Study Questions for

10. p. 380: Comment on the differing methods of individualization of the two groups of humanity.

11. p. 380: Offer your interpretation of the idea that "in each chain the planetary Logos takes a different initiation". What is the relationship between a chain and a center within the planetary Logos? What initiation do you suppose the planetary Logos is taking in this our fourth chain? Why?

12. p. 380: What do you suppose is the connection between an certain kind of initiation of our planetary Logos and the emergence into manifestation of certain kinds of lesser entities? What has such manifestation to do with the process of planetary initiation?

13. p. 380: Give your interpretation of Pope's statement, "The proper study of mankind, is man" with respect to the vast cycles which the Tibetan is discussing. What of significance concerning mankind might the study of such cycles reveal?

14. p. 380: What thoughts come to you as you read and interpret the paragraphs setting forth the "cosmic angle" of approach to the study of vast cycles? Some questions to answer: What is extra‑systemic psychology? Is the term "vast arc of the heavens" figurative or literal? What are "circulating attendants" and why are they called "attendants"? Does every entity have a "polar opposite"? Why will all this be revealed only "during the final part of the next round"? How many millions of years away do you suppose that time is?

15. pp. 380‑381: What thoughts come to you as you read and interpret the paragraph setting forth the "systemic angle" of approach to the study of vast cycles? Some questions to answer: Why does the Tibetan use the term "rational interdependence" when speaking of the Heavenly Men? What does it mean that Heavenly Men receive logoic force in "dual formation"? What of an occult nature might the "astronomical and orbital relation of the Sun to the planets" reveal? What is a planet's "polarity"? Do you think the Tibetan is suggesting here that facts anent the polarity of planets is revealed to initiates of the third degree? If, yes, at this point, why?

16. p. 381: From reading A Treatise on Comic Fire do you gather the impression that this book has a particular resonance with the number five? Why or why not?

17. p. 381: What, do you suppose, may be the value of understanding systematic information concerning "a: the vitalisation of the schemes; b: interaction between two schemes; c: the periods of incarnation of a planetary Logos on the physical plane; d: the initiation of the planetary Logos"?

18. p. 381: What thoughts come to you as you read and interpret the paragraph setting forth the "planetary angle" of approach to the vast cycles which concern man? Some questions to consider: Why should a Heavenly Man be called a Heavenly Man? Are chains centers within a planetary Logos or are globes centers? How many chain triangles can be formed within a planetary system of seven chains? Are individual chains the object of stimulation from a planetary Logos or are triangles of chains, or both? Which chains within our scheme do you think are presently receiving stimulation? What does it mean that certain chains or triangles of chains could be "the sphere of incarnation of a planetary Logos"? What, in such a case, is incarnation? Give your interpretation of the phrase "emerging into captivity" from a planetary perspective.

19. p. 382: Although even the planetary point of view involves, according to the Tibetan, an expansion of consciousness unattainable by man, are you willing to endeavor to comprehend such things? Why or why not?

20. p. 382: What thoughts come to you as you read and interpret the paragraph setting forth the "chain angle" of approach to the greater cycles which concern man? Some questions for consideration: What is the meaning of "the gloves as seen in time"? Is there another way to see them? Do you believe that globes are equivalent to the seven principles of a chain or are they something other? Why or why not? Is the fourth globe of our Earth Chain merely physical, or does it have its own higher principles? Why or why not? What does it mean that our planetary Logos "embodies in totality the chain and the scheme"?

21. p. 382: Why should a scheme correspond to the Monad? What is the "monadic auric egg"? What is its purpose? Of which forty‑nine cycles of a human being is the Tibetan speaking? Monadic? Egoic? Are such cycles related to root races or sub‑races? Why or why not? Does a Scheme also have forty nine cycles? If so, what do you think they are?

22. p. 382: Why should a chain correspond to the "body egoic of a human being"? What, in your opinion, are the "seven great cycles" of the ego? To what our circumstances or time periods do you believe they relate?

23. p. 382: Consider the footnote on this page and bring forward any insights which occur to you as you read about the nature of the globes of a chain and the relationships of the parallel globes to each other. Do you believe that the highest globes of all planets are found upon the higher mental plane? Upon what other levels might they be found? Analyze the possible positions if a chain were tenfold or twelve-fold? Which of these numbers do you consider more likely? Why? Read in this paragraph what is said about the "densest physical matter". Does what is said suggest a purely physical globe D or one that has higher principles?

24. p. 383: Do you believe that a globe has seven races or forty‑nine? What is there to suggest that each globe has its various races? Do you believe that the unit man experiences racial incarnations on all the globes of a scheme or only on one or some? What thought can you bring in support of your point of view? In answering this question look closely into the nature and structure of a round.

25. p. 383: In the life of a human being, what might be meant by a "particular series of incarnations"? Are you presently in a particular series of incarnation of a certain nature? Please describe.

26. p. 383: Do you think there are seven egoic cycles or forty‑nine?

27. p. 383: Give your interpretation of incarnations by the discarnate.

28. p. 383: If a physical globe corresponds to a "particular physical incarnation", what hint do you find concerning whether or not a physical globe has higher principles?

29. p. 383: Why does the Tibetan refer to the "midget, man"? How do you feel about this terminology?

30. p. 383: From all the above numerical figures (sevens and forty‑nines) how many incarnations do you believe a planetary Logos has? What are you calling an incarnation? Please explain your answer carefully. In all this examine the number "343" closely; what significance does its numerological sum suggest to you?

31. p. 383: Elaborate upon buddhi as "corporate action".

32. p. 383: Give your interpretation of the following: "In the case of a planetary Logos, the cells in His body are evolutionary lives (deva and human units) animated by the life of the second Logos, co‑operating with the first Logos, and utilising the activities of the third Logos for purposes of manifesting." What does it mean to you that human and deva units are animated by the life of the second Logos?

33. p. 383: The Tibetan states that because of the information given on pp. 382‑383 the "place of the Earth chain and globe play in the evolution of the planetary Logos of the Earth scheme should be clearer to the student". Is it clearer to you? How so?

