It is the pure Âkâsha that passes up Sushumnâ: its two aspects flow in Idâ

and Pingalâ. These are the three vital airs, and are symbolized by the

Brâhmanical thread. They are ruled by the Will. Will and Desire are the

higher and lower aspects of one and the same thing. Hence the importance

of the purity of the canals; for if they soil the vital airs energized by

the Will, Black Magic results. This is why all sexual intercourse is

forbidden in practical Occultism.

From Sushumnâ, Idâ and Pingalâ a circulation is set up, and from the

central canal passes into the whole body. (Man is a tree; he has in him

the macrocosm and the microcosm. Hence the trees used as symbols; the

Dhyân‐Chohanic body is thus figured.)

The Auric Egg.

The Auric Egg is formed in curves, which may be conceived from the curves

formed by sand on a vibrating metal disk. Each atom, as each body, has its

Auric Egg, each centre forming its own. This Auric Egg, with the

appropriate materials thrown into it, is a defence; no wild animal,

however ferocious, will approach the Yogî thus guarded: it flings back

from its surface all malign influences. No Will power is manifested

through the Auric Egg.

_Q. What is the connection between the circulation of the vital airs and

the power of the Yogî to make his Auric Egg a defence against aggression?_

_A._ It is impossible to answer this question. The knowledge is the last

word of Magic. It is connected with Kundalinî, that can as easily destroy

as preserve. The ignorant tyro might kill himself.

_Q. Is the Auric Egg of a child a differentiation of Akâsha, into which

may be thrown by the Adept the materials he needs for special

purposes_—_e.g._, _the Mâyâvi Rûpa?_

[The question was somewhat obscurely worded. Evidently what the questioner

wanted to know was if the Auric Egg was a differentiation of Akâsha, into

which, as the child became a man, he might, if an Adept, weave the

materials needed for special purposes, etc.]

_A._ Taking the question in the sense of an Adept putting something into

or acting on the Auric Egg of a child, then this could not be done, as the

Auric Egg is Karmic, and not even an Adept must interfere with such Karmic

record. If the Adept were to put anything into the Auric Egg of another,

for which the person is not responsible, or which does not come from the

Higher Self of that personality, how could Karmic justice be maintained?

The Adept can draw into his own Auric Egg from his planet, or even from

that of the globe or of the universe, according to his degree. This

envelope is the receptacle of all Karmic causes, and photographs all

things like a sensitive plate.

The child has a very small Auric Egg which is in colour almost pure white.

At birth the Auric Egg consists of almost pure Akâsha plus the Tanhâs,

which, until the seventh year, remain potential or in latency.

The Auric Egg of an idiot cannot be said to be human, that is, it is not

tinged with Manas. It is Akâshic vibrations rather than an Auric Egg—the

material envelope, such as that of the plant, the mineral or other object.

The Auric Egg is the transmitter from the periodical lives to the Life

eternal, _i.e._, from Prâna to Jîva. It disappears, but remains.

The reason why the confession of the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches is

so great a sin is because the confessor interferes with the Auric Egg of

the penitent by means of his will power, engrafting artificially

emanations from his own Auric Egg and casting seeds for germination into

the Auric Egg of his subject. It is on the same lines as hypnotic

suggestion.

The above remarks apply equally to Hypnotism, although the latter is a

psycho‐physical force, and it is this which constitutes one of its many

serious dangers. At the same time “a good thing may pass through dirty

channels,” as in the case of the breaking by suggestion of the alcohol or

opium habit. Mesmerism may be used by the Occultist to remove evil habits,

if the intention be perfectly pure; as on the higher plane intention is

everything, and good intention must work for good.

_Q. Is the Auric Egg the expansion of the __“__Pillar of Light,__”__ the

Mânasic Principle, and so not surrounding the child till its seventh

year?_

_A._ It is the Auric Egg. The Auric Egg is quite pure at birth, but it is

a question whether the higher or lower Manas will colour it at the seventh

year. The Mânasic expansion is pure Âkâsha. The ray of Manas is let down

into the vortex of the lower Principles, and being discoloured, and so

limited by the Kâmic Tanhâs and by the defects of the bodily organism,

forms the personality. Hereditary Karma can reach the child before the

seventh year, but no individual Karma can come into play till the descent

of the Manas.

The Auric Egg is to the Man

As the Astral Light is to the Earth

As the Ether is to the Astral Light

As the Akâsha is to the Ether

The critical states are left out in the enumeration. They are the Lava

Centres, or missing links in our consciousness, and separate these four

planes from one another.

The Dweller.

The “Dweller on the Threshold” is found in two cases: (_a_) In the case of

the separation of the Triangle from the Quaternary; (_b_) When Kâmic

desires and passions are so intense that the Kâma Rûpa persists in Kâma

Loka beyond the Devachanic period of the Ego, and thus survives the

reincarnation of the Devachanic Entity (_e.g._, when reincarnation occurs

within two hundred or three hundred years). The “Dweller” being drawn by

affinity towards the Reincarnating Ego to whom it had belonged, and being

unable to reach it, fastens on the Kâma of the new personality, and

becomes the Dweller on the Threshold, strengthening the Kâmic element and

thus lending it a dangerous potency. Some become mad from this cause.

Intellect.

The white Adept is not always at first of powerful intellect. In fact, H.

P. B. had known Adepts whose intellectual powers were originally below the

average. It is the Adept’s purity, his equal love to all, his working with

Nature, with Karma, with his “Inner God,” that give him his power.

Intellect by itself alone will make the Black Magician. For intellect

alone is accompanied with pride and selfishness: it is the intellectual

_plus_ the spiritual that raises man. For spirituality prevents pride and

vanity.

Metaphysics are the domain of the Higher Manas; whereas Physics are that

of Kâma‐Manas, which does the thinking in Physical Science and on material

things. Kâma‐Manas, like every other Principle, is of seven degrees. The

Mathematician without spirituality, however great he may be, will not

reach Metaphysics; but the Metaphysician will master the highest

conceptions of Mathematics, and will apply them, without learning the

latter. To a born Metaphysician the Psychic Plane will not be of much

account: he will see its errors immediately he enters it, inasmuch as it

is not the thing he seeks. With respect to Music and other Arts, they are

the children of either the Mânasic or Kâma‐Mânasic Principle,

proportionately as Soul or technicality predominates.

Karma.

After each incarnation, when the Mânasic Ray returns to its Father, the

Ego, some of its atoms remain behind and scatter. These Mânasic atoms,

Tânhic and other “causes,” being of the same nature as the Manas, are

attracted to it by strong bonds of affinity, and on the reincarnation of

the Ego are unerringly attracted to it and constitute its Karma. Until

these are all gathered up, the individuality is not free from rebirth. The

Higher Manas is responsible for the Ray it sends forth. If the Ray be not

soiled, no bad Karma is generated.

The Turîya State.

You should bear in mind that, in becoming Karma‐less, good Karma, as well

as bad, has to be gotten rid of, and that Nidânas, started towards the

acquisition of good Karma, are as binding as those induced in the other

direction. For both are Karma.

Yogîs cannot attain the Turîya state unless the Triangle is separated from

the Quaternary.

Mahat.

Mahat is the manifested universal Parabrâhmic Mind (for one Manvantara) on

the Third Plane [of Kosmos]. It is the Law whereby the Light falls from

plane to plane and differentiates. The Mânasaputras are its emanations.

Man alone is capable of conceiving the Universe on this plane of

existence.

Existence _is_; but when the entity does not feel it, for that entity it

is not. The pain of an operation exists, though the patient does not feel

it, and for the patient it is not.

How To Advance.

_Q. What is the correct pronunciation of AUM?_

_A._ It should first be practised physically, always at the same pitch,

which must be discovered in the same way as the particular colour of the

student is found, for each has his own tone.

AUM consists of two vowels and one semi‐vowel, which latter must be

prolonged. Just as Nature has its Fa, so each man has his: man being

differentiated from Nature. The body may be compared to an instrument and

the Ego to the player. You begin by producing effects on yourself; then

little by little you learn to play on the Tattvas and Principles; learn

first the notes, then the chords, then the melodies. Once the student is

master of every chord, he may begin to be a co‐worker with Nature and for

others. He may then, by the experience he has gained of his own nature,

and by the knowledge of the chords, strike such as will be beneficial in

another, and so will serve as a keynote for beneficial results.

Try to have a clear representation of the geometrical triangle on every

plane, the conception gradually growing more metaphysical, and ending with

the subjective Triangle, Âtmâ‐Buddhi‐Manas. It is only by the knowledge of

this Triangle under all forms that you can succeed, _e.g._ in enclosing

the past and the future in the present. Remember that you have to merge

the Quaternary in the Triangle. The Lower Manas is drawn upwards, with the

Kâma, Prâna and Linga, leaving only the physical body behind, the lower

reinforcing the higher.

Advance may be made in Occultism even in Devachan, if the Mind and Soul be

set thereon during life; but it is only as in a dream, and the knowledge

will fade away as memory of a dream fades, unless it be kept alive by

conscious study.

Fear And Hatred.

Fear and hatred are essentially one and the same. He who fears nothing

will never hate, and he who hates nothing will never fear.

The Triangle.

_Q. What is the meaning of the phrase: __“__Form a clear image of the

Triangle on every plane;__”_ _e.g._, _on the Astral Plane, what should one

think of as the Triangle?_

_A._ [H. P. B. asked whether the question signified the meaning of the

Triangle or the way to represent the Triangle on the “screen of light.”

The questioner explaining that the latter was the meaning, H. P. B. said

that] it was only in the Turîya state, the fourth of the seven steps of

Râja Yoga that the Yogî can represent to himself that which is abstract.

Below this state, the perceptive power, being conditioned, must have some

form to contemplate; it cannot represent to itself the Arûpa. In the

Turîya state the Triangle is in yourself and is felt. Below the Turîya

state there must be a symbol to represent Âtmâ‐Buddhi‐Manas. It is not a

mere geometrical Triangle, but the Triad imaged, to make thought possible.

Of this Triad, we can make some kind of representation of Manas, however

indistinct; while of Âtmâ no image can be formed. We must try to represent

the Triangle to ourselves on higher and higher planes. We must figure

Manas as overshadowed by Buddhi, and immersed in Âtmâ. Only Manas, the

Higher Ego, can be represented; we may think it as the Augoeides, the

radiant figure in _Zanoni_. A very good Psychic might see this.

Psychic Vision.

Psychic vision, however, is not to be desired, since Psyche is earthly and

evil. More and more as Science advances, the psychic will be reached and

understood; Psychism has in it nothing that is spiritual. Science is right

on its own plane, from its own standpoint. The law of the Conservation of

Energy implies that psychic motion is generated by motion. Psychic motion

being only motion on the Psychic Plane, a material plane, the Psychologist

is right who sees in it nothing beyond matter. Animals have no Spirit, but

they have psychic vision, and are sensitive to psychic conditions; observe

how these react on their health, their bodily state.

