AnOutlineofTheosophy C.W.leadbeater

A N O U TL I N E O F
TH E O S O P H Y
BY
C . W L EA D B E A TE R
.
T H I R D E D I TI ON
A N O U TL I N E O F
TH E O S O P H Y .
C H A PTE R I .
I NTRO D U CTO R Y .
W H AT I T 1 5 .
For many a yea r me n have bee n ,
discussi n g ar guing e nquirin g about

, ,
—
certain gr e at basic tr u ths a b out the
ex ist en ce and the n ature o f G od a b out ,
H is r e lation t o man and a b out the past

,
and futur e o f humanity S o radically

.
hav e they di ff er e d upo n thes e points ,
a n d s o b itt e rly ha ve they assailed and

ridicul e d on e a n other s be liefs that
’
,
there has come t o be a fi r m l y rooted -
popul ar opinion that with regard t o all

these matters there is no c e rtainty avail
—
abl e nothin g b ut v a gu e speculatio n
0 0 4 0 0
4 An O utline of Theos ophy .
amid a cloud o f unsound deduct i on s

d r awn f rom i ll es t a bl i s hed p r em i ses
-
.
A n d th is i n s p it e o f t he ve r y de fin it e ,
though f r equentl y i nc r edible a sse rt i o ns ,
m a de on these sub j ects on behalf of the

v a r i ous r el i g i ons .
Th i s p op ular o p i n i on though n o t ,
unnatu ra l unde r th e ci rcumst a nces ,
is enti r el y unt r ue The r e a r e de fin it e

facts avail a ble—p lenty of them Th e
.
o sop h y g ives the m to us ; but it o ff e r s

them not ' a s t he r el i gions do ) a s m a t
te r s of faith but a s sub j ects f o r stud y

, .
It is not it self a r el i gion but i t be a r s t o

,
the r el i g i ou s the sa m e r el a ti on as d i d the

a ncient p h i loso p h i es I t do es n o t con
.
t r a d i c t them but ex p l a i ns t he m
, Wha t .
eve r in a n y of them is un r e a s onable it

r e j ects as necessa r i l y unw o rt h y o f the
D eit y and de r oga to ry to H im ; what

eve r is r e a sonable ih each a n d a l l of
them it tak es u p ex p la i ns and e mp ha
,
sizes and thus combine s all into one

,
harmon i ous whole .
I t ho lds that tru th on all these most

i mp o r ta n t p o i nt s i s attainabl e that —
Introduct i on. 5
th e r e is a gr e at b od y o f k n owl e dge
a b out them already existi n g It con .
siders all the various religions a s state

ments o f that truth fr o m di ff er en t
poi n ts o f V iew si n c e though they di f,
fer much as t o n o men clature a n d as t o

articles o f b elief the yall agree as t o the
,
o n ly matt e rs which ar e of real import

—
anc e th e kind o f l i fe which a good
ma n sh o uld l e ad th e qualiti e s which he
,
must d eve lop e th e v ices which he m ust

,
a v oid On th e s e practical points t h e

.
teachi ng is identical in Hi n duism a n d

B uddhism in 'oroastria n ism and Mu
,
h a mm a d a n i s m in Judaism and C hris

,
t ian ity .
Theosophy may b e descri be d t o the

outsid e world as a n i n telli gen t theory o f
the u n iverse Y e t for those who have
.
studi e d it it is n ot th e ory b ut fact ; f or

, ,
it is a d e fi n it e sci en ce capa b l e o f be i ng
,
s tudied a n d its t e achi ng s ar e ve rifia b le

,
by i nv esti gati o n a n d ex p e rim en t f o r

thos e w h o ar e willin g to tak e th e
trou b le t o quali fy thems e l v es for such
en quiry It is a stat e me n t o f the gr ea t
.
6 An O ut li ne of Theos op hy .
facts of N ature so far as they are

—
known a n outl in e o f the scheme of
o u r corner o f the unive r se .
H OW I T I S 'N O WN .
H ow did this scheme be come known ,
some may ask ; by wh o m was it dis

covered ? We cannot spea k o i it as dis
covered for in truth it has always b e en
,
known to mankind though sometimes ,
tem p orarily forgotten in certain parts

o f the world There has always existed
.
a certain bo dy o f hi ghly d ev elop e d men

-
—men n ot o f any on e nation b ut o f all

—
,
the advanced nations who have held it

i n its fulness ; and there have always
been pupils o f these men who were ,
specially studyin g it while its broad ,
principles have always bee n known in

the outer worl d This b ody o f highly
.
d ev eloped men exists n ow as i n past ,
ages a n d Theosophical teaching is pu b

,
l is h e d to the Wester n world at thei r

insti g ation and through a few o f their
,
pupils .
Those who a r e igno r ant have s ome

Introduct i on
. 7
times cl am orously insisted that i f this ,
be s o these truths ought to have been

,
published long a g o ; and most unj ustly

they accuse th e possessors of such
k n owledge o f undu e retice n ce i n with
holding them fr o m the world at l arge .
They forget that al l w h o hav e real ly

sought these truths have alwa y s been
able to find t h e m a n d that it is only n ow
,
that we in the Wester n world are truly

beginning to see k F o r ma n y c e nturies
.
E u r ope was conten t to l ive f o r the most

,
part in the grossest sup e rstition ; and

,
when a reaction at l ast s e t in from the

a b surdity and bigotry o f those beliefs ,
it brought a p eriod o f atheism which ,
was j ust as conceited and bigoted in

another direction S o that it is really
.
o n ly n o w that some o f the humbler and
more reasona b l e o f o u r peopl e are b e

g i nn ing t o admit that they know noth
i ng and to enquire whether ther e is
,
n ot real information availabl e some

where .
Though thes e reasona b l e enquirers

a r e as yet but a s m a l l minority the ,
8 li ne
An O ut of Th eos ophy .
Th e osophical S ociety has been fou n ded

in order to draw them together and its ,
boo k s are put before the public s o that

those who W 1 11 may read ma r k learn , , ,
an d inwardly digest these great truths .
I ts mission is not to force its teaching

upon reluctant minds but simply to ,
o ff er it so that those may ta k e it who

,
feel the need f o r it We are n ot in

. .
the least under the delusion of the poor

arrogant missionary who dares to co n
,
d e m n to a n un p leasant eternity every

one who will not pronounce his littl e
provincial S hibboleth ; we are perfectly
aware that all will at last be wel l for
those who cannot as yet see their way
to accept the truth as well as for those
,
w h o r e c e l v e it with avidity B u t the .
lgno w l e d g e of this truth has for us ,
and for thousands of others made li fe ,
easier t o b e ar and death easier to face ;

and it is simply the wish t o share these
b enefits with o u r fellow men that urges -
us to devote ourselves to writing and

lecturing on these subj ects .
The broa d outlines o f the great

Introduct i on . 9
truths have b een wid ely k now n i n the

world for thousa n ds o f years and are ,
s o know n at the pr e s e nt day It is .
only we in the West w h o in o u r in ,
credi b l e s e l f s u ffi cien cy ha v e remai n ed

-
,
i gn ora n t o f them a n d sco ff e d at any

,
fragment of them which may ha v e

come i n ou r way As in the cas e o f
.
any other scie n ce s o in this sci en ce o f

,
the soul full detail s ar e k n own only

,
t o thos e who devote thei r lives t o its

pursuit The me n w h o fully know
.
those w h o are called Adepts have p a

t ie n t l y devel oped withi n themselves
th e powers necessary for perfect o b s e r
vation For i n this r e spect there is a
.
di ff ere n c e be tween the methods o f o c

cult inv e stigation and thos e o f the
more moder n form o f science ; this l at
ter devotes al l its ener gy to th e im
pro v em e nt o f its instrume n ts whil e th e ,
former aims rather at th e de v elop men t

o f the o b serv e r .
TH E ME TH OD O F OB S E R VAT I O N .
The detail o f this d e v e lopm e nt would

take up more space tha n can b e de v oted
10 An Outl i ne of Theos ophy .
to it i n a preliminary manual such as

this The whol e scheme will be found
.
fully explained in other Theos ophical

works ; for the moment let it su ffice to
say that it is entirely a question o f vi
bratio n All informati o n which reaches
.
a man from the world without reaches

him by means of vibration o f some sort ,
wh ether it b e through the senses o f

sight hearing or touch C on s equently
, , .
,
i f a man is able to make himsel f sen

s it iv e to additional vibration s he will
acquire additional information ; he will

