PR E FA C E

HE remarks under this head are intended

to be intro ductory to each of the Manuals . o in o i First, as t the spirit which they are r d n no t n in a fe e . These Ma uals are writte n n r an n to co tro versial spirit, o as additio the sto ck o f theo ries awaiting public approval . The writers have no time to waste in arguing h d o n n with people w o o not wish to be c vi ced, or who ridicule everything which is new to o r their limited o utlo o k. Their message is f tho se who desire to kno w tho se who are seeking fo r so mething that will solve their ffi F o and o . o r d ubts rem ve their di culties such , all that is needed is a clear expositio n of the Theo so phical teachings ; fo r they will judge of the truth o f a teaching by its power to an

o n . swer the questi s they ask People realize , much mo re no w than in the early days o f the S the Theosophical ociety, value of Theo sophy ; iv PR EFACE

fo r the ever- increasing difficulties engendered and by selfishness and materialism, by doubt an the multiplicity of theories , have created

urgent demand which it alone ca n satisfy . n n to a and Agai , it is ecessary st te clearly emphatically the genuine teachings o f Theo n n o o sophy, as give by the Fou der f the The nd sophical So ciety, H . P . Blavatsky, a her

e o . and n succ ss rs , William Q Judge, Katheri e

n F r . . Ti gley . o , as H P Blavatsky predicted , there are perso ns who have sought to pervert these teachings and turn them into a so urce of profit to themselves and their o wn selfish an d ambitio us schemes . The true teachings do not lend themselves to such purposes ; their and o n ideals are of the purest m st u selfish . Hence these persons have so ught to pro mul gate under the name o f Theo sophy a perverted n form of the teachi gs , fro m which B ro therli n and h u o o ess ot er p re m tives are mitted , and n a n n which co t i s doctri es which H . P . B lav at sk o to maleficent and y sh wed be destructive . A s these pseudo ~Theo so phists have gained a certain amount of no toriety by using the names o So and of the The sophical ciety its Leaders , i t is n ecessary to warn the public against them PR EFACE

n i s and their misrepresentatio s . Their teach ng n n o o n to ca easily be sho w , by c mparis , be di rectly contrary to those of H . P . Blavatsky, In who m they nevertheless pro fess to fo llo w . -sacrifi e stead o f having for their basis self c , - urifi io n and o n hu self p cat , the elevati of the man n to o n n to race, these teachi gs ofte pa der n In m n o n nd . ambiti , va ity, a curiosity a y cases and o n they are alto gether ridiculous, ly cal culated to make people laugh . Nevertheless, as these travesties have served to discredit the name of Theo sophy and to keep earn est in uirers o is w q away fr m the truth , it ell that the o n n n i public sh uld k ow their ature a d o r gin . They are the work o f peo ple who were at one o f o o o time members the The s phical S ciety , but who did not find in it that food fo r their o wn personalities o f which they were really in search . So they turned against their teachers in o n and n and w u ded pride va ity , started little societies o f their o wn with themselves at the head . The writers o f these Manuals have no per n n n an n so al grieva ce agai st y such calum iators . Inspired by a pro fo und love of the sublime ‘ in f e xx o o the h a ma d . teach gs Theos phy, y v e vi PR EFA CE their life-work to bring the benefits which they have thereby received within the reach o f as A nd many people as possible . they feel that they will have the hearty sympathy and co operation o f the public in exposing folly and n bri ging the truth to light . Theo sophy strikes un familiar ground in. n no t o modern civilizatio , because it does c me under any particular o ne o f the familiar head

n n n . n o i gs of Religio , Scie ce, Philosophy, etc , i t which our age has divided its speculative ac iv i i s o in o t t e . It dates back to a peri d the hist ry of mankind when such distinctions did not ex ne n o r n ist, but there was o G osis K owledge n io and S n embraci g all . Relig n cie ce , as we o w have them today, are but imperfect gr ths springing from the remnants of that great n n he o - o n w a cie t system, t Wisd m Religi , hich included all that we no w kn ow as religio n and

n nd . n o scie ce , a much more He ce The sophy will not appeal to the same motives as religio n n n ff n a d science . It will ot o er a y cheap and easy salvatio n or put a premium upo n mental n n n n i activity a d spiritual selfish ess . Neither ca it acco mmodate itself to the rules laid do wn by va rio us schools o f modern thought as to PR EFACE vii

n what constitutes pro o f and what does ot. n But it can and do es appea l to the Reaso . The truth of doctrines such as Theosophy n n n mai tains, ca o ly be estimated by their ability to solve pro blems and by their harmo ny with other truths which we kno w to be true . But in additio n to this we have the testimo ny n n of the ages, which has been too lo g eglected n no w n by moder scholarship, but which is bei g o o n revealed by archae l gists a d scholars , as

H . P . Blavatsky prophesied that it wo uld in i n th s ce tury. It may perhaps be as well also to remind o o f those who w uld criticise, that the state modern opinio n is scarcely such as to warrant n n n i a ybody i assumi g the att tude of a judge . fo r o It would be quite proper a The sophist, instead o f answering questio ns o r attempting to n give proofs , to dema d that his questio ners a o wn nd t should first st te their case , a o be i h mself the questioner . The result wo uld cer ta inl o o o to y sh w that The s phy, say the very an o n an n least, st ds equal footi g with any h n n ot er view, si ce there is o certain know no n n o n und ledge, satisfyi g expla ati , to be fo n a ywhere . viii PR E FACE

Sinc e the days when the wave of material o o l n ism swept over the w rld, b iterati g the traces o f the ancient Wisdo m -Religion and o o t e replacing it by theol gical d gmatism, our ligio ns have had nothing to offer us in the way of a philosophical explanatio n of the laws of n in Being as revealed in Man a d Nature . Instead we have o nly had bare sta tements n n and do gmatic assertio s . The higher ature of man is represented by such vague words and r n as Spirit So ul, which have little o o n n fo r o o f mea i g the maj rity. The laws the universe are briefly summed up under the ” n n n term God, a d all further co sideratio of ff n o n n them shut o . The came a reacti agai st o n and m n nn the d gmatism of religio , a pi ed his faith to kno wledge gained by study and n i n o reflectio , lim ti g his researches , h wever, to o w n n the uter orld as prese ted by the se ses, and fearing to trench upon the gro und which dogmatic theology had rendered the field of n n n so much co te tio . The result o f this has n n n n r n bee that either in religio s o scie ces, have we any teaching about the higher nature o f man the n or deeper mysteries of the u iverse . n n This is a field which is left e tirely u explored , PR EFACE ix or is at best the subject of tentative and nu guided conjectures . n U til , therefore, religious teachers have n n n n satisfac so methi g defi ite, co siste t, and o ff and n n can to ry to er, u til scie ce give us so mething better than mere con fessions of nescience or impudent denials with regard to n n o wn o n everythi g beyo d its d mai , Theosophy can afford to assume the role of questioner n o f o n and o not rather tha that questi ed , d es i n o we anybody any explanat o s whatever. It is sufficient to state its tenets and let them vin dicate themselves by their greater reaso n ableness ; and any further explanatio n that may be offered is o ffered rather fro m good n o n n will tha fr m a y obligatio . Theo sophy undertakes to explain that which n a n and n other systems leave u expl i ed , is , o o wn a o n w o o its speci l gr u d, ith ut a competit r . ca n a It issue challenge to theology, science, and o n to r other m der systems , su pass it in giving a rational explanatio n of the facts o f life . n o Agai , there are s me questio ns which it is n n n beyo d the reach of the huma mi d, in its resent sta e o dev elo ment to n n p g f p , a swer ; a d PR EPA CE it would scarcely be just to arraign Theosophy for no t answering these . Judgment sho uld in all cases be prec eded by careful study . There are always those who will impatiently rush to questio ns which a further study would have rendered un necessary ; and it is safe to say that the majo rity of o bjectio n s raised to Theo so ph ical teachings are such as co uld have been o i s lved by the objector h mself, had he been n n n In o n o a ge ui e stude t . the rdi ary c urses o f n o nd educatio , sch lars are required a are n n n n co te t, to accept pro visio ally ma y o f the ’ n n n n teachers stateme ts, i full co fide ce that further study will explain what in the begin n n nn In i g ca o t be made clear . the same spirit an earnest student o f Theoso phy will be wise eno ugh to ho ld many o f his difficul in n i ties reserve, u til, by further investigat o n, he has gained better acquaintance with his n subject . I the case of tho se who are no t willing to ado pt these wise and patient meth o f n ods study, it may be reaso ably questioned whether they are the mo re anxio us to learn o or t disprove . A bo ve all it is sought to make these Man PR E FACE xi uals such that they shall appeal to the heart and not merely to the head ; that they shall be of practical service to the reader in the nd n n problems of his daily life, a ot mere i tel u r in lect al exercises . Fo there have been past days books written by persons more dis tinguished fo r a certa in grade of menta l nim bleness than for heartfelt devotion to the cause o f truth ; and these have appealed o nly to those peo ple who lo ve intricate philo so phi n cal problems better tha practical work. But

. . n as H P Blavatsky so freque tly urged , the message of Theosophy is fo r suffering human and ity ; the great Teachers , whose sole pur pose is to bring to mankind the Light of Truth and the saving grace o f real Bro ther liness can have no interest in catering for the mental curiosity o f merely a few well

! n n s men to do i dividuals . E ve oulless , said can l n n c H . P . Blavatsky, be bril ia tly i telle tual ; but for those who are in earnest in their de sire to reach the higher life intellectual fire n n works alo e will have little attractio . We n n h i te d , t erefore, to keep the practical aspect n n nd of the teachi gs always to the fro t, a to ‘ ha th are mmm show, as far as possible , t t ey PR EFA CE they claim to be the gospel of a new hope and salvation for humanity. These Booklets are not all the product of n en n ff n a si gle p , but are writte by di ere t Students at the International Headquarters of the UN IVER SA L BROT HERHOOD A N D THEO

T n n . SO PHICA L SOCIE Y at Poi t Lo ma, Califor ia E ach writer has contributed his o wn quota to the series. For further explanation s o n Theosophy n ge erally, the reader is referred to the Boo k List published elsewhere in this volume and to n i the other Ma uals of this series , wh ch treat of Theoso phy and the various Theo sophical n teachi gs . CONTE NTS