Motion is the abstract Deity; on the highest plane it is Arûpa, absolute;

but on the lowest it is merely mechanical. Psychic action is within the

sphere of physical motion. Ere psychic action can be developed in the

brain and nerves, there must be adequate action which generates it on the

Physical Plane. The paralyzed animal that cannot generate action in the

physical body, cannot think. Psychics merely see on a plane of different

material density; the spiritual glimpses sometimes obtained by them come

from a plane beyond. A Psychic’s vision is that of one coming, as it were,

into a lighted room, and seeing everything there by an artificial light:

when the light is extinguished, vision is lost. Spiritual vision sees by

the light within, the light hidden beneath the bushel of the body, by

which we can see clearly and independently of all outside. The Psychic

seeing by an external light, the vision is coloured by the nature of that

light.

X. saying that she felt as though she saw on three planes, H. P. B.

answered that each plane was sevenfold, the Astral as every other. She

gave as an example on the Physical Plane the vision of a table with the

sense of sight; seeing it still, with the eyes closed, by retinal

impression; the image of it conserved in the brain; it can be recalled by

memory; it can be seen in dream; or as an aggregate of atoms; or as

disintegrated. All these are on the Physical Plane. Then we can begin

again on the Astral Plane, and obtain another septenary. This hint should

be followed and worked out.

Triangle And Quaternary.

_Q. Why is the violet, the color of the Linga Sharîra, placed at the apex

of the triangle, when the Macrocosm is figured as a triangle over a

square, thus throwing the yellow, Buddhi, into the lower Quaternary?_

_A._ It is wrong to speak of the “lower Quaternary” in the Macrocosm. It

is the Tetraktys, the highest, the most sacred of all symbols. There comes

a moment when, in the highest meditation, the Lower Manas is withdrawn

into the Triad, which thus becomes the Quaternary, the Tetraktys of

Pythagoras, leaving what was the Quaternary as the lower Triad, which is

then reversed. The Triad is reflected in the Lower Manas. The Higher Manas

cannot reflect itself, but when the Green passes upward it becomes a

mirror for the Higher; it is then no more Green, having passed from its

associations. The Psyche then becomes spiritual, the Ternary is reflected

in the Fourth, and the Tetraktys is formed. So long as you are not dead,

there must be something to reflect the Higher Triad; for there must be

something to bring back to the waking consciousness the experiences passed

through on the higher plane. The Lower Manas is as a tablet which retains

the impressions made on it during trance.

The Turîya state is entered on the Fourth Path; it is figured in the

diagram on p. 478, in the Second Paper.

_Q. What is the meaning of a triangle formed of lines of light appearing

in the midst of intense vibrating blue?_

_A._ Seeing the Triangle outside is nothing; it is merely a reflection of

the Triad on the Auric Envelope, and proves that the seer is outside the

Triangle. It should be seen in quite another way. You must endeavour to

merge yourself in it, to assimilate yourself with it. You are merely

seeing things in the Astral. “When the Third Eye is opened in any one of

you, you will have something very different to tell me.”

_Q. With reference to the __“__Pillar of Light__”__ in a previous

question, is the Auric Envelope the Higher Ego, and does it correspond to

the Ring Pass‐Not?_

[This question was not answered, as going too far. The Ring Pass‐Not is at

the circumference of the manifested Universe.]

Nidânas.

_Q. The root of the Nidânas is Avidyâ. How does this differ from Mâyâ? How

many Nidânas are there Esoterically?_

_A._ Again too much is asked. The Nidânas, the concatenations of causes

and effects (not in the sense of the Orientalists), are not caused by

ignorance. They are produced by Dhyân Chohans and Devas, who certainly

cannot be said to act in ignorance. We produce Nidânas in ignorance. Each

cause started on the Physical Plane sets up action on every plane to all

eternity. They are eternal effects reflected from plane to plane on to the

“screen of eternity.”

Manas.

_Q. What is the septenary classification of Manas? There are seven degrees

of the Lower Manas, and presumably there are seven degrees of the Higher.

Are there then fourteen degrees of Manas, or is Manas, taken as a whole,

divided into forty‐nine Mânasic fires?_

_A._ Certainly there are fourteen, but you want to run before you can

walk. First learn the three, and then go on to the forty‐nine. There are

three Sons of Agni; they become seven, and then evolve to the forty‐nine.

But you are still ignorant how to produce the three. Learn first how to

produce the “Sacred Fire,” spoken of in the _Purânas_. The forty‐nine

fires are all states of Kundalinî, to be produced in ourselves by the

friction of the Triad. First learn the septenary of the body, and then

that of each Principle. But first of all learn the first Triad (the three

vital airs).

The Spinal Cord.

_Q. What is the sympathetic nerve and its function in Occultism? It is

found only after a certain stage of animal evolution, and would seem to be

evolving in complexity towards a second spinal cord._

_A._ At the end of the next Round, Humanity will again become male‐female,

and then there will be two spinal cords. In the Seventh Race the two will

merge into the one. The evolution corresponds to the Races, and with the

evolution of the Races the sympathetic developes into a true spinal cord.

We are returning up the arc only with self‐consciousness added. The Sixth

Race will correspond to the “pudding bags,” but will have the perfection

of form with the highest intelligence and spirituality.

Anatomists are beginning to find new ramifications and new modifications

in the human body. They are in error on many points, _e.g._, as to the

spleen, which they call the manufactory of white blood corpuscles, but

which is really the vehicle of the Linga Sharîra. Occultists know each

minute portion of the heart, and have a name for each. They call them by

the names of the Gods, as Brahmâ’s Hall, Vishnu’s Hall, etc. They

correspond with parts of the brain. The very atoms of the body are the

thirty‐three crores of Gods.

The sympathetic nerve is played on by the Tântrikas, who call it Shiva’s

Vînâ.

Prâna.

_Q. What is the relation of man to Prâna—the periodical life?_

_A._ Jîva becomes Prâna only when the child is born and begins to breathe.

It is the breath of life, Nephesh. There is no Prâna on the Astral Plane.

Antahkarana.

_Q. The Antahkarana is the link between the Higher and the Lower Egos;

does it correspond to the umbilical cord in projection?_

_A._ No; the umbilical cord joining the astral to the physical body is a

real thing. Antahkarana is imaginary, a figure of speech, and is only the

bridging over from the Higher to the Lower Manas. Antahkarana only exists

when you commence to “throw your thought upwards and downwards.” The

Mâyâvi Rûpa, or Mânasic body, has no material connection with the physical

body, no umbilical cord. It is spiritual and ethereal, and passes

everywhere without let or hindrance. It entirely differs from the astral

body, which, if injured, acts by repercussion on the physical body. The

Devachanic entity, even previous to birth, can be affected by the

Skandhas, but these have nothing to do with the Antahkarana. It is

affected, _e.g._, by the desire for reincarnation.

_Q. We are told in_ The Voice of the Silence _that we have to become __

__“__the path itself,__”__ and in another passage that Antahkarana is that

path. Does this mean anything more than that we have to bridge over the

gap between the consciousness of the Lower and the Higher Egos?_

_A._ That is all.

_Q. We are told that there are seven portals on the Path: is there then a

sevenfold division of Antahkarana? Also, is Antahkarana the battlefield?_

_A._ It is the battlefield. There are seven divisions in the Antahkarana.

As you pass from each to the next you approach the Higher Manas. When you

have bridged the fourth you may consider yourself fortunate.

Miscellaneous.

_Q. We are told that_ AUM _“__should be practised physically.__”__ Does

this mean that, colour being more differentiated than sound, it is only

through the colours that we shall get at the real sound of each of us? and

that_ AUM _can only have its Spiritual and Occult signification when

turned to the Âtmâ‐Buddhi‐Manas of each person?_

_A._ AUM means good action, not merely lip‐sound. You must say it in

deeds.

_Q. With reference to the triangle, is not the Âtmâ‐Buddhi‐Manas different

for each entity, according to the plane on which he is?_

_A._ Each Principle is on a different plane. The Chelâ must rise to one

after the other, assimilating each, until the three are one. This is the

real root of the Trinity.

_Q. In_ The Secret Doctrine _we are told that Âkâsha is the same as

Pradhâna. Âkâsha is the Auric Egg of the earth, and yet Âkâsha is Mahat.

What that is the relation of Manas to the Auric Egg?_

_A._ Mûlaprakriti is the same as Âkâsha (seven degrees). Mahat is the

positive aspect of Âkâsha, and is the Manas of the Kosmic Body. Mahat is

to Âkâsha as Manas is to Buddhi, and Pradhâna is but another name for

Mûlaprakriti.

The Auric Egg is Âkâsha and has seven degrees. Being pure abstract

substance, it reflects abstract ideas, but also reflects lower concrete

things.

The Third Logos and Mahat are one, and are the same as the Universal Mind,

Alaya.

The Tetraktys is the Chatur Vidyâ, or the fourfold knowledge in one, the

four‐faced Brahmâ.

Nâdis.

_Q. Have the Nâdîs any fixed relationship to the vertebræ; can they be

located opposite to or between any vertebræ? can they be regarded as

occupying each a given and fixed extent in the cord? Do they correspond to

the divisions of the cord known to Anatomists?_

_A._ H. P. B. believed that the Nâdîs corresponded to regions of the

spinal cord known to Anatomists. There are thus six or seven Nâdîs or

plexuses along the spinal cord. The term, however, is not technical but

general, and applies to any knot, centre, ganglion, etc. The sacred Nâdîs

are those which run along or above Sushumnâ. Six are known to Science, and

one (near the atlas) unknown. Even the Târaka Râja Yogîs speak only of

six, and will not mention the sacred seventh.

Idâ and Pingalâ play along the curved wall of the cord in which is

Sushumnâ. They are semi‐material, positive and negative, sun and moon, and

start into action the free and spiritual current of Sushumnâ. They have

distinct paths of their own, otherwise they would radiate all over the

body. By concentration on Idâ and Pingalâ is generated the “sacred fire.”

Another name for Shiva’s Vînâ (sympathetic system) is Kâlî’s Vînâ.

The sympathetic cords and Idâ and Pingalâ start from a sacred spot above

the medulla oblongata, called Triveni. This is one of the sacred centres,

another of which is Brahmarandra, which is, if you like, the grey matter

of the brain. It is also the anterior fontanelle in the new‐born child.

The spinal column is called Brahmadanda, the stick of Brahmâ. This is

again symbolized by the bamboo rod carried by Ascetics. The Yogîs on the

other sides of the Himâlayas, who assemble regularly at Lake Mânsarovara,

carry a triple knotted bamboo stick, and are called Tridandins. This has

the same signification as the Brâhmanical cord, which has many other

meanings besides the three vital airs: _e.g._, it symbolizes the three

initiations of a Brâhman, taking place: (_a_) at birth, when he receives

his mystery name from the family Astrologer, who is supposed to have

received it from the Devas (he is also thus said to be initiated by the

Devas); a Hindu will sooner die than reveal this name; (_b_) at seven,

when he receives the cord; and (_c_) at eleven or twelve, when he is

initiated into his caste.