'
become what is commonly called clai r
”
voyan t
This word as commonly used me ans
, ,
nothing more tha n a slight ex tension of

normal vision ; but it is possible for a
man to b ecome mor e and more sen sitive
t o the su b tler v i b ratio n s until his con ,
s cio u s nes s acti n g through ma n y de v el

,
oped faculties functi o ns fr ee ly i n n ew

,
a n d higher ways He will th en fi n d n ew

.
worlds o f sub tl e r matter open ing up

befor e him though in reality they are
,
only new portions o f the world he a l

introducti on . 11
ready k n ows He l earns i n this way

.
that a vast unseen uni v erse exists r o u n d

him during his whole l i fe and that it ,
is c o nsta n tly a ff ecti ng h im in many

ways eve n though h e remains bli n dly
,
unconscious o f it B u t wh en h e dev el
.
o p es faculties wher eb y h e ca n sense

these o ther worlds it be comes possibl e
fo r him to o b serve them scientifical ly ,
t o repeat his o b ser v ations many times ,
to compare them with those o f others ,
t o ta b ul ate them and dra w deductions

,
from them
—
.
All this has b een do n e n ot once ,
but thous a n ds o f times The Adepts o f

.
whom I spo ke hav e done this t o th e

fullest possi b le e x tent b ut ma n y e ff orts
,
along the same l ine hav e b ee n mad e by

our ow n T h e 050p h ica l stude n ts Th e .
result o f our investigatio n s has b ee n not

o n ly to veri fy much o f th e i n for m atio n
gi ven t o us at th e outset b y those
Adepts b ut also t o e x plai n a n d am p l i fy
,
it ve ry considera b ly .
I
Th e sight of this usually u n se en

po rtio n o f ou r world at on c e b ri ngs to
i ne
.
12 An O utl oi Theos ophy .
ou r knowledge a vast bod y of en tir e ly

n ew facts which are o f the v ery de ep
est interest I t gradual ly solves f o r us
.
many o f the most diffi cult problems o f

li fe ; it clears up for us man y mysteries ,
so that w e n o w see them to have be en

mysteries to us f o r so long only be ,
cause hereto fore we saw so small a part

of the facts because we were lo o k ing
,
at the various matte r s f r om b elow and ,
as isolated and uncon nect e d fragments ,
instead o f rising ab o ve them to a stand

point whence they are comprehensible
as parts o f a mighty whol e I t settles .
i n a moment many questions which

have be e n much disputed such for — ,
example as that o f the continued ex

,
is t e n c e of ma n a fter death I t a ff ords

.
us t h e true expla n ation o f all the wildly

imp o ssible statemen ts made by the
churches abo ut heave n hell and pur , ,
g a t o r y ; it disp e l s our ign o rance and

remo ves our fear o f the unknown by
supplying u s with a rati o nal and o r
d e r l y scheme What this sch e me is I
.
w il l n o w en d ea v ou r to e x pl a i n .
C H A P TE R II .
G E N E R A L P R I N CI PLE S .
I t is my des ire make this state

to
ment o f Theo sophy as clear and read
ily compr e h en si bl e a s possibl e a n d f o r ,
this reason I shal l at e v e ry point gi ve

bro a d principl es o n ly r e ferring th o se
,
who wish for detailed i n formation to

larger b ooks o r to mo n ographs u p o n
,
particular subj ects I hop e at the end

.
of each chapter o f this little treati s e t o

give a list o f such b ooks as should be
c onsulted b y th o se w h o desire t o g o
more deeply into this m ost fascinating

syst em .
I shall b e g i n th en b y a stateme n t o f
, ,
the mos t strikin g o f th e b road g eneral

principles which e mer g e as a r e sult o f .
Theosophical study Th e re may b e

.
those w h o will find h er e matter which

is i n cr e di b l e t o them o r matter which
,
ru n s entirely c o ntrary to th e ir p r e co n ~
ce iv e d ideas . I f that b e s o th en I ,
would as k such men to remember that

I a m n ot putting this forward as a
—
—
theory as a metaphysical speculatio n
o r a pious Opinion of my own but as
a definite scientific fact proved a n d ex
a m i ne d over a n d o v er again n o t o n ly
,
by mysel f but by many others also

,
.
Fu r thermore I claim that it is a fact

,
which m ay b e verified at first hand

by any person w h o is will ing to
dev o t e the time and troubl e necessary
to fit himsel f for the investigation I .
am n ot off ering to the reader a creed t o

be swallowed like a pill ; I am tryin g
to set before him a syst em to study ,
and a bov e all a l i fe t o live I as k no

, , .
bli n d faith from him ; I simply sug

gest to h im the consideration o f the
Theosophical teaching as a hypothesis ,
thou gh to me it is n o hypothesis but ,
a l i v ing fact .
I f he finds it mor e satis factory than

others which have b een presented to
him if it s e ems to him to solve more
,
o f the pro b lems of li fe to answer a

,
Genera l Pri nci p l es . 15
gr eat e r n umber of the questio n s which

inevitably arise f o r the thin k ing man ,
the n he wil l pursue its study further ,
a n d will find in it I h Op e and be lie v e

'
, ,
the same ever increasin g satis faction

-
and j oy that I ha v e mysel f f o und I f .

,
on the other hand he thinks some o ther

,
system pre ferable no harm is done ; he

,
has simply l earnt somethi n g o f the

tenets o f a b o dy o f men with whom he
is as yet una b le to agree I have s u ffi .
ci ent faith in it mysel f to bel ieve that ,
sooner o r lat e r a time will come when

,
—
he w i ll agree with them when he al s o
will k now what we k now .
TH E TH R E E GRE AT TR U TH S .
In one o f o u r ea r liest Theosophical

boo k s i t was written that there are
three truths which are a b solute and can
n o t b e lost
,
b ut yet may remain silent
f o r lack o f sp e ech They are as gr e at
.
as l ife itsel f and yet as simple as the

,
simplest mi n d o f man I can hardly do .
better than paraph r ase these for the

greatest o f my ge neral principl e s .
I will then give some coroll a ries

which follow naturally from them and ,
then thirdly some o f the more promi

, ,
nent of th e adva n tag eous results which

necessarily attend this definite know
led g e Havi n g thus outlined the scheme
.
in tabular form I will take it up po int

,
b y poi n t and endeavour to o ffer such

,
elementa r y explanations as come with

in the sc o pe of this littl e i ntroductory
boo k .
1 . exists a n d H e is good He
Go d ,
.
is the g r eat li f e giv e r who dwell s with

in u s and without us i s undying and ,
e t ernally b en e fice n t He is not heard

.
,
n or seen nor touched yet is perceiv e d

, ,
by the man who desires p erception .
2 Ma n 1 8 i mmortal and his future

.
,
is one whose glory and splendour have

n o limit .
3 A
. D ivine law of absolute j ustice
rules the world so that each man is in
,
truth his own j udge the dispenser o f ,
glory or gloom to himsel f the decree r ,
o f his li f e his reward his punish ment

, ,
.
C O R O LLA R I E S .
Toeach o f these grea t truths are

attached c e rtai n oth e rs su b sidiary a n d,
e x pla n atory .
Fro m th e first o f them it follows '

IThat in spite o f app e ara n ces all
.
, ,
things ar e defi n itely a n d i n telligently

movin g together f o r g ood ; that all cir
cu m s t a n ce s howe v er untoward they
,
may se e m are i n reality e x actly what

,
are n eeded ; that e v erything around u s

t en ds not t o hinde r us b ut to help us
, , ,
i f it is o nly understood .
2 That since the whole schem e

.
,
thus te n ds to ma n s b e n efit cl ear ly it i s

’
,
hi s duty to l e ar n to u n dersta n d it .
3 That
. when he thus understands
it it is also his duty i n t e l li gen tly t o
,
co operate in this sch e m e

-
.
From the seco n d g reat truth it fol

lows '
I That the tru e man is a soul a n d
.
,
that this b ody is only an appanage .
2 That he must th e r e fo re r ega rd

.
, ,
18 An O ut ine l of Th eos op hy .
everythin g f r om the s t andpoint o f the

A r soul and that in every case when an
,
internal struggle ta k es place he must

realize his identity with the higher and
not with the lowe r .
3 . That what we commo n ly call his

l ife i s only o n e day in his true and
larger life .
4 . That death i s a matter of far l ess

importance than i s usually supposed ,
since it is by no means the end o f life ,
but merely the passage from o n e sta ge

o f it to another .
5 . That man has an immense e v o lu
tion behind him the study o f which i s