C YCLIC L A W UNIVERSAL R OUNDS or HUMAN E VOLUTION

T he T hree, Seven and T en C YCLIC IMPRESSION T H E R ET URN O F R ACES E VOLUTION THROUGH C YCLIC R ETURN T rends o f D escent and A scen t Man no t y et fully Man A NCI ENT KNOWLED GE Symbo ls o f the Pilg rimage IMPORTANCE O F PRESENT C YCLE

CYCLIC LA W UN IVE RSA L

HA TEVE R attention men of science may have given to the action of cyclic n law in some realms of nature, it is certai that in recent times little no tice has been taken of it by most Western peoples . We are doubtless more or less co nscious of the reign of law in in ff o terrestrial as sidereal a airs . Hist ry r n n repeats itself is a t ite sayi g, ofte applied to the petty as well as to the larger events n n of life. But we have surely ot gai ed more than a faint notion of the universality of this law in everything fro m tiniest atoms to cir cling universes ; in living fo rces ; in our emo n n n i n n tio s, aspiratio s, i tell ge ce ; in i dividual and racial consciousness : in all the panorama o f n life, whether visible or i visible . Nor do ne so we seem to have lear d to use, or rather to respect, cyclic laws, as to redeem or free n o o n from the actio of l wer f rces or , putti g 2 D O CTR IN E O F CY CL E S

so to nn it more exactly, use i er cyclic laws t o r n n and as o free tra smute o uter o es , thus to o pen the path of a true and boundless freedom within the regio ns o f equally true and illimitable law . o in o ne o f n The d ctr e of cycles, the teachi gs in o f o o is no met with the study The s phy, n i o n merely metaphysical fa cy, but w ll be f u d to be so mething which can be not o nly verified and o io n n and by study bservat , but seized upo applied practically in everyday life ; and this n ffo o n eve witho ut very much e rt, yet pr duci g

n fi en n n - be e c t a d n . results , sa e, far reachi g We shall first glance at so me manifesta n i in o tio s o f cycl c law the world ab ut us . In ffo t do so n the e rt o , we shall be i evitably n o n h o n co fr ted wit s me appare t mysteries , which will probably suggest the action of n o n in to nn defi ite laws bel g g i er causal realms . We may be led to perceive a fact which the latest scientific tho ught has already fo rmulated n no n o n regardi g the phe me al w rld amely, that there are very few laws kno wn to science o r philosophy behind which there may no t be

D O CTR IN E O F CYCLES

refer for fuller in formatio n and guidance because in these teachings will be found epi tomized much more of those o f the ancient Wisdom- Religion than can readily be found in fi h n o s o o ts or comme taries . In the domains of bio lo gy and pathology the existence of cyclic law has no t escaped atten i o in M c t on . The foll w g passage is from the d ic l R ev iew 1844 a , July ,

T here is a harmo ny o f numbers in all nature ; i i h l n in the fo rce o f g rav ty, n t e p a etary mo vements, i l i n in the laws o f heat, l ght, e ectric ty a d c hemical m im l l afi nity , in the fo r s o f an a s and p ants, in the f h d h dir i n in perceptio n o t e min . T e ect o , deed, o f i modern natural and physi cal sc ence, is to wards a generalizatio n which shall express the fundamental

laws o f all, by o ne simple numerical ratio . W e wo uld ’ re fer to Pro fesso r Whewell s Philosophy of the In H ’ duc tive ciences and to Mr. a s researc es into S , y h l f rm nio u f Fro the aws o ha o s co lo r and o rm. m these it appea rs that the number sev en is distinguished in the laws regulating the harmo nio us perceptio n o f

fo rms, co lo rs and so unds, and pro bably o f taste

also if we co uld anal se o ur sensatio ns o f t is ind . , y h k

h s n ne So muc o , i deed, that more than o phy sician has stood aghast at the persistent CY CL IC L A W UN I VE R SAL S septenary return of the cycles in the rise and n and n a fall of various complai ts , atur lists have felt themselves at an utter lo ss to explain this

. n nn F R . . law As H . Gratta Gui ess, . G S wrote

The irt ro w maturi ital f ctio ns deca b h, g th, ty, v un , y and deat o f insects r ile s ird mam. h, , ept s, fishe , b s, mals, and even o f man, are mo re o r less co ntro lled l l by a aw o f co mp etio n in weeks,

. e . n . D r i , cycles of seve days . Laycock ancet 1842 n on Perio dic it (L , writi g the y ! Vit l Pheno men of a a, records a most remark able illustration and co nfirmation of the law ” in n and n n n e i sects , havi g give a umb r of n n o illustratio s from atural history, the doct r adds :

T he facts I have briefly glanced at are g eneral n er i so ma facts, and ca no t happen day aft day n ny millio ns of anima ls of every kind, fro m the L arva ' u o r O vum of a Minute Insect p to Man, at difl erent d m r i perio s, fro m a ere chance o c oinc dence. I think it impo ssible to co me to any less general co nclusio n t an t is t at in animals chan es o ccur e r thr e h h , h , g ve y e ur n t - r and a half, sev en, fo tee , wenty o ne, o ta lenty h m ek s eig t days, o r at so e definite number of we , 6 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL ES

n D r . or septenary cycles . Agai , the same Layco ck states that

r ill W hatever type the fever may ex hibit, the e w n th da the our be a paro xysm o n the sev e y , f teenth will be remarkable as a day of amen dmen t If th [either cure o r death taking place!. e fo urt ro x sm b sev ere and the ft less so h [pa y ! e , fi h , x m the disease will end at the seventh paro ys , and chang e fo r the better will be seen o n the ’ o urteen th da namel a ut t re o r fo u f y , y, bo h e r o clo ck h m i n i m. w n s m a. , he t e sy te s o st la gu d .

i i i n i n th Thus mater alist c sc e ce med ci e , e most ma terialistic of all applies o ccult laws to i n i o i diseases, stud es atural h st ry w th its help; reco gn izes its presence as a fact in na

and n - ture , yet must eeds pooh pooh the same archaic kno wledge when claimed as part of the truths kno wn to the ancient Wisdo m Religio n ! Fo r if the mysterio us Septenary law in n nd it is o ne Cycle is a ature, a , as pro v en ; if it is fo und co ntro lling evo lutio n a nd inv o lutio n (o r death ) in the realms o f ento mo o ichth l and o ni o o in l gy , y ogy r th l gy , as the n o n a n ki gd m of the a imals , m mmalia a d man why canno t it be present and acting in Ko s C Y CL IC L A W UN IVER SA L

in n in n mos , ge eral , its atural (though occult) n and mental divisio s of time , races , develop A n t o o not ment ! d why, fur herm re, sh uld the most ancient Adepts have studied and tho r o ughly mastered these cyclic laws under all D o n ! n r. S their aspects I deed, tratt states as n o a physio logical a d path logical fact , that in health the human pulse is mo re frequent in the mo rning than the ev ening fo r six days o ut of sev en ; h h it is l r in and that o n t e sev en t day s owe . (E d .

d r l n . Me . and S u g . Jo urna , Ja 1843)

n n o o o Why, the , should o t The s phy sh w the same in cosmic and terrestrial life in the pulse n D o of the planets a d races ! r. Layc ck di vides life by three great septenary p erio ds : the first and last each stretching o ver twenty-o ne and n i o r o f years , the ce tral per od prime life

- l n t n o r o i n . asti g we ty eight years, f ur t mes seve He subdivides the first into sev en distinct sta es and wo in o no g , the other t t three mi r o and peri ds, says that

The fundamental unit o f the g reater perio ds is on wee o ev a s n l e k f s en d y , each day bei g twe v e ho urs; [and that! single and co mpo und mu ltiples O R ! (US 8 D O CTR IN E O F CYCLE S

l f s eriods the unit, determine the ength o the e p by f h un o f twel e o urs same ratio , as multiples o t e it v h s all r determine the lesser periods. This law bind pe l d io dic vital pheno mena tog ether, and inks the perio s o bserv ed in the lowest annulose anima ls, with those hims l h hi h t o h of man e f, t e g es f t e vertebrata .

If Scienc e does this why should the latter n he n o n na scor t occult i formati , mely, that ’ n D r a co ck s u o ne week (speaki g . L y lang age) of the manvantaric (lunar ) fortnight of four n n n o n tee days (or seve Ma us) , that f rt ight of twelve hours in a day representing the seven perio ds or seven races is no w passed This language of science fits the esoteric doc n i n n have tri e adm rably . We (ma ki d) lived o week en da s e n ver a of sev y , each day b i g t d h urs n and r w v e o , si ce three a half aces are n no w go e forever, the fo urth is submerged , i and we are no w n the Fifth Race . We shall return to glance at the meaning of this state n n n n n ment prese tly, a d mea while it is i teresti g to note that the Hebrew word for week is Seven ; and any length of time divided in seven parts would have meant a week in CYCL IC L A W UN IVER SAL 9

n their day eve years , as it is n n calcu seve times seve millions . But their n i latio is sept form throughout . In these days of co ntinual discovery of new sets o f invisible rays and radio -activity n i n no o ne to of various ki ds, t eed surprise learn that certain rays from the moon exert potent influences upon both vegetable and ani mal A nd n life . it will be oted that the four ’ quarters of the moon s cycle are each a week in n n n n o duration . Gra ti g other i flue ces fr m n- i n sun nd n the seve fold rad a ce o f the , a havi g h o n and nn regard to t e daily, m thly a ual cycles two to ho w of these orbs, it is easy see vast a network of subtle invisible fo rces controlling vital phenomena are swayed by the movements i sun and oo n n . o t of , earth, m alo e Nor w uld be altogether fatuous or unscientific in these n i in days, to imagi e that the other bod es the solar system also exert definite and cyclic in fluences in majestic correspo ndence with their n n h rm m t appare t mo veme ts across t e fi a en . Were we to admit all this as ascertained

sc n erceiv e. ie tific fact, it is at least easy to p 10 D O CTR IN E O F CY CL E S that we have in the solar system a perfect mechanism to serve as the fo undatio n of much in no n the cyclic phe me a of all terrestrial life , something in fact which would illuminate

n o n o o no . ma y pr blems i bio l gy, t go further n re If we ve tured a step further , however, m m rin n o ni n e be g that all the eleme ts, c g tio s and forces that make us Man (or at least po tential Man ) are themselves invisible and im ponderable fo r what o rdinary mo rtal ever o ur n o n e saw thoughts, aspiratio s , em tio s or d sires remembe ring also that the mo st subtle i and n n . . elusive po wers ature (e g , the hypo ” its o o n thetical ether, with myriad c rrelati s, and gravitatio n are being daily proved to possess dynamic and formative po wer in in verse ratio to their perceptibleness (the subtler o o o w ffe the f rce, the m re p erful its e cts ) , we surely need no t hesitate to conclude that all the fo rmative intelligent and dyn amic po wers that o f n in lie back these cycli g orbs space , or of n o in in inv is the ti iest at m, do fact reside the ible and impo nderable side o f nature ; while s n o o n n and n u s , m s, earth, pla ts a imals with