_Q. If it is right to study the body and its organs, with their

correspondences, will you give the main outline of these in connection

with the Nâdîs and with the diagram of the orifices._

_A._ The Spleen corresponds to the Linga Sharîra

The Liver to Kâma

The Heart to Prâna

The Corpora‐quadrigemina to Kâma‐Manas

The Pituitary body to Manas‐Antahkarana

The Pineal gland to Manas

until it is touched by the vibrating light of Kundalinî, which proceeds

from Buddhi, when it becomes Buddhi‐Manas.

The pineal gland corresponds with Divine Thought. The pituitary body is

the organ of the Psychic Plane. Psychic vision is caused by the molecular

motion of this body, which is directly connected with the optic nerve, and

thus affects the sight and gives rise to hallucinations. Its motion may

readily cause flashes of light, such as may be obtained by pressing the

eyeballs. Drunkenness and fever produce illusions of sight and hearing by

the action of the pituitary body. This body is sometimes so affected by

drunkenness that it is paralyzed. If an influence on the optic nerve is

thus produced and the current thus reversed, the colour will probably be

complementary.

Sevens.

_Q. If the physical body is no part of the real human septenary, is the

physical material world one of the seven planes of the Kosmic septenary?_

_A._ It is. The body is not a Principle in Esoteric parlance, because the

body and the Linga are both on the same plane; then the Auric Egg makes

the seventh. The body is an Upâdhi rather than a Principle. The earth and

its astral light are as closely related to each other as the body and its

Linga, the earth being the Upâdhi. Our plane in its lowest division is the

earth, in its highest the astral. The terrestrial astral light should of

course not be confounded with the universal Astral Light.

_Q. A physical object was spoken of as a septenary on the physical plane,

inasmuch as we could (1) directly contact it; (2) retinally reproduce it;

(3) remember it; (4) dream of it; (5) view it atomically; (6) view it

disintegrated; (7)—What is the seventh?_

_These are seven ways in which we view it: the septenary is our way of

seeing one thing. Is it objectively septenary?_

_A._ The seventh bridges across from one plane to another. The last is the

idea, the privation of matter, and carries you to the next plane. The

highest of one plane touches the lowest of the next. Seven is a factor in

nature, as in colours and sounds. There are seven degrees in the same

piece of wood, each perceived by one of the seven senses. In wood the

smell is the most material degree, while in other substances it may be the

sixth. Substances are septenary apart from the consciousness of the

viewer.

The psychometer, seeing a morsel, say of a table a thousand years hence,

would see the whole; for every atom reflects the whole body to which it

belongs, just as with the Monads of Leibnitz.

After the seven material subdivisions are the seven divisions of the

Astral, which is its second Principle. The disintegrated matter—the

highest of the material subdivisions—is the privation of the idea of

it—the fourth.

The number fourteen is the first step between seven and forty‐nine. Each

septenary is really a fourteen, because each of the seven has its two

aspects. Thus fourteen signifies the inter‐relation of two planes in its

turn. The septenary is to be clearly traced in the lunar months, fevers,

gestations, etc. On it is based the week of the Jews and the septenary

Hierarchies of the Lord of Hosts.

Sounds.

_Q. Sound is an attribute of Âkâsha; but we cannot cognize anything on the

Âkâshic plane; on what plane then do we recognize sound? On what plane is

sound produced by the physical contact of bodies? Is there sound on seven

planes, and is the physical plane one of them?_

_A._ The physical plane is one of them. You cannot see Âkâsha, but you can

sense it from the Fourth Path. You may not be fully conscious of it, and

yet you may sense it. Âkâsha is at the root of the manifestation of all

sounds. Sound is the expression and manifestation of that which is behind

it, and which is the parent of many correlations. All Nature is a

sounding‐board; or rather Âkâsha is the sounding‐board of Nature. It is

the Deity, the one Life, the one Existence. (Hearing is the vibration of

molecular particles; the order is seen in the sentence, “The disciple

feels, hears, sees.”)

Sound can have no end. H. P. B. remarked with regard to a tap made by a

pencil on the table: “By this time it has affected the whole universe. The

particle which has had its wear and tear destroys something which passes

into something else. It is eternal in the Nidânas it produces.” A sound,

if not previously produced on the Astral Plane, and before that on the

Âkâshic, could not be produced at all. Âkâsha is the bridge between nerve

cells and mental powers.

_Q. __“__Colours are psychic, and sounds are spiritual.__”__ What,

assuming that these are vibrations, is the successive order (these

corresponding to sight and hearing) of the other senses?_

_A._ This phrase was not to be taken out of its context, otherwise

confusion would arise. All are on all planes. The First Race had touch all

over like a sounding board; this touch differentiated into the other

senses, which developed with the Races. The “sense” of the First Race was

that of touch, meaning the power of their atoms to vibrate in unison with

external atoms. The “touch” would be almost the same as sympathy.

The senses were on a different plane with each Race; _e.g._, the Fourth

Race had very much more developed senses than ourselves, but on another

plane. It was also a very material Race. The sixth and seventh senses will

merge into the Âkâshic Sound. “It depends to what degree of matter the

sense of touch relates itself as to what we call it.”

Prâna.

_Q. Is Prâna the production of the countless __“__lives__”__ of the human

body, and therefore, to some extent, of the congeries of the cells or

atoms of the body?_

_A._ No; Prâna is the parent of the “lives.” As an example, a sponge may

be immersed in an ocean. The water in the sponge’s interior may be

compared to Prâna; outside is Jîva. Prâna is the motor‐principle in life.

The “lives” leave Prâna; Prâna does not leave them. Take out the sponge

from the water, and it becomes dry, thus symbolizing death. Every

principle is a differentiation of Jîva, but the life‐motion in each is

Prâna, the “breath of life.” Kâma depends on Prâna, without which there

would be no Kâma. Prâna wakes the Kâmic germs to life; it makes all

desires vital and living.

The Second Spinal Cord.

_Q. With reference to the answer to the question on the second cord, what

is it that will become a second spinal cord in the Sixth Race? Will Idâ

and Pingalâ have separate physical ducts?_

_A._ It is the sympathetic cords which will grow together and form another

spinal cord. Idâ and Pingalâ will be joined with Sushumnâ, and they will

become one. Idâ is on the left side of the cord, and Pingalâ on the right.

Initiates.

Pythagoras was an Initiate, one of the grandest of Scientists. His

disciple, Archytas, was marvellously apt in applied Science. Plato and

Euclid were Initiates, but not Socrates. No real Initiates were married.

Euclid learned his Geometry in the Mysteries. Modern men of Science only

rediscover the old truths.

Kosmic Consciousness.

H. P. B. proceeded to explain Kosmic Consciousness, which is, like all

else, on seven planes, of which three are inconceivable, and four are

cognizable by the highest Adept.

Taking the lowest only, the Terrestrial (it was afterwards decided to call

this plane Prâkritic), it is divisible, into seven planes, and these again

into seven, making the forty‐nine.

She then took the lowest plane of Prâkriti, or the true Terrestrial.

Its objective or sensuous plane is that which is sensed by the five

physical senses.

On its second plane things are reversed.

Its third plane is psychic: here is the instinct which prevents a kitten

going into the water and getting drowned.

Then objective consciousness was given.

The three lower Prâkritic are related to the three lower of the Astral

Plane immediately succeeding.

With regard to the first division of the second plane, H. P. B. reminded

her pupils that all seen on it must be reversed in translating it, _e.g._,

with numbers which appeared backwards. The Astral Objective corresponds in

everything to the Terrestrial Objective.

The second division corresponds to the second of the lower plane, but the

objects are of extreme tenuity, an astralized Astral. This plane is the

limit of the ordinary medium, beyond which he cannot go. A non‐mediumistic

person to reach it must be asleep or in a trance, or under the influence

of laughing‐gas; or in ordinary delirium people pass on to this plane.

The third, the Prânic, is of an intensely vivid nature. Extreme delirium

carries the patient to this plane. In delirium tremens the sufferer passes

to this and to the one above it. Lunatics are often conscious on this

plane, where they see terrible visions. It runs into the—

Fourth division, the worst of the astral planes, Kâmic and terrible. Hence

come the images that tempt; images of drunkards in Kâma Loka impelling

others to drink; images of all vices inoculating men with the desire to

commit crimes. The weak imitate these images in a kind of monkeyish

fashion, so falling beneath their influence. This is also the cause of

epidemics of vices, and cycles of disaster, of accidents of all kinds

coming in groups. Extreme delirium tremens is on this plane.

The fifth division is that of premonitions in dreams, of reflections from

the lower mentality, glimpses into the past and future, the plane of

things mental and not spiritual. The mesmerized clairvoyant can reach this

plane, and even, if good, may go higher.

The sixth is the plane from which come all beautiful inspirations of art,

poetry, and music; high types of dreams, flashes of genius. Here we have

glimpses of past incarnations, without being able to locate or analyze

them.

We are on the seventh plane at the moment of death or in exceptional

visions. The drowning man is here when he remembers his past life. The

memory of events of this plane must be centred in the heart, “the seat of

Buddha.” There it will remain, but impressions from this plane are not

made on the physical brain.

General Notes.

The two planes above dealt with are the only two used in the Hatha Yoga.

Prâna and the Auric Envelope are essentially the same, and again, as Jîva,

it is the same as the Universal Deity. This, in its Fifth Principle, is

Mahat, in its Sixth, Alaya. (The Universal Life is also seven‐principled.)

Mahat is the highest _Entity_ in Kosmos; beyond this is no diviner Entity;

it is of subtlest matter, Sûkshma. In us this is Manas, and the very Logoi

are less high, not having gained experience. The Mânasic Entity will not

be destroyed, even at the end of the Mahâmanvantara, when all the Gods are

absorbed, but will re‐emerge from Parabrâhmic latency.

Consciousness is the Kosmic seed of superkosmic omniscience. It has the

potentiality of budding into the Divine Consciousness.

Rude physical health is a drawback to seership. This was the case with

Swedenborg.

Fohat is everywhere: it runs like a thread through all, and has its own

seven divisions.

Auric Envelope or Âtmic Elements of Manifested Kosmos.

Alaya. Buddhi.

Mahat. Manas.

Fohat. Kâma‐Manas.

Jîva. Kâma‐Prana.

Astral. Linga.

Prâkriti. Body.

In the Kosmic Auric Envelope is all the Karma of the manifesting Universe.

This is the Hiranyagarbha. Jîva is everywhere, and so with the other

Principles.

[Illustration]

The above diagram represents the type of all the Solar Systems.

Mahat, single before informing the Universe, differentiates when informing

it, as does Manas in man.

