s

.

tions o f independent thought I t was only when .

freedo m had bro adened slowly do wn fro m preceden t

to precedent t hat a place was fo und among men for
messe ngers from a lo ftier world Now the message .

has been po ured forth thro ugh many channels I n .

varying forms o f expression i t is the same in all cases .

Loo k beyond the perishable interests o f transient

life in the physical bo dy Comprehend t he scheme .

o f innite magnicence to which yo u belong Get .

t he clear view now attainable o f the who le Divine

programme Make the b eginning t hat every human
.

creature must make soon o r late and the results are ,

bound to transcend even t he most glowing anti cip a

tion .
 O U R VI S I TS T O TH I S W O RLD
TH E materialist who regards human life as beginning
in the cradle and ending in t he grave i s at all events
consistent tho ugh he insults Divine intelligence
, .

But people who shrink fro m belie ving in nal ex

tinction and nevertheless regard each new life as a
,

fresh beginning insult human understanding They .

ask us in o ther words to accep t t he i dea o f a stick

, ,

with only o n e end We can t hink o f a stick wi th no

.

ends at all o r anyhow can talk o f it as we talk o f

,

Eternity , but to be o n speaking terms w ith In n i t u de

we must avoid t he acquaintance o f futuriti es that
have no past Some pheno mena a bonre for i n
.

,

stance may begin and cease to be but human

,

immortality is an i dea t hat claims in the forward

direction to share the attrib utes o f D uration an d ,

canno t do wi tho ut them in t he o ther .

The word life needs to be h andled with care .

I f p eople go o n li ving after t heir bo dies are buried o r

burned t heir presence o n t he p hysical plane is merely
,

an episo de in their lives I f these continue they mus t

.
,

under o ther conditions have been going o n before on

,

o ther plan es Seventy o r eighty years o f activity in

.

the physical bo dy constitute part o f a life Its co n .

t i n u an c e has ceased to b e a matter o f guesswork for

the millions concerned wi th t he simple variety o f
occult research described as Spirit ualism and the
~
,

current interest in that research is rapidly rendering

the current contemp t for i t in mos t newspapers an
illustratio n o f t heir patient e fforts to represent t he
greatest stupidity o f t he greatest number A deep er .

1 29 9
1 C o ll e c te d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a c h i ng
3
0

research t han that content wit h merely proving t hat

people are still alive after they are dead intro
duces us to t he logical conclusion that they were
alive before they were born and thus by stages , , ,

to the inevi table conclusion t hat conscio usness

functioning sometimes o n o n e plane o f N ature so me ,

times o n ano ther is never to o n e engine bo und b ut
, ,

always cycles ro und and ro und I n hard scientic .

language t his conclusion brings us up agains t t he

do ctrine o f Reincarnation which s haring the fat e
, ,

o f many o thers is made to seem an o ff ence to lo fty

,

aspiration by getting itself profo undly m i su n de r

stoo d .

At rst intro duced to t he Western world in t he

,

earliest theosop hical writings i t capt ured a great ,

array o f s upporters because fo r the rst tim e i t

, ,

enabled t hem to ( contemplate t he inequali ties o f

human condition W i tho ut feeling t hat they were
incomp atible wit h belief in Divine j ustice O ne .

co uld fall back o n the theory t hat Divine ways were

inscrutable b ut i t was co mforting to grasp a n ew
,

i dea that prevented them fro m seeming o n the face ,

o f things ways we S ho uld personally b e as hamed o f

,
.

O bj ections were forthco ming none t he less Spirit ual .

i st s sai d o u r friends o n the o t her side do n o t know

anything abo ut the new i dea O thers declared that .

t hey did n o t like this world and di d n o t want to co me

,

back t o i t condent that N at ure would n o t b e so

,

rude as to disregard t heir wishes To o thers again .

, ,

t he no tion o f beginning life afresh at the p e ra m b u

lator stage wa s intolerable ; and a ffectionate parents ,

mo urning a loved daughter were horried to t hink

,

t hat on passing o n t hemselves they might be greete d

with the news that sh e had been reincarnat ed i n
Timbuctoo Fro m ano ther point o f view t he dis
.

believer declared that he did no t remember having

had a previo us life t herefore it was o bvio us t hat
,
1 2
3 C o ll ec t e d Fru i t S o f O cc u l t T e a ch i n g
purposes to be served by that renewed life to be
discussed later o n but for t he moment in reference
, ,

to the rst steps in o u r comprehension o f loftier

destinies Reincarnation may be thought o f as t he
,

system o r metho d adop ted by N ature fo r t eaching t he

law o f Reincarnation At earlier s tages o f human .

progress the yo ung Ego has no t begun to concern itself

wit h t he study o f natural law is merely gathering
,

life after life preliminary experience o f pleasure and

,

pain o f right and wrong of emo tion and desire an d

, ,

their consequences Does the use o f t he word .

young in t his sense s eem to involve t he fallacy of

assignin g a beginning to that which has no end ?
There is no rea l inconsistency in t he language used .

The essence o f the yo ung Ego has emerged fro m

innite Divine life b ut at o n e perio d has crystalli z ed
,

as a centre o f consciousness within t he Divine life ,

and in conformity with laws coming to be understoo d

develops expanded cap acity by degrees Gradually .

and slowly this result i s accomplished .

Man a s ye t is b i gm d
e n a e an d e re t h e g Age of ag
c ro wn i n e s,

hall n ot wo
S n a ft e r aeo n p ass a n d t ou ch h i m i t o h ape
n s

But his consciousness may be traced back through

animal and vegetable forms thro ugh so lar systems an d ,

neb ul ae to past i n n i t u des o f manifestation .

Perhaps a simpler answer t han has been given above

might mo re easily meet t he o bj ection o f spiritualists
who say that t heir spirit friends do no t know anything
o f Reincarnation So me o f them do
. But the fac t
t hat some o f them deny it is quite intelligible when
we comprehend t heir limitations and unimportant , .

For most o f us belief in the ro tundity o f the Eart h

is no t shaken by t he denial o f a few who still believe
it to be at .

When disbelief in the law o f Reincarnation arises

from dislike for t he i dea one may rst o f all sugges t ,
 Ou r V i s i ts to t h i s W o rld 1
33
that people who deeply dislike t he law whi ch brings

tro uble o n those who pick o t her people s pockets do
no t by s uch dislike divert its co urse B ut in trut h .
,

people only dislike the i dea fo r want o f unde rstanding

it They do no t realize for o n e t hing t hat t he force
.
, ,

which gives rise to Reincarnation in each individual

case is a desire o n the part o f t he Ego to reincarnate .

I f no such desire were generated o n the p l a n e o f t he ,

Ego after t he personal life o f t he entity in question

,

has been fully enjoyed or worked o u t in the Astral

world and then h as merged itself in the Ego o n a
,

higher plane Reincarnation wo uld no t take place ;

,

b ut the hypo t hesis for t he o ccultist i s unt hinkable .

The desire fo r fresh experience is as inevitably e n

gendered i n the Ego when all so far gathere d has been
absorbed a s t he desire for fres h foo d is engendered
,

d uring physical life in t he bo dy when previo us ,

supplies have been nally disposed o f This state .

o f t hings invests t he familiar pro test agains t having

to co me back to this vale o f tears with a very ludicro us

aspect Even after eating t o o much and being fo r t he
.

mo ment disinclined for more foo d people in genera l ,

know t hat at so me future time t hey will be hungry

again ; but if while su ff erin g from repletion they
,

declared that for ever and ever t hey wo uld detest foo d ,

t he declaration wo uld be unconvincing The advanced .

Ego kn ows that he must come back to life on Earth

in order event ually to get o n Certainly by so me .
, ,

a go d like stage is reached when an Ego may have

-

risen above the laws a ff ecting o rdinary humanity but ,

long before then his lives in connection wit h the Earth

will have included co mplete comprehension of all
,

such laws People who criticize t hem o n t he basis

.

o f profo und ignorance of t he way t hey work have

certainly not attained t he condition which might

enable them to be a law unto t hemselves .

O f all the misconceptions pro mpting disbeli ef i n

Reincarnation the most ridiculous i s t hat which
,

makes so me critics shrink with horror from the i dea

o f beginning life again in the cradle They so mehow
.

i magine themselves with t heir present elaborate co n

sc i o u sn ess subj ect to its miserable limitations The .

law do es n o t give rise to any such ghastly absurdity ,

but to get ri d entirely o f t he painful delusio n i n

question we have to go into a closer study o f t he way
the process o f rebirth is effected t han was usually
possible fo r those who accepted the main i dea at
the rst blush a s acco unting fo r t he inequalities
,

o f life .

The metho d N ature p ursues in provi ding an Ego wi th

a fresh incarnation shows t he abs urdity o f what m ay
be called t he perambulator o bj ection When long .

after the close of the Earth perio d of t he previo us life

t he time has co me for t he Ego to plunge again into
the experiences o f the p hysical plane t he preparations
,

fo r this are very gradual And they vary wit hi n

.

a very wide range o f possibility according to t he

stage o f growt h the Ego has reached B ut in any .

case t he child in its baby stage is n o t an embo dimen t

o f the Ego o r o f the last personality in which i t
,

manifested any more t han t he S loppy clay foun dations

,

o f a new house are already inhabited by t he person

who is destined to live in i t when i t i s fully b uilt an d
furnished The amplication o f this all important
.
-

vi ew o f the matter may be po stponed for the moment ,

for the bro ad fact disposes o f t he delusion people

s u ffer fro m if they think o f them selves as enduring the
limitations o f childhoo d when co ming back to Earth
life Before dealing fully with the gradual way in
.

which a new child s bo dy is rendered t for o ccup atio n

by the appointed tenant attention may as well be

,

paid to a di ffi culty o f a more dignied order t han any

already no ticed Does t he law o f Reincarnation
.

conict with the supremely important aspect of the

 6 C oll e c t e d F r u i t s of O c c u l t Te a c hi n g
1
3
o f t he Eart h for no t turnin g ro und Reincarnation .

is a force that do es no t disperse people b ut gathers ,

t hem toget her I t do es t his no t merely as regards

.

lo ving co uples : it unites great gro ups o f people

i n sympathetic fri endship Whenever exceptional
.

O pportunities have enabled o ccult st udents to gain

knowledge concerning the former lives o f themselves
and their friends o r belongings current intimacies ,

are always fo und to be the frui t o f similar relationships

in former ti m es Where so me man and wo man are
.

fo und united in t hi
mutual love t hey,

man and wife in re

hey may scatter

a l attractions draw t hem off
in o n e direction o r another They always co me .

together again sooner o r later .

I n view o f what has j ust been sai d i t is hardly

necessary to deal serio usly with t he self su ffi cient -

foolishness o f people who contend t hat because they ,

do no t remember any former life no one has lived ,

formerly Many people do remember as o n e result

.
,

o f awakening faculties n o t yet co mmon to all an d the ,

fact t hat t he vast maj ority do no t remember is easily

acco unted for The human rac e as a whole is no t far
.
, ,

eno ugh advanced to work wit h the senses that have been
bro ught into acti vity by a few pioneers o f progress .

The cultured minority o f civilized co untries even is , ,

little more than half way o n along the co urse marked

-

o u t for the millio ns o f years o f hu m an activi ty while , ,

i f we strike an average between an Australian savage

and the President o f t h e Royal Society t he result ,

will b e rather disheartening And indee d t ho ugh

.
, ,

we may take t he ho lder at any time o f t he exalted

, ,

o ffi ce referred to as o n e who stands o n t he height

 O u r V i si t s to t hi s Wo rld 1
37
o f his life and o f life as generally understoo d t he
, ,

o ccult student at all events enjoys a glimpse o f a

height that is higher and expands his co nscio usness
,

accordingly B ut apart indeed fro m t he f act t hat

.
, ,

the maj ority even o f cultured people in civilized co m

m u n i t i e s have n o t yet developed faculties that enable
t hem to remember past lives t here is a very goo d ,

reason why Nature does no t allow t hem t o do so at ,

t heir present stage o f progress Very often they have .

co mplicated Karma t o work o u t They have .

done things in past lives that entail painful co n se

qu en c e s in t he current life To be able in advance
.
,

by rememb ering the incidents to foresee t he painful ,

consequences impending wo uld be an arrangement

,

cruelly aggravating the pain For the clear sight o f .

past causes it is much better t hat most o f us sho uld

wait When spiritual attainment h as cured us o f the
.

tendencies that engender evil consequences ; when

appropriate aspirations and acquired knowledge
c o operate t he higher senses ( which include the power
-
,

o f looking back ) will certainly dawn among earnest

students o f t he Higher O ccultism the super physical -

s cience o f N ature which illuminates t he whole Divine

scheme for t hose devo ted to i t There are some who .

already have t hese higher senses in full activity and ,

can no t only loo k back o n the former lives t hey them

selves have passed thro ugh but o n t he companionships
,

and acquaintanceships o f those lives so that a great ,

many ot hers now in physical life are enabled at secon d

hand to acquire knowledge o f their former doings .

Thus we can observe in actual operation t he working

o f the law referred to above which brings sympathetic
,

friends besides t hose linked by the supreme tie o f

,

lo ve into incarnation together I n this way I have

, .

bee n able to identify twenty o r thirty o f my present

friends and acquaintances as having played parts ,

together in former dramas parts t hat have curio usly

1
38 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e ac hi n g
varied in character sometimes under Karmic i n ,

u e n c e s o f diverse kinds .

Before examining the met ho d o r metho ds fo r

,

they vary b y means of which reincarnations are

accomplished let us glance at the esoteric necessity

,

fo r the process
\
Theologians by thoroughly mis
.
,

understanding Go d and N atur e supreme Divine

power and the mechanism o f manifestation have -

t aught people t o think of the Earth life and i ts -

conditions with disdain (i f they can ) and to con ,

template an eternal future o f hymns wings an d ,

inferior m u si Ca l instruments wi th a s much ardour

as t he prospect permits Expanding knowledg e .

enables us to realize that the Earth life is in the same -

relation to the spiritual fut ure that ( during this life )

a man s business or work is to the enj oyments that

wait upon s uccess The slow pro cesses o f early .

evolution t the growing Ego for his work in the

Earth life Then he has to do i t and earn the results
-
.
, .

Few Egos wo uld do it s uccessfully t he rst time o f

trying N ature is very patient and gives t h em
.
,

almost any number o f repeated opportunities for

trying again so many Earth lives with perio ds -

o f res t between each O nly here can t hey do t he

.

work Careless thinkers vaguely imagine that spiritual

.

progress witho ut work to provide for i t will be

somehow accomplished o n spiritual planes after the

shackles o f physical existence are contemptuously
cast o ff O n this plane that would b e like the view
.

of life t hat a man o f b usiness might take if he assumed

that income wo uld ow in o f itself if he basked all the
time in the lux u ries o f his home a n d nev e r wen t back
to h i s o fce Consequences will n o t fo llow withou t
.

causes being set up to provide for them That simple .

truth governs spiritual progress as well as t he pro

cesses o f manufacture Woo d will no t spontaneo usly.

convert itself into tables and chairs The human .

140 C o ll e c te d F ru i ts of O cc u l t Te a c h i n g
For a few ( relatively ) very far on special arrangements
, ,

co me into play Dealing rst with t he enormo u s

.

maj ority inclu ding t he savage and civilized races the

, .

co urse o f rebirth is gui ded no t by blind laws i n

herent in matter but by the will o f Beings o n an

,

immensely high level o f Divine dignity t ho ught o f by ,

o ccult students as the Lords o f Karma So far as we .

kno w their collective j urisdiction extends o ver t h e

whole Universe As regards this world we know o f
.

'

fo u r su ch Beings each o f co urse presiding over an

, , ,

i mmense hierarchy o f agents O ne i s co ncerned .

merely or
especially with the savage races ;

ano ther with t he rank and le o f civilization ;

ano ther wit h the cultured minority : these present
Karmic problems o f d eeper intricacy than are usual
with the less evolved maj ority The fourth is co n .

cerned with the Karma o f Nations but t hat is a huge ,

subj ect by itself which need no t claim attention fo r

t he mo ment .

The simplest savage has potentialities o f ultimat e

development towards innity b u t till his Ego has ,

become qualied for incarnation in civilized races ,

almost any opportunity for renewed life in his o wn

o r some similar race will suit him equally well His .

higher spiritual self is merely a germ The i dentity .

o f his p ersonalities in each savage life co uld only b e

traced by the keenes t vision o f exalted clairvoyance .

As a natural process the metho d o f bringing any Ego

back to physical life will be better understoo d if we
consider t he rank and le o f civilization At that .

level each Ego h a s made some progress in growi ng a

Higher Self on t he plane o f spiritual conscio usness .

The personality in life has developed capacities o f the

mind loves friendships and relationships which
, , ,

give rise to a pro tracted and interesting perio d o f

life o n t he As tral plane after p hysical death This .

perio d may last for cent uries but it is the o utco me o f

,
 O ur V i si ts to t h i s W o rl d 14 1

nite causes and co mes t o an end The loves and .

friendships do no t come to an end Th ey are simply .

melting into spiritual preparatory t o

t heir renewal in a new f t he great ,

life drama but when

, Ego concerned has b een
"

assigned to a new and appropriate incarnation by t h e

Divine discernment o f t he Lord o f Karma let u s ,

o bserve what happens .

An ato m o f matter inconceivably minute an ato m

,

o f each plane on which human conscio usness can

function clings to each personality after deat h

.

This is well understoo d by o ccult students Such .

ato ms are called the permanent atoms They .

pass upward during the long inter incarnate perio d -

,

and ultimately lo dge in the Higher Self When a new .

birth has been o rdained they are proj ected down

thro ugh the i n t e rv e n i n
p hysical ato m lo dges
seem a very feeble lin
uper
p hysic u tterly rid o f the habi t
o f att magnitu de An ato m .

may p ut a in to uch with every even t

in t he life 5 i dentied wit h a tho usand years

previo usly But we need no t here plunge into a

.

discussio n o f the mysteries connected with N ature s

memory .

I f we now turn to t he case o f an Ego belonging to

t he cultured minority o f civi lized races the Higher ,

Self by the hypo thesis i s more fully grown So me

, , .

t hing more than in the ot her cas e clings to t he

permanent ato ms with the result that the astral
,

p ermanent atom ga thers ro und it (o r is provided by the

agents o f Karma wi th ) a temporary vehicle o f astral
conscio usness which strengthens the connection
,

o f t he new child s bo dy with the Ego s l ast per

son al i t y
. Let no o n e imagine t hat the new bo dy
14 2 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T ea c hi n g
becomes all at once a vehicle o f Ego conscio usness -
.

For the rst seven years o f its life the baby co n ,

sci o u sn e ss does no t borrow fro m t he presiding Astra l

any streak even o f i t s mature capacity for tho ught

and emo tion No r even in the rst seven years doe s
.

i t do more than accomplish ( under gui dance ) certain

preliminary processes o f growth O nly when ano ther .

sep tenary perio d has passed does t he child a t ,

fourteen begin to be as regards i t s astral nature the

,

p ersonality o f the former life over again and no t ,

until a third septenary p erio d h as passed is i t infused

wi th the mentality o f the former life Then the Ego .

has been reincarnated excep t fo r what remains o n

,

higher spiritual leve ls as the Higher Self Fo r .

,

remember we are n o w dealing wit h the case o f an

,

entity so far advanced a s necessarily to have developed

t hro ugh many former lives a co mplicated acco unt
with Karma There are goo d and evil forces awaiting
.

operation Capacities o f varied kinds need expression

. .

I t may n o t be possible for t he directing Powers to nd

an incarnation in which all these forces can operat e
simultaneo usly Successive lives surro unded wi th
.
,

very di fferent circumstances may be required to work

,

ou t t he whole intricate problem But t he great .

Powers o f N ature are very patient and have limitless ,

time at their disposal A large draft upon t hose

.

reso urces must be made when in addition to the ,

intricat e claims o f an advanced Ego s indivi dual

Karma h i s love ties and hostile relationships with

,

other Egos have to be provided for But the manner .

in which N ature t he living mechanism o f Divine

Will exhibits a power o f combining everything with

everything else is for a tho ughtful o bserver the most

,

dazzling o f her marvello us attributes .

The familiar p henomena o f heredity illustrate that

last remark When a child growing up exhibits
.

characteristics resembling those o f p arents o r an

144 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c h i n g
such cases i s n ot gui ded in his choice by what a mere
,

worldly o bserver wo uld regard as t he relatively

attractive prospect offered by such alternatives .

Luxury co mfort even in physical life is regarded

, ,

fro m the point o f view at which t he Disciple i s

s tanding in consultation with his Mas ter as simply
, ,

o f no acco unt The question i s which proposed

.

life will be best calculated to promo te real spiri tual

progress ? Cases are known in which humble and
arduous incarnations have been chosen in preference
to o thers o f ease an d far superior so cial s tation .

The metho d o f reincarnation in such cases will

follow the ordinary ro utine in o n e way The per .

manent atoms will be guided to their destination in

the mo ther and the growing child but t he former ,

personality i s entirely complete all the time o n t he ,

Astral plane looking o n an d perhaps being able to

,

some extent to inuence the p arents i n the treatmen t

o f t he child who will most likely exh ibit psychic
,

characteristics of an unusual order though for

vario us reasons this is no t a matter o f certainty

.
.

Eventually by the time t he child has attained the

,

age of fo urteen or a little new

astral bo dy i dentied in
physical body the Astral o f his fo ,

will be discarded and t he new life

though i t will not till later on be infu sed
(

intellectual attributes o f the Ego .

I nfant pro digies are no t necessarily o r even ,

probably examples o f the peculiar incarn ations j us t

,

described When wonderful musical faculties are

.

manifest at ridiculo usly early ages that condition ,

can be traced to the impatience o f the musical Ego

to express itself again on the physical plane Arith .

metical pro digies may be due to some unusual

capacity in the new brain for bringing o ver astral
conscio usness But the study o f such excepti ona l
.
 O u r Vis i ts to t hi s Wo r ld 14 5

pheno mena lies o utsi de t he e ffort t o comprehend the

normal working o f t he laws regulating the s u fficiently
intricate problems of ordinary reincarnation .

The importance o f understanding t hese laws as ,

far as that is possible canno t be overrated They

, .

lie at the roo t o f t he who le scheme o f human ev o l u

tion To frame t heories of human origin and destiny
.

witho ut taking them into acco unt wo uld be like

trying to explain bo dily growth witho ut co mpre
hending t he circulation o f t he bloo d to frame a ,

science o f chemistry witho ut including oxygen in t he

catalogue o f elements to explain light and so un d
,

witho ut contemplating t he i dea o f vibration R e .

l igi o n as the world grows wiser will n o t be able to

, ,

do witho ut some co mprehension o f spiritual science

essential to t he permanent maintenance o f spiritual
emo tion o f religion as a force operative o n cond u ct
,
.

Witho ut t he system o f rebirt h t he physical worl d ,

would have no ra i son d e tre I f spirit ual beatitu de

.

could be as w ell reached witho ut further contact,

with t his kind o f life by the debased savage t he

, ,

civilized criminal and the altruistic p hilant hropist

, ,

it wo uld no t have been worth while for the Sun t o

shine or t he Earth to turn ro und The o ccultis t
, .

knows t he physical world to be t he climax o f creative

ingenuity O n lofty p lanes o f conscio usness Divine
.

p u rposes are thought o ut O n tho se which are lower

.

i n only o n e sense they are realized

By degrees .

t he realization beco mes more and more co mplete an d ,

the Earth itself will share the progress o f t he humanity

i t bears . ZEo n s hence humanity will be con
t e mp l a t i n g t he results o f this progress To part i t .

fro m its heritage by denying i t ( in i magination ;

happily t hat canno t be done i n reality ) t he right to
keep in to uch wi t h it is to blunder into m aking
,

nonsense o f t he whole Divine scheme in a way , ,

moreover w hi ch wo ul d incidentally cheat t he loftier

,

I0
 6 C o ll ec t e d F ru i ts of O c c u l t T e ac h i n g
1
4
planes o f conscio usness o f t he perfected Egos they are
await i ng In reliance o n the plane o f physical mani
,

fe st a t i on the nursing ho me o f o ur as yet imperfect

, ,

selves Those who m i t h as reared successfully are

.

continually o utgrowing the need o f its gui dance .

Those who have hardly yet proted by this are con

t i n u o u sly po uring in The human family is a large
.

one tho ugh collectively a mere episo de in Divine

,

manifestation B ut t he episo de is s u fficiently elabo

.

rate an d varied t o absorb o u r attention and few ,

o f its aspects are better worth no tice t han those

which have to do with t he fundamental principle

governing its alternations o f activity and rest opera ,

tive thro ugho ut N ature in ways innumerable i n

winter and summer in day and night in sleeping

, ,

and waking and in o u r constantly renewed touch wi th

,

the physical world as we descen d from realms o f more

rened conscio usness to get o n with o ur stupendo us
,

task o f training human nature to b e Divine .

 to deal wi th t he subj ect more freely than has h itherto
been usual and to S how how intimately the activities
,

o f the White Lo dge are blended with the a ff airs o f

t he world ; h o w t he Masters are much more numero us

than was at rst supposed and how They specialize ,

in dealing wi th the vario us departments o f human

life while working together in abso lute harmony of
,

p urpose ; how Their Divine aspect as we regard Them

from o u r point of view is blended wit h an intensely

human aspect as They deal wit h us indivi dually an d ,

how They in turn are guided in Their action by the

, ,

still loftier Will above .

We canno t overrate Their po w er and knowledge if we

compare i t wit h o u r o wn nor can we overrate Their ,

limitation if w e endeavo ur in imagination to range , ,

t he highest planes o f consciousness in which supreme

Divine law prevails Again we canno t easily do j ustice
.
,

to Their affectionate sympathy with human disciples

struggling upwards towards lo ftier spiritual life I n .

that way Their human aspect is beautifully manifest .

The Master level o f initiation is a fairly denite

stage o n the path o f spiritual progress but is in no ,

sense a halting place The next great stage ( initia

.

tions beyond co mmon co mprehension intervenin g )

i s that o f the Fathers as they are called (or by an ,

equivalent term in ano ther tongue ) An d I am .

assured t ho ugh the i dea is utterly beyond incarnat e

,

understanding that t he interval as representing

, ,

power knowledge and cosmic experience between

, , ,

t he condition o f the Master and that o f the Father

i s no t less than that between an ordinary cultured
man o f o u r race and the Master Wi thin recent years .

t here have been many ascents fro m t he Master to t he

Father level but in no way do es any such ascent cut
,

o ff the new Father fro m t he disciple s activities and

personal attachments o f Hi m self w hen in t he Master

condi tion Fro m o u r point o f view H e is t he Master
.
 M aste rs and t h e i r M e t h o d s of I n str u c t i o n 149

s till so in t hinking o f Those we may kno w we need

,

no t be curio us concerning Their absolute rank in the

Mighty Hierarchy .

A simple fact no t generally known t hro ughout

the Society i s this : t here i s a Master denitely
i dentied with or in charge o f every great co untry
, , ,

o r nationality in the world Thus I have had so me .

to uch wit h an Englis h a Scotch and an I rish Master ; , ,

also wit h an American Master indeed wi t h more , ,

than one specializing in t he Guardians hip o f the

United States I know also o f an I talian and a
.

French Master and in all such cases t he Master in

,

question t hough H e may have held t hat rank fo r

,

untold ages and may have used many physical bo dies

,

in the past takes incarnatio n in a bo dy belonging to

,

the nation o r race o ver which H e undertakes to

preside H e generally resides at the capital o f t hat
.

State and this custo m dispo ses o f an absurd no t ion

, ,

prevalent among Theosop hists at one time when t he

Master condition was very imperfectly understoo d ,

to the effect t hat no adept co uld endure t he evil

magnetism o f gre at cities I n so me cases and we .

happened to hear o f t hem rst certain Masters

have fo und i t convenient so far as Their bo dies are ,

concerned t o reside in remo te H imalayan districts

, .

Their work has lain altogether o n higher planes and ,

all abo ut the world under conditions invo l ving t he

,

habitual u se o f subtler vehicles o f conscio usness but ,

They can and sometimes do materi alize in t he midst

, ,

o f crowded humanity H e wo uld be a poor Adept .

who co uld not shiel d Himself fro m inferior magnetic

inuences .

O bviously by t he laws governing t he o ccult world

, ,

national Masters canno t let Themselves be kno wn

to ordinary people ro und Them for what They really
are I t is perfectly hopeless for anyone no t o f t hei r
.

o wn order to try and identify The m .

1 5 0 C o ll e c t e d F ru i ts o f O cc u l t Te a c h i ng
I n order to guard against possible confusion o f
tho ught o n the part o f my readers let me remin d ,

them t hat o f course t here i s a being o f the Deva

order also identied with each great nationality bu t ,

he i s o n a di ff erent line o f evolution altogether .

During happier perio ds o f the past there was a

German Master o r more than o n e but since Satan h a s
, ,

monopolized spiritual inuence in German y the ,

White Lo dge Masters have had to withdraw fro m

that country .The resulting condition o f things
co uld only be elucidated by a long collateral story
into which I have no time to diverge .

O ne Master whose work lies chiey in America has

, ,

been especially active in helping to guard t he transport

ships carrying United States troops to France fro m ,

torpedo attacks o n the way The black and white .

forces o n the higher planes are each all t he time , ,

trying to bend physical forces to their o wn ends and ,

t he way in which t hro ugho ut this war the powers

, ,

o f the whole White Lodge have been strained in

resisting the Satani c attack is ill understoo d as yet

,

by the humanity that owes its escap e fro m t he fatal

disaster t o that tireless pro tection The Master t o .

who m I have j ust been referring has been i den tied

with t he American continent ever since it was part
o f the still greater continent o f Atlantis H e is linked .
,

in a very curio us way with the Atlantean perio d

,
.

And t his leads me t o speak on o n e condition associated

with Mastership t hat seems at rst very bewildering .

The physical bo dies o f the Masters o ften attain to

extraordinary ages to be co unted by centuries rather
, ,

than by years No incomprehensible miracle is really

.

invo lved .

