Lesson X. Spiritual Evolution
One
of the things that repel many persons who have had their attention directed to
the subject of Metempsychosis for the first time, is the idea that they have evolved
as a soul from individual lowly forms, for instance that they have at one
time been an individual plant, and then an
individual animal form, and then an individual higher animal form, and
so on until now they are the particular
individual human form contemplating the subject. This idea, which has
been taught by many teachers, is repellent to the average mind, for obvious
reasons, and naturally so, for it has no foundation in truth.
While this lesson is principally concerned with the subject of the Spiritual Evolution of the human soul, since it became a
human soul, still it may be as well to
mention the previous phase of evolution, briefly, in order to prevent
misconception, and to dispel previously acquired error.
The atom, although it possesses life and a certain degree of mind, and
acts as an individual temporarily, has no permanent individuality that
reincarnates. When the atom is evolved it
becomes a centre of energy in the great atomic principle, and when it
is finally dissolved it resolves itself back
into its original state, and its life as an individual atom ceases, although the experience it has gained becomes the
property of the entire principle.
It is as if a body of water were to
be resolved into millions of tiny dew-drops for a time,
and each dew-drop was then to acquire certain outside
material in solution. In that case, each dew-drop
when it again returned to the body of water, would
carry with it its foreign material, which would become the property of the
whole. And subsequently formed dew-drops would carry in
their substance a particle of the foreign matter
brought back home by the previous generation of
dew-drops, and would thus be a little different from their
predecessors. And this process, continuing for many
generations of dew-drops, would ultimately cause the
greatest changes in the composition of the
successive generations.
This,
in short, is the story of the change and improving forms of life. From the
atoms into the elements; from the lower elements
into those forming protoplasm; from the protoplasm
to the lower forms of animal life; from these lower
forms on to higher forms -this is the story. Rut it is all
a counterpart of the dew-drop and the body of water, until the human soul is evolved.
The plants and the lower forms of animal life are not permanent individual souls, but each family is a group-soul
corresponding to the body of water from which the dew-drop arose. From these family group-souls
gradually break off minor groups, representing species,
and so on into sub-species. At last when the forms
reach the plane of man, the group-soul breaks itself up
into permanent individual souls, and true Metempsychosis
begins. That is, each individual human soul becomes a permanent individual
entity, destined
to evolve and perfect itself along the lines of spiritual evolution.
And
from this point begins our story of Spiritual Evolution.
The story of Man, the Individual, begins amidst humble surroundings. Primitive man, but little above the
level of the lower animals in point of intelligence, has
nevertheless that distinguishing mark of Individuality-''Self-Consciousness," which is the demarkation between Beast and Man. And even the lowest of the lowest races had at least a "trace" of this Self-Consciousness, which made of them individuals, and caused
the fragment of the race-soul to separate itself from the general principle
animating the race, and to fasten its "I"
conscious upon itself, rather than upon the
underlying race-soul, along instinctive lines. Do you know just what this
Self-Consciousness is, and how it differs from the
Physical Consciousness of the lower animals? Perhaps we
had better pause a moment to consider it at this place.
The lower
animals are of course conscious of the bodies,
and their wants, feelings, emotions, desires, etc., and
their actions are in response to the animating
impulses coming from this plane of consciousness. Hut
it stops there. They "know," but they do not "know
that they know"; that is, they have not yet arrived at a state in which they can think of themselves as "I," and to reason upon their thoughts and mental operations.
It is like the consciousness of a very young child,
which feels and knows its sensations and wants, but is unable to think of
itself as "I," and to turn the mental gaze inward. In another book of
these series, we have used the illustration of the horse which has been left
standing out in the cold sleet and rain, and which
undoubtedly feels and knows the unpleasant sensations arising therefrom,
and longs to get away from the unpleasant environment. But, still, he is unable
to analyze his mental states and wonder whether his master will come out to him
soon, or think how cruel it is to keep him out of his warm comfortable stable; or wonder whether he will he taken out in the cold
rain again tomorrow; or feel envious of other horses who are indoors; or wonder why he is kept out cold
nights, etc., etc. In short, the horse is unable to think as would a reasoning man under just the same circumstances.
