,,evolution ,,of ,,life ,,and ,,form    
,four ,lectures delivered at the        
,twenty-third ,anniversary ,meeting     
of the ,theosophical ,society at ,adyar1
 ,madras1 #ahih4      ,,by      ,,annie 
,,besant      ,,second ,,edition        
,,london3 ,,theosophical ,,publishing   
,,society      ,,benares3 ,,theosophical
 ,,publishing ,,society      #aijj      
,,contents4                             
,,page    ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern      
,,science      #e    ,,functions ,,of   
,,the ,,gods          #df    ,,evolution
 ,,of ,,life              #ij           
,,evolution ,,of ,,form             #abd
          ,,first ,,lecture4            
,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,,science4     
,my ,brothers3--,the subject on which ,i
 am to address you this morning1 and    
the three mornings that follow1 is one  
of considerable complexity and          
difficulty4 ,i do not apologise to you  
for the difficulty of my theme4  ,when  
we meet here in our ,anniversary        
,meeting1 we meet as students and  not  

simply as superficial men and women of  
the world4 ,we try to prepare           
ourselves1 by study1 for the exchange of
 thought which in these  gatherings     
takes place1 and although the subject is
 a difficult one1  although it is not   
possible to make it clear and           
intelligible without  the use of certain
 technical terms1 yet1 to the student   
technical  terms--being precise--are    
really the easiest to understand1 and   
inasmuch  as1 in a great majority at    
least1 we are students1 ,i who speak1   
and you  who listen1 we may be content  
to treat the subject in a somewhat      
formal  and technical way4 ,roughly1 my 
outline is this4 ,i want to lay before  
you  an intelligible conception of      
evolution1 taking it on its two sides1  
that of the evolving life and that of   
the developing forms4 ,i begin by       
laying before you a sketch of the       
methods of ,ancient and ,modern         
,science1 the direction in which each   
has worked1 and is working1 the         

ultimate union that1 we hope1 may take  
place between them4 ,for what  could    
more fully presage the good of the whole
 world1 what could promise  more happily
 for the relationship between the       
different races of  humanity1 than to   
draw together on the plane of mind the  
science of  antiquity and of modern     
days1 the science of the ,east and of   
the ,west1  and1 by wedding them to each
 other1 draw together the nations that  
are  now divided1 and make objective    
that brotherhood of humanity of which we
  dream4    ,dealing first with ancient 
and modern science in this broad and    
general  way1 and taking that as my     
subject for this morning1 ,i shall pass 
on  to-morrow to speak on the ,functions
 of the ,gods1 meaning by that  phrase  
the activities of that invisible side of
 nature on which the  whole of the      
visible depends4 ,whether we use here   
the name ,devas to  represent those     
developed spiritual intelligences1 or   
whether with the  child of ,islm1 with  

the ,hebrew or the ,christian1 we speak 
of the  ,angels and ,archangels1 the    
name matters nothing2 the conception is 
common to every faith of man4 ,we shall 
study their functions in the  universe1 
and try to understand how they act as   
the ministers of the  ,divine ,will4    
,then we shall pass on to treat of that 
,evolution of ,life  which lies         
underneath the evolution of forms4      
,finally1 we shall treat  the ,evolution
 of ,forms1 and see how1 in that        
evolution1 is the promise  of final     
perfection1 how all is working to a     
perfect ending1 how the  best that we   
can dream of is less than the           
performance of ,god4    ,that is the    
outline of our work4 ,let us at once    
begin the first section  of the         
subject--,ancient and ,modern ,science4 
,now1 in the olden times1 in those times
 to which in this land our thought      
turns back most fondly with reverence   
and with pride1 in those times1  here1  
as in every other ancient land1         

,religion and ,science were wedded      
together1 and there was no discord      
between the intelligence and the        
spirit4 ,it matters not whither you     
wander amid the ancient nations of the  
world3 you may travel through the whole 
of ,chaldea2 you may study the  remains 
of ancient ,egypt2 you may go through   
,persia and search amid her  monuments2 
you may cross the ,atlantic to ,america1
 and unbury the cities  that were lost  
ere yet the ,aztecs had made the mighty 
,state which fell  under the blows of   
the ,spaniards2 you may go into ,china  
and1 in the vast  recesses of that      
well-nigh unknown land1 you may search  
for what has been  left there from      
ancient days2 or without going outside  
the limits of your  own land1 you may   
take the literature that is our pride1  
the mighty books  written by the ishis  
of the past2 and everywhere antiquity   
speaks with a  single tongue4 ,religion 
reveals the spirit1 the spiritual truth 
which is  one4 ,intelligence studies    

that truth in its manifold              
manifestations1 and  its work2 science1 
studying the phenomena which are images 
of aspects of  the ,divine1 is the      
handmaid1 is the sister1 of religion1   
and between them  discord is unnatural  
and fatal to progress4 ,that is the     
ancient view2 but  when we come to our  
own century a new phenomenon presents   
itself to our  gaze--religion on the one
 side suspicious of science in its      
progress1  science on the other hand apt
 to be proudly contemptuous of religious
  claims4 ,how has the divorce arisen8  
,why this discord between two of the    
great helpers of human evolution8 ,the  
reason is not far to seek4 ,in the      
western world the science of the elder  
time1 the science of antiquity1         
disappeared in the great flood of       
barbaric invasions1 underneath the      
whirlpool caused by the ruins of the    
,roman ,empire1 and later on1           
underneath the wreckage of that same    
,empire with its new centre in          

,constantinople4 ,the invasions of      
barbarians1 both from the ,east and the 
,north1 sweeping over the ,european     
continent1 brought ignorance in the     
wake of barbaric conquest4 ,the result  
was that night came down upon  knowledge
 and thick darkness enveloped the lands 
which were to be the  nursery of a new  
civilisation4 ,when the ,sun of science 
again began to rise  upon the ,western  
world1 it presented itself in a form    
which was alien1  nay1 which was more   
than alien1 which was hostile to the    
dominant religion  of the time4 ,it came
 from the children of ,islm4 ,it came   
from those who  recognised ,muhammed as 
their ,prophet4 ,from the ,muslim       
schools of ,arabia  came the first      
teachers of modern science to ,europe4  
,true1 they were  really by their       
intellectual ancestry descended from the
 thought of  ,greece4 ,they drew their  
inspiration from the school of ,plato   
through the  ,neo-,platonists2 they     
reproduced the ideas of ,porphyry and   

,ptolemy1 and of  other ,grecian and    
,egyptian thinkers1 ,neo-,platonic and  
even ,gnostic4 ,but  they threw over it 
the garb of ,islm1 they presented it in 
the form of  ,arabic thought4 ,the      
result of this was that1 as it made its 
way into ,spain  in the wake of the     
conquering ,moors1 as it came with those
 who drove out  of the ,southern        
,peninsula the rule of the ,spanish     
,christian monarchy1 so  the first      
aspect of science to ,christians was an 
aspect of hostility4 ,it  came as an    
invading enemy and not as an illuminant 
to all4 ,hence conflict  arose2 some who
 were within the limits of the mighty   
,church of ,rome1  touched by a longing 
for the new learning1 stretched out     
their hands to  take the gifts that     
science was bringing4 ,these men were   
regarded with  suspicion1 nay1 with more
 than suspicion1 with hatred that broke 
out in  bitter persecution4 ,who can    
read the history of ,roger ,bacon1 the  
wondrous  monk2 who can picture         

,copernicus on his death-bed as his     
immortal work is  brought to him ere yet
 his eyes are closed1 he having shrunk  
from earlier  publication1 lest the     
stake should be his portion2 who can    
stand in the  ,field of ,flowers in     
,rome1 and see there the statue erected 
where he was  burned to death1 who dying
 in one century1 lives for all centuries
 to  come--,giordano ,bruno2 who can    
listen to ,galileo1 as with faltering   
lips he  denies the truth he knows and  
utters the falsehood that he knows not2 
who  can follow these martyr-steps1 led 
on by bitter memories of blood and      
fire1 without understanding the reason  
for the hostility of science to         
religion1 without confessing with shame 
and sorrow that that hostility was      
caused and was justified by the         
cruelties wreaked by religion on        
science1  when science was young and    
feeble8 ,every one of us who stands upon
 the  side of religion should recognise 
that we are reaping the bitter harvest  

of our own past errors1 and that the law
 is just which brings upon us the       
difficulties and opposition we encounter
 in our modern days4 ,for as  science   
grew strong1 she grew strong with the   
sword in her hands4 ,she  fought for    
every inch of the ground on which she   
stood1 and only so far as  she could    
guard herself was she safe from the     
flame or from the prison4  ,hence she   
searched for everything in nature that  
could serve as a weapon  against the foe
 that attacked her4 ,hence she welcomed 
eagerly everything  which seemed to show
 that materialism was the true          
philosophy of life4 ,if  we go back     
twenty-five years1 to the time when ,i  
and some of you were  young1 we shall   
find that over western science there    
hung the shadow of  materialism1 and    
that stronger and stronger grew the     
scientific tendency  to see in matter   
the promise and the potency of every    
form of life4 ,you  remember those      
famous words of ,professor ,tyndall1 no 

materialist in his  thought and a       
religious man in his aspirations1 but   
wellnigh driven by  despair to claim    
fair field for science1 and to fling    
back the claims of  religion1 because   
among them was included the right to    
gag1 the refusal to  allow thought to be
 honestly uttered by the thinker4 ,but  
things are  changing more and more2 as  
religion has been growing more liberal  
and more  rational1 science is becoming 
less materialistic and less aggressive2 
and  we shall see presently that the    
most modern of modern science--not quite
  the science that you get in your      
textbooks1 for that is practically      
out-of-date in the rush of thought which
 comes from the ,west1 but the  science 
of the leaders of thought1 the science  
of the first men in the  scientific     
camp--is more and more approaching the  
domain where scientists  will recognise 
religion as helper and not as enemy4 ,in
 fact1 speaking from  the same chair    
from which ,tyndall had uttered his     

famous phrase that in  matter he saw the
 promise and potency of every form of   
life1 his  successor1 ,sir ,william     
,crookes1 a member of our own           
,theosophical ,society1  declared1      
reversing those words of his            
predecessor1 that ,in life ,i see  the  
promise and potency of all forms of     
matter4    ,such is the great change4   
,let us now examine in detail4 ,the     
fundamental  difference between ancient 
and modern science is that ancient      
science  studies the world from the     
standpoint of life which is evolving1   
while  modern science studies the world 
by observing the forms through which    
that life is manifesting4 ,the first    
studies life1 and sees in forms the     
expressions of life4 ,the second studies
 forms1 and tries1 by the process  of   
induction1 to find out if there be an   
underlying principle by which  the      
multiplicity of forms may be explained4 
,the first works from above  downwards1 
the second from below upwards1 and in   

that very fact is the  promise of a     
meeting place where the two will join   
hand in hand4 ,but  this fundamental    
difference carries with it very         
important results4 ,if  we are to study 
the world from the standpoint of forms1 
our study will  be almost endless in its
 multiplicity4 ,think of a tree2 the one
 trunk  through which the life is       
pouring1 innumerable leaves in which    
that life  is ultimately expressed2 it  
is an image of the tree of life1 that   
great  ,ashvattha1 the tree of which we 
have heard1 whose roots are in the      
heavens and whose branches spread out   
over the earth4 ,if we are to study  it 
where its trunk is1 the trunk of life1  
we have the unity of purpose  and can   
trace why we have multiplicity of forms2
 but if we are to start  at the parts   
where the leaves are growing1 leaf by   
leaf we must examine1  every difference 
of outline we must record1 each little  
variety in shape  we must carefully note
 and study4 ,science studies the leaves 

in modern  days--the old science studied
 the life4 ,there is the fundamental    
difference4 ,there is also the reason of
 the difference of methods by  which the
 study must be carried on4 ,what is the 
method of modern  science8 ,the use of  
clear observation1 keen judgment1 power 
of placing  like things together1 and   
seeing the differences that divide the  
classes of the like from the classes of 
the unlike4 ,but in order that  this may
 be done1 inasmuch as nature is infinite
 both in the vast and in  the minute1   
man demands1 to supplement his limited  
senses1 instruments  and apparatus of   
the most exquisite and delicate         
character2 so that it  has been even    
said that the progress of science is the
 progress of the  exquisite nature of   
the apparatus which science uses1 and   
scientific men  will devise a more      
delicate balance1 a more dainty way of  
adjustment1  instrument after           
instrument1 until perfection seems      
well-nigh to be  reached2 the modern man

 of science1 to carry on his researches1
 demands  a vast array of apparatus that
 he must use for his work1 for according
  to the delicacy of his apparatus is   
the extent of his observation of the    
forms to which his attention is         
directed4 ,but the man of science of the
  ancient type does not ask for         
instruments2 he is not studying the     
evolution of forms2 he has to study     
life1 not form2 and for such study  he  
must evolve himself1 the life that is   
within him1 for only life can  measure  
life1 only life can respond to the      
vibrations of the living2 his  work is  
to unfold himself1 to bring out of the  
depths of his own nature  the divine    
powers that lie hidden therein1 not in  
the senses but in the  ,self4 ,his      
investigations can only be carried on by
 means of these  powers1 and only as he 
develops the divine within him will he  
be able to  understand and measure the  
divine without him4 ,now this is only   
possible  because1 in essence1 the      

natures of ,god and man are identical4  
,this  sounds a bold statement1 but it  
is the fundamental truth of all         
religions4 ,need ,i quote to you the    
famous saying1 ,thou art ,that8 ,shall  
,i take an equivalent phrase from the   
,hebrew ,scripture1 accepted by the     
whole ,christian world3 ,god created man
 in ,his own image1 in the image  of    
,god created ,he him8 ,the teaching is  
identical as all great truths  are      
identical in the various religions2 but 
what does it mean8 ,god is  manifest in 
,his universe4 ,would you understand    
,his work1 you must  develop the ,god   
within yourself1 else will ,he for ever 
be veiled from  your eyes4 ,not by the  
eyes of sense may you behold ,him1 not  
by the  vision of intellect may you see 
that ,form1 invisible even to the       
intelligence4 ,only as the ,self that is
 ,god is unfolded within you1 will  the 
,self that is the ,god without you      
manifest to you the full glory of  ,his 
life4 ,that is the ancient starting     

point4 ,thus what the man of old  had to
 do1 if indeed he were to be a man of   
science1 was to become  divine2 he was  
to be a saint before he could be a sage4
 ,no man could be  wise until he was    
pure1 for how should impure eyes behold 
the ,pure8  ,there is the hall-mark of  
the man of science of the ancient days3 
he is  developed within before he can be
 learned without4 ,but from the modern  
man of science is not demanded this     
condition4 ,he must indeed lead a  life 
that is self-restrained1 orderly1 and   
fairly clean2 were he to  yield to the  
riot of the senses1 his intelligence    
would become clouded4  ,he must have    
keen power of observation1 balanced     
strength of judgment1  strong patience1 
unwearied industry1 clear insight for   
differences and  similarities4 ,all     
these are demanded from him1 if he is to
 be great1 and  these are among the     
noblest powers of intelligence4 ,but all
 he asks of  religion is to leave him   
alone4 ,of old1 religion opened the     

gateway to  science2 now-a-days science 
asks nothing from religion save to stand
  aside4 ,that is the difficulty in our 
way4 ,we have to show that life  cannot 
be understood until the student lives   
that which he seeks4 ,that  even the    
understanding of forms is very imperfect
 until the life  expressed through them 
is recognised and partially understood4 
,that  fundamental difference of method 
then1 will cover the whole field1 and   
will enable us to comprehend the        
difference of the results4    ,now let  
us try to understand more clearly why it
 was that the ancient man  of science   
was taught that the first step to true  
knowledge1 or wisdom1  was the unfolding
 of the ,self4 ,what is life or         
consciousness--for the two  terms are   
synonymous8 ,it is the power to answer  
to vibrations1 the power  to            
respond--that is consciousness4         
,evolution is the unfolding of a        
continually increasing power to respond4
 ,the whole universe is full of  the    

vibrations of shvara1 of ,god4 ,he      
sustains and moves the whole4           
,consciousness is the power in us to    
answer to those vibrations4 ,all powers 
lie hidden within us as the oak tree    
lies hidden in the acorn4 ,but it is  in
 the process of evolution that the      
sapling slowly grows out of the seed4   
,in ,eternity1 in the ,now1 all is      
existent1 perfect2 in ,time only is     
there  succession1 the unfolding of one 
thing after another4 ,in the changeless 
,point everything is present3 ,space is 
but the field for diverse sequences4    
,hence ,time and ,space are the basic   
illusions1 and are yet the fundamental  
conditions of thinking4 ,keep1 ,i pray  
you1 that definition of consciousness   
in mind1 for it will govern the         
remainder of our study4    ,the ,self in
 man1 being in the image of ,god1 is    
triple as the ,self1 the  ,divine1 is   
triple4 ,i need not stop to argue this4 
,you know it from that  great literature
 which lies at the foundation of all    

,hindu ,philosophy4  ,whether you speak 
in abstract terms and say with the      
,upanishad that  ,brahman is threefold1 
whether you speak of ,him as            
,sat-chit-nanda1 or  whether1 instead of
 using philosophical1 abstract terms1   
you say ,he is  manifest as shvara in   
the ,trimrti as ,mahdeva1 ,vishnu and   
,brahm1 it  matters not4 ,you may take  
the concrete form or the abstract1 the  
fundamental idea is the same3 that the  
,divine ,self in manifestation is       
triple1 and therefore in every great    
religion ,god is spoken of as a         
,trinity4 ,if this were not so1 the     
relationship between ,god and man would 
remain for ever unintelligible1 for man 
shows a triplicity as he  evolves4 ,the 
human reflection of that triple ,divine 
,self is the triple  ,self in man4      
,one by one are the ,divine aspects     
unfolded as manifestation proceeds4     
,the lowest1 if ,i may dare to use such 
a term1 is the aspect which is  first   
brought into activity for the building  

of the universe4 ,so also in  man the   
intelligence awakens and becomes active1
 the lowest aspect of  the human ,self4 
,that is the reflection of ,brahm1 of   
the ,universal ,mind1  the creative     
energy from which all comes forth2 and  
you may find in  yourselves1 as you     
evolve1 that creative faculty of        
imagination which1  working at present  
in subtle matter1 will1 when man is     
perfect1 work in  grosser matter as     
well2 for the imaginative power in man  
is the  reflection of the power that in 
,god created the universe4 ,brahm       
meditated1 and all forms came forth2 and
 in the creative power of mind  lies    
every possibility of form4 ,so in man is
 later evolved the next  aspect1 that of
 ,a'nanda1 where unity is recognised    
instead of diversity4  ,chit1 in man1 is
 the intelligence that knows1 that      
separates and  divides and analyses1 and
 it has to do with the multiplicity of  
forms  and with their inter-relations2  
,a'nanda is the wisdom that realises the

  unity of all things1 and that         
accomplishes union1 thus finding the joy
  that lies at the very heart of life2  
last of all in human evolution1 is      
developed the third and highest aspect  
of ,deity1 ,self-,existence1 the  ,unity
 that lies beyond union1 and this can be
 developed in man only  because man is  
one with the ,eternal in his nature4 ,by
 this evolution1 in  ages to come1      
through the countless kalpas that lie in
 front1 shvara  after shvara arises1    
each as the fruitage of a universe1 to  
carry on  still more mightily the will  
of the ,one without a second1 and to    
manifest something of that perfection to
 the whole of the then  manifested      
nature4 ,such1 very roughly1 is the     
course of human evolution  into         
divinity1 and this is carried on by     
races succeeding one another2  as we    
come to the higher ,root-races of man1  
to those that we speak of as  the       
,fifth1 in which we are1 the ,sixth1    
that shall succeed us1 and the  ,seventh

 that finishes this cycle of human      
evolution1 we learn that the            
characteristic of each of these three   
,root-races is that each gradually      
develops that aspect of ,god which      
belongs to it in the due sequence of    
evolution4 ,the ,fifth is developing the
 aspect of ,chit1 ,intelligence1 the    
mind is being evolved1 and all the      
progress of modern science1 so marked   
in our own days1 is but part of the     
fruitage of that evolution1 of that     
growth of intelligence which looks on   
the outer world as not itself--as  the  
,not-,self--and seeks to study and      
understand it4 ,the characteristic      
attributes belonging to the evolution of
 the two following races are  even now  
to be reached by special methods1 by    
individuals who are  willing to take the
 pains to make the required sacrifices4 
,that which we  know as ,yoga is the    
method by which evolution is quickened  
in the  individual1 and all the powers  
of the ,self1 up to the threshold of    

divinity1 may by it be brought into     
manifestation in the man of the         
present4 ,that is why ,yoga training was
 necessary for the ancient  scientist2  
he must develop in himself the three    
aspects of ,god1 if he  were to         
understand them as manifested in the    
universe around him4    ,now1 at our own
 stage of evolution1 it is specially the
 life of  ,brahm--or the ,brahm aspect  
of ,god--with which the human mind is   
coming  into touch1 because the mind in 
man is the reflection of the universal  
mind in ,kosmos4 ,that life is the life 
that is the force in the atom1  that    
vivifies every atom1 nay1 that brings   
the atom into existence1 as  we shall   
see1 and remains during the whole of the
 growth of the universe  as the         
fundamental life that keeps those atoms 
as active particles  building up        
innumerable forms4 ,only as the life of 
,brahm1 the aspect of  ,brahm1 is       
developed in the human ,self will man be
 able to study the  workings of that    

life in the atomic forms that are filled
 by it2 and it  is very significant that
 some of the greatest problems of modern
 science  are now turning on the nature 
of the atom1 and that scientists are    
asking1 what is it8 ,is it matter or    
force8 ,is it a particle or a vortex8   
,never will that question be answered   
with certainty until man has  developed 
in himself the power to respond to the  
life that thrills in  the atom1 until1  
developing intelligence within himself  
to the fullest  point1 he is able to    
answer by that intelligence to the      
vibrations of  the atomic life outside  
him4 ,we have defined consciousness as  
the power  to answer to vibrations1 and 
if man is to measure life1 if he is to  
know  the underlying causes of          
phenomena1 he must develop in himself   
the power  to respond to that life      
outside him2 and in the perfection of   
human  intelligence--the reflection of  
the ,brahm aspect of ,god--lies the only
  possibility of solution for this much 

debated problem in science4 ,i said  it 
was significant1 for this problem       
belongs to the ,fifth race1 and the     
,western world is at present peopled    
largely by the fifth sub-race of the    
great ,fifth4 ,thus it takes to the very
 highest point the concrete mind  of    
man1 that marvellous activity of the    
intellect1 that swift and yet  patient  
study1 bringing about the achievements  
that modern science is  performing4 ,all
 these are a testimony of the truth of  
the ancient  teaching that sub-race     
after sub-race arises1 each one with its
 own work  to do1 and we should look on 
the work of each sub-division of        
humanity  as good in itself3 each should
 not be regarded as an isolated and     
hostile expression1 but as part of the  
,divine manifestation1 expressing  that 
portion which it is destined to express4
    ,looking thus1 then1 on the problem 
of the life that exists in the atom1  we
 find that in order to understand it1 we
 must develop the pure  intellect in    

man2 but to understand the life that    
clothes itself in  organic forms1 to    
unravel the secrets which will explain  
to us why one  is formed thus and       
another thus1 the next great aspect of  
the ,self must  be developed within     
us--that of the all-pervading life of   
,vishnu1 that  sustains the world as the
 mighty supporter of everything1 the    
basis1 the  foundation of the whole4    
,there alone is unifying energy and     
there the  root from which all divisions
 have arisen2 only as we realise this   
aspect of unifying energy in the ,self  
will the secrets of organised  forms in 
nature unravel themselves before our    
eyes4 ,this work is that of  the ,sixth 
,root-race1 and those who would         
ante-date their evolution must  develop 
,sixth-race powers in themselves by     
,yoga4 ,remains one mightier  problem1  
subtlest and most difficult of all1 that
 of the life of the  human spirit1 of   
man evolving into ,god4 ,the mysteries  
of that life may  only be understood    

when the human ,self1 which comes forth 
from the  ,father of all--from the      
mighty ,one who is sometimes the        
,destroyer1  sometimes the ,creator1 but
 always the ,regenerator1 the name that 
includes them both1 ,mahdeva1 the mighty
 ,god who is ,sat1 ,existence--has      
developed the aspect of ,sat1 of pure   
,existence1 thus becoming the triple    
,unity1 a ,logos1 an shvara4 ,that is   
the work of the ,seventh ,root-race1    
and when that is accomplished1 then only
 will the final problems of the  human  
spirit lie open before our gaze4    ,the
 scientific man of antiquity1 then1     
began by that self-attention1  unfolding
 in himself one by one all those        
potentialities under a  suitable ,guru1 
passing from step to step till he       
reached the highest1  and ever          
worshipping the ,mahguru1 the ,guru of  
the universe4 ,having  unfolded his     
highest powers1 he began to study life1 
life in its  outpouring1 not life in its
 manifold and veiled manifestations in  