34. p. 383: We are often told that the "wheel turns". What does this statement mean to you? What do you think it means that as that wheel turns it "sweeps into objectivity one of its seven globes"? Does anything about this statement strike you as unusual? Do you think that all globes of a scheme are eventually swept into objectivity, or only one?

35. p. 384: Consider well the usual diagram by means of which a scheme, its chains and globes are represented. Do you think this representation has any literal basis in reality? In what ways do you think the diagram is a fairly faithful representation of the facts? In what way do you think the facts are different from the way the diagram represents the case?

36. p. 384: For what particular reasons do you believe the ego is unable to express the entire content of egoic consciousness through the physical body and brain? Carry the analogy to a Heavenly Man in relation to his physical globe. What implications does this fact have for life upon our physical globe?

37. p. 384: When a planetary Logos is not in physical incarnation does it necessarily mean that the physical globe of his lowest chain does not exist? Please explain.

38. p. 384: Please offer your interpretation of the following: "The planetary Logos "is midway through his career upon the cosmic Path of Initiation, and consequently is to take the fourth initiation in this chain. Well may this globe, therefore, be considered the globe of sorrow and of pain, for through it our planetary Logos is undergoing that which the mystic calls the 'Crucifixion'".

39. p. 384: Is Sanat Kumara passing through an initiation presently? Which? What correlation does this fact have with the Initiation of the Planetary Logos? Which Initiation has the planetary Logos of Venus recently undergone? Are there any hints regarding this? Is there an analogy between the relationship of the Christ and the Master Jesus and their initiatory level at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the initiatory levels of the planetary Logos of Venus and our planetary Logos? Can you find references which relate Venus to the number "six" and to buddhi?

40. p. 384: If the planetary Logos is undergoing the fourth initiation in this our Earth chain, why is the dense physical globe so important? Why must the fourth initiation be undergone through this dense globe?

41. p. 384: We are told that during this "world period" the cells of the planetary Logos are "rent by pain and suffering". What is the purpose of the rending process? What is the meaning of "world period" in this particular context? For what duration do you believe the planetary Logos is undergoing the fourth initiation?

42. p. 384: Give your interpretation of the "capacity to suffer" in relation to the information in paragraph "c".

43. p. 384: Read the following carefully then attempt to answer the questions which pertain to it: "The solar Logos has for objective nine initiations, the third cosmic Initiation being His goal. Our planetary Logos has for objective seven initiations, the second cosmic Initiation being His goal. Man has for objective five initiations, the first cosmic Initiation being his goal".

Is the fifth initiation of man the first cosmic Initiation? Why or why not? Is there anything to suggest in this section that a number of secondary initiations exist between cosmic Initiations? What sort of initiation is the fourth Initiation which the planetary Logos is in process of taking upon this chain? It cannot be a cosmic initiation, correct? What contra‑indicates the idea that the seventh human initiation is the second Cosmic Initiation? In all this paragraph do you think there is a difference between the terms "objective" and "goal"? Why or why not? At what point of human attainment do you believe the first of the seven initiations which lie before the planetary Logos begins? Is there any reason to believe that any of the seven initiations which are the objective for the planetary Logos overlap with any of the nine initiations which are the objective of the solar Logos? Is there any reason to believe that these initiations do not overlap?

44. p. 385: See Chart VII. Examine carefully the diagram of the Earth Scheme. What do you learn from comparing the geometry of each chain? What do you make of the fact that the structure of the fourth chain is very similar (through not an exact replica) to the general structure of the fourth scheme? Notice that there are four lines emanating from the center of the Earth Scheme leading to the Mars Scheme, the Venus Scheme, the Vulcan Scheme, the Jupiter Scheme and the Mercury Scheme. What may be the meaning of such lines and why emanating from the center? Why are there not lines extending towards the Saturn and Neptune Schemes? Notice the unnamed line extending from the Venus Scheme? Whither, do you think? Notice the dark‑lined triangle extending from the Mercury globe of the Earth Chain to the Mercury globe of the Venus Chain to the Mercury Globe of the Mercury Chain? What do you think? Notice that globes three, five and seven form the inner triplicity of the Earth Chain and are linked by a dark‑lined triangle? Why do you think so? Notice particularly the arrangement of the globes for each chain. Some are numbered and specifically placed; some are not. What do you learn from this placement? What do dotted lines mean when compared to dark lines? Notice particularly the three dense lines extending from globe six of the Venus Chain to the second, fourth and sixth globes of the Earth Chain. What are the meaning of these lines? Why are globes one and four, and gloves two and six connected by dense lines forming a cross. What do you make of the inscribed pentagram within the Venus Chain? Why does the line to the Vulcan Scheme pass straight through the center of the Mars Chain? For students of Occult Chemistry, do the shapes by means of which the various chains are represented bear any similarly to any of the shapes by means of which the chemical elements are represented? What if anything occurs to you as you contemplate the order or the chains within the Earth Scheme—Neptune, Venus, Saturn, Earth, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter? Is this order meaningful or meaningless? How so? Why is the Moon Chain missing from this enumeration? What mystery could be concealed by its absence?

45. p. 386: What significance do you see in the fact that the Venus Chain of the Earth Scheme is number two whereas the Mars Chain is number six?

46. p. 386: If the "definitely human family became present upon earth" at some time during the third root‑race, what representations of humanity were present before that, and why were such beings not definitely human?

47. p. 386: What hints exists on this page to instruct you that the chains of a scheme exist simultaneously and do not appear sequentially?

48. p. 386: We are told here that the advent of great Entities from the Venus Chain "signalised the taking of a physical vehicle by the planetary Logos, and was literally the coming of the Avatar". What does "taking" a physical vehicle mean? Which Avatar and why?

49. p. 386: Please give your interpretation of the following: "... the planetary Logos did not come from the Venus scheme but from the Venus chain of His own scheme, the Earth scheme". What does the coming of the planetary Logos mean, and what does it have to do with the coming of Sanat Kumara?

50. p. 387: What, do you suppose, is the other point of the systemic triangle of which two points are the Earth and Venus?