He is aware of the discomfort, just as would be
the man; and he would run away home, if he were able, just as would the man.
Rut he is not able to pity himself, nor to think about his personality, as
would a man-he is not able to wonder whether life is worth the living,
etc., as would a man. He "knows" but is not able to reflect upon the
"knowing."
In the above
illustration, the principal point is that the
horse does not "know himself" as an entity, while even the
most primitive man is able to so recognize himself as an "I." If the
horse were able to think in words, he would think "feel,"
"cold," "hurt," etc., but he would be unable to think
"/ feel; / am cold; / am hurt," etc. The thought "I" would
be missing. . It is true that the
"1" consciousness of the primitive man was
slight, and was but a degree above the Physical
Consciousness of the higher apes, but nevertheless it had sprung into being,
never again to be lost. The primitive man was like a child a few years old-he was
able to say "I," and to think "I." He had become an
individual soul.
And this individual soul inhabited and animated a body but little
removed from that of an ape. But this new
consciousness began to mould that rude body and the ascent was begun.
Each generation showed a physical
improvement over that of the preceding one, according to the lines of physical
evolution, and as the developing
soul demanded more perfect and developed bodies the bodies were evolved
to meet the demand, for the mental demand
has ever been the cause of the physical form.
The soul
of the primitive man reincarnated almost immediately after the death of the
physical body, because the experiences gained were mostly along the lines of the physical, the mental planes being
scarcely brought into play, while
the higher and spiritual faculties were almost entirely obscured from
sight. Life after life the soul of the primitive man lived out in rapid succession. But in each new embodiment
there was a slight advance over that
of the previous one. Experience, or
rather the result of experiences, were carried over, and profited by.
New lessons were learned and unlearned, improved upon or discarded. And the
race grew and unfolded.
After a time the number of advancing souls which had
outstripped their fellows in progress became sufficiently large for sub-races
to be formed, and so the branching off process began. In
this way the various races and types were formed, and
the progress of Mankind gained headway. At this
point we may as well consider the history of the
Races of Mankind, that we may see how the great
tide-wave of Soul has ever pressed onward, marking
higher and still higher stages of progress, and also how
the various minor waves of the great wave pushed in
and then receded, only to be followed by still higher
waves. The story is most interesting.
The Yogi Teachings inform us that the Grand Cycle of
Man's Life on the Earth is composed of Seven Cycles,
of which we are now living in the third-seventh part of
the Fifth Cycle. These Cycles may be spoken of as
the Great Earth Periods, separated from each other by
some great natural cataclysm which destroyed
the works of the previous races of men, and which
started afresh the progress called "civilization," which,
as all students know, manifests a rise and fall like unto that of the tides.
Man in the First Cycle emerged from a gross animal-like
state into a condition somewhat advanced. It was a
slow progress, but nevertheless a distinct series of advances were made by the more progressive souls who passed over on to the Second Cycle, embodying themselves
as the ruling races in the same, their less progressive
brothers incarnating in the lower tribes of the
Second Cycle. It must be remembered
that the souls
which do not advance during a Cycle reincarnate in
the next Cycle among the lower races. So that even in
this Fifth Cycle we have remnants of the previous
cycles, the lives of the members of which give us an idea of what life in the
earlier cycles must have been.
The
Yogi Teachings give us but little information regarding the people of the First
and Second Cycles, because of the low state of these ages. The tale, if told, would be the story of the Cave-dweller, and
Stone-age people; the Fire-peoples,
and all the rest of savage, barbarian
crew; there was but little trace of
anything like that which we call "civilization," although in the latter periods of the Second Cycle
the foundations for the coming
civilizations were firmly laid.
After
the cataclysm which destroyed the works of Man of
the Second Cycle, and left the survivors scattered or disorganized, awaiting
the touch of the organizing urge which followed shortly
afterward, there dawned the first period of the
Third Cycle. The scene of the life of the Third Cycle was laid in what is known to Occultists as Lemuria. Lemuria was a mighty continent situated in what is now known as
the Pacific Ocean, and parts of the
Indian Ocean. It included Australia,
Australasia, and other portions of the
Pacific islands, which are in fact surviving portions of the great continent
of Lemuria, its highest points, the
lower portion having sunk beneath the seas ages and ages ago.