[Illustration]

Taking this figure to represent the human Principles and planes of

consciousness, then 7, 6, 5 represent respectively, Shiva, Vishnu, Brahmâ,

Brahmâ being the lowest.

Shiva is the four‐faced Brahmâ; the Creator, Preserver, Destroyer, and

Regenerator.

Between 5 and 4 comes the Antahkarana. The triangle represents the

Christos, the Sacrificial Victim crucified between the thieves: this is

the double‐faced entity. The Vedântins make this a quaternary for a blind:

Antahkarana, Chit, Buddhi, and Manas.

MANVANTARIC ASPECT OF PARABRAHMAN AND MÛLAPRAKRITI.

[Illustration]

[N.B.—The number of Rays is arbitrary and without significance.]

Perceptive life begins with the Astral: it is not our physical atoms which

see, etc.

Consciousness proper begins between Kâma and Manas. Âtmâ‐Buddhi acts more

in the atoms of the body, in the bacilli, microbes, etc., than in Man

himself.

Objective Consciousness.

Sensuous objective consciousness includes all that pertains to the five

physical senses in man, and rules in animals, birds, fishes and some

insects. Here are the “Lives”; their consciousness is in Âtmâ‐Buddhi;

these are entirely without Manas.

Astral Consciousness.

That of some plants (_e.g._, sensitive), of ants, spiders, and some night‐

flies (Indian), but not of bees.

The vertebrate animals in general are without this consciousness, but the

placental Mammals have all the potentialities of human consciousness,

though at present, of course, dormant.

Idiots are on this plane. The common expression “he has lost his mind” is

an Occult truth. For when through fright or other cause the lower mind

becomes paralyzed, then the consciousness is on the Astral Plane. The

study of lunacy will throw much light on these points. This may be called

the “nerve plane.” It is cognized by our “nervous centres” of which

Physiology knows nothing, _e.g._, the clairvoyant reading with the eyes

bandaged, reading with the tips of the fingers, the pit of the stomach,

etc. This sense is greatly developed in the deaf and dumb.

Kâma‐Prânic Consciousness.

The general life‐consciousness which belongs to all the objective world,

even to the stones; for if stones were not living they could not decay,

emit a spark, etc. Affinity between chemical elements is a manifestation

of this Kâmic consciousness.

Kâma‐Mânasic Consciousness.

The instinctual consciousness of animals and idiots in its lowest degrees,

the planes of sensation: in man these are rationalized, _e.g._, a dog shut

in a room has the instinct to get out, but cannot because its instinct is

not sufficiently rationalized to take the necessary means; whereas a man

at once takes in the situation and extricates himself. The highest degree

of this Kâma‐Mânasic consciousness is the psychic. Thus there are seven

degrees from the instinctual animal to the rationalized instinctual and

psychic.

Mânasic Consciousness.

From this plane Manas stretches upwards to Mahat.

Buddhic Consciousness.

The plane of Buddhi and the Auric Envelope. From here it goes to the

Father in heaven, Âtmâ, and reflects all that is in the Auric Envelope.

Five and six therefore cover the planes from the psychic to the divine.

Miscellaneous.

Reason is a thing that oscillates between right and wrong. But

Intelligence—Intuition—is higher, it is the clear vision.

To get rid of Kâma we must crush out all our material instincts—“crush out

matter.” The flesh is a thing of habit; it will repeat mechanically a good

impulse as well as a bad one. It is not the flesh which is always the

tempter; in nine cases out of ten it is the Lower Manas, which, by its

images, leads the flesh into temptation.

The highest Adept begins his Samâdhi on the Fourth Solar Plane, but cannot

go outside the Solar System. When he begins Samâdhi he is on a par with

some of the Dhyân Chohans, but he transcends them as he rises to the

seventh plane (Nirvâna).

The Silent Watcher is on the Fourth Kosmic Plane.

The higher Mind directs the Will: the lower turns it into selfish Desire.

The head should not be covered in meditation. It is covered in Samâdhi.

The Dhyân Chohans are passionless, pure and mindless. They have no

struggle, no passions to crush.

The Dhyân Chohans are made to pass through the School of Life. “God goes

to School.”

The best of us in the future will be Mânasaputras; the lowest will be

Pitris. We are seven intellectual Hierarchies here. This earth becomes the

moon of the next earth.

The “Pitris” are the Astral overshadowed by Âtmâ‐Buddhi, falling into

matter. The “Pudding‐bags” had Life and Âtmâ‐Buddhi, but no Manas. They

were therefore senseless. The reason for all evolution is the gaining of

experience.

In the Fifth Round all of us will play the part of Pitris. We shall have

to go and shoot out our Chhâyâs into another humanity, and remain until

that humanity is perfected. The Pitris have finished their office in this

Round and have gone into Nirvâna; but they will return to do the same

office up to the middle point of the Fifth Round. The Fourth or Kâmic

Hierarchy of the Pitris becomes the “man of flesh.”

The astral body is first in the womb; then comes the germ that fructifies

it. It is then clothed with matter, as were the Pitris.

The Chhâyâ is really the lower Manas, the shadow of the higher Mind. This

Chhâyâ makes the Mâyâvi Rûpa. The Ray clothes itself in the highest degree

of the Astral Plane. The Mâyâvi Rûpa is composed of the astral body as

Upâdhi, the guiding intelligence from the heart, the attributes and

qualities from the Auric Envelope.

The Auric Envelope takes up the light of Âtmâ, and overshadows the

coronal, circling round the head.

The Auric Fluid is a combination of the Life and Will principles, the life

and the will being one and the same in Kosmos. It emanates from the eyes

and hands, when directed by the will of the operator.

The Auric Light surrounds all bodies: it is the “aura” emanating from

them, whether they be animal, vegetable, or mineral. It is the light,

_e.g._, seen round magnets.

Âtmâ‐Buddhi‐Manas in man corresponds to the three Logoi in Kosmos. They

not only correspond, but each is the radiation from Kosmos to Microcosmos.

The third Logos, Mahat, becomes Manas in man, Manas being only Mahat

individualized, as the sun‐rays are individualized in bodies that absorb

them. The sun‐rays give life, they fertilize what is already there, and

the individual is formed. Mahat, so to say, fertilizes, and Manas is the

result.

Buddhi‐Manas is the Kshetrajña.

There are seven planes of Mahat, as of all else.

The Human Principles.

Here H. P. B. drew two diagrams, illustrating different ways of

representing the human principles. In the first

[Illustration]

the two lower are disregarded; they go out, disintegrate, are of no

account. Remain five, under the radiation of Âtmâ.

In the second:

[Illustration]

the lower Quaternary is regarded as mere matter, objective illusion, and

there remain Manas and the Auric Egg, the higher Principles being

reflected in the Auric Egg. In all these systems remember the main

principle, the descent and re‐ascent of the Spirit, in man as in Kosmos.

The Spirit is drawn downwards as by spiritual gravitation.

Seeking further for the cause of this, the students were checked, H. P. B.

giving only a suggestion on the three Logoi:

1. Potentiality of Mind (Absolute Thought).

2. Thought in Germ.

3. Ideation in Activity.

Notes.

Protective variation, _e.g._, identity of colouring of insects and of that

on which they feed, was explained to be the work of Nature Elementals.

Form is on different planes, and the forms of one plane may be formless to

dwellers on another. The Kosmocratores build on planes in the Divine Mind,

visible to them though not to us. The principle of limitation—_principium

individuationis_—is Form: this principle is Divine Law manifested in

Kosmic Matter, which, in its essence, is limitless. The Auric Egg is the

limit of man as Hiranyagarbha of the Kosmos.

The first step towards the accomplishment of Kriyâshakti is the use of the

Imagination. To imagine a thing is to firmly create a model of what you

desire, perfect in all its details. The Will is then brought into action,

and the form is thereby transferred to the objective world. This is

creation by Kriyâshakti.

Suns And Planets.

A comet partially cools and settles down as a sun. It then gradually

attracts round it planets that are as yet unattached to any centre, and

thus, in millions of years, a Solar System is formed. The worn‐out planet

becomes a moon to the planet of another system.

The sun we see is a reflection of the true Sun: this reflection, as an

outward concrete thing, is a Kâma‐Rûpa, all the suns forming the Kâma‐Rûpa

of Kosmos. To its own system the sun is Buddhi, as being the reflection

and vehicle of the true Sun, which is Âtmâ, invisible on this plane. All

the Fohatic forces—electricity, etc.—are in this reflection.

The Moon.

At the beginning of the evolution of our globe, the moon was much nearer

to the earth, and larger than it is now. It has retreated from us, and

shrunk much in size. (The moon gave all her Principles to the earth, while

the Pitris gave only their Chhâyâs to man.)

The influences of the moon are wholly psycho‐physiological. It is dead,

sending out injurious emanations like a corpse. It vampirizes the earth

and its inhabitants, so that anyone sleeping in its rays suffers, losing

some of his life‐force. A white cloth is a protection, the rays not

passing through it, and the head especially should be thus guarded. It has

most power when it is full. It throws off particles which we absorb, and

is gradually disintegrating. Where there is snow the moon looks like a

corpse, being unable, through the white snow, to vampirize effectually.

Hence snow‐covered mountains are free from its bad influences. The moon is

phosphorescent.

The Râkshakas of Lanka and the Atlanteans are said to have subjected the

moon. The Thessalians learned from them their Magic.

Esoterically, the moon is the symbol of the Lower Manas; it is also the

symbol of the Astral.

Plants which under the sun’s rays are beneficent are maleficent under

those of the moon. Herbs containing poisons are most active when gathered

under the moon’s rays.

A new moon will appear during the Seventh Round, and our moon will finally

disintegrate and disappear. There is now a planet, the “Mystery Planet,”

behind the moon, and it is gradually dying. Finally the time will come for

it to send its Principles to a new Laya Centre, and there a new planet

will form, to belong to another Solar System, the present Mystery Planet

then functioning as moon to that new globe. This moon will have nothing to

do with our earth, though it will come within our range of vision.

The Solar System.

All the visible planets placed in our Solar System by Astronomers belong

to it, except Neptune. There are also some others not known to Science,

belonging to it, and “all moons which are not yet visible for next

things.”

The planets only move in our consciousness. The Rulers of the seven Secret

Planets have no influence on this earth, as this earth has on other

planets. It is the sun and moon which really have not only a mental, but

also a physical effect. The effect of the sun on humanity is connected

with Kâma‐Prâna, with the most physical Kâmic elements in us; it is the

vital principle which helps growth. The effect of the moon is chiefly

Kâma‐Mânasic or psycho‐physiological; it acts on the psychological brain,

on the brain‐mind.

Precious Stones.

In answer to a question, H. P. B. said that the diamond and the ruby were

under the sun, the sapphire under the moon—“but what does it matter to

you?”

Time.

When once out of the body, and not subject to the habit of consciousness

formed by others, time does not exist.

Cycles and epochs depend on consciousness: we are not here for the first

time; the cycles return because we come back into conscious existence.