the  lower worlds4 ,hence the lofty     
point at which he started1 no less than 
the arising of shvara enveloped in ,my4 
,what is shvara8 ,what is ,my8 ,there is
 the first great problem4 ,let us       
reverently address ourselves to it4 ,the
 philosophers of ,india have  answered  
these questions in different ways1 each 
one containing part  of the eternal     
truth4 shvara is that mighty centre of  
consciousness  that exists unchanged in 
the bosom of the ,one ,existence4 ,there
 are  innumerable such ,centres of      
,consciousness1 of which you may        
remember  your own ,svmi ,subba ,rao    
wrote as existing in the bosom of the   
,one  ,existence4 shvara in             
manifestation is like a lamp1 a light   
enclosed in  a shade4 shvara1 enveloped 
in ,my1 brings forth a universe and is  
enclosed1 as it were1 in the universe of
 which ,he is the ,light4 ,breaking  the
 shade1 the light shines forth in every 
direction4 ,dissolving the  universe1   
,he still remains4 ,the centre remains1 

but the circumference  that             
circumscribed it is gone4 ,so is that   
mighty centre when the  universe        
vanishes2 ,he alone remains1 holding    
,his centre unshaken in the  very act of
 merging in1 expanding into1 the        
,infinite1 the ,absolute1 the           
,super-,consciousness1 the ,one4 ,let us
 think of ,him as an eternal centre  of 
self-consciousness1 able to merge in    
super-consciousness and to  again limit 
,himself to self-consciousness4         
,what1 then1 is ,my8 ,my is prepared in 
every case by the merging in  shvara of 
the whole of the universe which is come 
to its ending4 ,as one  loka rolls up   
and merges in the one above it1 all     
forms in the loka thus  merged          
disappear1 but the consciousness that   
ensouled those forms does not  vanish2 a
 modification of consciousness remains1 
a modification expressing  itself by a  
vibratory power--not a vibration1 but a 
power to vibrate in a  particular way2  
and though the form vanishes as the loka

 is merged in the  one above it--because
 the matter disappears1 being           
disintegrated into  finer matter--in    
consciousness there remains the power to
 vibrate in the  way in which it had    
vibrated in the grosser matter1 and     
power persists  although the forms      
caused by such vibrations disappear1 for
 lack of  material sufficiently coarse  
to respond to such vibrations4 ,as one  
region  passes into the next1 this      
process is repeated over and over and   
over  again1 and loka after loka        
vanishes4 ,the forms are gone1 the      
vibrations  are gone1 only the          
modifications in consciousness capable  
of giving rise  to similar vibrations   
remain until finally1 when shvara--whose
  consciousness was the one             
consciousness in the universe1 whose    
life was  the one life1 who supported   
every form1 who made the possibility of 
every  separated existence--gathers up  
,his universe into ,himself ere ,he     
merges  ,himself in the ,,one1          

everything has vanished that we know as 
form1 nothing  remains save the centre  
of consciousness4 ,there remains in     
shvara the  power of vibrating in       
particular fashions1 resulting from the 
evolution of  ,his universe1 in endless 
multiplicity of vibrations2 when ,he    
merges  ,himself in the ,one ,existence 
all has vanished as form1 but powers    
remain  in these subtle modifications1  
preserved in that unchangeable centre in
  the mightiness of the ,one ,life4 ,is 
that only a dream8    ,there was a great
 teacher1 ,vsihtha4 ,he taught ,rm1 as  
you will  remember1 and in the record of
 his teaching there are hints on some of
  the mysteries of life4 ,if you keep   
what ,i have now said in mind1 if ,i    
have succeeded by the clumsy words which
 are all that the human tongue  can     
utter on these great problems1 in       
clarifying at all your thoughts1  then  
just listen to that same thought as     
expressed by ,sryadeva1 when he  was    
speaking of the same thing--the ending  

and the new beginning of a  universe4   
,we have only to add to what ,i have    
already said1 that when  shvara arises  
in order that a new universe may be     
formed1 ,he throws ,his  life into these
 modifications that had apparently      
disappeared1 and the  ,my in which ,he  
arises1 enveloped and circumscribed1 is 
,his own  re-vivified memory1 which can 
never be separated from ,himself2 ,he   
draws  in ,his consciousness1 under the 
impulse of the ,great ,breath1 limiting 
it  to self-consciousness1 and turning  
,his attention to the contents of that  
self-consciousness1 its powers start    
into activity1 and that is ,my4 ,so  it 
is written3 ,thereafter1 ,thou1 ,o      
,lord1 intent on maintaining the  reign 
of night1 fixed within the ,self1 having
 indrawn that order of  things1 or      
universe4444 ,to-day1 ,thou hast        
awakened1 and art most  joyfully        
desirous of again throwing out          
manifesting the universe in  mighty     
gradations hierarchies of beings4 ,yoga 

,vsihtha1 lxxxvii1  #g1 #h4 ,these      
nights and days are the ,nights and     
,days of ,brahm1 the  inbreathing and   
outbreathing of the ,one ,existence1 and
 ,my is this  indrawn order of things   
that remains fixed through the ,night1  
and  starts forth as shvara awakens at  
the coming of ,day4 ,that is ,my and  if
 you take up the definitions given in   
the different schools1 you will  find   
that this includes and illumines every  
one of them1 that it shows  you what is 
meant by illusion1 and explains to you  
what is implied in  dreaming4 ,the      
joyful throwing out into manifestation  
of all the powers  that are remembered  
by shvara the moment ,his attention is  
turned to  ,his own ,self1 that         
memory-prompted desire which arises in  
the bosom of  the ,eternal1 is the root 
of the coming universe4 ,now this       
thought will  prove to you the key of   
much ancient teaching4 ,you have1 in the
  ,universal ,mind full of ideas which  
are not yet concreted into phenomena1   

the world of ideas of ,plato1 the       
invisible world of the ,hebrew          
,kabbalah2  in every great teaching you 
find the same thought expressed4 ,if1   
instead  of being fettered by words1 as 
for the most part we are1 and if1       
instead  of repeating phrases that carry
 with them no idea in the mind of the   
repeater1 we would try to read the      
thought that underlies the words1 we    
should find the ,hindu philosophy in    
every modern philosophy that is  worthy 
of the name1 and see the traces of      
ancient ,india in ,greece and in  ,rome1
 in ,germany and in the ,england of     
to-day4    ,what is the next stage8 ,the
 ,life-,breath goes forth4 shvara1 the  
,centre  of all1 enveloped in ,my sends 
forth ,his breath2 as that vibrating    
breath falls on the enveloping ,my1 ,my 
becomes ,prakriti1 or  ,matter--rather1 
perhaps1 ,mlaprakriti1 the root of      
matter4 ,as that  breath1 with its      
triple vibratory force falls on this    
matter1 it throws  it into three        

modifications1 or attributes--,tamas1   
inertia1 or better1  stability2 ,rajas1 
activity1 vigour2 ,sattva1 a difficult  
word to  translate3 ,i am inclined to   
translate it as ,harmony2 for this      
reason1  that wherever there is         
pleasure1 ,sattva is present4 ,without  
harmony no  pleasure can anywhere exist4
 ,all pleasure is due to harmonious     
vibration1 and that quality of          
harmonious inter-related vibrations is  
the quality that ,sattva gives to       
matter4 ,these three fundamental        
qualities of matter--answering to three 
fundamental modifications in the        
consciousness of shvara--inertia1       
activity1 and harmony1 these are the    
famous three ,gunas without which       
,prakriti cannot manifest4 ,fundamental1
  essential1 and unchangeable1 they are 
present in every particle in the        
manifested universe1 and according to   
their combinations is the nature  of    
each particle4    ,then comes the       
seven-fold division4 ,in a moment ,i    

will tell you why we  speak of it as    
seven-fold instead of five-fold1 which  
is the more familiar  division to you4  
,the seven-fold division1 what is this8 
,here is matter  with its three ,gunas1 
now ready to receive another impulse    
from the  ,life-,breath2 that breath    
comes forth from ,brahm1 for shvara has 
unfolded  ,his triple nature into its   
three aspects1 and it comes forth in    
seven  great waves4 ,each one modifies  
matter1 and evolves and ensouls those   
that  follow it4 ,the first two are     
absolutely beyond our knowing1 and      
belong  not to our present stages of    
evolution at all2 therefore they are    
ordinarily left out1 and only the five  
that make up the evolution of our       
universe are spoken of in the sacred    
books4 ,here and there the seven are    
mentioned1 but only rarely4 ,you may    
remember the seven tongues of fire1  for
 instance1 and one or two other similar 
phrases4 ,but generally  five-fold is   
,prna1 the five-fold evolving life4     

,first1 in every case1 is  a            
modification of consciousness sent forth
 as a power by shvara4 ,turn to  the    
,vishnu ,purna and you will see exactly 
the stage that ,i am pointing  out to   
you in more modern phrases4 shvara      
,himself1 as ,brahm1 sends forth  a     
power1 due to a modification of ,his    
consciousness1 called in the ,vishnu    
,purna a ,tanmtra4 ,in the ,english     
translation the word rudiment is used4  
,you remember the rudiments of sound1 of
 touch1 of colour1 and so on4 ,all      
these rudiments are the tanmtras4 ,these
 tanmtras are the powers due to         
modifications in consciousness or life1 
without which no modification in  matter
 can be4 ,the consciousness first1 then 
the form4 ,the first great  vibration   
that goes forth is the vibration that   
gives rise to what we  speak of here as 
sound--all our terms being drawn from   
the lowest1 or  physical1               
manifestations2 the form that it brings 
into manifestation is  ,a'ksha1 the     

mighty element of ,ether2 not the ether 
of modern science1 of  course1 although 
that is its physical representative4    
,then into that the  next tanmtra1 the  
next power due to a modification of     
consciousness1 is  sent forth2 the      
,a'ksha1 with the primary vibration     
within it1 receives  the second         
vibration sent out by shvara1 and this1 
pervading the matter  around it1 brings 
about the next modification of matter1  
the element ,vyu1  or ,air4 ,vyu1       
permeated1 ensouled and enveloped in    
,a'ksha1 receives a  fresh impulse from 
shvara1 the third tanmtra1 or power     
resulting from a  modification of       
consciousness2 this tanmtra1 working on 
,vyu1 produces  the modification of     
matter called the element ,agni1 or     
,fire1 and this  fire-matter is         
permeated1 ensouled1 and enveloped in   
,vyu1 as ,vyu in  ,a'ksha4 ,a similar   
process brings into manifestation the   
elements ,apas and  ,prithiv4 ,the      
magnetic field of an atom is composed of

 all the tanmtras  and elements above   
it4 ,try to realise this process if you 
can1 though ,i  know the conception is  
difficult4 ,what has occurred8 ,a       
modification of  life or consciousness  
in shvara1 manifested as a power1 a     
vibration2  everything depends on       
vibration2 ancient and modern science   
speak alike on  this4 ,the universe is  
made up of vibrations1 the vibrations   
which are the  modifications of the     
,divine out-pouring of life4 ,these     
clothe themselves  in fundamental forms 
of matter1 out of which all multiplicity
 is  developed4 ,these modifications in 
matter1 these great1 or primary1        
elements are also called tattvas4       
,tanmtras1 then1 are the powers sent out
  by modifications of consciousness1 and
 these are awkwardly translated by  the 
word rudiments2 we have next the        
modifications in matter1 the great      
elements1 the primary elements1 or      
tattvas4 ,the first of the tattvas is   
called ,a'ksha2 then ,vyu1 then ,agni1  

then ,apas1 then ,prithiv1 the five     
following one after the other2 the      
keynote of this evolution is that the   
modification of the previous higher     
tattva is reproduced within the lower1  
pervades it and expands outside it4 ,if 
you will take the ,vishnu ,purna1  the  
second chapter1 and read over again the 
evolution of the five tattvas1  you will
 find that the ,sanskrit word which is  
used comes from a root which  means to  
pervade as well as to enclose1 giving   
the idea of permeation as  well as of   
expanding around to form an envelope4   
,and you must understand  that the      
central life of each tattva is the      
preceding tattva with its  tanmtra2     
that1 with the new tanmtra1 makes up the
 life2 and the outer  form is the new   
tattva that by that productive action   
comes into  existence4    ,now leaving  
that1 for ,i cannot go into further     
details1 let me just say  to you one    
word about the seven and the five1      
because that has been a  source of great

 dispute between some of our ,hindu     
,pandits and some of  our ,theosophists4
 ,in the universe1 taken as a whole1    
seven-fold is the  life of shvara4      
,beyond the tattva that we know as      
,a'ksha1 there is  that tattva which has
 been called ,anupdaka1 and beyond that 
,a'ditattva1  the first4 ,those are far 
beyond our knowing2 we cannot think so  
far4 ,for  our life-evolution1 the five 
mark the limit2 and only the five1      
therefore1 as a rule1 are given in the  
books which are to be studied to  show  
you how to evolve4    ,rapidly we must  
pass onward1 then1 to these tattvas as1 
modifying  themselves by aggregations1  
and by disintegrations and              
re-combinations  of these1 they make    
innumerable forms4 ,the fundamental     
conception is  that there are as many   
basic forms of atoms in the universe as 
there are  tattvas4 ,the tattva of      
ancient science is the atom of modern   
science1  but modern science makes the  
mistake of supposing that there is only 

one  fundamental atom4 ,the truth is    
that modern science is only seeking to  
get hold of the ,prithiv ,tattva1 the   
lowest1 or physical1 atom1 and it  has  
not yet recognized even the existence of
 the four 7or six7 higher  atoms that   
stretch beyond4 ,these atoms form the   
regions of the universe4  ,all that is  
physical is made up from the ,prithiv   
,tattva4 ,not only is  this so1 but     
within the limits of this physical      
region1 correspondences  of all the     
higher six atomic forms are reproduced4 
,the sub-divisions of  the physical     
region1 due to combinations of the      
,prithiv ,tattva1 show  forth the       
characteristics of the great regions    
which make up the  universe2 so that we 
have here in our solid1 liquid1 gas1    
three ethers  and atoms1 correspondences
 of the six higher tattvas1 but we have 
them  all in their ,prithiv form2 they  
are the modifications of ,prithiv1      
reproducing on a lower plane the great  
primary elements4 ,we might  call them  

,prithiv ,a'ditattva1 ,prithiv          
,anupdhakatattva1 ,prithiv              
,a'kshatattva1 ,prithiv ,vyutattva1     
,prithiv ,agnitattva1 ,prithiv          
,apastattva1 ,prithiv ,prithivtattva4   
,above the region of ,prithiv comes  the
 great realm of ,apas1 with similar     
sub-divisions1 all of the  ,apastattva1 
and so again another seven above that in
 the higher realm of  ,agni1 and above  
that the same in the still higher realm 
of ,vyu1 and  above that again in the   
,a'ksha1 and then the highest two       
unknown  realms4 ,when you remember that
 all these regions interpenetrate the   
one  the other1 you will gain some      
glimpse of a complexity dizzying to     
think  of1 the vast complexity of the   
universe in which the ,one ,life is     
working4 ,yet that complexity is        
simplified by thus working downwards1   
and there is the line of the study of   
the ancient science4 ,working out  from 
this originally simple life into the    
endless multiplicity of forms1  we may  

trace the ,one among the many1 and see  
the ,self in all things1 and  all things
 in ,him4    ,at the ending of a        
universe1 the tattvas merge in each     
other by  disintegration2 ,prithiv      
,tattva1 having disintegrated into      
atoms1 these  atoms are themselves      
broken up1 and the tanmtra that formed  
them1 being  no longer able to express  
itself for lack of suitable material1   
ceases  to be a power1 and remains only 
represented by a modification in        
consciousness--a permanent possibility4 
,thus ,apas ,tattva becomes the  lowest 
manifestation1 and1 by a repetition of  
the above process1 ceases  to exist4 ,in
 like fashion each successively         
vanishes4 ,hence1 ,mahdeva is           
represented as saying in the ,shivgama3 
,the universe proceeded from  the       
tattvas2 it goes on through the tattvas2
 it vanishes into the  tattvas4    ,such
 is the grandiose conception of the     
kosmos given by the science of          
antiquity2 one life1 pulsing into       

innumerable vibrations1 and these       
throwing matter into forms4 ,on this was
 based the ,pythagorean system of       
numbers2 on this mathematics and music  
were founded2 on this the ,great        
,science1 or ,magic1 of long-perished   
nations was built up4 ,that science     
only survives in its purity in the      
,great ,white ,brotherhood1 but its     
traces may yet be seen in the scriptures
 and the religions of the world4    ,we 
take up modern science1 and pass into a 
different atmosphere4 ,now  phenomena   
are to be studied1 forms are to occupy  
our attention4 ,but as  we look at      
modern science we find that it is       
beginning to transcend the  study of    
forms2 we find the efforts of its       
greatest men are turned to  seek unity  
amid diversity4 ,do not think that1 in  
speaking of modern  science as studying 
forms1 ,i am indifferent to the mighty  
achievements  that it has made1 or that 
,i would say one word in derogation of  
the  ability of the leading men of      

science1 and the priceless value of the 
work that they are doing for humanity4  
,their achievements during the  present 
century are achievements that are worthy
 of the very deepest  respect1 not only 
for the sublime patience of the         
investigator1 of  which ,william        
,kingdon ,clifford so rightly spoke1 but
 also for the  self-abnegation with     
which many of them have given their     
lives to follow  truth1 to study in the 
innermost recesses of the phenomena of  
nature  what secrets she has hidden1    
what may be underneath the ,veil of     
,isis4  ,i do not1 then1 speak a word   
against modern science1 but ,i point out
  to you this fact1 that the greatest   
work of science has been the            
generalisations that have been suggested
 in the attempt to reach  simplicity1 to
 reduce multiplicity to unity4 ,how far 
has science gone  from that generally   
accepted view of the materialistic      
school of thirty  years ago1 that the   
universe is made up of an indefinite    

number of  atoms1 the atoms being our   
chemical elements6 ,a phrase from one of
 the  most famous of the then leading   
men of science1 ,dr4 ,ludwig ,bchner1   
will  mark the greatness of the change3 
he declared that the carbon atom will   
always remain a carbon atom1 and has    
been a carbon atom from all  eternity2  
that the hydrogen atom from all eternity
 has been a hydrogen  atom1 and to all  
eternity a hydrogen atom it will remain2
 for atoms with  their properties are   
indestructible1 and are therefore       
eternal4 ,what man  of science would    
dare to allege that to-day1 knowing that
 he would be  laughed to scorn by all   
his scientific brethren2 who would say  
that  these atoms are eternally of the  
same nature as they have till now been  
made out to be8 ,what is science in     
fact1 doing as to the atom8 ,it is      
finding in what is called the atom a    
composite body1 a compound1 not an      
element4 ,this discovery is chiefly due 
to the researches of ,sir ,william      

,crookes1 who is guided in his          
investigations by a deeper philosophy of
  the universe than is common among     
scientists4 ,it is gradually finding    
out that these atoms are things that are
 built up gradually1 and that  the      
qualities of atoms are not fixed1 but   
are properties that change  with every  
difference of conditions4 ,late         
investigations have shown that  when    
chemical bodies are submitted to        
extraordinary conditions of  cold--such 
cold as makes the air into a liquid and 
solidifies hydrogen  and oxygen--they   
suffer the destruction of their         
supposedly permanent  properties4 ,it is
 proved that1 as these conditions are   
changed1 and as  lower and lower ranges 
of temperature are brought to bear upon 
these  chemical elements1 one by one    
their eternal properties disappear1 and 
they lie there changed in their         
activities1 and lose the characteristic 
traits which enabled them to be         
discovered as parts of the moving world4

  ,downward and downward falls the      
temperature1 property after property    
disappears1 until science asks1         
bewildered1 what will happen when we    
reach the absolute zero1 what will then 
become of the properties of  matter1    
what will remain of the characteristics 
of the elements8 ,is  there not but one 
,matter1 and are not all chemical       
elements but  modifications1            
aggregations1 of this one ultimate      
matter8 ,similarly with  ,force1 modern 
science has made the magnificent        
generalisation that all  the forces that
 we know are modifications of one       
,force1 and are  identical in their     
essential nature2 that heat1 and light1 
and all the  various forces around us1  
electricity1 magnetism and the rest1    
that all  these are but vibrations of   
varying lengths and activities in a     
subtle  medium1 and that they may be    
transmuted the one into the other4 ,they
 are  not fundamentally different1 but  
are one and the same in their root4 ,but

  if this be so1 if there be but one    
,matter1 if there be but one ,force1    
then science is now tending towards     
unity2 and as that unity is traced  or  
aimed at1 science will have to pass out 
of the grosser realm of dense  matter   
into the realm of forces working in     
subtle media2 and we find  this wondrous
 change that1 whereas in old days the   
existence of force  was argued for      
inductively1 by studying the changes in 
matter1 now  science is beginning to    
posit the existence of force and to     
question  whether matter is anything    
more than the action of force4 ,instead 
of  regarding an atom as a solid        
indivisible particle1 the tendency is to
  regard it as a vortex of energy1 a    
centre of force4 ,one writer even goes  
so far as to suggest that an atom is a  
source through which an  invisible fluid
 is pouring into three-dimensional      
space4 ,other atoms1  anti-atoms1 may be
 sinks through which the fluid pours    
out4 ,if these  unite1 may not inertia  

be neutralised as well as gravity8 ,may 
there not  be potential matter1 and may 
there not be such in space1 without any 
of  the attributes which characterise   
matter1 but ready to be vivified and    
form a system of worlds8 ,here we have  
,h4 ,p4 ,b4's atoms and laya centres1   
put forward tentatively as a scientific 
problem4 ,science is mounting  into the 
invisible world and is trying to measure
 and to weigh that  which therein it    
finds4 ,now this tendency to unity is   
the testimony to  the ,one that         
underlies all manifestation2 only one   
,force1 only one  ,matter2 endless      
diversity of forces1 transmutable into  
each other2  endless diversity of forms1
 which break up again to recombine2 only
 one  ,force under all forces1 one      
,matter under all forms4 ,it is seen    
that the  very fact of harmony and of   
evolution points to a root unity1 and   
that  eternally independent self-moving 
particles would only perpetuate a       
chaos4    ,as science travels along this

 most hopeful line1 we find great       
changes  are arising in the nature of   
the studies that are being carried on1  
and  we have that wonderful theory of   
,sir ,william ,crookes of the genesis of
  the elements4 ,he takes protyle as a  
starting-point1 which is really ,vyu  in
 its form on this physical              
plane--,prithiv ,vyu--and out of that   
builds one atom after another1 making   
all the chemical elements to be  bodies 
aggregated together by the action of a  
positive and a negative  force4 ,let me 
just remind you of this1 because some   
amongst you go so  eagerly after modern 
science and despise your own literature4
 ,if you had  read your ,vishnu ,purna1 
with your brain1 and not merely with    
your  eyes through modern spectacles1   
you might have learnt that theory of    
,sir  ,william ,crookes long1 long      
before he gave it4 ,he has drawn a      
picture1  and the picture shows an      
immovable axis1 and around it a spiral  
coil1  and at points in that coil are   

atoms of the chemical elements1         
generated  by that coil which represents
 a swinging and cooling force4 ,that    
spiral  is in the great ocean of        
protyle1 or primeval matter1 and1 as    
that  spiral goes round and round the   
immovable axis1 it generates chemical   
elements one after another1 and so      
brings into existence the materials  out
 of which the world is to be formed4    
,that is the dry scientific  statement  
summarised from his own address4 ,but ,i
 have read in an ancient  book of a     
mountain--which is the emblem of        
stability1 of an axis round  which      
everything is to revolve--thrown into a 
mighty ocean2 and ,i have  read of a    
great serpent turned round that mountain
 in spiral coils2 on  the one side the  
,suras are pulling and on the other side
 the ,asuras are  equally busy4 ,between
 the two--the positive and negative of  
modern  science--evolution is started   
and the serpent spiral begins to turn   
and  turn round that axis4 ,they call   

the axis ,mount ,mandara1 and they call 
the spiral coil the serpent ,vsuki while
 the axis rests on ,hari as a  pivot2   
they call the positive and the negative 
forces the ,gods and  ,demons1 and their
 churning of the ocean gives rise to the
 materials of  the universe4 ,aye6 ,that
 is from the seer1 who1 looking at the  
ocean of  matter1 described pictorially 
what the eyes of the spirit beheld      
there2  while the other is the dry      
scientific statement of the modern      
thinker1  who works out his magnificent 
generalisation as the result of his     
study  of the forms4 ,the seer and the  
scientist have met4    ,i shall show    
you1 when ,i come to deal with life1    
that modern science is  coming towards  
our view of life4 ,i shall give you1    
from the latest  declarations of our    
modern scientific teachers1 points which
 will show  you how they are climbing   
towards the ancient view which is found 
in our  sacred books2 and ,i will now   
finish this first part of our subject   

this  morning by one plea addressed to  
all of you1 which ,i would pray you to  
think over at your leisure4    ,there is
 but ,one ,life1 the ,life of ,god1     
within everything in ,his universe4  ,no
 life save ,his life1 no consciousness  
save ,his consciousness1 no  thought    
save ,his thought4 ,this is our glory2  
for inasmuch as we are in  ,his image1  
we can answer to the vibrations of ,his 
thinking1 and can  reproduce in our     
minds that which ,he has initiated in   
order that we may be  evolved4 ,in all  
the different parts of this universe1   
different lines of  evolution are going 
on2 the sun is doing part of it1 the    
vegetable world  another part1 the      
animal world another1 the world of man  
another2 but in  the world of man there 
is more diversity1 because there        
,self-consciousness  is arising4 ,the   
final image of the ,supreme on earth is 
man2 in man alone  is the highest life2 
the others are climbing towards it1 but 
in them it  has not yet evolved4        