Life
in Lemuria is described as being principally concerned
with the physical senses, and sensual enjoyment, only a few developed
souls having broken through the fetters of
materiality and reached the beginnings of the mental and spiritual
planes of life. Some few indeed made great
progress and were saved from the
general wreck, in order to become the leaven which would lighten the mass of mankind (hiring the next Cycle.
These developed souls were the teachers of the new races, and were looked upon
by the latter as gods and supernatural beings, and legends and traditions concerning them are still existent among
the ancient peoples of our present
day. Many of the myths of the ancient peoples arose in this way.
The Yogi traditions hold that just prior to the great cataclysm which
destroyed the races of the Second Cycle,
there was a body of the Chosen Ones which migrated from Lemuria to
certain islands of the sea which are now
part of the main land of India. These people formed the nucleus of the Occult
Teachings of the Lemurians, and
developed into the Fount of Truth which
has been flowing ever since throughout the successive periods and
cycles.
When
Lemuria passed away, there arose from the depths of
the ocean the continent which was to be the scene of
the life and civilization of the Fourth Cycle- the continent of Atlantis.
Atlantis was situated in a portion of what
is now known as the Atlantic Ocean, beginning
at what is now known as the Caribbean Sea and extending over to the region of
what is now known as
Africa. What are now known as Cuba and the West
Indies were among the highest points of the continent, and now stand like
monuments to its departed greatness.
The
civilization of Atlantis was remarkable, and its people
attained heights which seem almost incredible to even
those who are familiar with the highest achievements
of man in our own times. The Chosen Ones
preserved from the cataclysm which destroyed Lemuria,
and who lived to a remarkably old age, had stored
up within their minds the wisdom and learning of the
races that had ken destroyed, and they thus gave the
Atlanteans an enormous starting-advantage. They soon
attained great advancement along all the lines of
human endeavor. They perfected mechanical inventions and appliances,
reaching far ahead of even our present
attainments. In the field of electricity
especially they reached the stages that our present races will reach in about two or three hundred years from now. Along the lines of Occult Attainment their progress was far beyond the dreams
of the average man of our own race,
and in fact from this arose one of the causes of their downfall, for they prostituted the power to base and selfish uses,
and Black Magic.
And, so the decline of Atlantis began. But the end did
not come at once, or suddenly, but gradually. The continent, and its surrounding islands gradually sank beneath the waves
of the Atlantic Ocean, the process occupying
over 10,000 years. The Greeks and Romans of
our own Cycle had traditions regarding the sinking
of the continent, but their knowledge referred
only to the disappearance of the small remainder-certain
islands-the continent itself having disappeared thousands of years before
their time. It is recorded that the Egyptian priests had traditions that the
continent itself had disappeared nine thousand years
before their time. As was the case with the Chosen
Ones of Lemuria, so was it with the Elect of Atlantis,
who were taken away from the doomed land some time
prior to its destruction. The few advanced people
left their homes and migrated to portions of what are
now South America and Central America, but which
were then islands of the sea. These people have left their traces of their
civilization and works, which our antiquaries are
discovering to-day.
When the Fifth Cycle dawned (our own cycle, remember) these brave and advanced souls acted as the race-teachers and
became as "gods" to those who came afterward.
The races were very prolific, and multiplied very rapidly under the most
favorable conditions. The souls of the Atlanteans
were pressing forward for embodiment, and human
forms were born to supply the demand. And now begins
the history of our own Cycle-the Fifth Cycle.
But
before we begin a consideration of the Fifth Cycle,
let us consider for a moment a few points about the laws
operating to cause these great changes.
In the first place, each Cycle has a different theatre for
its work and action. The continent of
Lemuria was not
in existence during the Second Cycle, and arose
from the ocean bed only when its appointed time came.
