...

THE SEPARATION OF THE SEXES AND THE MODERN

THEORY OF TWIN SOULS

—

LESSON 201

Only an embryologist who was also an Occultist could reach a

satisfactory solution of the mystery of the separation of the sexes in

the third root race. The process of separation covered many ages of

time during which the sweat-born, egg-bearing and androgynous races

gradually changed from one order of evolution into another, and it is

only because the present theory of twin souls has originated in an

unconscious recognition, or latent memory fixed in the substance

which constituted these bodies in that third race that we refer to it at

all in considering the said theory. If we are to arrive at any definite

conclusion concerning this subject we have first to consider the divine

spark or Monad containing within itself all the potencies of Atma,

Buddhi, Manas, and to understand that the Monads . the God in man

. of the first, second and third root races are also the Monads of the

fifth, the present root race. While these Monads have remained the

same from age to age, they have clothed themselves in matter of many

different vibrations . astral and physical forms. According to the

Secret Doctrine the Monad . the divine spark . the God in

man-manifests as a personal ego when it incarnates in form, and

something remains of each personality through all its incarnations

through its connection with Manas . mind . when the latter is perfect

enough to assimilate Buddhi . the Christas. (See page 265, Vol. 1,

S.D.) With the incarnation or overshadowing of the Sons of Mind .

the highly developed spiritual entities of a previous great age . in a

portion of the mindless third root race of the present age, in order to

save it from extinction, that portion of the race gradually became

possessed of Higher Mind to some degree and eventually became

identified with those spiritual entities. This brief resume of the

evolution of the first three races is necessary to enable the thinker to

grasp the point we wish to make here, i. e., the position in the scale of

life of the race in which occurred the separation of the sexes, and the

state to which the human race would descend if the generally accepted

modem theory of twin soul was correct, based on differentiated sex as

it most assuredly is.

The creative power or principle is indivisible. The positive and

negative aspects of that power in differentiation as in the masculine

and feminine sexes, occurred in the latter part of the age in which the

previously mentioned portion of the third root race separated into

sexes, not by arbitrary separation of one composite body into two

parts, but by a process of embryology. When it is remembered that

even the present races of the earth are egg-born, the ovum or egg

developed in the ovaries of the female and impregnated by the mate

being the creative center of human and animal life, it does not strike

one as visionary when he learns that in an early human race the foetus

developed within an egg shaped vehicle, which was exuded from the

abdomen, something as drops of sweat exude from the skin of the

present human race. It must be borne in mind that these egg-born

bodies of the early sub races of the third root race were not constituted

of such dense substance as are the bodies of the later races. They were

formed of an elastic, tenuous, etheric substance. This substance was

gradually condensed and consolidated as evolution proceeded. Only a

slight modification of mind was possessed by the sub races of this root

race, therefore they were not as morally responsible as later races

became, and fell into gross sensual sin.

While the Monad . the vehicle of the Higher . Self . was

identified with those bodies to some degree, the link . the higher

manas . was not there as yet, and only became so connected by the

incarnation or overshadowing of the Sons of Mind. However, as the

divine soul is the seat of memory there exists even in the memory of

the men and women of the present races of the earth a latent

consciousness of the period before the separation of the sexes, and in

the mare highly developed of the present race there is also an intuitive

perception of a future race and a period when the two aspects of sex

will again be reunited and a sexless, a highly developed race, will be

evolved ; but this does not mean that two physical forms will be

united. It will be by a process of embryology that certain organic

changes will occur. The law of affinity, the law which compels like to

seek like, must inevitably draw into closer communion all those

beings who originally sprang from any one great group soul . one of

the Sons of Mind referred to above. The development of the higher

principles, qualities, etc., of life in each unit of such a group soul

would naturally tend to draw all such units toward each other, as even

in the present life people of like minds and purposes are naturally

drawn into close association. It could not be in such relations as is

generally understood by the twin soul theorists, for sex as it is now

understood will [TT 498] not be manifest in those more highly

evolved souls ; the era of physical generation will be over for them.

The power of creation by will and yoga . will and mind . will be

possessed by each such unit. The latent memories fixed in the souls of

humanity of the period when the Father-Mother principle, the two as

one, manifested in each unit as in the third root race, would naturally

attract any two people who in this present incarnation mentally

vibrated most closely to a single keynote of the substance of which

they were formed, whether they were in mate or female bodies, and

that keynote may be found in some one degree of magnetic energy.

This natural law accounts for the close friendships between man and

man and between some women and men, and also partially accounts

for the attraction which, impels many to enter marital relations who

are totally unfitted far the same, when there might have existed a

warm personal friendship between them had it not been for the power

of the passional aspect of sex which temporarily blinded them to the

qualities in themselves which must eventually force them apart.

The higher aspect of sex would not have so blinded them had

their relations been on simply a friendly footing, but would have aided

them in overcoming lower qualities if they had possessed them, or

helped in the development of much higher qualities and so established

a lasting friendship, such as is possible when sex is under control.

Such a bond would unite them more and more truly as their evolution

proceeded, until they became in deed and truth one being in thought

and feeling.

The fact of the spiral evolution and involution of matter would

indicate that a much more rapid vibration of all forms of life must

obtain at the highest point of each spiral of an involutionary period

than at any other point of the period and therefore would show how

impossible it would be for man to return to the same state and

conditions of life which obtained in the androgynes of the third root

race when the sex principle was not so differentiated ; therefore, how

unlikely it would be that the twin soul theories now based on sex

contact could have a real spiritual foundation.

It is a commonly accepted truism that a half told truth is far more

dangerous than the worst kind of a lie, and in no instance do these

words apply more forcibly than in the fallacy of the impurity and

immorality of sex as sex. The generally accepted ideas concerning the

necessity for celibacy in the case of an aspirant to spiritual

development before he bas reached a certain defined degree of life are

based on a fallacy, and the fallacy itself is a result of a wrong

presentation of a natural lave, insofar as the masses of mankind are

concerned. [TT 499]

There is nothing impure or evil in sex ; the impurity and evil are

the result of the abuse of sex privilege, and ignorance of the fact that

what may be normal and right under some circumstances would be

abnormal and therefore wrong under other circumstances.