Cycles are measured by the consciousness of humanity and not by Nature. It

is because we are the same people as in past epochs that these events

occur to us.

Death.

The Hindus look upon death as impure, owing to the disintegration of the

body and the passing from one plane to another. “I believe in

transformation, not in death.”

Atoms.

The Atom is the Soul of the molecule. It is the six Principles, and the

molecule is the body thereof. The Atom is the Âtman of the objective

Kosmos, _i.e._, it is on the seventh plane of the lowest Prakriti.

Terms.

H. P. B. began by saying that students ought to know the correct meaning

of the Sanskrit terms used in Occultism, and should learn the Occult

Symbology. To begin with one had better learn the correct Esoteric

classification and names of the fourteen (7 × 2) and seven (Sapta) Lokas

found in the exoteric texts. These are given there in a very confused

manner, and are full of “blinds.” To illustrate this three classifications

are given below.

Lokas.

1. The general exoteric, orthodox and tântric category:

Bhûr‐loka.

Bhuvar‐loka.

Swar‐loka.

Mahar‐loka. The second seven are reflected.

Janar‐loka.

Tapar‐loka.

Satya‐loka.

2. The Sânkhya category, and that of some Vedântins

Brahmâ‐loka.

Pitri‐loka.

Soma‐loka.

Indra‐loka.

Gandharva‐loka.

Râkshasa‐loka

Yaksha‐loka.

And an eighth.

3. The Vedântic, the nearest approach to the Esoteric:

Atala.

Vitala.

Sutala.

Talâtala (or Karatala).

Rasâtala.

Mahâtala.

Pâtâla.

Each and all correspond Esoterically to the Kosmic or Dhyân Chohanic

Hierarchies, and to the human States of Consciousness and their

subdivisions (forty‐nine). To appreciate this the meanings of the terms

used in the Vedântic classification must be first understood.

_Tala_ means _place_.

Atala means no place.

Vitala means some change for the better: _i.e._, better for matter in

that more matter enters into it, or, in other words, it becomes more

differentiated. This is an ancient Occult term.

Sutala means good, excellent, place.

Karatala means something that can be grasped or touched (from kara, a

hand): _i.e._, the state in which matter becomes tangible.

Rasâtala means place of taste; a place you can sense with one of the

organs of sense.

Mahâtala means exoterically “great place”; but, Esoterically, a place

including all others subjectively, and potentially including all that

precedes it.

Pâtâla means something under the feet (from pada, foot), the upâdhi,

or basis, of anything, the antipodes, America, etc.

Each of the Lokas, places, worlds, states, etc., corresponds with and is

transformed into five (exoterically) and seven (Esoterically) states or

Tattvas, for which there are no definite names. These in the main

divisions cited below make up the forty‐nine Fires:

5 and 7 Tanmâtras, outer and inner senses.

5 and 7 Bhûtas, or elements.

5 and 7 Gnyânendryas, or organs of sensation.

5 and 7 Karmendryas, or organs of action.

These correspond in general to States of Consciousness, to the Hierarchies

of Dhyân Chohans, to the Tattvas, etc. These Tattvas transform themselves

into the whole Universe. The fourteen Lokas are made of seven with seven

reflections: above, below; within, without; subjective, objective; pure,

impure; positive, negative; etc.

Explanation of the States of Consciousness Corresponding to the Vedântic

Classification of Lokas.

7. _Atala._ The Âtmic or Auric state or locality: it emanates directly

from ABSOLUTENESS, and is the first something in the Universe. Its

correspondence is the Hierarchy of non‐substantial primordial Beings, in a

place which is no place (for us), a state which is no state. This

Hierarchy contains the primordial plane, all that was, is, and will be,

from the beginning to the end of the Mahâmanvantara; all is there. This

statement should not, however, be taken to imply Kismet: the latter is

contrary to all the teachings of Occultism.

Here are the Hierarchies of the Dhyâni Buddhas. Their state is that of

Parasamâdhi, of the Dharmakâya; a state where no progress is possible. The

entities there may be said to be crystallized in purity, in homogeneity.

6. _Vitala._ Here are the Hierarchies of the celestial Buddhas, or

Bodhisattvas, who are said to emanate from the seven Dhyâni Buddhas. It is

related on earth to Samâdhi, to the Buddhic consciousness in man. No

Adept, save one, can be higher than this and live; if he passes into the

Âtmic or Dharmakâya state (Alaya) he can return to earth no more. These

two states are purely hyper‐metaphysical.

5. _Sutala._ A differential state corresponding on earth with the Higher

Manas, and therefore with Shabda (Sound), the Logos, our Higher Ego; and

also to the Manushi Buddha state, like that of Gautama, on earth. This is

the third stage of Samâdhi (which is septenary). Here belong the

Hierarchies of the Kumâras—the Agnishvattas, etc.

4. _Karatala_ corresponds with Sparsha (touch) and to the Hierarchies of

ethereal, semi‐objective Dhyân Chohans of the astral matter of the Mânasa‐

Manas, or the pure ray of Manas, that is the Lower Manas before it is

mixed with Kâma (as in the young child). They are called Sparsha Devas,

the Devas endowed with touch. These Hierarchies of Devas are progressive:

the first have one sense; the second two; and so on to seven: each

containing all the senses potentially, but not yet developed. Sparsha

would be rendered better by affinity, contact.

3. _Rasâtala_, or Rûpatala: corresponds to the Hierarchies of Rûpa or

Sight Devas, possessed of three senses, sight, hearing, and touch. These

are the Kâma‐Mânasic entities, and the higher Elementals. With the

Rosicrucians they were the Sylphs and Undines. It corresponds on earth

with an artificial state of consciousness, such as that produced by

hypnotism and drugs (morphia, etc.).

2. _Mahâtala._ Corresponds to the Hierarchies of Rasa or Taste Devas, and

includes a state of consciousness embracing the lower five senses and

emanations of life and being. It corresponds to Kâma and Prâna in man, and

to Salamanders and Gnomes in nature.

1. _Pâtâla._ Corresponds to the Hierarchies of Gandha or Smell Devas, the

underworld or antipodes: Myalba. The sphere of irrational animals, having

no feeling save that of self‐preservation and gratification of the senses:

also of intensely selfish human beings, waking or sleeping. This is why

Nârada is said to have visited Pâtâla when he was cursed to be reborn. He

reported that life there was very pleasant for those “who had never left

their birth‐place”; they were very happy. It is the earthly state, and

corresponds with the sense of smell. Here are also animal Dugpas,

Elementals of animals, and Nature Spirits.

Further Explanations of the Same Classifications.

7. Auric, Âtmic, Alayic, sense or state. One of full potentiality, but not

of activity.

6. Buddhic; the sense of being one with the universe; the impossibility of

imagining oneself apart from it.

(It was asked why the term Alayic was here given to the Âtmic and not to

the Buddhic state. _Ans._ These classifications are not hard and fast

divisions. A term may change places according as the classification is

exoteric, Esoteric or practical. For students the effort should be to

bring all things down to states of consciousness. Buddhi is really one and

indivisible. It is a feeling within, absolutely inexpressible in words.

All cataloguing is useless to explain it.)

5. Shâbdic, sense of hearing.

4. Spârshic, sense of touch.

3. Rûpic, the state of feeling oneself a body and perceiving it (rûpa =

form).

2. Râsic, sense of taste.

1. Gândhic, sense of smell.

All the Kosmic and anthropic states and senses correspond with our organs

of sensation, Gnyânendryas, rudimentary organs for receiving knowledge

through direct contact, sight, etc. These are the faculties of Sharîra,

through Netra (eyes), nose, speech, etc., and also with the organs of

action, Karmendryas, hands, feet, etc.

Exoterically, there are five sets of five, giving twenty‐five. Of these

twenty are facultative and five Buddhic. Exoterically Buddhi is said to

perceive; Esoterically it reaches perception only through the Higher

Manas. Each of these twenty is both positive and negative, thus making

forty in all. There are two subjective states answering to each of the

four sets of five, hence eight in all. These being subjective cannot be

doubled. Thus we have 40 + 8 = 48 “cognitions of Buddhi.” These with Mâyâ,

which includes them all, make 49. (Once that you have reached the

cognition of Mâyâ, you are an Adept.)

The Lokas.

In their exoteric blinds the Brâhmans count fourteen Lokas (earth

included), of which seven are objective, though not apparent, and seven

subjective, yet fully demonstrable to the Inner Man. There are seven

Divine Lokas and seven infernal (terrestrial) Lokas.

SEVEN DIVINE LOKAS. SEVEN INFERNAL (TERRESTRIAL)

LOKAS.

1. Bhûrloka (the earth). 1. Pâtâla (our earth).

2. Bhuvarloka (between the 2. Mahâtala.

earth and the sun [Munis]).

3. Svarloka (between the sun 3. Rasâtala.

and and Pole Star [Yogîs]).

4. Maharloka (between the 4. Talâtala (or Karatala).

earth and the utmost limit of

the Solar System).(858)

5. Janarloka (beyond the Solar 5. Sutala.

System, the abode of the

Kumâras, who do not belong to

this plane).

6. Taparloka (still beyond the 6. Vitala.

Mahâtmic region, the dwelling

of the Vairâja deities).

7. Satyaloka (the abode of the 7. Atala.

Nirvanîs).

These the Brâhmans read from the bottom.

Now all these fourteen are planes from without within, and (the seven

Divine) States of Consciousness through which man can pass‐‐and must pass,

once he is determined to go through the seven paths and portals of Dhyâni;

one need not be disembodied for this, and all this is reached on earth,

and in one or many of the incarnations.

See the order: the four lower ones (1, 2, 3, 4), are _rûpa_; _i.e._, they

are performed by the Inner Man with the full concurrence of the diviner

portions, or, elements, of the Lower Manas, and consciously by the

personal man. The three higher states cannot be reached and remembered by

the latter, unless he is a fully initiated Adept. A Hatha Yogî will never

pass beyond the Maharloka, psychically, and the Talâtala (double or dual

place), physico‐mentally. To become a Râja Yogî, one has to ascend up to

the seventh portal, the Satyaloka. For such, the Master Yogîs tell us, is

the fruition of Yajna, or sacrifice. When the Bhûr, Bhuvar and Svarga

(states) are once passed, and the Yogî’s consciousness centred in

Maharloka, it is in the last plane and state between entire identification

of the Personal and the Higher Manas.

One thing to remember: while the infernal (or terrestrial) states are also

the seven divisions of the earth, for planes and states, as much as they

are Kosmic divisions, the divine Saptaloka are purely subjective, and

begin with the psychic Astral Light plane, ending with the Satya or

Jîvanmukta state. These fourteen Lokas, or spheres, form the extent of the

whole Brahmânda (world). The four lower are transitory, with all their

dwellers, and the three higher eternal; _i.e._, the former states, planes

and subjects, to these, last only a Day of Brahmâ, changing with every

Kalpa: the latter endure for an Age of Brahmâ.