,therefore in man there is more         
difference2 therefore  in man1 for the  
time1 more separation2 therefore in man 
the great danger  of antagonism that the
 lower kingdoms know not1 because they  
are not  sufficiently evolved4 ,then    
comes the conflict3 ,i take my own poor 
reflection of one tiny bit of thought of
 shvara1 and ,i say3 ,this is  shvara   
,himself1 and not my poor thought of    
,him2 ,worship this as ,i see  it1 that 
is1 ,worship me instead of shvara1 and  
my thought of ,him  instead of ,him4 ,so
 man after man puts up his idea of ,god 
as ,god1 and we  see all the world      
divided into many forms of thought and  
of worship4 ,then  a man imagines that  
his brother men are worshipping other   
,gods1 and he  becomes anxious and      
troubled1 not realising that ,gods are  
many because we  are worshipping our own
 thoughts of ,god instead of ,god1 our  
own limited  representations instead of 
the ,universal ,self4 ,nay more--,i1    
perhaps1 not  only say to you that you  

must worship my conception of ,god      
instead of your  own1 that my knowledge 
is the limit of manifestation1 that my  
small  fancies make up the universe     
instead of the infinite diversity that  
alone  can represent ,his might2 but    
perhaps ,i go further and say3 ,if you  
do not  worship my idea of ,god1 you are
 outcaste1 you are alien1 you belong to 
a  different faith1 you belong to a     
different creed2 stand outside2 for ,i  
am  orthodox1 you are heretic and       
blasphemous your faith4 ,so speaks      
religion  after religion1 fanatic after 
fanatic2 so one man after another makes 
his  own reflection the ,god of the     
universe1 and hence antagonises his     
brethren1 whose representations of the  
divine image are as necessary to  its   
completeness as his own4    ,that is    
what ,i ask you to realise4 ,god cannot 
be expressed wholly in you  or in me1 in
 our miserable limitations1 in our      
poverty of thought1 in  our wretchedness
 of impudent assumption4 ,he can only be

 even partially  expressed by all the   
worlds together2 ,his whole universe is 
,his mirror1  and every fragment in the 
universe gives back to ,him1 in part    
,his own  perfections4 ,is it not       
nobler1 greater1 more glorious1 to be a 
fragment  of a perfect whole1 making a  
part of the whole unity itself1         
subserving  it in mirroring shvara1 than
 to be shut in with our own fragment of 
a  looking glass1 trying vainly to make 
it perfectly reflect the whole1 and     
refusing any partial reflection of the  
perfect in our brethren on every  side8 
,that is the thought which these        
lectures will embody1 and they  will    
fail in their purpose if they do not    
carry it home to your minds4  ,for      
shvara1 who is ,existence and           
,intelligence1 is also ,a'nanda1 ,joy1  
,bliss inexpressible1 and that ,bliss is
 only realized when union is            
consciously accomplished1 when the whole
 is known as one4 ,may ,i but help  you 
to see the ,self in all things3 what    

better service may man do for  man8     
,,second ,,lecture4    ,,the ,,functions
 ,,of ,,the ,,gods4      ,my            
,brothers3--,those of you who are       
familiar with your own sacred           
literature will know how great a part is
 played therein by those  spiritual     
,intelligences who are spoken of as the 
,devas1 or ,gods4 ,as ,i  said          
yesterday1 the existence1 the presence1 
and the working of these  ,intelligences
 in the administration of nature1 in the
 carrying out of  the will of shvara1   
are recognised in every great faith that
 the world  has known4 ,the ,hindu      
speaks of them sometimes as ,suras1     
sometimes as  ,devas2 the ,hebrew1 the  
,christian1 the ,mussulman1 speak of    
them as ,angels  and ,archangels1 making
 the distinction between the higher and 
the lower2  the ,zoroastrian also       
recognises their work1 speaking of them 
as  ,feristhas2 and so1 in each of the  
great religions1 we find the presence   
of these workers in the ,kosmos         

recognised1 and we see their functions  
defined4 ,now it is exceedingly         
important1 especially perhaps for the   
,hindu1 to understand how wide is the   
area of their working1 how general      
their functions1 for no subject perhaps 
is more often made a subject for  attack
 by those who desire to injure the      
ancient religion of ,india1 than  the   
actions of the ,gods as detailed in the 
sacred books4 ,you will  continually    
find that those actions are being       
misunderstood or  mis-represented4 ,the 
mis-representation1 one may always hope1
 is not  deliberate and conscious4 ,it  
is due to the general materialism of the
  age4 ,it is due to the fact that men  
who believe in a religion nominally  do 
not realise the effect of that religion 
in their consciousness4 ,so  that while 
a man may say that he believes in       
,angels and ,archangels and  so on1 he  
leads his life as though they did not   
exist4 ,among our  ,christian brothers  
there is considerable difference of     

opinion with  regard to these ,angels4  
,in the different sections of the great 
,christian  community1 the vast majority
 of those that profess                  
,christianity--making  up the old ,greek
 ,church1 sometimes called the ,eastern 
,christian ,church1  and those who are  
numbered in the ,roman ,communion1 the  
,roman ,catholic  ,church1 the two      
ancient ,churches which have preserved  
an unbroken  antiquity and an unbroken  
tradition from the time of ,christ and  
,his  ,apostles--have maintained and    
maintain1 uninjured and complete1 the   
ancient belief in the ministry of       
angels4 ,they really lead their lives   
as recognising the part that is played  
in the world by the angelic  hosts1 and 
not only do they regard the ,archangels 
as the great rulers of  animated        
nature--the seven chief ,archangels     
taking the place of the  seven ,gods in 
other faiths--but they also recognise   
the lower host of  angels as concerned  
continually in administering natural    

laws1 in  guiding human evolution2 and  
indeed they go so far as to say that    
every  individual man is in special     
charge of a guardian angel1 who         
ministers  to him from the cradle to the
 grave1 who tries to help him in danger1
 to  advise him in temptation1 to       
protect him in peril1 to ward off all   
the  evils levelled against him1 and    
who1 helping him through the gateway of 
death1 accompanies him on the other side
 through the invisible world1  until he 
surrenders up his charge into the hands 
of ,christ ,himself4 ,the  ,protestant  
communities1 however1 breaking off as   
they did1 roughly and  abruptly1 from   
the ancient tradition1 full of occult   
truth1 have lost1  among many other     
valuable things1 this real belief in the
 work of the  angels4 ,most members of  
the ,protestant communities1 while they 
acknowledge the existence of the angels 
and vaguely regard them as  ministers of
 ,god1 have no very definite idea of the
 part that they  play in the world4     

,they do not address them1 as do the    
,roman ,catholics  and the ,greeks4     
,they do not pay them reverence and     
homage day by day1  or look on them as  
helpers1 as intelligences superior to   
themselves1  always willing to render   
assistance4 ,practically the angels have
 passed  out of their lives1 so far as  
any conscious realisation of their      
presence is concerned2 and ,i cannot    
help thinking that the loss is a  very  
serious loss when you are dealing with  
spiritual evolution2 the  whole idea of 
the ,supreme tends to become degraded   
and anthropomorphised  when the         
intermediate agents are forgotten1 and  
when every petty concern  of human life 
is1 as it were1 thrown directly under   
the immediate  superintendence of the   
,supreme4 ,we must not1 of course1 in   
recognising  the working of the ,gods1  
or the ,devas1 as ,i shall call them for
 the rest  of the lecture1 lose sight of
 the unity of the ,supreme ,deity4 ,we  
do not1  in ,hinduism1 deny or ignore   

the existence of shvara because we      
recognise the hosts of the ,devas2 we do
 not cloud our belief in the ,one       
because we recognise the innumerable    
hosts of the ministers of ,his will2    
there is nothing more against the unity 
of ,god in the recognition of the  hosts
 of the ,devas1 than there is in        
recognising the diversity of men1  yet  
it is not pretended that we are clouding
 the unity of the ,divine  ,existence   
when we recognise the hosts of          
individuals who make up the  whole of   
humanity4 ,it is mere prejudice or      
ignorance that makes any one  think that
 because the ,hindu recognises the      
action of the ,devas1  therefore he has 
lost his belief in the ,one ,existence  
beyond even  shvara ,himself1 in the    
fundamental unity that underlies        
diversity4 ,what  he does is1 that      
instead of regarding the world as       
superintended by an  extra-kosmic ,god1 
separated as it were from ,his universe1
 with a mighty  gulf existing between   

,him and it1 he sees in shvara the      
manifestation  of the one ,life that    
pervades and sustains all1 he sees in   
shvara the  one ,root out of which all  
separated existences spring2 and he     
sees1  stretching between himself and   
that ,supreme1 innumerable hosts of     
,intelligences1 step after step1 rank   
after rank1 and he looks to  climbing up
 that celestial ladder until he also    
stands at its very top2  for he knows   
that he also is divine1 although as yet 
in an early stage  of evolution1 and he 
recognises the more highly evolved      
divinity above  him1 as he recognises   
the divinity in the stone beneath his   
feet1 in  everything that exists in this
 universe of ,god4    ,with that        
beginning1 so that our study may not    
lead to a misconception1  let us pass on
 to ask what are the functions of these 
,devas1 of these  ,intelligences1 who   
work in the world4 ,you will at once    
realise that the  functions must be very
 different1 according to the grade of   

the ,devas  that we may happen to be    
studying4 ,through the whole of the     
,kosmos they  are working4 ,some are    
very lofty1 some are very little evolved
 above the  level of humanity4 ,one     
great difference there is between us and
 them1  that whatever may be the grade  
of their mental1 emotional1 and         
spiritual  life1 they do not1 normally1 
use a physical body4 ,that is a clear   
mark  or line of separation4 ,the being 
functioning as man1 while spiritual1    
intellectual and emotional1 uses a      
physical body1 in order to carry on  the
 activities connected with the physical 
world4 ,all the hosts of ,devas  are    
without that physical covering or       
vehicle2 they normally use as  their    
vehicle a body which belongs to the     
particular region in the  universe in   
which their normal activities lie4      
,suppose1 for instance1  that a ,deva   
belongs essentially to the spiritual    
world1 he will normally  use a spiritual
 body2 if he wants to function on the   

mnasic plane1 he  will create for       
himself a temporary mnasic body1 drawing
 together for  this purpose the matter  
of that plane and holding it as his     
vehicle  during the period of his       
functioning thereupon2 if he wants to   
function  in the kmic region1 he will   
draw together the material of that      
region  and make of it for himself a    
temporary body2 if he wants to function 
visibly in the world of man1 he will    
draw round himself the matter of  the   
physical plane1 and make for himself a  
body suitable to the  immediate purpose 
that he has in view4 ,so with every     
other grade4 ,the  ,devas of the mnasic 
world use normally the mnasic body1 and 
create the  kmic or physical body as    
they may want a temporary vehicle4      
,those of  the krmic region use the     
krmic body normally1 and create a       
physical  vehicle when they require it4 
,thus1 in every case1 the ,deva's       
ordinary  body is composed of the matter
 of the region of the universe to which 

he  belongs2 but he has always the power
 to create any vehicle that he needs    
for carrying out any purpose with which 
he is charged4 ,this will perhaps       
suggest to you one reason for the great 
variety of forms which a single  ,god   
may assume4 ,those whose inner sight is 
developed1 who can see in the  regions  
which to ordinary men are invisible1 say
 that the ,gods use many  forms4 ,and   
some of their forms have come down      
traditionally1 described  originally    
perhaps by a great ishi1 preserved by   
his disciples1 then  thrown into some   
form of earth1 or stone1 or metal1      
painted or  sculptured as the case may  
be2 then such an image of the ,god is   
handed  down generation after           
generation1 and represents that ,deva   
under that  particular form to his      
worshippers4 ,we find many forms for one
 ,deva1  just because of the fact that  
the ,god makes the form he wants for the
  particular work he has upon hand1 and 
that none of those forms bind him4      

,they are merely transitory vehicles    
created for a definite purpose4 ,some   
of these forms are indeed relatively    
permanent1 partly because of the        
worship which is addressed to them4 ,for
 the ,deva will often graciously  use a 
particular form in order to meet the    
thought of his worshippers4  ,suppose   
for instance1 taking a lofty example1   
that ,shr ,kiha willed  to reveal       
,himself to some ,bhakta of ,his1 in    
order that that devotee  might have the 
joy of consciously realising the        
presence of his ,lord1 ,he  then most   
certainly would clothe ,himself in the  
form which that ,bhakta  was in the     
habit of worshipping and which drew up  
the deepest emotions  of his heart4 ,for
 these forms are taken for the very     
purpose of  stimulating devotion1 for   
the very object of attracting the heart 
by  presenting the illimitable ,deity in
 some conditioned form which the        
concrete mind of man is able more or    
less to grasp1 to understand1 to  admire

 and to worship4 ,you cannot love the   
void of space4 ,you cannot fix  your    
heart on the depths of infinity2 you    
deceive yourself if1 with your  limited 
intelligence1 untrained even in the     
lowest forms of ,yoga1 you  think that  
you can realise ,brahman1 the ,supreme4 
,too often when we speak  of ,,that1 no 
real thought responds to our speaking2  
the lips speak1 not  the intelligence or
 the heart4 ,step by step we have to    
climb from the  manifested to the       
unmanifested1 and1 in ,his compassionate
 love1 ,god  veils ,himself in forms of 
beauty to attract the human heart1 in   
order  that the human heart may rise    
adoringly to ,his ,feet1 and that some  
portion of ,his life1 pouring down      
thereinto1 may enable the ,self of the  
worshipper to realise even partially its
 unity with ,him4    ,the ,devas1 then1 
in their many ranks and divisions1      
perform functions  according to their   
grade4 ,speaking generally1 their work  
in the world is  to guide evolution     

according to the design of shvara4 ,that
 really sums  up their functions1       
although we are going to study them in  
detail4 ,i say  nothing of the vast     
functions of the higher ,devas that lie 
beyond our  knowing1 beyond the teaching
 that ishis have given4 ,i deal only    
with  those lower functions that are    
concerned with our world1 and with the  
solar system of which our world is part4
 ,taking that limitation1  suitable to  
our ignorance1 we can study some of the 
functions of the  ,gods within the      
limits of our solar system4    ,speaking
 generally1 as ,i said1 that function is
 to guide evolution1 to  adapt1 to      
correlate1 to carry out the living will 
of the ,supreme1 and to  carry out that 
will by bringing together in time and   
space all the  agents and conditions    
necessary for carrying it out4 ,there is
 only one  supreme ,will that guides the
 universe1 and that ,will points        
steadily to  progress1 to the goal set  
forth for the universe1 the goal towards

 which  it is evolving4 ,unchangeable1  
stable1 perpetual1 that ,will knows no  
swerving2 to use a ,christian phrase1   
there is no shadow of turning in  that  
immutable ,will4 ,the universe rolls    
along the road traced out by the        
,divine ,will4 ,it cannot be diverted   
from that road2 it cannot change its    
path2 that is the law of the universe1  
the law on which we rest with  faith    
unshakable4 ,but in the working out of  
the law in this universe  where men are 
evolving--men in whom is the germ of    
that same sovereign  and imperial ,will 
of ,god1 man being made in the ,divine  
image and  containing within himself the
 germ of the ,divine powers--in this    
universe1 as man evolves1 wills also    
evolve which are separate1  personal1   
individual4 ,all the confusion in the   
world of man is due to  this evolution  
of the separated wills that do not      
recognise their root  in ,god1 but try  
to follow their own diverse ways1 and   
want to move after  their own separated 

fashions2 so that in the world of man1  
as nowhere  else in nature1 you have    
discord instead of harmony1 clash       
instead of  peace1 struggle and war     
instead of tranquillity4 ,the world of  
minerals  obeys the compulsion of the   
law2 the world of vegetables obeys the  
compulsion of the law2 the world of     
animals obeys the compulsion of the     
law2 but when man arises1 man in whom   
the ,supreme is to be developed  after  
he has climbed through the lower stages1
 in man there awakens the  germ of the  
will1 and the separated wills bring     
about the discord which  will yet end in
 something greater and richer than the  
harmony of the  stones1 of the          
vegetables1 of the animals4 ,for when   
human evolution is  over1 millions of   
separated wills will join in one mighty 
chord of  harmonious union1 and that    
union of the wills that voluntarily give
  themselves is mightier in its powers1 
more beautiful in its expression1  than 
compelled obedience can ever be4 ,the   

music that humanity sends up  to ,god1  
in all its varied melody1 is a far more 
perfect expression of  ,divinity than   
can be drawn from the monochord that we 
find in the lower  kingdoms of nature2  
but you will readily understand that    
when these  warring wills arise1        
something1 some one1 is wanted in order 
to adapt1  to correlate1 to bring about 
equilibrium among the contending forces1
 so  that the one purpose may be        
steadily subserved4 ,let me take a      
concrete  illustration4 ,suppose ,i had 
here a ball which ,i want to move4 ,that
 ball  can be moved along a straight    
line in innumerable ways4 ,i might give 
it  a single impulse in the direction in
 which ,i want it to move2 and it  would
 move straight on in that direction     
following my primary impulse4  ,so would
 the universe move if it contained only 
minerals1 vegetables and  animals1 if   
there were no clashing wills within it1 
if it were within  the iron grip of     
compulsion1 which never in any fashion  

could be  resisted4 ,but ,i can equally 
well drive my ball along that straight  
line1  if ,i know enough of physics1 by 
correlating different and opposed       
forces4 ,i may send two forces against  
it at a particular angle1 and if  my    
angle be properly measured according to 
the strength of the forces1  then the   
ball will travel along the same line by 
the interaction of the  two forces as   
well as by the impact of the one2 and ,i
 may bring three1  or four1 or five1 or 
a million forces1 to bear upon that     
ball1 and still  it will move along that
 one definite line1 if only the forces  
are  calculated and balanced so that    
their resultant shall always be a force 
along that straight line4 ,that         
balancing is one of the functions of the
  ,gods4 ,they take these warring wills1
 these different directions that are    
being impressed1 as it were1 on the     
rolling world that is going along  the  
road of evolution2 they balance1 adapt1 
and correlate them1 and thus  always    

keep the world travelling along the     
straight line1 always  bringing about   
the same resultant1 the accomplishment  
of the ,will of the  ,supreme2 without  
them1 these wills of ours would work    
infinite  confusion1 and the world would
 never complete its evolution1 would    
never  roll upwards to its place at the 
,feet of ,god4    ,we find the ,gods    
discharging other functions which       
subserve the same  purpose4 ,they mould 
the forms in which the growing life is  
to express  itself4 ,evolution depends  
upon the growing power of the unfolding 
life1  but it needs forms whereby that  
growth shall be carried on4 ,these forms
  are moulded by the ,devas1 so that the
 life1 which breaks by expansion  its   
containing form that is out-worn1 may   
have another form into which  to go     
fitted for the capacity that was evolved
 in the form it has  out-grown4 ,we     
shall find also that they break up forms
 as well as build  them2 being always   
fixed on the one object of serving the  

evolution of  the life4 ,then again they
 act as teachers1 as guides1 as         
councillors1 to  those that have gone   
beyond the normal evolution1 that are   
the first  fruits of the human race4    
,not acting as teachers directly to the 
masses1  they take the more advanced    
human beings in charge1 directly        
instruct  them1 test them and try them1 
as presently we shall see4 ,so that     
while  the general purpose is the       
helping forward of evolution1 this help 
is  rendered in a million ways1         
according to the needs of the time4     
,now1 in the past1 this working of the  
,gods was recognised1 and the  sacred   
books are full of it4 ,they showed      
themselves continually among  men1 they 
carried on their work1 as it were1 in   
the full blaze of day4  ,but now no     
longer do they show themselves to men at
 large1 and many have  forgotten even   
their existence1 and very many people1  
even in ,india1  materialised by the    
thought in which they have been trained1

 are half  ashamed to say that they     
believe in the existence and the working
 of the  ,devas4 ,the unbelief makes no 
difference1 save to those who           
disbelieve4  ,the working of the ,gods  
remains ever the same4 ,they are ever   
busy in  carrying out the ,supreme      
,will4 ,only they do not show           
themselves1 and to  those alone who     
recognise their existence and their work
 will they  manifest themselves4 ,if in 
the old days they showed themselves as  
they  do not now1 it was because men    
then had reverence and love and were    
willing to bow down to those who were   
wiser and greater than themselves2      
because then democracy was not reigning2
 because then the ignorant did  not     
think themselves equal to the learned1  
nor did man deem himself  equal to the  
,gods4 ,in those days1 because they     
could help they came to  the helping2   
but they will never come visibly again  
to earth until men  have learnt to      
reverence once more what is above them1 

and to understand  their place in the   
,kosmos1 to worship as well as to       
command4 ,the ,gods  work all the same4 
,they are not deprived of their         
functions by our  folly1 by our conceit1
 by our ignorance4 ,only they work      
unseen1 and we  forfeit the sweet       
comfort of their visible presence1 the  
strength and  joy of the old heroic     
days1 the dignity of conscious          
companionship with  the ,immortals1 the 
ever-renewed assurance of super-physical
 life4 ,not  one death that happens on  
our earth1 but a ,god has struck away   
that body  whose work is over2 not one  
natural catastrophe1 but a ,god has     
guided  it to the happening2 not one    
help given to a man in need1 but a ,god 
is  the agent behind the visible helper2
 not one answer to the cry of man in    
his distress1 that is not the response  
of a ,god to human sorrow4  ,everywhere 
they are working4 ,everywhere they are  
bringing about what we  see as dead     
mechanical nature4 ,every phenomenon is 

the veil of a ,god1  and there is       
nothing done in which an ,intelligence  
does not take part4    ,seven are the   
great ,gods below the ,trinity1 below   
the ,trimrti4 ,every  religion1 again1  
acknowledges these ,seven4 ,the         
,christian speaks of the  ,seven        
,spirits that are before the throne of  
,god4 ,the ,zoroastrian  tells us of the
 seven ,ameshaspendas who rule the      
world4 ,the ,chaldean  spoke of the     
seven great ,gods4 ,five only are       
working and two are  concealed1 for the 
universe is in process of evolution and 
only five  stages of it have been       
reached4 ,therefore only with regard to 
five can  we definitely speak as to     
working4 ,the two concealed are beyond  
our  knowing2 they are related to future
 stages of the evolution of the         
,kosmos4 ,but the five we will now      
consider4 ,their names in connection    
with their functions you know well      
enough4 ,they are connected with the    
tattvas of which we were speaking       

yesterday--the ,lord of ,a'ksha1 ,indra2
  the ,lord of ,air1 ,vyu2 the ,lord of 
,fire1 ,agni2 the ,lord of ,water1      
,varuna2 the ,lord of ,earth1 sometimes 
called ,kshiti 7various names are  used 
for him72 each of these great ,gods has 
what we may call one region  marked out 
for his working4 ,the matter of that    
region is the matter in  which he works2
 but in addition to that1 each one is   
represented in the  realms of the others
 by a sub-division on which his         
impression is  especially made4 ,these  
are the great kosmic planes that ,i have
 spoken of  marked off from each other  
by the tattvas4 ,but if we come down to 
the  physical plane1 dealing only with  
,prithiv ,tattva1 we shall then find    
that that is also seven-fold in division
 and that we have physical  solid1      
physical earth or ,prithiv1 physical    
water or ,apas1 physical fire  or ,agni1
 physical air or ,vyu1 physical ether or
 ,a'ksha4 ,each of these  great ,gods   
works on each plane through the medium  

that corresponds to  the region which   
belongs to him in the ,kosmos as a      
whole4 ,how often we  see those         
correspondences as it were printed in   
physical nature4 ,we have  light with   
its seven sub-divisions as seen in the  
solar spectrums  showing the seven      
colours1 and the scale with its seven   
notes4 ,colours  and notes alike result 
from vibrations1 and are determined by  
the number  of vibrations occurring in a
 unit of time4 ,as the universe is built
 by  vibrations1 colour and sound are   
factors of the universe at large1 and   
every region is said to have its own    
colour2 the ,god of that region has  his
 colour--dependent on his vibratory     
force--which he imprints on the  region 
over which he rules2 so that if a ishi  
looks at the solar system  from a higher
 plane1 he not only hears the seven     
fundamental notes of  music1 making the 
harmony of the spheres1 but he sees a   
gorgeous  display of colours1 as the    
sphere of every great ,deva with his own

  colour interpenetrates the others1    
yielding an iridescent splendour of     
interfering radiances1 the marvellous   
rainbow that is round the throne  of    
,god4 ,such mystic expressions have lost
 their meaning for the  majority1       
because the sight of those who wrote    
them is but little  developed in these  
days1 and few are they who can see as   
the seer saw of  old4    ,each of these 
great ,gods has under him a host of     
subordinate ,gods who  carry out his    
decrees4 ,the constitution of an        
ordinary state will give  you a very    
good picture of the government of the   
solar system4 ,we have  at the head an  
,emperor or an ,empress2 then the       
officers who represent  that supreme    
authority in separate divisions of the  
realm2 there is the  one central        
authority over the whole1 and the       
officers who wield it in  different     
areas of the ,empire4 ,then these       
officers are graded in rank1  and we    
have higher and subordinate ,ministers1 