During o u r yo uth we are all under t he inuence o f a

force science h as no t yet catalogued which makes ,

fo r growt h and improvement When we are grown

.

up i t continues in operation for a time keeping the ,

 1 5 2 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e ac hi n g
incarnation all the same Many Masters work in this .

way I ndeed on a l evel a little belo w t hat o f a Master

.
, ,

t he arrangement is practicable And a Master if H e .

,

sees t can run so to sp eak more than o n e bo dy at

, , ,

t he same time This makes t he i dentication o f any

.

p articular Master o n the physical plane a matter o f

extreme di ffi culty .

We o ught to understand this possibility more fully .

M asters will so metimes for special reasons take i n , ,

ca rnation o n some very humble human l eve l I know .

o f one deeply impressive case To full some p urpose .

o f t he White Lo dge a certain Master ( no t to b e ,

i dentied with any hitherto referred to in Theo

S ophical literature ) took birt h as a slave in Ro me
during the Domitian p erio d I t ultimately came to .

pass that he was driven into the arena o f t he Co liseum

in co mpany with a crowd o f Christians to be d e

vo u re d by wild beasts Being what H e was H e co uld .

, ,

o f co urse have slipped o u t o f His bo dy as easily as

,

a n y o f us might take o ff a co at and wo uld no t have ,

been at all inconvenienced by leaving it a prey for the

lions But H e saw that by s taying on in it and using
.
,

His power as a Master to pacify t he agonized a pp re

h e n si o n s o f the crowd aro und Him H e co uld save ,

them fro m the wors t s ufferings o f the o rdeal So .

H e remained and ( here we to uch anot her mystery )

,

by drawing into Himself the vibratio ns o f fear fro m

o thers actually felt himself the intense pain o f these
,

vibrations H e allowed Himself to be conscio usly

.

killed by a lion .

This i s no t the only story o f t he kind I co uld quo te ,

but i t o ught to be eno ugh to show the utter se l e ssn ess

( unselsh i s an inadequate word ) that is o n e o f t he
s ublime attributes o f the Master condition For me .
,

I have always regarded the arena inci dent as con

st i t u t i n g the mo st won derful lesson in o ccult ethics

I h ave ever received .

 M aste rs and t h e i r M e t h o d s 01 I n stru c t i o n 1
53
The Master K H to who m I especially belong is. .
, ,

pre eminently concerned with the spiritual progress o f

-

humanity That is why we n d Him the lo fty i n

.

u e n ce peculiarly connected wit h t he Theosophical

So ciety I n Atlantean ages H e was generally t o be
.

fo und exercising exalted priestly functions while ,

His great bro ther M ( specializing in Power ) was .

generally at such times incarnated as a great King or

Emperor Anot her Master
. H will serve to .

i dentify Him is amongst o ther specialities in charge

, ,

o f the movement known as Spiritualism H e has been .

in charge o f it since its inception and before for i t , ,

was d e liberately planned by the Great White Lo dge

co llectively to control the gro wing materialism of t he
nineteenth cent ury I t was as denitely as Theo s .
,

O p h y a White Lo dge Movement o f which Theosophy

, ,

was planned to be the natural sequel I n view o f t his .

state o f t hings t he mutual antagonism o n this plane

,

o f Spiritualism and Theosophy is pitiably ludicro us .

Spiritualists refusing to believe in t he Masters and

,

Their teachings are ghting against t heir o wn illus

,

t ri o u s Chief Theosophists sco ffi ng at Spiritualism

.
, ,

are insulting t he wise policy o f the White Lo dge they

profess to revere
Again it is foolish t o overlook the splendi d work
,

in the worl d spiritualists have done in convincing

millions that there is another plane o f existence ,

ano ther life after this ; and i t is marvello usly foolish

o f spiri tualists to S purn the gift o f fuller knowledge

co ncerning that plane and life o ff ered t hem by

Theosophy .

Spiritualism s ho uld have been the nat ural highway

leading to Theosophy if the relation o f t he two had ,

no t been grievo usly m i smanaged o n this plane in the

beginning .

Certain members o f the Great White Lo dge o n a ,

very high level are concerned wit h the progress o f

,
1 54 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t Te a c hin g
t he world in connection with science literature and , ,

a rt . The scientic Master (a higher designation

wo uld be more s uitable ) i s t he channel t hro ugh
Whom all new discovery and invention ( of digni ed
kind ) naturally ows H e inspires discovery at the
.

appropriate times I n t he whole Divine programme

.

great blo cks o f natural knowledge are marked o u t for

dissemination o n t he physical plane at denite
periods Discovery is never allowed to o utrun these
.

Divine limitations I t may overtake t hem for t he

.
,

Master A ( let us call Him ) does no t use men o f science

.

as automata o r telephones H e watches the drift .

o f their researches may indeed prompt t hese and

, , , ,

t hen implants in so me receptive mind a new i dea

along that line o f investigation That does not in .

t he least detract fro m the merit o f t he incarnate

discoverer . H e co uld never have picked up the
inspiration unless he had developed his Ego capacity
to the required degree o f perfection .

I know less abo ut the way in which t he artistic

Masters work and will n o t attempt to describe i t
, .

What I have written is but an imperfect sketch o f

t he conceptions I have been able to form o f the
Masters and Their work during t he t hirty o d d years
,
-

I have been in to uch with Them never more closely ,

t han now But at the best o n t his plane o f con

.

sc i o u sn e ss we can only get a feeble grasp o f so me of

t he features o f the White Lo dge life I n its higher .

aspects the mere physical brain canno t deal with i t s

con ditions .

I f the only p urpose that the Masters had in vi ew ,

when beginning to give some o f u s instruction in

certain o ccult mysteries had been o u r instructio n in
, ,

the literal sense o f the word t heir met ho d wo uld ,

undeniably have been open to criticism They se t us .

no lessons to learn ; they merely i ndicated a willing

ness to answer questions i f t hese did n o t seek i n
1
5 6 C oll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi ng
pupils There are no unwilling p upils in the occul t
.

world an d knowledge is most rmly implanted when

,

i t co mes in response to a denite desire for know

ledge .

Secondly the purpo se o f t he Masters in making t h e

,

great Theosophical experiment was no t to put t h e

world into possession o f o ccult knowledge but to ,

train t hose who proved q u alied by developin g

appropriate aspiration to become like the Masters
morally as far a s possible so t hat t hey might ascen d
, ,

t he path o f spiritual progress So me glimpses o f the .

intellectual delights attending s uch progress might

be hel d o u t had to be held o u t o r t he experiment

,

was bo und to fail The Masters had a very d elica t e

.

task to perform at rst in deciding how much ,

knowledge to give o u t along the line o f t his idea ;

how resolutely to withhold knowledge that might
be misused My o wn beloved Chief who amongs t
.
,

o ther attributes is t he embo died essence o f human

kindliness has told me how he used t o sympathiz e
,

wit h my annoyance when H e had to refuse to ans w er

so me o f my questions The time came when t h e .

mo tive fo r such refusals was much less op erative .

That change acco unts for t he way in which d uri ng ,

t he last ten o r fteen years I have been able to expand ,

t he original teaching (o r what passed fo r it ) enor

m o u sl y with the very curio us result that a goo d
,

many theosophical students poring over t he earlier

books the Secret Doctrine especially cling t o t he
, ,

impressions derived fro m those earlier books and ,

resent t he i dea o f having t hem enlarged o r perhaps , ,

in so me cases corrected , .

I t really did no t matter at rst whet her peopl e

had correct or incorrect no tions abo ut planetary
chains manvantaras roo t races and their p erio ds ; o f
, , ,

elemental nat ure or the condition o f the wo rld in

,

earlier ro unds I t was i mportant that they sho uld

.
 Ma ste rs d th ei r M et h o d s of I n str u c t i on 15
an
7

g e t so mething like a clear i dea o f th e way in which

the Divine Hierarchy represented for us by o ur

E lder Brethren who m we now call the Masters

,

broo de d always over t he world s welfare and held

,

o u t Their hands to all worthy aspirants eager or ,

capable o f growing eager to j oin that splendi d ,

fraternity .

Why did t hat rst book Esoteri c B u ddh i sm start

, ,

t he Theosophical movement in the Western world as ,

i n e ffect i t di d
, Because it made people think o f
the Masters and gave Them an opportunity o f
,

t hinking b ack t hus po uring an extremely important

,

inuence into the world A deep o ccult truth under

.

lies that i dea No o n e gets direct personal no tice

.

o r guidance fro m the Masters unless he looks up

to Them conscio usly in search of i t in the rs t ,

instance H e canno t do this unless he knows

.

so mething abo ut them to guide his t houghts Th e .

e arliest boo k gave multi tudes a hint o f Their ex

i st en ce ; made t he readers th i n k o f t he Masters ho w ,

ever vaguely This gave them Their opportunity

. .

They shed back inuences upon those who tho ught o f

Them Few o f us have even n o w more than a very
.
, ,

imperfect conception o f tho ught as a power The .

t houghts that ew back and forward among readers

o f the earlier books g ave rise to t he Theo sophical

So ciety A long time elapsed before the Higher

.

Powers fel t sure that i t wo uld last Many people .

imagine that i t was fo unded in 1 8 7 5 Loo k back .

to t he rst volume o f Isis Un vei led (p 1 2 of t he .

I ntro duction ) and reconsider that impression I t

, .

was no t until nearly ten years later t hat t he Society

began to excite real interest in the Western world ,

and nearly ano ther ten years elapsed b efore i t was

so rmly roo ted that the Masters could regard i t
as an acco mplished fact I n t he interval betwe en the
.

early eighties and the early nineties i t w ent thro ugh

1
5 8 C oll e c t e d F r u i ts 01 O c c u l t Te a c hi n g
vicissitudes that almost killed i t o utright but i t ,

sur vived t hem and i ts life became assured

,
.

Then it was that restrictions frightfully in my ,

way at rst faded away Certainly the Master s

, .

co uld no t even t hen give o ut to the world at large

what are called the secrets o f initiation but as fa r , ,

as p ure knowledge o f natural law the co urse o f h ti man ,

evo lution t he conditions o f o ther worlds and thei r

,

relations with o ur own the details o f super p hysical

,
-

schemes in relation to rebirth after death experiences ,

-
,

progress o n the Path etc etc all these subj ects

, .
, .
,

were t hrown open to o ur inquiries and the result has ,

been t he enormo us expansion o f o ur knowledge

exhibited in writings so me of us have been able to
put forth during t he last dozen years .

A great deal o f important teaching came through

during the latter en d o f the critical p erio d before t he
restrictions above referred to were altoget her swep t
away The years fro m 1 8 8 5 to abo ut 1 90 2 were
.

remarkable years in connection with instruction

fro m t he Masters The early London Lo dge included
.

d uring those years a goo d many earnest an d qualied

s tudents among t hem Mr Leadbeater an d Mrs
, . .

Besant And I had t he advantage o f to uch with my

.

own Master thro ugh an appropriate channel The .

long series o f L on don Lodge Tra n sa cti on s which

appeared during t hose years will b e seen by anyone ,

who looks back to be milestones o n the road leading

,

to the state o f theosophical knowledge at the end o f

the perio d t hey covered All t hey contained has .

long since been absorbed into theosophical literat ure .

O nly fo r those wh o may care to trace the history o f

o u r teaching can t hey have an interest now The .

new series o f Lon don Lodg e Tra n sa cti on s beginning in ,

1 9 1 3 are o n a di ff erent foo ting

, They have to do .

wi th later corrections and additions to the earlier

teaching obtained in very recent years .
 E "PAN DE D TH E O S O PH I CAL KN O WLE DGE
F I R S T I propose t o deal with the great mystery o f
Conscio usness o n e which at t he rst glance seems th e
,

most unfathomable o f any we have t o study ; then

to se t forth in fuller detail t han has hitherto been
,

fo und possible t he actual present condition o f human

,

life on t he planetary chain to which w e belong ,

and thirdly to show h o w o u r co mprehension o f t he

,

realm immediately in to uch with the p hysical life ,

t ho ugh j ust beyond i ts bo undaries the Astral world

, ,

h as been develop ed to an extent that we never

a ttemp ted to reach when Theosop hical s tudy t hirty
ve years ago was mainly directed towards still wi der
horizons .

1 .
-
N AT UR E O F C O N S C I OU S N E S S
TH E
Conscio usness is recognized by all p hysiologica l
students as a mystery they do no t attemp t to explain .

We can trace the activities o f life back t hro ugh the

muscles and the nerves back to the brain b ut whence
, ,

came t he original imp ulses in o bedience to which the

brain set the nerves to work on t he muscles That
question is left aside as relating to a mystery beyo nd
human understanding No r shall I attemp t to clear
.

up t he mystery in the way we can so metimes a c co m

p l i sh this when dealing with p urely p hysical p heno
mena ; we must b e conten t to treat Conscio usness as
t he fundamental Divine Principle o f all manifestation ,

but the illuminating i dea which I want to convey ,

i s that Divine Conscio usness itself i s in its nature

, , , ,

i dentical with any conscio usness o f w hich we can t ake

1 60
 E x pa n d e d Th e o so phi c al Kn owl e dg e 161

cognizance ; that in a word there i s only one kind of

Conscio usness in all creation t he Conscio usness o f

God working thro ugh vehicles o f varying capacity

,
.

Limited as we feel o ur own conscio usness to be i t i s ,

in i t s nature i dentical with t hat o f I nnite Divinity ,

as in the o ther direction with t hat o f animal and even

vegetable life That which may be t ho ught o f as t he
.

e ffi cient value o f conscio usness depends upon t he

vehicle in which i t is working Within the bo dy of .

a sheep i t s limitations are narrow indeed wi t hin ,

that o f an enlightened human being t hey s eem

enormo usly widened ; b ut whether we go do wn i n
tho ught far below t he sheep level or ascen d in ,

I magination far above the human condition we shall ,

nd t hat the vehicle o f conscio usness in all cases

determines t he extent to which conscio usness itself
can range over t he i n n i t u de o f knowledge .

When Darwin rst started the evo lutionary t heory ,

some o f us were inclined to regard him as having made

the mistake o f concerning himself wit h vehicles alone ,

ignoring the concurrent evolution o f intellect ual and

spiritual capacity Witho ut perhaps fully realizing
.
, ,

the magnit ude of his o wn achievement he was em ,

bracing in his view o f nature bo th the physical and

super physical processes o f evo lution Although by
-
.

profo und study the pro cess can be comprehended even

at t he level o f its o bscure beginnings the principle ,

is better grasped if we conne o u r attention to t he

development o f conscio usness in t he human being .

By what law is the gradu al improvement o f t he

vehicle as time go es on pro vi ded for Putting the
answer in a brief phrase s usceptible o f further
,

development in d e t a i l t h e law is t hat when conscio us

,

ness within any given vehicle exerts i tself to the

utmo st o r in o t her words makes the best use o f the
, ,

vehicle in which i t nds itself at any given tim e ,

the la w really a part of t he great aggregation o f

II
1 62 C o ll e cte d F ru i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
Karmic laws proceeds to invest that volume o f

conscio usness t hat Ego with a better vehicle fo r

, ,

i t s next p hysical manifestation .

I must here quo te a line o r two fro m Tennyson ,

whose po etry as we grow to appreciate it is saturated

, ,

with o ccult knowledge H e wri t e s in o n e fragment .

to be fo und in almo st t he last p ublis hed vo lume o f

h i s works
Th e L o r dl et th e h o u se o f a b ru t e t o th e sou l of a m an ;
A n d m an sa id , Am I Y ou r d b t or
e

Th e L o r d Not ye t ; b u t m a k e it l
a s c e an a s y ou can ,

A n d t h en I w ill l et y ou a be tt e r .

I n t hese compact lines we have the who le i dea I

want to convey suggested if no t elaborately expressed ,
.

Make i t a s clean as yo u can means o f co urse , ,

make the best use o f it a n d establish a Karmic claim

'

o n an improved ho use o r vehicle We se e the system .

working as we study t he principles o f Reincarnation ,

working o f co urse like most pro cesses in N ature in

, ,

what seems at the rst glance a lopsided fashion .

The lover o f music makes the bes t u se o f his musical

faculties in the life wh en that desire rst governs him ,

and while perhaps neglecting o t her p ossibilities o f

,

improvement he o btains in his next life a vehicle

,

better adapted to the expression o f musical tho ught .

So with any o ther line o f human activity The lover .

o f p hysical science nds life after life h i s capacity

for comprehending t he laws o f p hysical nat ure ever

and ever improving ; the p hilanthropist u n co n ,

sc i o u sly to himself is imbuing his permanent atoms ,

wit h an ever increasing eagerness to benet his

-

fellow creatures Down to the minor developments

.

o f intellectual capacity the study o f mathematics ,

o r philology the same invariable principle may be

,

discerned No one can in one life clean all t he

.

rooms in his ho use to fo llow Tennyson s metaphor ;

but by degrees all in turn will be fo und t o have

1 64 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
which he nds himself at any given mo ment by any ,

Power exterior t o himself H elped by suggestion " .

Y e s we may all welco me such help as that ; we c an

,

none o f u s dispense with it ; but the suggestion must

in all cases be a hint pointing to individual exertion .

Actual progress in every case must be t he pro duct

o f individual will an d effort t he e ff ort to make t he
,

maximum u se o f life s Opportunities ; or in o ther

,

words o f the vehicle in which conscio usness for the

,

ti me being is working .

H ardly any o f the misty tho ughts in which o ld

fashioned psycho logy indulged will remain clo uded
by vagueness when the principle I am dealing wit h
gives them denite shap e .

I wi ll venture o n a subtle illustration o f this i dea .

Thinkers who rather resent than aspire to clearly

dened knowledge concerning the spiritual aspect
o f t heir o wn nature are o ften fon d o f treating Chris t
,

as a state o f conscio usness The awakening o f .

the Christ within u s or some such vague inter
,

p re t a t i o n of the i dea i s held preferable to any specic

,

knowledge concerning the levels in the Divine

Hierarchy at which we n d denitely in manifestation
a Being fro m whom the Christ Principle actually
emanates Attached as many thinkers are to the
.

clo udiness o f mysticism the recognition o f s uch a

,

specic Being seems to them t o degrade the i dea ,

and yet with the knowledge concerning the Divine

Hierarchy that has been in Theo sophical possession
almost since t he beginning we know t hat there is a ,

specic Being at a certain level wi thin the Divine

Hierarchy o f the Solar System to whom we m a y ,

denitely look up as t he conscio us so urce o f a ll

spiritual inuence This clear knowledge far fro m
.
,

degrading t he aspiration in each indivi dual Ego to

comprehend spirituality i s j us t as superior to the
,

s tate o f mind wi th which the mystic is content as the ,

 E xpa n d e d Th e o so phi c al Kn o wl e dg e 1 65

landscape illuminated by s unshine i s superior to t he

dim s uggestion o f partial o bscu rity Undo ubtedly in
.

all research o r teaching connected wi th spiritual truth

mysteries still lie beyond any that are being by degrees
cleared u p stretching beyond these to all I nni ty ;

but the more o u r knowledge is expanded the better ,

we realize that clo udiness o f t ho ught uncertainty ,

as we gaze upward vagueness o f expressio n as we

,

attempt to p ut aspiration into words are merely due ,

to want o f further knowledge As denite and .

precise as o u r knowledge has now beco me in reference

to t he simple p heno mena o f chemistry so dened ,

and precise to a higher understanding mus t the

conditions o f spirit ual life ultimately beco me t ho ugh ,

to the ordinary human brain they mus t long remain

incomprehensible There is no inherent value in
.

clo udiness o f thought That which we o ught all to

.

be aiming at in dealing with any o f the mysteries

hitherto embraced by the vague term o ccultism
is clearness and precision o f understanding The .

Truth i f we could comprehend i t is as clear and

, ,

p recise as any o f those simpler truths o f nature within

o u r grasp and the task before us is no t t hat o f
,

co ntinuing to treat S piritual research as something

too sacred to be cramped by o utline o r form There .

ca n be no spiritual trut h so exalted and fo r us at t he

moment incomprehensible which does n o t have as

,

clear an o utline and as dened a mental s hap e for

conscio usness working in appropri ate vehicles as the
simpler relationships o f molecular physics already
have for o urselves .

2
P L A N E T A R Y C H AI N
TH E
The rst idea we had abo ut the progress o f life o n
planetary chains was looking back upon i t all we
, ,

co uld be expected to understand at t he rst blush .

I t was a huge expansion o f t he elementary i dea t hat

1 66 C oll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e ac hin g
this world was t he beginning o f all things and that ,

i ts gradual creation co uld be traced in the familiar

language o f scripture .

The very notion o f planetary chains wa s an entirely

new o n e which had to be assimilated by degrees an d ,

has needed in later years very elaborate explanation .

The planetary chain that we belong to consists ,

as the early teaching showed o f s even globes the rst

, ,

and last o n t he Manasic level two others below these ,

o n the Astral level three o n the p hysical plane

,
We .

j umped to the conclusion in the beginning that all

planetary chains were alike consisting o f seven ,

glo bes an d t he i dea has unhappily permeated

,

Theosophical literature to t hat extent t hat i t h a s

misled many thinkers I t is really only t he mi ddle
.

chain o f a m an v a n t ari c series t hat consists o f seven

planets ; in t he previous Manvantara a chain ha d
only v e ; in t he o n e before i t only three ; an d in t he
,

one before t hat only o n e I will n o t stop t o work

,
.

o u t this i dea in all i t s scientic beauty A mere hint .

will be eno ugh to S how h o w the whole series o f

Manvantaras is a harmonio us concep tion beginning
with t he Divine Tho ught the rst Manasic globe
;

culminating in so me supreme res ults that are beyo nd

o u r present co mprehension in that far away future

when the whole series will be complete B ut keeping .

o u r a ttention xed for the mo ment o n o u r present

planetary chain o f seven globes t he rst i dea we have ,

t o realize i s that when we were to ld in t he b e ginning

,

abo ut the great life wave sweeping o n fro m worl d

to world and for the present o ccupying this earth
, ,

we were p ut in po ssession o f a bro ad i dea which i s

perfectly true b ut which requires elaboration The
,
.

m a i n p a rt o f t he human family to which we belong

do es o ccupy this earth at t he present time b ut during ,

the vario us rounds o f progress which have been going

on for an almost incalculable past the family has ,
1 68 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
races o f o u r o wn globe manners they have none ,

and their custo ms are beastly The animal life .

o n Mars is at a l o w level corresponding to t hat o f the

,

people I t is purely reptilian in i t s character and t he

.
,

developmen t o f taste amongst t he p eople may be

imagined fro m t he fact t hat t heir foo d c onsists o f the
bloo d o f t he reptiles swarming in the vast inland
lakes co mmonly called canals wi th which the habit ,

able portions o f the planet are covered .

Even amongst the Martians the evo lutionary law

which presses gradually o n the multitude is slowly
working So me Egos for already the Martians mus t
.

be t ho ught o f as human gradually establish claims

o n a better vehicle o f conscio usness than those aro und

them an d then they beco me qualied for i n ca r

,

nation o n this earth and are bro ught o ver under the
,

gui dance o f appropriate emissaries fro m the White

Lo dge in batches so metimes o f fairly consi derable
number I have heard o f a recent case in which
.

wit hin the last year o r t wo a batch o f abo ut a ,

hundred tho usand Martian Egos were imported into

this world n ding incarnation so me o f them in the
, , ,

aborigines as they are called o f Australia so me in

, , ,

the lowest types o f Central Africa the bes t o f the m ,

amongst the pop ulations o f Central Asia .

The conditions on the o ther hand invo lving t he

premat ure migration o f Egos fro m t his earth to
Mercury are curio us an d interesting when under
stoo d b ut at t his step o f the explanation i t will be
,

more convenient to st 0 p and take a new departure

having to do wit h the relations of the vario us planetary
systems o r chains o f o ur Solar System wi th o n e
ano ther .

Even in the rst sketches o f o ccult teaching as ,

soon as the notion o f t he planetary chain had been

established in the mind it became clear t hat Ego s
,

evo lving aro und any given planetary chain granting ,

 E xpand e d Th eo so phi c al K n o wl e dg e 1 69

free wi ll to each must work o u t di ffe re n t destinies

, ,
.

So me Egos wo uld advance more rapidly than o thers ,

so t hat at a fairly advanced stage in the whole process

there wo uld be immense intervals o f conditions between
t hose in the vanguard and t hose in t he rear Then .

i t was explained t hat at a certain stage in the develop

ment o f any given planetary chain so me wo uld have
fallen so far back as comp ared with their more
,

persevering co mpanions that physical progress fo r

,

the best wo uld have advanced to a conditio n in which

t he worst wo uld n o t be qualied to make use o f the
forms then in pro cess o f development I n o ther .

words and in t he ro ugher language o f o ur rst

,

explanations a perio d i s inevitable in each planetary

,

s cheme when t hos e who canno t advance farther

drop o ff fro m t he main current o f evolution o nly t hose ,

w ho have made better use o f t heir opportuniti es

reaching onwards towards t he n al possibilities o f
their existence This perio d used to be spoken o f as
.

the critical perio d o f the fth Ro und and for a long ,

time no information reached us as to what wo uld be

the nal destin y in the case o f o u r o wn planetary
,

scheme o f those who wo uld fall off fro m evolution

,

a t t hat remote perio d far ahead o f u s t he mi ddl e ,

o f t he Ro und destined to s ucceed that wit h which

we are at present concerned .

Later information lled up t his gap in o u r know

ledge and in so doing threw a oo d o f light upon t he
,

constit ution o f the Solar System as a whole O bvio usly .

t he senior planetary scheme o f which Venus is t he ,

physical world has long since passed that cri tical

,

perio d although for u s i t lies so far still in the fut ure

,
.

Already t he co urse o f events must have decided the

fate o f the failures o f Venus at t he critical perio d and ,

the answer given me when I was eventually enabled

,

to p ut t he question at o nce showed how vario us

,

planetary chains o f t he So lar Sys tem are n o t to be

1
7 0 C o l l e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e ac h i ng
regarded as entirely indep endent undertaki ngs .

They are linked together in an extremely intelligi ble

fashion by the fact that t he Ego s who beco me the
failures o f one planetary scheme p ass into t he ev o l u
tion o f t he planetary scheme next in o rder o f develop
ment ; so t he simple answer t o the questio n Where ,

are the failures o f the Venus scheme is embo died

in the o n e word H ere " Certainly in my o wn

, ,

experience no o n e word ever before t hrew s uch

,

light o n vast regions o f speculation O ne saw the .

whole seven ( or rather ten ) planetary schemes all ,

forming part o f o n e co herent design ; one saw t he

reason why t hey were no t all at t his moment in
similar stages o f progress ; o n e co uld look forward
to t he time when for example t he planet J upiter
, , ,

now an incandescent mass o f mineral matter will ,

become an inhabited home o f future races when ,

t hose which inhabit o u r earth wi ll n o longer number

among them any beings o f a less exalted spiritual rank
t han those we n o w t hink o f a s the Masters and when ,

the future J upiter evolution will a ff ord opport unities

for a new beginning to t hose who may have dro ppe d
o u t o f the evolutionary co urse designed in connectio n

with later developments o f this world .

No w we co me back to the furt her details o f t he

pro cess The Venus failures are here ; more pre
.

c i se l y what do es t hat mean ? I n truth altho ugh

, ,

failures fro m the present standpoint of Venus attain

ment t hey failed at a perio d in the evolution o f
,

t heir o wn race already far in advance o f t hat reached

by the great bulk o f o u r own people None o f t hem .

co uld be content with such incarnations as are o ff ered

to humanity at present even by t he most civilized
,

races inhabiting t his world o r at all events no such

, , ,

o ffers can be provi ded in anything resembling adequate

abundance The pro blem as thus stated almost hints
.

at i ts own solution I have already sai d t hat the

.
1 72 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hing
co mmunity ; the Satanic inuence which has lled
t his world wi th strife an d confusion whether we ,

contemplate political industrial o r international

, ,

relationships has never penetrated the peaceful regions

,

of o u r beautiful sister planet I ntellect ual advance .

ment has far o utstripped o ur o wn and for many ,

t hinkers amongst us speculating o n t he possibilities

o f future so ciology i t will b e interesting to kno w
,

t hat in reality o n Mercury as in Bulwer Ly t t o n s ,

story the female half o f humanity i s distinctly

, ,

t hough in no inconvenient degree superior to and pre ,

dominant over the ot her half I t is di fficult t o make .

t he statement in any form o f words which does no t

co nvey at t he rst glance a misun derstanding because ,

the very words male and female as we u se t hem here , ,

have very di ff erent meanings o n Mercury especially ,

fro m the physiological point o f vi ew fro m tho se we

attach to t he words in this less beautiful world .

An d again when we t alk o f superiority and pre

, ,

do minance we can hardly keep to uch with i deas

,

that seem fro m o u r experience inco mpatible wit h

t hose o thers the i deas of perfect harmony and love

.

Really all these apparently conicting principles

are susceptible o f co mbination in a perfect c hord like
varying notes in music and the whole s ubj ect tempt s
,

imagination But for t he mo ment I must revert t o

.

the connection between Mercury conditions and the

claims o n nat ure o f the Venus failures .

I n i t s later evolution possibly in o bedience to a ,

law which may govern o ther worlds the people o f ,

Venus became very much more a dvanced s tudents o f

beauty among o ther things than we o n t his worl d

can claim to be as yet That drift o f development .

was already operative with the who le race before the

critical perio d So as a matter o f fact Venus failures
.
, ,

n o w o n Mercury are enormously in advance o f the

earthly population as a whole a s regards the a p p re

, ,
 E x pa n d e d Th e o so p hi c al Kn o wl e dg e 1
73
c i a t i on o f
beauty on a level only represented amongs t
us if at all by the great es t artists o f o ur perio d
, , .