51. p. 387: Consider what was said anent cosmic Initiations a few pages ago and then discuss the "minor initiation" which our Heavenly Man was enabled to take due to the alignment of the systemic triangle herein discussed and the "major initiation" for which He is in preparation. Do you think that the fourth initiation of the Planetary Logos discussed on p. 384 is considered a minor initiation? Or is the minor initiation discussed something different? Is it possible that initiations which are minor and major are numbered differently in the case of men and logoi?

52. p. 387: Which "major initiation" was taken by the Venusian planetary Logos on His fifth chain? Consider in answering this which initiation makes of a planetary Logos the Logos of a sacred planet. Is Venus a sacred planet? When planetary Logoi take initiation in one of Their chains, do you believe that the number of the initiation is always the same as the number of the chain upon which the initiation is being taken?

53. p. 387: Given what you have been able to learn about planetary and cosmic initiations, which center in the Solar Logos do you believe was stimulated prior to the taking of a major initiation by the Venusian Logos upon His fifth chain? Was the Venus Scheme the center which was stimulated? Is there any reason to connect the Triangle of Earth, Mars and Venus with the Solar Logos solar plexus?

54. p. 387: Contemplate the number 104 in relation to the number of Kumaras which are said to have come from Venus to the Earth. Are we speaking here of the Venus Chain of the Earth Scheme? What is the significance of 104? What is its numerological significance? What is the numerological significance of the number 105? How are the numbers five and six significant to the Venusian planetary Logos at this time? How are the numbers five and six significant to the planetary Logos of Earth at this time? The number 108 is also considered extremely important. Can you relate 108 to 105 in a meaningful manner? Do you think the Buddhas of Activity who came with Sanat Kumara were numbered among the 104? Why or why not?

55. p. 387: If a Buddha of Activity is "active love wisdom" and a planetary Logos is also active love wisdom, what does this tell us about the status of our Buddhas of Activity? Can you find a reference in The Rays and the Initiations (Rule XII, I believe) which throws light upon the status of these Buddhas?

56. p. 387: What does the following mean: "These Entities are divided into three groups of thirty‑five each, and in Themselves embody the three major centres of the planetary Logos, those three groups which we know as the 'three departments'..." Which Entities are here discussed? In what way can a "department" be considered a "centre" within a planetary Logos?

57. p. 388: Consider the following divisions of Kumara and elaborate upon their significance:

1. 35—35—7—7—7—7—7

2. 15—15—15—15—15—15—15

58. p. 388: Who are the "three Kumaras" herein discussed? Are They the Buddhas of Activity? What does it meant that they are "fivefold"? What is the significance of the number "fifteen" and how does fifteen relate to 105? In what way is the number "sixteen" related to the three Kumaras plus Sanat Kumara?

59. p. 388: Can it be said that the present Masters of the Wisdom substitute in any way for the original Kumaras who descended from the Venus Chain?

60. p. 388: A very mysterious reference is herein made to the ways in which the three Kumaras are associated with "a particular centre which is involved in the coming Initiation of the Heavenly Man, and to which the human units at this time, and during this greater cycle, belong". Ostensibly, the coming Initiation is the fourth. What center could be referred to and why? (See The Rays and the Initiations—Tabulation of Initiations. As part of your thinking, please count the number of petals in the Ajna center and take note of its numerological sum.

61. p. 388: Can you think of a geometrical figure or arrangement which might be representative of a group of fifteen Kumaras?

62. p. 388: Give your interpretation of seven groups of fifteen Kumaras each as "focal points for the force or influence emanating from the other solar centres or schemes". In what way that you can conceive could a group of fifteen Kumaras be related to a particular greater Ashram within the Hierarchy?

63. p. 388: Do you think that all Kumaras or Their Substitutes are Shamballic Beings? Or could some of Them be considered hierarchical Beings? Why or why not?

64. p. 388: If the great Beings, the Kumaras, form "the seven divisions of the occult Hierarchy" do you think this statement refers only to the occult Hierarchy of our particular globe, or could it have a wider meaning? If so, what kind of meaning?

65. p. 388: When it is said of the Kumaras that "they exist, as does the Heavenly Man Himself, in etheric matter, and are literally great Wheels, or centres of living Fire, manasic and electric fire", what type of etheric matter is here indicated? What meaning do you give to the idea that these Beings are literally "great Wheels"?

66. p. 388: It is said that the Kumaras "make a planetary triangle within the chain, and each of Them vitalises one globe". Refer to the chart of the Earth Chain on p. 385 and see if you can discover the indicated triangle. Two types of division of the Kumaras (by three and by seven) are indicated in the quotation referenced in this question. In what way do you understand this division?

67. pp. 388‑389: Although certainty does not exist for us on the following questions, offer a hypothesis with an explanation of why.

1. Which Ray, or logoic emanation is embodied by our planetary Logos?

2. Which centre in the solar system is called the Earth scheme?

3. Which scheme is our polar opposite, or which Heavenly Man is most closely allied to ours?

4. Which particular centre in the body of the planetary Logos is our Logos at present endeavouring to vitalise?

68. p. 389: What will be the value of calling planetary chains by their number instead of by the names presently given? Do you see any value of significance in the names as presently given?

69. p. 390: We are told that during the fifth round our planetary Logos will have attained the initiation which is his present goal? Will this be the fourth Initiation which presently lies before him, (c.f. p. 384) or will it be the second Cosmic Initiation?

70. p. 390: Which do you believe to be the synthesizing planet to which Venus will transfer Her life? Why?

71. p. 390: We read on this page of the "fifth round of the Venusian scheme" which will be closing in the coming fifth round of our planetary chain. Do you think this fifth round is actually a scheme round or is it connected with one of the Venusian chains?

72. p. 390: In our fifth round, Mercury will reach the apotheosis of achievement. Does this suggest that Mercury will be completing its development relatively simultaneously with the planetary Logos of Venus or that Venus will complete and become obscured first?