The demand for celibacy in the case of the accepted neophyte of

certain Orders of the Great White Lodge is based on the necessity for

conservation of the creative forces and their transference from the

generative organs to certain heart and brain centers. The male and

female neophytes in the said Orders are separated mainly for the

reason that constant association between them renders the task of

conservation more difficult than it would otherwise be.

It is not a question of impurity, and therefore of "evil", in the

matter of sex. The fallacy last mentioned is based upon the belief

which is held by certain orders of the orthodox churches that only the

masculine sex can attain to the heights of discipleship. That it is more

difficult for the feminine sex to attain to the same heights of

development along certain fines that are possible of attainment by the

mate of the same average of intelligence is due to the maternal instinct

which in a normal woman is ever striving for, expression. If denied

individual expression, unfavorable qualities may develop as a result

which cause much unhappiness to the woman and utterly incapacitate

her for any high degree of discipleship. On the other hand the same

maternal instinct may increase to such a degree that the woman may

become, as it were, a spiritual mother to all humanity and capable of

rising to any heights of development. The qualities of selfishness, self-

indulgence are not developed in the second instance. Sex in itself is no

barrier to discipleship.

There is no sex in Divine Soul substance, therefore there can be

no twin souls in the sense in which the word twin is commonly used.

Total ignorance of what the Soul is, in fact, what are its functions,

where located, together with the latent memory of a former

androgynous state of mankind, are responsible for the modem theory

of twin souls.

...

THE VISION

—

LESSON 202

The Temple of the People as "a voice crying in the wilderness",

bas long been pleading with man, as the Guardians of the Temple in

past ages have pleaded with each race, to make straight the way of

[TT 500] the Lord. From time to tune there is thrown on the world

screen, here an etching, there a vivid outline, and in the mort secret

place a broad full picture whereon "the open eyed" atone could gaze

and understand. Bounden eyes have been unbound, blind eyes have

been opened to the vision of the future . that future which is even

now, in part, of the part, and which stretches on in the sight of those

who have caught that vision to inconceivable heights beyond, where

now dwell the redeemers of this dark star.

No tongue of man or angel car ever tell the story of the richness

of the sacrifices made, or the glories of unselfishness to which man

has risen and which even now are paving the way for the coming of

the Angel of Enlightenment. Nor car human eye read the story graver

on that world screen by the stylus of mortal anguish in this one short

cycle ; the story is too great, too far beyond the power of words to

express ; it loses something transcendental in the mere effort to

express it in words. It is part of the great Vision which car only be

seen and read by those who have won the power by sacrifice and

anguish to throw open the shrine in their own hearts and read correctly

the record of their own life experiences. Only a few more steps out of

Eternity into Time remain to be taken by the "Son of Man" ere the

brightness of the Vision be revealed to "His own" who are still in

embodiment, as it now is to the innumerable hosts on the other side of

Life's torrent . the souls that were driver thence by the lash of a great

desire. Having caught a glimpse of the vision there was no more rest

for them on earth. They only asked for the privilege of making the

last, the supremest, sacrifice, if so be they might complete some

infinitesimal figure of the grand total.

Those sacrifices have rot been made in vain. Blind eyes have been

made to sec, dumb lips to speak strange words, and over the whole

world there is rising a wave of Aspiration which will reach to the heart

of God and evoke a response that will unloose the floodgates of that

stream which has been dammed up in the souls of humanity for

long-the stream of Desire for perfect realization of the Fatherhood of

God and the Brotherhood of Man. This realization will ultimately

eventuate in a readjustment of conditions which have hitherto barred

the way to the understanding of one Nations problems by another.

The sense of injustice and of wrong under which the peoples of

all Nations have struggled so fruitlessly in part ages, will give way to

the certainty of Divine Justice, and to a passion of sorrow and regret

for part revilings and unbelief, which will soften hardened hearts.

Tongues which have previously cursed will commence to bless life.

Lips that have never known laughter or song will be changed in form

by tender smiles and glad strains. On all rides will be heard the words,

"come let us reason together", instead of the words, "come let us battle

for possession."

Is there naught in this vision to stir the dead or sleeping soul of

man to new life and effort, after its fierce struggle throughout the long

night of time to the dawn of a new day, even though there yet be

heavy clouds in the offing ?

Arise ye : Arise and go forth from palace and hut, from forest and

glade, and seek the path to the heights whereon the vision rests and

where all who will may behold it and rejoice with the angels over a

world to be redeemed from ignorance.

...

THE THIRD CYCLE

—

A COMMUNICATION TO TEMPLARS*

—

(Dec., 1918)

—

LESSON 203

Voir 9

You have asked me what of the twenty years, the two decades

which have passed since I came to you. Each one of those years and

9 The Temple vas founded November, 1898.

days and hours has been a testing store of fealty, faith, and love to and

for human kind and to and for each other first of all, upon which each

Templar has stood, having heard and answered the call sent forth by

the Great White Lodge . the call to its own to gather themselves

together against a fast coming day of need.

With the opening of the third ten year cycle you are hearing the

joy bells, the cries of victory and rejoicing over a peace which, alas, is

no peace.

Your thoughts hark back to a day when throughout the world

there fell the sound of a tocsin straight from hell, a day when father

from son, brother from brother parted in hatred and met but to slay

each other ; and you comfort yourselves with the thought that the

round has been stilled, the demon of hatred been conquered, and the

long struggle ended. But, my children, the great struggle has only just

begun.

Not yet will mankind as a whole accept the olive branch held in

the hand of the Angel guest who flew over the world in its quest for a

place to plant its feet upon while it gave the message from God to

man. Those feet were stained with blond as the Angel flew aloft, its

quest unfulfilled, for they had walked upon rivers of blond and

[TT 502] upon blood . drenched earth. The drops which fell from

those feet called loudly for vengeance, and today far louder is heard

that call than is heard the message the Angels ever bear to man, "On

earth peace, good will toward men."

Think rot that this lard upon which you now tread in safety is to

escape that call for vengeance.