ROUND S OF HUMAN E VOLUTION

T HE ancient teaching is that everything in n n n ni it the u iverse, i cludi g the u verse n n e n ne self, is u der cyclic law . A alo gy b i g o in of the great keys such studies, we should expect to find that just as we have day and n mm nd n n and ight, su er a wi ter, waki g sleep in h and n sun g, birt death ; so worlds, su s, n nd systems, u iverses a the Kosmos, each has and n and in its days ights, summers w ters , a in and in and w k g sleep g states, births ” deaths . A n in n n d so, the oume al realms, vast per io ds of time are necessary to build up the dif ferent strata of form and conscious life which finally converge upo n the objective world as n n we k ow it . From a ki d of idealized cosmic n and substa ce , which is both spirit matter, cos mic will and intelligence spin a web reaching R O UN D S O F E VO L UTIO N 13 through the seven worlds or states from the purely spiritual side of nature down to the ob i the j ective and material . The deta ls of pro cess are naturally too vast and complex to be co n mprehe ded, but so much of the later pro cesses can at least be outlined as will enable a glimpse of the action of cyclic laws to be reached . As a result of the seven - fo ld cosmic forces n i n V Ma I tell gence , Motio , ital E lectricity, g netism n n o n , Astral Radiatio or Ema ati , Heat and a n i n Light e ch ce ter of l fe , pla etary or n n atomic, beco mes fi ally e dowed with a sep t n r and n n e a y nature, swept by respo di g to these septenary forces under cyclic laws . Thus in the case of the earth (which acco rding to the ancient teaching is the child of the moon ) ! the real ea rth exists o n four distinct planes nn n i o or realms of i er ature, the vis ble w rld being the lowest o f these . The degree of ma ri i n o te al ty or de sity of this l wer state, itself n changes thro ugho ut the aeo s o f time . ! The teaching is that co untless millions o f years ago (approximate figures will be fo u nd 14 D O CTR IN E O F CY CL ES

Th cr t D oc trine n n in e S e e ) , certai rou ds o f evo lutio nary forces passed through that seven - fo ld center in space which was later and no w in to become the earth, that we are ! ” ! ” o n o n the f urth of these ro u ds . E ach r u d was concerned with the building up o f ele ments and vehicles for vario us fo rms o f min n n n o eral , vegetable a d a imal life u der vari us i f o i nd in hierarch es o c sm c powers, a at a certa stage suitable v ehicles for the entrance o f f i n n o n higher; hierarchies, o a d vi e co sci us ess o n n to o n ro bel gi g lder cycles, were fi ally p ” du e n c d . This was the Fall of the a gels , who sacrificed their divine natures in o rder that a co nscio usly divine race sho uld ultimately i n to re gn o earth . These have pass through i - i r o the r self elected p lg image thr ugh matter, under the cyclic laws sweeping round the n - o f i i i seve fo ld world, wh ch the v s ble earth , o and o as already said, is the l west m st mater ial ; and it is accomplished during each Ro und thro ugh seven great Races already referred t f in n nd o , o which this Fourth Rou d three a ” o n n a half are gone, the F urth (the Atla tea R O UN D S O F E VO L UTIO N 15

and n w epoch) submerged, the Fifth is o in pro gress . E ach Great Race is further divided n a - the i to seven gre t sub races, of which pres ! ”

e t th . n , the Aryan, is e fifth o o o n nd a sub M re ver, each R u d , Race , a gre t o n o o f race is, acc rdi g t the laws correspond n o n n n n e ce, c cer ed mai ly with the i vo lutio n and evolutio n o f o ne or other o f the prin ciples which go to make up the future co m l M p ete an . Thus we learn that the present Great Race is destined primarily to develo p within o f i law n i io the limits cycl c , the Higher I tu t nal in o r o M d Human S ul , as distinguished fro m that other aspect of Mind which is mo re co n nected o ur o io n i n with em t s , des res , a d pas o n n n si s . This evolutio , ho wever , will o ly be

in n n r fully atta ed duri g the ext o Fifth Ro und . The next point to remember is that these cyclic waves of super-terrestrial forces and n i n i tell ge ces , which vibrate thro ugh every at o m o f the very air we breathe, are themselves n in and i io n i volved greater lesser subdiv s s , so that in studying the questio n we can step do wn 16 D O CTR IN E O F CY CL ES

o o n t s a s in th ught fr m millio s to hou ands of ye r , o n n o thence t ce turies, si gle years, days , h urs , nd n and n minutes a seco ds, still be traci g the n n o r actio of the particular eleme t, force , intelligence under review . (So me scientific writers have recently been tracing analo gies between the co nditions of the in finitely small n and the infi nitely great . ) As an i stance of n n our i depe dence, in such a study, of time as ar o n n f a b to c mprehe sio , a period o years will be found to bear the same pro por tio n to the duration of o ne Grand E ra o f o n o o ne s objective c scious K smic Life , as ec i o nd of our t me bears to a hundred yea rs .

TH T N E HREE, SEVE , A N D TE N

WHILE seven is the number o f the mani fes ed n n o f n t o all pla es bei g, three is always inevitably and philo so phically the number of the o vershado wing noumenal ; hence we sho uld expect to find cycles o f both seven and ten and their multiples having an appreciable in R 0 UN D S O F E VO L UTIO N 17

fluence in our progress toward the goal o f a n Fifth R ce evolutio . fo r Thus, example, if a wave of spiritual o n a t fo r w aspirati l s s thirty years , e should expect to see it fo llo wed by an attempt at o n n n realizati lasti g seve ty years , to be succeed ed n n by a o ther wave o f spiritual e ergy . If one of these initial waves happened to coincide with several similar o nes o f larger cyclic sweep, we should expect to see the fo rce o n n i en rmo usly i te s fied . A careful study o f E astern Chrono lo gy which embraces periods so vast as to be be yo nd the dreams of even the most pro minent o o i an i western ge l g sts , d withal so accurate n no u n in astro mical calc latio , as to put the shade o ur vaunted modern kno wledge o f astro no my n o f n o combi ed with a study moder hist ry, will be fo und to confirm the teachings o f Theosophy : o n the o ne hand that waves o f such aspiratio n and effort have occurred every n and n r hu dred years ; o the other , that seve al larger cycles recently culminated simultan eo usly with the appearance on earth o f the. 18 D O CTR IN E O F CYCLES

Teachers and Teachings o f the Ancient Wis do m- i o n in r n Rel gi , fuller public fo m tha has n n wn fo r o n o f bee k o five th usa d years . This co urse must co rrespo nd to so mething in hu manity capable o f receiving and rising to these n o o o treme d us th ugh subtle cyclic f rces , for as Katherine Tingley said a few years ago a new energy has been liberated fro m the ” center o f life . ff n This must a ect all o earth , whether at n i n t nd n first co sc o us of it or o , a the teachi gs o f Theosophy are therefo re a necessity o f the we in n n nn n age live , a respo se to a i er dema d fo r truth in the hearts and souls o f men at and n and are this time, for this ce tury ; they

thus seen to be in harmo ny with cyclic law . The cardinal features o f these teachings n i n have bee outlined n the earlier Ma uals .

Z) D O CTR IN E O F CY CL ES

t to n and much subjec cyclic law as the moo , and and ne the stars, the world, it is o far more impo rtant as aff ecting our perso nal develop ment or evolutio n than all these other great n fo r ff in thi gs ; while these a ect us the mass , t o n ff i those li tle es a ect us n detail . i n Th s law of impressio may be illustrated . If we loo k at an incandescent lamp the light

an n n d if makes image on the reti a, a we then n shut the eyes, the bright filame t will still be d seen . If we keep the eyes clo sed an watch intently we shall see the image co me back a n n certai umber of times, it will stay a certain n o n n h umber of c u ts, go away the same le gt n in in o of time and return, always cha g g s me i respect but always the mage of the filament , n s n u til at last it di appears , appare tly because

o ther impressions have co vered it o ver . So there is a return even in the retina of the im

n n . pressio s of this filame t After the first time, n i and the co lor cha ges each t me, so it keeps o min ba k at r ul r interv als o n c g c eg a , sh wi g that there is a cyclic return o f impressio n in the nd in o ne retina, a if that applies place , it CY CL IC IMPR ESSIO N 21

i n applies n every place . A d when we loo k into o we find n our m ral character the same thi g,

o r we in n s in man f as have tides the o cea , o we are n have tides , which called retur of these io n is d n n impress s ; that to say, we o a thi g o ce , there will be a tendency to repeat ; we do it i A nd s n and o s in n . o o twice , it d ubles t flue ce all thro ugh o u r character we have this co n n n stant retur o f cyclic impressio . We have these impressio n s fro m every point in n n space , every experie ce we have bee o in we can i o thr ugh , everyth g that poss bly g n n o n w i thro ugh at a y time, eve th se thi gs h ch A nd our fo refathers went through . that is no n f r i o n t u just o th s reas , that our forefathers

n in o n n and fur ished the l e of b dily e caseme t, we can no t enter that line o f bodily encase ment unless we are like unto it ; and fo r that reaso n we must have been at some point in that cycle in that same line o r family in the past ; so that we must have had a hand in co n structing the particular family line in which n w and n o we o exist, are o ce m re taking up the cyclic impressio n returning upo n us . 22 D O CTR IN E O F CY CL ES