73. p. 390: What, do you think, will be the quality of the systemic triangle of Mercury, Mars and Earth. What do you learn when you examine the diagram for these three schemes found on p. 373?

74. p. 390: When you contemplate the relationship between the Earth Chain, Mercury Chain and Venus Chain of the Earth Scheme, how do you think this triangle relates to the development of man? Which centers in the planetary Logos of our scheme might these three chains represent?

75. p. 390: Logoic kundalini will pass from a triangle consisting of the Earth, Venus and what other scheme, to a triangle consisting of the Earth, Mars and Mercury Schemes. What "certain great logoic centre will be vitalized" in this process?

76. p. 390: When in the coming fifth round "an entirely new group of human beings will sweep into incarnation in our Earth scheme" what group of entities is meant? Are these entities present in any way now, during the fourth round of the Earth Chain?

77. p. 391: To which planetary scheme will the two-fifths of humanity still focussed on the astral plane be transferred after the "Judgment Day" of the fifth round? Why do you think so?

78. p. 391: Will Mercurian life synthesise before or after life on Venus? What is the synthesizing planet connected with Mercury? Why do you think so?

79. p. 391: Connect the idea of the "Judgment Day" with the point of attainment of our planetary Logos.

80. p. 391: Give your interpretation of the following: "... this present struggle has been to test the ability of the entities within the present human forms to appreciate their mental forces, and through the power of MIND to transcend feeling, or pain". From your own experience, how can MIND assist in this transcendence?

81. p. 391: Can you imagine how the struggle in the fifth round will cause the present world unrest to seem as nothing"?

82. p. 391: What would be the nature of the struggle between "higher and lower mind" in which "the battle ground will be the causal body"? What does this sentence mean to you?

83. p. 391: Explain how the causal body can be considered the result of the antecedent actions of man and a seed as well?

84. p. 392: Please give your interpretation of the following statement: "By the rarest fire of True Wisdom the body of avidya (i.e., the causal body) will be reduced to ashes." Why is the causal body called the "body of avidya" (ignorance)?

85. p. 392: Give your interpretation of the nature of the following struggle: "The struggle in the fifth round, being on mental levels, will be between Egos and egoic groups, each working consciously, and with intellectual application, to bring about certain group results". In this struggle, which of the contenders should prevail and why?

86. p. 392: The result of this struggle in the fifth round will result, it is said, in "the ultimate triumph of Spirit over matter". Why is it fitting that this triumph occur in the fifth round? What, practically speaking, will be the result of this triumph?

87. p. 392: What, do you suppose, will be the fate of the black lodge at the "Judgment Day"?

88. p. 392: Why is the fifth round an appropriate time for the beginning of obscuration?

89. p 392: What thoughts occur to you when you read that "our Earth should now be in her fifth round, and paralleling the Venusian scheme, but the moon chain of our scheme saw a period of temporary retardation of the evolutionary process of our Heavenly Man". Based upon this thought, it appears that the exact duration of a round is not set and fixed, but is variable according to the progress of the Heavenly Man for whom it represents a kind of incarnation. What thoughts come to you in this respect?

90. p. 392: Why are the members of the black lodge called the "Lords of the Dark Face"? Why are they called "the inherent forces of matter"?

91. p. 392: Does it strike you as strange or unusual that when the triumph at the fifth round of our fourth chain occurs, that obscuration will begin for the entire planetary scheme?

92. p. 392: Do the readings on this page suggest that the period of the Moon Chain focus saw antagonistic forces arrayed against our planetary Logos? If so, how so? What, in a few words, were the principal causes of defeat upon the Moon Chain?

93. p. 393: What does it mean that during the third root‑race there occurred "the individualisation, in physical form, of the Avatar"? Who was the Avatar and what form of individualization is meant—surely not the same kind of individualization that made of animal man a human being?

94. p. 393: Does the term "Divine Manasaputra", as used here, refer to the planetary Logos of the Earth Scheme or to the Lord of the World (i.e., Sanat Kumara)? What mystery is concealed in equating the two terms, "Divine Manasaputra" and "Lord of the World"? From what you are reading in these paragraphs, can you determine the major reason necessitating the taking of form by the Divine Manasaputra? What had it to do with His previous failure during His own Moon Chain?

95. p. 393: Give your interpretation of the summary of the definition of manas: "... it is the active will, intelligently applied, of an Entity, and then that this active intelligent will affects all lesser lives in cyclic evolution within the Body of that particular actively willing Existence".

96. p. 393: Explain the sources of manas for a solar system, for a planetary scheme and within a planetary scheme.

97. p. 394: What does it do for your sense of cosmic perspective to read the following: "To the life of that little entity we call an atom in the physical body of a man, the Thinker in the causal body, his greater directing intelligence, is as obscure and unknown as the Logos is to the Thinker, Man, himself. The analogy is nevertheless accurate". Is it justifiable to call man an atom in comparison to a solar Logos? To what Entity is man a cell?

II. THE POSITION OF MANAS

98. p. 395: Discuss the appropriateness of the following definition of manas: "manas is the intelligent purpose of some Being, working out in active objectivity".

99. p. 395: Give your thoughts about the "resolution of the 'hexagon' or the six‑pointed star, into the five‑pointed star".

100. pp. 395‑396: What does it mean that the Lords of Karma are the "sole recipients of the mind purposes of that cosmic ENTITY Who enfolds our solar Logos within His consciousness"? What has the star Sirius to do with the principle of Karma?

101. pp. 395‑396: Attempt to give a practical and meaningful explanation of the Six Shaktis listed in the footnote on pp. 395‑396. Explain the order in which the shaktis are listed, then correlate them with the Creative Hierarchies listed on pp. 34‑35 of Esoteric Astrology. If there are six shaktis and six Schools of Indian Philosophy, can you find a correspondence between the two sets of sixes?

102. p. 396: Give your interpretation of the following: "It is upon the Hierarchies and the correct number of these Entities that the mystery of the universe is built".

103. p. 396: Examine the footnote carefully and give your interpretation of the number "ten" and the various quotations listed from The Secret Doctrine in relation to that number.