"Vengeance is mine", saith the great Lord God. The vengeance of

God in this instance is but another name for the final effects of a

single cause. The cause is of long standing, and the effect is near at

hand.

But woe betide any disciple of the Great White Lodge who sets

fire to the refuse heaped up as a result of the ignorance of his brother

man, and thus starts the conflagration which is to come. Not his

should be the hand to perform this task, lest countless of his lives to

come be passed in like ignorance, for he could rot perform this act in

ignorance of the inevitable results. He who sheddeth his brother's

blond, by his brother will his own blond be shed.

For good as well as for ill, this third cycle will present

opportunities for the human race immeasurably vaster than any save

one which has preceded it ; and such opportunities will be correlated

in ways which will render them far more effective than would ever

have been possible if presented singly. But as to you who, twenty

years ago, were presented with an opportunity which, from a spiritual

standpoint, far exceeds in value all those to come, from you will be

exacted the equivalent for failure, if you fait to take advantage of that

opportunity to the extent of your power.

...

MAGNETIC PERSONALITIES

—

LESSON 204

That the electricity generated to create a flow of magnetism may

increase that flow to any desirable extent is dependent upon the

number of times the conducting wire is wound around the magnet.

This fact should give the clue to the investigator who is striving to

find the cause for the great difference between the flow of magnetic

force from one person and a corresponding flow from another ; in

other words, why one has a strong magnetic personality and another a

very weak one, and still another seems to be entirely devoid of all

magnetism. [TT 503] It also indicates why one person tan strongly

influence another by concentrated thought and another person's

thoughts seem devoid of all results.

The seine as well as the brain is a tremendously strong magnet,

and the verve fibres correspond to the wires which carry a current of

electricity from one point to another, but they only correspond

because they mark the invisible lines in the organ through which the

currents flow. The higher degrees of magnetism are rot dependent

upon any exterior form of matter for transmission although the energy

must flow in definite currents or lines, from one pole to the other of

the magnet.

The interesting point of the correspondences lies in the fact that as

the intensity of the energy in the first instance depends upon the

number of times the wire is wound about the magnet, in the second

instance the intensity of the magnetic force in the body of man

depends upon the tenseness of the spiral flow of force as it passes

upward through the spinal cord, crosses at the cerebellum and flows in

a double loop around the two halves of the brain. It then passes down

the spire, contacting all the verve centers on either side of the seine,

thus conveying to the latter the necessary impulses sent out from the

convolutions of the brain, and distributing those impulses to the

different plexuses of nerves, also muscles, and organs of the body.

It will one day be found that before wireless telegraphy and

telephony car be brought to a highly satisfactory degree of perfection

provision must be made for sending the electrical energy forth in a

spiral instead of a straight current. It would rot be found so easy to

intercept a current if this were done.

Just as man found it necessary to use wires in the conducting of

energy, nature long before discovered a similar necessity in sending

the lover forms of life force, which now travel through the substance

of the nerves.

In a strong magnetic personality the magnetic currents flow in a

close spiral about the spinal cord, each spiral almost meeting the

preceding one. In a weak personality the spirals are far apart,

corresponding to a loosely wound cord on a rounded stick ; and as a

wire wound around a magnet must be insulated to prevent the electric

current from escaping so the invisible lines, which are only marked by

the nerves, are furnished with insulation to prevent the escape of the

finer forces-protection which unconsciously to the individual is

supplied by the emanations of the nervous fluid. But like every other

good thing, a strong magnetic personality is a karmic result. It is the

result of unselfish devotion to humanity in other lives and the sending

[TT 504] forth of kind, loving thoughts into the world of things and

people, which increases the vibrations of the whole Auric sphere and

tightens all loosely constructed lines of life therein.

...

THE BETRAYER

—

LESSON 205

"Have I not chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil ?" So

said the great Initiate to his disciples in the hour of His trial.

The story of the betrayal of the Master Jesus illustrates one of the

greatest mysteries of Initiation. As a statement of fact it by no means

records the first event of the same nature in relation to a twelve-fold

group of disciples of the White Lodge. We must seek much farther

bock in the annals of time thon that of the period in which Jesus

suffered as a result of betrayal, if we would glimpse the first settings

of that deep mystery. We must hark bock to the first manifestations of

spirit as matter, bock to the period when the rebellion of the bright

angel Lucifer led to his expulsion from Heaven, of the betrayal of the

mythical Adam and Eve by the negative aspect of the Serpent, if we

would find the first revelations concerning the negative force

generated and freed by the first denials of the supremacy of Good, for

it was and is the same devil whom Jesus recognized, and saw to be

peculiarly active in Judas and which also manifests most actively in

some one disciple out of each group of twelve chosen disciples, in

every degree of the great White Lodge.

While the same force is more or less operative in every other unit

of such a group we are more concerned at the present moment with

the one entity of a group in whom the force would be preeminently

active in a specified period during which the powers of resistance in

all the units of the group would be at their lowest point of action, and

therefore the period in which the positive aspect of that force of evil

might more surely accomplish desired results on its particular point of

attack-the one already prepared to receive the suggestion of betrayal

and carry it out.

It must not be understood that any particular one of the chosen

twelve disciples in such a group has been chosen by the Master . the

Organizer of the group . for the identical purpose of betraying Him

when His own final hour of trial comes upon Him. It is the use to

which given opportunities for growth have been put, the development

or lace of development of certain attributes and characteristics, for

instance, the power of devotion and loyalty to each other, during the

period of their co-discipleship, as to which one of that twelve will fail

when comes his trial by fire, his last exterior test.

Yet the primary cause of the failure of his power of resistance lies

far bock in the beginnings of time. If the record of the karmic results

of the acts of the personal Ego from the time of its first embodiment

were possible of examination by the Organizer of a group, many

indications of the growth of tendencies toward unfaithfulness would

be found which would doubtless lead to caution in the selection of the

units of the proposed group ; but full knowledge of all such

inequalities . karmic effects . in the far distant post of those disciples

would be confined to the group soul the ruling power of many such

combinations. Divine justice would not permit of the entrusting of

such knowledge to lesser entities. There is too much at stake in all

such divisions of the great White Lodge to risk miscarriage of Divine

Design.