Now this has the greatest possible bearing o io n n upon our ev lut as particular i dividuals, n the evolutio of our bodily life . An opportun ity arises for us to do something ; we do not do it ; we may no t have it again fo r a hundred years . It is the return before us of so me old n ne n thi g that was good , if it is a good o , alo g i o r n the l ne o f the cycles . The opp tu ity may no n n n b t r t retur u til a other life, u it will retu n under the same law . man n Or to take another case . A is tryi g find u n to o t thi gs about his psychic nature , n n o perhaps , but pays o atte ti n to the return of i the impressio n wh ch he creates . He has i n can no n t mes of depressio which he t explai , and perhaps so meo ne draws his attentio n to o no t the fact that these are periodic . He d es d w n o know what to o , ho ever, u til p ssibly a

n n o t n s frie d , who k ows s me hi g of the e cyclic to o laws, advises him c mpel himself to feel n and o jo yous , even agai st his will, if he c uld

n n to not have do e that, the to have tried n feel the j o y o f o thers . By doi g that, he would have implanted in himself ano ther im C Y CL IC IMPR ESSIO N 23

o n t o so n pressi , hat is of j y , that when this thi g rn n n f it retu ed , i stead of bei g o the same qual y nd n o n o n n a exte si , it w uld have bee cha ged by n o f o r o n and the impressio joy elati , the two things co ming together wo uld have counter two i acted each o ther, just as bill ard balls ’ coming together try to co unteract each other s i h mo vements . Th s applies to every person w o ” o has the blues . When it c mes , start up o n e n o s methi g else, start up ch erful ess, be g od to o o n n to o s me e, the try relieve s me other per

s n h n and no o w o is desponde t, a ther impres sion will have been started which will retu rn no n ff at the same time . It does t make a y di er ence if we wait a day or two to make the e n o ld att mpt, for whe the cyclic impressio n return s it will have dragged up the new o ne to io n because it is related it by associat . T HE RE TURN OF RACE S

T HIS has a bearing also o n the question o f the civilizatio n in which we are a Fo r who point o urselves . are we really ! Where are we go ing ! Where have we co me fro m ! The old E gyptian s disappeared . If n n i o o in we exami e E gyptia h st ry, the m st eres in h t t g because t e most o bscure, we shall find the writers saying that that civilizatio n is t do seems to r e o the zenith at o nce . We n n no t see when it bega . The civilizatio was so great it must have existed an eno rmo us n t so le gt h of time o get to that height , that nno o nnin and we ca t trace it fr m its begi g, it disappears suddenly fro m the sky ; there is no thing o f it left but the enormo us remains i h in fo r the wh ch testify to t ese great th gs , ancient E gyptian s not only made mummies in which they displayed the art of bandaging THE R E T UR N O F R A CES 25

t that we cannot better, but hey had put every thing to such a degree of specialization that we must co nclude they had many centuries o f n was i fo r o ne civilizatio . There a special st and i fo r eye a special st the other , a specialist

fo r o w and so o n . the eyebr , We are the E gyptians ! We have co me back ’ n h n a agai , after our five t ousa d or so ye rs and we w t cycle, have dragged back i h us so me n o e called the Semitic race, with which we are co nnected by so me o ld impressio nthat we can no t rid f and s n in get o , o upo us is imp ged that n very Semitic image . We have draw back wi n f i i th us, by the i evitable law o assoc at on in u n o o o n cyclic ret r , s me race, s me pers ages co nnected with us by so me acts o f o urs in that

r o ld i i io n no w nd g eat civ l zat disappeared , a we cannot get rid o f it ; we must raise them up to o some ther place as we raise ourselves . ' Here in America is the evidence that this o ld io n o n f r i civilizat is c mi g back, o n the o n n The sophical theory othi g is lo st . If we

in nd i were left to records, build gs a the l ke, they wo uld soon disappear and no thing co uld 26 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL ES ever be recovered ; there never wo uld be any o n i pr gress . But each i d vidual in the civiliza o n o in ti , wherever it may be, puts the rec rd i and o h mself, when he comes into the fav rable i d in P n an c rcumstances describe ata jali , old in H di: when he gets the apparatus, he will in n n n br g out the old impressio . The a cie ts o nd say each act has a th ught under it, a each tho ught makes a mental impression ; and when h t e apparatus is pro vided, there will arise that

new o n o in n and n n . c diti n , ra k, place, e dowme t So we retain in o urselves the impressio n o f n o n and n all the thi gs that we have d e, whe the i h t me co mes that we ave returned, over and o ver again , thro ugh the middle ages perhaps, n o n n in o n n n i t E gla d, t Germa y, i to Fra ce , we co me at last to an enviro nment such as is pro v ided n and r here, just the thi g physically eve y o n to nd ther way to e able us do well, a to who o n O ne help the others are c mi g after us . can almo st see them ; they are coming in a little army fro m the co untries of the O ld Wo rld to endeavo r to impro ve this o ne ; fo r here ages ago there wa s a civilizatio n also

28 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL ES beginning will be accompanied by co nvulsion s o f o f w society and of nature, s me o hich ha ve already taken place . We can all almost see the coming o f the new ! D n i i . : cycle a iel said A t me, half a t me , and i and s on and o in he a t me, o , pe ple t Christ ian system have been trying to find o ut when i n and ifli cul the t me bega , that is just the d ty . do no no w n A nd We t k w he the time began . the o nly perso n who in all these many years first made a direct autho ritative statement is ! and Madame Blavatsky , she said , A cycle is i ” n n n u . e di g a few years, yo must prepare So that it was like the o ld pro phets who came nd i f r ne to the people a sa d, Prepare o a w o f n o u era thi gs, get ready for what y have h is i i i o n to do . T at j ust what th s c v lizati is i o n . d i g It is the h ghest, altho ugh the crudest i i n in civ l zation ow on earth . It is the beg n n n i i g o f the great civilizatio that s to co me . The great new civilization will be o ne with the n i n wh i a c e t E ast, o has sat there s lently all

n in n n n these years, holdi g her a cie t crypts a d libraries and records the philo so phy which the THE R E T UR N O F R A CE S 29

world wants ; and it is this philoso phy and this i o n n eth cs , which bel ged equally to a cient r h N A T Ame ica, that t e U IVERS L BRO HERHOOD A N D THEOSOPHICA L SOCIET Y is putting into o o practice bef re the eyes f the who le wo rld . It is a philo so phy which ca n be understoo d nd a practised . is n i It well e ough to say to a man : D o r ght . w i in io But after a h le, this superstit us era , i : o do n he w ll say Why sh uld I right, u less I it ! n o feel like Whe we sh w him these laws, that he must co me back in his cycle ; that he is subject to evo lutio n ; that he is a reincarnated i n o n pilgr m soul, the he will see the reas why, and n in o to i the rder get himself a secure bas s , i o s he accepts the ph l ophy . E VOLUTION THROUGH CYCLIC RE TURN

T has been said tha t the great end and aim i i n n o n . s is the great re u ciat That , that o r in to r a i i we after pr g ess g g e t he ghts , wh ch nl unselfishness we i no can o y do by , w ll t say o to i to urself, I may take the ease wh ch F r i in n I am entitled . o what preva ls o e place i in no and in o o must preva l a ther, the c urse f pro gress we must co me at last to a time when i i can o ur case . f we take But we say, I w ll no t it no and take , but as I k w this world all the people o n it are bound to live and last r n o n o and no fo ma y th usa d years m re , if t helped perhaps might fail I will no t take to and i ff it, but I will stay here aid I w ll su er , because o f ha ving greater kno wledge and r n n r re g eater se sitive ess, this is the g eat nun i i n c at o as Theo so phy tells us .

no t o n i n We do fte talk th s way, because ma y E VO L UTIO N B Y C YCL IC R E T UR N 31 o f t n o us hi k that pe ple will say to us, I ’ ” n n is do t wa t it, it too much tro uble . So n we o fin o and ge erally talk ab ut the e pr gress , ho w we will at last escape the necessity o f n n o n and n rei car ati , at last escape the ecessity o f do ing this o r that and the other but if we do ur n n our duty, we must make up o mi d whe i w n n w we reach the he ght, he we k ow all, hen we participate in the go vernment o f the world not o f o n o nm n o f a t w , but the actual g ver e t the wo rld and the peo ple upon it that in f n in ur w o and o w stead o resti g o isd m p er , we will stay to help tho se who are left behin d ; r n n and that is the g eat renu ciatio . That is is o nd what told f Gautama Buddha , a of Jesus D o o the Christ . o ubtless the wh le st ry about n o i o Jesus, which ca hardly be pr ved h st rically, is based upon the same thing that we call re o r nunc iatio n . He was crucified after two ’ w n three years ork . But we say it mea s that this divine being reso lves he will crucify him in o f in o f self the eyes the world, the eyes h so can men o thral o t ers, that he save fr m the

o n n s . Gauta do m of their lower, pers al ature 32 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL E S ma did the same thing lo ng befo re Jesus is said to have been born . The sto ry that he made the great renunciatio n just means this

! n n i stead of escapi g fro m this ho rrible place, Fo r n as it seems to us . this is i deed horrible , r n o as we look at it, su rou ded by bstructions, an n t w liable to defeat at y mome t, liable o ake up in the morning after planning a great re

and it o n . In form, see dashed to the gr u d o f n n in stead escapi g all that, he remai ed the and his o n w n world started d ctri e , hich he k ew o at least would be adhered to by s me . This r n n n o n w is n g eat doctri e of re u ciati , hich ge er

all o - i n a al to the great W rld Relig o s, te ches that n o n w o i stead f wo rki g for o urselves , we ill w rk no n n in to k w everythi g, to do everythi g our fo r n power tho se who may be left behi d us, i . n Th i just as H P . Blavatsky says e Vo ce of th ilence n n in e S , Step out of su shi e to shade, ” r to make mo re roo m fo o thers . Is that no t better than a heaven which is reached at the price o f the damnatio n o f tho se o f o ur relatives who will no t believe a do gma ! Is this no t a great philo sophy and a great be E VO L UTIO N B Y CY CL IC R E TUR N 33 lief which includes the salvation and regener t o n n n n a i , the scie tific upraisi g and perfecti g h n a of t e whole huma f mily, and every particle in in n in the whole universe, stead of imag i g tha t a few miserable beings after seventy years n in o n of life shall e ter t paradise , and the look behind to see the to rments in hell of tho se who wo uld no t accept a do gma ! What are these o ther beliefs compared with this ! How any ma n ca n continue to believe such an idea as the usual one of damnatio n n fo r mere unbelief is hard to comprehend . O e o o w uld rather, were a ch ice required , believe ’ n n and o n co m almost a ythi g, be left with e s mo n s n n n i in o n rea o i g, tha bel eve such a d ctri e as that which permits o ne to suppose that his bro ther who does no t believe a do gma is siz zlin in o ne n g hell while , by simply believi g, ’ n o o n in n may e j y e s self heave . we n o f If tur to Buckle, a great writer the E n find in ne o f glish school, we him saying o o n o n o his fte quoted bo ks, that there is o d ubt i in a n o n that cyclic law preva ls reg rd to ati s , t hat they have come back apparently the same , 34 D O C TR IN E O F CY CL E S o n e t ly slightly improved or degrad d , for here is a do wnward cycle included within those i n that rise ; but he d d ot discover a law . He simply o nce mo re stated what the ancients had i i n sa d o ver and over aga n . A d it wo uld seem that if such writers wo uld pay a little more n io n n i n atte t to the a c e ts, they would save r fo r oh themselves a g eat deal of trouble , he i in n ta ned his law by much delv g, much pai s k n o w i o ta i g lab r, hereas he m ght have g tten o n n n the law if he had c sulted the a cie ts , who and t always taught that there were cycles , hat there always will be cycles . A very suggestive wo rk by a well- kno wn i D r Z sse nt . . a German scie st, E , appeared in the Prussian Jo urnal of S ta tistics so me years w o o n n n ago, po erfully c rr borati g the a cie t i teaching abo ut cycles . These per ods which