,judges1 ,magistrates1  in descending   
order1 each with a smaller and smaller  
district to  administer1 the functions  
of each becoming more limited as you    
descend  the official ladder2 and each  
responsible to his official superior4   
,that  is really a very good picture of 
the government of the solar system2 the 
head of all is shvara ,himself2 ,his    
,viceroys are the great ,gods1 each     
with his own vast area over which he    
rules1 and each with his official       
hierarchy under him1 until you come down
 to the lowest ,devas1 who carry  on the
 work in the limited area of a village  
of the solar system4    ,such is the    
outline1 then1 of the functions4 ,the   
next thing to grasp  is1 that1 when we  
see on this plane in which our          
consciousness is  working--the physical 
plane--any one of these fundamental     
forms of  manifestation1 we should try  
to realise the presence of the ,god     
behind  the material phenomenon4 ,not a 
fire that burns upon the earth1 whether 

the fire of the volcanic mountain1      
whether the fire ranging through the    
vast forest1 whether the fire burning on
 the household hearth1 or on the        
sacrificial altar1 that is not ,agni in 
manifestation1 with the  possibility of 
his powers coming into visibility4 ,they
 were not  dreamers1 they who bade you  
of old keep safe the fire1 the household
  fire which husband and wife at the    
bridal kindled1 and which1 when the     
life of the married was over in the     
home1 they still carried out into  the  
forest2 they carried with them the fire1
 and it took with them the  presence of 
the ,god1 who through the household life
 had blessed1 had  guided1 had given    
prosperity and made the final withdrawal
 from the  household life possible and  
desirable4 ,that is one of the many     
truths  which modern ,india is losing4  
,but when these things were believed in1
 and the ceremonies connected with  them
 were carried on1 then nature worked in 
a definite order1 and there  were not   

the same continual irregularities that  
we have in our modern  days4 ,by that   
harmonious working between man and the  
,gods1 nature answered  to man as man   
answered to nature2 while man did his   
duty1 nature in her  turn did her duty  
also2 the failure of rain1 the failure  
of crops1 the  failure of sunshine1 the 
presence of plague1 or of any other form
 of human  misery1 was seen as having   
its root in the failure of humanity2 and
 man  turned dutifully to that which he 
had neglected1 and thus readjusted the  
balance which his irregularity had      
displaced4 ,let us try and see1 as an   
example1 one concrete working in what we
 call natural evolution4 ,we will  turn 
to the great ,god ,varuna4 ,he works    
through water2 every manifestation  of  
water is his1 whether on the physical or
 on any other plane1 in any of  the     
forms that it may take1 for what we call
 water is naturally the  lowest1        
coarsest manifestation1 his physical    
body1 as it were4 ,he works  with it in 

nature in endless ways--to dissolve1 to 
combine1 to dissociate4  ,when we take  
the greater workings1 how very grand is 
the conception we may  gain of the might
 of the ,god4 ,come back with me1 far   
back1 into the past1  ere humanity had  
taken form2 there see the world as it   
then was2 see how1  as fire and water1  
,agni and ,varuna are working on every  
material to fit  the world to be the    
birthplace of the yet unborn humanity4  
,see how ,varuna  is working in order to
 prepare what is wanted of mountain and 
of valley1  of river and of plain2 see  
the might of his work as well as that of
 his  brother ,agni1 in apparent clash  
but really in harmony2 fire and water   
meet1 explode1 and toss up a            
mountain-chain where before there was   
none2  see how he gathers snow on the   
mountain peaks1 and gradually fills with
  masses of this snow1 frozen into ice1 
the mountain ravines made by the        
combined volcanic action2 see how the   
slow ploughing begins2 ploughing1       

ploughing and ploughing again1 as the   
mighty ,god works onward in the form  of
 glaciers1 grinding his furrow through  
the earth1 and preparing for the        
future2 see1 ages later1 how the channel
 cut out by the glacier is filled  by   
the tumbling cataracts from melted snow1
 and a turbulent torrent rolls          
downwards1 and against its resistless   
waves nothing is able to stand2 the     
valley dug out by the plough of the ice 
is filled with water1 and from it  the  
soil is gradually deposited1 which in   
the future will make fertile  land for  
crops in order that man may live4 ,then 
,varuna binds his waters  into a        
narrower and narrower channel1 until    
there is mountain range and  valley and 
a river flowing through it3 and he      
carries his river downwards  and pours  
it into the sea and his brother ,agni   
draws it up again to form  the clouds4  
,there has come by that mighty action1  
destructive as it seems  in appearance1 
the building of the plain and the valley

 where men shall  live and love1 where  
children shall be playing1 where horses 
shall graze1  where corn shall grow and 
ripen in the sunshine1 and where1 on the
  peaceful banks of the river1 men shall
 worship the ,god who made possible     
their happy life4    ,we talk about the 
cruelty of nature4 ,let us try and      
understand what  this cruelty means4    
,the world now is inhabited4 ,crowds of 
men are here1  and lo6 the river1 that  
made the habitation of the valley       
possible and  keeps it fruitful1 now    
overflows its banks and the mighty flood
 sweeps  away village and town1 men1    
women1 children1 and cattle1 and only   
desolation is left behind4 ,what is     
this8 ,is this horror a divine  working8
 ,what is this that ,varuna has done8   
,varuna is working for  evolution4 ,his 
thought is not fixed on the forms in    
which the life is  cabined1 but on the  
life that is evolving within them1 which
 can make  for itself new forms4 ,when  
those men are swept away1 it is only the

  breaking of the forms that happens2   
the life up-springs uninjured and  set  
free2 for the body is the prison-house  
of the evolving life1 and if  the prison
 doors were never thrown open1 we should
 be in jail all our  lives and make no  
progress for the future4 ,the ,god to   
whom form is  nothing and life          
everything1 to whom form is but a       
changing1 convenient  vehicle1 and the  
life that moulds the form is the one    
thing that is  worthy of thought1 he    
strikes away the form when its purpose  
is  completed2 to him such destruction  
is the act of mightiest charity2 it  is 
the deed most helpful to evolution4 ,we 
err1 my brothers1 when we look  on death
 with eyes that are full of tears1 with 
hearts that are  breaking4 ,death is he 
who brings us to a higher birth1 and who
 sets free  the imprisoned soul2 it is  
the liberation of the bird confined     
within  the limits of a cage1 enabling  
it to soar upwards into the heavens1    
singing1 as it goes1 with joy at the    

freedom it has recovered4 ,does that    
seem strange8 ,let us take an           
illustration from the ,mahbhrata3--     
,there was a council among the ,gods in 
,svarga1 how some of them would  take   
incarnation upon earth for the sake of  
helping men at a great  crisis in the   
world's history4 ,great men were needed1
 and the question  arose whether some of
 the ,gods were willing to bind         
themselves within  the limits of human  
form1 in order to give special help to  
human  progress2 among those who were   
needed for the work that was coming was 
the son of ,soma ,deva1 ,varchas1 as he 
was called1 and the ,gods desired  that 
this ,deva should be born on earth4     
,soma ,deva hesitated4 ,he was not      
willing that his son should leave him   
and the heavenly life1 and  although he 
finally consented that he should be born
 as ,abhimanyu1 the  son of ,arjuna1 it 
was only on the condition that he should
 live but for  sixteen years1 and be    
killed in the great battle of           

,kurukshetra4 ,you  say1 what a strange 
view of life6 ,what an extraordinary    
condition for  love to make1 that this  
youth should die at the age of sixteen1 
in the  very flower of his dawning      
manhood1 should die a death of violence4
 ,yet  that was the will of the one who 
loved him best1 for heaven sees with    
different eyes from earth4 ,soma saw the
 life1 and cared not for the  form2 to a
 ,god the form is a prison1 death is the
 gaoler that liberates2  hence the      
condition was made that only for sixteen
 years might the  divine youth live a   
human life1 and then my son of mighty   
arms shall  come back to me1 and that   
from a battle field1 dying gloriously in
 the  midst of the fight4    ,do you    
know that sometimes the swamping of a   
civilisation by a natural               
convulsion--such as the going down of   
,atlantis below the waves of the  ocean 
that we now call the ,atlantic1 the     
wiping out of the whole nation  or      
race--is the best proof of love that the

 ,supreme shvara through  ,his          
intermediate agents can show to the     
lives therein embodied4 ,for  there are 
stages in the world's story where man is
 so passionately set  on a line of      
action that is against his real         
progress1 when he so  determinately sets
 his desires on objects that hold him   
back and delay  his evolution1 that the 
only mercy that the ,gods can show him  
is to  break his form in pieces1 and    
give him as it were a new start for the 
evolving of himself--the life4          
,sometimes ,i have felt1 as ,i have gone
  through some of the miseries of our   
great cities in the ,west1 when1 in  the
 pursuance of my duty1 ,i have gone with
 breaking heart through the  slums of   
eastern and southern ,london1 or through
 those of ,glasgow1 or  ,edinburgh1 or  
,sheffield1 as ,i have noted the types  
of men and women  around me1 as ,i have 
seen the human almost veiled by the     
brute1 and  humanity degraded well-nigh 
beyond possibility of recognition1 that 

no  appeal for help was fitting save one
 that would set free that imprisoned    
life4 ,i have felt that nothing save the
 destruction of the forms could  give   
any hope for those imprisoned within    
them2 that for those men and  women1 as 
they were1 degraded1 brutal1 drunken1   
profligate1 their very  forms with the  
impress of the animal1 the best mercy   
that ,god could show  them would be an  
earthquake that would swallow the whole 
great city and  set free the lives pent 
hopeless within it4 ,for not one life   
would be  lost1 not one life would pass 
away1 but they would be set free to go  
into somewhat less unplastic forms and  
give scope for that divine  working     
towards evolution1 which is in extreme  
cases only possible when  the forms1    
forms of evil1 are gone4 ,we speak      
sometimes of the training  of children  
being easier than that of grown-up      
people1 because they are  more plastic4 
,so also the ,gods want oftentimes the  
child-ego in the  plastic form instead  

of in the prison-house grown rigid by   
age2 and they  therefore break that     
environment in order that the young life
 may grow4    ,another great function of
 the ,gods is the dealing with the karma
 of  nations1 collective karma1 as it is
 sometimes called4 ,suppose a nation  is
 acting in its collective capacity--,i  
am not now thinking of the  individuals 
brought into it by their individual     
karma but of the nation  acting as a    
unit--and suppose it commits a crime    
against another nation4  ,there has been
 one working of karma so tremendous     
during the last year1  that ,i will take
 it as an illustration--,spain4 ,some   
centuries ago ,spain  was at the summit 
of her power2 mighty was she among the  
western  nations4 ,there was sent to    
her1 in order to help her forward1 the  
gift  of new knowledge4 ,it came truly  
in a somewhat unacceptable guise1 for it
  came from ,arabia1 with the stamp of  
,muhammed upon it2 it was brought by    
the children of ,islm2 they brought the 

light of science with them1  and1 as    
they established themselves in southern 
,spain1 they gave that  light to ,spain4
 ,universities were established4 ,large 
classes were  formed4 ,from every part  
of ,europe men come crowding to the     
,schools of  ,cordova1 and there they   
learnt the beginnings of the ,science   
that has  since grown into so mighty a  
tree in western lands4 ,what did ,spain 
do8  ,spain called up against these     
,moors1 and against the ,hebrews--who   
also  were learned in the learning of   
the ,east--the frightful weapons of the 
,inquisition1 the stake1 the rack1 the  
dungeon1 the torture of exile4 ,who  can
 count the hundreds of thousands driven 
out from home1 the broken  families1 the
 miseries1 the poverty and starvation   
intolerable1 which  marked the expulsion
 of the ,jews and of the ,moors from    
,spain8 ,still her  karma of success was
 not complete4 ,across the ,atlantic    
ocean she sped1  ,italy lending one of  
her sons for the glory of the ,spanish  

,empire4 ,in  the wake of the ships of  
,columbus there followed the ships of   
the  conquerors of ,america1 full of    
,spanish soldiers4 ,i cannot dwell on   
the  story of the conquest of ,mexico1  
and the still more terrible conquest of 
,peru2 ,i have no time to wring your    
hearts1 as ,i might1 with the tale of   
the destruction of a great civilisation1
 of the killing out of the last         
exquisite traces in ,peru of one of the 
most perfect civilisations that  our    
world has ever known1 of the crushing of
 the gentle ,indian race  there by      
chains1 by imprisonment1 shut out from  
the glorious ,sun whose  children their 
,incas were4 ,too gentle to struggle1   
accustomed only to a  life of flowers1  
of music1 and of sunshine1 they were    
crammed into caves  that they were made 
to dig in ancient cliffs1 dying by      
thousands upon  thousands in the digging
 out of the gold and silver which their 
,spanish  conquerors demanded1 until the
 very name of the ancient nation        

perished1  and only a few scattered     
,peruvian ,indians remained to represent
 what was  one of the fairest           
civilisations of the world4 ,such was   
the karma made  by ,spain in the days of
 her glory1 and the horror of her       
conquests sank  into the oblivion of the
 past4 ,but do the ,gods forget8 ,nay1  
their memory  is perfect4 ,they are the 
administrators of the divine law1 and   
give the  harvest to the sowers4 ,from  
the very country which they outraged1   
from  the very land that they conquered1
 a new nation springs up as the         
centuries go on to take up the old      
struggle between the two hemispheres1   
and to-day we have seen ,america and    
,spain closing again in the  death-grip1
 but the scale of balance is now weighed
 down on the other  side1 and ,america  
becomes the karmic agent for working out
 the woes of  the ,aztecs and the       
,peruvians1 and for driving from the    
western  hemisphere the nation that     
there outraged humanity in the centuries

  gone by4 ,thus the ,gods are needed to
 bring nations together to balance  up  
these accounts between the races1 and so
 to restore equilibrium once  again4    
,thus they work1 using men as their     
agents1 and they bring about  these     
national results4 ,partly they do it by 
bringing to birth1 at a  particular     
time1 men whose individual karma fits   
them to be the agents  of the collective
 karma of the nation4 ,what was more    
striking in the  ,spanish war which has 
just closed1 than the absolute          
incapacity shown by  the men who were   
the rulers of ,spain8 ,whence came they8
 ,they were men  who in the past by     
their individual karma had fitted       
themselves for the  sorry fate of       
incapable rulers1 and they were guided  
by the ,gods to take  birth in the      
families which give rulers to ,spain1 in
 order that1 by  their weakness and     
ineptitude1 by their cowardice and their
 want of  foresight1 they might serve as
 men to lead their nation to            

destruction1  the fitting instruments   
for the working out of ,spain's evil    
karma4 ,see  also how at the fit time   
great men arise to lead a nation to     
victory4  ,these men are also chosen by 
the ,gods beforehand because of their   
individual karma1 and they are brought  
to birth in the place and at the  time  
when they are wanted for the working out
 of the collective karma  of a nation4  
,not by chance is a man brought into the
 world1 not by the  compulsion of a dead
 law1 or of a blind necessity2 the ,gods
 are working  here with an intelligence 
that foresees and guides1 and they      
choose for  the accomplishment of their 
ends the men whose own karma fits them  
to be  their agents for the work in     
hand1 and then guide them to take birth 
at  the place where that karma can      
subserve the collective karma of their  
people4    ,this also is true in a much 
more limited way with regard to the     
working  of individual karma4 ,sometimes
 you must have wondered how1 with all   

the  interfering activities of men1 the 
karmic law could work out with          
undeviating justice2 it is because the  
,gods are guiding the working4 ,you  see
 somewhere a man who is starving and if 
you misunderstand karma--as  too many of
 you do1 to the shame of ,india1 in a   
land where this teaching  is of         
immemorial antiquity--you turn aside    
from that starving man and  say that it 
is his karma to starve and perish2 in   
those hardened hearts  of yours you use 
the will of ,god as a cover for your own
 selfishness1  for your indifference and
 your lack of love4 ,that man's karma to
 starve8  ,aye1 and therefore he is     
starving6 ,but if a ,deva guides you to 
the place  where your brother is        
starving1 it is because he would make   
you the  agent of his beneficence to    
that man whose evil karma of the present
  moment has been exhausted by his      
suffering2 the ,deva thus says to you3  
,man1 your brother man is starving1 give
 him the relief it is his karma  to     

receive1 and be my agent in carrying out
 the law4 ,but if you refuse  the ,god1 
if1 blinded by ignorance or             
indifference1 you turn aside and  will  
not carry his message to your brother1  
he will not for that be  thwarted1 he   
will find some other agent1 or1 as a    
last resource1 he will  do it himself by
 some act that may seem miraculous in   
the eyes of the  blind1 for the purpose 
of the ,god may not be blocked2 but for 
those who  have refused to act as his   
agents1 who have refused to act as his  
messengers1 they have made for          
themselves the karma of being left      
unassisted when the hour of their own   
need shall strike in the future4  ,for  
the administrators of the good law      
forget not2 every debt is  collected1   
every creditor is paid in full4 ,but you
 may say that it does  not follow that a
 man's karma is exhausted when you meet 
him2 true1 but  that is not your        
business1 it is the business of the     
guiding ,god1 and he  will frustrate the

 physical aid if the karma be still     
evil4 ,if you have  that opportunity    
given you of making good karma1 you have
 all the merit  of your willingness to  
act1 you have all the virtue of your    
readiness to  sacrifice2 but if it is   
not yet his time to be relieved1 you    
will not  find the object of your       
charity2 by circumstances1 as you will  
say1 he  will have been taken outside   
your reach4 ,leave you the ,gods to do  
the  work of the ,gods1 the             
administration of the law2 do you that  
charity1  that love and compassion1     
which it is ever their will that man    
should  show to man4 ,we cannot break   
the law2 we cannot change their purpose2
  but we have the choice of co-working  
or refusing1 and on that our  individual
 karma depends4    ,then we find further
 that ,devas bring people together and  
carry them  apart1 always for the       
working out of their individual karmas2 
that men  are guided to places and      
positions at definite times1 according  

to those  circumstances which1 by their 
karma1 they must meet4    ,now men are  
related especially to one or other of   
the great ,gods1 by the  constitution of
 their bodies visible and invisible4    
,that gives them a  special affinity for
 one ,deva rather than for another4 ,for
 instance1 the  lower hosts of ,devas   
who1 we will say1 belong to ,agni1 build
 into a  man's invisible and visible    
bodies1 the kind of matter in which that
 ,god  normally works4 ,that gives the  
man a relationship to that particular   
,god4 ,every man is connected with a    
special manifestation of ,god1 to whom  
by his constitution and evolution he    
should turn4 ,unhappily ignorance  has  
so widely taken the place of knowledge1 
that it is difficult for a  man to      
discover to which ,deva he is thus      
related4 ,i have not time to  work that 
out but you will see how thoroughly it  
supports the ancient  idea that men     
rightly worshipped different            
manifestations of the ,divine1  and     

profited by such worship4    ,but we    
must hurry on with this outline1 for we 
have yet to deal with the  more highly  
evolved souls1 and on your understanding
 this last part of  our subject will    
depend your power to defend our sacred  
literature when  it is attacked by those
 who do not understand it4 ,therefore ,i
 will ask  you to follow it carefully1  
and you can apply the principles that ,i
 will  illustrate by special stories in 
a hundred other cases4    ,the ,devas1  
in their relationship to the more       
advanced human lives1 have  that        
function of teaching that ,i have       
alluded to1 and also the function  of   
testing and trying them1 to see how far 
they are worthy and reliable1  testing  
all their weak points in order that     
those weak points may be  gotten rid of1
 trying them1 where there is a germ of  
vice still  remaining1 in order that    
that germ of vice may be eradicated4    
,let us try  to realise the nature of   
that working4 ,suppose we see a man who 

has made  great progress4 ,he is        
approaching the end of his births4 ,in  
that man  there is some germ of evil    
still remaining that has not been       
brought out  yet into manifestation by  
the working of karma4 ,he is going to be
  liberated1 but he cannot be liberated 
while that germ remains4 ,what  shall be
 done with him8 ,that germ of evil must 
be hastened to its  ripening4 ,it must  
be made to grow more quickly than       
otherwise it would  grow4 ,it must be   
gotten rid of1 at any cost of pain1 of  
anguish1 and of  temporary degradation1 
and the ,god will take such action as   
will ripen  that germ and bring it to   
fruitage2 so that1 the man acting as he 
would  act when that germ had been      
ripened by evolution1 may suffer the    
results  which would follow from the    
error1 and by such suffering may get rid
 of  that evil in his nature1 which     
would otherwise have prevented him from 
attaining liberation4    ,let me give   
you a story for each of these to make   

the action clear4 ,you  see that a man  
is strong2 well and good2 but that      
strength must be  tested to see if there
 be a flaw anywhere2 if there is a rope 
on which  the life of a man is going to 
depend1 he holding it and descending a  
precipice1 that rope must be pulled and 
tested to see if there be any  weak     
point in it which might break when the  
man's body is hanging upon  it1 so that 
he would fall4 ,there may be a flaw in  
the rope1 and not  till it has been     
tested will the man risk his life upon  
it4 ,how much  less then will the ,deva 
risk the progress of an advanced man on 
a virtue  not strong enough to bear     
every strain8 ,he will test it with     
every  possibility of strain1 until it  
has proved itself strong enough to bear 
the weight which it may be called upon  
to hold up4 ,we will take our  stories  
from the ,mahbhrata1 which you all know1
 or ought to know4  ,arjuna was seeking 
to get divine weapons2 he was to be a   
great leader in  a battle still in the  

future4 ,we are at the time of the      
thirteen years'  exile1 and you may     
remember that he spent many of these    
years in the  search for these weapons4 
,during his search1 he sought           
,maheshvara1 who  had promised to give  
him ,his own weapon1 and he performed   
many  austerities in order that he might
 come pure into the presence of ,god4   
,one day as he was performing worship1 a
 wild boar came along2 at the  same time
 a hunter appeared1 a hunter of a very  
low caste1 a hunter of  the hills4 ,now 
you remember that ,arjuna was a         
,kshattriya1 and he  accordingly caught 
up his bow to shoot at the wild boar2   
the hunter also  raised his bow to shoot
 at the wild boar4 ,two arrows went from
 the two  sides and the boar was struck 
dead4 ,arjuna was very angry at the     
interference of this low-caste hunter1  
and cried3 ,how dare you shoot at  the  
wild boar which was mine8 and he began  
to quarrel and to threaten  to slay him4
 ,said the hunter3 ,if you wish to      

fight1 fight2 at that1  ,arjuna showered
 his arrows on the hunter but they all  
fell off from him4  ,the hunter1        
laughing1 said3 ,excellent6 ,excellent6 
go on6 go on62 and  ,arjuna hurled at   
him weapon after weapon1 but everything 
failed4 ,arrows  fell off him1          
everything broke against him--trees1    
rocks1 everything2 he  remained         
untouched and uninjured1 until at last  
,he showed ,himself as  ,mahdeva1 and   
praised the man who had held his own    
against the ,god4 ,thus  ,he tried      
,arjuna's strength2 could he be sent to 
,kurukshetra with  celestial weapons if 
his strength were too little for the    
fight8 ,try him  against the ,divine    
potency1 limited in order to be faced   
and fought2  when his courage is found  
to be dauntless and his strength        
sufficient1  then send him to           
,kurukshetra tried and proved1 able to  
lead his men to  victory4    ,take      
another case1 more difficult4           
,yudhishthira is sad at heart2 he  is   

struggling1 has failed1 and is in       
danger4 ,drona is there1 leading  the   
hosts of his enemies1 and he has been   
driven by him from the  battle-field4   
,no one is able to stand against ,drona2
 every one flies  before the face of    
that mighty warrior2 he turns back every
 attack4 ,what  can be done8            
,yudhishthira is in despair4 ,is he to  
be conquered8 ,a  stainless king was    
this son of ,pndu1 one of the noblest   
and most  blameless figures that ancient
 literature paints2 but with a strain of
  weakness in him which in critical     
times would sometimes show a too great  
readiness to yield1 too little of the   
,kshattriya's power of standing  alone  
against any force that might be brought 
to bear against him2 a  little germ of  
weakness was there1 that had in it the  
possibility of a  fatal fall4 ,shr ,kiha
 is there1 the great ,avatra1 and ,bhma 
comes  rushing up from the battle-field 
saying that he has slain an elephant1   
whose name is the same as the name of   

the son of ,drona4 ,if ,drona hear  that
 his son ,ashvatthm is dead1 he will    
drop his weapons1 he will let  go his   
enemy2 no further will he fight when his
 beloved is gone4 ,i told  him that     
,ashvatthm was dead1 but he would not   
believe me2 he sent me  to you saying   
that ,yudhishthira is a devotee of      
truth1 he will not tell  a lie for the  
sovereignty of the three worlds4 ,if he 
says ,ashvatthm is  dead1 ,i will       
believe4 ,terrible is the strain2 mighty
 the force brought  to bear against the 
man who has a weakness in him2 and ,shr 
,kiha1  standing by him1 watching him   
steadfastly1 advises him to utter that  
which is not true4 ,god advises this    
almost blameless man to tell a lie8     
,how strange the scene6 ,yudhishthira1  
yielding to ,shr ,kiha1 tells  the      
falsehood1 and ,drona lets fall his     
weapons and is killed4 ,if the  story   
stopped there1 we might well be puzzled4
 ,if ,yudhishthira's life  was no       
further told1 we might well ask3 what is