104. p. 396: Examine the footnote carefully and give your interpretation of the number "six" and the various quotations listed from The Secret Doctrine in relation to that number.

105. p. 396: Examine the footnote carefully and give your interpretation of the number "five" and the various quotations listed from The Secret Doctrine in relation to that number.

106. p. 396: Give your interpretation of the following: "In the merging of the five and the six you have the totality of manifestation, the male and female blended in the Divine Hermaphrodite". What have Venus and Mercury to do with this statement?

107. p. 396: Give your interpretation of the first order, the sixth order and the fifth order. Why is the sixth order associated with objective form, matter and the not‑Self?

108. p. 396: From what you know about esoteric astrology and mystical geometry, why will an alliance between these two sciences release a flood of light upon the question of the intelligent principle?

109. p. 396: What is meant by the "inner workings of the Law of Cause and Effect"?

110. p. 397: Explain the reason for the following: "... only as the lower mind is transmuted into the abstract or higher mind and from thence into the intuition, will man be able to understand the significance of manas".

111. p. 397: What, in different terminology, is the "archetypal plane" in connection with the Logos?

112. pp. 397‑398: What thoughts come to you as you study the following definition of man: "... man is Spirit or the Self, working through matter of the Not‑Self, by means of the intelligence or manas ...".

113. p. 398: What are the implications of the following statement: "... by means of the principle of manas form is built"?

114. p. 398: Explain the "Builders" as "those entities who are the embodiment of Universal Mind". Why is it said that the Builders "are the Divine Manasaputras in their comprehensive totality"?

115. p. 398: What do you learn from the following?: "... man ... [is] the repository (through the Heavenly Man of Whose body he forms a part) of the purpose of the Logos, and the devas in all their higher grades [are] the cohesive attractive factor which manipulates matter, and which moulds it into shape".

116. p. 398: Why are the fourth, fifth and sixth Creative Hierarchies particularly concerned with manifestation in etheric matter?

117. p. 398: Interpret the following: "When the five and the four are perfectly blended, we shall have achieved the nine of a major initiation, and when the six is added we shall have the resolution into one of the groups embodied by a Kumara ..." Which major initiation? Relate the idea of a kumaric group, the number fifteen and the blending of these three Creative Hierarchies. What sort of group is embodied by a Kumara? Could such a group be an entire Ashram? Does 4+5+6 yield an initiatory condition equivalent to chohanship?

118. p. 399: What is your interpretation of the resolution of the six‑pointed star finally into the five‑pointed star?

119. p. 399: Explain manas as a "basic factor of the process and the means whereby the link is made between the abstract and the concrete".

120. p. 399: Explain "THE PATH" in manasic terms.

121. p. 399: Give your interpretation of the four means listed for building the channel which is "THE PATH".

122. p. 399: What is the meaning of the familiar idea that "the antaskarana is itself but illusion"?

123. p. 399: Trace the progress of man as he moves from the six to the five to the three. Explain what it means for man to be "resolved into the four".

124. p. 400: What would it mean to become part of the consciousness of the "four great Maharajas"? Are the four Maharajas greater than the Heavenly Men? If so, why so?

125. p. 400: Which, in your opinion, are the "four Heavenly Men Who embody (with their synthesising third) logoic manas"?

126. p. 400: Give your interpretation of the following highly occult statement: "Karma works through manas, and only as the six‑pointed star (or sumtotal of concrete mind in its various division) becomes the five‑pointed star, or the synthesis of the lower into the abstract or higher, is the transmutation into the three, or the Spiritual Triad, made possible via the four, or the formless repositories of karmic purpose; thus is liberation achieved, thus is man set free, and the microcosm attains BEING without the necessity of form‑taking".

127. p. 400: Give your interpretation of the following statements concerning the microcosmic transition from the six to the three: "When the microcosm has transcended the three worlds of matter and has become the five pointed star, he passes into the consciousness of the Monad, or pure Spirit, via the fourth plane of buddhi. For him the buddhic plane is the plane of karmic correspondence. On it he enters into the sphere of conscious co‑operation in the working out of karma for a Heavenly Man, having completely worked out his personal karma in the lower three spheres". What is your interpretation of the idea that the buddhic plane is the "plane of karmic correspondence"?

128. p. 400: Which planes do you think "correspond to the buddhic plane, for a Heavenly Man and for a solar Logos"?

129. p. 401: Give your interpretation of the following highly occult summary statement: "The fire of matter ... is the dynamic fire of motion, which keeps in activity each atom of matter. The fire of mind is the coherent impulse and purpose, driving the forms (built up of active matter) in a specific direction, and along certain destined paths. It is consequently karmic impulse, originating cause, and operating will. It is likewise the result or the effect of this action in time, and only as the Triad comes into play, via the esoteric four, are the fires of both mind and matter burnt out and the fire of Spirit set free".

130. p. 401: Explain the sum 4+4+1=9 as the equation of man devoid of that which is not a principle.

131. p. 401: What are the five ways in which the manasic principle manifests? What has Wisdom to do with the number six, and pure will and power with the number seven? Explain the transition from the five to the six which is the two and thence to the seven which is the one.

132. p. 401: Why must knowledge, or the number five, be fulfilled before transmutation into wisdom, or number six, is possible?

133. p. 402: Which are the five Kumaras awaiting the final resolution? Are these planetary Kumaras or systemic Kumaras or both? To how many levels is the term "Kumara" applicable?

134. p. 402: Give your interpretation of the difference between transmutation and the final resolution of the transmuted essences into their synthesis. Look at the planetary and human levels in your analysis.

135. p. 402: Why does the Tibetan say the following?: "... until it is known which cosmic Logos recognises our solar Logos as a centre in His body, and which six other systems are affiliated with ours, it will not be possible to touch upon the systemic stage of manasic development". Have you any idea which cosmic Logos it is? Is the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID a cosmic Logos? Why or why not? What are some possibilities for stars which number among the six other systems?

136. p. 402: What is your interpretation of the thought that "Brahma and Vishnu allied, go to the totality of the Divine Manasaputras"?