And, likewise the continent of Atlantis reposed beneath
the waves while the Lemurian races manifested
during the Third Cycle, rising by means of a convulsion
of the earth's surface to play its part during its
own period-the Fourth Cycle-only to sink again
beneath the waves to make way for the birth of the
Fifth Cycle with its races. By means of these cataclysms
the races of each Cycle were wiped out when the time came, the few Elect or
Chosen ones, that is those who have manifested the right to
live on, being carried away to some favorable environment
where they became as leaven to the mass-as
"gods" to the new races that quickly appear.
It
must be remembered, however, that these Chosen Ones are
not the only ones saved from the destruction that
overtakes the majority of the race. On the contrary a
few survivors are preserved, although driven away
from their former homes, and reduced to "first principles of living" in order to become the parents of the new races. The
new races springing from the fittest of
these survivors quickly form sub-races, being composed of the better adapted souls seeking reincarnation, while the less fit sink into barbarism,
and show evidences of decay, although a remnant drags on for thousands of years, being composed of the souls
of those who have not advanced
sufficiently to take a part in the
life of the new races. These "left-overs" are in evidence in our own times in the cases of the
Australian savages, and some of the
African tribes, as well as among the Digger Indians and others of similar grade
of intelligence.
In order to understand the
advance of each race it must be remembered that the more advanced souls, after
passing out of the body, have a much longer period of rest in the higher
planes, and consequently do not present themselves for reincarnation until a period quite late when compared with the hasty
reincarnation of the less advanced souls who are hurried back to rebirth by reason of the strong earthly
attachments and desires. In this way it happens that the earlier races
of each Cycle are more primitive folk than those who follow them as the years
roll by. The soul of an earth-bound person reincarnates in a few years, and
sometimes in a few days, while the soul of an advanced man may repose and rest
on the higher planes for centuries-nay, even for thousands of years, until the earth has reached a stage in which
the appropriate environment may be afforded it.
Observers, unconnected with Occultism, have noted certain laws which
seem to regulate the rise and fall of nations-the procession of ruling races.
They do not understand the law of
Metempsychosis that alone gives the key to the problem, but nevertheless
they have not failed to record the
existence of the laws themselves. In order to show that these laws are recognized by persons who are not at all
influenced by the Occult Teachings, we take the liberty of quoting from
Draper's "History of the Intellectual Development of Europe."
Dr. Draper writes as follows:
"We are, as we often say, the creatures of circumstances. In that expression
there is a higher philosophy than might at first appear. From this more
accurate point of view we should therefore
consider the course of these events, recognizing the principle that the
affairs of men pass forward in a determinate way, expanding and unfolding
themselves. And hence we see that the things of which we have spoken as if they
were matters of choice, were in reality forced upon their apparent authors by
the necessity of the times. But in truth they should be considered as the
presentation of a certain phase of life which nations in their onward course
sooner or later assume. To the individual, how well we know that a sober
moderation of action, an appropriate
gravity of demeanor, belonging to the mature period of life, change from
the wanton willfulness of youth, which may
be ushered in, or its beginnings
marked by many accidental incidents; in one perhaps by domestic
bereavements, in another by the loss of fortune, in a third by ill-health. We
are correct enough in imputing to such
trials the change of character; but we never deceive ourselves by supposing that it would have failed to take place had
these incidents not occurred. There
runs an irresistible destiny in the
midst of these vicissitudes. There are analogies between the life of a nation,
and that of an individual, who, though he may be in one respect the
maker of his own fortunes, for happiness or for misery, for good or for evil,
though he remains here or goes
there as his inclinations prompt, though he docs this or abstains from that as
he chooses, is nevertheless held fast by an inexorable fate-a fate which brought him into the world involuntarily, so far
as he was concerned, which presses him forward through a definite career, the stages of which are
absolutely invariable,-infancy, childhood, youth, maturity, old age,
with all their characteristic actions and passions, -and which removes him from the scene at the appointed time, in
most cases against his will. So also is it
with nations; the voluntary is only the outward semblance, covering but hardly
hiding the predetermined. Over the events of life we may have control,
but none whatever over the law of its progress. There is a geometry that
applies to nations an equation of their curve of advance. That no mortal man
can touch."
This remarkable
passage, just quoted, shows how the close observers of history note the rise
and fall of the tides of human race progress, although ignorant of the real
underlying causing energy or force. A study of the Occult Teachings alone gives
one the hidden secret of human actions and
throws the bright light of Truth upon the dark corners of phenomena.