Parenthetically I may here j ust mention a bit o f

information that reached me a long time ago and ,

seemed puzzling at the moment concerning the ,

peculiar Karma which in so me cases makes i t , ,

po ssible fo r Earthly Ego s to be prematurely trans

ferred to incarnatio ns o n Mercury ( I am no t talking
abo ut t he inner ro und which is a s ubj ect apart ) ,
.

I t is j ust possible fo r people appropriately qualied

by their Karma to be thus transferred I must no t .

stop to go into the numero us details o f the subj ect but ,

o n e characteristic required by people unconscio usly

beco ming qualied fo r the transfer is the artistic ,

temperamen t They must have so me qualication

'
.

fo r a pp ro p ri a t e ly enj oying the heredity o f Mercurial

p arents .

This whole department o f the subj ect is curio usly

fascinating O f co urse the wor d beauty must no t
.

,

be used in any narrow sense but in o n e which includes ,

the natural beauty o f trees an d owers the loveliness ,

o f colo ur in a landscape t he harmony o f form in a ,

s tructure as well as t hat beauty in the feminine

,

a spect of humanity which i s perhaps the variety o f

beauty we all think of rst when we make u se o f the

word .

As above suggested no t quite all the Venus failures

,

are already established o n Mercury Some if no t .

,

actually amongst us yet are awaiting earthly in car ,

nation due no do ubt to their exact place o n the

, , ,

s cale o f evo lution and are meanwhile fro m higher

, ,

levels either o n t he Astral or Manasic worlds i n ,

u en ci n g artistic t hought inspiring artistic achieve ,

ment actually in progress amongst us at the present

time and this has been going o n over what we are
,

i n the habit o f t hinking o f as long perio ds ; s hort ,

o f co urse as measured on t he scale of nat ural e v o l u

,
1
74 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t Te a c hi n g
who le o utb urst o f artistic capacity in
Greece during t hat perio d the o ther day which

we call ancient was due to the way in which
Venus failures in o u r higher worlds discerned in t hat
race great capacities fo r the recep tion o f t heir i n
u en c e Ro ughly spea king all Greek art in sculpture
.
,

may b e regarded as having b een a gift t o us fro m t he

Venus immigrants whom fro m t he Venus point o f
, ,

view we must still speak o f as failures

, .

There i s something eminently sugges tive in the

fact t hat a more highly evo lved more morally and ,

intellectually p erfect a race t han o u r own at i ts ,

present stage s ho uld also b e i dentied with beauty

,

for that matter no t merely in regard to capacity

,

to appreciate it b ut in act ual manifestation Looking

,
.

back far to the rear o f o u r own place in evolution ,

we always nd early forms more o r less to o u r senses , ,

ugly and rep ulsive The forms indeed o f t he de.

, ,

graded remnants o f the human family o n Mars are

simply hideo us as compared with the bes t examples
,

among u s The animal life there is unco ut h and

.

rep ulsive as compared with the animal life o f thi s

world Do ubtless there are exceptions that wi ll leap
.

into conscio usness for everyone who thinks on the

s ubj ect but very broadly the law o f nature appears
,

to link the moral improvement o f conscio us beings

with corresponding improvement in the beauty o f form .

When we understand t he intricacies o f Karma better

t han we do at present it may be possible to nd o ut,

why men and wo men amongst us are so metimes

conspicuo us at t he same time fo r b eauty o f form
and atro cio usly defective character B ut exceptions .

witho ut according to the stupid proverb

, pro ving ,

the rule are at all events co mpatible with its
,

Operation o n a large scale .

An d o n e m ore suggestion in connection with t his

line o f tho ught arises fro m denite information abo ut
 6 C o ll e c te d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c h ing
1
7
movement was launched t he subj ect o f astral life
,

i mmediately following the death o f the p hysical bo dy

was simply neglected So mehow we were drifted in
.

t he beginning into concerning o urselves with the

gigantic principles governing human evolution o n
a large scale and disregarded opportunities o f under
,

standing o u r i mmediate future better t han befo re ,

in a way which p ainfully reminds o ne o f t he ol d

story abo ut t he star gazer who fell into the ditch
-
.

The pity o f it looking back is intense The Theo

, ,
.

S op hical movement o ught to have b een recruited

wholesale fro m t he ranks o f the spiritualists As .

things have turned o ut i t is only a few who can b e

,

drawn across the gulf divi ding most o f t hem fro m

loftie r work .

B ut n o w forgetting all this let us t urn to the

, ,

accurate information which in later years so me o f us

have been able to obtain fro m lofty so urces o f informa
tion concerning t hat astral world which thirty or
forty years ago t he spiritualists understoo d b etter
than t he rst writers o n Theosophy bu t which now ,

we are able to examine and interpret to an extent

which puts the knowledge acquired by the ordinary
metho ds o f spiritualism in t he backgro und alto
gether .

To s urvey t he astral world in its entirety and to

comprehend i ts manifol d varieties o f condition the ,

survey must be o n an altogether higher level o f

conscio usness than that o f the normal inhabitants .

This i dea which is o bvio us as soon a s stated i s ignored

, , ,

altogether by spiritualists o f the simpler typ e who ,

i magine that because their friend has passed to a

new state o f existence he must know n o t merely all ,

abo ut it but all that relates to human destinies

,

beyond his o wn condition And many spiritualists

.

will even accept negative testimony ; a spirit who

quite truly says that he canno t perceive any rein
 E xpand e d Th e oso phi c al K n o wl e dge 1
77
c a rnations in progress is held by h i s fri en d o n this
,

plane to have proved that no reincarnations t ake

place ; but in t hus indicating t he necessary imper
fe c t i o n o f the spiritualistic metho d a s a means o f
acquiri ng knowledge let me before passing o n to
, ,

deal with the knowledge acquire d in o ther ways ,

bear testimony t o the magnicent work that has

been done in the world by spirit ualism in its relations
wi th religio us thinking The growth o f materialistic
.

belief in the middle o f the last century was so powerful

t hat if entirely unchecked it would probably have
, ,

extinguished religious thinking altogether Spiritual .

ism by pro ving that there was a no t her life after this
, ,

and one wi th which we co uld get into to uch broke ,

up the do mination o f the materialistic s chool in a

way which no theological inuence co uld po ssibly
have accomplished .

Coming to detai l we nd the number seven playing

,

an important part in the astral econo my as in many ,

o ther ways with which we are fami liar I t is a great .

mistake to imagine t hat seven as a key number is o n e

of any deep signicance in t he universe at large .

I t has a deep signicance as regards o u r world o f ,

which after all the astral plane is merely a part a

, ,

part as denitely o bj ective as so much granite ro ck

to appropriate senses o f perception To t hose the .

granite rock wo uld hardly make an appeal We must .

think o f the astral world to begin wi th as consisting

o f a vast series of concentric shells entirely surro und

ing this Earth the aggregate diameter o f which is

,

enormously greater than that of t he physical glo be .

I t i s di fcult to get measurements in miles when

dealing wit h the region o f nature in whi ch for so me ,

p urposes distance is almost negligible and yet in

, , ,

truth there are d e nite magnitudes in connection wit h

,

the various subdivisions o f the astral world which

may actu ally be expressed in terms of o ur measure
12
1
7 8 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T eac h i n g
ment Eno ugh for the mo ment to realize t hat the
.

h eight above the eart h s s urface to which the loftier

subdivisions o f the astral world extend is to b e

tho ught o f at l east in tens o f tho usands of mi les .

Then if we begin to attemp t a survey o f the va ried

,

s ubdivisions we have to recognize t hat t he astral

,

plane interpenetrates the physical bo dy o f t he earth

to a fairly considerable extent and t hat t he regions ,

thus submerged below t he eart h s surface are horrible

in t heir characteristics tho ugh denitely fullling a

,
1

p urpose in the Divine plan o f human evolution .

There are two distinct concentric shells o f astral

matter sunk within the bo dy o f t he eart h The .

lo west o f all i s o n e with which humanity has scarcely

anything to do o r o ught no t to have anything to do
, ,

t ho ugh in t he ghastly unprecedented conditions o f

Satanic disturbance that we are going t hro ugh i n ,

u e n c e s fro m t hat lowest astral regio n have been

bro ught to the surface fo r o u r pro fo und disco mfort .

Sub plane No I o ught to be concerned merel y

-
.

wi th the gradual disintegration o f elemental forms

t hat played a part appropriately eno ugh in t he very
earliest history o f this planet b ut t he need for ,

which has long since expired Level No 2 i m m e d i . .

,

ately below t he earth s surface is t he real Hell o f

,

a ctual N at ure a condition o f suffering for t hose who

,

drift thither that can hardly be exaggerate d in

imagination That such s u ff ering
. however i s , ,

destined to be curative in i t s character i s a funda

mental idea to which in investigating that region we
, ,

s ho uld always cling I t deals only with the most

.

hideo usly degraded and atro cio usly criminal re pre

se n t a t i v e s o f o u r humanity .

Witho ut for t he mo ment attempting to go into

further detail in connection with this ghastly depart
ment o f the subj ect we still have to realize that when
,

we consider Sub plane No 3 that which is the rs t

-
.
,
i 80 C ol l e ct e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e ac hi n g
of the fo urth we n d life carried on with such close
resemblance to t he conditions o f physical life on this
glo be that when we hear o f ho uses theatres and
, , ,

amusements there landscapes and lakes and actual

, ,

fur n iture in t he ho uses some o f us start up i n dig

,

n an t ly with the i dea o f associ ating such phenomena

with a spiritual condition The spiritual life an d .

fleshly life are however closely intermingled no t

, , ,

merely in the living human bo dy but in the super ,

physical worlds appropriate to human existence

,
.

There are people o n the astral world free o f all painful

embarrassments but who have no t climbed beyon d
,

the conception o f happiness associated with physical

e nj oyment To nd these still available to the astral
.

life their aspirations in that direction must indeed , ,

be a goo d deal rened and we have always to re ,

member that t he a ff ections which play so important

a part in o ur life even here are still more supreme in
t heir importance o n all the happy levels o f t he astral
world Karma entangles incarnate life with all kinds
.

o f associations and tho ugh it may permi t us to enj oy

,

some really congenial companionship i t o ften forces

upon us a goo d deal o f the o ther kind I n the astral .

life even on the fo urth level n o t to speak fo r the

, ,

mo ment o f lo ftier conditions people are never thrown ,

into companionship which is o therwis e than congenial .

This is o n e o f t he foremost assurances we gather fro m

people speaking to us from the next world Some .

times they are still with friends t hey have known

and cared for o n t he Earth life but in any case wit h -
,

people towards who m t hey feel entirely sympathetic .

I n attempting this sort o f survey t he magnitude o f ,

t he task i s intimidating We have accumulated such.

a vast bo dy o f detailed information concerning astral

life that to use a favo urite simile one cannot se e
, , ,

t he forest for t he trees ; but keeping for the mo men t

to generalities let me attempt t o indicate the leading
,
 E xpand e d Th e o soph i c al Kn o wl e dg e 1 81

characteristics O f t he vast fth sixth and sevent h , ,

s ub planes O f the astral world These mus t no t be

-
.

t ho ught as denitely one superior to t he o ther .

Through the vario us minor subdivisions O f the vast

fo urth sub plane people do get actually pro mo ted
-
,

a s i t were fro m one to the o ther as t heir qualications

,

fo r enj oying the higher regions beco me developed ;

but once attaining the highest levels O f t he fo urth t he ,

o ther regions are reached no t so much by virt ue O f

,

anything that can be t ho ught o f as promo tion b ut ,

in accordan ce wi th what may much more accurately

be described as individual taste Ro ughly sp eaking .
,

the fth su b plane is t he region in which intellectual

-

activity can most easily expand ; t he sixt h is more

devotional in its character while the seventh is a,

region in which t hose Ego s that have played an

i mpo rtant p ublic part in t he Eart h life nd themselves -

in congenial companionship and within reach O f ,

Oppo rt unities for developing t heir own qualications

as leaders O f men in preparation for future incarna
tions along that line O f activity .

The idea j ust hinted at interprets t he enormo usly

signi cant fact that in vario us d epartm en ts O f human
d istinction gr eat Ego s remain by p reference o n the
hi gher level s Of the as tral worl d i ns tead O f p ass ing on ,

a s they conceivably migh t to the still more elevated

,

conditions Of the M anasi c plane L et us consid er .

,

for example t he choice to be made by the great men Of

,

science as they p ass on from p hysical life Assume .

,

rst tha t t hey h ave no b ad Karma to ke ep them

,

for a whi le on NO 3 They wake up on the highe st

. .

leve ls of the fo urt h in co mpany with congenial friends

in t heir own line O f development They quic kly .

le arn t ha t o n the ft h t o which t hey can pass on at

,

wi ll S plendid Opportunities for carrying on t he

,

s cientic researches to which t hey may have bee n

d evoted lie within their reach They see that t o .
1 82 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
take a forward leap to the Manasic plane would break
the continuity O f their work land them o n levels O f

perception o u t o f tune with t he science they have been

used to I t wo uld carry t hem o n to ano ther line O f
.

development altogether By keeping o n the astral

.

t hey acquire new knowledge in tune wit h that O f

t heir lives j ust spent That will invest t heir Ego s
.

with expanded capacity I n the next life on Eart h

.

they will be able to carry o n their work from t he

point at which they left it O ff last and they se e t he ,

plain path Of duty before them .

The same principle certainly applies to the case O f

the great poets Of t he past who are gathered together
o n the sixth su b plane -
though in o ther departments
,

Of artistic greatness complications may arise But .

how abo ut people who are n o t especially distinguished ?

H ave they any choice as regards astral and Manasic
destinies Serious confusion Of thought arose among
Theosop hical students in the beginning by reason o f
t he way in which we happened to pick up some quit e
correct information abo ut the Dev a c h an i c state .

That is a condition O f blissful illusion On t he lower

levels O f t he Manasic plane appropriate to p eople ,

innocent Of wrong doing o f a ffectionate nature bu t

-
, ,

n o t highly qualied intellectually o r in o ther ways , ,

fo r active work o r progress on the astral plane The .

mistake we made at rst was t o suppose t hat t he

De v a ch an i c state was a goal to be aimed at by all .

A s we have come t o understand the life and Opp o r

t u n i t i es Of the higher astral world the mistake assumes ,

a lu dicro us aspect .

O bvio usly t he study o f astral details is an endless

task an d can only be carried o u t thoro ughly wh en
,

we are in personal to uch with them ; but o n e i dea

n o t yet dealt wit h in this hurri ed survey can be under

stoo d now and claims attention Besides that which

, .

may be broadly t hought Of a s the stratication con

1 84 C o ll e c te d F ru i ts Of O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
merged in some higher attribute O f exalted conscio us
ness b ut all progress is gradual That is t he fore
,
.

most principle to be discerned in stud yi ng astral life .

Spiritualists all recognize it as well as t hose who ,

derive super physical knowledge in o ther ways Fo r

-
.

a time people passing o n are on t he o ther side j us t

what they were here Especially t herefore they .
, ,

are O f the same nationality as here I f all t he nations .

O f the world were j umbled up together on the astral ,

t hat world wo uld no t as i t do es show us the laws

, ,

and designs O f N ature in perfect harmony and accord

i n that symmetrical aspect which appeals so power
fully to the intelligent Observer That is the peculiar .

charm O f the later Theosophical teaching I t enables .

all who truly understand the Theosop hical movement

to feel that t hey are engaged no t merely in stimulating
S piritual aspiration b ut in t he magnicent task o f
,

creating a true spiritual science .

I N FI N I T E F U T U R E
4 .

TH E
As I have endeavo ured to show in dealing wit h ,

t he p henomena O f the astral plane i t i s possible to ,

O btain clearly dened knowledge in reference to so me

aspects O f the super p hysical future awaiting mankind
-
.

The immediately next world may beco me so

vividly foreseen during o ur stay in t his one t hat its ,

importance to us may be appreciated in a way rarely

attained under t he inuence O f simple religio us
tho ught That alone may give u se to a beautifully
.

reverential emotion in reference to t he fut ure life but ,

no t to t he same kind O f abso lute condence engen

dered by specic knowledge Take an imaginary .

case i n illustratio n O f what I mean fro m the

possible conditions o f ordinary life Suppose a yo ung .

man entering some business o r pro fession is to ld by

some friend ,Yo u might do better if yo u went to

America . The yo ung man do es no t deny this but ,
 E x pand e d Th eo so phi c al K n owl e dg e 1 85

s till thinks he can do fairly well at ho me so he does ,

no t dwell in tho ught on the friend s idea Suppose

.

he is O ff ered a den ite engagement o r Opportunity in

A merica and signs a contract t o go t here next year
,
.

Will he no t beco me at once deeply interested in the

conditions O f residence in America H e wo uld read
bo oks abo ut the co untry talk eagerly with travellers
,

who had been t here ; t himself o u t with clo thes and

o ther things appropriate to the climate he wo uld know
to be t hat Of his future home H e wo uld no t neglect
.

his current work because he wo uld know t hat his

,

efciency t herein wo uld have much to do with his

welfare in the new life ; bu t he wo uld loo k o n the
current work w it h an eye to t he future attending to ,

i t all t he more z ealo usly so far as i t trained his

capacity but wi th a sense O f detachment that wo uld
,

make hi m relatively indi ff erent to i t s immediate

results .

Will the little parable t the case O f those who

are and who are not

destined to migrate at no

very distant future to the astral plane Most people ,

i t is true have made no attempt to get information

,

in advance in reference to the conditions prevailing

t here because they have no t believed any information
,

o n t he subj ect to be trustworthy The misty su g .

gestions Of religious do ctrine left all details O bscure .

Spiritualism incurred discredit in various ways and ,

t he importance o f its main revelation was imperfectly

understoo d by the critical world at large ; but now
we have to deal with a fuller revelation conveyed to us
by Theosophy The history O f t he movement sin ce
.

1 880 embo dies its credentials The vision o f t he

.

fut ure i s clearing up in many directions That .

department which includes life o n t he astral plane is

i lluminated by a great wealth O f knowledge For all .

w ho appreciate t his t hat knowledge s heds light on

,

the pat h they are actually treadin g thro ugh t he

1 86 C oll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t Tea ch i n g
current physical life an d with an expanded power,

Of gazing into futurity we are already beginning to ,

concern ourselves wi th problems o f i n n i te fut urity

extending far b eyond t he range o f astral experience
and physical reincarnation .

The feeling with which we do this i s very unlike

that which governs the investigation Of astral co n
di t i on s . The ultimate conditions Of o ur humanity
when the history o f this world is co mplete are inter
esting only t o thinkers who can deal in imagination
with s tates of conscio usness so far transcending tha t ,

Of any o n e personal life t hat they are content to ,

lose touch with the limitations which actually engende r

the feeling O f indivi duality And if as we may we .
, ,

look beyond t he li mitations O f t he o n e world we

seem t o lose sight Of o urselves Thus the contempla .

tion of innite futurity is no t at the rst glance at al l

events compatible with an interest in o urselves But .

none the less does i t dignify all thinking even o f t he ,

kind which do es re l ate to O urselves We know that .

the continuity Of o u r individual conscio usness will

never be broken Plant us suddenl y in the state
.

we shall be i n say ten million years hence and that

,

would be so unlike o ur present state that we sho uld

n o t recognize o urselves The leap wo uld be equivalent
.

to annihilation Of o u r present selves The gradual .

character Of the change will preclude this unhappy

result SO we rea l ly may discuss the problems O f
.

i n n i t u d e with composure without making the great

mistake Of proj ecting o u r personal limitations into
innity .

Campbell s poem beautiful in some respects

The Last Man is a ludicro us illustration Of this
mistake I saw the last Of human mould That
.
,

s hall Creation s death behold as Adam saw her prime

.

NO do ubt The Sun himself must die but that wi ll ,

not happen till the Life Of t he Sun including ours , ,

d evelopment By comparison o ur H umanity seems
.

so small i f indeed we can t hink O f it at all as the

, ,

stupendo us magnicence O f the Co smo s is partly

revealed to us I n o n e sen se if w e can fo rget i t
.
, ,

so much t he better .Trut h lies in so me parado xi cal

p hrases abo ut sublime results attained by the loss o f
what seems everything for the mo ment but paradoxes
,

may be misleading as well as s uggestive I f only by .

o u r capacity to admire we are i dentied wit h t he

,

glories O f i n n i t u de the realm to which attached

,

to it by ties t hat can never be broken we eternally

,

belong .
 TH E PYRAM I DS AN D ST O N E H E N GE
I N DE P E N DE N TLY O f knowledge concerning the spiritual
growt h Of humanity with which theosop hy is specially
,

concerned a great deal Of information t hat co uld n o t

,

be Obtained in any o t her way may so metimes be

acquired by theosophical students in reference to the
plain external histo ry Of the world aro und us .

Literary research in such matters very soon reaches

t he limit of its tet her I n dealing with t he remo te
.

p ast i t is paralyzed for want O f written records an d,

a t t he best can only supplement t hese by interpreting

a few inscriptions o n stone With their ai d we are

.

enabled to reach back in the direction o f what Mr .

Samuel Laing calls H uman O ri gins so me

years before the Christian era But evidences which
.

are no t less certain t han those O f Egyptian h i erogly

p h i c s s,how us t hat Man existed o n t he earth at past
p erio ds which geo logy fails to estimate wit h e x a c t i
t ude but which certainly extend back millions O f
,

years I n t his way we are confronted with a pro blem

.

which in its bro adest aspects only admits Of two

, ,

a lternative hypo theses Either fo r tho se millions o f

.

years mankind existed o n the earth in a savage state ,

never ri sing a b o ve t he use O f t he barbaro us stone

implements we nd asso ciated with his fossil remains ,

o r he attained to early civilizations at remo te periods ,

t he regular historical traces O f which have been

lost
.

Comparing these two vi ews mere reasoning o n,

t he basis O f evidence that everyone is equally qualied

to appreciate will go far to support a belief in p re
IS9
 1
9 0 C oll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
historic civilizations I n Egyp t t he testimony of t h e
.
,

monuments and O f papyrus records already translated , ,

carries us back to a perio d abo ut years B C . .

B ut at t hat time we n d o urselves j ust as much in

presence O f Egyp tian civilization as a t t hat relativel y
mo dern epo ch o f Egyptian grandeur t he Eighteenth ,

Dynasty According to t he a dmirable German

.

Egyptologist Brugsch Bey Menes t he rst king

, , ,

o f t he rst dynasty mentioned by Manet ho altered ,

t h e co urse O f the Nile by constructing an enormo us

dyke in order to facilitate the fo undation Of Memphis
, .

H e was a law giver moreover and is s aid to have

-
, ,

greatly augmented t he pomp and extravagance O f

the monarchy t hus s howing himself at t he same ti m e
,

no t merely a civilized ruler but one who had already

,

contracted so me Of the vices O f ci vilization a s ure ,

indication t hat he belonged to a declining rat her than

to a rising era O f his co untry s progress B ut in truth

.
, ,

people have go t into t he way of t hinking o f him

a s if he were a primeval personage merely because ,

he begins Manetho s list O f the kings in so far as that

list has been preserved fo r us by the accident of its

quo tation by so me classical writers The o riginal .

work Of Manetho vanis hed pro bably in t he smoke Of the

Alexandrian library I t is kno wn t hro ugh o ther
.

writers that Manetho spoke O f Egyptian epo chs long

previo us to that Of the thirty dynasties ; and even i f
he had no t done so the situation faintly portrayed
,

as prevailing in t he time o f Menes i s eno ugh to s ho w

t hat it must have been t he growth Of a social progress
extending into t he past for almost immeasurable ages
previo usly Fifteen and n o t ve millenni ums B c
. . .

mus t be taken into acco unt acco rding to so me O f

t he mo dern Egyptologists no w engaged in translating

the papyri if we wish to frame a picture in o ur o wn

minds O f the rise O f Egyptian civilization

Turning no w to another modern investigation we ,
1 2 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s Of O cc u l t T e ac hing
9
be a large undertaking in itself and I have another ,

task before me for the moment But all theosophical .

students and even cursory readers O f theosop hical

,

books will be aware that the teaching concerning t he

,

origins O f the human race that have been given to the

world in connection wi th t he inauguration O f the
theosophical movement gear in wit h t hat belief in the ,

former existence O f t he Atlantean continent which ,

a s I have shown is making its way even in t he o utside

,

world which h as no thing to do wi th t heosophy

,
.

H umanity according to all theosophical authoriti es

, ,

is evolved thro ugh a series Of great root races Of ,

which the Atlantean race was t he predecessor Of o ur

o wn . I do no t p ut forward t he s tatement as in
i tself conclusive because the whole character O f
,

t heosophic teaching as far as i t s really qualied

exponents are concerned i s Opposed to the principle

Of ex ca thedra assertion The regular method O f .

instruction adopted by t he Masters Of o ccult science

is to show the student how his o wn interior dormant
faculties may be awakene d and brought to bear on
the discovery O f truth whether i t has to do with the ,

planes Of N ature and conscio usness superior to O u r

o wn o r wi th perio ds O f the world s history long

,

anterior t o o ur own Until t he pupil is s u ffi ciently

.

advanced t o have the power Of applying his o wn

direct perceptions to t he questions he may wish to
investigate he is almost disco uraged fro m taking the
,

statements O f o thers more advanced than himself o n

, ,

trust But at the same time we must steer a middle

.
, ,

course between the atti tude O f mental servility and t he

attitude O f narrow minded incredulity Fo r t he -
.

reasonable theosophic student who has fo und su b

st a n t i al gro und for relying on t he knowledge and

bo n a des Of the o ccult Masters fro m who m o u r ,

current theosophic teaching has been received t he ,

statements they make i n reference to s uch ma tters

 Th e Pyr a m id s an d S t o n e h e ng e 1
93
as the character and place in N at u re o f the Atlant ean
race will necessarily have very great weight .

I ndeed I may go a step forward in explaining

,

why some theosop hic students at all events come

to look upon facts concerning Atlantis and the light ,

that can be t hrown by o ccult inquiry o n the remote

history of Egypt as coming within the range O f
,

something nearer to them t han t he knowledge O f

their higher teachers .

An instrument o f research i s placed in t he han ds

Of theosophic st udents su fciently advanced to make
u se Of i t
, which actually brings a great deal O f t h e
ancient history Of the earth within t he reach O f thei r
direct perception This is the faculty O f actually
.

seeing with an inner sense adapted to t he process

, ,

former states and conditions Of any place o r Obj ect

with which the seer or clairvoyant may be in contact .

Many people Of o u r day are so ill informed concerning -

the most interesting developments Of science in

progress aro und us as t o disbelieve in clairvoyance
,

fro m A to Z TO those Of us who know better that

.
,

is like disbelieving in the di ff erential calculus an

atti tude Of mind simply absurd in presence Of re

corded facts and experience Clairvoyants may b e .

one per m i l one in ten tho usand if yo u like O f t he

, ,

pop ulation at large b ut t hey are sufficiently numero us

,

to make the reality O f t heir capacities as certain as

the o ccasional capaci ty O f the human mind to under
stand the higher mathematics .

Clairvoyance has many varieties and ramications ,

but that with which I am concerned for the moment

has been called rather clumsily perhaps by mo dern

, ,

writers dealing with i t psychometry I n its simple st

.

manifestation i t is no t very uncommon I have m e t .

many people besides t hose who have had a regular

,

occult training who are able by ngering a letter

, , ,

without loo king at i t o r reading i t Or p erhaps by

I3
 C o ll e c t ed F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e ac hing
1
94
p utting i t to their foreheads to get impressions

concerning the person who has written it extending ,

so metimes to an accurate delineation Of his o u t vi a rd r

appearance and character Now t his accomplis h .

,

ment depends upon facts O f N ature t hat are enor

m o u sly important in their wi der manifestations .

Psy c h o m e t ri si n g letters bears to t he law under which

i t becomes possible much the same relation t hat t he
exp eriment O f rubbing sealing wax so as to make i t -

attract little bits Of paper bears to t he whole science

o f electricity There is a medium in N ature in
.

which pictures so to speak O f all t hat has ever taken

, ,

place o n earth are indestructibly preserved for ev er .

This medium is spoken O f in t he occult literat ure o f

the East as the Akasa European medieval occultists
.

mean t he same thing when t hey speak o f t he astral

light This astral light includes a record fo r t hose
.

who can perceive and interpret it that dwarfs to ,

i n si g n i c an c e the value for historical purposes Of all

, ,

the written documents t he world contains .

Psychic faculties Of a very adept like order -

,

educated moreover with scientic precision and

, , ,

borne up o n a highly spirit ualized character are ,

required for the complete exploration Of the astral

light Such faculties belong to t he higher theosophic
.

teachers and it is partly to t heir exercise t hat is

,

d ue the knowledge concerning the remo te past Of the

world which they possess I say partly because .
,

in truth the higher initiates o f o ccultism possess

,

written records that have been handed down to them

by a line o f predecessors but their own faculties ,

enable t hem to verify t hese at any time And in .

,

truth there are stages Of development which many

,

o f their p upils reach fro m which a great deal O f

historical n o t to speak fo r the moment O f other

sorts O f information can be gathered fro m the

astral light This has sometimes been called the

.
 1 96 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a ching
s tory very much more fully than i t is possible to trace
this with the help Of fragmentary inscriptions or
documents accidentally surviving t he destro ying
inuence O f time The extent to which the psycho
.

metric faculty is trustworthy i n the case O f people

below t he level O f adep tship is a question t hat can
only be considered in reference to each case i n t urn ;
b ut at all events I have had t he advantage Of being
, ,

assisted i n such attemp ts as I have made to p ene

trate rather more deeply than usual t he mystery O f

Egyptian anti quities b y psycho metri c power O f a very

high order and I have been enabled to check the

,

information I have thus received thro ugh the fuller

knowledge poss e ssed by t hose fro m who m the tea ching
p ut forward in various t h eO SOp t books from my
hand has been derived I n this way I have been
.

enabled to build up a conception O f t he early begi n nings

Of Egyptian civi lization which constitutes a co heren t
and intelligible sketch O f the whole process and ,

synthesises in a very interesting manner a great deal

O f disj ointed speculation concerning the evo lution
O f the human race towards which arch aeological
research Of t he ordinary kind has been groping its way .