It is only the Masters of high degrees who have the power to

attain to knowledge of the beginnings of sentient life . the early

embodiments of the Ego. It is for that reason that you may feel sure of

the fallacy, the unreliability of the statements of those who profess to

unravel the mysteries of the reincarnating Ego's first embodiments ;

these lie too close to the mysteries of the Godhead for even the

comprehension of the humanity of the present age and race.

The human brain as it is at present constituted contains no center

of action sufficiently evolved to permit of the safe impact of the forces

which atone could awaken personal consciousness of a state of

substance so utterly different and so remote from that of the field of

action in which the mind and senses of man now function.

What man of ordinary intelligence could be induced to accept the

statement that the re-embodiments of his personal Ego were in any

way dependent upon such an immaterial thing as number ? Yet this is

the case to a marked degree.

Ask yourself the questions, Why did the. Master Jesus choose

twelve instead of eight or nine disciples ? Why should there be seven

distinct states of consciousness instead of five or six ? Why are certain

numbers considered secret and sacred by the seers of all ages, while

other numbers bear no such significance ? These questions and many

similar ones are unanswerable by the man of even normal intelligence

unless he happens to be an advanced student of occultism ;

unanswerable for the reason that it requires the knowledge gained by

long, intense study of a certain system of philosophy enforced by a

highly developed psychic sense to even obtain a working hypothesis

by which a solution of the mystery might be reached, and the average

[TT 506] man is content to accept the statements of recognized

teachers of exoteric creed and dogma rather than devote his time and

strength exclusively to such study, or to the fulfilling of the duties

which would be imposed upon him by a competent instructor.

Search where you may in the fields of nature or supernature,

wherever you find a distinct grouping of twelve units you will fend the

organizer and the disorganizer, the builder and the destroyer, points,

aspects or persons through which the positive and negative aspects of

creative force are peculiarly active. However much or little the same

forces are active in all other units of that group their action is always

intensified at two points of the geometrical figure which is formed by

the combination of the twelve units, and those two points are

represented by two of the twelve units.

Truly is it well for each human unit of such a twelve-fold group to

put the question, "Is it I ?" to his or her own Higher Self when the

charge of treachery enters the group consciousness, for who can

truthfully affirm entire innocence ? Who can say, "I know my own

heart so thoroughly I am sure I am incapable of such baseness." The

seriousness of such an offense against the law is evident in the suicide

of Judas, which followed upon the betrayal.

Unfortunately for the human race, as it would appear from a

casual study of the subject, there may be found in the history of every

race many references to individual members of a class who have been

held up in song and story for the admiration of others of the same race

or nation, a class of spies, detectives, diplomats, etc., the weaknesses

of their fellow men, thus putting a premium on the deadliest sin of

human nature, the Sin of Treachery. The fact that individual members

of this class in some one nation are held up to scorn and opprobrium

by the people of other nations, and are even done to death in many

instances, ought to be sufficient to designate the real status in the scale

of life of those who accept such employment, however necessary to

the exterior safety of a people that class appears to be. No true

believer in the laws of karma and reincarnation could justify the

employment of individual members of the said class. Evil never

destroys evil, and however disguised, it is either revenge or hatred

which incites to the employment of those who sink to such depths.

The whole great purpose of human life is the attainment of

Mastery, and the first and last enemy to be slain by the accepted

disciple of the White Lodge is the personal devil . the force which

incites to treachery.

While one may not be able to attain to the same degree of

faithfulness observable in another, our respect and regard for that

other [TT 507] is beyond question, however fallible he may be in

other the case of another who may have attained all other virtues

possible of expression, may leave one cold and unfeeling toward that

other.

...

THE GREAT QUESTION

—

March, 1919

—

LESSON 206

What are you doing and what are you going to do ?

Are you cultivating the powers of courage, assurance and

endurance at the present time, or are you sinking down into a state of

cowardice, fear and indolence, when some realization dawns upon you

of the truth of the facts I have tried to impress on your minds during

the last twenty years relating to the imminence of the great struggle

between the powers of light and darkness for the salvation or

destruction of the present human race ?

I ask myself again and again, can it be possible there is sufficient

power in the words of any language or all languages to express the

importance of that struggle, or to express the necessity for cultivating

the positive powers of courage, assurance and endurance in yourselves

and in your children ; and I listen again for the "no" which it has ever

been my portion to hear. There are no words in any language capable

of expressing that need, but there is something behind those words

which may carry conviction to every heart that will open its leaves and

let that Something, which is the power of truth, sink within and set

going the wheels of the brain with sufficient rapidity to arouse the

whole nature of man to a realization of the issues at stake. If you allow

yourselves to dwell on the possibilities of the destruction of cherished

possessions, the slaughter of your kind, the overthrow of your

governments, traditions and hopes, you will not only open some path

by which those terrors may eventuate, but you will weaken your

defenses, render inadequate your weapons and serve to cut yourselves

off from the great army of the White Brotherhood which is gathering

for the fray. There may be no time or opportunity for the units of that

army to stop, pick up and carry the cowards, the selfish and the

indolent who refuse to walk by their side.

The safety of your race, the hope of future civilization rests on

you and upon each normal human being, on your power to stand up

[TT 508] and fight, to take the buffets which fall on you and hurl

them back to their source, and to serve wherever it may be, and shall a

whine ; to spring quickly at the tell of your superior officer, your

Master in the lists of life.

You from whom indolence, wealth or carelessness has stolen the

spiritual brawn, bear well in mind, you cannot regain the treasures of

bravery, confidence in yourselves and industry in a moment of time,

but you tan begin at once to plan and carry out each detail of that plan,

as well and as rapidly as power shall develop to do so, and it will

develop only by use. The first task you should set yourself is the

forming an ideal of what you wish to be and clothing it in garments of

Faith and Hope sufficiently strong to bear the strain which will be put

upon them.

...