 this that we have  studied8 ,but when  
we remember that one of the great       
functions of the  ,teacher1 the         
,gurudeva1 is to bring out any weakness 
inherent in ,his  pupil1 because        
otherwise that weakness will keep the   
man tied1 and he  will not be fit to be 
liberated1 we pause and read on4 ,when  
that lie was  spoken1 the chariot of    
,yudhishthira sank downwards to the     
ground1 no  longer able to support      
itself1 truth having been violated4 ,and
 as years  went on1 the bitterness of   
that memory of a falsehood remained2 the
  sorrow of the slaying of the preceptor
 by a lie ate deep into the heart  of   
the king2 he never recovered from it1 he
 never got rid of its effect2  over and 
over again1 he breaks from his repose in
 anguish2 ,i have slain  my ,guru4 ,the 
sorrow worked and the shame1 till the   
anguish purified  that noble soul from  
the last stain of weakness2 and when the
 ,great  ,journey is over1 when wife and
 brothers lie dead behind him and he    

utters not a word of protest against the
 death of his beloved1 when he  stands  
ready to ascend to heaven1 when only one
 living creature remains  with him1 the 
dog who had followed after him          
faithfully through all his  wanderings  
since he left his capital1 when that dog
 remained his sole  companion1 trusting 
his master's love faithfully unto death1
 then comes  down a mighty ,god and     
stands beside him4 ,your time has come2 
mount on  my celestial chariot1 and     
ascend in your body unto the heaven     
where you  have won the right to sit and
 reign4 ,will he now yield to the       
invitation of the ,god8 ,he said3 ,this 
dog is here2 he has trusted to my       
protection and ,i cannot leave him      
alone2 ,i must take him with me4 ,the   
,god answered3 ,dogs have no place in   
heaven2 dogs are unclean1 no place  for 
them is there2 you have left your dead  
brothers behind1 and your  wife when she
 perished2 why should you remain still  
with this dog8  ,they are all dead1 he  

answered for the dead1 the living can do
  nothing4 ,this creature is still      
living and has sought my protection2 ,i 
will not abandon him4 ,nay1 the ,god    
said1 be not so foolish2 leave  the dog 
there4 ,but ,yudhishthira stood firm2 he
 was strong enough to  stand against the
 ,god1 and to show righteousness and    
fidelity to the  poor brute that had    
placed his love in him2 unless he might 
take the dog  with him1 he would stay on
 the earth and do his duty4 ,such lesson
 had he  learnt from his fall2 such is  
the result of the working of ,shr ,kiha 
on his evolution4 ,we can see this same 
working throughout the whole of  that   
struggle4 ,trace ,shr ,kiha through the 
pages of the  ,mahbhrata1 and you will  
find that ,he never deviates from one   
steady  purpose--to bring the great     
struggle to a foreseen ending1 where    
justice  shall triumph and the          
,kshattriyas of ,india shall disappear2 
,he was at  once destroying injustice   
and preparing for the future of ,india1 

breaking down the iron wall of her      
warring caste that ringed her around    
with safety4 ,there is a particular aim 
in everything that ,he does1 and  you   
will see that ,his purpose is immovable1
 if you study carefully4 ,he  is working
 towards its accomplishment the whole   
way through4 ,look at the  way in which 
,he steps in when ,his strength or      
protection is needed2 see  how ,he tries
 to stimulate the ,pndavas to do their  
duty1 and only takes  their place when  
they fail4 ,see the case where ,shr     
,kiha having  promised that he would do 
no battle1 ,arjuna falters before the   
face of  ,bhshma and has no heart to    
strike2 you remember how sad was the    
struggle4 ,arjuna was not able to strike
 harshly at ,bhshma1 the greatest  of   
all men and all warriors1 perfect in    
,dharma1 the grandsire and the  teacher 
of all4 ,how can ,i slay him8 insisted  
,arjuna2 ,i remember when  as a child   
soiled with dust1 ,i climbed on to his  
knees and throwing my  arms around him  

called him ',father1' and he said to me1
 ',i am thy  father's father4' ,how can 
,i bring myself to slay him8 ,and you   
will  remember how ,shr ,kiha ,himself  
told him not to shrink1 'bade him slay  
him4' ,hard was the task2 ,arjuna's     
memory was too strong for him2 he only  
fought in appearance with restrained    
might1 not with vigour1 until at  last  
,shr ,kiha saw that ,he must stimulate  
this man to do his duty1  and to fight1 
though it were against his old teacher  
himself2 ,he throws  down the reins of  
,his horses1 takes the whip1 and leaps  
down from the  chariot1 and with the    
whip ,he rushes through the brunt of the
 battle to  attack ,bhshma ,himself4    
,ah6 that sight is hard for ,arjuna2 it 
appeals to  him as ,kshattriya1 and duty
 is remembered instead of emotion2      
throwing  his arms round ,shr ,kiha to  
stop him he says1 ,go back6 ,go back6   
and  drive me yet again1 and ,i will do 
my duty even to the slaying of  ,bhshma4
 ,now what does that mean8 ,it means    

that the purpose of the ,god  will be   
accomplished1 whether or not a man is   
found to do it2 that  evolution will    
proceed1 no matter who may falter or who
 may hinder2 that  while evolution will 
go on under the ,will of ,god1          
individual progress  depends on         
individual co-operation with that ,will2
 that ,god evolves ,his  agents by      
setting them to ,his work1 and that     
their progress depends on  the extent to
 which they are able to receive the     
impulse that ,he  imparts4 ,only one    
other case ,i will take to show you how 
,shr ,kiha  worked when the force was   
too great for ,arjuna to meet1 when ,he 
saw  ,arjuna could do nothing with all  
the valour at his command1 that no      
force of appeal1 no stimulus1 could     
enable him to defend himself4 ,one      
weapon was thrown that might not err in 
its aim1 one weapon a celestial  weapon 
that ,he had given as a boon1 when ,he  
waked from ,his thousand  years of      
sleep4 ,that weapon was cast against    

,arjuna4 ,arjuna could not  avert it4   
,alone of all the weapons in earth and  
heaven1 that weapon must  go to its     
ending1 and ,arjuna would have been     
slain in the midst of the  battle4 ,what
 can be done8 ,he could not cut it with 
the arrows from  ,gndva1 he could not   
use against it any of the mighty weapons
 that the  ,gods had given him4 ,this   
was the weapon of the ,supreme1 which   
nothing  was able to oppose4 ,shr ,kiha 
then1 at that last moment1 as the       
weapon flies straight at the breast of  
the warrior throws ,himself in  front1  
and1 as it strikes ,his bosom1 it knows 
its ,master and is changed  into a      
garland of flowers4 ,so also with the   
chariot on which ,he drove4  ,he bade   
,arjuna first get down4 ,he bade him    
take his weapons1 and until  ,arjuna had
 left it1 ,shr ,kiha stood there        
immovable1 ,he would not  stir2 and the 
moment ,he left it the whole chariot    
burst into flames1 for  only ,his       
presence had kept it together1 ,he who  

was the ,lord of fire1 as  well as the  
,lord of all else4 ,you see1 my         
brothers1 how fruitful is the  study of 
this subject1 when you are dealing with 
the sacred literature2  how you may be  
able to explain it to men of your own   
faith1 and defend  it against the       
attacks of men of other creeds4 ,do not 
defend it with  bitter words1 do not    
defend it with harsh language1 do not   
defend it  with wrath in your mind1 and 
indignation making your tongue          
poisonous2  but remember that where     
ignorance attacks1 it is the duty of    
knowledge  to defend2 and that when that
 which ignorance attacks is the         
spiritual  food of millions1 every man  
of knowledge should spring forward to   
defend  it1 lest the ignorant of that   
faith should swerve1 when they see the  
truths in their books assailed by those 
who do not understand4    ,that then is 
the outcome of this lecture4 ,i ask you 
to remember that in  every stage of your
 life1 ,gods are around you4 ,no karma  

that you make1  that they will not      
remember2 no appeal that you utter1 that
 they will  not answer4 ,if for a moment
 no answer seems to come1 or if sorrow  
that  you shrink from falls upon you1   
remember that the hand of love allows it
  thus to fall1 and that in bearing that
 sorrow bravely1 you are swiftly        
working out your own deliverance4 ,you  
are to be men1 not children1 in  the    
future2 men-sons of the living shvara   
whose image you are1 and not  babies    
that ,he must for ever carry in ,his    
arms4 ,he asks from you the  strength of
 men to help the ,gods4 ,he is evolving 
you as the agents for  ,his future      
universe4 ,you may delay1 if you will4  
,you may lose time1 if  you will4 ,kalpa
 after ,kalpa1 you may remain at a low  
stage4 ,if so you  choose1 ,he will not 
force your will2 but your wisdom lies in
 letting ,his  ,will work in you to your
 swift and perfect evolution1 that you  
may have  the joy of carrying out that  
,will in other worlds1 of consciously   

being  ,his agents under other          
conditions2 for men are ,gods in the    
making1 and  we are preparing to        
discharge the functions of the ,gods4   
,,third ,,lecture4    ,,evolution ,,of  
,,life4      ,my ,brothers1--,we have   
reached a point in our study from which 
we may  begin to trace the ,evolution of
 ,life in our own system that evolution 
takes place on the various planets1 but 
it is similar in its general  outline1  
though modified in its details on the   
different globes4 ,we  shall chiefly    
confine ourselves to our own world and  
our own humanity at  the outset we shall
 be obliged to go somewhat further      
afield1 but for  the greater part of our
 study we may confine ourselves to the  
evolution  of life on our earth4 ,now we
 are seeking in our study to find a     
common  ground of agreement on which    
co-operation may arise between peoples  
of  different faiths and of different   
schools of thought4 ,if we are trying   
to find a meeting-place for western and 

for eastern ,science1 if we are  seeking
 in the light of ,religion to understand
 some of the mysteries of  life1 it is  
right and fitting that we should        
remember that no one  religion has a    
monopoly of truth1 and that any one who 
is seeking to  expound the truth should 
be able to fortify his position from the
  different religions of the world1 and 
to show that on all great1  essential1  
and fundamental truths they speak with a
 single voice1 they  teach an identical 
lesson4 ,therefore in dealing with my   
subject this  morning1 ,i shall1 as     
before1 draw your attention on the main 
points  where challenge might arise to  
the consensus of religious opinion1 to  
the definite statements of the world's  
,teachers2 so that the tendency  towards
 unity1 on which the future evolution of
 life depends1 may be  helped to develop
 amongst us4 ,and there is a special    
reason for that  just now4 ,we shall    
see1 as we trace out the evolution of   
life1 that we  are in the very crisis of

 the intellectual evolution1 and we     
shall find  that the characteristic of  
that stage of evolution is division and 
separation1 and the placing of the      
individual apart from1 and somewhat  in 
conflict with1 other individuals4 ,and  
we shall find that the next  stage in   
the evolution of life is the seeking for
 union amid the  individualised units2  
that the next divine aspect that man has
 to  develop in the ,self within him is 
the aspect of union and not the aspect  
of diversity2 and it is of importance   
that those who are seeking the  light1  
those who are striving to co-operate    
with nature by understanding  her hidden
 ways1 should realise the next step of  
evolution as well as  the present1 in   
order that they may co-operate with     
nature by themselves  taking that step1 
thus quickening the possibility of      
similar taking for  all mankind4    ,now
 with regard to life in its relation to 
forms1 change at the present  time is   
coming over the thought of western      

,science4 ,i pause on this for  a moment
 in order to substantiate that          
assertion1 for it is important in  the  
search for the means of drawing together
 the two kinds of science1  ancient and 
modern1 to notice how much the position 
of the leading  scientists of the ,west 
has been modified with regard to life   
and form  during the last ten years4 ,i 
take as a declaration on this subject of
  life1 issued some years ago1 the      
article on ,biology in the last edition 
of the ,encyclopdia ,britannica1        
written1 as all the articles in that    
,cyclopdia are written1 by a prominent  
man in the scientific world4 ,in        
dealing then with life1 the writer of   
the article in question distinctly      
states that a mass of living protoplasm 
is simply a molecular machine  of great 
complexity1 the total results of the    
working of which1 or its  vital         
phenomena1 depend1 on the one hand1 upon
 its construction1 and on  the other1   
upon the energy supplied to it and to   

speak of 'vitality' as  anything but the
 name of a series of operations is as if
 any one should  talk of the            
'horologity' of a clock4 ,that is to    
say1 that to regard  life as being in   
any sense a common existing principle1  
as anything more  than a mere succession
 of phenomena in connection with a      
particular  apparatus of matter1 is as  
foolish and unreasonable as if1 looking 
at a  clock1 you should separate its    
going property from the mechanism of the
  clock itself4 ,a purely mechanical    
view of nature is thus taken1 and       
life-processes are regarded as being due
 to the unstable equilibrium of         
protoplasm2 the series of these         
life-processes is brought about merely  
by mechanical and chemical changes1 the 
actions called vital being thus         
mechanical in their character4 ,but at  
the last meeting of the ,british        
,association1 the ,president of the     
,chemical ,section--chemistry having    
been the very science to lead the       

scientific world towards materialism  in
 this respect--has taken up an entirely 
different standpoint1 a point  that     
brings the question into a line with    
ancient thinking1 and that  starts the  
investigations of western ,science along
 a road whereon the  most fruitful      
results are likely to be encountered4   
,dr4 ,japp1 the  ,president of that     
,section1 compares the action of life to
 the action of  an operator who is      
deliberately working with a purpose1    
using knowledge  and will in order to   
bring about a definite result4 ,the     
operator1 he  says1 exercises a guiding 
power which is akin1 in its results1 to 
that  of the living organism1 and1 going
 on to explain in very technical        
language the ground on which this view  
is based1 he concludes by saying3       
,every purely mechanical explanation of 
the phenomenon must necessarily  fail4  
,i see no escape from the conclusion    
that at the moment when life  first     
arose a directive force came into       

play--a force precisely of the  same    
character as that which enables the     
intelligent operator1 by the  exercise  
of his will1 to select one crystallised 
enantiomorph and reject  its asymmetric 
opposite4 ,that is the declaration3 that
 with the arising  of life there is an  
arising of consciousness which exercises
 a directive  force in nature1 as we see
 it exercising a directive force in the 
choice  exercised by men4 ,put those two
 statements side by side1 see the entire
  reversal of the attitude1 and then you
 will be able to measure to some  extent
 the change that has come over western  
thinking--the recognition  of life as   
identical with consciousness1 a position
 which has ever been  taken in the hoary
 ,science of the ,east4    ,now let me1 
before going into details1 suggest to   
you the path that we  are to follow4    
,from the ,one ,existence1 that ,one    
without a second1  arises1 as we saw in 
our first study--shvara1 ,god in ,his   
creative and  manifested aspect1 shvara 

clothed in ,my1 out of which a new      
universe  is to be builded4 ,threefold  
we found ,him to be in ,his             
manifestation1  threefold in the aspect 
that ,he showed forth2 so that a        
,trimrti1 or  ,trinity1 is the aspect   
towards this universe of the manifested 
,god2 ,his  working will show this      
triple character1 and the evolution of  
life is  threefold1 whether we study it 
in nature or in man4 ,i know the thought
  that arises in many of you1 accustomed
 to the broad statements in  eastern    
literature4 ,you think of the building1 
the sustaining1 and the  disappearing of
 a universe4 ,perfect1 you say1 is the  
,one ,existence1  infinite1             
unchangeable2 perfect in the ending is  
the universe1 as  perfect in the        
beginning2 why then this long evolution 
of life with all  its struggles1 with   
all its imperfections gradually and     
slowly  transcended4 ,why from the      
perfect should the imperfect come forth8
 ,why  should it be trained into        

perfection1 and then return into that   
perfection whence it came8 ,that        
question is based on a fundamental      
misunderstanding which it is necessary  
to correct2 a misunderstanding  which   
never could have risen amongst you if   
the ,scriptures had been read  in the   
light of the ,yoga-developed            
consciousness1 and if the broad  outline
 which is presented had been followed   
out carefully in thought so  that its   
stages might be marked4 ,you will       
remember how it is written in  the      
,chhndhogyopanishad that the ,one willed
 to multiply2 and the  moment you grasp 
the idea of multiplication1 if you think
 of what it  means instead of merely    
repeating the word1 you will realise    
that  multiplication must necessarily   
mean division and therefore limitation1 
and that limitation necessarily implies 
imperfection4 ,but having gone so  far1 
you would then have proceeded to ask3   
,by what words is the universe          
described1 and what idea is hidden      

beneath the words8 ,and you would find  
that when ,god is spoken of as a ,fire1 
the universe is not spoken of as a      
,fire1 but as a spark1 and the lives of 
men are described as millions of  sparks
 that come from the illimitable ,fire4  
,not only is that word  spark used1     
showing you the limitation that comes   
with manifestation1  giving you the idea
 that the spark1 fed by suitable fuel is
 to be  developed into the likeness of  
the ,flame whence it came2 but as the   
spark is of the same nature as the      
flame1 so we are told ,thou art  ,that1 
the ,self in man is identical in nature 
with the ,self that gave it  birth4 ,you
 will remember another word which is    
constantly used to  describe alike the  
universe as a whole1 and also the parts 
of which it  is composed--the word germ 
or seed4 ,let me ask you to turn to the 
,bhagavad ,gt so familiar to every      
student amongst you1 and to listen  for 
a moment to the words chosen by ,shr    
,kiha when ,he desires to  convey the   

idea of the nature of the universe1 and 
its relation to the  ,supreme ,what does
 ,he say8        ,mama yonir ,mahad     
,brahma tasmin garbham dadmyaham4       
,sambhava sarva bhtnm tato bhavati      
,bhrata4    ,i place the germ in the    
womb of ,mahad ,brahma4 ,what do these  
words  imply8 for the whole turns on our
 understanding of that word germ4       
,mahad ,brahma is the matter of the     
universe1 vivified by ,brahman in ,his  
third aspect--that which ,theosophists  
call the ,third ,logos1 which in the    
,trimrti is spoken of as ,brahm4        
,looking on ,brahman as the ,one1 ,mahad
  ,brahma is the third aspect of ,his   
revealing1 which vivifies and makes     
atomic the matter of the universe1 the  
womb of the seed of the ,eternal  ,life4
 ,in that1 brought into manifestation by
 ,brahm1 or the ,third ,logos1  the     
,second1 the generating ,father1        
,vishnu1 places that germ of life that  
therein it may develop2 not ,himself in 
all the might of ,his ,deity1 not       

,himself in the force of ,his unfolded  
powers1 but the seed of ,his            
life--capable of evolution1 containing  
everything within it potentially1  but  
showing forth nothing in manifestation  
at the beginning of the  universe4      
,true1 the child is the father revived2 
true1 the child is the  same as the     
father4 ,none the less1 the life which  
the father gives is  the seed containing
 the power of development1 and the      
universe is but  the seed of ,deity1    
with every power involved within it1 and
 capable by  its evolution of becoming  
the image of the ,supreme3 none the less
 is  every power germinal1 not          
developed1 potential1 not actual2 only  
at the  ending will that seed1 grown    
into perfect manhood1 show forth the    
image  of its generating ,sire1 and give
 a new shvara to the future from whom   
further universes may evolve4 ,that is  
the answer to the question3 ,why  this  
long evolution8 ,it is this evolution   
that we are to trace from the  germ to  

the perfect1 life given as germ to grow 
to the ,god4    ,let us look first at   
the matter in which this life is to be  
clothed--not  in detail1 that is        
to-morrow's work--but just as to the    
principle involved  in the evolution of 
the matter through which the life is to 
express  itself4 ,we heard the first day
 about tattvas4 ,we found that they were
  modifications of ,prakriti1 the       
primary matter1 brought out one after   
the  other as the regions of the        
universe were builded4 ,all that we need
 for  our purpose this morning is to    
remember that five of these are         
concerned  with the present evolution1  
that the highest of these is the ,a'ksha
 in  the highest sense of the term1 then
 ,vyu1 then ,agni1 then ,apas1 then     
,prithiv2 all these are kosmic and they 
represent vast planes in the  universe1 
but have their correspondences in the   
physical globe--ether1  air1 fire1      
water1 earth1 these being only the      
reflections in miniature of  their great

 prototypes in the system at large4 ,the
 only other thing we  need to remember  
this morning with regard to matter1 is  
that the whole of  these are animated by
 the life of the third aspect of ,god4  
,here is a  point where we may pause for
 a moment and look at other religions1  
and we  shall find that they all tell us
 exactly the same4 ,not only do we find 
in  ,hinduism1 in such a book as the    
,vishnu ,purna that the ,divine creation
  was from ,mahat--the third            
manifestation--that these great tattvas 
were  evolved by modifications from the 
principle of individuality which is the 
characteristic of that aspect2 but if we
 turn to the ,hebrew teachings we  shall
 find that it is distinctly stated that 
the ,spirit of ,god1 the  third aspect1 
or ,wisdom1 moved on the face of the    
waters4 ,translating the  symbol of     
water we have matter2 it is so used in  
every great religious  scripture1 and   
when it is said that the ,spirit of ,god
 moved on the face of  the waters1 we   

have the picture of a brooding life1    
brooding over and  permeating the ocean 
of primeval matter1 giving to it the    
life that will  enable it to serve as   
the womb for a higher life2 the divine  
energy that  thus vivifies matter comes 
from the third ,person of the ,christian
  ,trinity4 ,that ,hebrew statement     
dominates the whole of ,christendom1    
inasmuch as the ,christian ,churches    
take the older part of their scriptures 
from the hands of the ,hebrew people2   
and in quoting that1 ,i am not quoting  
it only as an authority from the        
,hebrews but as including the authority 
of  the whole of ,christendom1 bound by 
that ,hebrew teaching4 ,i might show    
you1  did time permit1 that other great 
,teachers have spoken in the same sense2
  the outcome being that the matter in  
which evolution is to take place--of    
which our world of organisms1 including 
our own bodies1 is to be  formed--that  
matter is permeated by the ,divine life1
 and the aspect of  ,divine life that   

permeates it is that of the third       
manifestation of ,god4  ,that is the    
fundamental reason why ,brahm is no     
longer worshipped4 ,that is  why no     
temples are raised to ,him and why      
worshippers do not throng to ,his       
shrines4 ,his work was dominant in the  
earlier stages of the universe1 but  is 
now overshadowed by the working of      
another aspect of the mighty ,god1      
,vishnu as ,preserver1 as ,sustainer1   
and as ,organiser4 ,he is the life which
  is active in all organisms2 and the   
life which animates the atoms of  matter
 having been given and partially        
evolved1 the continuing aspect of  that 
work is hidden at the present stage of  
the universe2 the main  evolution of    
life that is now occurring is carried on
 and directed by  other aspects of ,god4
    ,sometimes in theosophical          
literature1 that vivification and       
building up  of matter is spoken of as  
the work of the first great life-wave in
 the  solar system2 as a wave rolling   

forth so does the life of ,god go forth 
for the building of the atoms whereof   
the system is to be composed4 ,the      
critical point is this3 that the life is
 veiled over and over again in a        
five-fold involution2 we find it said   
that ,prna five-fold divides  itself1   
for five are the types of the atoms1    
five are the great  divisions of the    
materials1 and in each successive type1 
the previous  type permeates and        
encloses it1 as we found we could read  
in the ,vishnu  ,purna1 dealing with the
 building up of the tattvas4 7,it will  
be  remembered that the types are really
 seven1 but that two are concealed47    
,one important result comes from this   
which ,i will deal with more fully      
to-morrow1 that the form--being built up
 from matter containing within  it this 
involved and concealed life--has the    
power of unfolding to the  highest      
possibility of the life thus concealed4 
,sheath after sheath is  made in order  
that sheath after sheath may be brought 

into activity as a  vehicle of the      
,self1 and that five-fold ensheathing   
for the human ,self  is wrought in order
 that it may have a vehicle capable of  
responding to  every vibration that it  
sets up or that it receives4 ,as the    
vibrations  become subtler and subtler  
in their character1 sheath after sheath 
becomes active and responsive1 and      
enables the life to function  externally
 by means of the sheath4 ,let us however
 turn--for that will be  fully worked   
out to-morrow--to the next great        
life-wave with which we  are concerned2 
it is the life of the second aspect of  
,deity1 spoken of  in ,hinduism as the  
life of ,vishnu1 spoken of in           
,christianity as the life  of the ,son  
of ,god by whom all things were made4   
,as that life outpours  into the        
universe prepared to receive it1 as that
 life begins to draw  together the      
matter which1 vivified by the first     
out-pouring1 is now  ready to respond to
 the vibrations of the life that        

organises and  sustains1 vibrations are 
sent out by this ,divine ,life into the 
higher  regions of the universe1        
beginning the task of drawing the matter
  together into forms4 ,the earliest    
stages of these are the ante-types of   
what shall be in evolution--not such    
forms as we speak of in the lower       
world1 concrete objects which can give  
rise to concrete ideas1 but that  which 
dimly we are trying to reach in the mind
 to-day1 when we abstract  from a great 
class of concrete objects its uniting   
quality1 its common  characteristic1 and
 formulate this apart from the objects  
themselves4 ,i  have sometimes taken the
 triangle as the very simplest image    
which  thought can form4 ,you may have  
triangles of any size1 you may have     
triangles of almost any shape1 provided 
only three lines are used1  and those   
lines are right lines1 or unbent4 ,what 
is the governing  characteristic of the 
triangle8 ,that its three angles1 formed
 by the  meeting of enclosing sides1    

must be equal to two right angles4 ,now 
supposing that you have the power of    
brain1 the power of abstraction1 to     
take ten1 twenty or thirty concrete     
triangles and hold them in the mind  as 
though you were looking at them in outer
 form1 to create their mental  images so
 that every form is present in your     
mind1 you directing your  attention to  
them all at the same time1 then--if out 
of these many  concrete objects that    
have the particular properties in common
 of the  three right lines that enclose 
and the sum of the three angles         
equalling  two right angles--if you can 
draw out the idea of that common        
property1  separated from every concrete
 triangle1 and make it an object in     
consciousness1 then you will have risen 
from the concrete to the  abstract1 and 
will have some idea of what is meant by 
an archetype in  the higher world4 ,the 
earliest actions of the ,deity in       
evolving a system  are of this nature2  
,he generates certain types or          

archetypes1 and by the  sub-division and
 multiplication of these the whole      
universe of concrete  objects is formed2
 each one of them is capable of         
generating innumerable  forms that      
reproduce its own characteristic amid   
endless diversities of  subsidiary      
properties4    ,it is not without       
interest that some of our scientific men
 have tried to  find unity amidst       
diversity1 and to discover the types of 
the animal  kingdom amid the innumerable
 diversities of the separated animal    
forms4  ,one of the most famous of those
 men1 ,sir ,richard ,owen1 tried to     
formulate an archetype which should     
represent every fundamental             
characteristic of the vertebrate1 like  
no particular vertebrate but  showing   
forth the qualities present in every    
vertebrate2 he worked this  out from a  
study of vertebrates1 setting aside the 
characteristics in  which they differ   
and synthesising into a single form the 
qualities  possessed by all4 ,the       

reverse process is what really occurred2
 the  archetype which came forth from   
the ,divine ,mind generated in the world
  of matter myriad different types in   
each of which it is itself  expressed4  
,that gleam of genius which illuminated 
the mind of the modern  scientist is    
interesting as a ray from the conception
 of creative action  given in our sacred
 literature2 and you will find1 if you  
study  carefully1 that the earliest     
forms are not concrete objects but      
generative powers1 and that these coming
 forth from ,god make models for  the   
future types1 each type being related to
 its ante-type1 each  concrete object to
 its abstract idea4 ,thus also the      
,greeks taught1  ,pythagoras and        
,socrates and ,plato2 thus also many of 
the ,hebrews taught1  the doctors of the
 ,kabala2 and both the ,greek           
,philosopher and ,hebrew  ,kabalist have
 declared that the visible world of     
objects could never  have come into     
existence had not the invisible world of