I will now put forward the story for the benet

o f all who may be s u fciently in touch wi th occul t
metho ds O f investigation to appreciate its p ri ma fa ci e
claim to attention .

O f co urse the investigation of Egyp tian beginnings

,

brings us into relations with t he Atlantean race I f .

we go back far eno ugh in t he history O f mankin d

if we go back a million years we nd o urs elves in

t he midst O f a perio d when t here was next to no t hi ng

else in t he nature Of a pop ulation on the earth excep t ,

t he Atlantean race inhabiting many regions as t he

,

ear th was t hen c on g u ra t e d besides t hos e which

,

formed p art O f t he continent o f Atlantis j ust as at

the present day to dra w an illustration fro m on e

,
 Th e P yr a m id s and S t o n e h e ng e 1
97
of t he minor ethnological divisions O f o u r own great
race the Caucasians inhabit many ot her regions o f
,

t he earth besi des the Caucasus B ut di ff erent rami .

c a t i o n s O f the same root race may di ff er very wi dely

fro m each o ther : and at a time when the main bo dy
o f the Atlantean race o n the continent o f Atlantis

had attained a very high degree o f civilization and

po wer Egyp t amongst other countries was in the
, , ,

O ccupation o f a relatively primitive people who m ,

we need no t t hink o f as savage o r barbarous in the

worst sense o f t hose words but fo r who m t he arts ,

and custo m s O f civilization were as yet a closed

bo ok .

As far back as years ago the Atlantean

continent having all but fullled its destinies in the
,

education of t he human race began to melt away , .

The pro cess was inaugurated at the perio d j ust

m entioned by a geological catastrop he o n a very ,

stupendo us scale ; but t hat merely began i t did no t ,

accompli sh what is known to o ccult history as t he

,

s ubmergence of Atlantis The continent held o u t.

against the destructive forces o f N ature till about

years ago when so me considerable portions
,

surviving till then nally disappeared leaving only ,

one big island the Atlantis o f classical tradition

which perished in a great natural convulsion about

years ago a date originally derived fro m
,

o ccult teaching and approxi mately conrmed by

,

Le Plongeon s discoveries t o which reference has

,

already been made .

During the enormous perio d covered by t he gradual

s ubmergence o f the great land masses O f t he original
continent extensive migrations to ot her regions Of
,

t he the n existing world were acco mplished by

detachments o f t he Atlantean people The mo st .

spiritually enlightened and advanced representatives

o f t he race were especially involved in t hese mi gra
1
9 8 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T e ac h i n g
tions The destruction o f Atlantis a s a physical pro
.

cess was proceeding pa rri passu with the moral

degradation o f the people The adepts o f t he race .

shrank away as much from the incurable degeneration

o f their co untrymen as fro m the doomed continent

who se fate t hey foresaw I t was no t in that decaying

.

and corrupt civilization that their inuence co uld any

longer be exerted with advantage They had to .

discover a yo unger and more vigoro us human sto ck ,

o n which to graft the S piritual impulse of which they

were t he custo dians .

At that perio d a large part of Europ e especially o f ,

eastern Europe was an uninhabited swamp scarcely

,

upheaved fro m the o cean to which Atlantis was

returning But Egypt though very different in its
.
,

geography fro m the Egyp t o f the present day was ,

already inhabited land as also were the countries ,

bo unding t he Mediterranean o n the east Some .

where abo ut the middle o f the enormo us perio d

assigned to the submergence of Atlantis a goo d ,

many Of the Atlantean adepts accomp anied by ,

considerable numbers o f their uninitiated contem

p o ra ri e s settled in t hese countries as also by degrees
, , ,

and later o n in t he western regions o f o u r present

,

Europe a s well as in many parts o f the eastern world

,
.

O n gro und which is now part o f o u r o wn British

I slands tho ugh i t had no t at that time separated
,

itself fro m the main continent Atlantean adepts left ,

traces o f their presence some o f which survive to the

,

current epoch I n Stonehenge we possess a memorial

.

o f the Atlantean dispersion tho ugh that structure i s,

o f more recent date than t he pyrami ds o f Egypt .

Fo r a very long time t he adep t immigrants who

settled in what is now Egyp t did no t attempt t he
education o f t he people in the arts of civilization .

They simply resided in the co untry and there no , ,

do ubt brought forward individual p upils and upheld

, ,
 the earliest m onu m ents o f Egyptian civili z ation by ,

t h e help o f t hose imperishable records still to be

fo und as vivi d as ever in the Memory o f N ature by
, ,

t hose who know h o w to gain access to i t s bo undless

pict ure gallery w e do no t have to add at a vent ure
-
,

a few extra millenniums to t he conventional dates

o f mo dern Egypto logists but to measure their ,

ages o n the scale o f Atlantean histo ry I t was at a .

mi dway perio d between t he rst i mmigration o f

Atlantean adepts in Egypt and t he stage o f t he world s ,

progress we have now reached t hat t he pyramids ,

were really b uilt o r in o ther words a little more than

, , ,

two hundred t ho usand years ago Closely connected .

as t hey were in their origin and p urpose wi th o ccult

mysteries i t is impossible t o o btain fro m initiated
,

informants in the present day any very precise state

ment concerning the design which t hey s ubserved
in t he beginning I have gat hered a hint to the e ff ect
.

t hat altho ugh no do ub t fro m the beginning used as

,

and designed to b e temples o r chambers o f initiation

the great pyrami d for o n e certainly containing other

, ,

chambers besi des t he three that have been discovered

o n e purpos e o f the great pyrami d was the protection

o f so me tangible obj ects o f great importance having

to do wit h t he o ccult mysteries These were buried .

in the rock it is said and the pyramid was reared

, ,

o ver them its form and magnitude being adop ted to

,

render i t safe fro m t he hazards o f earthquake and ,

even fro m the consequences o f submergence beneath

t he se a during the great secular undulations o f the
earth s surface

.

This brings me to o n e O f the most remarkable

fact s abo ut the pyramids among those which mo dern ,

research has never s uspected Within t he enormo us .

perio d o f their existence there has been time for more

t h an o n e o f those great changes in the conguration
of t he earth bro ught abo ut by what so me geologists ,
 Th e P yr a m id s and S t o n e h e ng e 20 1

at all events recognize as a necessity o f its c o n st i t u

,

tion The alternative elevations an d depressions o f

.

continents and ocean beds are due to a slow pulsation

o f the bo dy o f t he earth that may b e likened as , ,

regards the surface to the undulatio ns o f a se a t hat

,

has settled down in a condition o f almos t perfect

calm but is still gently heaving under the inuence
,

o f an all b ut imperceptible swell Probably there .

are cross currents in s uch undulations that may

occasionally intensify and o ccasionally minimize ,

them ; b ut at any rate t hey canno t be exclu ded fro m

, ,

any reasonable scientic hypot hesis concerning t he

progress o f geological growth however far beyon d ,

the reach o f o u r very brief historic records their las t

manifestations may be withdra wn .

O ccult information o n the s ubj ect brings some o f

them into V iew and since t he erection o f t he earliest
,

pyramids one such undulation connected with that

which had to do with t he nal s ubmergence o f t he

last bit o f t he old Atlantean Con ti n en t depressed -

the region which is now the Lower N ile valley below

the level o f the sea which S pread over t he northern
-

part o f Africa excep t for the high lands near the

Mediterranean coast The west coast was also dry .

land at the perio d in question but the present desert ,

o f Sahara was a se a and that se a spread over the whole

,

co untry now fertilized by the Lower N ile as t he ,

huge undulation depressed i t s level .

The co untry o f the Upper Nile was no t s ubmerged ,

an d t hither no do ubt the pop ulation o f Egypt to a ,

large extent withdrew altho ugh the s ubmergence

, , ,

I understand was cataclysmic eno ugh in its character

,

to invo lve so me destruction o f life among those who

clung longest to the menaced region At all events .
,

I am told t hat t here wa s a considerable migration o f

t he people to t he east an d west as well as to t he ,

s o uth and for a time I do no t know exactly for h o w

,

 ru n s
w t v 0 p v u C ln
g
long but fo r a short time compared with t he general
,

co urse o f the undulations o f t he great ro ck sheet o f the

earth the pyramids and t he co untry round remained

under water I nci dentally this will suggest that the

.

present co urse o f t he River Nile was no t t hat which

i t followed before t he natural convulsion in question .

The course to day di ffers I am told as a matter of

-
, ,

fact fro m that which i t followed in the age of the

,

great pyrami d s construction as high up as Thebes

.

The temple o f Karn a c i s an Egyptian monument of

enormo us anti quity tho ugh no t so Old as t he great
,

pyrami d an d it never shared the submergence o f the

,

pyramid ; but as far a s the co urse o f the river was

concerned t hat was di ff erent fro m what i t is now
, ,

even as high up as Thebes at t he time o f t he erection ,

o f the temple of Karn a c .

The se a again receded from lower Egyp t after an

interval the exact duration o f which has no t been
,

given to me and the pyramids were again left dry

,
.

Rapidly as compared wit h the geological changes in

progress i t wa s doubtless repeopled and again taken
, ,

in charge by the adep t kings I am inclined t o regard .

t he perio d which now came o n as t he really golden

age o f Egyptian civilization The decline di d n o t .

se t in till much later But Fate held ano ther shock

.

in reserve fo r the ancient State When the last island .

remnant o f Atlantis was submerged wit h cataclysmic

violence about years ago an undulation o f ,

the oceans led t o some enormous inundations and ,

witho ut again becoming t he bed o f a se a as o n the

former occasion the land o f Egyp t was overwhelmed
,

wit h an immense oo d which again dispersed its ,

people I do no t understand that this was o n such

.

a scale as again to submerge t he pyramids but at any , ,

rate the population was drowned o r driven o u t o f the

,

surro unding country fo r a time When in turn

.
, ,

this oo d passed away an d population spread again

204 C oll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hing
example o f t he earlier pyrami ds as a fashion in
architecture had ob vio usly been handed do wn .

Certainly the co ifer o f the great pyrami d was neithe r

a sarcophagus nor as Piazzi Smyt h conj ect ures a
, ,

standard measure o f cap acity b ut a font in which ,

certain baptismal ceremonies connected with initi a

tions were carried o u t I t is possible however that
.
, ,

in the later and degenerate perio d o f Egyptian history

to which all the Manetho dynasties belong s o me o f

t he kings losing to uch with t he i deas associated wit h

,

the more ancient pyrami ds in the beginning m ay ,

have followed t he fashion o f their architecture without

knowing why i t was originally designed and m ay ,

have p ut up pyrami ds to b e their tombs I under .

stand denitely that this was the case b ut the fac t ,

in no way militates against t h e explanations j us t

given .

The great pyramid h as been assigned by mos t

Egyptologists to a king of t he fo urt h dynasty ,

generally known as Cheops or more correctly t o , ,

students o f hieroglyphics as Khufu That monarch

, .

is supposed to have built i t and to have gone on ,

adding to its size as long as he lived As his reign .

was a lo ng o n e the enormous magnitude o f the

,

building standing o n a base the size o f Lincoln s I nn

Fields is t hus accounted for My own information

.

is to the e ff ect t hat Khufu S imply restored some

portions o f t he pyramid that had su ff ered inj ury also , ,

fo r reasons t hat I have no t heard stated closing u p ,

so me o f the chambers that were previo usly accessible .

I t is admitted by mo dern Egyptologists t hat the

e vi dence which points to Khufu as the builder o f t he
pyramid is meagre although t he original guess has
,

been quo ted so o ften now that most writers assum e

i t to be so mehow known as a fact .

The manipulation o f the enormo us stones used in

this edice as also indeed t he construction o f t h e
, , ,
 Th e P yr a m id s and S t o n e h en g e 205

g reat pyrami d itself can only be explained by t he

,

a pplication to these tasks o f some knowledge co n

c erning the forces o f N ature which was lost to m an

kind d uring the decadence o f Egyptian civilizati on

a n d the barbarism o f the Middle Ages and has no t ,

yet been recovered by mo dern science This branch .

o f the subj ect however may be conveniently re

, ,

vi ewed in connection with so me other architect ural

bequests fro m t he ages in which the adepts dispersed
fro m Atlantis were still taking part in t he external
life o f Egypt and indeed o f so me o ther co untries
, , ,

now forming part o f the European continent I n .

Englan d itself we have architectural remains con

n ec t e d with t he ascendancy here a t o n e time o f

Atlantean adepts t he interpretation o f which has

,

been as much clo uded by fantastic t heories as by the

passage of t he ages that have gone by since their
e rection .

Stonehenge is a ri ddle t hat has perplexed sp ec u

lation as pro fo undly in its way as t he pyramids
t hemselves Most arch aeologists have assumed that
.

i t was erected by the Druids o f ancient Britain who ,

were already disappearing as a priestly caste at the

time o f the Ro man invasion although still carrying ,

o n secret an d sanguinary rites to which so me Roman

historians have referred This so mewhat crude con

.

je c t u re which o ffered no explanation o f the metho ds

,

by which an uncivilized race o f people like thos e

inhabiting the Britain t hat J ulius C ae sar conquere d ,

co uld have handled the enormo us monoliths o f which

Stonehenge consists , did no t satisfy Mr James .

Fergusson who has devoted so much p ainstaking

,

research to the subj ect o f the R u de Ston e Mon u

m en ts dealt with in his interesting volume bearing
,
20 6 C o ll e c t e d F ru i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
t hat title Mr Fergusson had a passion fo r dis
. .

cerning a recent origin in all t he remains o f anti quity ,

and taking advantage o f the o bscurity that hangs
,

over two o r t hree hundred years of English history ,

following o n t he abandonment o f these islands b y

the Ro mans he has developed an elaborate hypo
,

thesis according to which Stonehenge was erected i n

,

the time o f King Arthur to celebrate o n e o f t he

,

twelve great battles in which that hero is sai d to hav e

overthrown t he heathen Mr Fergusson will hav e
. .

nothing to sa y to previo us arguments that had

assigned a religio us p urpose to the great rel i es o n
Salisbury Plain and makes them o u t to have b een
,

nothing more t han stones set up to commemorat e

a victory H e co uld no t by any intentional e ff orts
.

to t hat end have supplied us with a more grotesque

redu c ti o a d a bsu rdu m o f that general vi ew of the

world which regards t he civilization now aro und us

as having grown up fro m an immediately preceding
condition o f primeval human infancy O ne o f the .

reasons fo r which Mr Fergusson rej ects the Druidical

.

theory is derived fro m the imp o ssibility o f supposing

that such a mere race o f savages as the Ro mans fo und
in Britain co uld have handled t he stone masses o f
which the ruin in question consists ; b ut he is content
to pass lightly over this embarrassment in dealing
with his o wn theory o n t he assump tion that after
,

the Ro man occupation t he Britons wo uld have

picked up a goo d deal o f e n gi n e e rm g knowledge from
their conquerors The Ro mans themselves would
.

have been n o better able than the Britons to m a n ip u

late the materials o f Stonehenge The imposts .

or upper stones o f the great tri lithons are t hemselves

abo ut eleven tons each in weight and t he uprights ,

thirty tons each I t is nonsense to talk o f such

.

masses as being moved about and se t up in their

places with great exactitude by b uilders si m ply em
 208 C o ll ec te d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t Te a c h i n g
witho ut setting o u t o n that argument consciously
making smoo th the path t hat conducts us back in ,

search o f an explanation to a civilization anterior to

,

o u r o wn the traces o f which have all but evaporated

,

fro m the records fro m which till lately we have , ,

been constructing t he history o f t he ancient world .

Atlantis is the only rational clue to the co mprehension

o f Stonehenge j ust as i t a ff ords the only satisfactory
,

solution of ancient Egyp t .

The information o n t he s ubj ect to be gathered fro m

those to whom t he Mem ory of N a tu re is an open
book shows us t he dispersed adepts fro m Atlantis
,

as the fo unders in Western Europ e o f the religio us ri tes

t hat Stonehenge was designed to subserve At a much .

later perio d than that which witnessed the Atlantean

migration to Egyp t some representatives o f the higher
,

Atlantean o ccultism established t hemselves in the

co untry which in the subsequent changes o f physical
,

geograp hy was destined to beco me t he British I sles

,
.

Their inuence established a civilization among t he

people which di d not prove o f the strong and enduring
character attaching to t hat planted in E gypt b ut ,

which nevertheless gave rise to considerable cities

, , ,

all traces o f which have now passed away And .

Stonehenge was erected as a temple in which the ,

exoteric worship they taught to t he people co uld b e

c arri e d o n I t w as never covered with any roof
,
. .

It s rude structure was p urposely adopted by the exiles

fro m Atl antis as a mute pro test against the corrup t
luxury o f the perishing civilization they had left
behind I n Atlantis itself the human family had
.

to uched the nadir point o f materiality Great de v elop .

ments o f scientic knowledge had been t urned entirely

to t he s er vice o f t he p hysical life an d spiritua l ,

aspiration was entirely stied in the p ursuit o f material

welfare Personal luxury cultivated by t hose wh o
.
,

were strong enough to secure i t for t hemselves wa s ,

 Th e P yra m ids and S t o n e h e ng e 209

the goal to which all the energies o f the race were bent

Many secrets o f Nature which the science o f t his fth

,

race has no t yet recovered were degraded to the ,

exclusive service of physical enj oyment by the

dominant classes for an inferior servile race also

,

inhabited the co untry and the spiritual adepts o f

the perio d turned with disgust fro m a co mmunity

which it w as no t in t heir power to redeem They set .

themselves the task o f implanting amongst a simpler

an d relatively barbaro us pop ulation abroad whose ,

descendants were destined in progress of time to , ,

melt into the next great race the spiritual enthusias m,

that might in t heir c ase lead on to an enno bled

, ,

future So t he external ceremonies of the religion

.

t hey taught were carried on under t heir guidance wi th

stern simplicity They built t heir great temple o f
.
,

unhewn ro cks They sought no architect ural e ff ects

.

that wo uld divert attention fro m N ature They .

invested their great cathedral wit h no o ther claims

to admiration but t hose depending o n the massive

grandeur o f i ts proportions .

But how did t hey overco me t he di fficulty o f man

i p u l a t i n g t he huge masses o f stone t he mere super ,

position o f which one upon t he o ther seems to have

, ,

demanded mechanical reso urces which we can hardly

asso ciate in imagination wi th any perio d but o u r
o wn For that matter i n Atlan tis i tself i t may be
,

fo und when fuller light is ultimately cast upon its

,

hi story t hat mechanical reso urces o f a very advanced

,

order were available for any work that needed t hem ;

but the builders o f t hat age were no t exclusively
dependent on appliances o f t he kind we now make
use o f in handling large masses o f materi al In the .

maturit y o f Atlantean civilization some forces o f

N ature now only under t he contro l o f adepts in o ccult
,

science w ere in general use The adepts o f the time

, .

were under no o bligati on to keep the secret o f t heir

14
2 10 C o ll e c t ed F ru i ts of O cc u l t T e a chin g
exi stence j ealo usly guarded ; and among them was
t hat power so rarely exercised now that its very
,

existence is scornfully derided by t he co m monplace

cro wd t he po w er o f mo difying the force we call

gravi ty .

I t is rarely o f use in p ublic utterances in the present

day when current intelligence is engaged in channels
,

far removed fro m those o f o ccult attainment to speak ,

o f adep t powers t hat are wholly o ut o f gear wi th

mo dern experience o f natural possibilities B ut in .

reference to t he peculiar power to which I have j ust

referred the truth is that t he mo dication o f t he
,

force o f gravity by metho ds human ingenuit y may

,

bring into play can only seem absurd to people w ho

,

are ignorant o f certain suggestive facts already within

t he experience o f scientic investigation and at the ,

same time wilfully blind to t he evi dence o f mysterio us

,

o ccurrences notorio usly taking place tho ugh alto ,

gether unexplained so far in the realm o f spiritualistic

,

experience Theosophists are o f co urse very far

.
, ,

fro m accepting the t heories o f S piritualism in regard

to t he destinies o f t he human so ul after deat h ; but
t he external facts familiar to t he investigators o f
,

spiritualism are facts none the less which must be

,

tted into t heir places in any conceptions o f N ature

framed by intelligent reasoning The foolish crowd .

ignore these because impostors are constantly de

,

t e c t e d in imitating by trickery the comparatively

rare phenomena which under the auspices o f spirit ua l
,

mediumship illustrate the o ccasional activity o f

,

forces that se t at deance the very limited knowledge

o f nat ural secrets generally di ff used amongst us at

present B ut t he remark attributed t o Galileo

.
,

e p u r s i i n n ove is highly applicable in t his case

,
In .

face o f all that has been recorded by qualied

spiri tu alistic investigators a bo dy o f testimony which

is no t a ff ected in t he s m allest degree by exposures o f

2 12 C oll e c t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t Te ac hing
relation with o ur general t hi t is stupid to
attemp t an escape fro m t he lty o f no t under
standing i t by declaring in S pite of t he evi dence , ,

that the fact is no t a fact .

When therefore theosophists learn fro m those

, ,

among t hem in a position to beco me acquainted wi t h

the powers exercised by the adepts of o ccult science ,

that such persons can in the present day as o f o ld , ,

mo dify the action o f the force we call gravi ty so as to ,

levitate ordinarily heavy Obj ects like masses o f stone ,

there o ught n o t to b e any in dignant revolt o f the

understanding against such a statement As y et i t is .

impossible to o ffer the ordinary reader direct evidence '

to that e ff ect o f a kind t hat i s c a l c u l a t e d to co mpel

his belief B ut the general situation as I have
.
,

s ho wn i s such that any positive declaration o f disbelief

,

in the allegation can only be due t o ignorance o r

stupi dity Therefore we who have what we hold
.
,

to be trustworthy information on the matter may a t

least p ut it forward very careless of sco ff mg which
, , ,

in V iew o f co llateral knowledge now available stands ,

self condemned as irrational The adept custo di an s

-
.

o f t hat knowledge concerning the mysteries o f N ature

, ,

which is ltering into t he world at large by degrees

as science advances can and always have been able
,

to control the attractions o f matter in such a way

as to alter the effective weight o f heavy bo dies at wi ll .

That is t he whole explanation o f t he marvels o f

megalithic architecture Working under t he guidance.

an d with the help o f the adepts fro m Atlantis t he ,

builders o f Stonehenge and o f the ancient dolmen

,

altars fo und t he enormo us masses O f stone they used

light eno u gh to be handled with facility Clairvoyant .

o bservers of Stonehenge have s een the pro cess o f its

construction going o n The pictures O f i ts progres s
.

are all indelibly imprinted o n t he Memory o f N ature

they are visible n o w as plainly as t he actual trans
,
 Th e P yr a m id s an d S t o n e h e ng e 2 13

actions were visible for thos e who were present .

And the vision shows us the enormo us mass es o f the

tri lithons being raised to t heir places with t he help
o f sca ff oldings no more substantial in t heir character
,

t han wo uld be used to day in the erection o f a brick

co ttage .

O f co urse altho ugh I did n o t interrup t my narrative

,

o f t he o rigin o f t he pyramids to sa y so t he great ,

stones o f which they are composed were treated in the

same way as t he materials o f Stonehenge The adepts .

who directed their construction facilitated the pro cess

by t he partial levitation o f the stones used This i s .

t he S imple t ho ugh in one way no do ubt deeply

,

mysterio us explanation o f the o ld world monuments

,
-

in which enormo us masses o f stone are employed .

At the temple o f Baal b e c in Syria t here are single

, ,

stones b uilt into t he walls each o f which is calculated

,

to weigh abo ut tons Preferring an explanation

.

o f s uch remains which only seems reasonable because

i t makes no appeal to forces and powers with which
we are unacquainted arch aeo logists have hitherto
,

been content to ass ume t hat with an unlimited ,

co mmand o f human labo ur t he builders o f such ,

temples as that o f Baalb e c may have been able to

get their great stones dragged along causeways o n
ro llers and may someho w have hoisted them up
,

into their places with t he help o f inclined plan es .

Such hypot heses make larger drafts upon cred ulity

really than t hose invo lved in the occult statement .

They call upon us to believe that which is p hysically

impossible ; but t he impossibility is acceptable
because i t is disguised in co mmonplace phraseology
Stonehenge and Baa l b e c really stand before us
imperishable proofs t hat in t he age o f t heir co n st ru 0
,

tion whenever t hat may have been t he world was

, ,

wi tness o f an engineering which did no t accomplish its

triumphs by brute strength but by the applicatio n ,
2 14 C oll e c te d F r u i t s o f O ccu l t T e a c hing
of a ner knowledge t han e v en mo dern engineering
has as yet recovered .

I have sai d that i t was at a much later perio d than

t hat at which the Atlantean adepts who rs t left t he ,

perishing continent took up their residence in Egyp t

, ,

t hat those who settled in Western E urope set on fo o t

t he grand an d S imple S pi ritual worship which Stone
henge in t he rst instance was employed to subserve .

I t was at a much later perio d even t han that at w hich

the pyramids were erected I do n o t know w het her
.

there was any long residence by Atlantean adep ts

in Western E urop e prior to t h e intro duction o f their
teaching among t he p eople Probably there was b ut
.
, ,

at all events it was near the nal culmination o f the

,

great Atlantean continent s submergence abou t

,

years ago fro m the present time that the ,

grey stones still standing o n Salisb ury Plain were

rst established in their places Among t he facts .

concerning them which supporters o f Fe rg u sso n s

,

gro tesque theory have to pass over very lightly is ,

o n e which relates to the geo logical character o f t he

stones used The o uter circle an d the stones o f the

.

great trilithons are o f a composition t hat sugges t

their derivation fro m quarries in the neighbo urhoo d .

But the inner circle and the altar stone are o f a

totally di ff erent formation o f a kind which canno t be
,

identied wit h a n y ro ckb eds in that part o f England .

Such stone is to be fo und in Cornwall in Wales an d , ,

i n I reland but nowhere nearer So fro m o n e o f these

, .

regions the materials of the inner circle must certainly

have been bro ught Reasoning o f the kind that i s
.

never shocked by an absurdity but is only o ffended ,

by the suggestion that mo dern knowledge does no t

embrace all the capacities o f N ature is content co m ,

p l ac e n t ly to suppose that the Stonehenge builders

brought the massive materials in question across
many hundred miles o f primeval forest covered -
2 16 C oll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hing
has had to do wit h graver misconceptions even than
thos e which have entangled the commonplace inter
p re t a t i o n s o f serpent worship .

The chief Druid o f the Sto nehenge ceremonies in t he

days o f the p ure worship in the beginning used to march
in some o f t he processions with a live serpent ro und his
.

neck Later o n when the adept inuence was no

.
,

longer present many millenni ums later the degraded

chiefs o f the Drui d decadence used to keep up the o ld

tradition in so far as it lay in them to do SO but for ,

prudential reasons wore a dea d serpent a more tting

emblem than they suppos ed o f the s tate o f the faith

they represented Lower and lower its practices
.

became debased until the o nce sacred altar stone was

,

deluged no longer with milk b ut with the bloo d o f ,

hu m an victims and this was the only sort o f Drui d

,

worship o f which t hro ugh Roman historians we , ,

have any written records How did i t happen that .

so terrible a change came o n The age apparently ,

as far as ancient Britain was concerned was no t ,

suffi ciently advanced to provi de t he earlier adepts

wit h a continuo us line o f s uccessors Eventually .
,

it is to be presumed o ne by one no do ubt the earlier

, , ,

adepts ceased to incarnate among t he people t hey

co uld no t lead o n to the path o f tru e spiritual progress .

I n Egyp t t he graft they planted took a rm hold o f

t he sto ck to which i t was attached I n Britain i t .

did not and t hus while Egyp t remained to a com

, ,

p ara t i v e ly recent perio d a land o f high civilization ,

and o n e o f t he principal centres o f ft h race adeptship -

,

Britain relapsed back into barbarism Up to only .

a few tho usand years before t he Ro man conquest i t

remained still faintly tinged wit h the remote tradi
tions o f its vanishing civilization then i t sank to its ,

lo wes t condition o f decay before t he commencement

o f its mo dern cycle o f progress within the histori c
perio d .
 Th e P yr a m id s and S to n e h e ng e 21
7
This sweeping s urvey o f a p as t that wi ll be more
fully recalled no do ubt in progress o f time as t he
, , ,

world learns better to appreciate t he inner faculties

o f man ,
slight and sketchy t hough i t be has only
,

been rendered possible by much patient gleaning on

my part Opportuni ties being made use o f as t hey
,

arose I t is possible at a later date that I may be

.

able to ll up so me details b ut I h Op e t he imperfect

,

suggestions o f this ess ay may meanwhile b e accepted

as contributing in some measure to S how how i m
p e ra t i v e l y necessary i t is t o bring the Atlantean origin
o f all ci vilizations belonging to o u r age into t he

scheme o f o ur thinking if we are to h Op e for anything

,

resembling a correct interpretation o f the ancient

world
TH E O S O PH I CAL TEAC H I NGS LIABLE T O B E
M I S UN D E RST OO D
IN the beginning of o u r t heosophical st udies we had
to be content wit h very crude conceptions concerning
the great i deas to which we were then introd uced .