THE COMING AVATAR

—

LESSON 207

Whenever the subject of "The Coming Avatar" comes up for

discussion in a mixed audience, there invariably arise the questions,

when, where, and how will the expected Avatar appear ? Will it be at

some designated tune or place ? Will he tome in some super-human

body accompanied by wonderful exhibitions of supernatural

phenomena ? Will he be born of woman and grow to maturity in

circumstances similar to those which environ each one of the children

of the present human race, only to meet with similar affirmations and

denials to those which met the lest Avatar when he announced his

mission to man ?

Strong assertions have been made as to the reincarnation of the

lest Avatar in the body of some child born within the present century.

In a number of such instances, the assertion is conscientiously made,

and has been based on some apparently supernatural phenomena

which were believed to have preceded the birth of the child, thus

fixing the belief in the mind of the mother and her immediate friends,

if they have forgotten or ignored the fact that many other mothers

have had similar experiences and are even now making similar

assertions.

Those who believe in a literal translation of the statement

accredited to the Master Jesus by His disciples, after His crucifixion,

to the effect that His Second Coming would be "in a cloud with power

and great glory" find it difficult to accept the claims above mentioned.

[TT 509] There appears to be a direct contradiction between the two

methods of procedure. These contradictory claims have been given the

widest publicity and have proven great stumbling blocks in the way of

a general acceptance of the belief in the reappearance of the Avatar. If

it is not possible to reconcile these contradictory claims, the world will

be no nearer to a solution of the great Mystery in the present cycle

than it has been in past cycles.

It would not occur to the average person that two such apparently

irreconcilable beliefs were possible of reconciliation by the

introduction of a third, and up to the present tune, a strictly esoteric

teaching concerning the possibility of the appearance of a Great Soul

to the senses of physical man.

The student of Occultism who has accepted the teachings of the

Masters of Wisdom anent the illusory character and the impermanence

of all matter on the physical plane, and the reality and endurance of

the three higher of the seven states of manifested life, namely, Atma,

Buddhi and Manas, is prepared to accept the statement that the

Christos, or Buddhi, "the first born son of God", is in fact a state of

energy, although far beyond the investigation or even the imagination,

of man in his present state of existence. It is taught that this state of

energy is actually Spiritual Light, the original source of all Light, and

that it is reflected within the mentality of man, and also in that of

every living creature in varying degrees ; therefore every man is a

potential Christ.

The brighter the illumination of mind resulting from the reflected

light of the Christos, the more rapidly does the mentality of the normal

human being absorb, or assimilate and generate that energy and

approach the state of evolution which makes possible his admission to

one of the highest orders of manifested life, The Avataral Order, in

which he is prepared for open avowal of his mission to the world. A

fully prepared Avatar has gained full power over physical life and

death and over all matter which constitutes form in the lower orders of

life. He has passed through myriads of lives in those lower orders, as

well as through many of the higher orders of Adeptship ere he reaches

the Buddhistic State from which he enters the state of perfection .

wherein he becomes an individual Christ, a "Saviour" of the race to

which he belongs by evolutionary right.

At the beginning of every great age in the earlier stages of a

Manvantara, the Avatar karmically connected with the units of a

previously great race, reincarnates in the body of a child, grows to

maturity and eventually proclaims his mission as teacher and therefore

Saviour, of all those who may accept him. [TT 510]

When the individual Ego of an Avatar has reached and possibly

has passed into the Buddhistic Order of Life, it may not be necessary

for It to reincarnate in the body of a child on earth, or on any other

planet of this solar system. It has evolved a form similar to that which

the Disciples of Jesus saw at the time of His transfiguration . a

Glorified Body, sometimes termed a Nirmanakaya Robe, which is

visible only to the interior sense of sight in the case of the physical

man. The Nirmanakaya Body of a great Buddhi would be like unto a

Sun in brightness to the psychic sense of the observer, and if, in the

course of the evolution of a race, a change in vibration had occurred

which had unsealed the interior vision of the units of that race, they

might envision the Buddhi, or Christ, as clearly as they might now

behold an Avatar in a physical body were one upon the earth.

The nearness of a Nirmanakaya Body to the Auric Center of the

earth would be sufficient to raise the vibrations of every human being,

and even of the substance of the earth itself ; and this change in

vibration would raise the senses of man, especially the senses of sight

and sound, to a marked degree.

The bringing of a lighted lamp close to the open door of a

previously dark room, filled with people, would lighten the room

according to the size of the lump and the intensity of the light given

out by it. It would not be necessary for the occupants of the room to

see the source of the light in order to be conscious of its nearness.

With the dissipation of the darkness there would occur a notable

change in the occupants of the room. Even a slight change in vibration

would quite materially increase the mental action as well as the heart

action of each occupant, although he might not recognize the cause of

the increase. If you will consider the change in the sense of feeling,

the actual relief of mind and the brightening of the faces of all present

when a lighted lamp is suddenly brought into a previously dark room

in which you are, with others, quietly sitting, it will not be difficult for

you to accept my statement regarding the effect of Spiritual

Illumination on the whole nature of a race of human beings. I am not

attempting to give a technical illustration of the effects of light on

gross matter that would satisfy the mind of an academician, but there

are certain correspondences between different grades, or states of

energy and substance which greatly aid the intellect in solving many

of the most mysterious processes of nature, chief of which are

processes by which spiritual light becomes manifested as light on the

plane of gross matter.

What is true of the reincarnation, or of the development of an

Avatar is equally true of the lesser orders of life. The spiritual light

[TT 511] which illumines the mind and soul of an Avatar, illumines

the mind and soul of every human being ; as before said it is but a

degree and of preparation for the reception of that light. The Light of

the Central Spiritual Sun . spiritual light . is in actuality the light, or

energy, we term the "Christos." The soul of man is primarily a

reflection, so to speak, a beam of that light, clothed in energy or

substance of lower vibratory rates.

In terms of matter, the first Trinity in manifestation is Light, Heat

and Electricity. A composite unit of the three states of energy is the

basis of the substance which clothes the reincarnating soul, or

personal Ego. It is the Thinker, and the Thought, and the Expression.

In differentiation the Thought becomes the Etheric body and the

Expression is that Etheric body clothed in the gross matter of the

physical plane.