,
most fascinatin g interesting and in

, ,
st r uctive .
6 That he has also a splendid e v o

.
l u t io n before him the study o f which

,
wil l be even more fascinating and in

structive .
7 . That there is an a b solute cer

tainty o f final attainmen t for eve r y h u
ma n soul no matter how far he may
,
seem to have s t r a v ed from the path o f

evolution .
From the third g r eat truth it fol

lows '
I That every thought word o r a c
—
.
, ,
tio n prod uces its definite result n o t a

reward o r a pu n ishm e n t imposed from
with o ut but a result inherent in the
,
action itsel f definitely connected with it

,
in the relation o f cause and e ff ec t these ,
being really but two inseparabl e parts

o f o n e whole .
.2 That it is b oth the duty a n d in

t e r e s t of man to study thi s divin e law
closely so that he may be a b l e t o adapt
,
himsel f to it a n d to use it as we use ,
oth e r great laws o f n ature .
.
3 That it is n ecessary f o r man to
attain perfect co n trol over himsel f so ,
that he may guide his l i fe intelligently

.
in accorda n ce with this l aw .
ADVA N TAGE S GA IN E D F R O M
TH I S 'N OWLE D GE .
Wh en this k n owledge is fully assi m

il a t ed it cha nges the asp e ct o f li f e so
,
co m pl e t e ly that i t woul d b e impossi b l e

20 An O ut li ne of Theos ophy .
fo r me to tabulate all the ad v a n ta ge s

which flow from it I can o n ly mention
.
a few o f the principal lines along which

thi s change is produced and t h e read ,
’
er s own thought will n o doubt supply, ,
some o f the endless ramifications which

are their necessary consequence .
B u t it must be und erstood that n o

vague knowledg e will be su fficient .
S uch belief as most men accord to the

assertions o f thei r religions will be
quite useless since it produces no p r a c
,
tical e ff ect in their l iv e s B u t i f we .
believe in these truths as we do in the

—
other l aws o f nature as w e b elieve
th at fi r e bu rn s and that water drown s
—t he n the e ffect that they produce in
o u r l ives is enormous For our be li e f
.
in the l aws o f n ature i s su fficie n tly

r eal t o i n duc e us to order o u r l ives in
accorda n c e with it B e li e ving t hat fire
.
b urn s we t a ke every precautio n to

,
avoid fire ; b eli e vi ng that wat e r drow n s ,
we a v oid goi ng i n to wat er t oo d ee p

f o r us u n less we ca n swi m .
Now thes e beli e fs a r e s o defi n it e a n d

Genera l Pri nci pl es . 21
rea l to us be ca use they are fou n d e d on

kn owledg e and illustrated by daily e x
p e r i e n c e ; and the bel iefs o f the Theo ~
sophical student are equally re a l and

definite to him f o r e x actly the sam e
reaso n And that i s why we fi n d fol
.
lowi ng from them the r e sults n o w t o

be described '
I We gain a rational compr e h en sion
.
o f li fe — w e k now h o w we should live

and why and we learn that li fe is
,
worth l ivi n g when prop e rly und er

sto od .
2 We l earn how t o go v er n o u r
.
selves and therefore how t o develope

,
ourselv e s .
3 We. l e ar n h o w b est t o help th o se

whom w e lov e how t o make o urs elves ,
useful t o all with whom w e co me i n to

co n tact a n d ulti m ately t o th e whole
,
huma n rac e .
4 W
. e l e ar n t o V iew e ve rythi ng fro m
t h e wid e r philosophical sta n dpoi n t
n ev e r from the petty and purel y per
s o n al side .
22 An O utli ne of Theos ophy .
C onseque ntly
5
. The troubl es of life a r e no longer
s o large for us .
6 We have no sense o f inj ustice in

.
connection with our surroundings o r

our destiny .
7
. We are altogether freed f r om
the fear o f death .
8 O u r grief i n connection with the

.
death o f those w h om w e love is very

greatly mitigated .
9
. We gain a totally different vie w
o f the li fe a fter death and we under,
stand its place in our evolution .
'
1 0 We are altogether free from r e

.
l ig io u s fears or worry either for our ,
—
selves o r fo r o u r friends fears as to
the salvation o f the soul for exampl e ,
.
1 1 . We are no l onger trou b led by

unce rtai n ty as to our future fate but ,
l ive in perfect serenity and per fect fear

less n ess .
Now l e t us take these poi n ts i n detail

and endeavour b riefly to explain them .
C HA PTE R II I
TH E D E I TY .
Whe n w e l ay down the exist en ce o f

G od as the first and greatest o f o u r
prin ciples it b ecomes necessary for us
,
to define the sense in which we employ

that much abused y et mighty word
-
,
.
We try to redeem i t from the narr o w

limits impos ed on it by the i gnorance
o f undeveloped men and to restor e to
,
—
it the spl endid conc e ption spl en did ,
though so infi n itely bel o w the reality

given to it by the founders o f religions .
And w e distin guish b etwe e n G o d as

the I n fi n ite E xistenc e and the ma n i
,
f es t a t io n o f this S uprem e E x iste n c e as

a rev ea l ed G od e v olvi ng a n d guidi n g
,
a u n ivers e On ly t o this limited m a n i

.
f e s t a t io n should the ter m a p er so n al

'
”
Go d be appl ied .God i n Himsel f is
beyond th e b o unds o f pe rs on al ity is ,
24 An Out li ne of Theos ophy .
' ”
i n all a n d through al l and indeed is
all ; and of the Infinite the Absolute , ,
the All we can only say H e is

,
” '
.
F o r a l l practical pu r poses we nee d

not go further than that marvellous
and glorious mani festation o f H im ' a
l ittle less entirely beyond o u r c o mp r e
h e n s io n ) the great Guiding Force o r
D eity o f o u r own solar system whom ,
philosophers have called the Logos O f .
him is true al l that we have ever hea r d

p redicated o f Go d — al l that is g o od ,
—
that is not the blasphemous co n ce p
tions sometimes put forward a s cr ib ,
ing t o H im human vices B u t all that .
has ever be e n said o f the love the wis ,
dom the power the patience and com

, ,
passio n the om n iscience the omni

, ,
,
—
presence the omnipotence all o f this ,
and much m ore is true o f the Logos

,
'
o f o u r system . V erily in Him we l ive
”
a n d mov e a n d have o u r bein g not a s ,
a poetical ex pressio n but ' stra n ge as it

,
may se e m ) as a definite scientific fact ;

and so whe n we speak o f the Deity ou r
first thou ght is naturally of the Logos .
The D ei ty . 25
W e do n ot vaguely h op e that He
may b e ; we d o n ot ev en be li ev e as a
-
matter o f faith that H e is ; w e simply

k n ow it as we k n ow that the su n shi n es ,
f o r t o the trai ne d a n d d eve lop e d clair

v oyant investigator this Mi ghty E xist
e n ce is a definite c e rtainty Not that .
any merely human devel opment can e n

able us directly t o see Him, b ut that u m
mistakable evidenc e o f His action and
His purpos e surrounds us o n every side
a s we study the li fe o f the u n seen
world which is in reality only the high
,
er part o f this .
Her e we meet t he explanatio n o f a

d o gma which is common to all rel i g ions
—that o f th e Trinity I n co mp reh en s i
.
ble as ma n y o f th e stateme n ts made o n

this su b j ect in o u r cr e eds may se e m t o
the ordi n ary reader they be com e si g
,
n ifi can t and lumi n ous wh en th e truth
i s u n derstoo d As H e shows Him s e l f

.
t o us i n Hi s work the Lo g o s i s u n
—
,
dou b t edly tripl e thre e a n d y et o n e as ,
r e li g i on has lo ng a go told us ; a n d as
m uch o f the expl a nation o f this a p
26 li ne
An O ut of Theos ophy .
parent myste r y as the intellect of m an

at its present stage can g r asp will be
found in the b o o k s presently to be men
t io n e d .
That H e is within us as well as with

out us o r in other words that man
, , ,
himsel f is in essence divin e is anoth er ,
great truth which though those who ,
are blind to all but the outer and lower

world may still argue about it i s an ,
absol ute ce rtainty to the student of the

higher side o f l i fe O f the constitution.
’
o f man s soul and its various vehicles
w e shall spea k under the heading o f

the second o f the truths ; su ffi ce it for
the moment to note that the inherent
divinity is a fact a n d that in it resides
,
th e assuranc e o f the ultimate retu rn o f

every human being to the divine l evel .
TH E D I V I N E S C H E ME .
Perhaps non e o f our postulates wil l

prese n t greater di fficulty to th e aver
age mi n d tha n the first corollary to this
first great truth Loo k ing rou n d us in
.
daily li fe w e see so much o f the storm