At the beginning of the Fifth Cycle (which is the present
one), there were not only the beginnings of the new
races which always spring up at the beginning of each new cycle and which are
the foundations for the coming races which take advantage of the fresh conditions and
opportunities fur growth and development but there were also the
descendants of the Elect saved from the
destruction of Atlantis by having been led away and colonized far from the
scene of danger. The new races were
the descendant of the scattered survivors of the Atlantean peoples, that
is, the common run of people of the time. But the Elect few were very superior
people, and imparted to their descendants
their knowledge and wisdom. So that we see at the beginning of the Fifth Cycle
hordes of new, primitive people in
certain lands, and in other places advanced
nations like the ancestors of the Ancient Egyptians, Persians,
Chaldeans, Hindus, etc.
These advanced
races were old souls-advanced souls-the
progressed and developed souls of Ancient Lemuria and Atlantis, who
lived their lives and who are now either on higher planes of life, or else are among
us to-day taking a leading part in the world's affairs, striving mightily to
save the present races from the misfortunes
which overtook their predecessors.
The descendants of
the people were the Assyrians and
Babylonians. In due time the primitive new races developed and the great Roman, Grecian, and Carthaginian
peoples appeared. Then came the rise of other peoples and nations down to the
present time. Each race or nation has its rise, its height of attainment, and
its decline. When a nation begins to decline
it is because its more advanced souls have passed on, and only the less progressive souls are leftt.
The history of all nations show the truth ofthe Occult Teachings
in this respect, and the strange phenomena noted by historians is
explainable in no other way.
It will be seen by the
careful student that the Great Law of
Metempsychosis is ever urging on humanity toward higher and higher
achievements. The advanced souls of a race
pass on to new scenes of activity, and even the backward ones are not
suffered to lag behind very long, for the
continual change, and creation of new environments for them tend to reawaken
sleeping energy and to stimulate the lagging one to fresh endeavor and
activity. In this way the whole race is
being constantly stimulated toward the advancement which is its natural
heritage.
But
it must not be forgotten that increased power, wisdom and opportunity bring
with them increased responsibility. As the soul advances along the lines of Spiritual Evolution, it becomes endowed with a greater and
greater opportunity of choosing between the Good and the Evil. In the earlier
races the soul was not sufficiently
developed to exercise this power of discrimination and choice, and
consequently its responsibility was limited. But as the soul advanced
and attained greater powers, greater things are expected of it. Power brings with it responsibilities.
The present stage of Man's Spiritual Evolution is a critical one. Men
are beginning to be conscious of the great
spiritual questions presenting themselves before them for settlement,
discrimination and choice. It is like the
awakening of the child into manhood or womanhood, and the confronting of
problems heretofore undreamt of. Man is
developing latent faculties which are bringing to him new perceptions of the Great Truths of Existence, and he can no longer
plead ''I do not know." In the present stage of life on this planet there is a battle royal being waged between
the forces of Materiality and Spirituality, and all are taking part in
that battle. Some are ranged on one side, and some on the other, and families
are divided over the great question of Spirituality vs. Carnality. But the outcome is in no danger. The Higher will
always triumph over the Lower.
On the one side are seen the
great mass of men who look upon this present physical life as the only real
one, and who regard all ideas of future existence and life as "moonshine"
and "wishy-washy talk." These people devote their entire time to the
satisfaction of sensual appetites, and the gratification of the lower
instincts of the Instinctive Mind. Some few have acquired the Pride of
Intellect, and forget the lower physical satisfaction in the greater
satisfaction that comes from the exercise of the rational faculties of the
mind. But, alas only a few, comparatively, realize the meaning of the word
"Spirituality," and know it to be
a thing of Strength rather than of Weakness. But even these few are the
leaven that shall lighten the mass of the race in due time. Even now the evidences of the work of those who have
attained Spiritual Consciousness is being manifested. On all sides one may see signs of spiritual unrest and
distress affecting even those who know not the meaning of the
term. Men are forsaking old ideals, creeds and dogmas,
and are running hither and thither seeking something
they feel to be necessary, but of the nature of which
they know nothing. They are feeling the hunger for Peace-the thirst for
Knowledge-and they are seeking satisfaction in
all directions.
