The Theosophical Society,
The Writings of C
Charles
Webster Leadbeater
(1858
– 1934)
An Outline of Theosophy
By
C
Contents
What it is
How is it
Known
The Method
of Observation
General
Principles
The Three
Great Truths
Advantage
Gained from this Knowledge
The Deity
The Divine
Scheme
The
Constitution of Man
The True
Man
Reincarnation
The Wider
Outlook
Death
Man’s Past
and Future
Cause and
Effect
What Theosophy
does for us
WHAT IT IS
For
many a year men have been discussing arguing, enquiring about certain great
basic
truths – about the existence and the Nature of God, about His relation to
man,
and about the past and future of humanity.
So radically have they differed
on
these points, and so bitterly have they assailed and ridiculed one another’s
beliefs,
that there has come to be a firmly-rooted popular opinion that with
regard
to all these matters there is no certainty available – nothing but vague
speculation
amid a cloud of unsound deductions drawn from ill-established
premises.
And this in spite of the very definite, though frequently incredible,
assertions
made on these subjects on behalf of the various religions.
This
popular opinion, though not unnatural under the circumstances, is entirely
untrue.
There are definite facts available – plenty of them. Theosophy gives
them
to us; but it offers them not (as religions do) as matters of faith, but as
subjects
for study. It is itself not a religion, but it bears to religions the
same
relation as did the ancient philosophies. It does not contradict them, but
explains
them. Whatever in any of them is unreasonable, it rejects as
necessarily
unworthy of the Deity and derogatory to Him; whatever is reasonable
in
each and all of them it takes up, explains and emphasises, and thus combines
all
into one harmonious whole.
It
holds that truth on all these most important points is attainable – that
there
is a great body of knowledge about them already existing. It considers all
the
various religions as statements of that truth from different points of view;
since,
though they differ much as to nomenclature and as to articles of belief,
they
all agree as to the only matter which are of real importance – the kind of
life
which a good man should lead, the qualities which he must develop, the
vices
which he must avoid. On these practical points the teaching is identical
in
Hinduism and Buddhism, in Zoroasterianism and Muhammadanism, in Judaism and Christianity.
Theosophy
may be described to the outside world as an intelligent theory of the
universe.
Yet for those who have studied it, it is not theory, but fact; for it
is
a definite science, capable of being studied, and its teachings are
verifiable
by investigation and experiment for those who are willing to take the
trouble
to qualify themselves for such enquiry. It is a statement of the great
facts
of Nature so far as they are known – an outline of the scheme of our
corner
of the universe.
HOW IS IT
KNOWN
How
did this scheme become known, some may ask; by whom was it
discovered?
We cannot speak of it as discovered, for in truth it has always been known
to mankind, though sometimes temporarily
forgotten in certain parts of the world.
There
has always existed a certain body of highly developed men – men not of any one
nation, but of all the advanced nations – who have held it in its fullness;
and
there has always been pupils of these men, who were specially studying it,
while
its broad principles have always been known in the outer world. This body
of
highly-developed men exists now, as in past ages, and Theosophical teaching
is
published to the Western world at their instigation, and through a few of
their
pupils.
Those
who are ignorant have sometimes clamorously insisted that, if this be so,
these
truths ought to have been published long ago; and most unjustly they
accuse
the possessors of such knowledge of undue reticence in withholding them from
the world at large. They forget that all who really sought these truths
have
always been able to find them, and that it is only now that we are in the
Western
world are truly beginning to seek.
For
many centuries Europe was content to live, for the most part, in the
grossest
superstition; and when reaction at last set in from the absurdity and
bigotry
of those beliefs, it brought a period of atheism, which was just as
conceited
and bigoted in another direction. So that it is really only now that
some
of the humbler and more reasonable of our people are beginning to admit
that
they know nothing, and to enquire whether there is not real information
available
somewhere.
Though
these reasonable enquirers are as yet a small minority, the Theosophical
Society
has been founded in order to draw them together, and its books are put
before
the public so that those who will, may read, mark, learn, and inwardly
digest
these great truths. Its mission is not
to force its teaching upon
reluctant
minds, but simply to offer it, so that those may take it who feel the
need
for it. We are not in the least under the delusion of the poor arrogant
missionary,
who dares to condemn to an unpleasant eternity every one who will
not
pronounce his little provincial shibboleth; we are perfectly aware that all
will
at last be well for those who cannot as yet see their way to accept the
truth,
as well as for those who receive it with avidity.
But
the knowledge of this truth has, for us and for thousands of others, made
life
easier to bear and death easier to face; and it is simply the wish to share
these
benefits with our fellow men that urges us to devote ourselves to writing
and
lecturing on these subjects. The broad outlines of the great truths have
been
widely known in the world for thousands of years, and are so known in the
present
day. It is only we in the West who, in our incredible self-sufficiency ,
have
remained ignorant of them, and scoffed at any fragment of them which may
have
come in our way.
As
in the case of any other science, so in this science of the soul, full
details
are known only to those who devote their lives to its pursuit. The men
who
fully know – those who are called Adepts – have patiently developed within
themselves
the powers necessary for perfect observation. For in this respect
there
is a difference between the methods of occult investigation and those of
the
more modern form of science; this latter devotes all its energy to the
improvement
of its instruments, while the former aims rather at development of
the
observer.
THE METHOD
OF OBSERVATION
The
detail of this development would take up more space than can be devoted to it
in a preliminary manual such as this. The whole scheme will be found fully
explained
in other Theosophical works; for the moment let it suffice to say that
it
is entirely a question of vibration. All information which reaches a man from
the
world without, reaches him by means of vibration of some sort, whether it be
through
the senses of sight, hearing or touch. Consequently, if a man is able to
make
himself sensitive to additional vibrations he will acquire additional
information;
he will become what is commonly called “clairvoyant”.
This
word, as commonly used, means nothing more than a slight extension of
normal
vision; but it is possible for a man to become more and more sensitive to
the
subtler vibrations, until his consciousness, acting through many developed
faculties,
functions freely in new and higher ways. He will then find new worlds
of
subtler matter opening up before him, though in reality they are only new
portions
of the world he already knows.
He
learns in this way that a vast unseen universe exists round him during his
whole
life, and that it is constantly affecting him in many ways, even though he
remains
blindly unconscious of it. But when he
develops faculties whereby he
can
sense these other worlds, it becomes possible for him to observe them
scientifically,
to repeat his observations many times, to compare them with
those
of others, to tabulate them, and draw deductions from them.
All
this has been done – not once, but thousands of times. The Adepts of whom I spoke
have done this to the fullest possible extent, but many efforts along the
same
line have been made by our own Theosophical students. The result of our
investigations
has been not only to verify much of the information given to us
at
the outset by those Adepts, but also to explain and amplify it very
considerably.
The
sight of this usually unseen portion of our world at once brings to our
knowledge
a vast body of entirely new facts which are of the very deepest
interest.
It gradually solves for us many of the most difficult problems of
life;
it clears up for us many mysteries so that we now see them to have been
mysteries
to us for so long, only because heretofore we saw so small a part of
the
facts, because we were looking at the various matters from below, and as
isolated
and unconnected fragments, instead of rising above them to a standpoint whence
they are comprehensible as parts of a mighty whole.
It
settles in a moment many questions which have been much disputed – such, for example,
as that of the continued existence of man after death. It affords us
the
true explanation of all the wildly impossible statements made by the
churches
about heaven, hell and purgatory; it dispels our ignorance and removes
our
fear of the unknown by supplying us with a rational and orderly scheme. What this
scheme is I will now endeavour to explain.
GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
It
is my desire to make this statement of Theosophy as clear and readily
comprehensible
as possible, and for this reason I shall at every point give
broad
principles only, referring those who wish for detailed information to
larger
books, or to monographs upon particular subjects. I hope at the end of
each
chapter of this little treatise to give a list of such books as should be
consulted
by those who desire to go more deeply into this most fascinating
system.
I
shall begin then, by a statement of the most striking of the broad general
principles
which emerge as a result of Theosophical study. There may be those
who
find here matter which is incredible to them, or matter which runs entirely
contrary
to their preconceived ideas. If that be
so, then I would ask such men
to
remember that I am not putting this forward as a theory – as a metaphysical
speculation
or a pious opinion of my own – but as a definite scientific fact
proved
and examined over and over again, not only by myself, but many others
also.
Furthermore,
I claim that it is a fact which may be verified at first hand by
any
person who is willing to devote the time and trouble necessary to fit
himself
for the investigation. I am not offering to the reader a creed to be
swallowed
like a pill; I am trying to set before him a system to study, and
above
all, a life to live. I ask no blind faith from him; I simply suggest to
him
the consideration of the Theosophical teaching as a hypothesis, though to me it
is no hypothesis, but a living fact.