- n n n bring abo ut ever recurri g eve ts , begi from i o r so and to small perio ds l ke ten years , reach 250 500 700 and 1000 cycles which require , , years to effect their revo lutions aro und them

n n o ne no . co n selves , a d withi a ther All are ! ” a- tained within the Mah Yuga, the Great Age

36 D O CTR IN E O F CYCLE S

n and a cient medieval mystic, whether in words n Khunrath or pictures by He ry , for exam

. and ple But it serves well its purpose, gives n us the facts we now wa t. Before he treats , o f o however, the cycles f wars, the author brings in the record of the rise and fall of the ’ o w rld s great empires, and shows the degree o f activity they have displayed in the Universal n Histo ry . He poi ts out the fact that if we divide the map of the Old World into six parts n o n i t E astern, Ce tral and Western Asia, n and n and Easter Wester E urope, E gypt then we shall easily perceive that every 250 years an enormous wave passes o ver these n n in n areas, bri gi g to each its turn the eve ts it has brought to the one next preceding. This wave we may call the historical wave 2 ’ of the 50 years cycle . The first of these waves (in the period un in n 2000 B C der review) began Chi a years . o n o f t in the g lde age hat empire , the age

o o f . O f philo so phy, of disc veries, reforms

n f n In 1750 B . C . the Mo go lians o C e tral A sia m ir I 00 E f e. n . t establish a power ul e p 15 C. Egy p E VO L UTIO N B Y CY CL IC R E T UR N 37

rises fro m its tempo rary degradatio n and extends its sway o v er many parts o f E uro pe and A sia ; and a o u 2 th isto rical wave reac es and b t 1 50, e h h e er t s e ur llin it wit the c ro ss s o v o Ea t rn E ope, fi g h spirit o f the A rgonautic E xpeditio n, and dies o ut i B th ie f T r n 1G!) . c . at e S ge o oy.

The seco nd historical wave appears about n that time in Ce tral Asia .

The Scythians leave her steppes, and inundate to B h d o inin co untries di w rd ear 50 . c. t e a a the y 7 j g , t eeting themselves to wa rds the so uth and west ; abo ut h r E i W estern A sia e in an e o c t e ea 00 e. n s y 5 . , b g p h o f splendo r fo r ancient Persia ; and the wav e mov es

n h s f ur w ere a o ut 250 B . o to t e ea t o E o pe, h , b c . Greece reac hes her highest state o f c ulture and i ili a i nd furt er n to th est ere at c v z t on a h o e w , wh , the irt f rist th R o man m ir nds itself b h o C h , e E p e fi i f at ts apogee o po wer and g reatness.

we find Again, at this period the rising of o a third hist rical wave at the far E ast . After o n o n o pr lo ged rev lutio s, ab ut this time , China o o w d forms nce more a p erful empire, an its n d m an o n . arts , scie ces, c merce flo urish agai 250 fin n Then years later, we d the Hu s appear

in Use. g fro m the depths of Central A sia ; Yo. 38 D O CTR IN E O F CYCLES

5 A n e 00 . ew and a y ar . D a powerful Persi n kingdom is fo rmed ; in 7 50 in E astern E u ro pe the Byzantine empire ; and in the year 1000 on its western side springs up the o n n o sec d Roma Power, the E mpire f the Papa w i n a an cy , h ch so o re ches extrao rdinary de m v elo p ent o f wealth and brillia ncy . At the same time the fo urth wave approaches n in o i n fro m the Orie t . Ch a is again fl ur shi g ; in 125 n o i n w o 0, the Mo g l a ave fr m Central Asia ha s o v erflo wed and co vered an eno rmo us

o f n in n . 15 area la d, cludi g Russia About 00 in Western Asia the Ottoman E mpire rises in and o n all its might, c quers the Balkan penin a in sula ; but at the s me time, E astern E urope , Russia throws o ff the Tartar yoke ; and about 1750 n n o f n , duri g the reig E mpress Catheri e , an n n and rises to u expected gra deur, covers Th itself with glory . e wave ceaselessly moves o n further to the West ; and beginning with i o f n the m ddle the eighteenth ce tury , E urope is living o ver an epoch of revo lutions and re o and o n to o f rms, acc rdi g the auth r if l t ro n it is permissib e o p phesy, the abo ut the E VO L UTIO N B Y C Y CL IC R E T UR N 39 year W estern E urope will have liv ed thro ugh o ne o f tho se pe rio ds o f culture and prog ress so i r rare in h sto y .

i The Russ an press taking the cue, believed tha t to wards tho se days the E astern Questio n will be nall settled the n ti nal dissensio ns o f the uro fi y , a o E n f pean peo ples will co me to an e d, and the dawn o th e new millennium will witness the abo litio n o f armies and an alliance between all the E uro pean empires.

The signs o f regeneratio n are also fast mul ti l in o n n in n and p y g , as every e k ows, Japa n n in t f n C hi a, as if poi t g o the rise o a ew his to rical in wave the extreme E ast . If fro m the cycle o f two-and-a -half cent uries we descend to that which leaves its im n and o n press every ce tury, , gr upi g to gether the n n n o eve ts of a cie t hist ry, mark the develo p and o f i n ment rise emp res , the we shall find nnin o 7 B C that, begi g fr m the year 00 . the

n nni o w n n in ce te al wave pushes f r ard , bri gi g to

o o o n n o n in i pr minence the f ll wi g ati s , each ts

u i the B abs t rn the Assyr ans, the Medes , ; 40 D O CTR IN E O F CY CLES

o n n l ia s, the Persians, the Greeks, the Mace do nians ni n , the Carthagi a s, the Romans, and n the Teuto s . n n w After a alysi g the periodicity of ars, this autho r finally comes to the co nclusno n t in V w o o hat ie of facts, it becomes th r ughly impossible to deny the presence o f a regu lar periodicity in the excitement of both mental and in n o physical forces the ations of the w rld .

TREN DS O F DESCEN T A N D A SCEN T AMON G the ancients they had a great many nd large a important cycles. In their classi fica io n had t they a Saros and a Naros , the exact nature o f which is not generally known n t was today . The E gyptia s taught that here r nd o n a g eat sidereal cycle, a this is rec g ized o w the today, at last, as the peri d during hich sun passes through the complete circle of the zodiac . That is to say, if the sun occupies i n at a g ven date, say at the vernal equi ox , a n i o and certai pos ti n, it takes odd years befo re it again occupies the same apparent o i n n p sit on amo g the stars at the ver al equinox . E VO L UTIO N B Y CY CL IC R E T UR N 41

It is no w called the cycle of precession of the equinoxes . But as the sun itself moves onward through en n w the n spac e round a c ter, as k o n to ancie ts, our real course aro und the sun is a spiral which in truth corresponds to the way in which cyclic law acts throughout nature . We re- n in ascend and descend, and asce d, as divid ua s n n n l and as races, but the culmi ati g poi t of re- ascent on the upward- mo ving cycle is O n always a step higher than before . the downward o r outward cycles during the n w first half o f the evo lutio n of man o a orld, the spirally acting septenary fo rces pass round - i the septenary wo rld chain as already sa d , each wave gradually perfecting and material izing the embodied fo rms of conscio us life n A nd in the different kingdoms o f ature . thus in o o r it happens, too, that the l wer, physical an n fo r n n world of y chai , on earth i sta ce , there are perceptible gaps in any septenary s en classificatio n hitherto attempted by ci ce, as in the seven- fold gro uped tables o f the chem

- ical SO called elements . 42 D O C TR IN E O F CYCL ES

It follo ws also from the movement of the sun n n with its atte da t o rbs thro ugh space , w n o n o hether rou d Alcy e, or s me o ther center, that the earth mo ves into new regions o f o n in in o S w space c t ually, to c smic paces here n iff n thi gs are d ere t, where the subtle invisible fo rces are different ; and thus it is that changes in in the h must be duced eart itself , for changes in i in and h cosm c matter the air t e ether, in new c the Spa es traversed by the earth, must ff the and its in i n a ect earth all hab ta ts . so in n Just , the complex eve ts o f human his o n n o n o t ry, whe the waves of i v lutio ary f rce destined to lift man fro m his too close co ntact with the external back to a perception and realizatio n o f the subtler powers latent within himself and nature impinge upon him nd i n n t n a st r his i most a ure, impelli g him n n new and in o to actio o higher l es, such f rces in n o r their recu rri g cycles, great small , are the same yet not the same . Always there is so me new quality in the balancing o f forces n in n and a d subtle flue ces, as his material body beco mes gradually mo re refined and respo ns

44 D O C TR IN E O F C YCLES

es is brilliant indeed . Yet dark were the tim n which comme ced with the murder of Hypatia, since when men have scarcely dared proclaim their disbelief or doubt except at peril of

- o n . torture chamber, guill ti e, or fagot But who were the culprits ! We are prone to lay these things at the door of ecclesiasti ism h n c and priestcraft . But w o suppo rted a d n n succumbed to ecclesiasticism , who co do ed nd ! a upheld it We did . If there was a Teacher o f the Law of Compassio n so me nine teen hundred o r two tho usand years ago who i was crucified, who cruc fied him ! We did . Fo r who o that matter, killed Hypatia, or J an o f Arc ! We did . It do es no t matter whether we were actually present at such events or not n o o , we belo g, m st of us, t just that stage of human undevelo pment which makes us par i i n s nd t c a t a . p , aiders abettors, in them We are morally responsible for all these happen n in i gs, no doubt greater or less degree, but t n m s ill responsible . We i dividually may or ay not have been incarnated at the time of a par ticular no ff crime, but that does t a ect the E VO L UTIO N B Y C YCL IC R E TUR N 45

i o n in quest on . Human consci us ess so far as carnated through these times was in the main too strongly immersed in a false psychology and too occupied with material affairs to act otherwise .