This
is not only the inevitable working of the Law of Evolution,
but is also a manifestation of the power and love of the great souls
that have passed on to higher planes of
existence, and who have become as angels
and arch-angels. These beings are filled with the love of the race, and are setting into motion influences that are being manifest in many
directions, the tendency of which
are to bring the race to a realization
of its higher power, faculties, and destiny.
As we have said in other places, one of the greatest difficulties
in the way of the seeker after Truth in his consideration
of the question of Spiritual Evolution is the
feeling that rebirth is being forced upon him, without
any say on his part, and against his desires. But this
is far from being correct. It is true that the whole
process is according to the Great Law, but that Law operates through the force
of Desire and Attraction. The soul is attracted
toward rebirth by reason of its desire or rather the
essence of its desires. It is reborn only because it
has within itself the desire for further
experience, and opportunity for unfoldment. And it is reborn into certain
environments solely because it has within itself
unsatisfied desires for those environments, etc. The process is just as regular and scientific as is the attraction
of one atom of matter for another.
Each soul has
within itself certain elements of desire and attraction, and it attracts to
itself certain conditions and experiences, and is in turn attracted by these
things. This is the law of life, in the body and out of it. And there is no
injustice in the law-it is the essence
of justice itself, for it gives to each just what is required to fill the
indwelling desires, or else the conditions and experiences designed to burn out
the desires which are holding one back, and
the destruction of which will make
possible future advancement.
For instance, if
one is bound by the inordinate desire for
material wealth, the Law of Karma will attract him to a rebirth "n conditions in which he will be surrounded by wealth and luxury until he becomes
sickened with them and will find his
heart filled with the desire to flee from them and toward higher and more satisfying
things. Of course the Law of Karma acts in other ways, as we shall see in our
next lesson-it deals with one's debts and obligations, also. The Law of Karma is closely connected with
Metempsychosis, and one must be considered in connection with the other,
always.
Not only is it true that man's rebirths are in strict accordance with the
law of Attraction and Desire, but it is also true that after he attains a
certain stage of spiritual unfoldment he
enters into the conscious stage of rebirth, and thereafter he is reborn
consciously and with
full foreknowledge. Many are now entering into this stage of development, and
have a partial consciousness of their past lives, which also implies that they have had at least a partial consciousness of approaching rebirth,
for the two phases of consciousness run together.
Those individuals
of a race who have outstripped their fellows in spiritual tinfoldment, are
still bound by the Karma of the particular
race to which they belong, up to a certain point. And as the entire
race, or at least a large proportion of it, must move forward as a whole, such
individuals must needs wait also. But they
are not compelled to suffer a tiresome round of continued rebirths amid
environments and conditions which they
have outgrown. On the contrary, the advanced individual soul is allowed
to wait until the race reaches its own stage of advancement, when it again joins in the upward movement, in full
consciousness, however. In the interim he may pass his well earned rest cither on some of the higher planes of
rest, or else in conscious temporary
sojourn in other material spheres helping in the great work as a
Teacher and worker for Good and Spiritual
Evolution among those who need such help. In fact there are in the world
to-day. individual souls which have reached similar
stages on other planets, and who are spending their rest period here amidst the comparatively lower Earth conditions, striving to lift up the Earth
souls to greater heights.
So long as people allow
themselves to become attached to material objects, so
long will they be reborn in conditions in which these objects bind them fast.
It is only when the soul frees itself from these entangling obstructions that it is born in conditions of freedom.
Sonic outgrow these material attachments by right thinking and reasoning, while
others seem to be compelled to live them
out, and thus outlive them, before they are free. At last when the soul
realizes that these things are merely
incidents of the lower personality, and have naught to do with
the real individuality, then, and then only, do they fall from it like a
wornout cloak, and are left behind while it bounds forward on The Path fresh
from the lighter weight being carried.