 ,ideas preceded  it1 so that the       
objects repeated in multitude what an   
,idea presented in  unity4 ,that ,idea  
thus coming forth from ,god and drawing 
to itself forms  in subtle matter1      
produces the types of forms that are    
gradually to be  worked out in          
evolution2 and those of you who have    
studied the ,secret  ,doctrine of       
,madame ,blavatsky may remember that the
 archetypal world is  therein spoken of 
as the first which is created1 and as   
that on which  the whole of the         
evolution of denser worlds depends4 ,it 
is made of the  ,a'ksha which contains  
within itself the possibility of all    
forms as we  are told1 and these ,ideas 
are drawn forth and reproduced in       
greater  detail by the ,builder on the  
,a'kshic correspondences of ,agni4 ,life
 is  evolved by the modifications in    
consciousness which shvara brings       
about2 the modification in the          
consciousness of shvara preceding the   
moulding of the matter4 ,as that        

life-wave descends into denser and      
denser matter1 it draws together more   
and more separate forms1 that  become   
denser in their nature1 until at last1  
through kingdom after  kingdom1 it comes
 down to the mineral forms1 where life  
is most  restricted in its operations1  
where consciousness is most limited in  
its  scope4 ,this is the process of the 
involution of life in matter1 the       
descending arc4 ,from this lowest point 
the life ascends1 revealing more  and   
more of its powers1 and ordinary western
 evolution begins here1  the earlier    
process being ignored4    ,how did that 
,divine life and consciousness1 in the  
first upward stage of  evolution1 evolve
 in the germinal life the power to      
respond8 ,the life  within the stone has
 the capacity to respond1 but in a very 
limited  fashion1 partly owing to its   
germinal nature1 partly owing to the    
rigidity of its surrounding vehicle2    
therefore the brooding life of  ,vishnu1
 nourishing this germ1 at once          

stimulates it by impacts from  without  
and gradually modifies the rigidity so  
as to make progress  possible4 ,long1   
long remains the life imbedded in this  
rigid material1  working from within    
outwards1 as all life works1 playing    
upon and thus  softening the rigidity1  
and slowly giving the form more         
plasticity in  response2 we can sum up  
the whole of the working of the life1 as
 the  receiving of vibrations from      
matter without and the answering of     
vibrations from itself within4 ,notice  
in the earliest stages how  tremendous  
are the impacts2 if you go back to the  
time when the world  knew not humanity1 
how gigantic are the operations of      
nature showing  herself in her mineral  
forms2 earthquakes1 eruptions1 crushing 
and  grinding of materials1             
disintegration and reconstruction1 all  
on the  mightiest and most gigantic     
scale2 under all that1 the life1 trying 
to  make the matter more plastic and    
able to answer more readily2 and        

inasmuch as there is life1 there is     
consciousness1 i4e41 the power to       
respond1 that power is developed within 
it1 stimulated by the brooding  life of 
shvara4 ,he dwelling within1 and        
enveloping and permeating all  objects1 
makes the seed of life extend and grow  
by his nourishing  warmth1 that it may  
become finally an independent centre4   
,we see the  life within the stone      
beginning to vibrate more actively as   
these  tremendous blows come upon it    
from without2 and mass is thrown against
  mass1 and mountain is piled upon      
mountain1 until at last these mineral   
materials gain larger power of          
transmitting impulses to the life       
within2  the impulse coming through more
 strongly because of the lessened       
opposition from the form1 the life      
responds more actively and begins to    
evolve1 developing more definitely the  
power of response4 ,as this  process is 
repeated over and over again1 the life  
within the minerals  vibrates with ever 

increasing rapidity1 and the matter     
yields to it with  ever greater         
readiness1 until a stage of plasticity  
is reached at which  the beginnings of  
the vegetable world can be brought into 
existence4  ,between mineral and plant  
in the lowest stages no definite        
dividing line  can be drawn by science4 
,so general is this absence of dividing 
lines in  nature that a separate kingdom
 has been recognised as including low   
types of both vegetable and animal1 and 
between the vegetable and  mineral      
kingdoms a class is recognised in which 
the rigid crystal which  belongs to the 
mineral kingdom has become the plastic  
crystalloid that  belongs to the        
vegetable2 maintaining the outline of   
the mineral form1  but showing the      
plasticity of the vegetable1 and thus   
yielding far more  readily to the       
moulding influences of the life within4 
,the life thus  encased in more plastic 
material receives vibrations from       
without  more easily and responds more  

strongly1 until in the ascent that it   
is beginning to make1 it adds the early 
beginnings of a power of  consciousness 
that in the mineral was not present4 ,we
 call it sensation3  the power of       
feeling pleasure and pain1 the power of 
responding to the  outside impact by a  
feeling within the life4 ,after the life
 in the  mineral has developed the power
 of response1 then the next stage in    
evolution is that the response takes on 
the sensations of pleasure and  pain1   
appearing as that within the life which 
responds severally to  harmonious or    
discordant impact from without4 ,as the 
life develops this  power of sensation1 
progress becomes more rapid4 ,the animal
 kingdom is  gradually builded and the  
power of sensation is the great         
characteristic  which is developed      
through that kingdom1 until--the animal 
forms having  been rendered plastic     
through many ages by the impulse of     
life1 and the  life having formed and   
strengthened the power of responding by 

pleasure  and pain to harmonious and    
discordant vibrations--the next stage is
  ready to be taken1 the building of the
 vehicle for man4    ,that outer body in
 which man is to dwell resembles closely
 in its  nature1 in some of its         
fundamental characteristics1 the animal 
bodies  which the life had vivified     
before man was called into existence4   
,out  of the dust of the ground1 says   
the ,hebrew scripture1 ,god formed the  
body of man1 a symbolic way of saying   
that out of the material that had  made 
the lowest forms of life1 was also to be
 made the outer coating of  that vessel1
 into which a new flood of ,divine life 
was to be outpoured1  forming the human 
,self1 or ,spirit4 ,we learn1 when we   
study occultism1  that this third       
outpouring of ,divine life comes neither
 from the ,third1  nor from the ,second1
 but from the ,first ,logos1 therefore  
called  ,mahdeva1 the ,great ,god1 the  
,supreme4 ,from ,him comes the third    
impulse  which is to complete evolution1

 the third outpouring of life1 that only
  accomplishes its final evolution in   
this age by methods of ,yoga2  therefore
 is ,he often represented as the great  
,yog1 the great ,guru1  under whose     
instructions the latest stages of       
evolution are to be  carried out4 ,when 
that life-force comes down1 and the     
human ,self is sent  forth to occupy its
 tabernacle1 the ancient process is     
again repeated1  and it is only the germ
 of the highest life that is given and  
not the  completed life4 ,round it are  
vehicles that are able to respond1 round
 it  are vehicles that have the power of
 developing more highly1 that are       
already capable of sending in vibrations
 arousing feeling in the life  that they
 enclose1 and now--enwrapped by the life
 of ,vishnu--this germ  of the ,divine  
,self begins to stir and live as man4   
,at first there comes from it very      
little response to the life that is     
transmitted1 very little answer to that 
which is outside2 but what are  the     

characteristics of this infant ,self1   
this spark of the ,eternal ,fire8       
,triple in aspect is the life in man as 
it is triple in the ,deity1 and  its    
characteristics are the same1 ,sat1     
,chit1 ,ananda4 ,we speak thus of       
,brahman1 and if we study the human     
,self we shall find these three  aspects
 present also in that human ,self2 and  
the first to develop in  man1 as in the 
,kosmos1 is ,chit or knowledge4 ,all the
 earliest stages of  human evolution    
have to do with the evolution of        
,intelligence2 it is  that with which we
 are now concerned1 as we climb this    
mighty ladder4 ,we  are evolving        
intelligence or intellect1 and if we    
trace its stages from  the earliest     
germs as they appear in the primeval    
races of the humanity  of our globe1 and
 as fostered in those races by the      
,great ,ones who came  to us as         
,teachers from other worlds1 we shall   
find that the dawning  intellect in man 
was but very slightly responsive to     

anything that came  to it from without1 
and that at first every effort of the   
intelligence  was stimulated by the     
promptings of the animal nature1 by the 
sting of  desire1 by the passions which 
belong to the animal part of man4       
,consider  a savage4 ,when is a savage  
active8 ,only when some animal desire   
awakens  within him4 ,if he is hungry1  
yes1 then he will begin to think1 where 
can ,i find food8 ,if he is thirsty1 he 
will ask1 where shall ,i find  liquid8  
,any animal prompting that arises within
 him1 his dawning mind  applies itself  
to satisfy2 and the germ of mind is     
stimulated by the  promptings of animal 
desire4 ,in that stage he knows not     
right from  wrong2 right and wrong for  
him have no existence2 hunger and       
thirst1  sexual desire1 and the need for
 sleep1 these are the things that make  
up  his life and that move his dawning  
consciousness2 these only are strong    
enough to stir it into activity2 it     
cannot yet initiate activity from       

within4 ,but as these play upon it1 life
 after life1 birth after birth1  century
 after century1 in successive           
incarnations of this germinal but       
growing life1 as these vibrations       
continually arouse1 awaken the life of  
the intelligence1 which is the third    
aspect of the ,self1 these repeated     
vibrations1 repeated over and over and  
over again a thousand times1 by  that   
very repetition bring about an internal 
tendency to repeat it again  without a  
fresh stimulus from outside2 and we find
 in the next stage of  the evolution of 
intelligence1 still in the savage1 that 
the savage does  not wait for hunger in 
order to search for food1 but that the  
memory of  hunger and the memory of food
 are enough to send him out1 before the 
hunger strikes him1 in search of the    
meal that to-morrow he will require  to 
satisfy the needs of the body4 ,but what
 a change is there if we  consider it1  
small as it is in appearance4 ,the man  
is no longer  stimulated by an outer    

impulse coming from the animal nature2  
he is  stimulated by a mental image1 a  
connected picture of the painful state  
of the body wanting food and of the food
 which is able to change that  state    
into one of pleasure2 that is1 he is now
 able to form mental  images1 and these 
stimulate him into activity4 ,how great 
the change6 ,no  less than a change of  
the centre of consciousness from the    
animal to the  human1 one of the most   
significant changes in the evolving     
life4 ,now1  for the first time1 he does
 not wait to be pushed from without4 ,he
  begins action from within1 and the    
body obeys the impulse that comes  from 
the centre1 instead of the impact that  
strikes the centre from  without4 ,now  
evolution becomes more rapid1 for as    
this great change1 one  of the hardest  
of changes1 is made1 the intellect in   
man begins to  cognise itself1 and      
,self-consciousness begins to arise4    
,separation is  recognised between its  
own centre1 that thinks1 and the things 

outside  that make it think2 the ,i and 
the ,not-,i arise1 and the centre begins
  to shape itself and to be capable of  
growth4    ,how shall the growth go on8 
,by conflict4 ,this is the              
characteristic of  the intellect4 ,it   
has to make the ,i a strong centre1 a   
separate  centre1 otherwise no further  
evolution is possible4 ,you may say that
  this looks like going downwards2 nay1 
it is the germ of a new centre of  life 
in which ,divinity itself shall unfold  
when evolution is complete4  ,there must
 be a clearly defined centre of         
consciousness1 else how shall  it work  
onward to perfection8 ,and that centre  
grows by struggle4 ,all  strength comes 
by struggle of one kind or another4 ,if 
you want your arms  to become strong1 it
 is no good to lie on a sofa and leave  
the muscles  to grow merely by the      
nourishment that you give them4 ,they   
want more  than nourishment1 they want  
exercise2 and it is the law of all      
growth of  form that the life must be   

drawn into the form1 for only then can  
the  form expand and become capable of  
receiving a further impulse of life2  if
 the muscles are to grow1 the cells that
 compose them must be  stretched by     
exercise1 and the life must flow into   
the expanded cell2  only then does it   
become capable of multiplication1 so    
that there may be  many cells where     
before there was only one4 ,the         
difference between the  weak man and the
 strong man1 the man who is feeble and  
the man who is  athletic1 is the        
difference brought about by exercise and
 struggle1 by  pulling against          
resistance1 by taking up a weight and   
whirling it round  and making the       
muscles strain against the weight4 ,that
 is a picture of  the way in which all  
life is working for development of form2
 the  impulse of life leads to the      
exercise of the form1 the exercise makes
 it  plastic and increases the form1    
through which the life is thus enabled  
to flow more largely4 ,that is as true  

in the mental world as in the  physical 
world2 for the mental world is also a   
world of phenomena4 ,it is  not the     
,one2 its characteristic is diversity1  
each being standing by  himself1 and    
regarding other things as separate4 ,i  
know an object4 ,how8  ,by its          
differences from some objects and its   
likenesses to others2  otherwise ,i     
could not know it4 ,you cannot think of 
unity until you have  seen variety2 you 
cannot recognise likeness until you have
 seen  unlikeness4 ,the characteristic  
of intellectual evolution is the        
discrimination of differences followed  
by the recognition of likenesses2  thus 
the intellect recognises object after   
object1 each of them by its  own        
characteristic marks4 ,analysis precedes
 synthesis4 ,differences are  seen      
before an underlying unity is           
recognised4    ,as this intelligence    
develops1 we find the recognition of the
 ,self and  the ,not-,self giving rise  
to struggle all over the world1 social  

struggle  as well as mental struggle4   
,in every civilisation in which the     
intellect  is developing from its       
earlier stages1 you must have struggle  
without in  order to stimulate the      
evolution within2 it is a necessary     
stage1  although it be a passing one1   
and it need not distress us1 who see its
  end1 in a world guided by the ,gods4  
,all the stages through which a  nation 
passes are necessary for its growth1 and
 need not be condemned  merely because  
of their being limited and imperfect4   
,in practical  politics condemnation is 
useful as a stimulus1 as one of the     
agents for  bringing about the          
evolutionary changes1 but the           
philosopher should  understand1 and1    
understanding1 he cannot condemn4 ,the  
worst struggle  that we may see1 the    
most terrible poverty1 the most shocking
 misery1  the strife of man against man 
and nation against nation--all these are
  working out the ,divine purpose1 and  
are bringing us towards a richer  unity 

than without them we could possibly     
attain4    ,let me take one instance    
which seems to be the most hopeless of  
all--the  instance of war4 ,what can be 
more inhuman than war1 what more brutal 
and  more terrible1 stirring the        
angriest passions of man and making him 
like  a wild beast in his rage8 ,aye1   
but that is not all4 ,let us look at the
  life within a soldier which has been  
evolved by this terrible discipline     
without4 ,what is that life learning as 
its vehicles are plunged into  strife1  
into blood-shed1 into mutilation1 into  
death8 ,it is learning  lessons that    
without that stern experience it could  
not learn1 without  which its evolution 
would be checked and be unable to       
proceed it is  learning that there is   
something greater than the body1        
something  greater than the physical    
existence1 something higher1 more noble1
 more  compelling1 than the guarding of 
the physical vehicle from injury and    
even from death2 and the poorest soldier

 who goes out on a campaign1 who  goes  
through hardship after hardship1 who    
finds himself frozen with cold  or burnt
 up with heat1 who plunges through      
frozen river or toils across  sandy     
desert1 who learns to preserve          
discipline and submission under         
hardship1 who learns to keep cheerful   
under difficulty1 so that his  comrades 
may not be depressed1 who is moved1 not 
by the thought of the  body which is    
suffering1 but by the great ideal of the
 military renown  of his regiment1 and  
the safety of the country which he is   
serving1 who  is learning thus to       
sacrifice himself for an ideal1 is      
developing  thereby qualities invaluable
 in lives to come4 ,need ,i say this to 
you1  who know the place of the         
,kshattriya in human evolution8 ,did    
,manu when  he described these different
 castes demarcate a caste that had not  
its  place in the evolution of life1    
that had not something to teach8 ,was   
not  a man kept in the ,kshattriya      

vehicle until he had learned that life  
was  not dependent on the body1 that    
life was to be held at the service of   
the ideal1 at the service of the        
mother-land that gave him birth1 of the 
king who ruled him1 and who to him      
stood1 as to every ,hindu the king      
should stand1 as an ,avatra of ,god8 ,he
 learned that when that king  called him
 to the battle-field1 he had to give his
 body to mutilation  and to death1      
because the life that was in him        
recognised the service of  the ideal as 
evolving the real life1 and the body as 
a mere garment to  be thrown aside when 
duty called8 ,without that training1 no 
,brhmana  could be2 no man could come   
into the caste of the ,brhmana1 save as 
he  had gone through that discipline in 
the ranks of the ,kshattriya2 because   
until he had learned that life was      
everything and form nothing--and that   
is the lesson which war teaches when it 
is rightly understood--until  that      
lesson was learned1 he was not prepared 

for the far harder  evolution of the    
life1 which is to master the lesson of  
unity beneath  diversity1 of love       
beneath antagonism1 of being the friend 
of every  creature and the foe of none4 
,when the intelligence has developed1   
when it has reached a fairly high       
standpoint1 the germs of the next aspect
 of ,deity begin to show  themselves in 
man and that aspect is ,a'nanda1 ,joy or
 ,bliss4 ,but in what  does ,a'nanda    
really consist8 ,it is in the drawing   
together of separated  objects and      
uniting them into one4 ,that is the     
essence of ,bliss1 that  the very core  
and heart of the next stage of          
evolution4 ,in the old days  of         
,hinduism1 this was called the life of  
the ,brhmana1 when the ,brhmana  was    
really a ,brhmana and had no further    
birth before him on the wheel  of births
 and deaths4 ,in the ,christian         
symbology it is called the  ,christ     
stage1 that of ,divine ,sonship1 and you
 will find in a great  prayer of ,jesus1

 called the ,christ1 that in praying for
 ,his disciples ,he  asked that they may
 be one in me1 in union with each other 
and  ,himself4 ,there is a grander unity
 yet1 the unity between the ,son and    
,father1 a unity of nature not a union  
of the erst-separated2 but before  that 
unity can be reached1 man must have     
realised the union with his  brother    
men1 must see humanity as united1 and   
not as separate2 that is1  he must have 
changed his centre of                   
consciousness--that responds to the     
impacts from without--from the vehicles 
in which the intellect and the  feelings
 were developed to the life itself1     
which is one and the same in  all4 ,no  
longer is he to think himself as        
separate1 inasmuch as the ,i1  the      
separated self1 is now to be            
transcended1 is to be merged in the     
uniting aspect of the ,deity1 the       
,vishnu or the ,christ4 ,that is to be  
developed as the life of man1 with all  
its wonderful beauty and power1  with   

its unifying force4 ,therefore did ,shr 
,kiha come as an ,avatra  to this       
,eastern world to show forth the life of
 ,love2 for the life of  ,a'nanda1 or   
,bliss1 is ever the life of ,love1 and  
by ,love alone may we  evolve it within 
ourselves4 ,the aspect of ,god that is  
,bliss shows itself  as ,love2 and in   
word and in action1 in simile and in    
parable1 did the  ,beloved and the      
,lover of man reveal that ,divine aspect
 to the longing  hearts of his ,bhaktas4
 ,that was ,his special work1 to show   
out the ,love  power of ,god2 and only  
as that is developed within us can the  
life take  on this lofty unfoldment that
 knits all selves in the ,one ,self1    
that  sees all lives in ,him4 ,now1 in  
evolution1 the ,self knows itself as the
  ,life1 and is no longer deluded by the
 ignorance that made it identify  itself
 with the ,form2 it is life which       
realises itself as ,life4 ,when  this   
stage is reached by the evolving life1  
the man who was separated  becomes      

,humanity1 and is one of the ,saviours  
of the world4 ,there is  nothing apart  
from him1 nothing separate to him4 ,he  
stands in the very  ,life itself1 and   
sheds his light in every direction into 
whatever  ,updhi1 or vessel1 may be in  
need of it2 wherever there is want or   
cry  for his aid1 thereto flow his      
powers4 ,as the sun shines forth in     
heaven1  and may shine unto a million   
houses1 the only condition of his rays  
entering being that the houses shall lay
 themselves open to the  sunshine1 so is
 the man who has become the second      
aspect of ,deity1 in  whom that         
perfection of ,divine ,sonship is       
revealed4 ,man1 as the ,son of  ,god in 
,heaven1 is above all the distinctions  
that you find on ,earth4 ,he  sends down
 his rays into the waiting hearts of    
men1 and the only  condition necessary  
for his entrance1 the one thing that    
ensures his  coming1 is that his brother
 will open his heart to receive him4    
,for he  will not break his way in1 he  

will only come where he is welcome4     
,thus  this great life of ,god shows    
itself forth now in the man who has     
become  the ,saviour1 the ,son1 the     
,initiate1 as a deep compassionate love 
for  all4 ,every man who reaches that   
stage is a new force for the uplifting  
of humanity4 ,every man who develops    
that aspect of life is one more wing    
with which to lift everything upwards4  
,if a man be weak1 his life can go  to  
him to strengthen him2 if a man be      
sorrowful1 his life can go to him  to   
make him glad2 if a man be sinful1 his  
life can go to him to make him  pure    
from sin4 ,to all men he says3 ,wherever
 a man is there will ,i meet  him1 and  
there will ,i accept him4 ,that is ,shr 
,kiha in  manifestation1 that the love  
that shines forth from the bliss aspect 
of  the ,human ,self4    ,one step      
remains1 the last1 of evolution for this
 rapidly perfecting  life4 ,again ,i    
take up my ,christian symbol and venture
 the quotation3--  ,as ,thou1 ,father1  

art in ,me and ,i in ,thee1 that they   
also may be  one in ,us4 ,the ,son      
becomes in fact what he has ever been   
potentially1  one with the ,father4 ,he 
enters into the mighty realm of         
,self-,being1  where ,god1 in the       
,christian phrase1 is all-in-all4 ,do   
not let the  narrower presentations of  
,christianity that here meet you blind  
you to these fundamental identities of  
the deeper and more spiritual           
,christianity with our own ancient      
faith4 ,shall these pettinesses1 or     
even outer divergencies1 separate those 
whom the living ,spirit would  unite8   
,we learn1 as we study the ,hindu       
,scriptures1 that man after having      
reached the second stage rises by ,yoga1
 until he attains the last1 and  becomes
 one with the ,deity ,himself in full   
power of eternal ,self-,being4  ,it was 
because your own ,svmi ,t4 ,subba ,rao  
knew this occult truth1 which  too many 
know not1 that he spoke1 as ,i before   
mentioned1 of the  innumerable ,centres1

 or ,logoi1 in the ,one1 every one of   
which could be  the beginning of a new  
universe1 of a new out-pouring of life4 
,the  building of those ,centres is a   
purpose of ,life-evolution4 ,the        
building  them up stage by stage is done
 as the life passes from form to form2  
and  end or ending there is none in the 
infinite series of the future4 ,what    
that life holds for us we cannot tell2  
how should we imagine that far  off     
land1 those distant reaches8 ,but this  
we know3 that no will of the  ,eternal  
is ever frustrate1 no purpose of the    
,eternal lacks its fruit or  misses its 
goal2 and if our eyes fail us in the    
dazzle of the light  wherein we see our 
unity with the ,eternal ,father--that   
unity that  transcends our dreaming1    
when we shall know ourselves to be one  
with  ,him--it is enough that at last   
the evolution of all lives leads into   
that unimaginable splendour1 known only 
to shvara ,himself1 who pours  out ,his 
life that we may know it also4 ,and     