MA N N OT Y ET FULLY MA N

T H E true View is that huma n consciousness has no t fully incarnated yet except to some degree in a minority ; and thus it is still largely true that if you scratch a man you find something else ! It is the main purpose of the present Fifth Great Race to effect the in io u n u carnat n, p to a poi t, of the true H man o S ul within its bodily encasement of passions, o o n and t n em ti s, intellec ualism , thus tra smuting fo r n n n them, o e of these latter are Soul in a y h true sense . They are t e instruments or veh icles through which the soul will eventually o n - abs rb through ripe experie ce the half tragic, half- humo ro us effects of its co ntact with o uter material existence ; in its turn refin ing and raising these vehicles to its o wn co nscio us 46 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL E S

ff stature, where laws of ine able harmony, beauty, and truth beyond our highest dreams constitute the inner keyboard of our marvel ous divine nature . In o truth we need be dismayed at n thing, not even at the tragedies in which we have n w taken guilty part, so lo g as we press up ard and o nward with a passionate belief in the inner beauty that resides in the awakening

So ul o f the Race . o n n Long, l g ago, in the i itiation crypts of n n remotely a cie t E gypt, before the Mysteries commenced to degenerate gradually under the nd nd stress of karmic a cyclic law, a then to n disappear, what was it we cha ted over the prostrate form of the neo phyte lying in that n n mystic tra ce, from which percha ce he might not rise until another cycle passed :

h N o w in the ring, do es no t t e past stand out like a sheeted fury ! D o st tho u beho ld the list o f evil c o mmitted !

i t n h L s e ! T ho se ec hoes are t e battle sho uts, and tho se shrieking harsh vo ic es are thine o wn sav ed against thee . E VO L UTIO N B Y C Y CL IC R E TUR N 47

fi mus su er. W rithe no w, po o r so ul ; alas ! tho u t ee n w the time has a sed and t o u art lifted S o p s , h fi fro m thy ring o f su ering . Whence co mes this c hange T hy shado w has gained intensity, and thy fo rm perso n . N o w tak e the ke terro r- stric en do e and un y, k v , l o ck that vast c hest. Why tremble T ho se bodies are but the Victims whic h tho u hast sacrificed to thy evil lusts. T ho se ghastly white staring skulls tho u hast slain i in w th th e o wn hand. O h ! Tho se terrible bruised hearts are o nly tho se u o n w o m t o u ast tr e p h h h odd n. lenc no t t o se maimed r B h , h bo dies a e thy handi

wo rk .

O h l f r ld l i a ace ta e av o . T o u as o r d ; p e , k b e h h h t g e o ver these deeds why shudder no w ! L ife taken is lif l f e e t.

lain so uls wait in th eld f ru S e fi s o A an . L o ng lo st hearts burn in the o il o f the lamp o f n the Ki g . ’ Hopeless maimed o nes rest in the water queen s

bo so m. R emem er no t to fo r e u f b g t, b t o rget to remember. ANCIE NT KNOWLE D GE

XC A VA T IO N S near the Pyramids show that long befo re the period of the kn own dynasties the E gyptians had attained to a re finement and perfection calculated to excite the wonder of even the mo st ardent admirers of Grecian art . Far below the stratum of sand in which lay the remains gathered into o o n and the c llecti s of Lepsius, Abbott, the w n British Museum, ere fo u d buried the tan l i n gib e proo fs of the Hermet c doctri e of cycles . And since then abundant evidences have been n in o fo u d , the Tr ad and elsewhere , of the gradual change fro m civilization to barbarism i n and o n and back to civilizat o , fr m civilizatio n to barbarism again . Why the should we feel so reluctant to admit the po ssibility that if the antediluvian s were so much better versed than o urselv es in certain sciences as to have AN CIE N T KN O WL ED GE 49

a n n been perfectly cquai ted with importa t arts, no w lo st which we term , they might equally have excelled in psycholo gical kn owledge ! Such a hypo thesis must be considered as reas o nable as any other until some countervailing n evide ce shall be discovered to destro y it. E very true savant admits that in many re s n pects human k owledge is yet in its infancy . C an it be that our cycle began in ages compar ativ el n ! n t y rece t These cycles, accordi g o the not man Chaldaean philosophy, do embrace all a n and kind t o e the same time . Professor D raper partially corro borated this view by say ing that the periods into which geo lo gy ha s ! found it convenient to divide the progress of man in civilization are not abrupt epochs which hold good simultaneously for the whole ! human race giving as an instance the wan dering Indians of America who are only at the present mo ment emerging from the ” Stone Age . Thus more than once scientific men have unwittingly confirmed the testimony of the ancients . The impenetrable veil of arcane secrecy was 50 D O C TR IN E O F C YCL ES thrown over the sciences taught in the sanc tuar y . This is the cause of the modern de n preciation of the ancie t philo sophies . Much ’ of Plato s public teachings and writings had o o n n - therefore t c sist of bli ds , or half truths, or a and llegories, just as Jesus spoke in parables , so the Mysteries were ever reserved for spe c ial n o and n groups of e phytes , eedless to f say, they did not reach the Church o the days n n of Co stantine, which ever held the keys of the Mysteries ; and hence can hardly be

said to have lo st them . The ancient philo sophers seem to be gener n ally held, eve by the least prejudiced of i i n modern cr t cs, to have lacked that profu dity and thorough kn o wledge in the exact sciences w i ur n is s n o f h ch o ce tury o boastful . It is eve questio ned whether they understood that basic n n nihil nihil t sc ie tific pri ciple : ex o fi . If they suspected the indestructibility of matter at all say these commentators it was no t in n r co sequence of a firmly established fo mula , but only through intuitional rea so ning and by an alogy .

52 D O C TR IN E O F C YCL E S as there is fo r the pro gress of any nation or r race in its cycle by the law o f Ka ma . Much o f current agnostic speculation on the existence of the First Cause is little better than veiled materialism the terminology alone being dif

ferent. E ven so great a thinker as Mr. Her bert Spencer speaks o f the Unknowable o ccasio nally in terms that demo nstrate the n n f w lethal i flue ce O materialistic thought, hich , i o i and l ke the deadly Sir cco , has w thered blighted mo st o f current o ntolo gical specu la F n o n . o r n n ti i sta ce , whe he terms the First Cause the Unknowable a po wer mani ! stin o no an n n fe g thr ugh phe mena , and i fi ite ” n ner is he eter al E gy, it clear that has grasped so lely the physic al aspect o f the mys cry o f Being the E n ergies o f Co smic Sub - l stance only . The co eterna aspect o f the O N E REA LITY Cosmic Ideation (as to its no u

m n n no n- i n in n o f e o , it seems ex ste t the mi d the great thinker) is abso lutely o mitted n from consideratio . o o t ne-sid d o f With ut d ubt, his o e m de o deal ing with the problem is due largely to the AN CIE N T KN O WL ED GE S3 pernicious Western practice o f subordinating o r - ro co nscio usness , regarding it as a by p duct of molecular motion. The do ctrine o f metempsychosis has been abundantly ridiculed by men o f science and o n rejected by the logia s, yet if it had been properly understood in its applicatio n to the indestructibility of matter and the immortality i i of sp r t, it would have been perceived that n o it is a sublime co ceptio n . Sh uld we not first regard the subject from the stand-po int o f the ancients before venturing to disparage its teachers ! The solutio n of the great pro b lem of eternity belo ngs neither to religio us i n n r superstit o o to gro ss materialism . The harmony and mathematical equifo rmity o f the do uble evo lution spiritual and physical are elucidated o nly in the universal numerals f th o wh i o Py ag ras , o built his system ent rely ! ” upo n the so -called metrical speech o f the V d Hindi: e as. In the Vedas we find positive proof that so le 2000 B i o n at as t . C . n i: a l g ago as , the H d s ges and scholars must have been acquainted wish 54 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL ES

the ro tundity o f o ur glo be and the helio centric s sy tem .

‘ iir a iddhcinta S 29 to 34 In the S y S , lokas , we read as fo llo ws

f h un M rc u In an A ge, the revo lutio n o t e S , e ry f ar a urn and Venus, and o f the co nj unction s o M s, S t , and u it r mo v in ea s ward a re O f the J p e , g t , ’ f r f Mercur Mo o n, o Ma s, o y s co unc ti n o f u iter o f nj o , J p , ’ f Venus co nj unc tio n, o Saturn, ’ n f o f the Mo o s apsis in an ag e, o its no de, i h o n r r ir i f s n t e c t a y d ec t o n, o a terisms,

D iv iding the number o f revo lutio ns of the moo n in an Age by tho se o f the su n in the same perio d to obtain the number o f sidereal n o n er annum we lu ar m ths p , get Making the same calcul n i o f o n n atio w th the figures m der scie ce , we have 365 3688 Next take Mars and co mpare the relative lengths of the terrestrial and Martian years the terrestrial ea r 1 A nd y equaling of course . by modern AN CIE N T KN O WLE D GE 55

A nd so figures ,

o n . By means of this accurate knowledge o f n n Hindii s the pla etary periods, the ancie t and divided time into ages, could calculate the epochs of great conjunctio ns in the past and

future . It will be observed that the key num ber of these calculations is a period o f up

i o n an . wards o f four m lli years, termed Age It is a number unkno wn to and undreamed of o A nd o n o ne by m dern science . yet it is ly o f the minor cycles known to the Wisdo m i n Rel gi o . In view of the fact that we have this ex n n o no i o f tremely a cie t astr m cal treatise , such w n t o f and o derful accuracy, weal h detail , far n to o f o reachi g scope, what is be said th se who declare and even teach that the ancients n n n ! to i were ig ora t heathe It comes th s , that ! o ur mo dern autho rities must plead guilty to o ne n : a w of three thi gs ( ) ilful falsehood , de c n n o n c it, and trickery ; (b) u pardo able ign ra ce of their subject ; (c ) self- deceptio n sufficient to brand them as persons whose judgment is i hopelessly feeble and alto gether unreliah e . 56 D O CTR IN E O F C YCL ES

We are just emerging from the bottom o f e i l o a sp c al cyc e, and theref re in a transitory n o e stage . No stro ger proof f the th ory of cyclic pro gression need be required than the co mparative enlightenment o f former ages and i a that of the Patrist c church, as reg rds n e nt the form of the earth, a d the mov me s o f n a the pla et ry system . Even were other n n an o f ne evide ce wanting, the ig or ce Augusti nd n ius n a L acta t , misleadi g the who le of Christ endom upon these questions until the period o f o o Galile , w uld mark the eclipses through which human kn owledge passes from age to a e g .