T have only touched on this vast subject : my purpose in doing so

has been to aid in furnishing a working hypothesis by means of which

some understanding of the problem presented by the prophesied return

of an Avatar might, at least partially, be solved. It must be understood

that whether the Coming Avatar shall appear as a reincarnation of the

Ego which previously incarnated in the body of Jesus of Nazareth, in

the body of a child, or in the body of a man, or whether the vibration

of a race shall be so raised as to enable the units of that race to behold

the glorified Form of a Buddhi, that recognition must be by intuitive

perception of the individual seer, and not by associating the form and

features with those of any preceding Avatar.

In previous messages I have endeavored to show somewhat of the

tremendous issues facing the present human race within the recently

opened ten-year cycle, as well as the unprecedented changes which

will take place in man as a whole, or in part, and even in the very

substance of the earth to some degree. The rapidity with which

changes are taking place in the ideas and ideals of man is not atone

due to recent world wide events ; it is first of all due to the entrance of

a Great Soul into Nirvana . a soul that has completed its whole round

of development, and to the nearness of another Great Soul to earthly

environment. It is said that similarly rapid changes are taking place in

the flora and fauna of some parts of the earth. Naturally such changes

are always taking place, but it is the rapidity with which they occur at

the present time which more particularly attracts attention.

It has also been taught by Masters of High Degree that these

changes will culminate to a marked extent in the year 1928, and that a

point of their culmination is due to fall between certain parallels of

latitude and longitude on the Western Hemisphere, directly opposite

[TT 512] a similar point between the same parallels on the Eastern

Hemisphere, thus closing a cycle of time and space which opened

nearly two thousand years ago.

In a prophecy made by one of the older Sages, we find the words :

"The child of the Fast must lie in the West wind to receive the call to

action." There are now many indications of the fulfillment of this

prophecy. The young men of many Eastern nations are rapidly

receiving the call to social and political action at the present time in

some of the countries of the Western Hemisphere with the avowed

purpose of returning to their native lands to act according to entirely

new ideals.

Knowledge of the form in which the coming Avatar is to appear

to man has been withheld from man for a definite purpose. If it should

prove to be, as before outlined, in the form of a Glorified Body, it will

not be difficult to understand how two biblical prophecies relating to

the "second coming of Christ" may be fulfilled, i. e. : "He shall come

in a cloud with power and great glory" and "He shall appear in the

twinkling of an eye and every eye shall behold him." Natural laws

would have to be suspended to make possible the verification of those

two prophecies if an Avatar were to appear in a strictly physical form.

But whatever be the form, or whether that form be perceptible to inner

or outer vision, one indisputable fact remains, the mere seeing of the

form would count for little. It will rest upon the conscious effort of the

individual man or woman as to what the final effect of that event will

be upon him or her. The human will enforced by Divine Will must

settle the question of preparation and the course of action to be

pursued in the interim between now and the final event, as has been

done in former Messianic Cycles. It would be well if each reader of

this article should make an individual and present issue of this subject

of the Coming of the Avatar. Above all else, his or her readiness for

the Call of the Christ will depend entirely upon individual effort and

the spirit of unselfishness which actuates that effort. We can only gray

that the Christ may have mercy on the one who refuses to make the

effort, for there is no mercy in the Code of Laws which governs the

action of the Individual Ego . the divine Self . when the human soul

is brought before its judgment Seat.

...

THE MOMENTOUS QUESTION

—

LESSON 208

The more enlightened classes of the present age are naturally

interested in the important question now being presented to the

religious [TT 513] world, "Shall Christianity dominate the human

race in the future, or shall that race be permitted to lapse into

barbarism as a result of the action of the terrific forces of opposition

now set free ?"

In making use of the term Christianity I shall use it in a much

broader sense than is generally the case with those who entitle

themselves Christians.

As used by the Initiates of the Great White Brotherhood, the term

Christianity would denote the belief of the earnest seeker after the

truths taught by each one of the great souls . the Christs, who have

incarnated upon the earth, at different periods of time, for the purpose

of teaching and regenerating a fallen race, to which they had been

karmically attracted.

The fundamental truths as expressed by each one of the Buddhis

and Avatars of the human race have ever been the same whatever the

nation or the language in which they were expressed. They may be

found in the Upanishads, the Vedas, the Commandments of Moses, as

well as in the Teachings of Jesus, Confucius and others, and, in fact,

may all be summed up in the familiar words "Love one another, for

love is the fulfilling of the law."

The momentous query now being put to all well recognized

religious bodies can only be truly and satisfactorily answered as the

individual members of these various bodies adopt the spirit of

Christianity in the solving of every problem which may arise as a

result of the efforts being made to adjust differences and combine for

a definite purpose. Only by so doing can they become able to meet

and neutralize or to destroy the forces of opposition now rampant in

every part of the world, forces which will become more active as the

cycle advances.

There is good reason for the anxiety now being felt by many in

respect to the threats made by one class of people against another

class. They are the natural. protest against man's inhumanity to man,

and the malignant forces which have been active in the latter half of

the century ire now being gathered into a stream which is ruthlessly

sweeping over the world, striving to destroy all religion, and thereby

striking at the very root of civilization.

The question now is, "Can Christianity stem the current of that

stream and guide the stream into a safe outlet ?"

During the latter part of every great age the efforts of the forces of

opposition are always directed toward the destruction of form and the

disintegration of mass. Unfortunately it is not only forms of gross

matter that have been or are being destroyed so ruthlessly at the

present time, but the far more important ideal forms which make for

higher evolution. [TT 514]

There can be no expression of life without form. Destroy a form

and you drive out the elemental souls of which the form is an

expression.

Religious forms and ceremonies, if wrongly used, may become

traps for unwary feet, but it is not the form itself that is the trap, it is

the betrayal of the elemental souls therein, thereby breaking the

Hierarchal fines, the units of which have created those fines which

must eventually bind all living creatures and people into one

harmonious whole.

The efforts now being put forth to combine all orthodox and

unorthodox religious bodies for the stemming of the tide of irreligion

may do much in that fine, but such efforts will be greatly nullified

until there can be a recognition of and a return to the ancient form of

religion, a patriarchal form, under which the Masters and Adepts of

the Great White Brotherhood have always lived and ruled themselves

under Hierarchal guidance.