The D ei ty
. 27
and str e ss the sorrow a n d the su ffer

,
ing so much tha t looks l ike t h e tri

,
umph o f evil over good tha t it seems ,
almos t impo ssibl e to suppo se that al l

this apparen t con fusion is in reality
part o f a n ordered pro g ress Y e t this .
i s the truth a n d ca n be see n t o be the

,
truth so soo n as we escape from the

dust cloud raised b y the struggl e in this
-
outer world and look u po n it all from

,
the v antage ground o f th e fuller know

ledge and the inner peace .
Then the real motion o f the compl ex

machinery becomes apparent Then it .
i s seen that what have seemed to be

counter curr e nts o f evil prevailing
-
a gainst th e st ream o f progress are

merely triflin g eddies into which for
the moment a l ittl e water may turn
aside o r tiny W hirlpool s o n the surface
, ,
in w hich part o f th e water appears f o r

the m o ment t o be ru n ni n g b ackwards .
B u t al l the tim e th e mi ghty river is

sw e epin g steadily on its appointed
course be aring the superficial whirl
,
p ools along with it Just so the

. grea t
28 An O ut li ne of Th eos op hy
.
strea m o f evolution is movi n g ev e n ly

o n its way and what seems to us so
,
terri b le a tempe st is the mer e st r u fli in g

o f its surface A n other a n alo gy very
.
,
beauti fully worked o u t is give n in Mr , .
C H Hi n to n s S ci en tifi c R o ma n ces
’
. .
,
vol i pp 1 8 t o 2 4
. .
,
. .
Truly as o u r third great tru th t e ll s

,
us absolute j ustic e is meted o u t to all

, ,
and s o in whatever circumsta nc es a

,
man finds himsel f he knows that he ,
himsel f a n d non e oth e r has provid e d

them ; but he may also know much more
tha n this He may rest assured that
.
u n d er the action o f evolutionary law

matters ar e s o arranged as to gi ve him
th e b est possible opportunity f o r devel
oping withi n himsel f thos e qualities
which h e most n e ed s His circu m .
sta n ces are b y n o means nece ssarily

those that he would ha v e chosen for
himsel f b ut they are e x actly what h e
,
has deserved ; and su b j ect only t o that ,
co n sideratio n o f his deserts ' which i re

quently impose serious limitations ) ,
they are thos e b est ada p ted for his

The De i ty . 29
progr e ss They may provide him with

.
al l sorts o f di ffi culties but these are

,
o ffered only in order that he may l earn

to surmount the m a n d thereby de ve l ope
,
within himsel f courage determination , ,
patience pers e vera n ce o r w h at ev er

, ,
other quality h e may l ac k Me n ofte n .
speak as though th e forces o f Nature

were conspiring agai n st them whereas ,
as a matter of fact everything about

them is carefully calculated to assi st
them o n thei r upward way .
Th a t s in ce there is a D ivine scheme

, ,
’
it is man s part to try t o understand it ,
is a propositio n which surely n eeds n o

argument . E ven were it o n ly from
motives o f sel f interest those w h o have
-
,
to live under a certain set o f co n ditions

would d o wel l t o familiari ze them
selves with them ; and whe n a m a n s ’
o b j ects i n li fe b ecome altruisti c it i s

still more n ecessary f o r him to compre
hen d i n order that h e may he lp the
,
more e ffectually .
It is undou b tedly part o f this pla n

for man s evol uti o n that h e hims e l f
’
30 An O ut li ne o f Theos oph y .
should intel ligently co ope r ate in it a s -
soon as he has deve loped su fficient intel

l ig e n ce t o g rasp it and su fficien t good
feeling t o wish to aid B u t inde e d this
.
D ivine sc heme i s s o wonderful and s o

beauti ful that when once a man s ees
,
it nothi n g else is possible for h im than

,
to throw all his energies into the e ffo rt

to become a wor k er in it no matter h o w ,
humble may be the part which he has

t o sustain .
For fuller information on the sub

j e c t s o f this chapter the reade r is r e
f e rred to Mr s B esant s E s o te r i c C h r is
.
’
t ian i ty and A n ci e n t Wis d o m and to my ,
o w n littl e b ook o n Th e C h r is ti a n Cr e e d .
M uch light is also thrown on th ese

conceptions from the Greek standpo i n t
in Mr G R S Mead s Or ph eu s and
. . . .
’
,
—
fr o m the Gnostic C hristian in his F r a g
me n ts of a F a i th F or g o tten .
The D eity . 81
I know as my life grows older

,
A n d mine eyes have clearer sight ,
That und er eac h r an k wrong s ome where

The r e lies the root of right ;
That each s o r r ow has its p urp ose ,
B y the so r r owing o f t unguessed ;

That as su r e as the sun brings m o rn i ng
, ,
Whatever is is be s t , .
I know t hat each sinful action ,
A s su r e as the night b r i ngs shade ,
I s s omewhe e some t ime p un i shed

r , ,
Though t he hou r be long delay ed

I know that the s oul is a i ded
S omet i mes b y the hea r t s unrest
.
A n d t o g r ow means o f t t o su ff er ;
B ut whatever is is best ,
I know that the e a r e no err o r s r
I n the gr ea t eternal p la n ,
A n d t hat all t h i ngs wo k t ogether r
F o r the fi n al good o f man .
And I kn ow when my s o ul s p eeds ‘

ou
wa r d
I n its grand ete rnal quest
I shall s ay as I loo k bac k ea rthward
, ,
Whateve r is is best , .
'
Th e a bo ve ap p ea r e d a n on y m o u s ly i n an
A me r ic a n n ew s p ap e r
'
J
C H A PTE R I V
TH E CO N S TI TU TI O N
OF MAN .
Th e a stou n ding p r actical m at e rial

ism to which we have be en reduced in
this country ca n hardly be more cl early
shown than it is by the expressi o ns t hat
we employ in common l i fe We spea k .
quite ordinarily o f man as having a

' ”
soul o f saving o u r soul s and so o n
, , ,
evidently rega r ding the physical body

as the real man and the soul as a
mere appanage a vague s o mething to
,
be con sidered as the property o f the

body With an idea s o littl e defined as
.
this it can hardly be a matter o f sur

,
prise that many peopl e go a littl e fur

ther al on g the sam e li n es and doubt
,
wh e ther this va gu e somethin g e x ists

at all S o it would s e em that the or
.
d in a ry m a n is ve ry o ft en quit e u nce r «
tai n wh e th e r h e posse ss es a soul o r n ot ;

s t ill l e ss do e s h e k n ow that that s ou l
The Co ns ti tution of Man . 33
is immortal That he should remain in

.
this pitiable c o ndition o f ignora n ce

seems strange for ther e is a very great
,
d e al o f evide n ce availa b le even in the ,
outer world t o show that man has an

.
existence quite a part fro m his b ody ,
capabl e o f bein g carried o n at a dis

tance from it whil e it i s livin g and e n ,
t ir e l y without it when it i s dead .
U n til w e have entirely rid oursel v es

o f this e x traordinary de lusion that the
body i s the man it is quite imp o ssibl e ,
that we should at al l appreciate the real

facts o f the c a se A littl e investigation
.
immediately shows us that the b od y

is o n ly a ve hicl e b y means of which the
man ma n i fests himsel f i n connection
with this particular type o f gross mat
ter o u t o f which o u r visi b le world i s
built.
Furthermore it shows that other and

,
—
su b tler types o f matt e r exist not only
the ether admitted b y m oder n scie n ce
as inter p e netrating all known sub
sta n ces b ut other types of matter which
,
i n terpenetrat e e th e r i n tur n a n d a re ,
C
as much finer than ether as it is th a n

solid ma tter .
The question will naturally occur to

the reader as t o h o w it wil l be possi b l e
f o r man to become co n scious o f the
e x iste n ce o f type s o f matter so wo n der
fully fi n e s o minutely subdivided The
, .
answ er is that he can becom e co n scious

o f them in the same way as he be comes
—
consci ous o f the lower matte r b y r e
c e iv in g vibrations from them And .
he is enabled to receive vibrati on s from

them b y reason o f the fact that he
possesses matter o f the se fin er typ es as
—
part o f himself that j ust as his body
o f d en se matter is his vehicle f o r per
ce iv in g and communicating with the
world o f dense matter s o does the

,
finer matter within him constitute for

him a vehicl e by means o f which he
ca n p e rceive and communicate with the
world o f finer matter which is imper
c e p t ib l e t o the grosser physical sense s .
This i s b y no means a new idea It .
wi ll b e remembered that S t Paul r e .
marks that there is a natural b od y