Students must learn the correspondences: then concentrate on the organs

and so reach their corresponding states of consciousness. Take them in

order beginning with the lowest, and working steadily upwards. A medium

might irregularly catch glimpses of higher, but would not thus gain

orderly development.

The greatest phenomena are produced by touching and centering the

attention upon the little finger.

The Lokas and Talas are reflections the one of the other. So also are the

Hierarchies in each, in pairs of opposites, at the two poles of the

sphere. Everywhere are such opposites: good and evil, light and darkness,

male and female.

H. P. B. could not say why blue was the colour of the earth. Blue is a

colour by itself, a primary. Indigo is a colour, not a shade of blue, so

is violet.

The Vairâjas belong to, are the fiery Egos of, other Manvantaras. They

have already been purified in the fire of passions. It is they who refused

to create. They have reached the Seventh Portal, and have refused Nirvâna,

remaining for succeeding Manvantaras.

The seven steps of Antahkarana correspond with the Lokas.

Samâdhi is the highest state on earth that can be reached in the body.

Beyond that the Initiate must have become a Nirmânakâya.

Purity of mind is of greater importance than purity of body. If the Upâdhi

be not perfectly pure, it cannot preserve recollections coming from a

higher state. An act may be performed to which little or no attention is

paid, and it is of comparatively small importance. But if thought of,

dwelt on in the mind, the effect is a thousand times greater. The thoughts

must be kept pure.

Remember that Kâma, while having bad passions and emotions, helps you to

evolve by giving also the desire and impulse necessary for rising.

The flesh, the body, the human being in his material part, is, on this

plane, the most difficult thing to subject. The highest Adept, put into a

new body, has to struggle against it and subdue it, and finds its

subjugation difficult.

The Liver is the General, the Spleen is the Aide‐de‐Camp. All that the

Liver does not accomplish is taken up and completed by the Spleen.

H. P. B. was asked whether each person must pass through the fourteen

states, and answered that the Lokas and Talas represented planes on this

earth, through some of which all must pass, and through all of which the

disciple must pass, on his way to Adeptship. Everyone passes through the

lower Lokas, but not necessarily through the corresponding Talas. There

are two poles in everything: seven states in every state.

Vitala represents a sublime as well as an infernal state. That state which

for the mortal is a complete separation of the Ego from the personality is

for a Buddha a mere temporary separation. For the Buddha it is a Kosmic

state.

The Brâhmans and Buddhists regard the Talas as hells, but in reality the

term is figurative. We are in hell whenever we are in misery, suffer

misfortune and so on.

Forms In The Astral Light.

The Elementals in the Astral light are reflections. Everything on earth is

reflected there. It is from these that photographs are sometimes obtained

through mediums. The mediums unconsciously produce them as forms. The

Adepts produce them consciously through Kriyâshakti, bringing them down by

a process that may be compared to the focussing of rays of light by a

burning glass.

States Of Consciousness.

Bhûrloka is the waking state in which we normally live; it is the state in

which animals also are, when they sense food, a danger, etc. To be in

Svarloka is to be completely abstracted on this plane, leaving only

instinct to work, so that on the material plane you would behave as an

animal. Yogîs are known who have become crystallized in this state, and

then they must be nourished by others. A Yogî near Allahabad had been for

fifty‐three years sitting on a stone; his Chelâs plunge him into the river

every night and then replace him. During the day his consciousness returns

to Bhûrloka, and he talks and teaches. A Yogî was found on an island near

Calcutta round whose limbs the roots of trees had grown. He was cut out,

and in the endeavour to awaken him so many outrages were inflicted on him

that he died.

_Q. Is it possible to be in more than one state of consciousness at once?_

_A._ The consciousness cannot be entirely on two planes at once. The

higher and lower states are not wholly incompatible, but if you are on the

higher you will wool‐gather on the lower. In order to remember the higher

state on returning to the lower, the memory must be carried upwards to the

higher. An Adept may apparently enjoy a dual consciousness; when he

desires not to see he can abstract himself: he may be in a higher state

and yet return answers to questions addressed to him. But in this case he

will momentarily return to the material plane, shooting up again to the

higher plane. This is his only salvation in adverse conditions.

The lower you go in the Talas the more intellectual you become and the

less spiritual. You may be a morally good man but not spiritual. Intellect

may remain very closely related to Kâma. A man may be in a Loka and visit

one and all the Talas, his condition depending on the Loka to which he

belongs. Thus a man in Bhûrloka only may pass into the Talas and go to the

devil. If he dwells in Bhuvarloka he cannot become as bad. If he has

reached the Satya state he can go into any Tala without danger; buoyed up

by his own purity he can never be engulfed. The Talas are brain intellect

states, while the Lokas—or more accurately the three higher—are spiritual.

Manas absorbs the light of Buddhi. Buddhi is Arûpa, and can absorb

nothing. When the Ego takes all the light of Buddhi, it takes that of

Âtmâ, Buddhi being the vehicle, and thus the three become one. This done,

the _full_ Adept is one spiritually, but has a body. The fourfold Path is

finished and he is one. The Masters’ bodies are, as far as they are

concerned, illusionary, and hence do not grow old, become wrinkled, etc.

The student, who is not naturally psychic, should fix the fourfold

consciousness in a higher plane and nail it there. Let him make a bundle

of the four lower and pin them to a higher state. He should centre on this

higher, trying not to permit the body and intellect to draw him down and

carry him away. Play ducks and drakes with the body, eating, drinking and

sleeping, but living always on the ideal.

Mother‐Love.

Mother‐love is an instinct, the same in the human being and in the animal,

and often stronger in the latter. The continuance of this love in human

beings is due to association, to blood magnetism and to psychic affinity.

Families are sometimes formed of those who have lived together before, but

often not. The causes at work are very complex and have to be balanced.

Sometimes when a child with very bad Karma is to be born, parents of a

callous type are chosen, or they may die before the Karmic results appear.

Or the suffering through the child may be their own Karma. Mother‐love as

an instinct is between Rasâtala and Talâtala.

The Lipikas keep man’s Karmic record, and impress it on the Astral Light.

Vacillating people pass from one state of consciousness to another.

Thought arises before desire. The thought acts on the brain, the brain on

the organ, and then desire awakes. It is not the outer stimulus that

arouses the organ. Thought therefore must be slain ere desire can be

extinguished. The student must guard his thoughts. Five minutes’ thought

may undo the work of five years; and though the five years’ work will be

run through more rapidly the second time, yet time is lost.

Consciousness.

H. P. B. began by challenging the views of consciousness in the West,

commenting on the lack of definition in the leading Philosophies. No

distinction was made between consciousness and self‐consciousness, and yet

in this lay the difference between man and the animal. The animal was

conscious only, not self‐conscious; the animal does not know the Ego as

Subject, as does man. There is therefore an enormous difference between

the consciousness of the bird, the insect, the beast, and that of man.

But the full consciousness of man is self‐consciousness—that which makes

us say, “_I_ do that.” If there is pleasure it must be traced to some one

experiencing it. Now the difference between the consciousness of man and

of animals is that while there is a Self in the animal, the animal is not

conscious of the Self. Spencer reasons on consciousness, but when he comes

to a gap he merely jumps over it. So again Hume, when he says that on

introspection he sees merely feelings and can never find any “I,” forgets

that without an “I” no seeing of feelings would be possible. What is it

that studies the feelings? The animal is not conscious of the feeling “I

am I.” It has instinct, but instinct is not self‐consciousness. Self‐

consciousness is an attribute of the mind, not of the soul, the _anima_,

whence the very name _animal_ is taken. Humanity had no self‐consciousness

until the coming of the Mânasaputras in the Third Race. Consciousness,

brain‐consciousness, is the field of the light of the Ego, of the Auric

Egg, of the Higher Manas. The cells of the leg are conscious, but they are

the slaves of the idea; they are not self‐conscious, they cannot originate

an idea, although when they are tired they can convey to the brain an

uneasy sensation, and so give rise to the idea of fatigue. Instinct is the

lower state of consciousness. Man has consciousness running through the

four lower keys of his septenary consciousness; there are seven scales of

consciousness in his consciousness, which is none the less essentially and

pre‐eminently one, a unit. There are millions and millions of states of

consciousness, as there are millions and millions of leaves; but as you

cannot find two leaves alike, so you cannot find two states of

consciousness alike; a state is never exactly repeated.

Is memory a thing born in us that it can give birth to the Ego? Knowledge,

feeling, volition, are colleagues of the mind, not faculties of it. Memory

is an artificial thing, an adjunct of relativeness; it can be sharpened or

left dull, and it depends on the condition of the brain‐cells which store

all impressions; knowledge, feeling, volition, cannot be correlated, do

what you will. They are not produced from each other, nor produced from

mind, but are principles, colleagues. You cannot have knowledge without

memory, for memory stores all things, garnishing and furnishing. If you

teach a child nothing, it will know nothing. Brain‐consciousness depends

on the intensity of the light shed by the Higher Manas on the Lower, and

the extent of affinity between the brain and this light. Brain‐mind is

conditioned by the responsiveness of the brain to this light; it is the

field of consciousness of the Manas. The animal has the Monad and the

Manas latent, but its brain cannot respond. All potentialities are there,

but are dormant. There are certain accepted errors in the West which

vitiate all their theories.

How many impressions can a man receive simultaneously into his

consciousness and record? The Westerns say one: Occultists say normally

seven, and abnormally fourteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty‐one, up to

forty‐nine, impressions can be simultaneously received. Occultism teaches

that the consciousness always receives a sevenfold impression and stores

it in the memory. You can prove it by striking at once the seven notes of

the musical scale: the seven sounds reach the consciousness

simultaneously, but the untrained ear can only recognize them one after

another, and if you choose you can measure the intervals. The trained ear

will hear the seven notes at once, simultaneously. And experiment has

shown that in two or three weeks a man may be trained to receive seventeen

or eighteen impressions of colour, the intervals decreasing with practice.

Memory is acquired for this life, and can be expanded. Genius is the

greatest responsiveness of the brain and brain‐memory to the Higher Manas.

Impressions on any sense are stored in the memory.

Before a physical sense is developed there is a mental feeling which

proceeds to become a physical sense. Fishes who are blind, living in the

deep sea, or subterranean waters, if they are put into a pond will in a

few generations develop eyes. But in their previous state there is a sense

of seeing, though no physical sight; how else should they in the darkness

find their way, avoid dangers, etc.? The mind will take in and store all

kinds of things mechanically and unconsciously, and will throw them into

the memory as unconscious perceptions. If the attention is greatly

engrossed in any way, the sense perception of any injury is not felt at

the time, but later the suffering enters into consciousness. So, returning

to our example of the seven notes struck simultaneously, we have one

impression, but the ear is affected in succession by the notes one after

another, so that they are stored in the brain‐mind in order, for the

untrained consciousness cannot register them simultaneously. All depends

on training and on attention. Thus the transference of a sensation passing

from any organ to the consciousness is almost simultaneous if your

attention is fixed on it, but if any noise distracts your attention, then

it will take a fraction more of a second before it reaches your

consciousness. The Occultist should train himself to receive and transmit

along the line of the seven scales of his consciousness every impression,

or impressions, simultaneously. He who reduces the intervals of physical

time the most has made the most progress.