So far as the masses of mankind are concerned, the Hierarchal

fine was broken in the early ages of the present Manvantara, and there

never has been peace in the world since that time, nor will there be

peace until it is re-established.

The originators of the present plan for combining religious bodies

have come to a realization of the imminence of the dangers

confronting the present race ; dangers to body as well as soul, as a

result of the tide of irreligion, but they are not wholly alive to the

difficulties in the way of overcoming the differences of opinion which

originally established Sectarianism.

Unless a common ground can be established whereby belief in a

Supreme Being is the one essential, and the necessity of the

maintenance of Law and Order recognized by all, there can be no

possibility of continuing such an organization as is proposed. Only by

fulfilling the law of Love would it be possible to overcome the

prejudices which now exist between different religious bodies, and

thus open the way for united action.

It is acknowledged by all believers in Christ that the Brotherhood

of Man is a fact, and it is generally believed that the salvation or

higher evolution of the individual man rests on his righteous treatment

of his fellow men. These beliefs are based on irrefutable truths.

The unsatisfied longing of the human Soul for all that is embraced

in his ideal of a Supreme Being, has driven him into many hells of his

own making. It is no more possible for him to satisfy that longing

while he is at enmity with another human being than it would be to

satisfy his physical hunger with a stone, yet in every country of this

world man is cultivating hatred, enmity and cruelty toward some man

or men, and in many instances believing he is doing God service.

Everywhere you hear of the decline of Christianity, when, in fact,

real Christianity has existed nowhere but in the higher orders of the

Great White Brotherhood for ages, save in comparatively few

individual instances where a man or woman is a conscious or an

unconscious disciple of one of those Orders. The germ of Christianity

exists in every human soul, but it must be fructified and cultivated by

love and by understanding of the problems of other souls than its own,

if there is to be a form of Christianity determined whereby the

reestablishing of the afore-mentioned Hierarchal fine may be

accomplished and thus do away with the causes for contention, by

placing in positions of power those who are spiritually fitted for the

exercise of power.

It requires the trained Occultist to teach the philosophy of these

vital truths. The pseudo Occultist who attempts to teach them while

denying their reality and virtue by his actions toward others is a

menace to the race.

This brings me to your responsibility in the matter of the

aforementioned combination of religious bodies. You have not the

excuse of ignorance if you are unable to teach by precept and example

the vital truths which have been so generously taught you. Every harsh

criticism of another, every willful misunderstanding of the motives

and problems of your fellow disciples renders you so much the less

capable of playing the part assigned to you in the present world

tragedy, for you must do that part as a body, if at all, and it is well

worth your time and effort to bear this constantly in mind.

Strive to realize more perfectly that as a body the members of the

Temple collectively as well as individually are one in God, and if

Occultism . Christianity . is to be established with sufficient power as

a result of a combined effort by all who are truly Christians, i. e.,

believers in the Christos, you will have to do your part to make that

body a capable and efficient instrument or you will fait in the test that

you are facing.

So long as a man or a body of men continue to narrow the divine

Ideal of Christianity and refuse to apply the basic truths of that Ideal

to their personal as well as their collective problems, the forces of

opposition will destroy every form of religion they create ; and this

will be done, as it has been done in the part, in accordance with Divine

law, for the ideal form in the mind of God is perfect in every detail

and God will accept nothing less than perfection as a finality.

As the basic truths of Occultism and those of Christianity are the

same, the accepted disciples of the Masters are more responsible for

the right presentation of those truths than are members of the various

[TT 516] sects who have not had the same advantages, or the

opportunities for demonstrating the verity of those basic truths. They

can never be proven by force ; and egotistic claims to knowledge that

are not demonstrable have driven many earnest inquirers into

Atheism. Revelation of the action of the interior laves of life and their

relation to the laves of the physical plane is most important, and it is

only the well advanced Occultist who is prepared to reveal these great

verities.

Each one of your number must conscientiously determine his

position on one side or the other of the path in the great trial by fire

that is now on the human race. It is imperative that you take a stand

for the salvation of the religion of the Christ regardless of individual

differences. Is there to be one vast harmonious movement toward true

Civilization, or must there be rapid destruction of all forma which

have hitherto been built to that end ? This is the most important and

momentous question of the present age, and it can only be rightly

answered from the religious point of view.

...

INTERRELATION, INTERPENETRATION, AND

CORRELATION OF MATTER

—

LESSON 209

Until man can comprehend to some degree the interrelation,

interpenetration and correlation of all grades of Force and Substance

from the cell to the electron, and even still finer grades of Substance

and Force, and also comprehend that he has as many vehicles of

expression as there are grades of substance in which his consciousness

functions, he will hardly be able to accept the fact that a Universe

itself has a definite form or vehicle of expression, and what to him is

of still more importance, that it is his consciousness . his individuality

or Spiritual Self . a correlation of Atma, Buddhi, and Manas . which

is operating eternally through all grades or divisions of matter and

force within that Universe. The average man knows little or nothing of

Biology ; and the creeds and various teachings of the Orthodox

Churches do not enter minutely into the finer forma of nature and life.

If a man is satisfied with the teachings of whatever church has

most strongly influenced his trend of mind, he will not make a

determined effort to learn what even profane science may offer him in

relation to finer forma of life than are those now evident to his exterior

senses. For instance, he cannot easily accept the truth that his

individual consciousness is now functioning in four different vehicles

of expression or bodies, and that when what is commonly called Death

intervenes, his individual consciousness has merely thrown off the

shell, or physical body, and that he will be as much, or even more

alive in a form of molecular substance, or Astral matter, and in a

universe of substance of similar consistency and nature to that in

which his consciousness will then be functioning.

The shell or cellular substance thrown off at death by

disintegration is used by nature in building up lesser forma of life ;

animal and plant and mineral life. When the individual consciousness

ceases to function in the Astral Body, the molecular substance of that

body is cast off as a result of what orthodox theology terms the

"Second Death." The consciousness then functions in a vehicle of

substance comparable to the atom of Science, and in a corresponding

atomic universe or state of matter. From the point of view of the

Occultist this is the higher Astral or higher Manasic plane.