137. p. 403: Give your interpretation of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadeva in relation to the hexagon with a point at the center.

138. p. 403: In relation to the following statement—"This fivefold Brahma aspect or the five Kumaras, are in full‑manifestation, and, with the reflection of the other two aspects, make the seven of our manifested system"—what are the reflection of the other two aspects? Why reflection?

139. p. 403: From your experience, what is the process by which manas is transmuted into Love‑Wisdom?

140. p. 403: What is special about the proportion 3/5? Why, do you suppose, is the process of transmutation for a planetary Logos entered upon when 3/5 of its human and deva units are entering upon the Path? What does this proportion tell us about transmutation and the Judgment Day? What might be the parallel to this process and to this proportion in the life of the microcosm, man?

141. p. 403: Contrast the faculty of mind as an instrument for creative use with its usual role as "slayer of the real".

142. p. 403: Connect the fact that the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Vulcan are as yet developing manas with the chain and globe focus of each of these planetary Logoi (c.f. Esoteric Astrology, p. 693).

143. p. 403: What do you learn from the following anent the transmutation of human and deva units within the Earth Scheme and the Vulcan Scheme?: "The Earth scheme has about one fifth in process of transmutation in one or other of the globes at this time and Vulcan has very nearly two fifths"? Remember that those units individualized upon the Moon Chain comprise, very largely, the aspirants and advanced units of humanity? We have also been told that approximately 85% of human units are still kama‑manasic? Putting this information with the idea that there are sixty billion human monads, can we arrive at any conclusion about the number of human units which individualized on the Moon Chain?

144. p. 403: Within the Earth Scheme, do deva units or human units predominate? Can you justify your answer with a reference from A Treatise on Cosmic Fire?

145. p. 403: If in some planetary schemes deva units predominate, which planetary schemes do you think they would be? Why?

146. p. 403: Give your interpretation of the deva kingdom as "active creative force".

147. p. 404: Discuss the necessarily close relationship between "the fifth deva Hierarchy and the fifth logoic principle".

148. p. 404: Is the Heavenly Man, Himself, a Deva? Why or why not? Consider that a Heavenly Man is a Manasaputra and a "Builder".

149. p. 404: Give your interpretation of the following: "The sumtotal of manas is pure deva essence, and it is only as union is made between this fivefold third aspect and the other two aspects that what we understand as MAN—whether Heavenly Man or human—comes into being".

150. p. 404: Comment on the following: "The Messengers, the Builders, the devas, are flaming fire, radiant electric matter, and only in time and space, only during manifestation and only through the cycles of objectivity, is such an entity as man possible, or can a Heavenly Man come into existence".

151. p. 404: What does it mean that "radiant electric substance, active, intelligent ether" [is] "ensouled by the deva evolution"?

152. p 404: Discuss the difference between Devas and Pitris as presented in Some Thoughts on the Gita.

153. p. 405: Discuss the difference between cosmic electricity and the electrical akasha of the system.

154. p. 405: Discuss the manner in which "pure Spirit" or "abstract conscious Being" is "impelled by the attractive quality of its opposite pole, intelligent substance, to blend with it".

155. p. 405: Why should it be that "the meeting of these two polarities, and their point of merging, causes that flash in the cosmic universe which we call a sun, and results in light or objectivity".

156. p. 405: Contrast the "electric fire of pure Spirit" with "electrical substance". Why are both called electric?

157. p. 405: What is the practical significance for man that "the deva evolution controls for the greater portion of manifestation up to the beginning of the transmutative process"? What have Venus and the number five to do with the initiation of the transmutative process?

158. p. 405: Referencing the footnote, discuss the middle loka or plane as "the point in which the Deva essence is changed into Pitric essence or the no loka is made fit to appear as a loka down below or the unmanifested becomes the manifested".

159. p. 405: Which are the two schemes which will be entering into obscuration? If you know the names of these schemes, what are their correspondences in the life of microcosmic man? How does the resolving process in the life of man involve the correspondences to these two schemes?

160. pp. 405‑406: Give your interpretation of the following: "The four schemes which form the logoic Quaternary will merge into their synthesising scheme, that of Saturn, while Venus and Mercury will merge into Uranus and Neptune. No importance need be attached to the sequence of these names. The dual fact is all that is necessary to grasp". Why does the Tibetan add the last two sentences? Is there a blind here or a revelation?

161. p. 406: What does it mean that "Uranus and Neptune are reflections of the logoic astral and mental permanent atoms" while Saturn is in fact the correspondence to the logoic physical permanent atom"? Why the use of the term reflections? The Tibetan states further that "this is an occult mystery and must not be separated from its allied truth in the cosmic scheme". What does he mean by "the cosmic scheme"? What is a cosmic scheme? In a cosmic scheme what would be the higher correspondences to Uranus, Neptune and Saturn? Would our solar Logos and his vehicle of manifestation, a solar system, be in some way involved, or not?

162. p. 406: What is the justification for "viewing manas as the vibratory activity of all atoms"?

163. p. 406: What is a "spirilla" within the structure of the atom?

164. p. 406: What has the intense vibratory activity of the fourth spirilla (herein referenced) to do with moksha or with the possibility of the destruction of the causal body? What, in your estimation, would be a "form composed of matter which responds to the vibration of the fifth spirilla"?

165. p. 406: What are the implications of the fact that "the large number of discarnate entities at this stage who are willing to make contact with the physical plane are clothed in matter of [the fourth] ether"? What does the impending discovery of the fourth ether suggest anent the possibility of uniting the subjective and objective worlds?

166. p. 407: A round is a cycle of long duration. We are told that the devas of the fourth ether will come to be known before the end of this round. What does this suggest about the speed of the process by means of which humanity will communicate with the deva kingdom?

167. p. 407: Judging from your own experience, how can the buddhic plane be realized by the aid of manas? What are the means by which "manas is transmuted into wisdom"?