Consciousness, Its Seven Scales.

There are seven scales or shades of consciousness, of the Unit; _e.g._, in

a moment of pleasure or pain; four lower and three higher.

1. Physical sense‐perception: Perception of the cell (if paralyzed, the

sense is there, though _you_ do not feel it).

2. Self‐perception or apperception: _I.e._, self‐perception of cell.

3. Psychic apperception: Of astral double, döppelganger, carrying it

higher to the:

4. Vital perception: Physical feeling, sensations of pleasure and pain, of

quality.

These are the four lower scales, and belong to the psycho‐physiological

man.

5. Mânasic discernment of the Mânasic self‐perception. Lower Manas:

6. Will perception: Volitional perception, the voluntary taking in of an

idea; you can regard or disregard physical pain.

7. Spiritual, entirely conscious apperception: Because it reaches the

Higher, self‐conscious Manas.

[Apperception means self‐perception, conscious action, not as with

Leibnitz, but when attention is fixed on the perception.]

You can take these on any planes: _e.g._, bad news passes through the four

lower stages before coming to the heart.

Or take Sound:

1. It strikes the ear.

2. Self‐perception of the ear.

3. On the psychic or mental, which carries it to

4. Vital (harsh, soft; strong, weak; etc.).

The Ego.

One of the best proofs that there is an Ego, a true Field of

Consciousness, is the fact already mentioned, that a state of

consciousness is never exactly reproduced, though you should live a

hundred years, and pass through milliards and milliards. In an active day,

how many states and substates there are; it would be impossible to have

cells enough for all. This will help you to understand why some mental

states and abstract things follow the Ego into Devachan, and why others

merely scatter in space. That which touches the Entity has an affinity for

it, as a noble action, is immortal and goes with it into Devachan, forming

part and parcel of the biography of the personality which is

disintegrating. A lofty emotion runs through the seven stages, and touches

the Ego, the mind that plays its tunes in the mind‐cells. We can analyze

the work of consciousness and describe it; but we cannot define

consciousness unless we postulate a Subject.

Bhûrloka.

The Bhûrloka begins with the Lower Manas. Animals do not feel as do men.

The dog thinks more of his master being angry than of the actual pain of

the lash. The animal does not suffer in memory and in imagination, feeling

past and future as well as actual present pain.

Pineal Gland.

The special physical organ of perception is the brain, and perception is

located in the aura of the pineal gland. This aura answers in vibrations

to any impressions, but it can only be sensed, not perceived, in the

living man. During the process of thought manifesting in consciousness, a

constant vibration occurs in the light of this aura, and a clairvoyant

looking at the brain of a living man may almost count, see with the

spiritual eye, the seven scales, the seven shades of light, passing from

the dullest to the brightest. You touch your hand; before you touch it the

vibration is already in the aura of the pineal gland, and has its own

shade of colour. It is this aura which causes the wear and tear of the

organ, by the vibrations it sets up. The brain, set vibrating, conveys the

vibrations to the spinal cord, and so to the rest of the body. Happiness

as well as sorrow sets up these strong vibrations, and so wears out the

body. Powerful vibrations of joy or sorrow may thus kill.

The Heart.

The septenary disturbance and play of light around the pineal gland are

reflected in the heart, or rather the aura of the heart, which vibrates

and illumines the seven brains of the heart, just as does the aura round

the pineal gland. This is the exoterically four‐ but Esoterically seven‐

leaved lotus, the Saptaparna, the cave of Buddha, with its seven

compartments.

Astral And Ego.

There is a difference between the nature and the essence of the Astral

Body and the Ego. The Astral Body is molecular, however etherealized it

may be: the Ego is atomic, spiritual. The Atoms are spiritual, and are for

ever invisible on this plane; molecules form around them, they remaining

as the higher invisible principles of the molecules. The eyes are the most

Occult of our senses: close them and you pass to the mental plane. Stop

all the senses and you are entirely on another plane.

Individuality.

If twelve people are smoking together, the smoke of their cigarettes may

mingle, but the molecules of the smoke from each have an affinity with

each other, and they remain distinct for ever and ever, no matter how the

whole mass may interblend. So a drop of water, though it fall into the

ocean retains its individuality. It has become a drop with a life of its

own, like a man, and cannot be annihilated. Any group of people would

appear as a group in the Astral Light, but would not be permanent; but a

group meeting to study Occultism would cohere, and the impression would be

more permanent. The higher and the more spiritual the affinity, the more

permanent the cohesion.

Lower Manas.

The Lower Manas is an emanation from the Higher Manas, and is of the same

nature as the Higher. This nature can make no impression on this plane,

nor receive any: an Archangel, having no experience, would be senseless on

this plane, and could neither give nor receive impressions. So the Lower

Manas clothes itself with the essence of the Astral Light; this astral

envelope shuts it out from its Parent, except through the Antahkarana

which is its only salvation. Break this and you become an animal.

Kâma.

Kâma is life, it is the essence of the blood. When this leaves the blood

the latter congeals. Prâna is universal on this plane; it is in us the

vital principle, Prânic, rather than Prâna.

Self‐Hood.

Qualities determine the properties of “Self‐hood.” As, for instance, two

wolves placed in the same environment would probably not act differently.

The field of the consciousness of the Higher Ego is never reflected in the

Astral Light. The Auric Envelope receives the impressions of both the

Higher and the Lower Manas, and it is the latter impressions that are also

reflected in the Astral Light. Whereas the essence of all things

spiritual, all that which reaches, or is not rejected by, the Higher Ego

is not reflected in the Astral Light, because it is on too low a plane.

But during the life of a man, this essence, with a view to Karmic ends, is

impressed on the Auric Envelope, and after death and the separation of the

Principles is united with the Universal Mind (that is to say, those

“impressions” which are superior to even the Devachanic Plane), to await

there Karmically until the day when the Ego is to be reincarnated. [There

are thus three sets of impressions, which we may call the Kâmic,

Devachanic and Mânasic.] For the entities, no matter how high, must have

their Karmic rewards and punishments on earth. These spiritual impressions

are made more or less on the brain, otherwise the Lower Ego would not be

responsible. There are some impressions, however, received through the

brain, which are not of our previous experience. In the case of the Adept

the brain is trained to retain these impressions.

The Reincarnating Ray may, for convenience, be separated into two aspects:

the lower Kâmic Ego is scattered in Kâma Loka; the Mânasic part

accomplishes its cycle and returns to the Higher Ego. It is, in reality,

this Higher Ego which is, so to speak, punished, which suffers. This is

the true crucifixion of the Christos—the most abstruse but yet the most

important mystery of Occultism; all the cycle of our lives hangs on it. It

is indeed the Higher Ego that is the sufferer; for remember that the

abstract consciousness of the higher personal consciousness will remain

impressed on the Ego, since it must be part and parcel of its eternity.

All our grandest impressions are impressed on the Higher Ego, because they

are of the same nature as itself.

Patriotism and great actions in national service are not altogether good,

from the point of view of the highest. To benefit a portion of humanity is

good; but to do so at the expense of the rest is bad. Therefore, in

patriotism, etc., the venom is present with the good. For though the inner

essence of the Higher Ego is unsoilable, the outer garment may be soiled.

Thus both the bad and the good of such thoughts and actions are impressed

on the Auric Envelope and the Karma of the bad is taken up by the Higher

Ego, though it is perfectly guiltless of it. Thus both sets of

impressions, after death, scatter in the Universal Mind, and at

reincarnation the Ego sends out a Ray which is itself, into a new

personality, and there suffers. It suffers in the Self‐consciousness that

it has created by its own accumulated experiences.

Every one of our Egos has the Karma of past Manvantaras behind. There are

seven Hierarchies of Egos, some of which, _e.g._, in inferior tribes, may

be said to be only just beginning the present cycle. The Ego starts with

Divine Consciousness; no past, no future, no separation. It is long before

realizing that it is itself. Only after many births does it begin to

discern, by this collectivity of experience, that it is individual. At the

end of its cycle of reincarnation it is still the same Divine

Consciousness, but it has now become individualized Self‐consciousness.

The feeling of responsibility is inspired by the presence of the Light of

the Higher Ego. As the Ego in its cycle of re‐birth becomes more and more

individualized, it learns more and more by suffering to recognize its own

responsibility, by which it finally gains Self‐consciousness, the

consciousness of all the Egos of the whole Universe. Absolute Being, to

have the idea or sensation of all this, must pass through all experience

individually, not universally, so that when it returns it should be of the

same omniscience as the Universal Mind _plus_ the memory of all that it

has passed through.

At the Day “Be with us” every Ego has to remember all the cycles of its

past reincarnations for Manvantaras. The Ego comes in contact with this

earth, all seven Principles become one, it sees all that it has done

therein. It sees the stream of its past reincarnations by a certain divine

light. It sees all humanity at once, but still there is ever, as it were,

a stream which is always the “I.”

We should therefore always endeavour to accentuate our responsibility.

The Higher Ego is, as it were, a globe of pure divine light, a Unit from a

higher plane, on which is no differentiation. Descending to a plane of

differentiation it emanates a Ray, which it can only manifest through the

personality which is already differentiated. A portion of this Ray, the

Lower Manas, during life, may so crystallize itself and become one with

Kâma that it will remain assimilated with Matter. That portion which

retains its purity forms Antahkarana. The whole fate of an incarnation

depends on whether Antahkarana will be able to restrain the Kâma‐Manas or

not. After death the higher light (Antahkarana) which bears the

impressions and memory of all good and noble aspirations, assimilates

itself with the Higher Ego, the bad is dissociated in space, and comes

back as bad Karma awaiting the personality.

The feeling of responsibility is the beginning of Wisdom, a proof that

Ahankâra is beginning to fade out, the beginning of losing the sense of

separateness.

Kâma Rûpa.

The Kâma Rûpa eventually breaks up and goes into animals. All red‐blooded

animals come from man. The cold‐blooded are from the matter of the past.

The blood is the Kâma Rûpa.

The white corpuscles are the scavengers, “devourers”; they are oozed out

of the Astral through the spleen, and are of the same essence as the

Astral. They are the sweat‐born of the Chhâyâ. Kâma is everywhere in the

body. The red cells are drops of electrical fluid, the perspiration of all

the organs oozed out from every cell. They are the progeny of the Fohatic

Principle.

Heart.

There are seven brains in the heart, the Upâdhis and symbols of the seven

Hierarchies.

The Fires.

The fires are always playing round the pineal gland, but when Kundalinî

illuminates them for a brief instant the whole universe is seen. Even in

deep sleep the Third Eye opens. This is good for Manas, who profits by it,

though we ourselves do not remember.