If
he finds it more satisfactory than others which have been presented to him,
if
it seems to him to solve more of the problems of life, to answer a greater
number
of the questions which inevitably arise for thinking man, then he will
pursue
its study further, and will find in it, I hope and believe, the same
ever-increasing
satisfaction and joy that I have myself found.
If
on the other hand, he thinks some other system preferable, no harm is done;
he
has simply learnt something of the tenets of a body of men with whom he is as yet
unable to agree. I have sufficient faith in it myself to believe that,
sooner
or later, a time will come when he will agree
with them – when he also
will
know what we know.
THE THREE
GREAT TRUTHS
In
one of our earliest Theosophical books it was written that there are three
truths
which are absolute and cannot be lost, but yet may remain silent for lack
of
speech. They are as great as life itself, and yet as simple as the simplest
mind
of man. I can hardly do better than paraphrase these for the greatest of my
general
principles.
I
will then give some corollaries which follow naturally from them, and then,
thirdly,
some of the more prominent of the advantageous results which
necessarily
attend this definite knowledge. Having thus outlined the scheme in
tabular
form, I will take it up point by point, and endeavour to offer such
elementary
explanations as come within the scope of this little introductory
book.
1.
God exists, and He is good. He is the great life-giver who dwells
within
us and without us, is undying and eternally beneficent. He is not heard,
nor
seen, nor touched, yet is perceived by the man who desires perception.
2.
Man is immortal, and his future is one whose glory and splendour have
no
limit.
3.
A Divine law of absolute justice rules the world, so that each man is
in
truth his own judge, the dispenser of glory or gloom to himself, the decreer
of
his life, his reward, his punishment.
To
each of these great truths are attached certain others, subsidiary and
explanatory.
From
the first of them it follows:-
1.
That, in spite of appearance, all things are definitely and intelligently
moving together for good; that all circumstances, however untoward they may
seem, are in reality exactly what are needed; that everything around us tends,
not to hinder us, but to help us, if it is only understood.
2.That
since the whole scheme thus tends to man’s benefit, clearly it is
his
duty to learn to understand it.
3That
when he thus understands it, it is also his duty intelligently to
co-operate
in this scheme.
From
the second great truth it follows:-
1.That
the true man is a soul, and that this body is only an appanage.
2.That
he must therefore, regard everything from the standpoint of the
soul,
and that in every case when an internal struggle takes place he must
realise
his identity with the higher and not with the lower.
3.That
what we commonly call his life is only one day in his true and
larger
life.
4.That
death is a matter of far less importance than is usually supposed,
since
it is by no means the end of life, but merely the passage from one stage
of
it to another.
5.That
man has an immense evolution behind him, the study of which is
most
fascinating, interesting and instructive.
6.That
he has also a splendid evolution before him, the study of which
will
be even more fascinating and instructive.
7.That
there is an absolute certainty of final attainment for every human
soul,
no matter how far he may have seemed to have strayed from the path of
evolution.
From
the third great truth it follows:-
1.That
every thought, word, or action produces its definite result – not
a
reward or a punishment imposed from without, but a result inherent in the
action
itself, definitely connected with it in the relation of cause and effect,
these
being really but two inseparable parts of one whole.
2.That
it is both the duty and interest of man to study this divine law
closely,
so that he will be able to adapt himself to it and to use it, as we use
other
great laws of nature.
3.That
it is necessary for man to attain perfect control over himself, so
that
he may guide his life intelligently in accordance with this law.
ADVANTAGES
GAINED FROM THIS KNOWLEDGE
When
this knowledge is fully assimilated, it changes the aspect of life so
completely
that it would be impossible for me to tabulate all the advantages
which
flow from it. I can only mention a few of the principal lines along which
this
change is produced, and the reader’s own thought will, no doubt, supply
some
of the endless ramifications which are their necessary consequence.
But
it must be understood that no vague knowledge will be sufficient. Such
belief
as most men accord to the assertions of their religions will be quite
useless,
since it produces no practical effect in their lives. But if we
believe
in these truths as we do in the other laws of nature – as we believe
that
fire burns and that water drowns – then the effect that they produce in our
lives
is enormous.
For
our belief in the laws of Nature is sufficiently real to induce us to order
our
lives in accordance with it. Believing that fire burns, we take every
precaution to avoid fire; believing that water drowns,
we avoid going into
water
too deep for us unless we can swim.
Now
these beliefs are so definite and real to us because they are founded on
knowledge
and illustrated by daily experience; and the beliefs of the
Theosophical
student are equally real and definite to him for exactly the same
reason.
And that is why we find following from them the results now to be
described:
1.We
gain a rational comprehension of life – we know how we should live
and
why, and we learn that life is worth
living when properly understood.
2.We
learn how to govern ourselves, and therefore how to develop
ourselves.
3.We
learn how best to help those whom we love, how to make ourselves
useful
to all with whom we come into contact, and ultimately to the whole human
race.
4.We
learn to view everything from the wider philosophical standpoint –
never
from the petty and purely personal side.
Consequently:
5.The
troubles of life are no longer so large for us.
6.We
have no sense of injustice in connection with our surroundings or
our
destiny.
7.We
are altogether freed from the fear of death.
8.Our
grief in connection with the death of those whom we love is very
greatly
mitigated.
9.We
gain a totally different view of life after death, and we understand
its
place in our evolution.
10.We
are altogether free from religious fears or worry, either for ourselves
or
for our friends – fears as to the salvation of the soul, for example.
11.We
are no longer troubled by uncertainty as to our future fate, but live
in
perfect serenity and perfect fearlessness.
Now
let us take these points in detail, and endeavour briefly to explain them.
THE DEITY
When
we lay down the existence of God as the first and greatest of our
principles,
it becomes necessary for us to define the sense in which we employ
that
much abused, yet mighty word. We try to redeem it from the narrow limits
imposed
on it by the ignorance of undeveloped men, and to restore to it the
splendid
conception – splendid, though so infinitely below the reality – given
to
it by the founders of religions. And we distinguish between God as the
Infinite
Existence, and the manifestation of this Supreme Existence as a
revealed
God, evolving and guiding a universe.
Only
to this limited manifestation should the term “ a personal God” be applied.
God
in Himself is beyond the bounds of the personality, is “in all and through
all”,
and indeed is all; and of the Infinite, the Absolute, the All, we can only
say
“He is”.
For
all practical purposes we need not go further than that marvellous and
glorious
manifestation of Him (a little less entirely beyond our comprehension)
the
great Guiding Force or deity of our own solar system, whom philosophers have called
the Logos. Of Him is true all that we have ever heard predicted of God – all
that is good, that is – not the blasphemous conceptions sometimes put
forward,
ascribing to Him human vices.
But
all that has ever been said of the love, the wisdom, the power the patience
and
compassion, the omniscience, the omnipresence, the omnipotence –all of this, and
much more, is true of the Logos of our system. Verily “in Him we live and move
and have our being”, not as a poetical expression, but (strange as it may seem
) as a definite scientific fact; and so when we speak of the deity our
first
thought is naturally of the Logos.
We
do not vaguely hope that He may be; we do not even believe as a matter of
faith
that He is; we simply know it as we know that the sun shines, for to the
trained
and developed clairvoyant investigator this Mighty existence is a
definite
certainty. Not that any merely human development can enable us directly
to
see Him, but that unmistakable evidence of His action and His purpose
surrounds
us on every side as we study the life of the unseen world, which is in
reality
only the higher part of this.
Here
we meet the explanation of a dogma which is common to all religions – that
of
the Trinity. Incomprehensible as many of the statements made on this subject
in
our creeds may seem to the ordinary reader, they become significant and
luminous
when the truth is understood. As He shows Himself to us in His work,
the
Solar Logos is undoubtedly triple – three yet one, as religion has long ago
told
us; and as much of the explanation of this apparent mystery as the intellect of
man at its present stage can grasp will be found in the books
presently
to be mentioned.
That
He is within us as well as without us, or, in other words, that man himself
is
in essence divine, is another great truth which, though those who are blind
to
all but the outer and lower world may still argue about it, is an absolute
certainty
to the student of the higher side of life. Of the constitution of
man’s
soul and its various vehicles we shall speak under the heading of the
second
of truths; suffice it for the moment to note that the inherent divinity
is
a fact, and that in it resides the assurance of the ultimate return of every
human
being to the divine level.
THE DIVINE
SCHEME
Perhaps
none of our postulates will present greater difficulty to the average
mind
than the first corollary to the first great truth. Looking round us in
daily
life we see so much of the storm and stress, the sorrow and suffering, so
much
that looks like the triumph of evil over good, that it seems almost
impossible
to suppose that all this apparent confusion is in reality part of an
ordered
process. Yet this is the truth, and can be seen
to be the truth so soon
as
we escape from the dust-cloud raised by the struggle in the outer world, and
look
upon it all from the vantage ground of the fuller knowledge and the inner
peace.