The Yogi Philosophy
teaches that Man will live forever, ascending from higher to higher planes, and
then on and on and on. Death is but the physical symbol of a period of Soul
Rest, similar to sleep of the tired body, and is just as much to be welcomed
and greeted with thanks. Life is continuous, and its object is development,
unfoldment and growth. We are in Eternity
now as much as we ever shall be. Our souls may exist out of the body as
well as in it, although bodily incarnation is necessary at this stage of our
development. As we progress on to higher planes of life, we shall incarnate in
bodies far more ethereal than those now used by us, just as in the past we used bodies almost incredibly grosser and
coarser than those we call our own to-day. Life is far more than a thing
of three-score and ten years-it is really a
succession of such lives, on an ascending scale, that which we call our personal
self to-day being merely the essence of the
experiences of countless lives in the past.
The Soul is working
steadily upward, from higher to higher, from gross to finer forms and manifestations. And it will steadily work for ages to
come, always progressing, always advancing, always unfolding. The
Universe contains many worlds for the Soul to inhabit, and then after it has
passed on to other Universes, there will
still be Infinitude before it. The destiny of the Soul of Man is of
wondrous promise and possibilities-the mind to-day cannot begin to even dream
of what is before the Soul. Those who have already advanced many steps beyond
you- those Elder Brethren-are constantly extending to you aid in many
directions. They are extending to you the Unseen Hand, which lifts you over
many a hard place and dangerous crossing-but
you recognize it not except in a vague way. There are now in existence, on planes infinitely higher than your
own. intelligences of transcendent
glory and magnificence- but they
were once Men even as you are to-day. They have so far progressed upon the Path that they have become as angels and archangels when compared
with you. And, blessed thought, even as these exalted ones were once even as
you, so shall you, in due course of Spiritual Evolution, become even as these
mighty ones.
The Yogi Philosophy
teaches that You who are reading these
lines have lived many lives previous to the present one. You have lived in the lower forms, and
have worked your way arduously along the Path until
now you are reaching the stage of Spiritual Consciousness
in which the past and future will begin to appear plain to you for the first time. You have lived
as the cave-man-the cliff-dweller-the savage- the
barbarian. You have been the warrior-the priest -the
Medieval scholar and occultist-the prince-the pauper.
You have lived in Lemuria-in Atlantis-in India-in
Persia-in Egypt-in ancient Rome and Greece-and are now playing your part in the
Western civilization, associating with many with
whom you have had relations in your past lives.
In
closing this lesson, let us quote from a previous writing from the same pen that writes this lesson:
"Toward
what goal is all this Spiritual Evolution tending? What does it all
mean? From the low planes of life to the
highest-all are on The Path. To what
state or place does The Path lead? Let us attempt to answer by asking you to imagine a series of millions of circles, one within the other. Each
circle means a stage of Life. The
outer circles are filled with life
in its lowest and most material stages-each circle nearer the Centre holds higher and higher forms- until Men (or what were once Men) become as gods. Still on, and on, and on, does the form of
life grow higher, until the human
mind cannot grasp the idea. But what
is the Centre ? The MIND of the entire Spiritual Body-the ABSOLUTE! And
we are traveling toward that Centre!"
And again from the same source:
"But
beyond your plane, and beyond mine, are plane after
plane, connected with our earth, the splendors of which man cannot conceive. And
there are likewise many planes around the other planets of our chain- and there are millions of other worlds-and there
are chains of universes just as there are chains of planets -and then greater groups of these chains-and so on
greater and grander beyond the power of man to imagine-on and on and on and on-higher and higher -to inconceivable heights. An infinity of
infinities of worlds are before us. Our world and our planetary system
and our system of suns, and our system of solar systems, are but as grains of
sand on the beach of the mighty ocean. But then you cry, But what am I-poor mortal thing-lust among all this inconceivable
greatness? The answer comes that You are that most
precious thing-a living soul. And if you were destroyed the whole system of universes would crumble, for you
are as necessary as the greatest part of it -it
cannot do without you-you cannot be lost or destroyed-you are a part of
it all, and are eternal. 'But,' you ask,
'beyond all of this of which you have told me, what is there-what is the
Outre of it All? Your Teacher's face takes on a rapt expression-a light not of earth beams forth from his countenance. 'TUB
ABSOLUTE!' he replies.
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