,mahdeva shall return to ,it  with all  
the centres that ,his life has brought  
into existence1 with all  the new lives 
and joys that ,his imprisonment in ,his 
universe has made4  ,that is enough for 
us to give us the hope--hope1 do ,i say8
 it is too  feeble a word--the joy      
inexpressible and the certainty which   
are founded  on the very ,life of ,god2 
for is ,he not the ,truth1 the          
,foundation of the  ,universe8 ,and when
 we enter into ,,sat we shall know the  
future as we see  the past1 for we shall
 be not only immortal but ,eternal4     
,,fourth ,,lecture4    ,,evolution ,,of 
,,form4      ,my ,brothers1--,we are now
 to concentrate our attention on the    
phenomenal  side of the universe1 that  
is1 on the varied appearances that      
surround  us1 whether those appearances 
be visible to the physical eyes or not2 
for we must remember that the principle 
of form is to be found in every  stage  
of the manifested universe1 and that    
when the phrase the formless  world is  

used1 the word formless is only true in 
relation to the  worlds below the one so
 spoken of4 ,all higher worlds are      
formless  regarded from below1 that is1 
regarded by the organs of perception    
which  are fitted for exercise in the   
lower world2 but if a person has        
developed the capacity to respond to the
 vibrations in any given world  of      
manifestation1 then that world to him is
 a world of form and not of             
formlessness4 ,everywhere manifestation 
implies form1 however subtle may  be the
 matter which composes it2 and you may  
remember that it is said in  the ,vishnu
 ,purna that the one characteristic of  
matter which is  always present is      
extension1 that is1 the capacity of     
taking form1 of  being shaped in a      
definite way4    ,now before we take up 
the details of evolution1 there are one 
or two  great principles that ,i want to
 ask you to keep in mind2 for we shall  
never be able to understand the         
complexity of detail1 if we take it as a

  series of isolated details2 we need to
 classify these under certain           
fundamental principles and then1 those  
principles being clear in the  mind1 we 
can easily1 as it were1 pack every      
detail into its appropriate  pigeon-hole
 in our thought4 ,i shall not trouble   
you this morning at all  with that      
threefold division of the evolving life 
with which we dealt  yesterday4 ,we can1
 for our work now1 treat life as a unit1
 speaking of  the ,divine ,life as      
shvara1 and of the reflection of that   
life in man as  the ,self4 ,we will keep
 these two terms to avoid confusion3    
shvara as  the ,divine ,life which is   
the source of evolution2 the ,self as   
the human  life which is gradually      
evolving4 ,and we need these two        
distinguishing  names1 without going    
into any of the sub-divisions that we   
dealt with  yesterday in connection with
 life1 in order that we may be able to  
see  how forms are shaped1 and to which 
principle1 if ,i may say so1 we are to  

refer the special modifications4    ,the
 next thing that we must realise is the 
respective functions of these  sources  
of life2 one working through the whole  
kosmos1 and therefore  coming to man as 
a part of that kosmos1 the other working
 in man as an  individual through the   
early stages and transcending           
individuality at the  close4 ,the great 
life of shvara as it rolls outwards1    
building the  universe of forms1        
expresses itself1 as we have seen1 by a 
certain series  of vibrations1 and every
 modification in the form is the result 
of an  impulse coming by way of         
vibrations from the ensouling life4 ,now
 the point  that strikes us most in this
 manifestation of shvara1 as we study   
it1 is  the unutterable patience of it4 
,we are impatient for results1 ,he      
never4 ,we  are impatient for results1  
because1 limited by time1 we crave to   
see the  outcome of our action2 ,he     
being the eternal is unspeakably        
patient1 set  upon perfection and       

careless of the time which that         
perfection may take in  evolving4 ,for  
the evolution of forms this patience is 
absolutely  necessary2 when we come to  
think1 we see that any impatience in the
  evolution of forms would mean the     
over-rapid breaking up of the forms4    
,the  form is comparatively rigid as    
compared with the life4 ,if the life    
vibrates too rapidly for the form which 
it is evolving1 the form will  shatter  
under the stress of those vibrations4   
,let me give you a very  common         
illustration to show you what ,i mean2 a
 tube of glass1 or an  ordinary         
lamp-glass if you like1 has a certain   
note to which it vibrates2  and if that 
note be sung near the lamp-glass1 you   
will hear the note sound  out           
independently from the lamp-glass1 as   
though the lamp-glass were  singing2 the
 glass has vibrated in answer to the    
vibrations of the sound  sung to it1 it 
having the capacity of that vibration in
 it1 and thus it  reproduces the note4  

,if you increase the force of that note1
 if you  continue vibration after       
vibration1 beyond the point at which the
 glass is  able to respond1 your glass  
will shiver into pieces1 shivered by the
 force  of the effort to respond to     
vibrations beyond its limit of rigidity4
 ,i  only take that as an illustration1 
as a picture2 it is true in every world 
of form2 and if shvara were to send     
forth vibrations too swift1 too  subtle 
for the form which ,he is ensouling to  
respond to1 that form would  be shivered
 into pieces1 and its evolution would be
 stopped2 nature would  have again to   
begin to build a similar form in order  
to again reach the  point which it had  
already reached4 ,this patience of      
shvara is the thing  that strikes us    
first as we study the evolution of      
forms4 ,how slow are the  changes1 how  
gradual the modifications1 what         
thousands of successive forms  are      
worked in1 how wellnigh imperceptible   
are the changes in their  minuteness1   

although so great when we look at them  
in the mass2 that is  one great         
principle to bear in mind4    ,another  
great principle is the double and       
parallel action of shvara and  of the   
evolving ,self4 shvara is present in the
 ,self of man that is  formed within    
,him4 ,every evolutionary impulse in the
 earliest stages  comes directly from   
the life of shvara1 and as ,he moulds   
the form  without1 ,he gradually        
strengthens the centre that ,he is      
building up  within4 ,his object is to  
make that centre the image of ,himself1 
self-sustaining2 but enormous reaches of
 time are needed for the  building2 as  
,he shapes the forms1 ,he builds the    
centre2 and as ,he builds  that centre1 
and it becomes more and more active1    
answering to the  vibrations that ,he   
transmits to it from the outer world1 it
 begins to  take on a little action of  
its own and to send out vibrations1 as  
we may  say1 on its own account4 ,as    
this double action goes on within the   

form1  more and more does that evolving 
centre begin to control the form within 
which it is developed4 ,as this power of
 control develops and increases1  ,he   
withdraws more and more of ,his         
directive energy as shvara2 the  energy 
drawn from ,him is now beginning to work
 quasi-independently in  the separated  
centre that ,he has been building1 until
 at last that  centre reflects ,himself1
 and is able to be self-existent by the 
very  life that it has drawn from ,him4 
,if this conception be a little         
abstract1 let me give it again in a     
concrete form4 ,there is one symbol     
that the sages have used over and over  
again1 in order to express this  wonder 
of the brooding life of shvara making an
 image of ,himself and  giving to that  
image the possibility of independent    
life4 ,it is the  symbol of the mother  
and the child within the womb4 ,as the  
life of the  mother passes into the     
child that is building within her1      
transmitting  to that new form all the  

nourishment which is necessary for its  
growing  life1 the whole life of the    
child is dependent on the mother and the
  life-streams that nourish it are drawn
 from her own life4 ,the building  goes 
on1 and on1 and on1 till the new centre 
of life has grown strong1  but not until
 that centre can hold itself together   
amid the vibrations  of the outer       
universe1 is the new form with its      
ensouling life sent  forth on its own   
independent course4 ,so does the        
brooding mother-life of  shvara envelope
 the children of ,his love1 and so does 
,he nourish them1  building them within 
,himself as the ages pass1 until they   
are able to  hold their own centres in  
the illimitable life of the ,one1 the   
,supreme4  ,that is another principle   
which you have to remember throughout   
the  details of the evolution of form4  
,one other that has two divisions and   
then the statement of our main          
principles will be sufficiently         
complete4 ,there are three aspects1 we  

recollect1 which the evolving ,self has 
to unfold4 ,we must add to this a       
comprehension of the nature of these    
aspects1 when externalised2 for we  did 
not yesterday1 for lack of time1 glance 
quite precisely at the in               
characteristic outer mark of each aspect
 of life4 ,as these aspects  modify the 
evolution of form1 the form cannot be   
understood unless its  relations to the 
aspects of life be realised4 ,we have1  
as we know1 to  show forth ,knowledge1  
,bliss1 and ,being4 ,these will come out
 as powers  into the world of form as   
evolution reaches its later stages1 and 
the  form will be able to express those 
powers of the evolving life4            
,knowledge1 showing forth through form1 
has as its power ,intelligence2  ,bliss1
 shown forth through form1 has as its   
power ,love2 ,being1 shown  forth       
through form1 has as its power          
,existence2 so that the fundamental     
aspects may be said severally to        
manifest as the powers of intelligence1 

of love1 of existence4 ,otherwise put1  
the nature of intelligence is           
knowledge1 the nature of love is bliss1 
the nature of existence is  being4 ,the 
intelligence1 love and existence of our 
worlds are the  manifested ,knowledge1  
the manifested ,bliss1 and the          
manifested ,being of  the ,self4 ,that  
is the outward aspect of the ,self as   
the other is the  inner aspect1 and     
these characteristic natures seek their 
expression in  form4 ,this expression is
 sought cosmically and individually1    
alike by  the life of shvara and the    
life of the ,self4 ,cosmically they make
 the  planes of the manifested universe1
 the five planes on which we are        
evolving4 ,that which manifests as      
existence1 the power of ,being1 has as  
its form the ,aksha of the higher realm2
 that which manifests as love1  the     
power of ,bliss1 has as its form of     
matter ,vyu2 that which manifests  as   
intelligence1 the power of ,knowledge1  
has as its material ,agni4 ,these  are  

the three fundamental manifestations in 
form4 ,the other two are  reflections3  
,that which is love1 reflecting itself  
in the lower form of  matter--the denser
 matter of ,varuna--takes on the aspect 
of desire and  passion1 and becomes kma4
 ,that which is existence1 reflecting   
itself on  the yet grosser form of      
,prithiv1 shows forth what we call      
objective  reality4 ,see how the planes 
correspond1 the one with the other4 ,try
 and  make a picture of a mountain      
reflected in a lake2 and if you have    
that  in your mind1 you will follow     
exactly the way the reflection takes    
place4 ,there is no reflection of       
intelligence because it is the central  
quality2 the intelligence is the centre 
of the five1 two are above it  and two  
are below it4 ,it is the central region1
 the pivot on which the  whole has to   
turn4 ,if you look above to the higher  
regions1 we find love  and existence    
showing themselves forth as the powers  
of ,bliss and  ,being4 ,that is as it   

were1 the mountain4 ,now look at your   
reflection in  the lake2 the middle part
 of the mountain is reflected half-way  
down in  the water4 ,the shore is the   
dividing line between object and image1 
and  represents the intelligence2 below 
that1 half-way down1 will come the      
reflection of love showing itself as    
emotion and desire2 then we see the     
highest peak reflected in the deepest   
depth of the lake1 the existence  above1
 the power of the real ,being1 reflected
 below in the plane of  physical matter 
as that illusory existence which man    
calls real4 ,try and  keep that picture1
 for the principle of reflection from   
above to below  is one of the keys to   
understanding both above and below4 ,it 
helps you  to see why emotional love    
passes into devotion1 and how1 in the   
passing  from emotion into the higher   
love which is devotion1 it passes from  
the kmic plane to the buddhic1 where    
bliss is the distinguishing             
characteristic2 and you will understand 

why action1 the most illusory of        
things1 has to us the sense of reality4 
,it gives that peculiarly  definite     
sense of reality to us because it is the
 reflection of the  real1 of the        
existence of which it is the lower form4
    ,now these are the principles4 ,let 
us try to carry them out in our         
evolutionary study2 for if you hold firm
 to the principles1 the study  of       
detail1 of forms1 will seem less        
confusing1 less complex and less        
difficult2 you will not lose your way   
among the trees1 when once you  have    
looked down on the forest as a whole2   
that is a simile ,i once heard  from    
,professor ,huxley1 as illustrating     
principles and details1 and it is  a    
suggestive one4    ,we begin then the   
detailed evolution of form2 it is like a
 great circle  traced downwards and     
upwards4 ,there is a great difference   
between the  downward arc1 the one-half 
of the circle1 and the upward arc1 the  
other  half of the circle4 ,in the one  

case1 coming downwards1 shvara imparts  
qualities and attributes2 in the other  
half1 going upwards1 ,he builds  the    
qualities and attributes into vehicles4 
,these are the two great  differences   
between the downward and upward arcs4   
,in the downward1  matter takes up      
qualities2 in the upward1 matter is     
formed into  vehicles1 or sheaths1 or   
bodies1 whatever may be the term we     
prefer4 ,a  process of specialisation   
goes on1 up to a certain point4 ,after a
 time  the specialised materials are    
drawn together and combined into a      
vehicle1 an organised unity1 serving as 
a tabernacle for the ,self4 ,first      
comes differentiation1 and the first    
step to that is to impart qualities  to 
matter4 ,let me remind you1 as the      
subject is so difficult a one1 what  is 
meant by tattvas1 the fundamental forms 
of matter1 and recall once  more that   
passage in the ,vishnu ,purna where     
their evolution is  described1 and where
 it is stated that the tanmtra of sound 

produces  ,a'ksha2 that is1 a           
modification of the consciousness of    
shvara  produces the form of matter that
 we call the atom of ,a'ksha2 that atom 
has a mere film of subtlest matter for  
its envelope1 and the vibrating  life of
 shvara for the force within4 ,then we  
are told that ,a'ksha  generates another
 tanmtra which is touch1 and that1      
enveloped1  permeated by ,a'ksha1       
produces the film of denser matter which
 is called  ,vyu1 the two tanmtras and  
the ,a'ksha being the generating force4 
,this goes on through the whole of the  
five stages1 so that when we get  down  
to the physical plane1 we find an atom  
showing a wall of denser  matter1 within
 it the involved life and without it the
 magnetic field1  made up of the higher 
tanmtras and their atomic sheaths4 ,the 
,prithiv  atom hence consists of its own
 tanmtra plus the matter and the life of
  ,apas2 the matter and life of ,agni2  
the matter and life of ,vyu2 the  matter
 and life of ,a'ksha3 so that on the    

physical plane1 the physical  atom is a 
mass of five interpenetrating spheres in
 which is present as  life the whole of 
the matter and the life of the worlds   
above it1 the  envelope1 or wall1 of the
 physical atom alone showing forth any  
characteristics of the physical world--a
 fact inexpressibly important  for      
evolution4 ,for1 each of those sheaths  
or koshas--as the student of  ,vednta   
calls them1 and there is no better      
word--every one of them is  latent in   
and around the physical atom2 and in the
 upward evolution1  every one of them   
becomes active and strong as evolution  
proceeds1  sheath after sheath being    
vitalised4 ,how could these koshas1 or  
sheaths1  of ours learn to respond to   
the vibrations of the evolving life1    
unless  every one of them was latently  
present in us1 waiting to be brought    
into  activity8 ,the root of that       
possibility lies in the atom itself1    
with all  its interpenetrating spheres  
of life and matter1 the sheaths that are

  within it and around it4 ,that is not 
the only thing which we understand2  as 
this conception grows clear1 we         
understand a phrase that had often      
puzzled us in the old days1 that the    
spirit is senseless on the plane  of    
matter4 ,what does that mean8 ,the      
spirit1 the very essence of             
consciousness1 senseless and helpless on
 the plane of matter6 ,why8  ,because if
 you take spirit as pure spirit1 the    
intermediate sheaths are  not there by  
which the matter-vibrations are able to 
reach it1 and  without these sheaths it 
is unable to receive and respond to the 
vibrations of physical matter4 ,it      
remains unconscious of their very       
existence1 there being no bridge by     
which they can pass over and affect     
that life4 ,this is really a perfectly  
simple statement of ,madame             
,blavatsky's1 but it is one that ,i have
 heard challenged over and over  again  
as entirely meaningless1 as conveying no
 idea1 for how could  consciousness be  

unconscious in any region8 ,a little    
more knowledge  would make us less rapid
 in our condemnation of our betters4    
,that idea1  then1 we will take to help 
us in the first conception of how       
evolution  can take place4    ,now let  
us look how1 in the downward arc that we
 spoke of1 shvara is  imparting         
qualities4 ,according to the nature of  
the vibrations that ,he  sends and of   
the matter that answers to them will be 
the quality imparted4  ,as to the idea  
that difference of vibrations implies a 
difference of  manifestation1 let me    
buttress myself on the great reputation 
of ,sir  ,william ,crookes4 ,he issued1 
two or three years ago1 ,i don't        
remember the  exact date1 in #ahif ,i   
think1 a table of vibrations1 confined  
of course to  the physical world2 a very
 interesting table1 giving a series of  
classified vibrations and pointing out  
which were known to science1 and  gave  
rise to what we call sound1 light1      
electricity1 and so on1 the  difference 

of vibratory frequency1 and the subtlety
 of the matter in which  the vibration  
was set up1 giving rise to a particular 
impression1 received  and answered by a 
sensation in us4    ,that is the        
principle which ,i am now applying to   
our system as a whole4  ,according to   
the density of the matter will be the   
rapidity of the  vibrations which that  
matter is capable of expressing2 shvara 
sends out  vibrations1 and the mnasic   
matter1 we will say1 is thrown into     
corresponding vibrations or waves of a  
frequency identical with those of  the  
life-impulse sent out from ,him1 so far 
as it is capable of  responding1 a limit
 being set by its fineness on the one   
side and by its  density on the other4  
,its limit of fineness is the atom of   
the plane4  ,its limit of density is the
 coarsest aggregation of these atoms in 
the  densest solid of the plane4 ,if we 
take the physical plane for a moment1   
we have solid1 liquid1 gas1 ether1 finer
 ether1 finest ether1 and atoms4  ,the  

lower five are related to the five      
senses in man as they are at  present   
developed on the physical plane4 ,these 
five correspond to the  sense-organs and
 the senses that work through them1 as  
is suggested in  the names of the       
tanmtras4 ,the ,solid is related to the 
sense of ,smell2  ,liquid to the sense  
of ,taste2 ,fire to the sense of ,sight2
 ,air to the  sense of ,touch2 and      
,a'ksha to the sense of ,sound4 ,nov    
these are not  stated in the order given
 by the western scientist1 but ,i have  
no time  to go into the reason for the  
difference and to show you where his    
outer  observation fails1 because he is 
not able to trace beyond the limits of  
his senses into a finer working2 in     
dealing with our ,vyu and ,a'ksha1  he  
classes them together1 and his air is   
our ,agni4 ,these senses and  their     
evolution belong to the upward arc4     
,coming downwards1 shvara  only gives   
the power to matter to respond to these 
particular vibrations1  and these       

vibrations are connected on the physical
 plane with the  sub-divisions that ,i  
have just mentioned1 the different      
sub-divisions of  matter1 solid1 liquid1
 gas1 and so on1 corresponding in the   
sense-organs  to the senses4    ,coming 
downwards1 beginning on the mental plane
 with ,intelligence--missing  the two   
higher ones of ,existence and ,love--,he
 sends out vibrations to make  the      
matter of the mental plane answer1 and  
the vibrations with which that  matter  
answers1 that is1 a certain range of    
vibrations1 are called mental  or       
intelligent4 ,you may say1 ,why8 ,just  
for the same reason that in ,sir        
,william ,crookes' tables definite names
 are given to the different classes  of 
vibrations1 which produce sound1 light1 
etc41 names are given in order  to      
express a certain limit of vibratory    
force2 within one set of limits  the    
vibrations affect the ether1 give light1
 and the eye receives them4  ,similarly1
 vibrations that fall between certain   

limits of vibratory  frequency affect   
the matter of the third plane1 and when 
they are  received by an organ fitted to
 focus them in a centre1 thus giving    
rise to  self-consciousness1 we call    
that organ ,mind1 and the action through
 that  ,mind1 ,intelligence4 ,the mere  
name is as arbitrary as any other name1 
and  we class these under mental1 just  
as a certain range of etheric vibrations
  is classed as light1 is received by an
 organ fitted to focus them that we     
call the eye1 and the action through    
that eye is vision4 ,if we are to talk  
at all1 we must have names to describe  
different classes of phenomena1 and  we 
use the word mental or intelligent to   
describe the range of vibrations        
working in the particular kind of matter
 of which1 in the upward  evolution1 an 
organ is builded that we call the ,mind4
 ,so1 again1 to the  vibrations that ,he
 sends out into the next coarser form of
 matter1 called  ,apas1 or astral1 we   
give the name ,sensory4 ,he imparts to  

them the quality  of responding to      
pleasure and pain1 and as ,he makes this
 downward sweep ,he  brings into renewed
 existence on each plane ,devas1 or     
beings which have as  their             
characteristic manifestation the quality
 of their own plane2 thus  the ,devas of
 the mental plane have the quality of   
intelligence as their  chief            
peculiarity1 and the ,devas of the next 
lower plane have as their  chief quality
 feeling1 or the power of sensation1 and
 those of the lowest  plane have as     
their chief quality action1 activity4   
,each ,deva class shows  out specially  
the quality of its plane1 and inasmuch  
as these ,devas draw  into their own    
bodies the matter of the plane in which 
they live1 they  help on its evolution2 
for they draw it in1 use it and thus    
develop it1  and throw it out again into
 the general reservoir1 just as man     
draws in  physical matter1 uses it in   
his body1 and again throws it out into  
the  physical world4 ,as that process   

goes on and on and on through the ages1 
the whole of that kind of matter we call
 mental passes through the bodies  of   
these ,devas1 takes on to itself the    
habit of responding readily to the      
vibrations of intelligence1 and thus    
becomes ready for building into the     
mental body of man4 ,the matter of the  
astral plane is builded into the  bodies
 of the ,devas of that plane until it   
takes up this habit of more and  more   
definitely responding to pleasure and   
pain1 when impacts are made on  it1 and 
thus can be used for the building up of 
the sensory bodies of the  lower world4 
,on each plane this downward sweep      
brings into activity these  classes of  
,devas1 making the intermediate links   
which are to work in the  building of   
forms4 ,the essence of the building of  
forms by a ,deva is that  he builds them
 of the matter of which his own body is 
composed4 ,prepared  by that earlier    
evolution1 qualities being developed in 
the downward  sweep of the life of      

shvara1 matter is1 in the upward arc1   
gathered into  definite forms1 the      
bodies of plant1 animal and man3 thus   
definite  vehicles are made1 by which   
the highest consciousness can           
communicate  with1 and receive          
vibrations from1 the lowest world4      
,let us now1 having taken this very     
rapid sweep downwards1 begin to climb   
upwards4 ,each kind of matter is now    
seen to possess certain qualities4      
,every physical atom has a number of    
sheaths interpenetrating and            
surrounding it1 the sheath of astral    
matter with its power of responding  to 
sensation1 the sheath of mental matter  
with its power of responding  to        
intelligence1 as well as the sheaths1 if
 they may be called so1 of  the two     
higher1 ,love and ,existence1 that will 
not be brought into  activity for a     
long1 long time4 ,all is there4 shvara  
now begins the  great stage of brooding 
action that ,i spoke of the building up 
of a  centre1 and it is ,his first work 

to build physical forms out of this     
prepared material1 all the ,devas of the
 physical plane being ready to  act as  
,his agents1 working under ,his impulse 
and under the direction of  the ,lord of
 the ,devas of the physical plane4 ,all 
these innumerable  intermediate agents  
are wanted2 for innumerable are to be   
the forms1 and  every one of them has to
 be builded4    ,the building of the    
physical bodies begins with the         
formation of the  minerals4 ,as a       
mineral body is formed1 perhaps some    
crystal1 the crystal  of an element or a
 salt1 a definite form is built up by a 
,deva of the  physical plane4 ,he takes 
up the material of his own body and such
 material  of the physical plane as is  
of similar nature to himself1 and he    
begins  shaping these crystalline forms4
 ,he builds them on the lines of the    
life-energy sent out by shvara ,himself1
 those lines which ,science calls  the  
axes of the crystal1 imaginary lines2   
imaginary--aye2 but they are  from the  

creative imagination of shvara1 that is 
far more potent than the  lower matter  
in which ,he builds4 ,that lower matter 
follows the creative  imagination of the
 ,lord1 and these imaginary lines govern
 the shaping of  that crystal that is   
builded by the ,deva4 ,tyndall believed 
not in the  working of the ,devas1 yet  
when he was lecturing on crystals to a  
popular  audience in ,manchester he     
declared that as he pictured to himself 
the  building of a crystal1 he found    
himself imagining tiny architects at    
work1  placing every atom with exact    
precision1 with all the intelligence and
  skill of a human architect1 employed  
in making a building4 ,tyndall was      
speaking better than he knew4 ,his      
imagination was answering to the truth  
more keenly than he realised4 ,for it is
 the privilege of the man of  genius who
 loves truth as ,tyndall did--who was   
willing to break up every  fetter of    
dogma rather than be a traitor to his   
conception of truth--to  unconsciously  