I t was not possible for those who were endeavo uring

to teach us to convey to us all at once a co mpre
, ,

h en si o n of those higher planes of nat ure so me under

standing o f which is absolutely necessary to a correct
appreciation o f even so me fundamental principles
that we have to deal with I ndeed t hat embarrass
.
,

ment has it seems to me impeded all attempts at

, ,

metaphysical thought that have antedated t he

t heosophical movement I ntensely keen intellectual
.

activity has been devo ted to the e ff ort to penetrate

the Veil o f I sis to o utstrip the range o f the p hysical
,

senses to determine the nature o f matter and to

, ,

analyze processes o f thought B ut it has all .

amounted to very little as compared wi th the oo d o f

signicant teaching that we have been able to o btain
during the theosop hical perio d With the help o f this
.
,

by degrees i t has co me to pass that in S pite o f t he

, ,

enormo us difcu lt y o f grappling in imagination with

conditions o f consciousness o utside those with which
we are familiar we have gradually been able to
,

surro und some o f the earlier teaching with il l umina

tion which invests it wit h fuller meaning than we co uld
attach to it at rst We have thus co me t o realize
.
.

that some o f o u r earlier conceptio ns t ho ugh no t ,

erroneo us indeed no teachin g that I have had to do

,

with as given to us in the beginning need at t his

, ,

218
2 20 Co ll e c te d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T ea c hing
condition They t hink o f themselves as frettin g
.

agains t t he limitations o f the bab y state wearil y ,

enduring t heir slow progress towards maturity We .

have to get rid o f all such ideas absolutely and entirely

before we understand what reincarnation means ,

and t he rst di ffi culty in the way o f getting ri d o f

t hem has to do wi t h t he distinction between t h e
,

personality o f any given life and the Ego o f whic h

tha t personality is a temporary expression .

As we approach an understanding o f this distinction

a new di ffi culty is ap t to spring up When to ld t hat .

the personality o f any given life is going to be merged

in the Ego as we are denitely ass ured wi ll be the

case as a rule to t he extent that t he details o f t he

las t life will fade by degrees fro m memory that seems ,

to imply something resembling t he annihilation o f

personal conscio usness t he only kind which see m s
,

real as contemplated from the physical plane poin t

,

o f V iew The s ame comfortless tho ught surround s

.

a mistaken conception that has sometimes been p u t

forward in regard to t he ultimate destinies o f humanit y
at t he conclusion o f the Manvantara t he alleged ,

re absorption in that Divinity o u t o f which in t h e

-

beginning humanity emerged O f co urse if per .

,

son a li t i e s even remotely resembling what they are

now were absorbed into Divinity as a drop o f water ,

is absorbed in the o cean that wo uld be equivalent t o

,

annihilation and mergence in the Ego when t h e

,

personality is passing on fro m t his life to ano the r

seems again a species o f annihilation for most
, , ,

people unable to escape in imagination fro m t h e

, ,

conditions o f the current personality .

Now what we have to remember rst o f all i n , ,

order t o get rid o f that misconception is that pro ,

tracted and vivid conditions o f life intervene between

the disappearance fro m this plane o f any given
personality and the next presentation o f t he Ego
 Th e o sophi c al T e ac h i n g s M i su nd e rst o o d 22 1

on the physical plane in accordan ce with the law of

rebirth . A very long interval elapses before the
p ersonality with which we are associated in any
g iven life has accomplished its mergence in the Ego .

I have dealt to some extent with that subj ect o n

former occasions but i t requires continued attention
,
.

Remember that rs t o f all we have a considerably

, ,

pro tracted experience which may extend to enormo us

,

lengt h sometimes o f life in which the personality

is maintained in full completeness o n the higher levels

o f the astral plane I n a large number o f cases people
.

whose personalities have been highly evolved and ,

who represented great intellectual development i n this

life elect to remain o n the higher level s o f t he astral
,

plane for long after the time when they might have
p assed on to Manasic conditions had they so chosen , ,

because under those conditions i t is possible for

t hem to gather fresh knowledge along t he line o f t heir
p revious work and prepare themselves in their next
,

incarnation fo r m uch mo re extended activities o f a

similar order . I n a minor degree t he same explana
tion applies to people o f less advanced evolution ,

t hough we have to remember in trying to think ,

o u t the conditions o f future life that t hey vary to an,

a lm ost illimitable extent I t i s diffi cult in attempting

.

t o interpret any o f t hese mysteries to make adequat e

a llowance for that Whereas highly intellect ual
.

p eople will elect to remain for a long time on the

higher level people o f lesser advancement also
, ,

a ssuming that their lives have not been very bad

indeed will long remain on levels where life is ex

,

c ee di n g ly enj oyable though no t necessarily in s uch

,

cases very conducive to further progress B ut in all .

cases t here co mes a time when in fullment o f the ,

necessities of further evolution all the inhabit ants ,

o f t he astral world must pass on to the Manasi c

condition We m u st n o t think o f this passage as in

.

22 2 C o llec te d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
t he nature o f a secon d death I t is quite free fro m .

all t he anxieties and distrust that too o ften embitte r , ,

the appro ach o f p hysical dissolution and it is hardl y ,

necessary to say utterly free fro m the su ffering so o ften

attending departure fro m this plane D uring astra l .

life a goo d many o f the attributes that contributed to

make up the personality have faded away I ts highe r .

emo tions i t s l o v e energies its intellectual capacitie s

,
'

remain unimpaired but it has already shed most o f

,

the minor attachments arising fro m its earthly life .

I t i s getting ready for that union with the Ego which

mus t n ot be tho ught o f as accomplished at once on
leaving this pl ane o f life Whatever desires may .

have been engendered for the continuance o f personal

existence those desires will Operate to retain vivi d
,

conscio usness o f personality on appropriat e levels o f

nature for as long as their fo rce can persist B ut as .
,

I say the Ego the real permanent self is a more

, , ,

p ermanent thing than any o n e personality and how , ,

ever important any given personality may be co m

pared with those that have preceded it in the lon g
career o f the Ego through nature its importance has ,

t o be expressed in a new environment to clear the ,

w ay fo r which the minor details of the last incarnation

have been allowed to fade away or evaporate B ut , .

t he Ego an d the personality must n o t be thought o f

as two separate entities The personality i s at all.
,

events a partial expression o f the Ego and sooner or

, ,

later the Earth plane consciousness is wi thdrawn into

,
-

t he Ego sometimes rapidly sometimes after a long

, ,

interval but eventually in all cases that has to be

,

acco mplished And t he blending means the a b sorp

.

tion into t he E go o f all that was important in t he

personality that has lately been spent .

There is another interesting thought connected

with t hat idea Soo n er o r later a personality may
.
~

beco me so important that i t is perpetuated so to ,

2 24 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e ac hing
eagerness o n the part o f t he Ego to express o n the ,

physical plane some of the musical i deas gathered

,

from experience on the Manasic level We have .

always been led to believe t hat o n the Manasic level

music somehow pervades the whole region appealing , ,

o f course in very varying degrees to di fferent apti

,

t udes but lling t he conscio usness o f the advanced

,

musician with musical i deas he would be eager to

repro duce Probably in a similar way when t he
.
,

mathematical faculty has become t he leading mental

characteristic of an Ego t hat condition may equally
,

impel the Ego to seek an early Opportunity for i t s

expression o n the physical plane and may account ,

for the calculating boys o n e has sometimes heard

of t hough we have in connection wi th such cases to
explain the best way we can the usual fact that the
, ,

abnormal faculty disappears o r weakens as the boy

grows up Such facts bring us into relation with a
.

great volume o f N ature s mysteries which S how how

, ,

at early stages of evolution t here seems to be a closer

,

connection w ith the spirit ual plane than when fuller

intellectual development has been reached Babies .
,

animals and early savage tribes will sometimes give

,

evidence of possessing glimmerings at all events o f , ,

astral percep tion which fade away at later stages o f

growth .

I come now to consider vario us possibilities which

have to do with the re attachment o f the Ego to a
-

bo dily manifestation I n t he case of Ego s s u ffi cientl y

.

advanced along the p ath o f t hat progress to which

knowledge is so conducive i t may be possible for ,

the higher self if I may use that expression or the

, ,

Ego Iam using the two terms as almost synonymo u s

to exercise a denite choice in regard to the ne w
incarnation on which it will enter People already .

at some stage on t he pat h especially if t hey are ,

called upon to return rather sooner than t he ordinary

 Th e oso phi c al T e ac hing s M i su nd e rst o o d 225

law would provi de for wo uld probably have a con

,

si de rab l e range o f choice in regard to the incarnation

t hey would accept I have been privileged to o btain

.

so me information bearing upon cases that have

actually occurred and a curious discovery emerges
, .

I n all such cases o f which I have heard where several ,

Opportunities have lain before an Ego co ming into

incarnation some apparently very much less a t

tractive t han o thers i t seems almost invariably t he

c ase t hat t he Ego chooses t he least desirable i n car

nation as its desirability wo uld be measured fro m
,

o u r point of View I ncarnations in humble life

.

invo lving a great deal o f what fro m o ur point of ,

view we sho uld consider hardship and undesirable

,

conditions have continually wi thin my knowledge ,

-

been chosen by p eople o f su fficient advancement t o

exercise a choice in preference to those representing
,

more agreeable conditions o f life on this plane Fro m .

the Ego point o f view no thing is o f really any i m

portance compared wit h spirit ual growth and pro
gress and i t may no t infrequently happen t hat the
,

humbler incarnation is rst o f all calculated to

, ,

get ri d o f Karma that lies in the backgro und while ,

i t also no t infrequently happens that the humbler

incarnation is distinctly more conducive to devo tion
to spiritual tho ught and e ff ort than those where
pleasures and distractions o f all kinds keep people s

tho ughts centred o n the life that they are actually

leading An d again i t may happen tho ugh I a m
.

now about to speak of a case that is probably unique

that so me den ite work that a highly evo lved Ego

h as undertaken can be better carried o ut in a humble
than in an exalted station o f life Most students o f .

philosophical literature will be more o r less familiar

with the writings o f that w onderful German p hilo
S op her J aco b Boehme No w Jaco b Boehme s
.

wri tings S how him to ha v e been on the threshold ,

IS
226 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e a c hin g
at all events o f high Adeptship and yet in t hat life
, ,

he was a humble cobbler j ust a s ubordinate worker

,

at t hat hu m ble trade Why did he choose such an

.

incarnation as that for it is certain that a Being

o n his level must have chosen his incarnation The .

answer I unde rstand to b e . t h a t at t he period in

which he lived it was no t desirable that the teachings
he had to p ut forward real t h e OSOp h i c teachings

,

t ho ugh no t illustrated with t he amplitude o f detail

we have since been privileged to o btain sho uld descend

upon the world fro m any altitude o f authority O nly .

a few were ripe for them I t was held to be necessary

.

that they sho uld be suggested so to speak from a , ,

humble level o f mundane authorship I am not .

presuming to endors e o r criticize that idea I merely .

s tate i t as given to me in explanation o f t h e Jacob

Boehme incarnation B ut why
. I asked such , ,

a very ignoble position as that o f a working cobbler

The answer I believe derived fro m himself was
, ,

No position can be ignoble in which yo u are fullling

t he p urpose o f the Logos That seems to me t o have
.

been an extremely beautiful answer radiant wi th ,

meaning that can be applied t o many of the phenomena

O f life True there are no t many working cobblers
.
, .

who are J aco b Boehmes in disguise and we must no t ,

be hurried into conclusions to the e ff ect t hat it is

only o n such levels o f life that great spirit ual natures
are to b e so ught for I ndeed t he normal rule is
.
,

rather the o ther way abo ut There is a tendency .

in N ature to a grad ual upward drift in social station

in t he long progress o f incarnations This ensues .

from the way in which desire in ordinary life is one

, ,

o f the factors making up the next Karmic programme .

The desire must be clear and denite to b e Operative

in this way and it wo uld no t amo unt to much if a
,

costermonger desired to be a king H e wo uld no t .

know enough abo ut the king s life to desire that

228 C oll e c t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T e a c hing
Ego will be drafted into an appropriate incarnation
un der pressure o f forces o f which i t has no practical
conscio usness and for a long time will b e unconscio us
,

o f having re entered this plane o f life at all

-
There .

i s a link established between itself and the new life

we do n o t know what terms to u se physical pla n e ,

nature do es n o t enable us to handle phrases which

suit these con ditions but some mysterious magnetic
-

t hread o r tie attaches t he Ego to the new birth and ,

fo r a long time it is quite unconsc i o us o f any s uch

attachment unconscio us pro bably for at least s even

years The rst s even years o f a child s life do no t

.

represent intelligen t conscio usness within that

organism . Perhaps that statement will s ho ck e n
t h u si a st i c mo thers who believe that fro m a very
early age they detect all sorts o f charming attributes
in their o ffspring They may b ut I do maintain
.
,

from what I have been told that as far as the real

Ego conscio usness is concerned it i s no t really active
within the child until at least seven years have been
S pent and t hen only to a very limited degree Then
, .
,

no do ubt t he Ego will be conscio us o f its re attachmen t

,
-

to the physical plane but no t conscio us to any

,

extent which is a s erio us impediment to its spiritual

conscio usness o n higher planes I t will no t be until
.

another septenary perio d has been passed for these

septenary perio ds have a very denite signicance in

connection with the growth o f new lives i t is no t

until ano ther stage o f distinct progress has been

accomplished that the etheric and astral elements
in the new child s composition beco me i dentied

with the Ego in the backgro und I am no t going to .

attemp t a very minute explanation of the successive

stages thro ugh which N ature works in bringing an
Ego in to a new incarnation b ut the two sep tenary
,

perio ds t hat I have mentioned are by no means all

that are recognizable as stages in the process The .
 Th e o sophi cal Te ac hi n g s Mi su nd e rst o o d 229

real truth I believe to be that i t is no t until full

maturity is reached no t till such an age as twenty
,

eight o r even a later perio d than t hat that t he highest

, ,

elements in the Ego are capable o f functioning in t he

new organism I believe even as far as the perio d o f
.
,

t hirty v e i t may so metimes be sai d that t he new i n

-
,

carnation is no t absolutely in i ts completely perfected

condition So t hat no conception o f this subj ect can
.

be more wide o f the truth than that which embarrasses

the idea o f reincarnation wi th the belief t hat in t he ,

earlier stages t he experience is distressing to the

,

entity coming back .

O ne o r two o ther tho ughts still remain to be em

p h asi ze d in connection with t his process o f rein
carnation A great deal was sai d i n earlier writings
.

o n the subj ect o f Devachan and later interpretations

,

have mo died witho ut contradicting what was sai d

in t he beginning There are numero us cases in which
.

Devachan is little more than a blissful idleness in which

t he personality that has passed fro m this life into the
Devachan state exists in a perfectly happy condition
,

for as long a perio d as the energies created or bro ught

into activity during the past life are capable o f mani
fes ting themselves on a higher plane I n all such .

cases the mergence into the Ego is e ffected u n co n

sci o u sl y .Al l such pro cesses are guided by higher
intelligence o utsi de that of t he Ego itself and it wo uld ,

only be in a very advanced condition indeed that t he

Ego wo uld be perfectly conscio us o f what it was doing
as it gradually absorbed into itself the experiences o f
the last life Yo u have always to remember t hat on
.

the highest conditions that men are capable o f reaching

we take o u r destinies into o u r own hands ; on inter
mediate conditions they are guided for us by bein gs
o f a high order in the hierarchy supervising human

a ff ai rs and on much lower levels what we may

, ,

call the common levels o f nature operating in a vast,

2 30 C o ll e c te d F r u i ts of O c c u l t Te a c hing
af ea t hey are gui ded fo r us by beings o f a lower
'
,

order i n t he spiritual hierarchy .

A goo d deal was sai d in t he beginning o f o ur s tudies

in reference to t he p erio ds which usually elapse between
incarnations In ;m y o wn rs t book on the subj ect those ,

wh o have read i t may remember that I spoke under

guidance o f co urse o f the intervening perio d which

applied to t he average of mankind as running fro m ,

1 50 0 to
, years during which of co urse life was
, , ,

divided between astral conditions and De v ac h an i c or

Manasic conditions O nly after this very ample
.

S cope had been given for the exhaustion o f all the

forces o f the previous life did the enti ty come back
into incarnation There was no thing untrue in t hat
.

statement at the time , but a very remarkable con

dition o f things has arisen since that statement was
pu t forward We live in a very remarkable perio d
.
,

remarkable no t merely fo r its extraordinary develop

ment of theosop hical knowledge amongst us in the
world at large b ut in o ther ways as well an d amongst
, ,

o ther features t hat are remarkable in this perio d is

the extraordinary acceleration of all pro cesses which
have to do with human evo lution I think we have .

many o f us no ticed t his acceleration as applied to the

phenomena of life around us even in reference to the ,

changes that have been going on o n the physical plane .

Looking back over t he past fty years we see t hat

immense progress has been made in science in di s ,

c o v e ry in moral development in religio us thought

, ,

all over the world ; and that acceleration has been

going on wit h even greater rapidity and energy o n
the higher planes o f nature I t has to do o f co urs e
.
, ,

with t he di ff erence between the downward an d the

upward arcs o f evo lution O n t he downward arc o f
.

evolution the great preparatory pro cess o f nat ure

progress is S low ; o n t h e u pp er arc o f the cycle i t is

,

quick and w e are beginning now having t urned the

, ,
2 32 C o ll e c t ed F r u i t s of O c c u l t Te a c hing
whole bo dy o f people who are moving in t he direction
o f higher knowl edge who are rad ually co ming in con
g ,

si de ra b l e numbers on to what we call t he pat h leading

to t he higher life who a re co m i n g to appreciate the

,

op enings o f kn owledge that have been available for us

in recent years I n former times such people were
.

mo re numero us in the Eastern than in the Western

world ; and the consequence used to be that i n c ar
nations drifted i n the cas e o f people with distinct
,

spirit ual aspiration fro m the Western world to the

,

Eastern I ndeed when o u r t heosop hical teachin g

.
,

began to excite interest here I know that some o f ,

my o wn friends aspired to Eastern incarnations

as probably conducive t o more rapi d spiritual gro wt h ~

than co uld be accomplished i n any o ther way .

That i dea I think was an erroneo us aspiration so far

a s i t applied to any p e o p l e wi t h i n o u r o wn lifetime ~

though n o t erroneo us in times long gone by B ut now .

i t i s distinctly o u t o f date The drift o f incarnation .

for those who represent exalted conditions o f pre

p ar e dn e ss fo r higher things is now rather fro m the ,

East to t he West The truth o f the matter is that

.
,

altho ugh we are so far only concerned with b egin

mings the Western world is going in by no means
, ,

a remo te future to be the great radial centre from

,

which spiritual inuence will sprea d over the civilized

world ; and t herefore as I say at the present time , ,

s uch an aspiration as t hat which I referred to a while

ago as Operative wi th some o f my earlier friends in
connection with theosophical study t he desire for ,

Ea stern incarnations i s wholly o u t o f date What , .

we have t o do n o w i s to recognize the duties that are

gradually coming t o be incumbent o n t he West ern
worl d in connection with the S piritual progress o f
mankind .

Loo king back to the beginn i ng o f civilization to the ,

Atlantean perio d wh en t here wa s no t any Europe

,
 Th eoso phi c al Te a c hing s M i su nd e rst o o d 2 33

to talk abo ut at all all the development s uch as it was

, , ,

both S piritual and intellectual was centred in t he ,

Atlantean world O f co urse t he Atlantean population

.

gradually S pread over the who le o f the habitable

glo be and all that we now speak o f as the Eastern
,

world wa s please to remember once Atlantean

, , .

Earlier sub races o f the Atlantean perio d acco unted

-

for the earliest pop ulations whether o f I ndia o f any

, ,

part o f Central Asia o r o f any part o f the Eastern

,

world and as t he spiritual civilization o f Atlantis

,

became del e d by t he growth o f evil in t he s hape o f

what we co mmonly call black tendencies so t he best ,

representatives o f advanced Atlantean spirituality

migrated eastward and in t hat way establis hed in t he
,

E astern world the great radiating centre o f spiritual

energy in days gone by An d that condition o f t hings
.

lasted for a very long while O f co urs e at a perio d .

which again is a very long while ago fro m o u r point

o f view two or t hree hundred t ho usand years ago
, ,

when Atlantean adepts migrating from Atlantis

proper to escape t he evil developments o f i t s civiliza
tion established t hemselves in Egypt they met
, ,

another str eam o f spiritual civilization owing west

ward fro m I ndia and regions beyond I ndia that had
been engendered so to speak by the fermentation
, ,

o f lo ftier tho ught in the earlier races o f the Atlantean

perio d Thus when Atlantis ultimately disappeared
.

and was destroyed by reason O f the fact that it had

beco me so utterly degraded yo u have to t hink o f t he
,

Eastern world as wholly represe n tative o f S pirit ual

g ro wt h B ut we also have to recognize as an absolute
.

fact t hat in t he pro gress o f su b racial development

later sub races t han any o f t hose which now o ccupy

-

t he E astern world have been developed and evo lved

i n what is now t he Western world So now the great .

wave o f spirituality is sweeping back again towards

the West Ex ori en te l a x . Fro m t he East the light -
2
34 C o ll e c t ed F ru i t s o f O c cu l t T e a chi n g
is coming But t he very use o f that phrase indicates
.

that i t i s moving westward Some Western Americans

.

are fond o f a boastful expression : Westward the Star

o f Empires takes i t s way I am no t concerned for
.

the moment with the Star o f Empire b ut westward

the great forces o f spiritual energy an d developm ent

are distinctly moving And we have to be worthy as
.
,

it were o f that condition o f things ; we have to rise

,

to meet it .

I f we prop erly appreciate o u r functions they are ,

much more dignied than at t he rst glance people

believe The Theosophical Society is charged wi th
.

the gr e a t task o f leading spiritual progress in the

Western world The Society is a nucleus which in
.

future generations at no very distant perio d will be

, ,

enormo usly exp anded beyond its present con ditions ,

expanded let us trust by virtue o f the fact that those

who are n o w concerned with i t will appreci a t e the
duties incumbent o n them and act in a manner which
,

may pave the way for that further development which

undo ubtedly is contemplated by Higher Powers as
the programme o f the future That can be carried .

o u t if we can respond adequately to the inuence

that th ey ar e radiating .

That is t h e most important t hought that I have to

deal wi th j ust now but there are o n e o r two o ther
,

minor matters having t o do with misconceptions or

misunderstandings o f theosophical teaching which ,

seem trivial and almost trumpery compared with

those which I have been talking abo ut but w hich ,

none the less claim no tice I am referring to vi ews .

which are sometimes p ut forward connecting aspira ,

tions fo r spiritual growth an d progress with ques tions

relating to what we eat an d drink Or refrain from
eating and drinking N ow this is a very delicate
.

s ubj ect which has been a goo d deal discussed by

theosophical writers lately an d in reference to which
,
2
36 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e a c h ing
Going more into detail i t may be recogni z ed that in
,

a certain very limited sense i t is true that what fo r ,

"
want o f a better term w e call m agnetism o f a
,

bad order do es attach to meat as a foo d I t h a s a .

very slight inuence and I am to ld that thos e who loo k

,

o n fro m a higher plane at t he e fforts o f so me vegetarian

t hinkers to follow the pe rfect way in diet are rat h er ,

amused to see t hat t hey ignore t his question o f

magnetism a s between vario us kinds o f vegetable
foo d I f t here is any point in t h e idea that certain
.

foo ds have a bad magnetism t hen certain kinds o f ,

vegetable foo ds have a bad magnetism to j ust t he sa m e

extent as meat and in neither case do es that matter
,

serio usly The same t hing applies to alco hol with

.

slightly greater emp hasis An d again the question .

is whether physical heredity is o f such an order as t o

render any particular bo dy incapable o f maintaining
health an d e ffi ciency for whatever work i t has to do ,

witho ut so me little o f t hat o therwise undesirable

beverage .

O ne o ther theory clai ms no tice in t his connection

t hat which relates to the habit o f smoking Let .

nobo dy b e under t he impression i f t hey are inclined

to attach any importance to the information I have

been privileged to obtain t hat t here is an y harm

in that practice in regard to the conditions i t en

genders in the physical bo dy in reference to health t o , ,

S piritual or moral progress o r to any o f the lo ftier duties

,

o f life . I t is perfectly harmless ; i t has no bad

e ff ect on astral or etheric conditi ons i n mo deration

o f co urse We always assume that we are talking

.

to p eople who are no t going to extremes in the pursui t

o f any pleasures o f a physical order But within .

reasonable limits that particular practice I am to ld , ,

has rather a benecial e ffect than o therwise o n the

etheric conditions o f people who live in mo dern co m
m u n i t i e s full o f astral s wirls o f all kinds and o f a
,
 Th eosophi cal T e a c hi n g s M i su nd e rst o o d 2 37
c omplicated order There remains only o n e o ther
.

remark to make o n this subj ect that o f co urse in ,

reference to smoking however agreeable and i n

,

nocent i t may be in itself nobo dy who is thinking

,

a long the lines that are probably Operative wi th theo

S ophi cal st udent s wo uld dream o f doing anything

o f that kind in a manner which wo uld be disagreeable

to o thers That is j ust the clue to the correct under

.

s tanding o f this matter I t hinges o n to very much

.

loftier principles because the idea that we sho uld do

,

no thing for o u r o wn sake which is inj urio us to t he

c omfort o r welfare o f o ther people is a crude way o f

p utting the fundamental conception which has t o do

wi th spiritual progress in all its aspects We are no t .

Segregated ato ms in conscio usness living only for o u r

,

indivi dual selves ; we are S imply parts o f a stupendo us

d esign t he identity o f o urselves wi th which at some
,

future perio d we shall fully realize as we may now ,

even intellectually appreciate i t That i dea can .

never be misunderstoo d because o f its utter S im

,

p l i c i t y . Simple o n this plane it is equally

, simple and
e qually true o n planes above and is t he o n e i dea
,

which if it t horo ughly saturates o u r understanding

, ,

and beco mes the gui de o f life and action will render ,

p eople t heosophists in the truest acceptation o f the

term .
 TH E S U PE R PH YS I CAL LAWS O F NATU RE
-

To S peak of t he change which has come over t he

p ublic mind o r that portion o f t he p ublic mind
,

which represents the advanced culture o f the perio d ,

as a movement o f tho ught is in truth to u se an

, , ,

inadequate expression fo r that movement is largely

,

d ue to an inow o f new knowledge and information

concerning the s uper p hysical mysteries o f nature
-
,

which were no t at t he disposal o f t hose who in t he ,

middle o f t he last century represented t he incredulity

,

which then prevailed in reference to all matters

having to do wit h mystic research Those o f us .

whose memories stretch back to the middle o f the last

century will remember how determined and con
t e m p t u o u s t hat incredulity generally was To atta i n .

any knowledge concerning s up er physical s tates o f -

human conscio usness was held to be eternally i m

possible Sporadic pheno mena reported fro m time
.
,

to time as indicating that it m ig h t be possible to obtain

communication wit h the surviving conscio usness o f
people who had departed this life were treated as ,

tho ugh o f necessity they represented imposture

and frau d Stories o f clairvoyance and records o f
.
,

curio us results obtained by mesmerism fortune ,

telling in all its curio us varieties whether concerned

, ,

with cards palmistry o r astrology and all the con

,
'
, ,

fused t ra di t i on s o f medieval magic were lumped up ,

together as representing ignorant superstition The .

Science o f the perio d dealing exclusively wit h the

,

pheno mena o f matter with theories that co uld be

s ubstantiated by p hysical experime n t was en

2 38
240 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e a ching
sented by S piritualism the vario us manifestations of
,

N ature s ner forces Operative amongst those still in

physical life have b een steadily securing attention .

Psychic research became by degrees no t merely

, ,

emancip ated fro m t he intolerance i t for me rly e n

co untered but has been gradually established amongst
,

us as almo st a fashionable p ursuit Mesmerism so .

,

ercely o u t e d in the beginning b ecame recognized , ,

in some o f i t s aspects at all events as a curative agent

, ,

in so me conditions o f disease and tho ugh ill under ,

stoo d as yet by those who only know i t under t he

mo dern and misleading designation hypno tism is ,

actually recognized as a system o f treatment by

many ortho dox practitioners And sharing in the .
,

growing changes o f Opinion t he fascination o f fortune

,

telling in all its varieties has proved only t o o attractive

to many enthusiasts o f o u r generation Finally we .

have to recognize that in t he scientic world i tself ,

a few at all events o f t hose most distinguished in

, ,

research and many indeed besi de t hose who have had

,

t he co urage to acknowledge their conviction are ,

conscio us already that t hey are standing o n t he

t hreshol d o f a new scientic disp ensation in which ,

super p hysical laws an d super physical faculties must

- -

be made available by t hose who se destiny it may be to

expo und t he natural p hilosophy o f the future .

Problems connected with t h e e t h e r t he electron and

~

, ,

unseen emanations fro m the Sun credited with the ,

pro duction o f those curious p heno mena known as

magnetic storms are all o f t hem imperatively in need
,

o f illumination o f a kind that can only be derived fro m

super physical investigation The present S ituation

-
.

is full o f pro mise fo r develop ments at no distant ,

future which will involve in the embrace o f recognized

,

science the resources and achievements o f o ccultis m .

That i s the change that has taken place within t h e

last ve and twenty o r t hirty years Beyond t he .
 Th e S u pe r Ph ys i c al Law s o f N a t u r e
-
24 1

inuence o f spiri tualism to which I have already ,

referred what are t he o ther inuences which have

,

bro ught it abo ut

I am no t eager to claim credit in any exclusive
degree or to any predominant extent fo r t he literature
whi ch within t he perio d to which I refer has been
, ,

devo ted to the exposition o f that teaching generally

known as Theosophy but i t wo uld be a ffectation to
,

s uppose that the change has n o t been attrib utable in ,

some measure to the wi de di ff usion of t hat clearly

,

de ned co herent scientic interpret ation o f a vast

, ,

bo dy o f natural law relating to human evolution which

the literature o f Theosophy has p ut at the disposal o f
the cultured world since that system o f teaching wa s
rst formulated in approximate detail Whet her i t .

has been the cause o r the effect o f t he great change i n

mo dern thought which I have been endeavo uring to
trace no o n e who has adequately studied t heosophical
,

teaching will den y that for t he rst time in t he overt

history o f human enlightenment it presents us wit h a
complete t heory o f life ; reaching back to its begin
n i n g s reaching forward to its possibilities an d inci
, ,

dentally foreshado wing the ultimate synt hesis into a

complete science o f super p hysical nature o f all the -
,

miscellaneous p henomena wi th which psychic re

search is concerned Spiri tualism established the
.

re ality of a future life but aimed I venture to think

, , ,

as regards i ts original inspiration at nothing more , .