Then
the real motion of the complex machinery becomes apparent. Then it is seen that
what have seemed to be countercurrents of evil prevailing against the
stream
of progress are merely trifling eddies into which for the moment a little
water
may turn aside, or tiny whirlpools on the surface, in which part of the
water
appears for the moment to be running backwards.
But
all the time the mighty river is sweeping steadily on its appointed course,
bearing
the superficial whirlpools along with it. Just so the great stream of
evolution
is moving evenly on its way, and what seems to us so terrible a
tempest
is the merest ruffling of its surface. Another analogy, very beautifully
worked
out is given in Mr. C. H. Hinton’s Scientific Romances, vol. 1, pp 18-24.
Truly,
as our third great truth tells us, absolute justice is meted out to all,
and
so, in whatever circumstances a man finds himself, he knows that he himself
and
none other has provided them; but he may also know much more than this.
He
may rest assured that under the action of evolutionary law matters are so
arranged
as to give him the best possible opportunity for developing within
himself
those qualities which he most needs.
His
circumstances are by no means necessarily those that he would have chosen
for
himself, but they are exactly what he deserved; and subject only to that
consideration
of his deserts ( which frequently impose serious limitations),
they
are those best adapted for his progress. They may provide him with all
sorts
of difficulties, but these are offered only in order that he may learn to
surmount
them, and thereby develop within himself courage, determination,
patience,
perseverance, or whatever other quality he may lack. Men often speak
as
though the forces of nature were conspiring against them, whereas as a matter
of
fact, if they would but understand it, everything about them is carefully
calculated
to assist them on their upward way.
That,
since there is a Divine scheme, it is man’s part to try and understand it,
is
a proposition which surely needs no argument. Even were it only from motives of
self-interest, those who have to live under a certain set of conditions would do
well to familiarise themselves with them; and when a man’s objects in life become
altruistic it is still more necessary for him to comprehend, in order
that
he may help the more effectually.
It
is undoubtedly part of this plan for man’s evolution that he himself should
intelligently
co-operate in it as soon as he has developed sufficient
intelligence
to grasp it and sufficient good feeling to wish to aid. But indeed
this
Divine scheme is so wonderful and so beautiful that, when once a man sees
it,
nothing else is possible for him than to throw all his energies into the
effort
to become a worker in it, no matter how humble may be the part which he
has
to sustain.
For
fuller information on the subjects of this chapter the reader is referred to
Mrs.
Besant’s Esoteric Christianity and Ancient Wisdom, and to my own little
book
on The Christian Creed. Much light is
also thrown on these conceptions
from
the Greek standpoint in Mr. G. R. S. Mead’s Orpheus, and from the
Gnostic-Christian
in his fragments Fragments Of A Faith Forgotten.
THE
CONSTITUTION OF MAN
The
astounding practical materialism to which we have been reduced in this
country
can hardly be more clearly shown than it is by the expressions that we
employ
in common life. We speak quite ordinarily of man as having a soul, of
“saving”
our souls, and so on, evidently regarding the physical body as the real
man
and the soul as a mere appanage, a vague something to be considered as
property
of the body.
With
an idea so little defined as this, it can hardly be a matter of surprise
that
many people go a little further along the same lines, and doubt whether
this
vague something exists at all. So it would seem that the ordinary man is
very
often quite uncertain whether he possesses a soul or not; still less does
he
know that the soul is immortal. That he should remain in this pitiable
condition
of ignorance seems strange, for there is a very great deal of evidence
available
even in the outer world, to show that man has an existence quite apart
from
his body, capable of being carried on at a distance from it while it is
living,
and entirely without it when it is dead.
Until
we have entirely rid ourselves of this extraordinary delusion that the
body
is the man, it is quite impossible that we should at all appreciate the
real
facts of the case. A little investigation immediately shows us that the
body
is only a vehicle by means of which the man manifests himself in connection with
this particular type of gross matter out of which our visible world is built.
Furthermore,
it shows that other and subtler types of matter exist – not only
the
ether admitted by modern science as interpenetrating all known substances,
but
other types of matter which interpenetrate ether in turn, and are as much
finer
than ether as it is than solid matter. The question will naturally occur
to
the reader as to how it will be possible for man to become conscious of the
existence
of types of matter so wonderfully fine, so minutely subdivided. The
answer
is that he can become conscious of them in the same way as he becomes
conscious
of the lower matter – by receiving vibrations from them.
And
he is enabled to receive vibrations from them by reason of the fact that he
possesses
matter of these finer types as part of himself – that just as his body
of
dense matter is his vehicle for perceiving and communicating with the world
of
dense matter, so does the finer matter within him constitute for him a
vehicle
by means of which he can perceive and communicate with the world of
finer
matter which is imperceptible to the grosser physical senses.
This
is by no means a new idea. It will be remembered that
“there
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body,” and that he furthermore
refers to both the soul and the spirit in man, by no means employing the two
synonymously, as is so often ignorantly done at the present day. It speedily
becomes evident that man is a far more complex being than is ordinarily
supposed;
that not only is he a spirit within a soul but that this soul has various
vehicles of different degrees of density, the physical body being only one, and
the lowest of them.
These
various vehicles may all be described as bodies in relation to their
respective
levels of matter. It might be said that there exist around us a
series
of worlds one within the other (by inter-penetration), and that man
possesses
a body for each of these worlds, by means of which he may observe it and live
in it. He learns by degrees how to use these various bodies, and in
that
way gains a much more complete idea of the great complex world in which he lives;
for all these other inner worlds are in reality still part of it.
In
this way he comes to understand very many things which before seemed
mysterious
to him; he ceases to identify himself with his bodies, and learns
that
they are only vestures which he may put off and resume or change without
being
himself in the least affected thereby. Once more we must repeat that all
this
by no means metaphysical speculation or pious opinion, but definite
scientific
fact thoroughly well known experimentally to those who have studied
Theosophy.
Strange
as it may seem to many to find precise statements taking the place of
hypothesis
upon questions such as these, I am speaking here of nothing that is
not
known by direct and constantly repeated observation to a large number of
students.
Assuredly “we know whereof we speak”, not by faith but by experiment, and
therefore we speak with confidence. To these inner worlds or different levels
of nature we usually give the name of planes. We speak of the visible world as
“the physical plane”, though under that name we include also the gases and
various grades of ether.
To
the next stage of materiality the name of “the astral plane” was given by the
medieval
alchemists (who were well aware of its existence), and we have adopted their
title. Within this exists another world of still finer matter, of which we speak
as “the mental plane”, because of its matter is composed what is commonly called
the mind in man. There are other still higher planes, but I need not trouble
the reader with designations for them, since we are at present dealing
only
with man’s manifestation in the lower worlds.
It
must always be born in mind that all these worlds are in no way removed from
us
in space. In fact, they all occupy exactly the same space, and are all
equally
about us always. At the moment our consciousness is focused in and
working
through our physical brain, and thus we are conscious only of the
physical
world, and not even of the whole of that. But we have only to learn to
focus
that consciousness in one of these higher vehicles, and at once the
physical
fades from our view, and we see instead
the world of matter which
corresponds
to the vehicle used.
Recollect
that all matter is in essence the same. Astral matter does not differ
in
its nature from physical matter any more than ice differs in its nature from
steam.
It is simply the same thing in a different condition. Physical matter may
become
astral, or astral may become mental, if only it be sufficiently
subdivided,
and caused to vibrate with the proper degree of rapidity.
THE TRUE
MAN
What,
then is the true man? He is in truth an emanation from the Logos, a spark
of
the Divine fire. The spirit within him is of the very essence of the Deity, and
that spirit wears his soul as a vesture – a vesture which encloses and individualises
it, and seems to our limited vision to separate it for a time from the rest of
the Divine Life. The story of the original formation of the soul of man, and of
the enfolding of the spirit within it, is a beautiful and interesting one, but
too long for inclusion in a merely elementary work like this. It may be found
in full detail in those of our books which deal with this part of the doctrine.
Suffice
it here to say that all three aspects of the Divine Life have their part
in
its inception, and that its formation is the culmination of that mighty
sacrifice
of the Logos in descending into matter, which has been called the
Incarnation.
Thus the baby soul is born; and just as it is “made in the image of
God”
– threefold in aspect, as He is, and threefold in manifestation, as He is
also
– so is its method of evolution also a reflection of His descent into
matter.
The Divine Spark contains within it all
potentiality, but it is only
through
long ages of evolution that all its possibilities can be realised.