'
,
”
and th e re is a spiritual body and that
,
The C ons tituti on of Man . 35
he furthermore refers to b oth th e soul

and t h e spirit in man by n o mea n s ,
employing the t w o words synonymous

l y as is s o often ignorantly do n e at the
,
prese nt day It spee dily b ecomes e v i

.
d en t that ma n is a far more compl ex

bein g than 1 8 o rdinarily supposed ; that
n o t only is h e a S p l r l t within a soul b ut ,
that this soul ha s various v ehicles o f

di ff e rent degrees o f density the phy ,
s ica l b ody b eing only o n e an d the l o w ,
es t o f them .These various vehicl es

may all b e d e scri be d as b od ies i n rela
tion t o thei r respective level s o f mat
ter It might be said that there exist
.
around us a series o f worlds o n e within

the other ' b y interpenetration ) a n d ,
that ma n possesses a body f o r each o f

thes e worlds by means o f which h e may
o b serve it and l ive i n it .
H e learn s b y de gr e es h ow to u s e
th e s e v arious b odies and i n that way
,
gains a much more complete idea o f t h e

great comple x world i n which h e l i v es ;
for al l thes e other in n er worlds ar e i n
reality still part o f it In this way he
.
comes to understand ve r y many thi n gs

which be fore seemed mysterious to
him ; he ceases to id e nti fy himsel f with
his bodies and lea rns that they are
,
only v esture s which he may put o ff

and resume o r change without being
himsel f in the least a ff ected thereby .
O nce more we must repeat that all this

is by no means me taphysical specula
tion or pious O pinion b ut definite s cie n
,
t ifi c fact thoroughly well known ex

,
p e r i m en t a l l y to those w h o have studie d

Theosophy S trange as it may seem to
.
many to find precise stateme nts ta k ing

t he plac e o f hypotheses upon questions
such as these I am speaking here o f
,
nothing that is not known by direct

and constantly r epeated obse r vation to
-
a large number o f students Assuredly .
”
w e k now w hereo f we speak
'
n o t by
,
faith but by experiment and therefore ,
w e spea k with confidence .
To these inner worl ds o r di ff eren t

levels o f natu r e we usually give the
name o f p lanes We spea k of the vis
.
' ”
ible world as the physical plane ,
The C ons ti tuti on of Man . 37
thou g h und er that name we include

al so the gases and the various grades
o f ether . To the ne xt st a ge o f mater
”
ia l ity the name o f the astral pl a n e
'
was g i v e n b y the medi aeval alchemists

'w h o w e re well a war e of its exist
ence ) and w e hav e adopted their titl e
,
.
Withi n this exists yet another world

o f stil l finer matter o f which we speak
,
”
as the m ental plane be cause o f its
'
,
matter i s composed what i s commonly

call ed th e mind in man The re are .
other still higher pl anes but I n e e d ,
n o t trou b l e the reader with design a
tions f o r them since we are at present

,
dealin g only with man s mani festation ’
in the lower worlds .
It must al ways be bo rne i n mind

that all thes e worlds are in no way
removed from u s in space In fact .
,
they all occupy exactly the sam e space ,
and are al l e qually about us alw a ys .
At the moment o u r consciousness is

focussed in a n d working through o u r
physical brain an d thus we are con
,
scious o n ly o f the physical world and ,

not e ven o f the whole o f that B u t .
we have only to l ea r n to focu s that

consciousness in o n e of these higher
vehicles and at once the physical fades
,
f r om o u r view and we see inst ea d

,
the world o f matter which correspo nds

t o the vehicle used .
R ecollect that all matter is i n e s

sence the same Astral matte r does not
.
di ff er in its nature f r om physical mat

ter any more than ice di ff ers in its
nature from steam I t i s simply the
.
same thing in a di ff erent condition .
Physical matter may become astral o r ,
astral may become mental i f o n ly it ,
be su ffi cien tly subdivided and caused ,
t o vibrate with the proper degree o f

rapidity .
TH E T R U E MA N .
What then is the true man ? H e

, ,
is in tru th a n emanatio n from the L O

g o s,
a spa rk o f the D ivine fire Th e .
spirit withi n him is o f the ver y esse n ce

o f the D eity and that spirit we ars his
—
,
soul as a vesture a vesture which e n

cl oses and individual izes it and s ee ms ,
The C ons ti tuti on of Man . 39
to ou r limited v 1 5 1 o n to separate it for

a time from th e rest o f the D ivine
Li fe The story o f the original fo r

.
matio n o f the so ul o f man an d o f the ,
en folding o f the spirit within it is a ,
b eauti ful and interesting o n e b ut too

,
long f o r incl usion in a merely elemen

tary work like this I t may be found
.
in ful l detail in those o f o u r b o ok s w h ich

deal with thi s part o f the doctrine .
S u ffice it here to say that all thre e as

peets o f the D ivin e Li fe have thei r
part in its inception and that its for ,
mation is th e culminatio n o f that

mighty sacrifice o f the Logos i n de
scendin g into ma tter which has be en ,
called th e I ncarnation .
Thus th e baby soul is b orn ; a n d

j u s t as it is made in the image o f
”—
Go d thre efold in aspect as He i s , ,
a n d threefold in mani festatio n as He

—
,
1 8 al so s o i s its method o f evolution
also a refl ectio n o f H is desce n t i n to

matter . Th e D ivine S park co n t ains
within it all potentiality but it is only ,
through long ages o f e volutio n that

'
40 An O ut li ne of Theos ophy
.
all its possibilities can be realized The .
a p pointed method f o r the evolution of

’
the man s latent qualities seems to be by
learning to vibrate in response to im
p acts from without .B u t at the level
where he finds hi msel f ' that of the
higher mental plane ) the vibrati o ns
are far t o o fine to awa k en this r e
s p o n s e at present ; he must begin with
those that are coarser and stronger and ,
having awa k ened his dormant s e n s ib il

ities by thei r means he will gradually
g r ow more and more sensitive until he
i s capabl e o f perfect response at al l
l evel s to all possibl e rates o f vibration .
That is the material aspect o f his

p rogress ; but regarded subj ectively to ,
be able to respond t o all vibration s

means t o b e perfect in sympathy and
compassio n And that is exactly the
.
conditio n o f the develope d man the —

adept the spiritual teacher the C hrist
, ,
.
I t needs the development within him

o f al l the qualities which go to ma k e
u p the perfect man ; and this i s t h e
real wor k o f h is long li fe in matte r .

Th e C ons ti tut i on of Man . 41
’
I n th is chapter we have brush e d the

surfa ce o f many subj ects o f extreme
impo r t a nc e Those who wish to study
.
them fu r ther wil l find m a n y The o

sophical bo oks to help them O n th e .
constitution o f man w e woul d refer

readers t o M r s B esant s works M a n
.
’
and h is B o d i es ,
Th e S e l f a n d i ts
S h e a th s , and Th e S ev e n Pr in cipl es of
M a n and al so t o my own boo k M an
, ,
Vis i bl e a n d I n v is i bl e in which will be ,
fou n d many coloured illustratio n s o f

the di ff erent vehicles o f man as they
appear to cl airv o yant sight .
O n the us e o f the inne r faculties

re fer to Cl a i r v oy a n ce .
O n the formation a n d evolution o f

the soul to Mr s B esant s B ir th a n d.
’
E v ol u ti o n of th e S ou l Mr S in n e t t s
’
Gr ow th of th e S o u l and my o w n ,
C h r is tian Cr e e d and M a n Vis i bl e a n d ,
I nv is i bl e .
O n the S piritual evol utio n o f ma n ,
Mr s B esant s I n th e Ou ter Con rt and

.
’
Th e P a th of D is cipl es h ip and the co n ,
cluding chapters of my ow n little book ,
I n v i s i bl e H e l per s .
C H A PTE R V .
R E I N CA R NA TI O N
S i n ce the finer mov em e nts c ann ot

a t first aff ect the soul he has t o draw
,
rou n d him vestures o f gr o sser matter

through which the hea v i e r v i b ratio n s
ca n play ; a n d s o h e takes upo n himsel f
successi v ely th e m e n tal b od y the as ,
tra l body a n d the physical b ody This