O ccult research independently o f S piritualism has

, ,

established t he fact that human conscio usness still ,

expressed in incarnation has reso urces at its disposal

,

far transcend in g in their signicance the senses o f the

physical bo dy Theosophy accepting and interpreting
.
,

these conclusions has i ll uminated for o u r benet t h e

, , ,

whole scheme o f human evolution t he laws governi n g ,

S piritual progress the possibilities awaiting man kind

,

in a remo te futu re t he continui ty of life in successive

,

16
24 2 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
manifestations o n this physical plan e o f existence and ,

t he growth o f the so ul under the inuence o f t he

,

experience which those successive manifestations

a ff ord No hurried p hrases o f this nature can ade
.

qu a t e ly convey to minds as yet unfamiliar with t he

,

literature o f Theosophy a complete comprehension o f

,

its s ublime signicance B ut in trut h the teaching

.

itself when properly understoo d enables us t o realize

, ,

that everyone who aspires sooner o r later to realize the

po tentialities o f human progress must absorb t hat ,

teaching into his conscio usness as a necessary prepara

tion for the e fforts he will be called upon to make in ,

connection wi th his ulterior development .

This statement may s eem extravagant but will be ,

readily appreciated by t hos e who have studied wit h ,

any degree o f earnestness t he fundamental principles

,

o f human evolution rendered apparent by t he teaching

o f t he Higher O ccultism Ignoring detail we are able

.
,

to perceive the whole scheme o f human evolution as

divided into two mighty halves during the rs t o f ,

which the forces o f N at ure carry forward the human

Ego to a stage o f development fairly represented by
t he average culture o f o u r o wn time But t he s ubtle .

forces generated by the Ego itself are essential to

ulterior progress during the secon d great half o f the
evo lutionary perio d and thes e canno t be brought into
,

activity witho ut a clear comprehension o f the desi g n

t hey are intended to s ubserve To t he half w ay .
-

period o f the whole j ourney Nat ure brings us wi tho u t

,

claiming any help fro m o urselves ; the next half o f

t he j ourney can only be accomplished by the union
o f o ur o wn enlightened will with the forces which
N ature wi ll s till contribute to assist us in o u r upward
g rowth .

The p hrase I have employed as t he title o f this

essay may no t at once be intelligible but if I had ,

not s hrunk from expanding it to i nconvenient length ,

 244 C o ll ec t e d F ru i t s of O cc u l t T ea c hing
attention I n presence o f attempts sometimes m ade
.

to interpret o r speculate concerning t he origin an d

Divine government of the whole universe I have Often ,

ventured to suggest that i t i s un wise to do more t han

endeavo ur to comprehen d t he origin and p urpose o f
o u r o wn Solar System At the best in reference to
.
,

t hat w e can never hope to do more than o btain

,

fragmentary concep tions and dimly t o picture in t he ,

mind the story o f its origin and the theory of its n a l

perfection B ut in reference to p hysical law we are
.

enab led to perceive t hat the co de which is manifestly

operative in t he Solar System is certainly to so me ,

extent possib ly in its entirety applicable to the

innumerable systems distributed through the i n

n i t u de s o f space I t is certain for example that the
.
, ,

fundamental law o f gravi tation governing all masses ,

o f matter within our V iew is also Operative in distant ,

systems o f a wholly di ff erent o rder where a dual or

multiple system o f Suns can b e distinctly o bserved a s
obedient to the law which governs the mo tion o f o ur
own planets in t heir orbits And beyond this the .

resources o f spectroscopic observation enable us to

i dentify in distant Suns some o f t he varieties under
, ,

which matter manifests i tself to us in o u r laboratori es ,

and to speculate n o t unreasonably on the prob

, ,

ability that t he SO called chemical elements wit h

-

which we are acquainted here are also the materials

o f which distant Solar Systems are constructed an d ,

which most probably are obedient in such systems

, ,

to the same laws o f chemical a ffi nity that we are

enabled to investigate in handling those elements
o n earth The value o f this observation has to do
.
,

o f co urse with t he manner in which i t tends to suggest

,

an otherwise unrecogni zable unity in the whole

cosmos even if i t is hardly protable for us to p ursue
,

t hat i dea much farther But whether we think o f the

.

n at ural laws a ff ecting matter in t heir cosmic o r in their

 Th e S u pe r Ph ysi c al Law s
-
o f N at u re 245

more limited aspect we canno t but be equally driven

,

to the conclusion that the Divine Power which b uilds ,

up denite worlds and systems impresses on t he ,

complex organisms thus created the characteristics

t hey exhibit when t he creation i s accomplished .

Along t he lines o f ordinary astronomical specula

tion as also by the light o f eso teric teaching we
, ,

are enabled to formulate a broad conception o f t he

manner in which t he worlds o f a system like o ur o wn
are built up by the aggregation in t he rst instance
o f relatively homogeneo us matter available thro ugh

o ut S pace Astronomy deals wit h t he development

.

o f Suns and planets fro m neb ulae ; o ccult teaching

,

follows along somewhat the same path tho ugh going ,

back a little earlier in t he story and recognizing the

,

formation o f t he nebul a as t he result o f Divine Wil l

operating o n the innite expanse o f et heric subst ance .

B ut whether we imagi ne t hat by virt ue o f laws per

va ding t he Universe etheric matter when aggregated
,

into physical molecules i s inherently invested wit h t he

po wer o f e n do vvi n g t hose molecules with t he a t t ri
butes we recognize in the chemical elements o r ,

whet her we imagine a Will which by t he rst hypo ,

thesis emanates fro m some cosmic inuence to be

, ,

repro duced by the will o f the Di vine Power to which

o ur system is directly due t he same conclusion
,

e m erges from either hypothesis The attributes .

o f matter ,constituting in their entirety t hat which

we des cribe as the laws o f Nature are t he expression
,

o f Divine Will either conscio usly operating t hro ugh

,

o u t the Universe directly or indirectly p assed on

,

t hro ugh the wi ll o f t he Divine Beings to who m t he

existence of each Solar System is due And apart .

fro m the general force Of reasonable speculation along

t hese lines I have been incidentally assured t hat
,

c lairvoyant Observation o f a high order will conrm

t his conclusion in a curio us and interesting wa y .
24 6 C o ll ec te d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e a c hi n g
To render this suggestion intelligible we must re
member o f co urse t hat wherever we sp eak o f Di vin e
, ,

Will operating in regions o f N at ure within o ur own

p urview we have to understand that i t operates
,

t hro ugh a vast hierarchy o f subordinate agency Such .

agency has o f co urse to be recognized a s asso ciated

, ,

with varieties o f spiritual evolution quite independent

o f the human kingdom ; and in dealing with t hese we ,

are of co urse moving t hro ugh a region of t ho ught

, ,

in which manifestation is o bscure and o bservatio n ,

extremely di fcult B ut none t he less I have known

.
,

it to be asserted by qualied o bservers who m I have

been disposed to trust t hat where important re
,

searches connected wit h some o f t he great laws o f

,

N ature have been in progress beings o f some super

, ,

human order have actually been present watching ,

o r perhaps gui ding t he progress o f human enlighten

ment in connection with t he departments o f N atur e

it is their duty t o preside over I f this be actually .

the case i t serves to emphasize the main i dea wi th

,

which I am at present concerned the direct be aring of ,

conscious will o n t he laws o f matter which at cruder , ,

stages of human tho ught t he science o f the perio d

,

c ontrived to regard a s co mpatible with an atheistic

contemp t for all conceptions relating to a Divine

origin That worship o f matter p er se which charac
.

t e ri ze d a certain variety o f scientic t h o u g h t i n the ,

last century i s no less ludicro usly discredited by the

,

illuminated intelligence represented by the Higher

O ccultism t han t he equally cru de conception o f
,

primitive t heolo gy which while certainly recognizing

,

Divine Power as a factor in the Universe assumed ,

t t o be operative in a way which we now perceive

to be as little in harmony with the truth o f t hin gs as
the grosser materialistic belief The no tion that t he .

Divine Being does no more than pronounce a word ,

in order that natural pheno mena shall be evoked ,

248 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t Te a c hi n g
cause and e ffect is certainly no t yet familiar to
,

ordinary psycho logical speculation B ut to be gin .

,

with all o f us who have been appreciative o f Theo

,

S ophical teaching o n t he comprehensive s cale will b e ,

'

familiar wit h t he i dea t hat what is known as t he la w

of Karma is a l aw operative o n the moral plan e as
, ,

denitely a s the law o f gravitation contro ls t he region

o f physical ma n ifestation B ut that law is general ly
.

t ho ught o f as a vague expression o f Di vine Will ;

and even wi th such Opportunity as may be furnis hed
by familiarity in some cases wit h the evolution o f
, ,

specic Egos through a long series o f lives t hough i t ,

is exceeding di fficult to recognize i t as working with

the regularity so plainly observable when we are
dealing wi th t he laws o f physical N at ure n ev ert h e ,

less we do bro adly recognize t he i dea that conduct

,

in life o f a specic o rder is pro ductive o f de nite

consequences follo wing an inevitable rule and no t
, ,

subj ect in each case to specic j udgments resembling

those o f a human a utocrat None the l ess however .
, ,

when we think o f Karma goo d o r bad as operative to

, ,

pro duce agreeable or painful conditions in t he life o r

lives follo wing any action in question it is di fficult ,

to get o u t o f t he habit o f t hinking t hat t he E go

concerned has somehow been the s ubj ect o f a j udg
ment The p hy si ca l laws o f N ature seem so funda
.

mentally welded wit h matter that i t is only wit h

a mental e ff ort we can comprehen d t hem as in truth
the expression o f a conscio us wi ll emanating fro m o r ,

reected from conscio us wi ll on some level o f Divine

,

existence O n the o ther hand the moral aspects o f

.
,

con duct the rightness o r wrongness o f specic action

, ,

s uggest instinctively the i dea t hat their conformity o r ,

non conformity with the intentions o f G o d is the ex

-
, ,

planation o f their rightness or their wrongness In .

this case a mental e ff ort is required to establish the

conception that that Divine Will is so marvel lously
 Th e S u pe r Ph ysi c al La ws
-
of N a tu re 249

penetrating and precise in its operation that it canno t

any longer be tho ught of as due so t o speak to , ,

capricio us spasms o f admiration or disapproval b ut is ,

as uniform in its operation as the law o f gravitation

as complex in its character as the laws o f chemical .

a ffi nity I t is Law enacted once for all and applicable

.
,

to all conceivable varieties o f circumstances .

The conception wi th which we are thus inevitably

faced by a profo und stu dy o f the who le subj ect is ,

that the whole scheme o f morals in t he broadest ,

acceptation o f that term is governed by a bo dy o f ,

la w as comprehensive as t he law o f gravitation as ,

det ailed as those which are studied in chemi cal

laboratories where t he will o f Go d in reference to
, ,

mat ter is investigated by experiment and even

,

guided by the free will o f man towards purposes we

, ,

m a y desire to subserve And j ust a s t he p hysical

.

law is Operative not merely with great masses o f

,

m atter but with m i crO SOO p i c morsels o r even with

, ,

ultra m i cro sc0 p i c particles so the moral law can

-
,

pe netrate t he smallest crevices o f our moral nature ,

dealing as appropriately wit h t he pettiest short

comings wi th t he feeblest aspirations upward as
, ,

wi th the grandest achievements o f p hilanthropy o r

t he fo ulest varieties o f crime .

I t must be allowed t hat we canno t easily escape

fro m O l d habits o f t hought no r give up t he trick o f ,

thinking o f any pecu liar faculty we may possess as

a gift o f N at ure of any s u ff ering we may be called
'
,

upon to endure as a chastisement inicted by a

Divine Master for o ur goo d We retain in many .
,

c as es even t he habit of regarding o u r daily bread

,

as something which is given to us this day and ,

for which it is decent on o u r part to r etur n thank s

, . , ,

a s we sit down to table Such habits of tho ught are

.

pretty and har m less in their place fo r people who ,

do no t care to penetrate with Open eyes into the , ,

2 50 C oll ec t e d F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e a c hing
mysteries o f life who are content with t he simpli cities
,

o f a reverent attitu de and unconscio usly content t o

wait till a later Opportunity fo r realizing that nothing

can excite a more profoundly reverential attitude o f
min d t han a clear visio n reaching in or up to t he , , ,

actual truth o f things B ut the O ccult st udent need

.

no t be the S lave o f any tradition however useful it may ,

have been in i ts time an d if t he i dea I am endeavo ur

,

ing to s uggest is rightly apprehen ded i t can never ,

present i tself to any mind as at war with the rever

e n t i a l spirit. O n the contrary i t is calculated to ,

enhance o ur reverence for t he Divine Power above ,

when we realize that the wis do m that guides its

exercise is sufciently profo und extensive an d pene , ,

t ra t i n g to formulate laws which deal wi th all the

varieties o f moral condi tion to which t he free wi ll of
mankind an essential factor in spiritual evolution
, ,

can possibly give rise .

N or when the almost innit e reso urces o f free will

wi thin t he domain o f law are recognized will the ,

recognition o f an all pervading system o f moral law

-

b e in any way confusion to the mind At the present

, , .

stage o f average h uman development that element o f ,

free will within human nat ure is hardly illuminated

with s u ffi cient kno wledge to render it capable so to ,

speak o f steering a chosen pat h thro ugh the co m

,

p l e x i t i e s o f the law But t he law i tself pro vi des

.
, ,

compensation fo r the embarrassments o f ignorance

while ignorance prevails at the same time t hat it pro
,

vi des Opportunity for the exercise o f free will when ,

at a later stage more enlightened knowledge S hall

gui de its exercise Nor even need we cast aside t he
.

early anthropomorphic conception o f Divinity which

appealed to the saintship of a more primitive age an d ,

respon ded to t he spiritual thirst o f humani ty fo r a

Divine o bj ect o f worship su ffi ciently like ourselves to
,

excite a doration an d love We who are at present .

, ,
 TH E H I GH E R O CC ULTI SM
TH E instruction given in ancient Greece t o those
w ho took part in the meetings a t Eleusis celeb rated

in history as t he Eleusinian Mysteries related as

,

we have abundant reason to believe to s uper p hysical

,
-

knowledge concerning the higher planes of Nature ,

o f the kind that has been freely promulgated amongs t

us in recent years Such knowledge is t hat wi th which

.

we are engaged in o ur study o f t he Higher O ccultism .

The eager pursuit o f super p hysical knowledge h as

-

been a leading characteristi c of civilized intelligence

for the las t fty years within which time multitudes
,

have com e to kno w that co mmunication between this

plane o f life and that to which humanity passes after
t he death o f the bo dy is possible B ut t he great
.

movement having a wider scope t han that which

,

important as i ts inuence has been is narrowed to ,

the consideration o f experiences immediately followi ng

t he physical l i fe the stu dy o f t he Higher O ccultism
h -

with which we are now concerned o riginated wi th ,

t he Theoso phi cal Society the branch es of which

,

S pread no w over the whole worl d This Society .

was at all events as regards t his co untry t he

, ,

channel t hro ugh which recent enlighten m ent has been

poured and thus i t becomes necessary to glance back
,

o ver t he history o f the current movement in order to

appreciate the i mportance of t he work i t has been
privi leged to accomplish as also in order to appreciate
,

t he dignity o f the task which lies before i t An d .

t o do t his e ffectually i t is necessary to loo k back even

farther tha n to those earlier beginnings o f mo dern
2 53
 C o ll ec te d F r u i t s of O cc u l t T ea c hing
2 54
civilization when the knowledge that we have been
enabled to handle so freely was already in the p o s
session o f a few b ut guarded for these few in accord
, ,

ance with what was then held to be an imperative

necessity by secrecy o f t he most rigid order
,
.

At a perio d long anterior to t he establishment o f

t he Eleusinian Mysteries similar teaching was ,

undoubtedly conveyed to stu dents o f O ccultism

attached to Egyptian temples and what w e kno w ,

now enables us to realize that t here never has been a

time in the history o f mankind during which t he
evo lving race was left entirely witho ut gui dance fro m
t hose by who m t he great laws governing the whole
evo lution were correctly understoo d I n the child .

hoo d o f t he race indeed as we are now in a position

, ,

to apprehen d so clearly such knowledge was onl y ,

possessed by representatives o f a more advanced

evolution trusted under Divine Pro vidence wit h the
, , ,

regulation o f t he who le undertaking with t he nurture

and education o f t he n ew race o f which t hey were in

charge B ut gradually a s the more a dvanced rep re
.
,

se n t a t i v e s o f this race attained something resembling

maturity o f intelligence a few amongst them qualied

, ,

by exceptionally rapi d advancement were privileged ,

to share in t he wisdo m o f their precep tors I n t his .

way wi tho ut having any detailed knowledge o f t he

,

manner in which t he progress was acco mplished ,

we can appreciate witho ut t he least s hadow o f u n

,

certainty the way i n which the initiated adep ts o f o ur

,

own human family rst became organi z ed as a distinct

asso ciation qualied by degrees to assume t he re
,

sp o n si b i l i t i e s originally belonging to t he representa

t i v e s o f the superior race whose contact with humanity

is dimly suggested in history by vague traditions o f
Divine Kings B ut for many millenniums t he Adepts
.

o f o u r hu m anity held i t to be premature to s hare their

wisdo m wit h t he indiscri minate multit ude The .
must have been intensely interesting that i t invested ,

the possessor with powers o f a ki nd unfamiliar to

ordinary life that it was so mething so desirable in
,

itself that no personal sacrices were allowed to stan d

in t he way o f those who aspired to it that no perils ,

daunted them that no t emptations o f a worldly nature

,

co uld turn them asi de from its p urs uit All s uch con .

c ep t i o n s were perfectly so und as far as they went ,

but they failed entirely to interpret t he great pri

mary motive that inspired those who pursued occult
knowledge with a correct appreciation o f all that its
acquisition signied I t is true that the Adept and
.
,

i n a lesser degree tho se who are advancing along the

,

p ath leading to a deptship acquire knowledge o f

,

transcendent interest and powers the dignity o f

,

which cannot easily be exaggerated But these .

rewards are no t t hose which the enlightened aspirant

for adeptship is seeking in his long and laborio us
e fforts to make progress in t hat direction That .

which he soon learns to realize if morally cap able,

of continuo us a dvance along the p ath he has chosen ,

is s uggested by the S imple truth t hat the path lea ding

to adep tship is the condensed epito me o f the whole
design which Di vine Wisdo m h as sketched o ut on
an enormo us scale for the ultimate progress o f all
humanity The supreme achievements o f adeptship
.

establish those who attain i t o n t he moral intel ,

lectual an d spiritual level which represents the

, .

culmination o f all t hat is possible fo r the human race

as such O ccult Science is so concatenated altogether
.

in its vast entirety t hat these great truths can only be

,

fully grasped by those who have completely assimi

lated the teaching now available fo r all o f us who care
to prot by it concerning the whole design in which
,

t he human race i s invo lved B ut all who have

.

proted e ffectually by t he li terature o f mo dern

O ccultism will be in a position to appreciate the
 Th e H igh e r O cc u l t i sm 2 57

force o f wh a t I have j ust said an d even those who as

,

yet are merely appro aching the grea t study under ,

the inuence o f that symp athetic feeling for i t now

so wi dely di ff used will no do ubt be able to catch the
,

S ignicance o f the fundamental truth I have en

dea vo u re d to express an d will thus be ready t o
,

perceive the manner in which the study o f t he con

di t i o n s leading up towards adeptship casts a oo d
o f light upon the future progress o f the human race ;

whi le conversely t he study o f the teaching we have

,

been privileged to receive concerning the future

destinies o f the race will inves t progres s towards
,

adep tship wi th a dignity far greater than that assigned

to i t at an earlier perio d o f t ho ught by o bservers ,

who merely supposed that i t was aimed at for the

sake of its knowledge and its power .

Reverting now to the co urse o f events we have to ,

begin by contemplating the attitude o f the advanced

occultist towards the world at l arge at a perio d ,

anterior to the recent o utburst o f sp ecic teaching .

O f co urse it was o bvio us to those already on adept

l e v el s a t any perio d o f the pas t to which we may
,
.

look back that sooner o r later t he knowledge they so

,

j ealously guarded wo uld have to be disseminated

broadcast t hro ugho ut t he world But their know
.

ledge also enabled them to perceive that the whole

stupendous scheme o f human evolution was suscept
ible o f division into two great halves I t h a s been .

the task o f mo dern interpreters o f O ccultism to

describe the characteristics o f these two great phases
o f evolution in considerable detail and we know that
,

thro ugho ut the rst half of the process frequently

described as the downward arc o f evolution the

Divine purpose was gradually fullled by the di ff eren

t i at i o n of the di ff used S piritual energy animating the
undertaking into specic centres o f conscio usness
, ,

these constituting whe n developed human Ego s

, , ,

I7
258 C oll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hing
qualied to accumulate experience through a long
co urse o f successive incarnations and gradually , .

to arrive in t hat way at the mi dway station o f t he

, ,

whole great j o urney with no o ther d uty so to speak

, , ,

up to t hat time than those relating to t heir o wn

,

individualization to t heir a cquisition of strengt h and

,

capacity as separated entities each conscio us o f its

o wn interests . Looking back indeed to earlier races
o f mankind anterior even to that mighty Atlantean
race immediately preceding o ur own we may realize , ,

almost with s urprise fro m o u r present point o f view

, ,

that t he mo st s ublime virt ue we now are qualied to

admire and so me o f us perhaps in some degree

, ,

qualied to aspire to the virtue o f u n se l sh n ess did

,

no t even dawn as a conception on t he human mind

in the beginning .

O n t he contrary t here was a stage during the

, ,

progress o f humanity along t he downward arc when ,

sel s hness was the law o f progress o f s uch progress

as was t hen desired in accordance wit h the Divine

purp o se B ut fro m the midway stage o f human
.

evolution o nwards new conceptions o f right an d

,

wrong became possible O f co urse t he midway stage.

was no t reached by t he whole human race Si m u l t a

n e o u sl y
, b ut a considerable number o f millions may
have been standing fairly in t he front by the time the ,

Atlantean race had lived t hro ugh half the perio d o f

the life assigned to it An d fro m that perio d onward
.
,

i t became t heoretically possible for t ho se members o f

the human family who had mo st co mpletely fullled
t he programme o f N at ure up to t hat time to appreciate
the lo ftier p urposes o f the further evolution awaiting
t hem during the second half o f t he great e vo l u
t i o n ary process
d uring the up w ard are leading
towards Divine perfection .

We do no t know with precision h o w soon i t became

'

t heoreticall y p o ssible for the m ost advanced members

 certain stage of human progress specic kn o wl edg
o f s p iritual science may w itho ut o ff endin g against t h
,

dignity of religion b e super added to i t And wh e

,
-
.

w e know now is that for so me centuries adep t observe" ,

o f human growth in this fth race o f o urs the rs

beyon d the Atlantean o n t he upward arc o f e vo l u t i o

have been o n the watch for indications which m a
S how t hat an adequate number o f those left h i t h ert
to the S impler inuence and gui dance o f religio n
t hought might become qualied for the reception i
,

its entirety or at all events in consi derable m e asuri

, ,

o f t hat spiritual science from which religion in t h ,

rst instance had its rise ,

.

We can see now looking back 1 0 0 2 0 0 o r even 30

, , ,

years that some experiments were made by the a dep

,

experts of this science to ascertain whether a mo n gs

,

ordinary humanity people were rip e for h i gh e

teaching in a suffi cient degree to j ustify its p ubl i
dissemination To trace the details o f these e :
.

p e ri m e n t s wo uld be a considerable task by i t se l

which indeed some o f us have attempted to carr
o ut by stu dying the life histories o f dist i n g u i sh e
o ccultists t hrougho ut the Mi ddle Ages B ut passin .

over that for the moment we have to re co gn i z

, ,

that until o ur own time s uch experiments were hel

to be unsuccessful and so we co m e at last alon
,

t he train o f tho ught I have been follo wing to a

intelligent comprehension o f t he circu m stances t h e

prompted the recent o utburst o f teachin g fro m a dep
so urces That teaching embo died in t he earlie s
.

Theo sop hical books was itself exp erimental in i f

i nception b ut unlike previous attempts o f a simil a
,

character was crowned with success Su ffi ci er

, .

n umbers o f p eople in t he m o dern world o r leaving 0 1

o f account whatever has been done in the EaSt I m a ,

fairly say in t his mo dern Europ ean world o f o urs

have shown t hemselves entitled by the readiness ,
 T h e H igh e r O c c u l t i sm 26 1

t heir appreciation to receive o ccult teaching in such

,

abundant volume that we stand n ew in a position in

, ,

t hat respect o f intellectual advancement far exceeding

, ,

t he corresponding position reached by t hose who as a ,

pri vilege indivi dually earned and guarded by vo ws

o f secrec y
, were taught so met hing o f t he Higher
O ccultism w hen t he Mysteries were celebrated at
Eleusis.
 TH E O B J ECTS O F TH E TH E O S O PH I CAL
S O CI ETY
I .

T HE O S O P H I C A L B R O T HE R H O O D
F R O M time to time we may usefully revi ew the grad u
ally improving conceptions we have been enabled to
form concerning the grand p urposes underlying t he
Theosop hical Movement The phrases in which .

these were ultimately crystalli z ed do no t ( though t his

matters little ) reect the i deas present to the minds
o f those who in 1 8 7 5 did actually in a certain sense
, , , ,

fo und the Society At that time i t was t he .

result o f interest excited among a small group o f

p ersons frequenting Madame Bl ava t sky s rooms in

N ew York by t he exhibition o f her wonderful O ccult

,

powers As Colonel O lco tt explains in his Di a ry

.

Lea ves a lecture was given in September 1 8 7 5 at , ,

Madame Bl a v a t sky S rooms by a certain Mr Felt o f

.
,

whom we lo se sight afterwards o n t he Adep t Magi c ,

o f Egyp tian priests Colonel O lco tt then suggested

.

the formation o f a Society to study this subj ect .

That was done and tho ugh the title Theosophical

,

was adopted ( doubtless under occult guidance ) ,

Co lonel O lco tt at one time proposed to call i t a

Miracle Club .

The word Bro therhoo d do es n o t creep into i ts

records till some years later I t was rst used by .

Mr C C Massey and his friends in London when t hey

. . .

formed a British branch o f the N ew York Society .

They described i t s purpose as being to discover

the nature an d powers o f t he human so ul and ,

they went o n to declare that they believed in a

2 62
2 64 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e ac hi n g
Opinions to di scu ssmn s o f t he suffrage question for ,

example An d that tho ught is a clue to the fallacy

.

involved in regarding theosophical bro therhoo d as

leading to political so cialism Theo sophical teaching .

concerning human evolution shows us t he human

family at present at very di fferent stages o f develop
m ent I t rescues us from t he o ld fashioned blunder
.
-

arising fro m t he ignorant delusion that each new

child is a new creation to t he e ffect that all have

equal rights According to a phrase classical in

.

po litical writing all are equally entitled to
,
life ,

liberty and t he pursuit o f happiness
,
but with ,

very varied claims o n the privilege o f shaping

laws pro viding for t he fullment o f t hat fundamental
idea .

Thus to let the formula in which t he o bj ects o f

,

t he Theosophical So ciety are generally expressed distort

t he p urpose o f t he movement t o suit t he p urpose o f
any mundane t heory o f so cial reform is a very grievo us
blunder Fro m t he beginning all qualied exponents
.

o f the Th eosophical Movement have warned us to keep

clear o f all po litical contamination The Society may .

include persons o f very varied political opinions but ,

within the So ciety t heir only duty is to stu dy an d

pro mo te t he study o f t he sup er p hysi cal spiritual -

science gradually unfo lded fo r o ur benet and t hro ugh

us for the benet o f all mankind The fullment o f .

that d uty sho uld be compatible with p erfect harmony

o f feeling wi thin the So ciety where it i s needless ,

and undesirable to discuss varied beliefs as to how

t he physical welfare o f t he community may be best
promo ted We sho uld n o t l fu rn i sh unsympathetic

critics o f o u r real work wi th an excuse fo r pretending

_

to regard us as a bo dy o f people entangled wit h

questionable schemes fo r sub v ersive changes o n t he
physi cal plane .
Th e O bje c ts of t h e Th eo sophi c al S o c i e ty 2 65

2 .
-
TH E ST UD Y OF C O MP A R A T I VE R E L I G I O N S
By t hose who concern t hemselves with it this ,

second o bj ect is liable to be misunderstoo d By .

a larger number it is disregarded I t has a very .

denite p urpose really Briey stated t hat is to

.
, ,

bring o ut by such study the fact that at t he basis o f

all religio ns worth talking o f there are certain funda
mental ideas more or less vaguely hinted at which
, ,

are clearly set fo rt h in Theosophical teaching Theo .

S ophical writers have sometimes too emphatically

e mphasized t he idea t hat Theosophy is no t a religion .

O f co urse i t is no t in the sense that it has no hard

,

an d fast creed o f t he kind that m ost religions adop t .

B ut no one who really understands Theosophical

teaching is in need o f any o t her religion A rea l .

co mprehension o f the Divine Hierarchy and o f the laws ,

governing human evolution covers the whole area o f ,

tho ught and emotio n which any religio n at its best

can cover ( besides co vering a goo d deal more ) No t .

on that acco unt will any true Theosop hist repudiate

any religion with which by race o r nationality he m ay
be traditionally connect ed H ere we have a very .

pretty subtlety to consider I f any T h eosophis t .

i dentied by race resi dence and habits o f tho ught

, ,

wi th this co untry is asked t he question Are yo u a

,

Christian what S ho uld he answer To say No

( because in his inner conscio usness he felt t hat o ccult
wis do m superseded all religions having a denit e
name ) wo uld be misleading and in bad taste My .

a nswer in such a case wo uld be Certainly ; o f ,

co urse I am I might go on to exp lain that I had
.

no sympathy with t he cari cature o f Christianity pro

vi de d for us by most o f the E uropean Churches bu t ,

that wo uld only b e possible if the conversation were

pro tracted .