The
appointed method for the evolution of the man’s latent qualities seems to be
by
learning to vibrate in response to the impacts from without. But at the level
where
he finds himself (that of the higher mental plane) the vibrations are far
too
fine to awaken this response at present; he must begin with those that are
coarser
and stronger, and having awakened his dormant sensibilities by their
means
he will gradually grow more and more sensitive until he is capable of
perfect
response at all levels to all possible rates of vibration.
That
is the material aspect of his progress; but regarded subjectively, to be
able
to respond to all vibrations means to be perfect in sympathy and
compassion.
And that is exactly the condition of the developed man –the adept,
the
spiritual teacher, the Christ. It needs
the development within him of all
the
qualities which go to make up the perfect man; and this is the real work of
his
long life in matter. In this chapter we have brushed the surface of many
subjects
of extreme importance. Thos who wish to study them further will find
many
Theosophical books to help them.
On
the constitution of man, we would refer readers to Mrs. Besant’s works, Man and His Bodies, The Self And Its Sheaths,
and The Seven Principles Of Man, and, also my own book, Man, Visible And
Invisible, in which will be found many illustrations of the different vehicles
of man as they appear to the clairvoyant sight. On the use of the inner
faculties refer to Clairvoyance.
On
the formation and evolution of the soul to Mrs. Besant’s Birth and Evolution
of
the Soul, Mr. Sinnett’s Growth of the Soul, and my own Christian Creed and
Man,
Visible and Invisible.
On
the spiritual evolution of man, Mrs. Besant’s In the Outer Court and The Path of
Discipleship, and the concluding chapters of my own little book, Invisible Helpers.
REINCARNATION
Since
the finer movements cannot at first affect the soul, he has to draw round
him
vestures of grosser matter through which the heavier vibrations can play;
and
so he takes upon himself successively the mental body, the astral body, and
the
physical body. This is a birth or incarnation –the commencement of a
physical
life. During that life all kinds of experiences come to him through his
physical
body, and from them he should learn some lessons and develop some
qualities
in himself.
After
a time he begins to withdraw into himself, and puts off by degrees the
vestures
which he has assumed. The first of these to drop is the physical body,
and
his withdrawal from that is what we call death. It is not the end of his
activities,
as we so ignorantly suppose; nothing could be further from the fact.
He
is simply withdrawing from one effort, bearing back with him its results; and
after
a certain period of comparative repose he will make another effort of the
same
kind.
Thus,
as has been said, what we ordinarily call his life is only one day in the
real
and wider life – a day at school, during which he learns certain lessons.
But
inasmuch as one short life of seventy or eighty years at most is not enough
to
give him an opportunity of learning all the lessons which this wonderful and
beautiful
world has to teach, and inasmuch as God means him to learn them all in His own
good time, it is necessary that he should come back again many times, and live
through many of these schooldays that we call lives, in different
classes
and under different circumstances, until all the lessons are learned;
and
then this lower schoolwork will be over, and he will pass to something
higher
and more glorious – the true divine lifework for which all this earthly
school-life
is fitting him.
That
is what is called the doctrine of reincarnation or rebirth – a doctrine
which
was widely known in the ancient civilisations, and is even today held by
the
majority of the human race.
Of
it Hume has written:-
“What
is incorruptible must also be ungenerable. The soul, therefore, if
immortal,
existed before our birth…..The metempsychosis is, therefore, the only
system
of this kind that Philosophy can hearken to.” *
(* Hume. “Essay on
Immortality,”
Writing
of the theories of metempsychosis in
“There
is something underlying them all which, if expressed in less mythological
language,
may stand the severest test of philosophical examination.” # (# Max
Muller,
‘Theosophy or Psychological Religion,’ p. 22, 1895 ed.)
In his last and posthumous work this great
Orientalist again refers to this
doctrine,
and expresses his personal belief in it.
And
Huxley writes: -
“Like
the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the
world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from
analogy is capable of supplying.” ^ ( ^ Huxley, “Evolution and Ethics,” p. 61,
1895.)
So
it will be seen that modern as well as ancient writers recognise this
hypothesis
as one deserving of the most serious consideration.
It
must not for a moment be confounded with a theory held by the ignorant, that
it
was possible for a soul which had reached humanity in its evolution to
re-become
that of an animal. No such retrogression is within the limits of
possibility;
when once man comes into existence – a human soul, inhabiting what we call in
our books a causal body – he can never again fall back into what is in truth a
lower kingdom of nature, whatever mistakes he may make or however he may fail
to take advantage of his opportunities. If he is idle in the school of life, he
may need to take the same lesson over and over again before he has really
learned it , but still on the whole progress is steady, even though it
may
often be slow. A few years ago the essence of this doctrine was prettily put
thus
in one of the magazines: -
“A
boy went to school. He was very little. All that he knew he had drawn in with
his
mother’s milk. His teacher (who was God) placed him in the lowest class, and gave
him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt do no hurt to
any
living thing. Thou shalt not steal. So the man did not kill; but he was
cruel,
and he stole, - At the end of the day (when his beard was grey – when the
night
was come) his teacher (who was God) said – Thou hast learned not to kill.
But
the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.”
“On
the morrow he came back, a little boy, and his teacher (who was God) put him in
a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt do
no
hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. So the
man
did no hurt to any living thing; but he stole and he cheated. And at the end
of
the day – when his beard was grey – when the night was come – his teacher
(who
was god) said: Thou hast learned to be merciful. But the other lessons thou hast
not learned. Come back tomorrow.”
“Again,
on the morrow, he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who was God) put
him in a class yet a little higher, and gave these lessons to learn: Thou
shalt
not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. Thou shalt not covet. So the man did not
steal;
but he cheated, and he coveted. And at the end of the day – (when his
beard
was grey –when night was come) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned
not to steal. But the other lessons thou
hast not learned. Come back, my child, tomorrow.”
“This
is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the book of the
world,
and in the scroll of the heavens, which is writ in the stars.” (Berry
Benson,
in The Century Magazine, May 1894).
I
must not fill my pages with the many unanswerable arguments in favour of this
doctrine
of reincarnation; they are set forth very fully in our literature by a
far
abler pen than mine. Here I will say only this. Life presents us with many
problems
which, on any other hypothesis than this of reincarnation, seem utterly
insoluble;
this great truth does explain them, and therefore holds the field
until
another more satisfactory hypothesis can be found. Like the rest of the
teaching,
this is not a Hypothesis, but a matter
of direct knowledge for many
of
us; but naturally our knowledge is not proof to others.
Yet
good men and true have been sorrowfully forced to admit that they were
unable
to reconcile the state of affairs which exists in the world around us
with
the theory that God was both almighty and all-loving. They felt, when they
looked
upon all the heartbreaking sorrow and suffering, that either He was not
almighty,
and could not prevent it, or He was not all-loving, and did not care.
In
Theosophy we hold with determined conviction that He is both almighty and
all-loving,
and we reconcile with that certainty the existing facts of life by
means
of this basic doctrine of reincarnation. Surely the only hypothesis which
allows
us reasonably to recognise the perfection of power and love in the Deity
is
one which is worthy of careful examination.
For
we understand that our present life is not our first, but that each have
behind
us a long line of lives, by means of which we have evolved from the
condition
of primitive man to our present position. Assuredly in these past
lives
we shall have done both good and evil, and from every one of our actions a
definite
proportion of result must have followed under the inexorable law of
justice.
From the good follows always happiness and further opportunity; from
the
evil follows always sorrow and limitation.
So,
if we find ourselves limited in any way, the limitation is of our own
making,
or is merely due to the youth of the soul; if we have sorrow and
suffering
to endure, we ourselves alone are responsible. The manifold and
complex
destinies of men answer with rigid exactitude to the balance between the good
and evil of their previous actions; and all is moving onward under the
divine
order towards the final consummation of glory.
There
is perhaps, no Theosophical teaching to which more violent objection is
made
than this great truth of reincarnation; yet it is in reality a most comforting
doctrine. For it gives us time for the progress which lies before – time and
opportunity to become “perfect”. Objectors chiefly found their protest on the
fact that they have had so much trouble and sorrow in this life that they will
not listen to any suggestion that it may be necessary to go through it all again.
But this is obviously not argument; we are in search of truth, and when it is
found we must not shrink from it, whether it be pleasant or unpleasant, though,
as a matter of fact, as said above, reincarnation rightly understood is profoundly
comforting.
Again,
people often enquire why, if we have had so many previous lives, we do
not
remember any of them. Put briefly, the answer to this is that some people do
remember
them; and the reason why the majority do not is because their
consciousness
is still focused in one or other of the lower sheaths. That sheath
cannot
be expected to recollect previous incarnations, because it has not had
any;
and the soul, which has, is not yet fully conscious on its own plane. But
the
memory of all the past is stored within the soul, and expresses itself here
in
the innate qualities with which the child is born; and when the man has
evolved
sufficiently to be able to focus his consciousness there instead of only
in
lower vehicles the entire history of that real and wider life will be open
before
him like a book.