168. p. 407: How, in practical terms, could one describe the overlapping of the manasic and buddhic principle? Consider the Tibetan's method of numerological addition with reference to manas and buddhi. What is implicit in the way He arrives at the number nine by adding the four and the five? Using this principle of addition, what would be the significance, for instance, of the number eleven? Or the number six? Are there a number of ways to derive numerological significances? For instance? How is 2+4, different from 3+3?

169. p. 407: The Tibetan speaks of the "fourth Kumara". Is He here speaking in a systemic or planetary context? If in a systemic context, Who or What might be this fourth Kumara? In what way would you find it possible to link the fourth Kumara with Buddhi and the buddhic plane?

170. p. 407: What will be the result of the mass of humanity gradually passing on to the fourth subplane of the mental plane? What is the serious condition which the Hierarchy will have to handle unless the mass transfer to the fourth subplane is paralleled by a steady influx of egos on to the buddhic plane?

171. p. 407: Discuss the functions of the four Maharajas and the Lipikas with reference to the numbers four and five. In what way are the Lipikas approached by means of the number five, and how is Sirius involved in this approach?

172. p. 407: What kind of activity is being discussed when the Tibetan writes that "... the Lipika Lords dispense the law to those who have merged themselves with their divine principle, and are no longer held by the material forms of the three worlds"? Over how many worlds, then, may it be presumed that the Lipika Lords preside?

173. p. 408: What does the Tibetan mean by "the apparent confusion caused by the overlapping of cycles"? To what does the Tibetan attribute the chaos of our point of view and the many seeming contradictions which we encounter?

174. p. 408: What is the value of the formula 2n‑1?

175. p. 408: What are the general meanings of the three terms: Position, Relation, and Limitation? Why are these three outstanding features, emerging from our studies, so important?

176. pp. 408‑409: What do you learn from an examination of the summary found under the broad generalization called Position?

177. p. 409: Which type of ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID is discussed under the section called "An ensouling life"?

178. p. 409: Why is the power to evolve or progress "the peculiar and perfected attribute of the fifth principle"?

179. p. 409: What has the capacity to cohere to do with the transmutation of manas into wisdom? Link the second systemic law to the foregoing idea.

180. p. 410: What does it mean that "only the Heavenly Men and Their superior embracing lives are ... perfected manas"?

181. p. 410: What of value would emerge from "the study of the different polarities of the different spheres"?

182. p. 410: Consider the different eight different kinds of relations which could be elucidated. What would be the value of this elucidation?

183. p. 410: How is the principle of Relation governed by the law of Attraction and Repulsion?

184. p. 411: In what way does it make sense that "self consciousness itself is the result of the manasic principle"?

185. p. 411: How is it that "the two factors of mind and love‑wisdom" can be related, respectively, to the two laws of Attraction and Synthesis?

186. p. 411: Discuss the principle of Limitation and the three suppositions of capacity, duality and purpose that are associated with it.

187. p. 411: Why does the Tibetan write the following: "When these three factors (Position, Relation and Limitation) are studied within the system, the close connection of all groups within the whole will be evidenced and the need of each part for all other parts will be brought out".

188. p. 411: What thoughts occur to you when you read that "As regards cosmic position, relation and limitation ... e'en to the Heavenly Men Themselves the matter is obscure"?

189. pp. 411‑412: What sort of limitation is the Tibetan placing upon our studies by stating the following?: "Therefore, we can do no more than accept the fact of the inconceivable magnitude of that EXISTENCE which is manifesting through seven solar systems, and the extension of this concept of Being to embrace the entire vault of the Heavens".

190. p. 412: What may be the implications of the idea that "there may lie back of everything visible a vast realm or realms of Existences" (presumably, invisible)?

191. p. 412: Share your thoughts in relation to the following: "... just as there are tens of millions of human beings out of objective manifestation, or discarnate, on the subtler planes of the solar system, so there may be cosmic entities, in rank equal to the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID, Who are in a similar sense discarnate, and found in realms subtler than that of the manifestation of light".

192. p. 412: Explain the following statement: "... the Lord of the World, the first Kumara, is the planetary Logos of our scheme in physical incarnation ...".

193. p. 412: What are the implications of the fact that our planetary Logos finds place within the logoic Quaternary?

194. p. 412: Here we are told of the importance of the five Kumaras. Yet the three Buddhas of Activity plus the Sanat Kumara come to a total of four Kumaras. Who or What is the fifth Kumara and what relation does this Kumara have to the four just mentioned?

195. p. 412: What are the implications of each of the Buddhas of Activity being connected with one of the planetary Logoi Who, with the Logos of our Earth, make up the Logoic Quaternary? What might these three other planets be? Would Venus be included? Or Mars? If so why? If not why not?

196. p. 412: Discuss the concept of the "three esoteric Kumaras". For which planetary Logoi would They be vice-regents? Is it possible to link up the esoteric Kumaras with information to be found on p. 873 anent various kinds of Buddhas of Activity?

197. p. 412: At the bottom of this page the Tibetan appears to give the three exoteric Buddhas and the three esoteric Buddhas a significant position within the Earth Chain. Does this point of view contrast with what is stated on page 873?

198. p. 412: Earlier we read of the 104 Kumaras plus the Sanat Kumara, making 105. Now we read of three esoteric Kumaras, giving us a total of 108, associated especially with our globe. Why is the number 108 of special significance? What can we make of the fact that twelve divides into 108 nine times?

199. p. 413: Here we learn that "each chain corresponds to one centre" in a planetary scheme, and that seven Kumaras are "centres in the body of the planetary Logos". What are the implications?

200. p. 413: What evidence exists that there are globe Kumaras, chain Kumaras, scheme Kumaras and systemic Kumaras?

201. p. 413: Consider the structure of a generic chakra. What are "lesser wheels [to be found] within any particular centre"? In relation to a human chakra, what would such wheels represent? Petals?

202. p. 413: What light does the fact that there are in fact seven Kumaras shed upon the five Earth‑related Kumaras Who are the sum total of manas on Earth?