The idea to enforce is that any o n e who takes,

2 66 C oll ec t e d F ru i ts of O cc u l t T e a c hing
up any particular religion and makes a close study
of that embellishing i t s crudities as far as he can
,

by t he results o f his o wn t hinking is no t doing ,

anything which resembles t he fullment o f the second

obj ect o f the Society O n the contrary he is pressing
.
,

against it The more he succeeds in recommending

.

to respect and att ention any particular religion in

preference to o thers t he more he i s tending to defeat
,

t he second obj ect o f the So ciety the grand under ,

lying p urpose o f which veiled rat her than fully

.

expressed by t he formal enumeration o f o bj ects is

to convey to the large numbers o f people now t to

receive i t the magnicent volume o f knowledge con
,

cerning spiritual trut h hitherto in the exclusive

possession o f t he Elder Brethren o f humani ty .

This could no t have been done at a much earlier

perio d Clumsy religions brutal bigotry atheism
.
, ,

( the result o f disgust developed among t he most

intelligent by the stupi dity o f priests and clergy ) ,

all stoo d in the way But the exp eriment was made
.

in these latter years and has been j ustied by partial

,

success Multitudes all over the world do appreciate

.

t he gift of o ccult knowledge O f co urse besides these

.
, ,

many rush in witho ut understanding the real p urpose

o f the movement caught by some phrase associated
,

with i t into which t hey read their o wn prepossessions

, .

They may impede the progress o f the great work for a

time but there are forces behin d this that must
,

prevail in the end Far beyond the limit s o f t he

.

Society t he fascination of occult teaching is spreading

thro ugh the cultured classes To that growth we must .

look forward with condent h Op e even if we o r , ,

some of us get a little out o f patience with mistaken

,

i deas permeating the Society at this early stage of its

existence The Theosophical Movement is much
.

bigger t han the Theosophical Soci ety which must ,

undergo great purication if i t is in fut ure years , ,

2 68 C o ll e c t e d F ru i t s of O c c u l t T e a c hing
laten t in each o f u s That in m ost cases wo uld prov e
.
, ,

an extremely unsatisfying or disappointing p ursui t .

Most p eop le of this age and race have co me into t h e

present life wi tho ut the potentiality o f such develop
ment in themselves As wi th every o ther attribut e.

we possess t he po tentiality o f psychic percep tion can

only exist as the pro duct o f so me effort made in a
former life Many Theosophists accept en bloc t h e
.

t heo ry o f Karma and at once pro ceed t o ignore i t

,

when they think o f t hemselves They are too o ften .

enco uraged to do t his by people endowed with psychi c

faculties who n d these so nat ural and easily used
t hat t hey cannot help thinking t hat anyone might
acquire t hem by working fo r t hat end with su ffi cient
earnestness o f p urpose Volumes ( reckoning such .

writing in the aggregate ) have been written to assure

candidates fo r psychic development that if they will
only lead t he life b e ascetics in t he matter o f foo d

,

drink etc etc t hey will b e able to verify Theosop hica l

, .
, .

teaching for themselves O ne might j ust as well tell .

a weak undersized boy t hat by eating underdone

,

beefsteaks and using t he dumbbells he wo uld make

himself able to go into the ring and beat a prize
gh t er The boy s Karma has no t endowed him

.

wi t h an athleti c bo dy and he must be content to use ,

i t for p ursuits i t is a dapted to deal with

O f co urse i t is true t hat t here are cases in which
partially endowed persons may greatly stimulate
their latent faculties I t is only a question o f thei r
.

Karmic condition There are all degrees o f t his con

.

dition to consider At o n e end o f the scale we have

.

people who are naturally psychic fro m childho od

onwards and who if they take pains develop int o
, , ,

great clairvoyants and seers in mat ure life At t he .

o ther en d o f the scale we have those who however ,

gifted intellectually morally and physically have no

, , ,

glimmering o f psychic faculty and co uld n o t develop

Th e O bje c t s o f th e Th e o sop hi c al S o c i e ty 2 69

that even if they made t he s truggle to do so the

p assion of a lifetime and ruined their health by
asceticism Between t hose two extremes there are
.

all vari eties o f condition and in so me of these appro ,

p ri a t e e ff ort may give rise to results I will only .

a dd as a personal conviction that in no cases wi ll

, ,

the results ensue from fanatical rules abo ut eating

and drinking The nest clairvoyants and psychics
.

I have known and I have been privileged to know

'

a goo d many are people who laugh at all such rules

an d eat whatever t hey nd by experience keeps

t hem in t he best health I am assured o n high .

a uthori ty that that is the only so und rule to work

with O ur bo dies are the instruments we have to make
.

use o f in this life and what ever work we have to do

, ,

we can do i t bes t by keeping the instrument in goo d

o rder . I t s ho uld go witho ut saying that no one
worth talking abo ut makes pleasure t he test of
what is best for him to eat or drink .

But if i t is useless fo r most people even to think

o f cultivating latent faculties in themselves how ,

do es the t hird obj ect affect t hem I n an extremely

important way I The world at large knows nothing
o f the conditions that have been reached by some

members o f the human family that may be reached

eventually by all in some future life and the work

which Theosop hists are privileged to carry on is the

dissemination of the knowledge o n this s ubj ect
which they if they avail t hemselves o f t he Op p or
,

t u n i t i e s for study which t he Theosophical Movement

has provi ded are in a position to promote The laws
, .

governing the gradual development o f latent faculties

in the human fa m ily to which we belong constitute
a mighty science I have said that we canno t all make
.

o urselves clairvoyant but we can all if we take , ,

a d v antage o f o ur Opportunities become procient ,

theoretically in that science ; able to help on m ulti

2
7 0 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a ching
tudes o f o thers so far less privileged than o urselves .

An d t hat i s certainly o ne way I lean to think it i s

the only way i n which people who in t he curren t

life are beginning to be anxio us abo ut their lat ent

faculties can really provi de for their growth .

Amplifying the above generalities t he rst thin g ,

the true Theosophist has go t to do is to understan d

the goal to b e aimed a t i n o ther words the place
,

in N at ure t he condition and powers and functions

,

o f t hose who m we speak o f now as Masters o f

the White Lo dge I do no t much like the p hrase
.
,

but i t will serve for t he mo ment I n t he earl y days .

of t he m ovement we were all led to say to p eople

thinking o f j oining t he So ciety : I t do es no t matter
whether yo u believe in the Adep t Bro therhoo d o r
no t . And it did no t matter then We felt t hat .

m embership in t he Society wo ul d s urely lead t hem

sooner or later to acquire t his essential belief I f i t .

does no t they might really employ t heir energies

,

elsewhere to better advantage DO my readers .

realize I wonder how it came to pas s that Eso teric

, ,

Buddhism sent a t hrill t hro ugh t he world on i ts
rst appearance ?
That was no t merely or chiey
because t he sketch i t gave o f o ccult science m et an
intellectual need but because it made people t hink
,

o f t he Great Adepts and that gave them a chance o f

,

driving ho me a return current o f t ho ught They .

canno t begin s uch interco urse The rst appeal must .

co me fro m t he aspiring human Ego B ut once that .

aspiration i s kindled any results may ensue , .

Now o f co urse tho se who prot by later theo

, ,

S op hical literature may learn much more abo ut the

Masters t han t hey could gather fro m the rst book .

That like every o ther theosop hical boo k I have ever

,

looked at is replete with i mperfection for we who

, ,

endeavo ur to interpret t he rudiments o f o ccult

s cience are working o n t he t hreshold o f innity .
 TH E B O RD E RLAN D O F SCI EN CE
A ST R O N O MY, O V ER T AN D O C C U LT

1
N E B U L "E
AN intelligent survey o f o u r present knowledge
and theories concerning nebul a seems to have been
given lately to an American astrono mical so ciety
by a Mr Vincent Francis and I nd it reprinted in
.
,

P op u l ar A stron omy The paper i s illustrated by

.

a ne p ho tograp h o f the S piral nebula in Co m a

Berenices which happens to S how very clearly _a
,

condition o f nebular growth t hat I have insisted upon

before now and which is entirely supported by the
,

writer I am quo ting Y o u can se e in t he p hotograp h

.

how the central su n is condensing rs t before the

spirals break up into planets The contrary View .

was the defect o f the grand o riginal Laplace discovery .

Laplace conceived the neb ula to condens e gra dually

from t he o utsi de ; rings being formed the o utermo st ,

rst the central su n being left to the last By degrees

, .

i t was perceived that this wo ul d be a very u n nature -

like process I t was p utting the cart before the horse

.
,

o r the child before the p arent Mr Francis more. .

properly talks o f the parent su n in discussing

nebular growth .

This whole department of astrono my has onl y

been evolved since the develop ment o f the telescop e .

O ne m ay almo st say since the H uggins discovery

,

that some nebul a give a p urely gaseous spectrum ,

making i t certain that they were no t star clusters .

Since then w e have go t on rapidly I t was found .

,

2 72
 Th e B o r d e r lan d o f S ci e n c e 2
73
indeed that so me nebul a certai nly n o t resolvable
, ,

into clusters gave continuo us spectra So me co n

, .

sisted o f glo wing gas and so me of solid particles .

Then i t became apparent that mos t probably all

nebul a were spiral in their shap e and we appro ached ,

the conception that central suns were formed before

the planets Then ( again wi th the help o f Sir William
.

H uggins ) we go t at a mean s of ascertaining the mo tion

o f nebul a in the line of sight I t is an o ld story now
.
,

but fascinating as ever The dark lines in the S pectra

.

o f stars are sometimes displaced a little as compared

wit h those o f similar bo dies in the laboratory I f .

they are displaced towards the red end o f t he spectrum ,

that means that the star is rece ding from us I f t hey .

are displaced toward s the violet end that means ,

that t he star is approaching us The light waves are .

,

in fact in t he o n e case crushe d together in the o t her

, ,

drawn o u t Recent work wit h this metho d at t he

.

Lowell o bservatory has shown that t he great Andro

meda nebula is approaching us at the rate o f 30 0
kilometres per second an d other neb ul a show still
,

higher velo cities But they are so far o ff hopelessly

.
,

beyond the reach o f parallax almost too far for guess ,

work that some astronomers incline to think them

,

o utside o u r Universe altogether an unacceptable ,

guess in my humble j udgment The great nebula in .

O rion is o f co urse t he biggest I t covers a region o f

, , .

space no t less t han one which l ig h t i wo u ld only cro ss

i n forty years B ut we canno t suggest a maximum
.

limit o f its magnitude because we have no no tion how

,

far o ff i t is When we call it the nebula i n O rion we

.
,

merely mean that we can se e i t if we loo k in the

direction of O rion H o w far i t may be behind t h e
.

stars of t hat gro up is wholly uncertain .

How do we se e i t I s i t self lumino u s There -

is reason to assume t hat the matter o f which i t co n

sists is rarer than the rarest v acuum we can create
18
2
74 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O c c u l t T e a c h i ng
here by instrumental means How can such a t t en u .

ated matter emit light That is one o f the p u z zles

we have s till to deal wit h in connection wi th t his
subj ect B ut meanwhile i t seems pretty clear t hat
.

t here are so me nebul a that do no t shine dark neb ul a ,

t hat play so me mysterio us part in t he vast economy

o f N ature .The nebulo us matter t hat almost su r
ro unds the Pleiades is assumed to be dark in t he
sense o f n o t being self lumino us because i t s spectrum
-
,

is i dentical with that o f the stars to which it belongs ,

i di ca t i n g t hat i t shines with reected light Then .

t he behavio ur o f Nova Pe rsei t he star which s uddenly ,

blazed o u t in the constellation Perseus in 1 90 1 su g ,

ges ted the existence in that connection o f a vast

dark nebula I t lighted up a region o f t he sky t he
.
,

magnit ude o f which forbade the i dea that t here had

been any transmission of matter across that space The .

pheno menon co uld only b e due to the velocity o f light .

The p aper before me makes favo urable mention

of the p l a n et esm al t heory t hat has been m uch ,

discussed o f late i n sci entic revi ews bracketin g i t ,

with the t heory that neb ul a t hat S how p l an e t esm al

kno ts or nuclei have originated from t he collision o f
worn o ut suns Po ssibly 1 There is reason to suppose
-
.

that such collisions are among Nature s metho ds in

St arting a new nebula but it is j ust as easy to assign

,

p l a n e t e sm al kno ts to t he aggregation of matter w i thin

the spirals o f a nebula after it has been started in
business by some o ther devic e the condensation o f

et heric matt er fro m innite space for example ,

.

O ne word more while o n this subj ect concerning

a theory that some astrono mers have favoured to the
e ff ect that nebul a in some cases at all events may

, ,

be so remo te that t hey constitute Universes o utside

o u r o wn altogether O ur .Univers e on that ,

hypo thesis is t he whole stellar system embraced by

,

t he Milky Way and S haped in the aggregate like a

, , ,
 2
7 6 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t Te ac h i n g
in the last n umber concerning the well kn own and
,
-

beautiful globular cluster in H ercules This is one .

of the most wonderful o bj ects in the heavens when

seen thro ugh a ne telescope I t consists o f t ho usands .

of suns aggregated together in dense mass so that the ,

light o f all t hose S i tuated towards the middle is

blended in one mighty glow only t hose towards the ,

perip hery o f t he stupen do us assemblage being dis

c e rn i b l e as separat e points o f light Now i t appears .

t hat o n e astrono mer Mr Harlo w Shapley o f t he

,
.
,

Mo unt Wilson Solar O bservatory has arrived at the ,

conclusion b y what pro cess o f reasoning we are no t

told that the cluster is distant fro m us to an extent

that wo uld make i ts parallax ( if it had one ) o 0 0 0 1 '
.

I ts distance fro m u s therefore wo uld be

, light ,

years and i ts diameter

,
light years According .

to this calculation says P opu lar Astron omy

, the ,

cluster i s t hus ano ther sidereal universe external to

o u r own O f co urse so me astrono mers have always
.

been inclined to think that some o f the nebul a

are in thi s way o ther universes a V iew I have always

been disinclined to adop t Mr Pickering I se e who . .

, ,

contributes to t he magazine j ust quo ted an article

on t he sixty nest o bj ects in t he sky merely ,

mentions t he cluster in H ercules as a very ne o bj ect ,

an d do es no t discuss Mr Shapley s calculation But

.

.

he treats the fact t hat most o f the cl usters lie wi thin

5 to 30 degrees of t he Galactic equator as adverse
to t he t heory t hat they are o bj ects lying beyond the

Galaxy , alt hough s uch may nevertheless be the

c a se

N ow t he line of t ho ught t hat seems to me more

denitely adverse to t he t heory has to do with i n
n i t u de s of vario us unthinkable orders taken in con ,

j unction wit h i deas suggested by t he V isible facts o f

o u r o wn Universe By t hat last p hrase I mean all
.

t he mi llions o f V isi ble stars embraced b y the Milky

 Th e B o r d e r lan d of Sc i en ce 2
77
Way The actual diameter o f the space included by
.

that wonderful girdle is a matter o f conjecture bu t ,

ro ughly the Milky Way is o ften spoken o f as probably

abo ut light years away fro m us in either
direction assuming t hat we are somewhere near the
,

centre o f t he who le system there o r thereabo uts , .

Now planetary distribution within t he Solar System

S hows us o uter planets se t at ever increasing dis
tances fro m t he central Sun We have no t yet worked .

o u t any map showing the distrib ution o f Solar Systems

in t he Universe but the o l d H ermetic philosophers

,

had a favo urite saying As below so above It

, ,
.

is ap p licable to many o bserved facts o f N ature and if ,

we start with t he assumption that in t he i n n i t i es

o f space there may o r must b e o ther universes t he ,

pro bability wo uld be that t hey are dispersed in space

o n principles re sembling the dispersal o f planets within

t he Solar System The nearest planet to the Sun is

.

many times as distant as the Sun s diameter The

.

nearest external universe t o us o ught o n t he same

principle to be many times t he distance o f o u r Uni
verse s diameter and that as I have sai d above is

, , ,

guessed at abo ut light years so t he nearest ,

external universe o ught to be much more t han t hat

distance away I t so unds ridiculo us to talk of
.

light years as an incredible measurement by

reason o f being too little but in talking abo ut universes
,

we must t hink in terms of i n n i t u de .

All t his I grant is in t he region o f t he most u m

, ,

practical t hinking in whic h w e can indulge b ut that ,

is one of the fascinating attrib utes of astrono my

i t takes us o utside the area o f low down practicalities -
.

P L A N E T S S T A R S A N D A T O MS
3 .
-
,

Like o ther sciences astrono my w as paralyzed by

the war and very little new work was accomplished
,

d uri ng it s progress But so me o bservations were

.
 8 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts of O cc u l t T e a c h i ng
2
7
directed to t he question whether t he satellites of
J upiter revo lve on t heir axes o r keep only one face to
their august primary To be more ri gidly accurate : .

do they rotat e on t heir axes only once in the perio d

o f a revolution ro und t he primary o r more o ften ? ,

The question is full o f interest b ecause it is always ,

cropping up in reference to the interior planets Venus ,

and Mercury and has a very important bearing on all

,

speculation as to life in o ther worlds The o n e .

celestial bo dy that undo ubtedly turns only o n e face

to its primary is o u r o wn moon ; bu t by common
consent the moon i s to be regarded as a dead planet ,

whether we accep t ( what seems to me ) t he foolis h

t heory t hat it is a fragment o f the earth torn o ff
at an early stage of o u r planetary life o r t he o ther ,

t heory t hat i t is really the remains o f an o lder world

than o urs t he o uter casings o f which were melted
,

o ff when t he neb ular condensation t hat gave rise to

o u r worl d w as in progress Now we canno t fram e .

any corresponding hypot hesis t hat wo uld acco unt for

t he satellites of J upiter Let me remind t he reader .

o f what we know abo ut them .

Leaving o ut of acco unt t he later discovered exterior

satellites o utside the familiar fo ur an d these may

be merely masses o f meteoric matter caught by the

attraction o f Jupiter the well kn own fo ur are bo dies
-

o f consi derable magnitude The two innermost l o .

,

an d Europ a to give t hem the names that have been

,

assigned to them are somewhat smaller than o u r ,

moon t he t wo o uter ones Ganymede an d Callisto are

, , .

somewhat larger These have b een the subj ect of

.

study by Mr W a t er e l d of the British Astronomical

.

Asso ciation and he t hinks he has discerned markings

,

which show t hat Callisto al ways turns t he same face

to J upiter while Ganymede the o utermost o f the
, ,

fo ur do es no t s eem quite to do t his but has a perio d

, ,

o f ro tation ft y nine minutes less t han t he perio d o f

-
2 80 C oll e c t e d F ru i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c hing
tion arrangement I do no t say tan t p i s pou r les

fa i ts but ta n t pi s pou r t he current interpretation of

,

t he facts As regards the satellites o f J upiter i t is

.

true even tho ugh t hey sho uld really t urn one face to
,

t he primary they wo uld in their revolution roun d

,

him t urn all faces in succession to t he Sun so suc h ,

light and warmth as t hey get fro m him wo uld be

evenly di ff used O n the o ther hand as against
.
,

Mr W a t e r e ld s contention we have to take rst t he

.

,

all b ut universa lity o f t he habit celestial bo dies have

o f turning on t heir axes Secondly the J upiter .
,

satellites whatever t heir origin may have been are

, ,

certainly no t what o ur satellite is remains o f a

_ ,

wo rld o lder than the primary They are fo ur inde .

pendent bo dies o f consi derable magnitude and we ,

mus t await t he development of o u r knowledge to

a far higher level t han we have yet reached before
expecting to co mprehen d t heir beginnings We .

are ancients o f t he Earth etc and the expansion o f ,

.
,

o ur faculties S ince the days o f King Alfred have

bridged t he spaces o f this world in a way that wo ul d
have in deed seemed unthinkable fo r t he earlier
ancients o f that time Another advance o f corres .

ponding importance may enable us o r o u r successors , ,

to cro ss in conscio usness the spaces o f the Solar

System .

I n ano ther direction o f astronomical research some

American attention has been turned to Star Clusters ,

with results rather t o o speculative to comman d

unqualied trust Working with calculations based
.

upon app arent magnit udes and pro bable ( 1) real

lumino sities o n e o bserver o f t he great cluster in
,

Hercules assigns to i t a parallax t hat wo uld give the

distance across t he cluster as light years The .

calculation is used to fortify the conj ecture that su ch

clusters are distant universes lying in space apart
fro m o u r Universe bo unded by t he Milky Way ,
.
 Th e B o r d e r la n d o f S c i e n ce 281

Except as gi ving us enormo us magnitudes to think

abo ut S peculation o f this order hardly seems i n
,

t ere st i n g .

META SC IEN C E -

We recogni z e metaphysics as a formless realm

in which the mind may wander and be free o f t he
tiresome regulations that impede thinking when we
are concerned wi th Science B ut as the intelligence .

o f t he world expands may there come into recognition

, ,

by degrees a variety o f thinking t hat s hall be called

,

meta science based on a gradual co mprehensio n
-
,

o f natural law extending beyond t he realm o f matter

An article on Fatalism and Destiny in the Ti m es

Li tera ry Su pp lem en t j ust p ublished as I begin to wri te
, ,

suggests this question The author o f t he article .

reaches no denite conclusions and is mainly con ,

cerned with p utting aside in an attitude of lordly ,

sup eriority what he assumes to be a tendency among

,

soldiers engaged in the war to adopt t he theory o f

fatalism Such theories are strange because t hey
.
,

seem like t he intrusion of a forgo tten human nature

into the rational bo dy o f o ur beliefs The soldier
in the midst of explo ding shells is gracio usly pardoned
for takin g refuge in fatalism and the author wanders , ,

for t hree columns aro un d t he s ubj ect somehow

, ,

nding comfort in a distinction between fatalism

and destiny the value o f which ma y not be very
,

clear to the reader .

Now it is quite true that t he war has made t he

whole subj ect and many o thers that cling to it much
, ,

more insistent in t heir demand on attention than

they used to be in t he ancient days o f peace An d .

t he wave o f interest in super p hysical research and -

speculation t hat is spreading thro ugh t he intellectual

world has a force t hat seems likely ere long to bear
do wn the a ff ectation t hat t he newspapers as a rule , ,
2 82 C o ll e c t e d F ru i t s o f O cc u l t T e a c h ing
still maintain the pretence o f assuming that all

attempts to p enetrate the unseen mysteri es o f N ature

represent t he foolishness Of weak minds to be laughed
o u t o f court by t he sane man in t he street People .

who have lost dear relations in the war are no t easily

warned o ff inquiries that may t hrow light o n their
fate And when they make in quiry they nd t hat
.

bel i ef in the possibility o f getting denite news fro m

t hose who have passed o n is n o t conned as they ,

had been told to weak minded wo men and frau dulent

,
-

fortune tellers b ut i s held as a soli d conviction by a

-
,

large number o f t he m ost eminent men o f the time .

Then they are duly impressed Such books as Sir .

A Conan Doyle s N ew R evel a ti on Sir William Barret t s

.

,

Threshold of the Un seen and Sir O liver Lo dge s R ay

,

m on d and scores o f earlier volumes o f equal value and

,

dignied authorship make t he o ld fashioned attitude

,
-

o f supercilio us contemp t fo r Spiritualism too ri diculo us

to be kep t up much longer even i n Fleet Street 8 0 .

we may b e appro aching a time when metaphysi cs

o f the o l d fashioned order
-
vague speculation abo ut -

the nature o f Thought and the intangible p hilosophies

,

o f H egel o r Schopenhauer will make way fo r the

development o f a meta science based on as denite -

a fo undation o f fact and acquired knowledge as t he

sciences concerned with t he laws governing Matter .

As for the fatalism o f the gallant soldier taking his

chances wit h t he S hells if t hat fo rt i es his natural
,

pluck we may well be content to let i t alon e and ,

perhaps meta science will S how t he looker o u that

-

even if t he hostile S hell bears no denite a ddress the ,

long run makes i t a matter o f little ultimat e co n se

qu en ce whom it hits Meta science seems to indicate -
.

( even in i ts present stage o f development ) that

no life is found which only to one engine bound
, ,

falls o ff but cycles always ro und Tennyson did no t .

stop when he wrote the Two Vo i ces to work o u t all

, ,
2 84 C o ll e c t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t Te a c hing
S low degrees people lose S ight of the fact that Will
,

has been the origin o f the result Future science has .

g o t to ascertain whether t here may no t be some more

direct way of bringing Will to bear o n matter .

A T O MS A N D E T HE R
I have referred fro m time to time to the theory t hat
t he electron i s an ato m o f electricity supported ( in
t he beginning at all events ) by Sir J J Thomson and . .

Sir O liver Lo dge I have ventured to rep udiate

.

that theory in favo ur o f its rival the t heo ry that t he

electron is an ato m o f ether carrying a denite charge

o f electricity O f co urse I am very far fro m being
.
,

alone in dissenting fro m t he V iews o f t he dignied

authorities j ust mentioned but the ato mic t heory o f
,

electricity must be regarded so far as the more

ortho dox V iew o f t he t wo and a recent number o f
,

N a tu re actually heads an article with t he words

The Ato m o f Electricity No w o f co urse on e
.
, ,

di ffi culty in the way o f general accep tance fo r t he

et heric t heory o f the electron arises fro m t he Vi ew
that has been widely entertained concerning t he
constitution Of the ether itself According t o that .

conception t he attributes o f t he et her embo dy a mass

o f paradox I t has been des cribed as non molec u lar
.
-
,

denser t han the densest metals and yet utterly i n

tangible to o u r senses perfectly frictionless inter
, ,

penetrating all matter which is a t t he same time

,

passing thro ugh it with planetary velocity Then .

this mysterious medium at once dens er t han the

,

densest solid an d less so than the nest gases i s

, ,

undulating all the time at rates which paralyze imagi

nation an d giving rise to all the sensations o f light
,

and co lo ur .

But are we incapable o f framing any theory that will

t t he facts better than the ultra dense non molecular - -

theory The great Russian chemist Me n del e ff , ,

 Th e B o r d e rla n d o f S c i e n ce 2 85

a nswered that question some years ago in a book t hat

attracted at the time less attentio n than i t deserved ,

while now in the midst o f the electron controversy

, ,

it really clamo urs fo r attention I t is called A .

C h em i ca l Con cep ti on of th e Ether I will endeavo ur .

t o explain the argument content to say rst that , , ,

t here can be no o n e in t he scientic hierarchy great

e no ugh to treat any V iews o f Me n de l e ff s wit h

d isdain H e was t he originator o f the universally

.

accepted p erio dic table o f the elements an arrange ,

ment which groups them in o ctaves in a way so me

what resembling the grouping O f musical sounds .

The elements in each recurring o ctave show a t t ri

b utes corresponding to t hose o f the previo us o ctave .

The discovery of this relationship h as given ri se to

many o ther discoveries for t here were gaps in the
,

perio dic table as rst drawn up o n the basis o f such

knowledge as was then at o u r disposal These gaps .

point ed to the probability that t here o ught to be

elements t hat wo uld t them and wi th that clue o n e , ,

by o n e most o f t hese have been discovered .

Within recent years however t he disco very o f

, ,

t he inert gases o f the atmosphere argon helium

, ,

kryp ton and t he rest presented chemists with a new

p uzzle There wa s no place for t hem in t he perio dic

.

table Men de l e ff in the boo k I have named above

.
, ,

nds the di ffi culty merely the intro duction to a new

an d brilliant hypo thesis All t hese inert gases
.

form a new gro up o r co lumn by t hemselves and their ,

ato mic weights t in wit h t his arrangement But .

there are gaps in t he new column " To make the

a rrangement symmetrical t here s ho uld be two bo dies
lighter t han helium And this condition o f t hings
.

harmonizes wi th a belief Men del e ff tells us he has

long entertained t hat there o ught to be two ele

ments , as yet un known to science lighter than ,

hydrogen H e bo ldly lls up t hese two gaps wi th

.
2 86 C oll e ct e d F ru i ts of O cc u l t T e ac hing
bo dies x an d y and x the lighter o f the two h e
, , ,

s uggests is the Ether "

,

This presentation o f the i dea by s uch an illustrio us

representative o f ortho do x chemistry as Men del e ff
will be o f fascinating interest to a gro up o f t hinkers on
subj ects o f this kind towards whom tho ugh t hey may
, ,

see m as yet in the vanguard o f wild speculation my ,

sympathies are inclined to lean According to t hat .

View the ether is t he ultimate form o f p hysical matter ,

from which all t he familiar varieties o f matter are

derived This View establishes the ether really as
.

the pro tyle o f Crookes famous hypo thesis as to

t he Genesis o f the Elements I t seems to me t hat
.

with Me n del e ff s help w e are bringing a lo t o f previo usly

scattered co nceptions to a co mmon fo cus Arguing

'

from the analogies o f t he o t her columns Me n del eff ,

assigns to x o r t he ether an ato mic weight ( a maximum

, ,

value ) o f Probably he says the Weight is far

, ,

less as analogy suggests t hat i ts molecule contains

,

only o n e ato m To interpret t he argument wo uld

.

invo lve the use o f mathematical formul a t hat wo uld

be o u t o f place here but i t helps to explain t he
,

fact that t he ether pervades all sp ace disregarding the ,

attraction o f planets The velo city o f its ato mi c

.

V ibrations wo uld enable i t to o verco me gravi tation .

An d t he dimensions o f the etheric atoms wo uld be o f

s uch a minute order that t hey obvio usly may provi de
a material basis for the unit charge o f electricity
described as the electron while this View o f the ,

who le s ubj ect gets ri d o f what has always seemed to

me t he monstro us absurdity o f treating force as atomic .

O ne might as well talk o f an ato m o f gravitation .

A T O MS A N D M IS U N DE R S T A N D I N G S
Science h as so long been co mmandeered for t he
service o f the war that in reference to so me o f its
,

pre war ac h i evements i t has failed to m ake further

-
 2 88 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e ac h i n g
t hesis the writer goes o n to draw various inferences
, .