The
whole of this question is fully and beautifully worked out in Mrs. Besant’s
manual
on Reincarnation, Dr, Jerome Anderson’s Reincarnation and in the chapters on
that subject in The Ancient Wisdom, to
which the attention of the reader is specially directed.
THE WIDER
OUTLOOK
A
little thought will soon show us what a radical change is introduced into the
life
of the man who realises that his physical life is nothing but a day at
school,
and that his physical body is merely a temporary vesture assumed for the purpose
of learning through it. He sees at once that this purpose of “learning
the
lesson” is the only one of any importance, and that the man who allows
himself
to be diverted from that purpose by any consideration is acting with
inconceivable
stupidity.
To
him who knows the truth, the life of the ordinary person devoted exclusively
to
physical objects, to the pursuit of wealth and fame, appears the merest
child’s
play – a senseless sacrifice of all that is really worth having for a
few
moments gratification of the lower parts of man’s nature. The student “sets
his
affection on things above, and not on things of the earth”, not only because
he
sees this to be a right course of action, but because he realises very
clearly
the valuelessness of these things of earth. He always tries to take the
higher
point of view, for he sees that the lower is utterly unreliable – that
the
lower desires and feelings gather round him like a dense fog, and make it
impossible
for him to see anything clearly from that level.
Yet
even when he is thoroughly convinced that the higher course is always the
right
one, and when he is fully determined to follow it, he will nevertheless
sometimes
encounter very strong temptations to take the lower course, and will
be
sensible of a great struggle within him. He will discover that there is “a
law
of the members warring against the law of the mind”, as St. Paul says, so
that
“those things that I would, I do not, and the thing which I would not, that
I
do”.
Now
good religious people often make the most serious mistakes about this
interior
struggle which we have all felt to a greater or less extent. They
usually
accept one or two theories on the subject. Either they suppose that the
lower
promptings come from exterior tempting demons, or else they mourn over the terrible
wickedness and blackness of their hearts, in that such fathomless evil
still
exists within them. Indeed, many of the best men and women go through a
vast
amount of totally unnecessary suffering on this account.
The
first point to have clearly in mind if one wishes to understand this matter
is
that the lower desire is not in truth our desire at all. Nor is it the work
of
some demon trying to destroy our souls. It is true that there sometimes are
evil
entities which are attracted by the base thought in man, and intensify it
by
their action; but such entities are man-made, everyone of them, and
impermanent. They are merely artificial forms called into
existence by the
thought
of other evil men, and they have a period of what seems almost like
life,
proportioned to the strength of the thought that created them.But the
undesirable prompting within us usually comes from quite another source.
It
has been mentioned how man draws round him vestures of matter at different
levels,
in order that he may descend into incarnation. But this matter is not
dead
matter (indeed, occult science teaches us that there is no such thing as
dead
matter anywhere), but it is instinct with life; though it is life at a
stage
of evolution much earlier than our own – so much earlier that it is still
moving
on a downward course into lower matter, instead of rising again out of
lower
matter into higher.
Consequently
its tendency is always to press downwards towards the grosser
material
and the coarser vibrations which mean progress for it, but
retrogression
for us; and so it happens that the interest of the true man
sometimes
comes into collision with that of the living matter in some of his
vehicles.
That
is a very rough outline of the explanation of the curious internal strife
that
we sometimes feel – a strife which has suggested to the poetic minds the
idea
of good and evil angels in conflict over the soul of man. A more detailed
account
will be found in The Astral Plane, p. 40.
But in the meantime it is
important
that the man should realise that he is the higher force, always moving
towards
and battling for good, while this lower force is not he at all, but only
an
uncontrolled fragment of one of his lower vehicles. He must learn to control
it,
to dominate it absolutely, and to keep it in order; but he should not
therefore,
think of it as evil, but as an outpouring of the Divine power moving
on
its orderly course, though that course in this instance happens to be
downwards
into matter, instead of upwards and away from it, as ours is.
DEATH
One
of the most important practical results of a thorough comprehension of
Theosophical
truth is the entire change which is necessary brings about in our
attitude
towards death. It is impossible for us to calculate the vast amount of
utterly
unnecessary sorrow and terror and misery which mankind in the aggregate has
suffered simply from its ignorance and superstition with regard to this one matter
of death. There is among us a mass of false and foolish belief along this line
which has worked untold evil in the past and is causing indescribable suffering
in the present, and its eradication would be one of the greatest benefits that
could be conferred upon the human race.
This
benefit the Theosophical teaching at once confers on those who, from their
study
of philosophy in past lives, now find themselves able to accept it. It
robs
death forthwith of all its terror and much of its sorrow, and enables us to
see
it in its true proportions and to understand its place in the scheme of our
evolution.
While
death is considered as the end of life, as the gateway into a dim but
fearful
unknown country, it is not unnaturally regarded with much misgiving, if
not
with positive terror. Since, in spite of all religious teaching to the
contrary
this has been the view universally taken in the western world, many
grisly
horrors have sprung up around it, and have become matters of custom,
thoughtlessly
obeyed by many who should know better.
All
the ghastly paraphernalia of woe – the mutes, the plumes, the black velvet,
the
crape, the mourning garments, the black-edged note paper –all these are
nothing
more than advertisements of ignorance on the part of those who employ
them.
The man who begins to understand what death is at once puts aside all this masquerade
as childish folly, seeing that to mourn over the good fortune of his friend
merely because it involves for himself the pain of apparent separation
from
that friend, becomes, as soon as it is recognised, a display of
selfishness.
He
cannot avoid feeling the wrench of the temporary separation, but he can avoid allowing
his own pain to become a hindrance to the friend who has passed on. He knows
that there can be no need to fear or to mourn over death, whether it comes to
himself or to those whom he loves. It has come to them all often before, so that
there is nothing unfamiliar about it. Instead of representing it as a
ghastly
king of terrors, it would be more accurate and more sensible to
symbolise
it as an angel bearing a golden key to admit us to the glorious realms
of
the higher life.
He
realises very definitely that life is continuous, and that the loss of the physical
body is nothing more than the casting aside of a garment which in no way
changes the real man who is the wearer of the garment. He sees that death is
simply
a promotion from a life which is more than half-physical to one which is
wholly
astral, and therefore very much superior. So, for himself he unfeignedly
welcomes
it, and when it comes to those whom he loves, he recognises at once the great
advantage for them, even though he cannot feel a certain amount of selfish regret
that he should be temporarily separated from them.
But
he knows also that this separation is in fact only apparent, and not real.
He
knows that the so-called dead are near him still, and that he has only to
cast
off temporarily his physical body in sleep, in order to stand side by side
with
them and commune with them as before. He
sees clearly that the world is
one
and that the same Divine laws rule the whole of it, whether it be visible or
invisible
to the physical sight. Consequently he has no feeling of nervousness
or
strangeness in passing from one part of it to the other, and no sort of
uncertainty
as to what he will find on the other side of the veil.
The
whole of the unseen world is so clearly and fully mapped out for him
through
the work of the Theosophical investigators that it is well known to him as the physical
life, and thus he is prepared to enter upon it without hesitation
whenever
it may be best for his evolution. For full details of the various stages of
this higher life we must refer the reader to the books specially devoted to
this subject. It is sufficient here to say that the conditions into which the
man passes are precisely those which the man passes are precisely those which
he has made for himself. The thoughts and desires which he has encouraged
within himself during earth-life take form as definite living entities hovering
round him and reacting upon him until the energy which he poured into them is
exhausted.
When
such thoughts and desires have been powerful and persistently evil, the
companions
so created may indeed be terrible; but happily such cases form a very small
minority among the dwellers in the astral world. The worst that the
ordinary
man of the world usually provides for himself after death is a useless
and
unutterably wearisome existence, void of all rational interests – the natural
sequence of a life wasted in self-indulgence, triviality, and gossip here on
earth.
To
this weariness active suffering may under certain conditions be added. If a
man
during earth-life has allowed strong physical desire to obtain a mastery
over
him – if, for example, he has become a slave to such a vice as avarice,
sensuality,
or drunkenness – he has laid up for himself much purgatorial
suffering
after death. For in losing the physical body he in no way loses these
desires
and passions; they remain as vivid as ever – nay, they are even more
active
when they have no longer the heavy particles of dense matter to set in
motion.
What he does lose is the power to gratify these passions; so that they
remain
as torturing, gnawing desires, unsatisfied and unsatisfiable. It will be
seen
that this makes a very real hell for the unfortunate man, though of course
only
a temporary one, since in process of time such desires must burn themselves out,
expending their energy in the very suffering which they produce.