203. p. 413: Consider the following: "The life of the Logos in this incarnation on the earth is flowing through three centres and beginning to stimulate a fourth, hence four globes are involved and the three Kumaras (so called for lack of a better term) are vitally intelligently active; three are in abeyance and one is beginning to function ... This fourth Kumara is as yet practically unrealised, but as hinted at earlier His day is about to dawn". Who is this "fourth Kumara"? Which four globes are involved? Is the Sanat Kumara, the fourth Kumara or the seventh Kumara? Does He occupy a position of middle status or the highest status?

204. p. 413: Interpret the following very occult statement anent the Kumaras: "They are, in fact, the agents for the Lords of the Rays to the Monads of any ray in incarnation in any particular chain and on any particular globe".

205. p. 413: Consider the four types of Beings for which the scheme Kumaras act as Agents? What do you learn from this tabulation?

206. p. 413: What drastic measures do you suppose were employed by the Kumaras (presumably the scheme Kumaras) to offset the failure on the Moon Chain?

207. p. 414: On this page the Tibetan gives a most important explanation concerning why the Moon Chain is missing from charts which diagram the present structure of our planetary Scheme. Why in the distant path, do you suppose, the Moon Chain would have been portrayed and the Neptune Chain omitted? How would the numbering and ordering of the chains have been affected?

208. p. 414: A great mystery is discussed concerning the absorbing of the Moon Chain by the Earth Chain. When this happened did another chain, namely the Neptune Chain, flash into objectivity? Why or why not?

209. p. 414: The Uranus Chain is herein discussed. Does the Uranus Chain exist at the this moment even though it is not objective? What are subjective chains in any planetary scheme?

210. p. 415: Do you believe the ten schemes are always objective, or a mixture of subjective and objective? What are your reasons? What are the implications either way? Assuming a condition of partial objectivity and partial subjectivity (an arupa state) why is it reasonable to assume that there are not always three chains in a subjective condition, but that the number varies?

211. p. 415: How does the mystery of the Moon connect to the mystery of the "eighth sphere"?

212. p. 415: Given the possibility of ten planetary chains per scheme, is reasonable to assume that there may be more than one physical planet per scheme? Consider that the Earth scheme now has, apparently, two physical planets—the Moon and the Earth? Do you think that the Earth Chain actually had a physical planet when the Moon Chain had a physical planet, or did the physical planet of the Earth Chain form afterwards?

213. pp. 415‑416: Study the number sequences: 7‑3‑10; 3‑7‑10; 10‑7‑3. What do they mean? When were these various sequences operative? How can these numbers be connected with the involution, evolution and development of the human being?

214. p. 415: What are you principal learnings from the profound lessons in occultism concerning the various chains within the Earth Scheme?

215. p. 415: How might the principle that "nature abhors a vacuum" apply to the disappearance and appearance of planetary chains?

216. p. 415: What significance do you attribute to the fact that it was the Neptune Chain which "arose over the horizon, and took its place as one of the seven manifesting chains of the planetary Logos" when the Earth Chain absorbed the life of the Moon Chain?

217. p. 415: Would it be reasonable to conclude that the Uranus Chain will flash into objectivity when the Venus Chains and Mercury Chains merge? Do you think that a merging of the Venus and Mercury Chains is likely since both of those planets are either now entering obscuration or will do so in the relatively near future as time is counted on a planetary scale?

218. p. 415: What does it mean, practically speaking that the life of the "second and first Logos has been withdrawn from it [the Moon] and only the latent life of matter itself remains"?

219. p. 415: In what way is/was the Moon Chain unique among chains, not only within our planetary Scheme but within our entire solar system? What speculation would you hazard?

220. p. 416: Give your interpretation of the following: "Our Heavenly Man ... is esoterically allied to one of the seven solar systems, and in this mysterious alliance is hidden the mystery of the moon chain"? What would be the characteristics of such a solar system if it were to have been previously associated with the Moon Chain?

221. p. 416: Is there any logic to the thought that there may be triangles of force between the Rishis of the Great Bear, the Seven Solar Systems and the chains of the various planetary schemes?

222. p. 416: What thoughts occur to you when you consider the following septenates: the seven stars of the Great Bear; the seven major Pleiades; the seven stars of the Sirian system; the seven solar systems of which ours is one; the seven Heavenly Men; the seven objective chains of each Heavenly Man; the seven objective globes within any particular chain of any particular Heavenly Man?

223. p. 416: Why is it considered that the Moon chain was a chain where a systemic failure was to be seen? Why was not this failure merely the failure of our planetary Logos?

224. p. 416: What might be the explanation for the following: "The sexual misery of this planet finds its origin in the moon failure"?

225. p. 416: What speculations do you have concerning the manner in which suffering upon the Earth Chain is related to the failure upon the Moon Chain?

226. p. 416: Sanat Kumara is apparently known as the "Silent Watcher"? This term is also used in another way. Please peruse Initiation Human and Solar and elucidate another way in which the term "Silent Watcher" is used.

227. p. 416: Consider the following and comment: Our planet merits the name "the Sphere of Suffering". "Conditions of agony and distress such as are found on our planet are found in no such degree in any other scheme".

228. p. 416: Read the long footnote from The Secret Doctrine concerning the "Great Sacrifice" and offer your response. What is inspired in you as you read H.P.B.'s description of this Great Life?

229. p 417: What sort of vibratory power is now misused and the functioning of which center is now perverted and distorted due to the Moon Chain failure?

230. p. 417: Attempt to give a speculative interpretation of the following: "Certain results, such as the finding of its polar opposite, were hastened unduly on the moon chain, and the consequence was an uneven development and a retardation of the evolution of a certain number of deva and human groups". What might be the problem in the premature finding of the polar opposite? Examine this problem within the human context and give your interpretation.

231. p. 417: Why do you suppose the origin of the feud between the Lords of the Dark Face and the Brotherhood of Light can be traced to the Moon Chain? Do you suppose that the term Lords of the Dark Face have anything to do with the face of the Moon which never faces the Earth?

232. p. 417: The Tibetan speaks of the numbering of the chains and globes, and yet tells us that "the sequence of numbers has no reference or relation to space or time, nor to sequence of appearance or order of manifestation". Then to what might it have reference?