SYM BO LS O F T H E PILGRIMA GE

n sc o n ACCORDI N G to the Arabia de ripti s, each o f the seven chambers of the Pyramids tho se grandest of all co smic symbols was n in kno wn by the name of a pla et, this its tu rn symbo lizing o ne of the perfectly definite n o f states o f co n scio us ess, plus its realm

- super physical o bjectivity or actuality . The p ec uliar architecture o f the Pyramids sho ws A N CIE N T KN O WL E D GE 57

in itself the drift of the metaphysical thought i i of their builders . The apex s lo st n the Sk o f n o clear blue y the la d of the Phara hs , and typifies the primo rdial point lo st in the n n w n t fi unsee u iverse he ce star ed the rst race , a or the spiritual pro totypes of man . E ch o o n it mummy, fr m the m me t that was em ba i i n i i i in n lmed, lo st ts phys cal i d v dual ty o e n i se se ; it symbol zed the human race . Placed in such a way as was best calculated to aid the ” i o f o had to ex t the S ul, the latter pass thro ugh the seven planetary chambers befo re it made its exit thro ugh the symbolical apex . E i n ach chamber typified at the same t me , o e n and o ne of the seve spheres, of the seven types o f physico - spiritual humanity alleged to n o ur wn be li ked to o . o n re re E very three th usa d years , the soul , p sentativ e to n to of its race, had retur its primal point of departure before it underwent ano ther evo lutio n into a mo re perfected spir itu al and n m n physical tra sfo r atio . We must go deep indeed into the abstru se metaphysics f o Being before we ca n realize the infinitu de. 58 D O C TR IN E O F C YCLE S o f the subjects embraced at o ne sweep by the f i s n n majestic symbo lism o t a cie t Adepts . Starting as a pure and perfect spiritual n o in bei g, bec m g far later the Adam o f the seco nd chapter o f Genesis ; no t satisfied with the positio n allo tted to him by the D emi ur o s who first- o n g ( is the eldest beg tte , the - K dmo n o n man Adam a ) Adam the sec d, the ” o f in i to o o dust, strives his pr de bec me creat r i o n o u o f n o n his turn . E v lved the t the a dr no us Kadmo n a gy , Adam thus bec me himself an andro gy ne ; fo r acco rding to the o ldest ’ n n lle oricall in o teachi gs, prese ted a g y Plat s Timaios o o o f o ur all , the pr t types race were enclo sed in the micro co smic tree which grew and develo ped within and under the great D i n mundane or macroco smic tree . vi e spirit

n n n n o bei g co sidered a u ity, ho wever umer us sun man the rays o f the great spiritual , has i n o o st ll had his o rigi like all ther f rms , whether o ni r in o ne n o f rga c or othe wise, this Fou t

E ternal Light . Were we even to reject the hypothesis o f

n e rl n o no man in nn o n a a y a dr gy us , co exi with

60 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL ES fresh Mahi - Ka lpa the Invisible assumed fo rm when It called the universe (again ) into ” ex n sa s th Z ohar l is iste ce y e . The first ight Its ni e o un and m o a soul, the Infi t , B dless I m rt l breath ; under the efflux of which the un iverse h i o n n In telli n t eaves its m ghty bos m , i fusi g ge h in re awakening life t ro ugho ut sleep g c atio n . The seco nd emanatio n condenses cometary matter and produces forms within the co smic circle ; sets the countless wo rlds flo ating in the and n intelli en l electric space , i fuses the g t ife i n i n o . t r pr ciple i to every f rm The h rd, p o duces the whole universe o f molecular matter ; and as it keeps gradually receding fro m the Central D ivine Light its brightness wanes and it beco mes D arkness and the Bad ; pure matter beco mes the gro ss purgatio ns o f the celestial

fire of the Hermetists . Spea king Kabalistically : When the C en tral Invisible saw the eff o rts o f the divine S cin tilla (u nwilling to be dragged lo wer do wn into the degradatio n of matter) to liberate itself It as a necessity o f Karmic Law permitted it to sh o t i s mo nad o out from t elf a , over which , A N CIE N T KN O WL ED GE 61

he D attached to it as by the finest thread , t ivine Scintilla (the Sou l) had to watch during its n n ne an c ea seless peregri atio s , fro m o form to n o o n n o ther . Thus the mo ad was sh t d w i to the first fo rm o f matter and beca me e nca sed in o n in o o f i o st ne ; the . c urse t me, thr ugh the in ff o r o f li in r and livin water comb ed e ts v g fi e g , both of which shone their reflectio n upon the n o t o f o n to stone, the mo ad crept u its pris n c n o n n su light as a li he . Fr m cha ge to cha ge it went higher and higher ; the mo nad with every new transfo rmation borro wing more o f the a n cintillo w a r diance of its pare t, S , hich p pro ached it nearer at every transmigration . ! For the First Cause had willed it to proceed in this o rder and destined it to creep o n higher until its physical fo rm became (o nce m dust e in ore) the Adam of , shap d the image K m o n o n of the Adam ad o n . Bef re u derg i g its a n o o n r a n e rthly tra sf rmati , the exte n l coveri g th of the monad , from e moment o f its co ncep o n an e o in n n o ti as mbry passes tur , o ce m re, the a i o through phases of the sever l k ngd ms . In its fluidic prison it assumes a vague resem 62 D O C TR IN E O F C YCL ES blance at vario us perio ds of the gestatio n to n and n n i pla t, reptile, bird, a imal, u til t be o a c mes human embryo . At the birth o f man o n n the future , the m ad, radiati g with all the glo ry of its immortal parent which watches o n n it fr m the seve th sphere, becomes se seless ’ (see Plato s Timaio s) . It lo ses all reco llec io n o f and n o n o n t the past, retur s to c sci us ess but w n n n i gradually, he the i sti ct of ch ldhood o n and n gives way to reas i telligence . the n n the At death, after separatio betwee life-principle (astral man ) and the body takes o n in place, the liberated s ul Mo ad , exult gly i and rej o ns the mo ther father spirit, the rad ian A u o eides and n o o ne t g , the two, merged i t , w o o n to fo rever form , ith a gl ry proporti ed the i - i sp ritual purity of the past earth l fe, the Adam ! who has completed o nce again the circle o f ” n o n o h o ecessity . L g bef re t is it was freed fr m o f n n the last vestige its physical e caseme t . n o o n and o He cef rth, gr wi g more m re radiant his w o n at each step of up ard progress, he m u ts the shining path tha t ends at the point fro m hi a n A N w ch it started rou d the GR D CYCLE . A N C IE N T KN O WL E D GE 63

o o n o f n n Such is the br ad utli e huma desti y, sketched so as to sho w the absolutely D ual n and o r Nature, esse tially, of every particle nism in n n in o ga the u iverse ; the mai fact , sh rt , which modern scientific tho ught is reaching o no t an t wards , but has yet by y means fully

. D ual n two o grasped , that is, as havi g br ad nd u T i l a . r e aspects , the material the spirit al p , i i nd n n real ty, as both spirit a matter rest upo so methin g within the Roo tless Roo t o r nl in Causeless Cause , the o y Reality truth n o n i n all else bei g m re or less tra s tory , eve though lasting fo r periods so vast as to be ab l n so lute y beyo nd the reach o f huma tho ught . A nd e tenar o t and n S p y, still m re exac ly scie ti ll o n to n n a w w i fica y , wi g fu dame t l la s h ch are h o n in o f n n touc ed up others these Ma uals , a d

o o f in The ecret D ctrin m re fully treated S o e.

The details of cyclic law are no t such as n u can be given here . Ma y fig res co uld be giv in n and o no en , hav g both ge eral astr mical sig nifi e o f t is canc , but the truth the mat er , as has n n is no ect already bee hi ted, that there subj 64 D O C TR IN E O F CYCL E S connected with the Sacred Mysteries of Hu ma n e o an D e Fat , f Life d ath, upon which less ha s been definitely stated by the Messengers A of the Ancient Wisdom . nd fo r very go o d r o n n vi eas s , which are i deed so o b ou s to any u n a o he a tho ghtful mi d th t l ves t hum n race , n s that it seems hardly eces ary to say more . IMPORTANCE OF PRE SE NT CYCLE

T HE important thing at present for us to no in t nn ar k w his co exion, is that there e Cycles in human destiny and in the destiny of civilized as well as o f other races ; and the world may erelong be aro used to a perceptio n of the fact that the Cycle no w co mmencing n he n is o e o f t utmost importa ce to all o n earth , because in the co urse o f a very few yea rs the ho he kn n t w le wo rld, w ther it o ws it or o will be obliged in a measure to take sides for o r against the Higher Pro gress o f the Human o i o n Rac e . Pe ple w ll gradually be f u d arrayed for or against the recognitio n of Human So l i i darity as a Fact n Nature . For there is something in the nature of the cycle no w n n o n breathi g its Fire upo the world , s methi g so co mpelling in its essenc e withal so up lifting that everyone will be as it were driv 66 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL ES en to make a cho ice within his o wn nature ; he will beco me clearly aware o f something within tending to enno ble and to imbue his soul with n - some o f the lo st divi er drink o f soul life . The unrest o f the wo rld at its ro o t a nd fo undatio n (ho wever varied the surface c d i is a in n and o n to d es) div e u rest, bel gs a fresh summit gained o n the great spiral stairway of i n ur a o . n o w n o pr gress It is a W d bl i g i to he rts , n and i n the Wi d of a better purer l fe , desti ed to aff ect swiftly fo r goo d the advancing na tio ns o f the east and the west ; altho ugh a to uch o f this Wind may co mplete the ruin of so me decadent places . Being is an endless cycle within the o ne ab n t w o n in so lute eter i y , herein m ve umberless

n n an o n o n . o cre er cycles fi ite d c diti ed G ds , ated suc h wo n no o n as , uld evi ce pers al merit o f n e e in being go ds . Such a class bei gs, p rf ct only by virtue of the special immaculate nature n n in in o f ff n and i here t them, the face su eri g s n n nd n o w truggli g huma ity , a eve of the l er io n wo o o f an n in creat , uld be the symb l eter al i t in an j ust ce qui e Satanic character, ever pres