A
terrible fate, truly; yet there are two points which we should bear in mind
with
regard to it. First, that the man has not only brought it on himself, but
has
determined its intensity and it duration for himself. He has allowed this
desire
to reach a certain strength during earth-life, and now he has to meet it
and
control it. If during physical life he has made efforts to repress or check
it,
he will have just so much the less difficulty in conquering it now. He has
created
for himself the monster with which now he has to struggle; whatever
strength
his antagonist possesses is just what he has given it. Therefore, his
fate
is not imposed upon him from without, but is simply of his own making.
Secondly,
the suffering which he thus brings upon himself is the only way of
escape
for him. If it were possible for him to avoid it, and to pass through the
astral
life without this gradual wearing away of the lower desires, what would
be
the result? Obviously that he would enter upon his next physical life entirely
under the domination of these passions. He would be a born drunkard, a sensualist,
a miser; and long before it would be possible to teach him that he
ought
to try to control such passions they would have grown far too strong for
control
– they would have enslaved him, body and soul, and so another life would be
thrown away, another opportunity would be lost. He would enter thus upon a vicious
circle from which there appears no escape, and his evolution would be indefinitely
delayed.
The
Divine scheme is not thus defective. The
passion exhausts itself during the
astral
life, and the man returns to physical existence without it. True, the
weakness
of mind which allowed passion to dominate him is still there; true
also,
he has made for himself for this new life an astral body capable of
expressing
exactly the same passions as before, so that it would not be
difficult
for him to resume his old evil life. But the ego, the real man, has
had
a terrible lesson, and assuredly he will make every effort to prevent his
lower
manifestation from repeating that mistake, from falling again under the
sway
of that passion.
He
has still the germs of it within him, but if he has deserved good and wise
parents
they will help to develop the good in him and check the evil, the germs
will
remain unfructified and will atrophy, and so in the next life after that
they
will not appear at all. So by slow
degrees man conquers his evil
qualities,
and evolves virtues to replace them.
On
the other hand, the man who is intelligent and helpful, who understands the
conditions
of this non-physical existence and takes the rouble to adapt himself
to
them and make the most of them, opening before him a splendid vista of
opportunities
both for acquiring fresh knowledge and for doing useful work. He
discovers
that life away from this dense body has a vividness and brilliancy to
which
all earthly enjoyment is as moonlight unto sunlight, and that through his
clear
knowledge and calm confidence the power of the endless life shines out
upon
all those around him.
He
may become a centre of peace and joy unspeakable to hundreds of his fellow
men,
and may do more good in a few years of that astral existence than ever he
could
have done in the longest physical life.
He is well aware too, that there
lies
before him another and still grander stage of this wonderful post-mortem
life.
Just as by his desires and his lower thoughts he has made for himself the
surroundings
of his astral life, so has he by his higher thought and his nobler
aspirations
made for himself a life in the heaven-world.
For
heaven is not a dream, but a living and glorious reality. Not a city far away
beyond the stars, with gates of pearl and streets of gold, reserved for the
habitation
of a favoured few, but a state of consciousness into which every man
will
pass during the interval between lives on earth. Not an eternal abiding-place truly, but a condition of bliss indescribable
lasting through many centuries. Not even that alone. For although it contains
the reality which underlies all the best and most spiritual ideas of heaven
which have been propounded in various
religions, yet it must by no means be considered from that view only.
It
is a realm of nature which is of exceeding importance to us – a vast and
splendid
world of vivid life in which we are living now, as well as in the
periods
intervening between physical incarnations. It is only our lack of
development
, only the limitation imposed upon us by this robe of flesh, that
prevents
us from fully realising that all glory of the brightest heaven is about
us
here and now, and that influences flowing from that world are ever playing
upon
us, if we will only understand and receive them.
Impossible
as this may seem to the man of the world, it is the plainest of
realities to the occultist; and to those who have not
yet grasped this
fundamental
truth we can but repeat the advice given by the Buddhist teacher: -
“Do
not complain and cry and pray, but open your eyes and see.” The light is all
about
you, if you would only cast the bandage from your eyes and look. It is so
wonderful,
so beautiful, so far beyond what any man has dreamt of or prayed for, and it is
for ever and ever.” (“The Soul of the People “, p. 163).
When
the astral body, which is the vehicle of the lower thought and desire, has
gradually
been worn away and left behind, the man finds himself inhabiting that
higher
vehicle of finer matter which we have called the mental body. In this
vehicle
he is able to respond to the vibrations which reach him from the
corresponding
matter in the external world – the matter of the mental plane.
His
time of purgatory is over, the lower part of his nature has burnt itself
away,
and now there remain only the higher thoughts and aspirations which he has poured
forth during earth-life.
These
cluster round him, through the medium of which he is able to respond to
certain
types of vibration in this refined
matter. These thoughts which
surround
him are the powers by which he draws upon the wealth of the heaven
world.
This mental plane is a reflection of the Divine Mind – a storehouse of
infinite
extent from which the person enjoying heaven is able to draw just
according
to the power of his own thoughts and aspirations generated during the
physical
and astral life.
All
religions have spoken of the bliss of Heaven, yet few of them have put
before
us with sufficient clearness this leading idea which alone explains
rationally
how for all alike such bliss is possible – which is, the keynote of
the
conception – the fact that each man makes his own heaven by selection from
the
ineffable splendours of the Thought of God Himself. A man decides for
himself
both the length and the character of his heaven-life by the causes which
he
himself generates during his earth-life; therefore, he cannot but have
exactly
the amount which he has deserved and
exactly the quality of joy which
is
best suited to his idiosyncrasies.
This
is a world in which every being must, from the very fact of his
consciousness
there, be enjoying the highest spiritual bliss of which he is
capable
– a world whose power of response to his aspirations is limited only by
his
capacity to aspire. Further details as to the astral life will be found in the
Astral Plane; the heaven life is described in The Devachanic Plane, and
information
about both is also given in Death and After,
and in The Other Side
of
Death.
MAN’S PAST
AND FUTURE
When
we have once grasped the fact that man has reached his present position
through
a long and varied series of lives, a question naturally arises in our
minds
as to how far we can obtain any information about this earlier evolution,
which
would obviously be of absorbing interest to us. Fortunately such
information
is available, not only by tradition, but also in another and much
more
certain way. I have so space here to dilate upon the marvels of
psychometry,
but must simply say that there is abundant evidence to show that
nothing
can happen without indelibly recording itself – that there exists a kind
of
memory of Nature from which can be recovered with absolute accuracy a true, full,
and perfect picture of any scene or event since the world began.
Those
to whom this subject is entirely new, and who consequently seek for
evidence,
should consult Dr. Buchanan’s Psychometry or Professor Denton’s Soul of Thins;
but all occult students are familiar with the possibility, and most of them with the method, of reading these records of
the past. In essence this
memory
of Nature must be the Divine Memory, far away beyond human reach; but it is
assuredly reflected into the lower planes so that, as far as events on these lower
planes are concerned, it is recoverable by the trained intelligence of
man.
All
that passes before a mirror, for instance, is reflected on its surface, and
to
our dim eyes it seems that the images make no impression on that surface, but
that
each passes away and leaves no trace. Yet that may not be so; it is not
difficult
to imagine that an impression may be left, somewhat as the impression
of
every sound is left upon the sensitive cylinder of a phonograph; and it may
be
possible to recover the impression from the mirror just as it is recoverable
from
the phonograph.
The
higher psychometry shows us that this not only may be so, but is so; and
that
not a mirror only, but any physical object, retains the impression of all
that
has happened within its sight, as it were. We have thus at our disposal a
faultlessly
accurate method of arriving at the earlier history of our world and
of
mankind, and in this way much that is of the most entrancing interest can be
observed
in every detail, as though the scenes were being specially rehearsed
for
our benefit. (See Clairvoyance, p 88).
Investigations
into the past conducted by these methods show how a long process of gradual
evolution, slow but never-ceasing. They show the development of man under the
action of two great laws – first the law of evolution, which steadily presses
him onward and upward, and secondly – the law of divine justice, or cause and
effect, which brings him inevitably the result of his every action, and thus
gradually teaches him to live intelligently in harmony with the first law.
This
long process of evolution has been carried out not only on this earth, but
on
other globes connected with it; but the subject is much to vast to be fully
treated
in an elementary book such as this. It forms the principal theme of
Madame
Blavatsky’s monumental work, The Secret Doctrine; but before commencing that
students are advised to read the chapters on this subject in Mrs. Besant’s Ancient
Wisdom and Mr. Sinnett’s Growth of the Soul.
