Inner and Outer Rounds

The inner rounds are the passage of the various life-waves or kingdoms of monads
through the twelve globes of a planetary chain, while the outer rounds are the passage
of the life-waves from planetary chain to planetary chain, or from solar system to solar
system. The inner and outer rounds are of two types: major and minor. The major inner
and outer rounds are made by the life-waves collectively over the course of millions and
billions of years, while the minor inner and outer rounds are made by individual monads
during sleep, after death, and during initiation.

During a (major) inner round, the life-waves pass from globe to globe of a planetary
chain. On each globe they pass through seven (or twelve) main stages of development
(known as root-races in the human kingdom). Between two successive globe rounds,
there is an interglobal rest period, equal to one-tenth of the time spent on the globe just
left, and between one planetary round and the next the monads enter an inter-round
nirvana. It is our higher human monad, or chain monad, which undertakes the inner
rounds; on each globe it emanates a globe monad, or lower human monad, which
clothes itself in the appropriate life-atoms furnished by the globe concerned.

The other globes of the earth chain are also visited after death, during sleep, and during
initiations, but for much shorter periods of time. The death of the physical body is
followed by a second death in the kama-loka, where our lower astral nature is cast off.
The reincarnating ego is withdrawn into its parent monad and sinks into its blissful
devachanic sleep. The chain monad passes through the globes of the ascending arc,
pausing in each one to shed the life-atoms native to that sphere. It projects a portion of
its consciousness which briefly embodies in an appropriate vehicle, but the human
monad as a whole is virtuously unconscious of these experiences. An exception to this
in varying degrees is formed by advanced fourth rounders, fifth and sixth rounders,
and initiants. During initiations, the initiants inner self not only wings its way to the other
globes of our planetary chain and gains first-hand experience there, but also visits the
other planets and the sun.

The spiritual monad has a different reembodying monad, or chain monad, on each of
the seven (or twelve) planetary chains belonging to our family of sacred planets. At
present our spiritual monads are especially bound to the earth chain since this is our
current station on the outer rounds. During the post-mortem outer rounds, we pass
relatively quickly through the globes of these chains, but when during the major outer
rounds our life-wave moves to another planetary chain, that planet will remain our
station for a whole solar manvantara. During the outer rounds through the sacred
planets, the order is: Jupiter, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Mars (Dialogues 1:21, 72; see also
Fountain-Source 141, 151); this list is not, however, complete.

During its post-mortem journey, the spiritual monad, carrying the reembodying ego
within it, follows the magnetic pathways known as the circulations of the cosmos, which
correspond to the network of nerves, veins and arteries in the human physical body. As
with the devachan, the length and nature of the post-mortem outer round are
determined by the moral, spiritual, and intellectual quality of the last earth life.
During its post-mortem passage through the planetary chains the monad frees itself of
the life-atoms associated with each one. It strips off all the seven coatings with which it
had clothed itself during previous returns to incarnation on earth and finally enters the
solar chain its spiritual home. On its return journey to the earth chain the monad
passes through the same planets in reverse order and in each one it picks up the life-
atoms it had previously cast off.

The monad passes through the entire planetary chain of each of the sacred planets. On
each globe it emanates a ray, a temporary psychomental soul, which briefly embodies in
a suitable vehicle spiritual, astral, ethereal, or physical. This ray is native to the planet
on which it manifests, and passes through its various cyclic periods of activity, after
which it is withdrawn into the monad. The higher principles associated with the monad
proceed to the next planet along the circulations of the cosmos, impelled by karmic
attraction. The same process is repeated on each of the sacred planets.

After visiting the solar chain, the spiritual monad turns back and retraces its steps
because the attractions and aspirations which had previously caused it to rise through
the spheres have now exhausted their energies, and the latent seeds of thought and
feeling stored in the monad in previous earth lives, because of their origin in material
spheres, now begin to pull the monad downwards. On reaching the earth chain, the
higher human monad descends through globes A, B, and C, staying briefly on each one
to recollect the life-atoms which it had previously cast off during its ascent through
globes E, F, and G, and which have been pursuing their own journeyings in the
intervening period. By the time globe D is reached, the reincarnating ego is nearing the
end of its devachanic rest and begins to prepare for its next incarnation. It projects its
ray into the karmically appropriate reproductive cells, which, once they have fused, grow
into the body of the newborn child.

We began the present solar manvantara on the earth chain as unselfconscious god-
sparks and it takes seven (or ten) planetary reembodiments for us to raise ourselves to
the status of selfconscious gods. By analogy, the same process will have to be gone
through on each of the planetary chains during the major outer rounds, for the purpose
of becoming masters of life on each one. The outer rounds through the sacred planetary
chains of the solar system are repeated seven (or twelve) times. In addition to the outer
rounds from planetary chain to planetary chain, there are also outer rounds from solar
system to solar system, undertaken by the divine monad. And over even longer periods
of time there will be outer rounds from galaxy to galaxy, etc.

Everything is relative: for the chain monad, the passage from globe to globe is the inner
round and from planet to planet the outer round; for the spiritual monad, the passage
from planet to planet is the inner round, and from solar system to solar system the outer
round; and for the divine monad, the passage from solar system to solar system is the
inner round, and from galaxy to galaxy the outer round. There are inner and outer
rounds at every level and on every scale. For example, just as the chain monad pursues
its rounds from globe to globe, so the life-atoms of our bodies pursue their rounds or
journeyings in and through the various layers of our auric egg.

Theosophy paints a magnificent panorama of evolution. We are not worms of the dust,
doomed to live a single meaningless life on earth, but children of the cosmos, sparks of
divinity, on an eternal evolutionary adventure through the infinite fields of space and
time.
Sources:
The Esoteric Tradition (2nd ed.), 839-78
Dialogues of G. de Purucker, 1:244-6, 2:306, 3:275-85
Fountain-Source of Occultism, 350-60, 599-603, 627-36

See also: Rounds and manvantaras and The twelve sacred planets.

by David Pratt. Nov 1997. Last revised Mar 2011.

Rounds and manvantaras

The twelve sacred planets

Our after-death journey

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