—
.
,
is a b irth o r incar n atio n the com

m e n ce me n t o f a physical li fe D uri ng
.
that l i fe a l l kinds o f expe rienc e s com e

t o him through his physical b ody and ,
from them he shoul d l ear n s o me les

sons a n d develope so me qualiti e s with
in himsel f .
Aft e r a time he be gi ns t o withdraw

agai n into himsel f and puts o ff by
,
degrees the vestures which h e has as

Rei ncarnation
. 43
s u me d . Th e first o f th e s e to d rop
i s th e physical bo dy a n d his withdraw
,
a l fro m that is what w e ca l l d e ath .
It is not the en d o f hi s activities as ,
we s o i gn ora n tly suppo se ; n othin g

could be further from the fact H e 1 8 .
si m ply withdrawi n g from o n e e ff ort ,
be arin g b ack with him its results ; a n d

a ft e r a ce r ta in p e riod o f comp a rativ e
'
r e po se he will make another e ff o rt o f

th e s ame ki n d .
Thus as has b ee n said what we

, ,
or di n arily call his l i fe is only o n e d ay

i n the real and wider l i fe — a day at
school duri n g which he learn s cer t ai n

,
l e s so ns . B u t inasmuch as o ne short
li fe o f s ev e n ty o r eighty years at most
is n ot e nough t o give him an o p p o r
t u n ity o f lear n i ng all th e lessons which
this wo n d e rful a n d be auti ful worl d has
t o teach a n d inasmuch a s G o d mea n s
,
him to l ear n th e m all i n His o w n good

time i t i s n ecessary that h e should
,
'
com e b ack aga i n many times a n d l i v e ,
t hrou g h ma n y o f these school days that -
we call l i ve s i n diff e rent classes and

,
44 An Outl i ne of Th eos op hy .
und e r di ff erent ci r cumstances until al l ,
the lessons are learnt ; and then this

lower school wor k will be over and he
-
,
will pass to something higher and more

—
glorious the true divine li fe wor k for -
which all this earthly school li fe is fi t -
ti n g him .
This i s what is called t he doctrine

o f reincarnation o r rebi r th — a doctrine
which was widely k nown i n the a n

cient civilizations and is even t o day ,
held by the maj ority of the human race .
O f it H ume has written '

'
What is inco r ruptible must also
be unge nerabl e The soul the r efore .
, ,
i f immortal existed before our birth

,
The metempsychosis is therefore , ,
the only system o f this k ind that Phil

osophy can hea r ken
Writing of the theories o f metem
psychosis i n I ndia and Greece Ma x ,
Mul ler say s ' There is something u n

'
d e r l y in g them which i f express e d in ,
'H u me ,
'
E s sa y on I m mo r t lity
a ,
”
Lon d o n ,
1 87 5
.
Re i ncarnati on . 45
l e ss mythological language may sta n d ,
the s ev erest test o f philosophi cal e x am

In his last and posthumous
work this gr e at O rientalist again refers
t o this d oc trine a n d e x press e s hi s per
,
so n al belief in it .
A n d H uxley writes Like the .

'
dio ct r in e o f e volution itsel f that o f ,
transmigration has its r o ots i n the

world o f reality ; and it may cl aim
such support as the gr e at argument
f rom analogy i s capabl e o f supp l y
”
in g i .
'
S o it will b e s e en that modern as

well as ancient writers recognize this
h yp ot h e s 1 s as o n e deserving o f th e most
serious consideration .
It must not f o r a moment be co n

founded with a theory held by the
i gnorant that it was possible f or a soul
,
which h a d reached humanity in its e v o

l u t io n to re become that o f an animal .
' Ma x Mu ll e r '
y
ych l g ic l
Th e o s o p h or Ps o o a
li 89 5 e d it i n
,
”
Re io n , p 22, 1 o
l ti n d E th ic p 61
. .
”
T u xl e y , Evo
'
u o an s, ,
iti
.
1 89 5 e d on .
46 An O utl i ne of Theos ophy .
No such retrogression is withi n the

limits o f possibil ity ; when once man
—
comes into existe n ce a huma n soul ,
i n habiting what we call in o u r b ooks

—
a causal bod y h e can never again fall
bac k into what is in truth a lower
kingdom of nature whatever mista k es
,
he may make o r however h e may fail

to ta k e advantage o f his opportunities .
I f he is idle in the school o f li fe he ,
may need to take the same lesson over

and ov e r again b efore he has really
learnt it b ut still o n the whole p r o
,
gress is steady even though it may

,
often be slow A few years ago the e s

.
sence o f this doc trine was prettily put

thus in o n e o f the magazines '
'
A bo y went to school He w as .
very little All that he knew he had

.
’
drawn in with his mother s milk His .
teacher ' w h o was God ) pl ac ed him in

the lowest class and gave him these
,
l essons t o learn ' Thou shalt not kill .
Thou shalt do no hurt to any living

thin g Thou shalt not steal S o the
. .
ma n did n o t kill ; b ut he was cruel and ,

Re i ncarnation . 47
he stol e At the en d o f th e day '

. wh e n
—
his b eard was gray when the ni g ht
was come ) hi s te a cher ' w h o was God )
said ' Thou hast lear ne d n ot t o kill .
B u t t h e oth e r l essons thou has t n o t

learned C om e b ack t o morrow
.
-
.
O n the morrow h e came b ack a

'
,
littl e bo y And his t e acher '

. who was
Go d ) put him in a class a littl e higher
and gave him the se lessons t o l ea rn '
Thou shalt d o n o hurt to an y livin g
thing Thou shalt not steal
. Tho u .
shalt not cheat S o the man did n o .
hurt t o any living thi ng ; but he stol e

and he cheated And at the end o f th e
.
day ' when his beard was gray when —

the night was c o me ) his teacher ' w ho
was Go d ) said ' Thou hast l ea rned t o
be merciful B u t the other l essons th o u
.
hast n o t l earn e d C om e back to mor .

-
row
'
Agai n o n the morrow he cam e
, ,
bac k a little bo y And hi s teacher '

, w ho .
was God ) put him in a class yet a l ittle

higher and gave him these lessons to
,
l ear n ' Tho u shal t n o t steal Th o u .

shalt not cheat Thou shalt not covet

. .
S o the man did not steal ; but he

ch eated and he cove ted And at the
, .
end o f the day ' when his b eard was

—
gray when the night was come ) his
teacher ' who w a s God ) said ' Thou
hast l earned n o t to steal B u t th e other .
lessons thou hast not le arned C ome .
back my child to morrow

, ,
-
.
'
This is what I have r e ad in the
faces o f men and women in the boo k ,
o f the worl d and in the scroll of the

,
”
heavens which i s writ with sta r s
,
.
' B erry B enson in Th e C e,

n tu r y M a g a
z in e
,
Ma y ,
I must not fill my pages with the

many unanswerable arguments in f a
v our of this doctrine o f reincarnation ;
they are set forth very fully in our
litera ture b y a far abler p e n than mine .
H ere I will say only this Life pre .
sents us with many pro b lems which o n ,
any other hypoth e sis th a n this of r e

incarnation seem utterly insolu b le ; thi s
,
gre a t truth does explain them and ,
therefore holds the field until another

Re i ncarn ti on
a . 49
and more satisfacto r y hypothesis can

be found Like t h e rest o f the teach
.
in g this is n ot a hypothesis but a

, ,
matter o f dire ct k n owledge f o r many

of us ; b ut n aturally o u r k nowledge
i s n ot proof to others .
Y e t good men and true have b ee n

sorrowfully forced to admit that they
were unable t o reconcil e the state o f
a ff airs w hich exists in the worl d around
us with the theory that G o d was bo th
almighty and all loving-
They felt
.
,
when they loo k ed upon all the heart

brea k ing sorrow and su ffe rin g that ,
either H e was n o t almighty and coul d,
not prevent it o r He was n o t all lov

,
-
ing and did not care I n Theosophy

, .
we hold with dete r mined conviction

that He i s both almighty and all loving -
,
and we reconcil e with that certainty

the ex istin g facts o f l i fe by means o f
this b asic doctrine o f reincarnation .
S urely th e only hypoth e si s which allows

us reasona b ly to re cogn ize the p e r f e c
ti o n o f power and love i n the D eity is
D
on e which is worthy o f care ful e x am

in a t io n .
Fo r w e understand that o u r pres

e n t li fe is not our first but that we ,
each have behind us a long line o f lives ,
by means o f the experiences o f which

we have evolved from the condition o f
primitive man to our present position .
Assuredly in these past lives we must

have done both goo d and evil and from ,
eve r y one o f o u r actions a definite p ro

po r tion o f result must have followed
under the inexorable law o f j ustice .
From the good follows always ha p pi

n ess and further o p portunity ; from the
ev il follows always sorrow and limita
tion .
S o i f we find ourselves l imited in

any way th e limitation is of our o wn
,
ma k ing or i s merely due to the youth

,
of the soul ; i f we have sorrow and su f

f e r in g to endure w e ourselves alone
,
a r e responsibl e The mani fold and com