Perception.

In answer to a question on the seven stages of perception, H. P. B. said

that thought should be centred on the highest, the seventh, and then an

attempt to transcend this will prove that it is impossible to go beyond it

on this plane. There is nothing in the brain to carry the thinker on, and

if thought is to rise yet further it must be thought without a brain. Let

the eyes be closed, the will set not to let the brain work, and then the

point may be transcended and the student will pass to the next plane. All

the seven stages of perception come before Antahkarana; if you can pass

beyond them you are on the Mânasic Plane.

Try to imagine something which transcends your power of thought, say, the

nature of the Dhyân Chohans. Then make the brain passive, and pass beyond;

you will see a white radiant light, like silver, but opalescent as mother

of pearl; then waves of colour will pass over it, beginning in the

tenderest violet, and through bronze shades of green to indigo with

metallic lustre, and that colour will remain. If you see this you are on

another plane. You should pass through seven stages.

When a colour comes, glance at it, and if it is not good reject it. Let

your attention be arrested only on the green, indigo and yellow. These are

good colours. The eyes being connected with the brain, the colour you see

most easily will be the colour of the personality. If you see red, it is

merely physiological, and is to be disregarded. Green‐bronze is the Lower

Manas, yellow‐bronze the Antahkarana, indigo‐bronze is Manas. These are to

be observed, and when the yellow‐bronze merges into the indigo you are on

the Mânasic Plane.

On the Mânasic Plane you see the Noumena, the essence of phenomena. You do

not see people or other consciousnesses, but have enough to do to keep

your own. The trained Seer can see Noumena always. The Adept sees the

Noumena on this plane, the reality of things, so cannot be deceived.

In meditation the beginner may waver backwards and forwards between two

planes. You hear the ticking of a clock on this plane, then on the

astral—the soul of the ticking. When clocks are stopped here the ticking

goes on on higher planes, in the astral, and then in the ether, until the

last bit of the clock is gone. It is the same as with a dead body, which

sends out emanations until the last molecule is disintegrated.

There is no time in meditation, because there is no succession of states

of consciousness on this plane.

Violet is the colour of the Astral. You begin with it, but should not stay

in it; try to pass on. When you see a sheet of violet, you are beginning

unconsciously to form a Mâyâvi Rûpa. Fix your attention, and if you go

away keep your consciousness firmly to the Mâyâvic Body; do not lose sight

of it, hold on like grim death.

Consciousness.

The consciousness which is merely the animal consciousness is made up of

the consciousness of all the cells in the body except those of the heart.

The heart is the king, the most important organ in the body of man. Even

if the head be severed from the body, the heart will continue to beat for

thirty minutes. It will beat for some hours if wrapped in cotton wool and

put in a warm place. The spot in the heart which is the last of all to die

is the seat of life, the centre of all, Brahmâ, the first spot that lives

in the fœtus and the last that dies. When a Yogî is buried in a trance it

is this spot that lives, though the rest of the body be dead, and as long

as this is alive the Yogî can be resurrected. This spot contains

potentially mind, life, energy, and will. During life it radiates

prismatic colours, fiery and opalescent. The heart is the centre of

spiritual consciousness, as the brain is the centre of intellectual. But

this consciousness cannot be guided by a person, nor its energy directed

by him until he is at one with Buddhi‐Manas; until then it guides him—if

it can. Hence the pangs of remorse, the prickings of conscience; they come

from the heart, not the head. In the heart is the only manifested God, the

other two are invisible, and it is this which represents the Triad,

Âtmâ‐Buddhi‐Manas.

In reply to a question whether the consciousness might not be concentrated

in the heart, and so the promptings of the Spirit caught, H. P. B. said

that any one who could thus concentrate would be at one with Manas, would

have united Kâma‐Manas to the Higher Manas. The Higher Manas could not

directly guide man, it could only act through the Lower Manas.

There are three principal centres in man, Heart, Head, and Navel: any two

of which may be + or ‐ to each other, according to the relative

predominance of the centres.

The heart represents the Higher Triad; the liver and spleen represent the

Quaternary. The solar plexus is the brain of the stomach.

H. P. B. was asked if the three centres above‐named would represent the

Christos, crucified between two thieves; she said it might serve as an

analogy, but these figures must not be over‐driven. It must never be

forgotten that the Lower Manas is the same in its essence as the Higher,

and may become one with it by rejecting Kâmic impulses. The crucifixion of

the Christos represents the self‐sacrifice of the Higher Manas, the Father

that sends his only begotten Son into the world to take upon him our sins:

the Christ‐myth came from the Mysteries. So also did the life of

Apollonius of Tyana; this was suppressed by the Fathers of the Church

because of its striking similarity to the life of Christ.

The psycho‐intellectual man is all in the head with its seven gateways;

the spiritual man is in the heart. The convolutions are formed by thought.

The third ventricle in life is filled with light, and not with a liquid as

after death.

There are seven cavities in the brain which are quite empty during life,

and it is in these that visions must be reflected if they are to remain in

the memory. These centres are, in Occultism, called the seven harmonies,

the scale of the divine harmonies. They are filled with Âkâsha, each with

its own colour, according to the state of consciousness in which you are.

The sixth is the pineal gland, which is hollow and empty during life; the

seventh is the whole; the fifth is the third ventricle; the fourth the

pituitary body. When Manas is united to Âtmâ‐Buddhi, or when Âtmâ‐Buddhi

is centred in Manas, it acts in the three higher cavities, radiating,

sending forth a halo of light, and this is visible in the case of a very

holy person.

The cerebellum is the centre, the storehouse, of all the forces; it is the

Kâma of the head. The pineal gland corresponds to the uterus; its

peduncles to the Fallopian tubes. The pituitary body is only its servant,

its torch‐bearer, like the servants bearing lights that used to run before

the carriage of a princess. Man is thus androgyne so far as his head is

concerned.

Man contains in himself every element that is found in the Universe. There

is nothing in the Macrocosm that is not in the Microcosm. The pineal

gland, as was said, is quite empty during life; the pituitary contains

various essences. The granules in the pineal gland are precipitated after

death within the cavity.

The cerebellum furnishes the materials for ideation; the frontal lobes of

the cerebrum are the finishers and polishers of the materials, but they

cannot create of themselves.

Clairvoyant perception is the consciousness of touch: thus reading

letters, psychometrizing substances, etc., may be done at the pit of the

stomach. Every sense has its consciousness, and you can have consciousness

through every sense. There may be consciousness on the plane of sight,

though the brain be paralyzed; the eyes of a paralyzed person will show

terror. So with the sense of hearing. Those who are physically blind, deaf

or dumb, are still possessed of the psychic counterparts of these senses.

Will And Desire.

Eros in man is the will of the genius to create great pictures, great

music, things that will live and serve the race. It has nothing in common

with the animal desire to create. Will is of the Higher Manas. It is the

universal harmonious tendency acting by the Higher Manas. Desire is the

outcome of separateness, aiming at the satisfaction of Self in Matter. The

path opened between the Higher Ego and the Lower enables the Ego to act on

the personal self.

Conversion.

It is not true that a man powerful in evil can suddenly be converted and

become as powerful for good. His vehicle is too defiled, and he can at

best but neutralize the evil, balancing up the bad Karmic causes he has

set in motion, at any rate for this incarnation. You cannot take a herring

barrel and use it for attar of roses: the wood is too soaked through with

the drippings. When evil impulses and tendencies have become impressed on

the physical nature, they cannot at once be reversed. The molecules of the

body have been set in a Kâmic direction, and though they have sufficient

intelligence to discern between things on their own plane, _i.e._, to

avoid things harmful to themselves, they cannot understand a change of

direction, the impulse to which is from another plane. If they are forced

too violently, disease, madness or death will result.

Origines.

Absolute eternal motion, Parabrahman, which is nothing and everything,

motion inconceivably rapid, in this motion throws off a film, which is

Energy, Eros. It thus transforms itself to Mûlaprakriti, primordial

Substance which is still Energy. This Energy, still transforming itself in

its ceaseless and inconceivable motion, becomes the Atom, or rather the

germ of the Atom, and then it is on the Third Plane.

Our Manas is a Ray from the World‐Soul and is withdrawn at Pralaya; “it is

perhaps the Lower Manas of Parabrahman,” that is, of the Parabrahman of

the manifested Universe. The first film is Energy, or motion on the

manifested plane; Alaya is the Third Logos, Mahâ‐Buddhi, Mahat. We always

begin on the Third Plane; beyond that all is inconceivable. Âtmâ is

focussed in Buddhi, but is embodied only in Manas, these being the Spirit,

Soul and Body of the Universe.

Dreams.

We may have evil experiences in dreams as well as good. We should,

therefore, train ourselves so as to awaken directly we tend to do wrong.

The Lower Manas is asleep in sense‐dreams, the animal consciousness being

then guided towards the Astral Light by Kâma; the tendency of such sense‐

dreams is always towards the animal.

If we could remember our dreams in deep sleep, then we should be able to

remember all our past incarnations.

Nidânas.

There are twelve Nidânas, exoteric and Esoteric, the fundamental doctrine

of Buddhism.

So also there are twelve exoteric Buddhist Sûttas called Nidânas, each

giving one Nidâna.

The Nidânas have a dual meaning. They are:

(1) The twelve causes of sentient existence, through the twelve links of

subjective with objective Nature, or between the subjective and objective

Natures.

(2) A concatenation of causes and effects.

Every cause produces an effect, and this effect becomes in its turn a

cause. Each of these has as Upâdhi (basis), one of the sub‐divisions of

one of the Nidânas, and also an effect or consequence.

Both bases and effects belong to one or another Nidâna, each having from

three to seventeen, eighteen and twenty‐one sub‐divisions.

The names of the twelve Nidânas are:

(1) Jarâmarana.

(2) Jâti.

(3) Bhava.

(4) Upâdâna.

(5) Trishnâ.

(6) Vedanâ.

(7) Sparsha.

(8) Chadayâtana.

(9) Nâmarûpa.

(10) Vignâna.

(11) Samskâra.

(12) Avidyâ.(859)

(1) JARÂMARANA, lit. death in consequence of decrepitude. Notice that

death and not life comes as the first of the Nidânas. This is the first

fundamental in Buddhist Philosophy; every Atom, at every moment, as soon

as it is born begins dying.

The five Skandhas are founded on it; they are its effects or product.

Moreover, in its turn, it is based on the five Skandhas. They are mutual

things, one gives to the other.

(2) JÂTI, lit. Birth.

That is to say, Birth according to one of the four modes of Chaturyoni

(the four wombs), _viz._:

(i) Through the womb, like Mammalia.

(ii) Through Eggs.

(iii) Ethereal or liquid Germs—fish spawn, pollen, insects, etc.

(iv) Anupâdaka—Nirmânakâyas, Gods, etc.