That which is of infinite importance to the truly spiritual .

minded man or woman is the fact that it is in this higher Manasic

plane or state of substance and its corresponding vehicles of

expression that the reincarnating ego in its manifestation as the soul of

man reaches the devachanic state, or is reincarnated again on the

physical plane if it has reached the state of development where it can

consciously aid in the evolution of humanity and so chooses to

renounce the devachanic interlude. In the great majority of mankind

the ego reincarnates again after the devachanic or rest period. The

length of that period and the character of its experience rests upon the

nature of the acts and thoughts of the individual during the last earth

life. The evil minded, cruel and inhuman personality has but little, if

any, devachanic experience comparable to that experienced by others ;

it is forced into reincarnation under conditions which correspond to

the deeds and thoughts of previous earth laves and either ascends the

scale of life as a result of the sufferings it endures, or descends the

same scale by continual evil doing.

It must be understood that the various divisions or planes of

matter, force and substance are not sharply defined divisions. There is

interdependence, interpenetration, and correlation between all four of

the states of manifestation and the individual forma functioning

therein, as there is also interdependence, interpenetration and

correlation between spirit, mind, energy and substance in the

composite body of man. As, the outer senses of man respond to the

stimuli of the last mentioned states of energy and substance, so the

interior senses of the soul respond to the more rapid vibrations of the

finer forms of energy and substance when it is released from its

bondage to Time and Space. [TT 518]

From time immemorial, the human race has been striving to

throw off the "Yoke." The history of civilization is one long series of

conflicts between man and man to determine~ how best may he throw

of God . the bond, the Universal law . the state of energy or

substance, call it what you will, it is in fact that which binds Spirit and

Matter together, the bond between the Creator and the created.

As all manifested things and creatures are seven-fold by nature

and constitution, so also is the Yoke, and as all manifested things and

creatures have three aspects or energies . Positive, Negative, and

Neutral, man must become involved in one or more features of its

seven-fold constitution, and is brought or brings himself under the

control of either the positive or negative energies, or qualities, to the

exclusion of the neutral. It is the ignorance of the masses in relation to

these great fundamental principles and laws which disqualifies them

from applying these principles and laws to the solving of their life

problems, whether they be spiritual, mental, moral or physical

problems ; and it is the same ignorance which keeps the races of the

earth in such a state of flux as they now are, and have for ages been in,

except for the short periods in which some one or more races have

temporarily gained a period of comparative quiescence ; but these

periods have only lasted until a stronger, a more dominant race or

combination of races, has brought them to an end.

I know I am laying my words open to much criticism and denial

when I say that every revolution, every combined effort of mankind to

throw off the chains of one ruling power only to establish another

which in time would be similarly overthrown, is first of all an effort to

break down the seeming barrier between God and man. It is an effort

to set in action either the positive or negative principles or powers of

the universal creative energies to the exclusion of or opposition to the

Neutral energies of the universal triad . the very substance of the

Yoke, the divine law of Peace.

I do not say that this is in accordance with the general

understanding of the evolutionary law. I am simply stating what I

know to be a fact.

The deep, unprejudiced thinker of the present era tan hardly fail to

perceive the rapidity with which a large portion of the people of the

United States, as well as other nations, are preparing the way for the

overthrow of that for which the nation has stood since the

commencement of its life as a nation, that is, individual Liberty,

religious freedom, [TT 519] political freedom ; and it is being done so

subtly and secretly, under a mask of morality, righteousness and

unselfishness, and done by the Judases whom the people themselves

have raised to power, wealth and influence, and have so raised by the

aid of the laws they have made. In their inception the plans for

thwarting the will of the people are quietly, secretly formed ; but their

finished presentation to the at large is accompanied by such a blare of

trumpets, ringing of and fair speeches that the power of prevision in

the people is obscured. All unperceived by them the worm in the bud

is growing to unprecedented size and strength and will have eaten the

heart of the fruit . individual Liberty . ere its ravages become evident

to the naked eye. One of the Initiates of the Great White Lodge

charged his disciples to refrain from being yoked together with

unbelievers. The came charge may well be given in a wider sense to

those who are now ignorantly or willfully striving to prevent the

ratification of the bond between God and man ; for the present . day

unbelievers are unbelievers in the existence, the reality, of the Yoke

which has bound man to man, and man to God since the beginning of

time. Man looks upon the idea of the existence of a state of substance

or energy comparable to a yoke, as a chimera not worth a sane man's

consideration ; therefore he makes no effort to sustain his side of the

yoke or reach the state of substance, the neutral state of peace .

perfect freedom . the freedom of the regenerated soul, the freedom

which precludes the performance of evil, for the reason that evil does

not exist for it. Such man . made laws as restrict the Liberty of man

serve to dam up the stream of evolutionary force upon which he is

dependent for higher development. This does not mean that man

should be exempted from punishment, or left unrestricted to work out

evil ; but that he should be left perfectly free to choose his individual

course of action in all things. If he chooses evil he must bear the

results, but a law which gives him no choice enslaves him to whatever

degree his Liberty of action is inhibited, and it is the efforts of one

class or race of mankind to deprive another class or race of its Liberty

that have led to every revolution since time for man began.

God, the Infinite Father of the human race, creates, establishes the

"Yoke", but man, the human soul, must put his side of that yoke on

himself . must give up his Liberty to do evil, by allying himself so

powerfully with that Father . the Higher Self, Divine Soul . that no

exterior power tan tear that yoke asunder. He yields it up only as he

passes into Nirvana . becomes one in consciousness with God.

Impatience, indolence, intolerance and all those qualities which hinder

man from wisely seeking for the causes which lie back of all

phenomena, wrongly applied hero . worship, egotism and self-

assertion are [TT 520] some of the positive and negative aspects of

the barrier man sets up against the Yoke.

The neutral aspect of the same triad, the substance itself, is a

combination of Love, Truth, Beauty and true Liberty.