intuit the truth that he seeks1 so that 
his words give out a  higher meaning    
than he dreamed of4 ,tyndall was wise in
 recommending what  he called the       
scientific flight of the imagination1   
for that power of  imagination is a most
 useful thing4 ,never clip the wings of 
your  imagination when you are employed 
in your scientific work2 for it may     
often give you glimpses of truths that  
without its aid you would never  find4  
,thus the ,devas work and build         
crystals1 and those crystals have some  
remarkable properties4 ,professor ,japp 
tells us that some crystals turn a      
polarised beam of light in a particular 
way2 and he declares that in some  of   
these forms there is a power which is   
directive and somewhat akin to  the     
intelligence of man4 ,truly is it akin  
to human intelligence1 inasmuch  as it  
is the parent of human intelligence1 the
 latter being the child that  is        
developing the parental powers4 ,this   
building goes on through stages on      

which we must not tarry1 through the    
whole of the mineral world1 gradually   
giving to matter the power to change    
shape between larger and larger  limits 
without losing cohesion4 ,this is what  
is called plasticity1 the  power of     
changing shape without disintegration4  
,matter also gains that  which science  
speaks of as elasticity4 ,now what is   
elasticity8 ,not1 as  people generally  
think the mere power of elongation1     
calling a thing  elastic that can be    
pulled out like a piece of              
,india-rubber4 ,an elastic  body in the 
popular sense is not an elastic body    
from the scientific point  of view1 and1
 strange as it may sound1 glass is much 
more elastic than  ,india-rubber4 ,yet  
the glass does not elongate and is      
brittle4 ,the proper  definition of     
elasticity is the power of recovering   
the original form  after distortion1 and
 matter gradually acquires this power4  
,as life  develops1 the equilibrium of  
the compounds that make up the form     

becomes  more and more unstable1 while  
at the same time the general cohesion of
 the  form increases2 when we come to   
the higher forms1 such as the body of   
man1  we find a power of maintaining the
 central position greater than we find  
in any other form1 together with an     
increased plasticity and elasticity2  so
 that a man can adapt himself to the    
cold of the polar regions1 and to  the  
heat of the tropics and of the          
equatorial zone1 without losing his     
body1 in a way that no lower animal can 
match1 that is1 he has the power  of    
adapting his physical body to           
surrounding conditions to a greater     
extent than is the case with any other  
form4 ,coming back to the mineral       
kingdom we left1 let us take the next   
stage2 shvara can now expand and  modify
 ,his material a little more than was   
originally possible without  breaking it
 up4 ,he begins the moulding of the     
vegetable kingdom1 and there  also he   
sets axes of growth1 as imaginary and as

 real in their  controlling force as in 
the crystal1 though they are not always 
quite as  easy to trace1 they are       
nevertheless there4 ,all the vegetable  
matter is  built in according to these  
axes1 and the natural classification of 
plants  is largely determined by the    
numerical relations of the parts2 thus  
the  law of number shapes the form4 ,as 
the matter becomes more plastic and     
yields more readily to the indwelling   
life1 the higher members of that        
kingdom begin to show the dawning of    
sensation4 ,that is due to the          
beginning of the vivification of the    
next sheath above the physical1         
composed of what we call astral matter1 
that which goes to make part  of the    
manomaya kosha of the ,vedntin4 ,we see 
in that a growing  susceptibility1 an   
increasing sensory power1 very slight in
 the vegetable  world1 but still        
present1 and developed much more largely
 where the  vegetable has a long        
experience of separated life4 ,take for 

instance a  tree that has endured for   
centuries1 and let me just trace the    
stages in  which the dawning sensation  
is found1 and even a dawn1 though ,i    
hardly  venture to use the word1 a dawn 
of mental quality4 ,that life in the    
tree  responds to the vibrations        
received from outside1 of cold and heat1
 of  wind and rain1 of sunshine and     
storm1 and as the physical sheath is    
built  up and developed by the action of
 the ,devas working upon it1 the etheric
  matter in it is continually thrown    
into vibration by the changes in        
temperature1 light1 and electrical      
conditions4 ,the vibrations in the      
ethers that enter into the physical body
 are passed on to the atomic  sub-plane1
 and as the atoms of the physical plane 
have their spirals made  of the coarsest
 matter of the plane of ,apas1 or astral
 matter1 a slight  quivering is caused  
in that coarsest matter of the astral   
plane1 and that  sets up a little       
movement in the tree1 responded to by   

the indwelling life  by sensation1 a    
massive and general feeling of pleasure 
or pain4    ,have you never walked      
through a forest1 and felt as though all
 nature  were enjoying the sunshine8    
,this sensation of pleasure is shown    
still  more strikingly when the hot     
season comes to its ending1 and the     
first  rains fall on the thirsty ground1
 and the well-nigh withering vegetation 
sends out a conscious thrill of joy and 
life renewed4 ,the very trees and       
bushes rejoice as the rain comes down   
upon them with its message of life  and 
of hope4 ,at such moments we recognise  
that the vegetable world is  sensitive1 
although the sensation be widespread1   
that which is called  massive in        
character4    ,forgive me if for a      
moment ,i here digress1 to say that this
 fact is one  of the reasons why we owe 
a duty to the vegetable world1 not      
needlessly  to cause sensations of      
dawning suffering4 ,we live too         
carelessly1 my  brothers1 in this world 

which is all-living1 where there is no  
atom that  is dead1 and especially is   
this sad here in ,india1 where once     
there was  so strong a reverence for    
life4 ,that is now1 alas1 beginning to  
pass  away4 ,you are forgetting that all
 life is shvara1 that according to the  
stage of ,his lower self-evolution is   
the power of response that is given  to 
the form4 ,in the old days1 ,i remember 
how1 when man took his food1 he  met the
 food with gracious greeting because it 
was sacrificing its life  in order to   
build1 through that sacrifice1 his own4 
,though it did not  possess the higher  
powers of sensation as we find them in  
the animal1  but only the lesser        
sensation powers of the vegetable world1
 still1 even  then1 he met it with      
reverence1 as a sacrifice which was     
being made to  him1 and took it with    
gratitude and with love2 that lower life
 was  yielding itself up to him for his 
up-building4 ,but to-day1 so lost is    
that gentle grace in many of our ,hindu 

people1 that they not only  disregard   
the sacrificed lives of the vegetable   
kingdom1 but also those  of the far more
 sentient forms which shvara has        
developed in the animal  kingdom of ,his
 world4 ,we find men who wear the outer 
shape of the ,hindu1  who have his      
colour1 his form1 his face1 who boast   
themselves of their  descent from       
antiquity1 who hold themselves therefore
 in thought above  the western nations1 
forgetting the life of the ,self in this
 sentient  creation1 and nourishing     
their bodies with the bodies of their   
lower  brethren1 without showing any    
sense of the sacrifice made1 or feeling 
even a passing gratitude for the life   
which is given for them4    ,let us come
 back to the tracing of our forms4      
shvara1 brooding over the  evolving     
forms1 continues ,his patient           
work--patient1 that the form may  never 
be broken by an overstrain1 but may be  
slowly developed into a  vehicle of the 
life that ensouls it4 ,in every form ,he

 lives1 evolving  it1 but ,he limits    
with illimitable patience ,his          
manifestation of life to  the poor      
capacities of the form1 that it may grow
 and not be destroyed4  ,do you remember
 an old story of the ancient days1 in   
which most of you  would be ashamed to  
acknowledge belief1 for are you not     
graduates and  men of western knowledge8
 ,though descendants from the old time1 
you have  naught to do with it1 but ,i1 
who was trained in the ,west1 ,i have no
  feeling of shame in acknowledging my  
belief in the strange things that  come 
down to us from the times when truth was
 less veiled than it is  now4 ,so ,i    
dare to recall the story to you1        
although you may think that  it is but a
 fable or legend4 ,there was a boy who  
believed in ,vishnu or  ,hari1 in whom  
his father believed not1 ,prahlda he was
 named2 and that  boy went through many 
trials1 but in all his faith in the     
,supreme  defended him2 at last his     
father1 scoffing1 said1 turning to a    

pillar in  his room3 ,you tell me that  
,hari is everywhere3 is ,he in that     
pillar8  ,o ,hari1 ,hari6 cried the boy1
 and forth from the pillar in the form  
of  a ,lion burst an avatra of ,vishnu  
and the pillar was shivered into        
pieces4 ,truly is ,he everywhere1 in    
every particle of matter2 there is no   
one particle from which ,he cannot come 
forth in all the might of ,his          
,godhood1 in all the majesty of ,his    
,deity4 ,but ,he will not1 because if   
,he  did1 the form could not bear that  
revealing1 and would shiver into  pieces
 as the ,god appeared4 ,a profound      
truth1 even if you regard the  story as 
an allegory1 a truth which teaches us   
what evolution means4    ,thus shvara   
worked on age after age and on after on1
 with that  marvellous patience of which
 ,i spoke1 until matter was made        
sufficiently  plastic to build it into  
the form in which ,his highest life was 
to begin  its development1 the form of  
man2 building that form1 ,he begins also

 to  strengthen very much the centre    
which the form is for a while to        
protect4 ,let me say in passing one     
thing that ,i have omitted1 that        
whenever a form has reached its highest 
possible point1 its limit of  expansion1
 ,he breaks it1 in order that1 in a new 
form better adapted1  the ensouling life
 may continue to grow2 for ,he knows    
when to break as  well as when to hold2 
,he knows when to destroy as well as    
when to  preserve2 and the moment that  
the limit of a form has been reached1   
and  its matter can yield no further1   
,he bursts the form asunder1 that its   
materials may recombine themselves1     
under the impulse of life1 into a  more 
plastic organism1 and that the life may 
thus gain further  evolution1 ensouling 
a higher form more fitted for the       
expression of its  increasing powers4   
,we call this breaking of the form      
death1 and we fear  and shrink from it1 
and if people talk to us of death1 in   
the flush of  our life1 it comes as a   

jar and a shock4 ,but1 as ,i told you in
 the  beginning1 you may see very       
plainly that death is that beneficent   
aspect  of shvara1 which breaks a form  
that has become a prison1 in order to   
give the life a new form in which it may
 continue to grow2 ,he breaks the  rigid
 form when it can develop no further1   
and gives the life the  plastic form of 
a baby1 that may be shaped more easily  
by the moulding  forces of the life     
within it1 yielding itself to every     
impulse from  within4 ,it seems then1   
that when we see things rightly1 we     
should hail  death as birth rather than 
as death4 ,for looked at from the side  
of  life1 every death is a being born   
into the higher possibilities of a new  
shape that will adapt itself to the     
growing life4    ,when man begins his   
long pilgrimage1 a form is ready for his
 ensouling1  prepared to receive and to 
respond to the impulses which come to it
 from  the physical1 astral and--to a   
small extent--from the mental planes4   

,his  physical atoms are considerably   
evolved1 the sensory sheath is working  
actively1 and there is a very imperfect 
lower mental sheath2 these have  been   
built up through the evolution of the   
animal realm4 ,do not fall  into the    
mistake of the western way of thinking1 
and say that man  descends from the     
animal2 that is not true4 ,it is only a 
fragment of  truth half seen and thereby
 distorted4 ,what is true is this3 that 
the  matter of his lower vehicles has   
been prepared by evolving through the   
stages of the elemental1 mineral1       
vegetable and animal kingdoms1 in  order
 that it may be builded into the form of
 man2 that in previous  kalpas forms had
 been evolved that might fairly be      
described as  half-ape1 half-human1 that
 were never occupied by the triple      
,self1 and  that therefore belonged to  
the animal1 not to the human kingdom2   
that  in the present cycle the human    
form evolved1 as a ftus evolves1 passing
  rapidly through the lower stages on   

the way to the human1 as in  pre-natal  
life1 and it therefore has stamped upon 
it the stages through  which it has     
passed4 ,i have been going over1 roughly
 and swiftly1 those  stages through     
which the matter of which the body is   
composed has gone  in the past1 and you 
will see that the true theory of        
evolution is  different from the        
somewhat crude view that there is a     
regular  succession of births from the  
animal into the man4 ,the matter has    
been  made plastic in the animal1 but   
man in his form is the result of a      
higher working2 the germ of his life can
 never develop into the animal1  but    
only into the human1 because more has   
been infolded into it1 and  that germ   
must unfold along a line which is that  
of direct human growth4  ,remembering   
that1 to prevent a possible             
misconception1 we turn to the  human    
centre that is now definitely formed4   
,we speak of its encircling  form as the
 causal body1 or ,karana ,sharra1 the   

form by which the ,self  is limited2 the
 ,karana ,sharra is not the ,self1      
remember1 but is the  containing vehicle
 of the triple ,self1 and the organ of  
one aspect of  that ,self1 the aspect of
 knowledge1 shown forth as intelligence4
 ,this  sheath is important1 being      
relatively of a permanent nature1 and it
 goes  on from birth to birth2 death    
cannot touch it1 birth cannot modify it2
  it is the treasure-house or receptacle
 of all the qualities acquired by       
experience through human evolution1 and 
passes through the whole cycle  of      
re-incarnations2 it is the special human
 characteristic4 ,the form  begins to   
adapt itself more and more to the life1 
and here comes in a  growing difficulty4
 ,the characteristic of the life of man 
is the life of  the intellect2 this the 
specifically human part of evolution2   
but the  life of sensation is far more  
vivid and tumultuous in the beginning1  
and  the earlier stages of form are     
adapted to answer to these impulses4    

,you  may ask1 why not give the man at  
once a mental body only1 in which to    
work out his evolution1 why must he     
struggle through the evolution of  this 
body of sensation8 ,because1 if he      
misses that stage1 he will not be  able 
to make up the links which are necessary
 for the continuity of his              
consciousness4 ,at a later time the     
perfect man is conscious on all  planes 
from ,nirvna downward to the physical1  
from the physical upwards  to ,nirvna4  
,on every plane in unbroken continuity  
of consciousness the  ,jvanmukta lives  
and works4 ,there is no link lacking4   
,if1 then1 the man  does not establish1 
in the building of his body of          
sensation1 certain  centres or1 as they 
are called1 chakras--that drawing into  
centres  which is the work of the upward
 arc1 as giving qualities is the work of
  the downward arc--if he does not draw 
the powers of sensation into  definite  
centres in the sheath of his astral     
body1 he will not have the  links which 

he requires to receive impacts from the 
astral plane1 and  through which he can 
send out thrills of consciousness in    
order to  impress it1 rule it and guide 
it4 ,that is why there is so much delay 
in  the savage condition1 where the life
 of sensation is supreme2 these  astral 
chakras are being builded up as centres 
of the senses1 and they  are built firm 
and strong2 the outer organs1 the eye1  
the ear1 the nose1  the tongue1 the     
skin1 these are merely the necessary    
organs in the  physical body for the    
expression of consciousness through     
these chakras4    ,if we take1 for a    
moment1 a swift survey of the evolution 
of forms1 we  shall find that the       
building of organs follows the exercise 
of  life-functions2 in the earliest     
forms there are no organs1 but the      
functions of life are present and       
active2 the creature breathes and       
assimilates1 circulation goes on2 but   
there are no organs for digestion1  no  
organs for breathing1 no organs for     

circulation2 the whole body does        
everything4 ,but as evolution proceeds  
and definite organs are formed in  the  
physical body1 in the nervous system1   
and as later1 in the astral  body1      
chakras or astral centres of sensation  
are formed--as this goes  on1 we find a 
more specialised being developed with   
definite organs4  ,always the organ     
comes after the function1 and through   
the organ the  function expresses itself
 more and more perfectly4 ,that is a    
fundamental  principle4 ,and do not     
forget that in this you are on what is  
thought the  safer ground of western    
science4 ,you do not find an organ      
appearing  before the development of its
 function4 ,you always find the         
life-impulse  first1 and then the       
moulding of the matter into a shape     
which enables  that impulse to express  
itself more perfectly4 ,if we trace     
evolution  from the amba upwards we find
 differentiation and specialisation     
becoming more marked the whole way      

through1 yet man himself turns round1   
and with the very brain which has been  
formed under the vibrations of          
intelligence he reverses the whole      
process1 and asserts that thought is    
produced by the brain2 but every organ  
is formed as the organ of a  function1  
it is produced by life1 and is not its  
creator4    ,this process goes on until 
the necessary organs are made and the   
nervous  system is linked to the chakras
 in the astral body1 chiefly through    
what  is called the sympathetic system4 
,there are certain nervous cells of a   
peculiar kind in that system1 of which  
modern science does not say  much1      
beyond giving you the forms and         
contents1 and these are the links       
between consciousness in the physical   
body and in the sensory body4 ,then     
come the chakras already spoken of as   
the centres for the working of          
consciousness in the astral body4 ,a    
similar process goes on in the  mental  
body under the action of                

thought-impulses1 and there we have also
  an organised body able to respond to  
different kinds of thought1 and  thus to
 serve consciousness as its organ for   
expression in the mental  world4 ,as we 
grow mentally we build our organs for   
consciousness4    ,coming to this       
building of form practically1 we learn  
that we organise  the body of sensation 
to higher purposes by checking the      
life-impulse as  it runs out to the     
object of the senses4 ,these objects    
gradually turn  away from the abstemious
 dweller in the body1 it is written1 and
 as the  lower world ceases to attract1 
the higher world begins to use the form 
for nobler ends4 ,if we desire to       
increase mental power1 we must practise 
steady thinking1 and check the rovings  
of intelligence over the  phenomenal    
world4 ,as a matter of fact1 many people
 never really think at  all2 what they  
call their thoughts are nothing more    
than the reflections  of other people's 
thoughts to which their consciousness   

responds2 their  minds are              
looking-glasses1 not productive         
organisms2 most men's minds1  ,i fear1  
are looking-glasses reflecting objects  
that are before them1 and  contemplating
 these reflections a man says to        
himself3 ,see6 how ,i am  thinking6 when
 he is only repeating the thoughts of   
others4 ,now we are  not to be mere     
looking-glasses2 when the objects of the
 outer world give  rise to images1 the  
mind is to work on them1 analyse1       
re-arrange1  combine2 thinking is the   
work of the mind itself on the mental   
images  supplied through sensation1 the 
working on the materials which have been
  gradually gathered by experience4 ,as 
soon might you call a loose heap of     
bricks that you see in the compound of a
 house1 a building1 as call the         
reflection of other people's thoughts1  
your thinking4 ,that is only the        
material for thought4 ,thinking is the  
work of the architect1 of the  builder  
that builds these bricks into a definite

 edifice1 and until we  have built up   
thoughts in our minds1 we have no right 
to arrogate to  ourselves the name of   
thinkers4 ,practise then this           
independent thinking2  it is hard2 you  
will not know how hard until you try it4
 ,never let pass  a day without reading 
something that gives you material for   
thought4 ,no  matter if the book be not 
religious2 if it be only intellectual1  
that  will make you stronger in         
intellect4 ,even leaving spirituality   
aside  with its nobler possibilities1   
take some great book worthy of being    
thought over1 not a newspaper1 not a    
sensational novel1 not a child's  book1 
but a ,,book--an original book1 on a    
real topic2 what ,charles ,lamb  called 
a book4 ,read1 but do not read much1    
perhaps not more than a dozen  or twenty
 lines2 think these lines over and over 
and over for at least  thrice as long as
 you have taken to read them slowly4 ,do
 that every day  regularly1 and do not  
miss it4 ,you find time for your dinner2

 why1 if  you can find time to feed your
 body and to talk1 can you not find time
  to feed your mind8 ,then your mind    
would grow4 ,if you do that as an       
experiment1 say for three months only1  
never missing a day--for if you  miss a 
day1 you will slip back and lose the    
value of the automatic  action of your  
mind--do that for three months as an    
experiment1 as a  scientific man makes  
an experiment1 and thus train yourselves
 for three  months in power of close    
attention and thought1 and at the end of
 the  three months1 you will be startled
 to find how much these powers have     
grown4 ,when you have put yourself      
through this experiment1 then you will  
not want a lecturer to tell you about   
the value of such self-discipline1  for 
you yourself will have proved it to be  
good4 ,take one faculty after  another  
to train2 train your reasoning faculty1 
your memory1 your power  of comparison  
and contrast4 ,take up a faculty1 just  
as any one takes up  a study that he is 

working at1 and work at it until you are
 an artist  in that particular faculty4 
,that is how form is builded1 when the  
human ,self is beginning to  co-operate 
with the work of shvara1 when the centre
 is beginning to  take the control of   
its vehicles4 ,it rationalises its      
workings1 and  builds and modifies them 
step by step4 ,when this has been done  
for many  lives1 then comes the life for
 ,yoga2 then the man may be taught how  
to  make more rapid progress1 and how to
 vivify the inner and subtler  sheaths  
of his being by certain practices1 that 
will be taught him the  moment he is    
ready--but that will never be taught him
 until he is  ready1 nay though he range
 the world over in search of a ,guru1 or
 live  the life of an ascetic in the    
cave or in the jungle4 ,that is not     
enough1  so long as his desire is       
unconquered1 so long as his mind is     
still  restless4 ,when the senses are   
dominated1 when the mind is controlled1 
and not before--but then1 as certainly  

as before there will not be the         
coming--a ,guru will appear who will    
take that man by the hand and lead  him 
along the path that is narrow as the    
edge of a razor1 that may only  be      
trodden by the controlled in sense and  
by the steady in mind1 for the  fall    
either to the one side or to the other  
means delay for many a birth  to come4  
,then is developed that aspect of ,bliss
 which shows itself  outwardly as love2 
a faint reflection of that bliss is felt
 in many  stages of meditation1 and joy 
has birth within you1 wells up within   
you1  enwraps you fold by fold1 until   
you in yogic trance reach the true      
,a'nanda1 which is the essence of       
beauty1 and makes you quiver under its  
subtle vibrations of ineffable delight4 
,and later1 later still1 at a  stage    
that you may reach1 when all is purified
 through long evolution1  there comes   
the rising into the highest1 where the  
subtlest matter  becomes the vehicle of 
that developed centre1 now no longer a  

circumference restraining and necessary1
 but an obedient vehicle which  will    
serve when it is wanted and fall away   
when wanted it is not4 ,as it  is       
written that in the ,a'ksha there is    
every possibility of form1 so  the life 
that has reached ,self-existence is a   
being that garbs itself in  any form by 
gathering the ,a'ksha around it4 ,thus  
it may develop vehicle  after vehicle   
until the whole of the human series is  
builded for use1  but none of them is   
prison for limitation2 then we say that 
the man is a  ,jvanmukta1 ,he is free1  
and all matter has become ,his servant1 
to use  when ,he has need of it1 to cast
 aside when ,he needs it not2 every     
region  of the world is ,his to use1 no 
region of the world is its own to bind  
,him2 ,he is liberated1 and as the      
liberated ,self ,he may1 if ,he will1   
still work for ,his brother men1        
remaining1 as ,shr ,shankarchrya  taught
 us1 until the end of ,his age1 in order
 to lift humanity more  rapidly on its  

upward climb4 ,thus are formed ,those   
who are the  co-workers of shvara in the
 helping of humanity1 who1 having gone  
through all suffering1 throw everything 
they have gained at the feet of  the    
,lord1 who turn back to the world1 never
 again to be bound by it1 but  still    
responding to the compassion which is   
the very life of shvara  ,himself4 ,as  
long as shvara wills to remain in       
manifestation1 so long  does ,he whose  
will is one with that of shvara1 will   
also to remain4 ,he  has nothing to     
gain1 nothing to learn1 nothing to take 
that any world  can give ,him2 but ,he  
stands beside ,his ,lord as an organ of 
the  expression of the highest life1    
existing no longer for anything that ,he
  takes1 but as the channel of the life 
of ,god4 ,that is the prize of our      
calling1 that the goal on which our     
hearts are fixed4      ,women's         
,printing ,society1 ,limited1 #ff1      
,whitcomb ,street1 ,w4,c4             99
       99       99       99       99    

,,transcriber',s ,,notes    ,the        
following variants appear in this text3 
,a'ksha and ,aksha1  ,a'nanda and       
,ananda1 ,kabbalah and ,kabala1 krmic   
and karmic1  out-pouring and outpouring1
 ,self-existence and ,self-,existence1  
wellnigh and well-nigh4    ,the spelling
 ,brahm appears to be standard1 but     
,brahma also appears1  in the phrase    
,mahad ,brahma4    ,the phrase may by in
 may by it be brought on p4 #bj should  
possibly be  may be but has been left   
unchanged4    ,words in italics are     
indicated by underscores1 like this4    
,the following amendments to spelling   
and punctuation have been made3    #a7  
hierachies amended to hierarchies on p4 
#bg4    #b7 philosphy amended to        
philosophy on p4 #bh4    #c7 mansic     
amended to mnasic on p4 #eb4    #d7     
,period added after tato bhavati ,bhrata
 on p4 #ig4    #e7 ,avtara amended to   
,avatra on p4 #aai4    #f7 ,comma added 
after kingdom on p4 #aai4