We start wi th t he conception o f the ether as atomic

in i ts constitution and lling all space t he raw

material from which all p hysical matter i s built up .

May i t no t b e suscep tible o f existence in di ff eren t

states as p hysical matter exists in t he t hree states ,

soli d li qui d and gaseo us ? Then t he atomic con

, ,

dition in which i t lls all space and transmits the

vibrations o f light and heat wo uld b e its gaseo us
condition I n i ts li qui d condition i t might roll up
.

into drops analogous to t hose of water and b e come ,

atoms o f p hysical matter I do no t nd that i dea at

all helpful A much simpler and more natural View
.

treats the aggregation o f etheric ato ms into physical

molecules as a process accomplished by stages .

Ato mic ether does not app eal to o ur physical senses .

Evi dently t here must be some minimum number of

etheric ato ms in a molecule to render i t so qualied .

Aggregations o f lesser number wo uld still remain i m

perceptible to o u r senses B ut i t wo uld be extra
.

vagant to assume t hat N ature has no activi ties o utside

those limits The minor aggregations o f etheric
.

ato ms t hat do no t co me wi thin t he range o f o u r

senses must constitute so many varieties o f molecular
ether
I have long been convinced that there are such
varieties o f molecular ether and when this co mes to be
,

recognized i t will open the door to a oo d of new

speculation concerning the p heno mena o f light heat ,

and colo ur More t han this i t will p ut a new an d

.
,

greatly more nature like co mplexion o n theories

-

concerning the radiations from the Sun We are all .

familiar with the calculation s ho wing t hat t he heat

radiations o f t he Sun are wasted to the extent o f some
ridiculo us percentage because so little o f t hem can
,

actually impinge upon the planets Suppose no heat .

is really wasted l that what we call heat i s an e ffect

 Th e B o r d e r land of S c i e n ce 2 89

developed by the molecular e t h er s u rro u n din g each

planet ; that the vibrations o f the ato mic ether o f
interstellar space are n o t heat at all " I am no t
daring to assert this Future discove ry may follow
.

some quite di ff erent line b ut the discovery of mole

,

c u l a r e ther a t present merely a profo undly plausible

hypothesis arising from t he discovery of t he electron

,

seems to me sure o f accomplishment now science is .

getting o u t o f khaki after the war .

Certainly we s hall have to improve o u r present

senses o r get some more before we can expect to
, ,

be directly cognizant o f molecular ether b ut we ,

already deal with many natural p henomena beyon d

t he range o f the senses I nvisible li g ht and inaudible
.

sound are favo urite subj ects for scientic lectures .

The ultra Violet rays can be detected by the photo

-

graphic plate ; t he no te of a whistle too shrill to be ,

heard can b e o bserved by the sensitive ame O ver

, .

and above t he debt t hat Op tics in t he fut ure may owe

to the discovery o f molecular ether i t may go a long ,

way towards breaking down the habit o f nineteenth

century science which used to make i t so scornful o f
,

everything i t co uld neither se e hear n o r feel For , ,

.

many men of science and fo r multitudes whose beliefs

,

are based o n personal experience the new s enses re ,

'

quired to enable us to penetrate t h e m yst e ri es o f

N ature fart her than this has been done by merely
p hysical researches are recognized as beginning to
,

icker abo ut here and there and are loosely grouped ,

under the title clairvoyance They are already .

available for scientic p urposes Ih e si t a t e no longer .

to include t he subj ect in the range o f scientic develop

ments p artly b ec au seJ as Sir O liver Lo dge h as pu t
,

i t those who disbelieve in the exi stence o f c lai rvo y

ance do no t express an Opinion but merely sho w ,

ignorance and partly because my o wn exp erience has

,

very fully conr m ed tha vi e w Vaguel y most peop le

. .

I9
2 90 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hing
'

imagine that clairvoyance has to do wit h fortune

telling and ghost stories I n reality i t is sometimes
.

directed to genuine scientic research and fo r , ,

example to the study o f the ato m Along this line

,
.

o f inquiry it has been ascertained ( if we treat the

metho d as reliable ) t hat the number o f etheric ato ms

( o r electrons ) in an ato m ( o r molecule ) o f hydrogen
is 1 8 Current scientic guesses on t he s ubj ect
.

vary so widely t hat some writers p ut t he gure down

as two o r three o r even o n e while o thers soar in
, ,

imagination to t he level o f many t ho usands The 1 8 .

theory is supported along the line o f research that

gave rise to it by t he Observation o f o ther atoms
,

besi des t hose o f hydrogen Many have been examined

.
,

and t he result shows t hat in all s uch cases the larger

numbers i dentied wi th heavier atoms when di vi ded ,

by 1 8 give t he recognized atom i c weights of t he

,

substances in question The discovery is full o f de ep

.

signicance I t shows the etheric atom minute as

.
,

i t i s to be actually pon derable and o bvio usly

, ,

supports the key number 1 8 .

I freely grant t hat as yet t he new senses required

fo r scientic clairvoyance are so rarely fo und in
adequate perfection that they canno t be checked
,

by use in di ff erent laboratories B ut if a gradual .

p r i m a fa c i e belief in their o ccasional existence gains

ground e fforts will assuredly be made t o cultivate
,

t he faculty where i t exists in embryo and by degrees ,

true scientic research will certainly be pushed

beyond that Threshold of the Un seen that Sir William
Barrett writes abo ut wit h remarkable e ff ect .
2 92 C o ll ec t e d F r u i t s Of O cc u l t T e a c h i n g
of prehistoric knowledge at which Yucatan comes in .

An d I am tempted to deal wi th t he s ubj ect because

one number o f the S ci en tic A m eri ca n has an article
abo ut t he anti qui ties o f Yucatan that may help to get
attention focused on their enor m o us signicance .

Yucatan says the writer can well b e called the

, ,

American Egyp t The ruins o f 1 72 cities big and

.
,

little have been discovered and no t a quarter o f the

, ,

territory h as been explored Tropical vegetation .

makes the work di fficult Yo u might pass within

.

a hundred feet o f a wonderful Ol d temple o r pyrami d

a hundred times an d n o t discover it so e ffectively does
, ,

the j ungle screen these crumbling monuments o f the

distant pas t The article go es on to tell u s that
.

some o f t hese ruins must once have been large cities ,

wi th no t less t han half a milli o n inhabitants in each

on e . The writer who seems to have had personal
,

experience has fo und o n e pyrami d t he most i n

,

t e re st i n g among all t hese relics o f the past The step s .

o n o n e S ide are fairly well preserved and at the t o p ,

is a platform which was the sacricial altar There

, .

the priests
cut o u t t he hearts o f living Vi ctims .

I n a great quadrangle at the foo t o f the pyrami d

t h e inhabitants o f the city used t o gather to watch

these festal doings Aro und were the palaces
.

o f nuns , for whose special delectation these sacrices

were made The nuns were the aristo crats of ancien t
.

Maya so ciety .

The writer does no t tell us fro m w hat authorities

he derives his information b ut anyone who wants to ,

study the subj ect further will nd all he needs in the

books o f Dr Le Plongeon ( an American a rc h a ol o gi st
.
,

t ho ugh with a French name ) who devoted his life ,

to the stu dy o f Mexi can and especially Yucatan , ,

anti quities and did much more than merely describ e

,

remains These like the anti quities o f Egypt are

.
, ,

covered to a large extent wit h inscriptions in hiero

 Arch a ol o gy 2 93

glyp hic character The hieroglyp hics seem the same

.

as thos e used in Egyp t but t he Egyptologists co uld

,

make no thing o f them Egyptian hieroglyp hics .

became intelli gible when the Rosetta stone showed

what language they spelled But t hey certainly .

did no t Spell Coptic in Yucatan The discovery of .

the language t hey did spell is t h e sp l e n di d gift Le ,

Plongeon bestowed o n the arc h a ol o gi c al world and ,

because the results o ff ended the prej udices o f the

perio d ( still clinging to the i dea that Atlantis was
a fable ) they w ere never properly appreciated But
,
.

the scientic mind at the present day is more acces

sible to new views which so metimes involve the
,

restoration o f very o l d V iews and the stone inscription s

,

o f Yucatan are already establishing so me bro ad

conclusions respecting the p eople o f t he o ld Atlantic
continent co mpared to who m the earliest Egyptian
,

and Chaldean ci vi lizations were recent stages o f human

history I n several places Le Plongeon came upon
.

inscriptions plainly describing the nal catastrop he

that s ubmerged the last great s urviving fragmen t
o f the o l d Atlantean continent The date o f the .

catastrophe is even given wi th precision I t took .

place 80 60 years before the perio d at which the event

was recorded Plausible guesses as to t he date o f t he
.

i n scriptions add about 3500 years to t he 8 0 0 0 o dd ,

so i t was abo ut 9 0 0 0 o dd B C when t he stupendo us

. .

cataclysm took place And t hat only a ff ected the

.

last then remaining fragment o f the original continent .

Yucatan again helps us to realize in so me measure

what it must have been in its entirety I was once .

intimate wit h a friend who h as since passed away

, ,

who was engaged in important mining operations in

Mexico H e told me t hat in the co urse o f explora
.

tions in that co untry and Yucatan bits o f an old ,

ro ad had been discovered in the mids t of what

s eemed primeval j ungle These made a do tted lin e
.
2
94 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s o f O cc u l t T e ac hing
on the map which extended down through Yucatan ,

ending abruptly a t the sea coas t But again farther .

,

on bits were discovered on islands l ying o ut at sea

,
.

Evi dently the ol d ro ad connected the cities of Mexi co

and Yucatan wi th o ther important centres in regions
now covered by t he Atlantic O cean I nscriptions .

decip hered by Le Plongeon relate to events happening

in that region O ne o f his books deals wi t h the
.

history of a certain Queen Moo o f the far away -

past who was driven fro m her dominions by usurping

,

bro thers an d m igrated by a long overland j o urney

,

to Egypt where among o ther doings S he intro duced

,

the Sp hinx as an emblem t hat had previo usly been

what we sho uld call the crest of her family When .

t he world is at leisure again t o concern itself with

matters o f mere intellectual interest we may prot ,

by renewed researches in Yucatan to t he exten t

o f framing a much more co mplete history o f t he

Atlantean perio d ; but we shall have to get into the

habi t of t hinking in millions instead o f t ho usands O f
, ,

years before we can map o ut in o u r minds t he

stupendo us perio ds through which human evolution
has passed Americans do things t horoughly so me
.

times ; an d if they begin to realize that while the ,

yo ungest of the great nations in one way they are also ,

g eographically the o ldest they may nd i t wort h

,

while to devote national efforts to the fii rt h er develop

ment o f t he work which o n e o f their own country
men Le Plongeon has b egun so well They are
, , .

apparently waking up to t he interests o f arch a o lo g y

if their leading scientic p aper the Sci en tic A m eri ca n
,
,

can b e regarded as showing the direction of t he win d .

Besi des i t s Yucatan article rec e nt numbers deal a t

,

length wi th the anti quities o f Ceylon t hough t hes e ,

relate to the yesterdays o f the world compared wit h

t he remains o f cities and pyramids hi dden in th e
j ungles of Yucatan .
 -

2 96 C o ll ec t ed F r u i t s of O c c u l t T e ac h i n g
are mos t useful When towns are s hivering in ruins
.

and railway viaducts being tied up into kno ts t he ,

mo st zealo us seismologist may get confused in hi s

o bservations B ut anyhow taking all sorts together
.
, ,

Japan has plenty of seismological material to work

wit h The examination o f this has become an i n
.

t e ll e c t u al fashion in Japan and a seismograp h is as ,

co mmon an article o f luxury in a Japanese ho usehold

as a mantelpiece clo ck with us The Go vernment .

has liberally s ubsidized t he investigation and a ,

distinguis hed English engineer for so me time past

o ccupied what may be called t he Chair o f Earthquakes
at t he To kio University .

Professor Milne the engineer in question has thus

, ,

beco me the leading a utho ri ty o n earthquakes and as ,

s uch he lectured at t he Royal I nstitution one Friday

evening a few years ago
, I n the ho ur he had a t his .

disposal he did no t s urvey the various hypotheses that

have been p ut forward from time to time to account
for earthquakes b ut it may be worth while to glance
,

at t hese here fo r the benet o f readers unfamiliar

,

wit h the subj ect .

The volcanic t heory has perhaps been most in

favo ur Earthquakes i t has been assumed have been
.
, ,

undergroun d disturbances that have no t been near

eno ugh to the surface to break o u t as eruptions but ,

have nevertheless S haken and dislocat ed the upper

strata Ano ther notion has been that they were due
.

to t he inux of sea water into internal cavi ties in the

-

crust o f the Earth Steam at a high temperature .

, ,

it was supposed wo uld be engendered in this way

, ,

and an earthquake wo uld ensue o n the principle o f

an explosion in a steam boiler Yet ano ther theo ry -
.

s uggested the reaction o f certain chemical ingredients

coming into contact in the interior cavities o f the

Earth s crusts Gases at a high pressure were thus
.

s upposed to be developed and hence the explosive ,

 Ca t a c l ysm s and E a rt h qu ake s 2 97

energy displa yed All thes e conj ectures are equally

.

dispelled by the results o f the Japan e se investigations .

Pro fessor Milne di d no t think i t worth while even to

no tice the steam and chemical theories but he paid ,

t he volcanic theory the co mpliment o f a specic re

p u di a t i o n We have arrived at the conclusion he
.
,

declared that earthquakes have no thing whatever

,

to do wit h volcanoes They are no t lo cal phenomena

.

at all no t due to causes engendered in t he neigh

,

b o u rh o o d w here they o ccur but to great waves o r ,

p ulsations to which the crus t o f t he eart h is con

st an t l y s ubj ect the eff ect o f which is no t perceived
,

unless some rupture ensues The huge slow waves .

,

o r undulations are described in the new t erminology

o f earthquake science as bradys eismic disturbances ,

and they are going on j ust as freely and steadily in

quiet regions where earthquakes in the ordinary
,

sense of the word are unkn own as in regions like ,

Japan o r the west co ast o f So uth America where they

, ,

are frequent B ut now and t hen i t happens that

.

as t he bradyseismic wa v e enco unters some irregular

resistance or weakness in t he s trata i t disturbs ,

so mething gives way something cracks and t hen , ,

a shi ver goes thro ugh the region where that o ccurs .

Such a shiver may in a few mo ments destroy

property worth millions and lives by the thousand , .

Ano ther inuence pro ductive of earthquake dis

t u rb a n c e is described by Professor Milne as a secular
"
crus h and ow O bservation has s ho wn how
.

wonderfully responsive the solid eart h is to changes

o f weight pressing upon it The deposition and .

evaporation o f dew in t he evening pro duces a sensible

movement O f the gro und sensible t hat is to say to
, ,

the new and delicatel y a dj usted seismographs in use

for s uch Observations What then must be t he .
, ,

effect o f t he regular denudation o f continents that

is always going on and o f the deposition of t he mu d
,
2 8 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts of O c c u l t T e a c hi n g
9
carried down by rivers o n t he bo tto m o f t he sea
The lat est conj ecture is that this pressure is s u ffi cient
to cause an actual ow o f solid rock away fro m the
regions o f greatest pressure We kn ow o f co urse .
, ,

that soli d and visco us are merely relative expressions .

Treacle is only more visco us than lead which in the ,

ordinary co urse of bullet making is now s queezed -

,

cold o u t o f ho les by hydraulic pressure an d ows

, ,

like so much p utty Lead is only more V isco us t han .

steel I ce it is n o w suggested is only more visco us

.
, ,

than granite Every solid s ubstance is visco us in

.

on e degree o r anot her I magine a thick evenly .

,

S prea d bed Of soft clay ; then i magine a weight p ut

down on any part o f t he s urface O ne sees at once .

t hat the weight wo uld sink into the clay more or ,

less and that part o f the clay beneath wo uld b e

,

s queezed o u t laterally heavi ng up t he s urface else ,

where Th a t is j ust what takes place in connection

.

with the secular o w o f the Earth s lower strata and

,

here we get into relations with a second great ca use

o f earthquakes the effect o f which in causing a
, ,

rup ture o f t he superior strata somewhere is similar , ,

apparently to the e ff ect o f the bradyseismic wave

, .

As a matt er o f fact earthquakes are most numero us ,

in those parts o f the world where t he seashore falls

very abrup tly into deep o cean That o ccurs to the .

eastward o f Japan and also o n the western side o f ,

So ut h America B ut one o f the most interesting facts

.

now bro ught to light is that wherever an earthquake

takes place t he s ho ck of i t is really felt all o ver t he
rest o f t he world The vibration passes apparently.
, ,

t hro ugh the solid bo dy o f the Eart h We must leave .

o ff talking abo ut the crust o f the Earth That phrase .

is derived fro m an early hypo thesis that has been

discredited for a long whil e t hat has been at variance

with all the p hysical teaching permeating theosophical

information and is now clearly untenable in the
,
3 00 C o ll e c te d F ru i ts o f O c c u l t T e a c h ing
O nce he anno unced before any telegrap hic news

had been received that s uch an event had taken

place o n a certain date at such an d su ch an ho ur

,

and minute When t he news came in the ordinary

.

co urse o f things i t turned o u t that he had been right

,

within an error Of one minute only I n ano ther case .

,

when the papers announced that a great earthquak e

had t aken place at Ko be his instruments had given ,

no indications to co rrespond H e declared t he news .

to be inaccurate and in due time i t t urned o u t t o

,

have been witho ut fo undation .

The importance o f all this as bearing o n question s

in which theosophical students are interested h a s ,

t o do wit h the light i t throws o n t he old standin g

question of cataclysms The drift o f conventiona l
.

scientic thinking for some time past has been in

the dir ection o f what geologists call uniformity W e .

do no t se e cataclysms going on aro und us at present ,

but we do se e t he gra dual operation o f forces tha t

over very long p erio ds o f time may be supposed
cap able of sup erinducing t he changes o f land an d
water distribution that must assuredly take place .

Rain and the rivers are continually washing down

t he soil o f continents to the sea I n this way o cean .

beds are being lled up and existing land s urface s

denuded Shores in some places are being eaten

.

away by the sea and in o ther places slowly raised so

, ,

that former beaches are now hoisted half way up -

high cli ff s I n time it is supposed by the uniform i

.
,

t ari a n s
, these gradual processes wo uld s u ffi ce t o
acco unt for the largest changes we like to imagine .

They wo ul d no t acco unt however for the Violent con

, ,

v u l si o n s o f which t he osop hical teachers speak as

having happened in the past an d o f which indeed , ,

advancing t heosophical students beginning to be ,

able to apply their o wn powers o f o bservation to

remo te historical investigation are enabled to spea k ,
 Ca t a c lysm s a n d E a r t h qu a ke s 3
0 1

with much de tail . Tho se o f us who comprehen d the

t rustworthiness of investigation O f t hat sort may
have no do ub t abo ut t he fact whether mo dern ,

s cience yet recognizes i t o r no t ; b ut i t is always

g ratifying to derive from mo dern science conrmation

o f theosophic teaching And while the lo cal theory
.

o f earthquakes held t he eld no such conrmation

,

was forthco ming in reference t o such events in the

p ast as t he destruction o f Atlantis Now we begin.to
p erceive along what road the ultimate developments
o f p hysical knowledge will converge towards the
c onclusions o f occult investigation The brady .

S eismical waves o f the new seismology t in perfectly

wi t h a belief that at long intervals of time natural

, ,

c onvulsions may occur o n a very much larger scale

t han that o f any which have been recorded within

historic perio ds So me o f these o f co urs e have been
.
, ,

fairly big The Lisbon catastrophe no t only ki lled

.

people at the seat o f its chief activi ty bu t ,

distributed i t s inuence percep tibly over an area ,

a ccording to H umboldt s calculation fo ur times as

,

great as Europe AS we know now its inuence mus t

.
,

really have been felt all over t he world tho ugh i n ,

distant places t o o slightly to be meas ured by i n

s t ru m e n t s t hen in u se The Calabrian earthquak e
.

o f 1 7 8 3 destroyed lives B ut after all dis

.
, ,

asters o f this magnitude are no t co mmensurab le

wi th the least o f the great Atlantean catastrophes .

According to t he Tro a n o manuscrip t translated by ,

Dr Le Plongeon sixty m i lli on people perished in

.
,

t he nal Po sei don i s con vulsion which changed an ,

inhabited terri tory measuring o ver two t ho usan d

,

miles o n e way by abo ut one tho usand two hundred

the o ther in to so much o cean bed For people to
, .

who m the six or s even tho usand years o f the historic

p erio d seem to a ff ord a goo d basis for generalization i t ,

n aturally appears unlikely that if o u r Lisbon ear th

30 2 C o ll ec t e d F r u i ts o f O cc u l t T e a c h ing
quake i s t he champion convulsion for t hat perio d an y ,

t hing so o ut of proportion wi t h i t sho uld have taken

place si x o r seven tho usand years earlier .

The bradyseismic wave system taken in con ,

j unction wi t h the secular ow o f ro cks puts a n ew ,

comple x ion on all s uch sp eculation Everyt hin g .

we kno w abo ut V ibrations tends to S how that in Nat ure

t hese movements are superimposed On e upon ano ther .

I n electrical pheno mena this is certainly the case an d ,

in fact t he whole principle of multiplex t elegraphy i s

built upon that i dea O ccult investigation into t he
.

nat ure o f t he ultimat e ato m points to the same kind

of complexi ty t here I n t he motion of the planetary
.

bo dies we have to recognize similar movements within

movements The diurnal ro tation of t he Earth 15
.

superimposed upon t he much slower precessional o r ,

second rotation Whatever t he great pulsations o f

.

'
t he Eart h s s urface may be d ue to i t is more than,

i maginable that a larger and slower p ulsation passes

through i t at longer intervals Earthquakes of the
.

secondary order like t hose which a fflicted Lisbon in

,

t he last century are d ue apparently t o a rupture o f

,

some ro ck bo dy giving way to the pressure o f one o f

t he relatively minor undulations o f t he strata below .

A p ulsation o f greater magnitude may easily be

supposed to create a sup ercial dist urbance on a
di ff erent s cale altogether o n e for which perhaps
, , ,

a long continued operation o f the secular ro ck ow

-

has prepared the way .

I n addressing theosophical readers a word o r two ,

seems desirable here on the question whether such

catastrop hes as tho se o f t he Atlantean age s ho uld
be attributed to causes o f uniform regularity o r to ,

t he intervention o f the highest authorities con

n e c t e d wit h the government o f the world at crises ,

when the depravity o f mankind renders the extinction

o f life o n a large scale a necessity o f t he S ituation
 P O ETRY AN D TH E O S O PH Y
A R E C E NT article in t he Th eosop h i st deals with a
subj ect that h as o ften engaged my t ho ughts Much .

poetry is deplorably unspiritual by reason o f treating

death as a dismal nality instead o f being t he gateway
,

to new life Mors j anua vit a As Mr Co usins . .

p uts i t a revo lution in Western literary arts wo uld

,

be bro ught about if t he i dea say of reincarnation , ,

could be given as full a place in thought as the

current i dea o f a single life I quite agree bu t .
,

meanwhile a grand res ult wo uld b e achieved if poetry

co ul d help the world to realize that before attaining
reincarnation there is a perio d o f happiness in the
,

more immediate future awaiting all decent p eople

o n the astral plane I n o u r earlier teaching this was
.

a goo d deal slurred over as still wi der aspects of ,

truth claimed interpretation rst But in a recent .

book In the N ex t World I have endeavo ured to S ho w

, ,

how V ivid delightful an d fairly protracted may b e

, ,

that astral experience preceding no t merely the return

to physical life b ut preceding any experiences on
,

higher planes that may await any given Ego There .

fore the rst great po etical reform I s ho uld like to

,

se e wo uld b e one that s ho uld enco urage thought t o

range beyon d t he grave instead o f burrowing i n ces

,

san t ly in that unimportant region .

Consider for ins tance o n e o f the most beautiful

, ,

passages in all po etry Moore s Farewell to Ara b y s

,

Daughter at t he en d of Th e Fi re worshippers I ts -
.

beauty resides entirely in t he form no t in t he s ub ,

stance It i s altogether a lament I ts exquis i t e

. .

30 4
 P o e try and Th e osoph y 3 05

language i s concerned entirely wi th the dear girl s

bo dy lying at the bo tto m o f t he se a The Peris who .

speak the dirge are so lely engaged with t heir e fforts

t o b e au t i fy i t s bed ~ .

Far w ll b i t ours t o mb llish t h y p i ll ow

e e
e e e

W i t h e v yt hi g b a t o t hat gro w i n t h d p
er n e u e us s e ee .

E a h ow r o f t h ro k d
c e h g m of t h b ill ow
e c an eac e e

Sh ll sw ta th y b d d ill m i e t h y l e p
ee e n e an u n s e .

Aro d t h e Sh ll gli t n t h l ov li st am be r
un e a s e e e e

T h at v r t h o rro wi g
e e bi rd h s w p t
e s n se a a e ,

W i t h m y sh ll i wh os h ll ow wr t h d h am be r
an a e n e o -
ea e c

W e P i f ce
, er s ob y m oo ligh t h v e l p t
o an , n a s e .

W e ll di v wh

th g d
e s f cor l li d k li g
ei e e ar e n o a e ar n ,

A d p l a t a ll t h r i t t m s t t h y h d
n n e os e s s e a ea ,

W ll s k wh re t h s d of t h C p i
e

ee e esp arkli g
an s e as a n a re n

A d g t h r t h ir g old t o t w o v r t h y b d
n a e e s re e e .

For p ure m ell i u o u s beauty o f expression those

V erses will rank with anything in literature b ut what ,

a ghastly blunder i t was fo r Moore to spen d hi s

geni us o n t ho ughts abo ut the dead girl s bo dy instead
,

of t hinking abo ut the girl " I have endeavo ured to

suggest a p arap hrase o f his superb e ffusion what

he might have given us instead if he had come within

the range o f Theosophical teaching To guard against .

misun derstanding let me explain that I am no t ,

supposing that an y rhymes o f mine can rival Moore s

in form Moore imperfectly appreciated in these

.

days was among all poets that have ever lived the

, ,

supreme master o f v e rsi c a t i o n Tennyson a far .

,

grander poet as regards tho ught has here an d there ,

to uched Moore s perfection o f form but as a com

, ,

poser o f music in words Moore i s fa ci le pri n ceps , .

My e ffort is a concrete expression o f wonder as to

what might have been the character of h i s Farewell
had he known what ( I think ) I know about life i m
mediately after death Here are the verses They . .

are no t a Farewell but a Greeting , .
 06 C o ll e c t e d F r u i t s of O cc u l t Te a c hi ng
3
W e l c om e hri w l m 0 A b y s d ght r l
, t ce e co e, ra

au e

A gl a d v i c t hu gr t d h o d ve t b v
e s ee e er a n a o e .

Th f o m t w y i t o Om gr w t r
e r ca s a a n an s e en a e

I S n d d o m ore i t hi bright r l m o f l ov e
ee e n n s ea .

Twa f i r f r s whil
a gi vi g tr i t xp r ssi o
o a e, n an s e n e e n

For E rt h p a i g to a s l p r d whi te

a s ss n u se ou u e an ,

B t th t i
u ow r sc
a d from h l y p s i o
s n e ue es o s e ss n

Arr y d i a f r f ir r v t
a e n o f light a a e e s u re .

Th t g o i d p l
a a g i n t h d k dr y o
n ze un e e ar e ar cean

W as n
o ow d ight fr m p i p il or trif ;
c ar o a n , er , s e

A gift t o y o l o ve r ct o f d v ot i on
ur , an a e ,

A s c i c l id o t h a l t r o f lif
a r e a n e a e .

Th W ld l ft b hi n d y o will w p o r y o r st ory

e or e e u ee e u ,

W il l f a cy t h t Y OU li n sl p i th w v a e a ee n e a e

Fo r y o t h t h s p ro v d b t t h g t way o f gl o y
u a a e u e a e r ,

Th d aw o f e w lif wi t h t h p r a d t h b ra ve
n ne e e u e n e ,

Th y b id y o f r w ll t h o
e wh o m o r y o r wild d arin g
u a e e , se u n u ,

Th y h dd r t o t hi k of y o r old l
e s u e ly b e d n u c , on e .

Oh o ld w b t t ll t h m h o w w ll y o
c u e u ar f i ge e e u e ar n ,

Th y d h r i y o r joy ow y r b o dy i s d a d

e s a e n u n ou e .

In d p t hs of t h s a t h t will oo m l t
e e d v e ih a s n e an an s ,

O h igh t o f t h A t r l y o r b
n e s ty r v iv e s a u e au e e s,

T h g i f t h t o c m r d i t t hi gl ow will o
e r e a n e ba ish ar e s s on n ,

W i t h ll t h t di s g r d E art h s l owli r li v
a a u e

e es .

N o r S h ll y o b s dd
a d t o t h i k o f t h ir s d e ss
u e a en e n e a n

W h o e v m y we p at y o r p i t if l f t
en a e u u a e

N ow w p i g t h b t t r t h y ll sh r i n y o r gl a d n e s
ee n , e e e e a e u s

W h t he y t oo i h ri t t h e lif t h y awa i t
en n e e e .

N o gra v st o t e ll s wh e e t h form t h t o ce b o n d y o
en ne r e a n u u

R st or t o t h E rt h fro m t h E t h wh t i t dre w ;
e es e a , e ar a

H ow li t t l y o c re a s t h sc n s ow aro
e u ad yo , e e e n un u

E n h t y o r e w s n s s wi t h lim i t l ss i w
c an u n e e e V e .

But s wh o pp roa che s

ee R b or wi t h n w vi g ou r
a e n e ,

H ow n e dl s twas e v e hi s f t t o d p l ore
e es n a e e ,

W it h r pt r h e a s yo u e No m s co ld di s gu re
see u a e u

Th at f m It i s h ti S y o r l ov r o c m or

or . e u e n e e .

There are many o ther well known poems dealing -

wi th death that might be recast along similar lines :

The B urial o f Sir Jo hn Moore for examp l e t hough , ,