68 D O C TR IN E O F C Y CL E S

ascending at each new period higher and near n o o er the fi al g al that each at m, we say, ‘ may reach thro ugh individual merit and efio rts that plane where it re-beco mes the o ne u nco n di io ne n t d ALL . But betwee the Alpha and the Omega there is the weary Ro ad hedged in ! o n w n n n by th r s , hich goes do w first, the wi ds ”

i end . up h ll all the way, yea, to the very Starting upo n the lo ng j o urney immaculate ; n in o nd n d desce d g m re a mo re i to matter, an hav ing co nnected himself with ev ery ato m in ni S ac e Pil rim in ma fested p the g , hav g strug gled thro ugh and suffered in every fo rm of i nd n is n o o o f the l fe a bei g, o ly at the b tt m f nd o valley o matter, a half thr ugh his cycle , when he has identified himself with co llective i in his own ma e . u n . he has mad e H ma ity This , g

In and o o rder to pro gress upwards h mewards , ! ” the Go d has no w to ascend the weary uphill

path o f the Go lgo tha o f Life . It is the martyr

- Viév a do m o f self co n scio us existence . Like karman he has to sacrifice himself to himself in e t e e e to e o rd r o red em all cr atur s, r surrect m h n n i e en fro t e ma y into the O e L f . Th he THE PR E SE N T C Y CL E 69

n e n n ascends i to h aven i deed ; where , plu ged into the inco mprehensible abso lute Being an d i Paranirv é na n n n i n Bl ss of , he reig s u co dit o

and w n i re- n n ally, he ce he w ll desce d agai at ” n n the ext co mi g. Our igno rance o f the laws o f Karma and of the sco pe o f Cyclic Impressio n! which o ne portio n o f mankind calls the ways o f Pro v id n and n i n in e ce, dark i tr cate ; while a other sees o n o f in and them the acti bl d Fatalism ; a third, n ne o r o simple cha ce, with ither go ds n devils t guide them wo uld surely disappear if we would but attribute all these to their co rrect no an cause . With right k wledge , or at y rate a confident convictio n that o ur neighbo rs will no mo re wo rk to hurt us than we wo uld think ’ in wo - i f o of harm g them , the t th rds o the W rld s

w u ni in n evil o ld va sh to thin air . Were o ma to his - s n hurt brother, Karma Nemesi o n o wo fo r no r w uld have either cause t rk , o n o n weap s to act through . It is the c stant pressure in o ur midst o f every element of and o o io n n e i i i n strife pp sit , a d th d v s o o f

n o n o nd indixii races, ati s, tribes, s cieties , a 70 D O C TR IN E O F CYCL ES uals n and s and into Cai s Abels, wolve lambs , that is the chief cause o f the ways of Pro v idence n . We sta d bewildered before the o f o ur o wn n mystery maki g, and the riddles o f w will n t o and n u life that e o s lve, the acc se n n the great Sphi x of devouri g us . But verily no t an n in ur no there is accide t o lives , t a mis n f n o shape day, or a mis o rtu e, that c uld not be traced back to o ur o wn doings in this or an other life . If o ne breaks the laws of Har o n o f ne m y, the laws life, o must be prepared to fall into the chao s o ne has oneself produced . Fo r the o nly co nclusio n o ne can come to is that these laws of life are their o wn avengers ; and co nsequently that every avenging angel is

- only a typified representatio n o f their re action . n o n o Therefo re , if a y e is helpless bef re these no o immutable laws, it is t urselves , the arti

r o ur n o n fice s o f desti ies, but rather th se a gels , a a- the guardians of harmo ny . K rm Nemesis is no mo re than the (spiritual) dynamical ef fect o f causes pro duced and fo rces awakened n into activity by our o wn actio s . It is a law o f o ccult dynamics that a given amount o f THE PR ESE N T C Y CL E 7 1 energy expended o n the spiritual or astral plane is productive o f far greater results than the same amount expended o n the physical ob e i i j ct v e plane of ex stence . ’ This state will last until man s spiritual in n o n w i no t tuitio s are fully pe ed , h ch will hap

” pen befo re we fairly cast o ff o ur thick co ats n n n o wi thin of matter ; u til we begi acti g fr m , instead of ever fo llo wing impulses fro m with

u n od o ur i o t; amely, tho se pr uced by phys cal n senses and gross selfish body . U til then the only palliative to the ev ils o f life is unio n and n o o o I N A T n to harmo y a Br therh d C U, u ited - l i in n s l ontrol and a truism no t . e f c , s mply ame There is no R eligion Higher than Truth

” t he (universal E rotberboob anb E beosopbical S ociety

E stablished for the benefit of the people of the earth Gr all creatu res

OB JECTS T HIS BR O THER HO O D is part o f a great and universal mo vement w ic has een active in all a h h b ges. T his O rganizatio n declares that Brotherhoo d is a

fact in N ature . Its principal purpo se is to teach ro t er oo d demo nstrate t at it is a fact in n tu B h h , h a re n l n w r i f f m n a d make it a ivi g po e n the li e o hu a ity. Its subsidiary purpo se is to study ancient and mo der reli io ns sc ienc e ilo so an ar n g , , ph phy d t ; to investiga te the laws o f nature and the divine po wers ma in n. s t i s

T H E UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND T HEO SOPHICA L

I T fo unded H . P. lavats at N ew Y o SOC E Y, by B ky rk , 1875co ntinued a fter her deat under the l , h eader - s i o i the co fo under W illiam . ud e and no h p , Q J g , w f unde r the leadership o their successo r, Katherine

T ingley, has its Headqua rters at the International T eo so ical C enter Po int o ma C alifo rnia h ph , L , . T his O rganizatio n is no t in any way co nnected with no r do es it endo rse any o ther societies using th h e name o f Theo sop y . T HE UNIVER SAL BROTHERHOOD AND T HEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY welco mes to membership all who truly lo ve their fello w men and desire the eradicatio n o f the f r ev ils caused by the barriers o rac e, c eed, caste o r co lo r, whic h have so lo ng impeded human pro g ress ; to all sincere lo vers o f truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than the mere pleasures l f and interests o f a wo rldly i e, and are prepa red to do all in their po wer to mak e Bro therhoo d a living energy in the life o f humanity, its vario us depart ments o ffer unlimited o ppo rtun ities.

T he who le wo rk o f the O rganizatio n is under the ir i o f the eader and O f cial Head d ect on L fi , Katherine li th i i T ingley, as o ut ned in e C o nst tut o n.

D o not fail to profit by the following

It is a regrettable fact that many peo ple use the name o f T heo so phy and o f o ur O rganization fo r self- in r f P l v sk h te est as also at o H . . a at e , th B y, t o dr r i F un ess, to att act attent on to themselves and to a g in public suppo rt. T his they do in private and i l publ c speec h and in pub ications, also by lecturing u n r t thro ug ho t the co u t y . W i ho ut being in any way co nnected with the UNIVERSA L BROTHERHOOD AND T I S C I TY in man cases t e ermi i HEOSOPH CAL O E , y h y p t t to f r be in e red that they are, thus misleading the pub li e, and many ho nest inquirers are hence led away fro m th trut s o f T eo so resen H e h h phy as p ted by . P. lav t k n h r su s r ill m a s a d e cces o s W ia . ud e and B y , Q J g Kat erine Tin le and racticall ex em l n h g y, p y p ified i their - T heosophical wo rk fo r the uph ifin g o i h a m saw! T he Internatio nal B ro therho o d L eagu e Founded in 1897 by Katherine T ingley

T el m and o men o reali e the no ilit 1. o h p en w t z b y l f o f their calling and their true po sition in i e.

2 T edu c ildr o f all nations o n the . o cate h en roadest lines o f Universal rot er o o d and to b B h h , prepare destitute and homeless c hildren to beco me wo rkers fo r humanity .

T m o r he condition o f un fo rt t 3. o a eli ate t una e m an i em to a i r lif o en ass st t e e. w , d h h gh

T i o s who ar r 4. o ss t t e o a e been in a s h e, h v , riso ns to esta lis t emselves in o no ra le o si p , b h h h b p tio ns in life. i m 5. T o abo lish cap tal punish ent.

T u 6. o bring abo t a better understanding between so -called sava e and civili ed ces r m i g z ra , by p o o t ng a clo ser and mo re sympathetic relatio nship between them.

T r 7 . o elieve human suffering resulting fro m flo o d f mi r , a ne, wa , and o ther calamities ; and, g ener ll d a y to extend ai , help and co mfo rt to suffering h humanity thro ugho ut t e wo rld.

Fo r further info rmatio n regarding the abo ve

N o tices, address KATHE RINE TINGLE Y IN T R TI T HEO so rHICA L HE R E NA ONAL ADQUA TER S, P IN T IF O LOMA, CAL O RN IA

B O O KS R E C O MME N D E D T O IN QUIR E R S

Mu R I or TH H T D TRI T H Pre sTE Es E EAR OC NE, E. are h rin T in le u ils p d hy Kat e e g y and her p p . 211)

Paper l . (I)

A S I or E I T P T ! 3m ER ES GH AMPHLE S, m ff di erent articles in abo ve, paper, eac h

l A T P I T T H ome no tes m O N LOMA, E. S by Kat eri ne Tin l L eader and O flicial Head h g ey,~ o f the UNIVERSAL B ROTHEa p fl i T HEO IC I T SOPH AL SOC E Y.

in m o A n ele D e r te d ro th e L s s P st ec . 1902 R p f g o , , .

’ K T RI T I H I A HE NE NGLEY, UMAN TY S FRIE ND ; A VI SIT To KAT HERI NE T INGLEY (by Jo hn Hubert Greusel) ; A STUDY or R AJA Y OGA A T POINT LOMA (R eprint fro m the San Fran cisco hro nicl anua r 6th C e, J y ,

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rice eac a er 25 clo t P , h, p p . ; h

lementar T eo so E y h phy. T h Prin i l e Seven c p es o f Man .

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R e i incarnat on .

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T he Flame and the C lay . r r O n Go d and P aye . T O h th Mo t er f R li heo s p y : e h o e gio us. Fro m C rypt to Pro nao s A n Essay o n the Rise and fa ll o f Do gma a N o . 17 . E rth Its Pare ntag e ; its R o unds and its Races So ns o f the Firemist A ‘ Study o f Man B O O KS R EC O MME N D ED TO IN QUIR E R S

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