The
book just mentioned will afford the fullest available information not only
as
to man’s past, but as to his future; and thought he glory that awaits him is
such
as no tongue can tell, something at least may be understood of the earlier
stages
which lead to it. That man is divine even now, and that he will presently
unfold
within himself the potentialities of divinity, is an idea which appears
to
shock some good people, and to be considered by them to savour of blasphemy.
Why
it should not be so is not easy to see, for Jesus himself reminds the Jews
around
Him of the saying in their Scriptures, “I said, ye are Gods,” and the
doctrine
of the deification of man was quite commonly held by the Fathers of the Church.
But in these later days much of the earlier and purer doctrine has been forgotten
and misunderstood; and the truth now seems to be held in its fullness only by
the student of occultism.
Sometimes
men ask why, if man was at the first a spark of the Divine, it should
be
necessary for him to go through all these æons of evolution, involving so
much
sorrow and suffering, only in order to be still Divine at the end of it
all.
But those who make this objection have not yet comprehended the scheme.
That
which came forth from the Divine was not yet man – not yet even a spark,
for
there was no developed individualisation in it. It was simply a great cloud
of
Divine essence, though capable of condensing eventually into many sparks.
The
difference between its condition when issuing forth and when returning is
exactly
like that between a great mass of shining nebulous matter, and the solar
system
which is eventually formed out of it. Its condition when issuing forth
and
when returning is exactly like that between a great mass of shining nebulous
matter,
and the solar system which is eventually formed out it. The nebula is
beautiful,
no doubt, but vague and useless; the suns formed from it by slow
evolution
pour life and heat and light upon many worlds and their inhabitants.
Or
we may take another analogy. The human body is composed of countless millions of
tiny particles, and some of them are constantly being thrown off from it.
Suppose
that it were possible for each of these particles to go through some
kind
of evolution by means of which it would
in time become a human being, we should not say that because it had been in a
certain sense human at the
beginning
of that evolution it had, therefore , not gained anything when it
reached
its end. The essence comes forth as a mere outpouring of force, even
tough
it be Divine force; it returns in the form of thousands of millions of
mighty
adepts, each capable of himself developing into a Logos.
Thus
it will be seen that we are abundantly justified in the statement that the
future
of man is a future to whose glory and
splendour there is no limit. And
a
most important point to remember is that this magnificent future is for all
without
exception. He whom we call the good man – that is, the man whose will
moves
with the Divine Will, whose actions are such as to help the march of
evolution
– makes rapid progress on the upward path; while the man who
unintelligently
opposes himself to the great current by striving to pursue
selfish
aims instead of working for the good of the whole, will be able to
progress
only very slowly and erratically.
But
the Divine Will is infinitely stronger than any human will, and the working
of
the great scheme is perfect. The man who does not learn his lesson first time
has
simply to try over and over and over until he does learn it; the Divine
patience
is infinite, and sooner or later every human being attains the goal
appointed
for him. There is no fear and no uncertainty, but only perfect peace
for
those who know the Law and the Will.
CAUSE AND
EFFECT
In
previous chapters we have constantly had to take into consideration this
mighty
law of action and reaction under which every man necessarily receives his just
deserts; for without this law the rest of the Divine scheme would be
incomprehensible
to us. It is well worth our while to try to obtain a true
appreciation
of this law, and the first step towards doing that is to disabuse
our
minds entirely of the ecclesiastical idea of reward and punishment as
following
upon human action.
It
is inevitable that we should connect with that idea the thought of a judge
administering
such reward or punishment, and then at once follows the further
possibility
that the judge may be more lenient in one case than in another, that
he
may be swayed by circumstances, that an appeal may be made to him, and that in
that way the incidence of the law may be modified or even escaped altogether.
Every
one of these suggestions is in the highest degree misleading, and the
whole
body of thought to which they belong must be exorcised and utterly cast
out
before we can arrive at any real understanding of facts.
If
a man put his hand on a bar of red-hot iron, under ordinary circumstances he
would
be badly burnt; yet it would not occur to him to say that God had punished him
for putting his hand on the bar. He would realise that what had happened was precisely
what might have been expected under the
action of the laws of Nature, and that one who understood what heat is and how
it acts could explain exactly the production of the burn.
It
is to be observed that the man’s intention in no way affects the physical
result;
whether he seized that bar in order to do some harm with it or in order
to
save someone else from injury, he would be burnt just the same. Of course, in
other
and higher ways the results would be
quite different; in the one case he
would
have done a noble deed, and would have the approval of his conscience,
while
in the other he could feel only remorse. But the physical burn would be
there
in one case just as much as in the other.
To
obtain a true conception of the working of this law of cause and effect we
must
think of it as acting automatically in exactly the same way. If we have a
heavy
weight hanging from the ceiling by a rope, and I exert a certain amount of
force
in pushing against that weight, we know by the laws of mechanics that the
weight
will press back against my hand with exactly the same amount of force;
and
this reaction will operate without the slightest reference to my disturbing
its
equilibrium. Similarly the man who commits an evil action disturbs the
equilibrium
of the great current of evolution; and that mighty current
invariably
adjusts that equilibrium at his expense.
It
must not be therefore supposed for a moment that the intention of the action
makes
no difference; on the contrary it is the most important factor connected
with
it, even though it does not affect the
result upon the physical plane. We
are
apt to forget that the intention is itself a force, and a force acting upon
the
mental plane, where the matter is so much finer and vibrates so much more
rapidly
than on our lower level, that the same amount of energy will produce
enormously
greater effect.
The
physical action will produce its result on the physical plane, but the mental
energy of the intention will work out its own result simultaneously in the
matter of the mental plane, totally irrespective of the other; and its effect
is certain to be very much the more important of the two. In this way it will be
seen that an absolutely perfect adjustment is always achieved; for however
mixed the motives may be, and however good and evil may be mingled in the
physical results, the equilibrium will always be perfectly readjusted, and along
every line perfect justice must be done.
We
must not forget, that it is the man himself and no other who builds his
future
character as well as produces his future circumstances. Speaking very
generally,
it may be said that, while his actions in one life produce his
environment
in the next, his thoughts in the one life are the chief factors in
the
evolution of his character in the next. The method by which all this works
is
an exceedingly interesting study, but it would take far too long to detail it
here;
it maybe found very fully elaborated in Mrs. Besant’s manual on Karma, and also
in the chapter referring to this subject in her Ancient Wisdom, and in Mr. Sinnett’s
Esoteric Buddhism, to which the reader may be referred.
It
is obvious that all these facts furnish us with exceedingly good reason for
many
of our ethical precepts. If thought be a mighty power capable of producing upon
its own plane results far more important than any that can be achieved in physical
life, then the necessity that man should control that force immediately becomes
apparent. Not only is the man building his own future character by means of his
thought, but he is also constantly and inevitably affecting those around him by
its means.
Hence
there lies upon him a very serious responsibility as to the use which he
makes
of this power. If the feeling of annoyance or hatred arises in the heart
of
the ordinary man, his natural impulse is to express it in some way either in
word
or in action. The ordinary rules of civilised society, however, forbid him
to
do that, and dictate that he should as far as possible repress all outward
sign
of his feelings.
If
he succeeds in doing this he is apt to congratulate himself, and to consider
that
he has done the whole of his duty. The occult student, however, knows that
it
is necessary for him to carry his self-control a great deal further than that,
and that he must absolutely repress the thought of irritation as well as its
outward expression. For he knows that his feelings set in motion tremendous forces
upon the astral plane, that these will act against the object of his irritation
just as surely as a blow struck upon the physical plane, and that in many cases
the results produced will be far more serious and lasting.
It
is true in a very real sense that thoughts are things. To clairvoyant sight
thoughts
take definite form and colour, the latter, of course depending upon the
rate
of vibration connected with them. The study of these forms and colours is
of
great interest. A description of them illustrated with coloured drawings will
be
found in the book entitled Thought Forms.
These
considerations open up to us
possibilities in various directions. Since
it
is easily possible to do harm by thought, it is also possible to do good by
it.
Currents may be set in motion which will carry mental help and comfort to
many
a suffering friend, and in this way a whole new world of usefulness opens
before
us. Many a grateful soul has been oppressed by a feeling that for want of
physical
wealth he was unable to do anything in return for the kindness lavished
upon
him by another; but here is the method by which he can be of the greatest
service
to him in a realm where physical wealth or its absence makes no
difference.
All
who can think can help others: and all who can help others ought to help. In
this
case, as in every other, knowledge is power, and those who understand the
law
can use the law. Knowing what effects
upon themselves and upon others will be produced by certain thoughts, they can
deliberately arrange to produce these results. In this way a man can not only
steadily mould his character in his
present
life, but can decide exactly what it shall be in the next.