.
ple x d estinies o f men answer with ri gid

e xactitude to the ba la n ce b etwee n the
good a n d evil of th e i r previous actio n s ;
Re i ncarna ti on . 51
a n d al l is moving on w ard u n der the

divine order towards the final co n s u m
mation o f glory .
There is perhaps no Theosophical

, ,
teaching to which more violent o b j e c

tion is made th a n this great truth o f
reincarnation ; yet it is in reality a most
com fo rting doctrin e F o r it gives us
.
time f o r the progress w hich l ies be

—
fore time and oppo rtunity to become
'
pe rfect even as o u r Father i n Heaven
,
”
is perfect . O bj ectors chiefly found
their protest o n the fact that th e y have
had s o much troubl e and sorrow in
this li fe that they wil l n o t listen to any
suggestio n that it may be necess ary to
go through it all again B u t this is .
o bviously not argument w e are i n '
search o f t r uth and when it is fou n d

,
w e must n o t shrink from it whether ,
it be pleasant o r u n pl easa n t thou gh , ,
as a m att er o f fact as said a b ove r e

, ,
i n car n ation rightly u n derstood is pro

f o u n d l y com forti ng .
A ga i n p eopl e ofte n i n qu i r e why

, ,
i f w e h av e had s o m a n y pr e vious l i v es ,
we do not r emembe r any of them P u t .
ve r y briefly the answer to thi s i s that

,
some p eopl e do remem b er them ; and

the reason why the maj o r ity do not is
because thei r consciousness is still
focussed in one o r the othe r of the
l ower sheaths That sheath cannot be
.
expected to recollect previou s i n ca r

nations because it has n o t had any ;
,
and the soul w hich h as is not yet fully

, ,
conscious on its own plane B u t the .
me m o r y o f al l the past i s stored with

in tha t soul and expresses itsel f here
,
in the innate qualiti es with which the

child is born ; and when the man has
evolved sufficiently to be able to focus
hi s consciousness there instead o f only
i n l ower vehicles the enti r e history o f
that rea l and wider l i fe will be open b e
fore him l i k e a b ook .
The whol e o f thi s questio n is fully

and beauti fully work ed out in Mr s .
B esant s manual o n R e in ca r n a tio n D r

’
.
,
J erome Anderso n s R e inc a r n a ti o n and

’
in the chapters o n that subj ect i n Th e

A n cie n t Wis d o m to which the attention
,
o f the reader is sp ecially directed .

C H A PTE R V I .
TH E WI D E R O U TLO O' .
A l ittl e thou g ht will soo n show us

what a radical cha ng e is introduced
i n to t he life of the man who real izes
that his phys ical life i s nothing but a
day at school a n d that hi s physical
,
body 1 3 merely a temporary vesture as

sumed f o r t h e purpose o f learning
through it H e sees at once that this
.
purpose o f l earnin g the lesson is the

' ”
only on e o f any im p o rtance and that ,
the man who allows him sel f to be di

verted from that purpose by any co n s id
c ration i s acting with inconceivable
stupidity .
To him who knows the truth the ,
li fe o f the ordinary person devoted ex

c l u s iv e l y t o physical o b j ects t o the pur
,
suit o f wealth o r fame appears the ,

’
—
merest child s play a senseless sacri
fi ce o f al l that i s really worth havi ng
for a few moments gratification o f
_
’
’
the l o wer part o f man s nature The .
54 An O utl i ne of Theos ophy .
stude n t sets his a ff ection o n things

”
above and n o t o n things o f the earth
, ,
n ot only because he sees this t o be the

right course o f action but be cause he ,
realizes v ery clearly the valuelessness

o f these things of earth He always .
tries to ta k e the highe r point o f view ,
for he sees that t he lower is utterly u m

r eliable — that the lower d esi r es and
feel ings gather round him li k e a dense
f o g and ma k e i t impossible for him
,
t o see anything cl early from that level .
Y e t even when he is th o roughly

convi n ced that the higher course is a l
ways the right on e and whe n he is ,
fully determined to follow it he will ,
nevertheless sometimes encounter very

strong temp t ations t o ta k e th e lower
course a n d will be se n sible o f a great
,
struggl e withi n him H e will discover .
that ther e is a l aw in th e mem be rs

'
”
warri ng a gainst the law o f th e mind ,
'
as S t Paul says s o that the good
.
,
that I would I d o n o t a n d the evil

, ,
”
which I would n o t that I do , .
No w good reli gi ous p e opl e oft en

The Wi der O utlook . 55
m ak e th e most serious mistak e s about

this i n t e rior struggle which we have all
felt to a g reater or less e x tent They .
usually accept o n e o f t w o theories o n

t h e? subj ect E ither they suppose that
.
the lower promptin gs come from ex

t e r io r tempting demons or el se they ,
mourn ove r the t e rri b l e W i ck e dn ess an d

blackness o f their hearts in that such ,
fathoml ess evil still exists within them .
I ndeed many o f the best o f me n a n d

,
women go through a v ast amount o f

total ly unnecessary su ff ering o n this
accou n t .
The first point to have cl early in

mi n d i f o n e wishes to understa n d thi s
matter is that the lower desire is n ot i n
truth ou r d esire at all No r is it the
.
work o f some de m on trying t o de

stroy ou r souls It is tru e that th e r e
.
so m etim e s ar e evil e n tities which ar e

attract e d b y th e b ase thou ght i n ma n ,
a n d inte n si fy it b y their actio n ; b ut

such e n titi e s are ma n m ade every on e
-
,
o f th e m a n d imperma n e n t
, They are .
me rely th e artificial form s cal led i n to

existence by the thought o f oth e r e vil

men and they have a pe r iod of what
,
seems al most l i k e li fe propo rtioned to

,
the strength o f the thought that cre

a ted them .
B u t the undesira b le prompting within

us usually comes f r om quite a n other
source It has been mentioned how
man draws round him vestures of mat
ter at di ff erent l evels in orde r that he
,
may descen d into incarnation B u t this .
matter is not dead matter ' indeed o c ,
cult science teaches u s that the r e is no

such thing as dead matte r anywhere ) ,
but is instinct with li fe ; though it is

li fe at a stage o f evolution much earlier
—
than our own s o much e arlier that it
is still moving on a downward course
into lower matter instead of rising
,
aga i n out o f lower matter into higher .
C onsequently its tende ncy is always to

p r ess downwards toward the grosser
material and the coarser vi b r ati ons
which mean progress for it but retro ,
g r e s s io n for us ; and so it h a p pens that
the interest of the true man sometimes

The Wi de r O utl ook . 57
co me s i n to collision with that o f the l iv

ing matter in some o f his vehicl e s .
That is a very rough outl ine o f the

explanatio n o f the curious intern al stri fe
—
that we sometimes feel a stri fe which
has sugges ted t o poetic m i nds the id ea
o f good and evil angel s in conflict over
the soul o f man A more detailed a c .
count will be found in Th e A s tr a l

P l a n e p 40 and also in Th e O th er
,
.
,
S i d e o f D ea th B u t i n the meantime
.
it is impo r tant that the man shoul d

realize that h e is the higher force a l ,
ways moving towards and battling for

g ood whil
,
e this lower force is n o t he
at all but only an unco n trolled frag

,
ment o f o n e o f his lower vehicl es H e .
must lear n to co n trol it t o dominate it ,
absolutely and to k eep it in order ; but

,
he should n o t therefore thin k of it as

, ,
e v il b u t as an outpo uri n g o f the D ivine

, .
p o w e r m o v in g o n its orderly course ,
th ough that course in th i s instance hap

pens to be downwards into matter in ,
stead o i upwards and away from it as ,
ours is .
C H A PTE R V I I .
D E ATH .
O ne of th e most importa n t practical

r e sults o f a thorough c o mprehension o f
Theosophical truth is the entire change
which it necessarily brings about i n our
attitude towards death It is impossible
.
for us to calculate the vast amount o f

utterly unn e cessary sorrow and terror
and misery which man k i n d i n the a g
r e ga t e has suff ered simply from its
g
ignorance and superstition with regard
t o this o n e matter o f death There is
.
amo n g us a mass o f fal s e a n d fooli sh

b el ief along this li n e which has worked
untold evil in the past and is causing
indescri b abl e su ff erin g in th e prese n t ,
a n d its e radicatio n would b e o n e o f the

gr eatest b enefits that could b e co n ferred
upo n the hu m a n race .
This b e n efit the Th eosophica l t each

i ng at o n ce co n fers o n thos e w h o f f om
,
thei r study o f philos ophy i n past li v es ,
now fi n d themselves able t o acce pt it .