For
a thought is a vibrations in the matter of the mental body, and the same
thought
persistently repeated evokes corresponding vibrations (an octave higher,
as
it were) in the matter of the causal body. In this way qualities are
gradually
built into the soul itself, and they will certainly reappear as part
of
the stock-in-trade with which he commences his next incarnation.
It
is in this way, by working from below upwards, that the faculties and
qualities
of the soul are gradually evolved, and thus man takes his evolution
largely
into his own hands and begins to co-operate intelligently in the great
scheme
of the Deity. For further information on this subject the best book to
study
is Mrs. Besant’s Thought Power, its Control and Culture.
WHAT
THEOSOPHY DOES FOR US
It
must already be obvious to the careful reader how utterly these Theosophical
conceptions
change the man’s entire view of life when he once becomes fully
convinced
of them ; and the direction of many of
these changes, and the reasons on which they are based, will have been seen
from what has already been written.
We
gain from Theosophy a rational comprehension of that life which was before
for
so many of us a mere unsolved problem – a riddle without an answer. From it we
know why we are here, what we are expected to do, and how we ought to set to work
to do it. We see that, however little life may seem worth living for the
sake
of any pleasures or profits belonging exclusively to the physical plane, it
is
very emphatically worth living when regarded merely as a school to prepare us
for
the indescribable glories and the infinite possibilities of the higher
planes.
In
the light of the information which we acquire, we see not only how to evolve
ourselves,
but also how to help others to evolve – how by thought and action to
make
ourselves most useful, first of all to the small circle of those most
closely
associated with us or those whom we especially love, and then gradually
by
degrees, as our power increases, to the entire human race.
By
feelings and thoughts such as these we find ourselves lifted altogether to a
higher
platform, and we see how narrow and despicable is the petty and personal thought
which has so often occupied us in the past.
We inevitably begin to regard everything not merely as it affects our
infinitesimal selves, but from the wider standpoint of its influence upon
humanity as a whole.
The
various troubles and sorrows which come to us are so often seen out of all
proportion
because they are so near to us; they seem to obscure the whole
horizon,
as a plate held near the eyes will shut out the sun, so that we often
forget
that “the heart of being is celestial rest.”
But Theosophical teachings
brings
all these things into due perspective, and enables us to rise above these
clouds,
to look down and see things as they are,
and not merely as they appear
when
looked at from below by very limited vision.
We
learn to sink altogether the lower personality, with its mass of delusions
and
prejudices and its inability to see anything truly; we learn to rise to an
impersonal
and unselfish standpoint, where to do right for right’s sake seems to
us
the only rule of life, and to help our fellowman the greatest of joys. For it
is
a life of joy that now opens before us. As the man evolves, his sympathy and
compassion
increase, so that he becomes more and more sensitive to the sin and sorrow and suffering of the
world.
Yet
at the same time he sees more and more clearly the cause of that suffering,
and
understands ever more and more fully that, in spite of it all, all things are
working together for the final good of all.
And so there comes to him not only the deep content and absolute
security which is born of the certainty that all is well, but also the definite
and radiant joy derived from the contemplation
of the magnificent plan of the Logos, and of the steady and unfailing success
with which that mighty scheme moves to its appointed end.
He
learns that God means us to be happy, and that it is definitely our duty to
be
so, in order that we may spread around us vibrations of happiness upon
others,
since that is one of the methods by which we may lighten the sorrow of
the
world. In ordinary life a great part of the annoyance which men feel in
connection
with their various troubles is often caused by a feeling that they
come
to them unjustly. A man will say: “Why should all this come to me? There is my
neighbour, who is in no way a better man than I, yet he does not suffer from sickness,
from loss of friends, or loss of wealth? ; why then should I?”
Theosophy
saves its students from this mistake, since it makes it absolutely
clear
to them that no undeserved suffering can ever come to any man. Whatever
trouble
we may encounter is simply of the nature of a debt that we have
incurred;
since it has to be paid, the sooner it is cleared off the better. Nor
is
this all; for every trouble is an opportunity for development. If we bear it
patiently
and bravely, not allowing it to crush us, but meeting it and making
the
best of it, we thereby evolve within ourselves the valuable qualities of
courage,
perseverance, determination; and so out of the result of our sins of
long
ago we bring good instead of evil.
As
has before been stated, all fear of death is entirely removed for the
Theosophical
student, because he understands fully what death is. He no longer
mourns
for those who have gone before, because they are still present with him,
and
he knows that to give way to selfish grief would be to cause sadness and
depression
to them. Since they are very near to him, and since the sympathy
between
them and himself is closer than ever before, he is well aware that
uncontrolled
grief in him will assuredly reflect itself upon them.
Not
that Theosophy counsels him to forget the dead; on the contrary, it
encourages
him to remember them as often as possible, but never with selfish
sorrow,
never with a longing to bring them back to earth, never with thought of
his
apparent loss, but only of their great gain.
It assures him that a strong
loving
thought will be a potent factor in their evolution, and that if he will
but
think rightly and reasonably about them he may render them the greatest
assistance
in their upward progress.
A
careful study of the life of man in the period between his incarnations shows
how
small a proportion this physical life bears to the whole. In the case of the
average
educated and cultured man of any of the higher races, the period of one
life
– that is to say of one day in the real life – would average about fifteen
hundred
years. Of this period perhaps seventy or eighty years would be spent in
physical
life, some fifteen or twenty upon the astral plane, and all the rest in
the
heaven-world, which is therefore by very far the most important part of
man’s
existence.
Naturally
these proportions vary considerably for different types of men, and
when
we come to consider the younger souls, born either in inferior races or in
the
lower ranks of our own, we find that these proportions are entirely changed,
for
the astral life is likely to be much longer and the heaven-life much
shorter.
In the case of the absolute savage there is scarcely any heaven-life at
all,
because he has not yet developed within himself the qualities which alone
enable
the man to attain that life.
The
knowledge of all these facts gives a clearness and certainty to our
anticipations
of the future which is a welcome relief from the vagueness and
indecision
of ordinary thought on these subjects. It would be impossible for a
Theosophist
to have any fears about his “salvation”, for he knows that there is
nothing
for man to be saved from except his own ignorance, and he would consider it the
grossest blasphemy to doubt that the will of the Logos will assuredly be fulfilled in the case of
every one of his children.
No
vague “eternal hope” is his, but utter certainty, born of his knowledge of
the
eternal law. He cannot fear the future, because he knows the future; so his
only
anxiety is to make himself worthy to bear his part in the mighty work of
evolution.
It may well be that there is very little that he can do as yet; yet
there
is none but can do something, just where he stands, in the circle around
him,
however lowly it may be.
Every
man has his opportunities, for every connection is an opportunity . Every
one
with whom we are brought into contact is a soul who may be helped – whether it
be a child born into the family, a friend who comes into our circle, a
servant
who joins our household – everyone gives in some way or other an
opportunity.
It is not for a moment suggested that we should make ourselves
nuisances
by thrusting our opinions and ideas upon every one with whom we come in
contact, as the more ignorant and
tactless of our religious friends
sometimes
do; but we should be in an attitude of continual readiness to help.
Indeed,
we should ever be eagerly watching for an opportunity to help, either
with
material aid, so far as that may be within our power, or with the benefit
of
our advice or our knowledge, whenever those may be asked for. Often cases
arise
in which help by word or deed is impossible for us; but there can never be
a
case in which friendly and helpful thought cannot be poured forth, and none
who
understands the power of thought will doubt as to its result, even though it
may
not be immediately visible upon the physical plane.
The
student of Theosophy should be distinguishable from the rest of the world by his
perennial cheerfulness, his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his
ready
sympathy and helpfulness. Assuredly, in spite of his cheerfulness he will
be
one who takes life seriously – one who realises that there is much for each
to
do in the world, and no time to waste. He will see the necessity for gaining
perfect
control of himself and his various vehicles, because only in that way
can
he be thoroughly fitted to help others when the opportunity comes to him.
He
will range himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lower
thought,
the nobler rather than the baser; his
toleration will be perfect,
because
he sees the good in all. He will deliberately take the optimistic rather
than the pessimistic view of everything, the
hopeful rather than the cynical,
because
he knows that to be always fundamentally the true view – the evil in
everything
being necessarily the impermanent part, since in the end only the
good
can endure.
Thus
he will look ever for the good in everything, that he may endeavour to
strengthen
it; he will watch for the working of the great law of evolution, in
order
that he may range himself on its side, and contribute to its energy his
tiny
stream of force. In this way, by
striving always to help, and never to
hinder,
he will become, in his small sphere of influence, one of the beneficent
powers
of Nature; in however lowly a manner, at however unthinkable a distance, he is
yet a fellow worker together with God – and that is the highest honour and the
greatest privilege that can ever fall to the lot of man.
The Theosophical Society,