Death . 59
It r 03 d e ath forthwith o f all its terror

and much of its sorrow and enables u s
,
t o see it in its true proportions and t o

understand its place in the schem e o f
o u r evolutio n .
While de ath is considered as the e n d

o f l i fe
, as a gateway i n to a dim b ut
fearful unknown cou n try it is n o t u n ,
n aturally regarded with much m is giv

ing i f not with positive terror S ince
, .
,
in spite o f al l religious teaching t o th e

contrary this has been the v iew uni
,
v e r s a l l y take n in the western world ,
many gri sly horrors have S prung up

a round it and have b e come matters o f
,
custom thoughtlessly o b eyed b y many

,
w h o should k n ow be tte r All the ghast

—
.
l y pa raphernalia o f w o e th e mutes th e ,
plumes th e b lack velvet t h e cr ape the

, , ,
mournin g garments th e odious b lack

—
,
ed ged n otepaper al l th e s e are n othing

m ore tha n ad v ertiseme n ts o f i gn orance
o n th e part o f those w h o employ them .
The man w h o b egins to understand

what death is at once puts asid e all this
masqu e rade as childish fol ly s e e i ng ,
that to mou r n over the good fortune o f

his friend me r ely because it involves f o r
himsel f the pain o f an appa r ent separa
tion from that frie n d becomes as soon , ,
as it is reco gnized a displ ay o f s e l fi s h

,
ness H e cannot avoid feeling the

.
wrench of the tem p orary se p a ration ,
but he can avoid allowing his own pain

to become a hindrance to the friend who
ha s p assed o n .
H e knows that the r e can be no n eed

to fear or to mourn over death whether ,
it comes to himsel f or to those whom he

loves It has come to them all often
.
b efore so that there is nothing u n

,
familiar a b out it I nstead o f re p resent

.
in g i t as a ghastly king o f terrors it ,
would be more accurate and more se n

sibl e to symbolize it as an angel bearing
a golde n key to admit us to the glorious
realms o f the higher l i fe .
He real izes very definitely that l i fe

is co n tinuous and that the loss of the
,
physical b ody is nothing more tha n the

casting asid e o f a garment which in no ,
way changes the r e al ma n w h o i s the

D eath . 61
wearer o f the garment H e sees that .
death is simply a promotion fro m a li fe

which i s more than hal f physi cal to o n e
-
which i s wholly astr al and therefore ,
very much superior S o f o r himsel f he

.
un feignedly welcomes it and when it ,
comes t o those whom he loves he recog

mizes at once the great advantage for
them even though he cannot but f e el a
,
certain amount of selfish regret that h e

should b e tempo r arily separated from
them B u t he knows al so that thi s
.
separation is in fact only apparent and ,
not real H e knows that the s o called

.
-
dead are n ear him still a nd that he has

,
o nl y to cast o ff temporarily his p hysical
body in sl eep in order t o stand side by

,
side with the m a n d commune with them

as b efore .
H e sees clearly that the world i s

o n e and that the same D ivine laws rule
,
the whol e o f it wh ether it be visible o r

,
invisible to physical sight Co n s e .
quently he has n o feeling o f nervous

ness o r strangeness in passing from o n e
part o f it to the other and n o sort o f
,
62 An Outl i ne of Th e os ophy .
uncertainty as to what he will fi n d o n

the other side o f the veil The whole .
o f the unse e n world is s o clearly and
fully mapped out for him through the

work o f the Theosophical investigators
that it is as well k n own to him as the
physical l i fe and thus he is prepared to
,
enter upon it without hesitation when

ever it may be best for his evolution .
For full details o f the various stages

o f this higher li fe we must refer th e
reader to the boo k s s p ecially devoted to

this subj ect I t is s u ffi cie n t here to say
'
that the conditions into which the man

passes are precisely those which he has
made for himsel f The thoughts and
.
desires which he has encouraged within

himsel f durin g earth li fe ta k e f o r m as
-
definite living entities hovering round

him and reacting upon him until the
energy which he poured into them is
e x haust e d When such thoughts a n d
.
desires hav e b een powerful a n d per

s is t e n t l y evil the companions s o create d
,
may indeed be terribl e ; b ut happily

such cas es form a ve ry s m all m i n ority
Death . 63
among th e dw e llers i n th e astral worl d .
Th e worst that the ordinary man o f the

worl d usual ly provides for hims e l f after
d e ath is a useless a n d unuttera b ly weari
some e x iste n c e v oid o f all ratio n al in
,
t e r es t s —the natural sequ e nce o f a l ife

wasted in sel f indulgence trivial ity and
-
, ,
gossip here o n earth .
To this weari n ess activ e su ff ering

may under certai n co n ditio n s b e added .
I f a man durin g earth li fe has allowed -
strong physical desir e to o b tai n a mas

t e r y over him — i f f o r example he has
, ,
become a slave t o such a vice as avarice ,
—
sensuality o r drunkenne ss h e has laid
,
up for hims el f much purgator i al su ff er

ing a fter death F o r in losing the
.
physical body he in n o way loses these

desires and passions ; they remain as
—
vivid a s e v er nay they are eve n more
,
active when they ha v e no longer the

heavy particl es o f dense matter to set
in motio n What he does lose i s t he
.
power to grati fy these passions ; s o that

they remain as torturing gnawing de ,
sires unsatisfied a n d u n s a t is fi a b l e It
,
.
will b e seen that this ma k es a very real

hel l f o r the unfortunate man though ,
o f course only a temporary o n e since ,
in process o f time such desires must

burn themselves o u t ex p ending thei r ,
energy in the very su ff ering which they

produce .
A terrible fate truly ; yet there are

,
t w o points which we should bea r in

mind with regard to it Fi rst that the .
,
ma n has n ot only brought it on himsel f ,
but has determined its intensity and its

du r ation f o r himsel f H e has allowed
this d esire to reach a ce r tain st r ength
during earth l i fe and now he has to
-
,
meet it and control it I f du r ing p hys .
ical l ife he has made e ff orts to re p ress

or check it h e will have j ust so much
,
the less di fficulty in conque r ing it now .
H e has created for himsel f the monster

with which n o w he has to struggle ;
whatever strengt h his antagonist poss
esses is j ust what he has given it .
Therefore his fate is not imposed upon

,
him f r om without but i s simply o f his

,
o w n making .
Death . 65
S e co n dly ,the su ff eri n g which he

thus brings upon himsel f i s the o nly
way of escape for him I f it were poss .
ibl e f o r him to avoid it and to pass ,
through the astral li fe without thi s

gradual wearing away of the lower de
sires what would b e th e result
,
? Ob
v iou s l y that he would enter upon hi s
next physical l i fe enti rely under the

d omination o f these passions He woul d .
be a born drunkard a sensualist a , ,
miser ; and long be fore it would b e

possibl e to teach him that he ought to
try to control such passions they would
have grown far t o o strong f o r control
they would have ensl a ve d him bo dy ,
and soul and so another l i fe would be

,
thrown away another opportunity

,
woul d b e lost He would enter thus

.
upon a vicious circl e from which there

appears n o escape and his evoluti on
,
would b e indefinitely delayed .
The D ivine scheme i s n ot thus

defective The passion exhausts itsel f
.
durin g the astral li fe and the man r e

,
turns to physica l e x iste n ce without it .
E
True the wea k ness of mind which a l

,
low e d passion to dominate him is still

there ; true also he has made for him
, ,
sel f for this n e w life an astral b ody

capa b l e o f expressing exactly the sam e
passion s as before so t h a t it would n ot
‘
be di ffi cult f o r him to resume his o l d

e v il li fe B u t the ego the real man has
.
, ,
had a terribl e lesson and assuredly he ,
will make every e ff or t to prevent his

lower mani festation from repeating
that mistake from falling again under
,
the sway o f that passio n H e has still .
the germs of it within him but i f he ,
has deserved good a n d wise parents

they will help to develope the good in
him and check the ev il th e germs will ,
remain u n f r u ct ifi e d and will atrophy ,
and s o in the next li fe afte r that they

will not appea r at all S o by slow de .
g r ees man conquers hi s evil qual ities ,
and evolves virtues to replace them .
O n the other hand the man who i s ,
intelligent and helpful who under ,
stands the conditions o i this non phys -
ical existence and takes the trouble to

Death . 67
a dapt hi m s el f t o th e m a n d ma k e the
most o f them find s opening b efore him
,
a splendid v ista o f O pportuniti es bo th

f o r a cquirin g fresh knowledg e a n d f o r
doin g useful work He discovers that
.
li fe away from this de n se body has a

vividness and b rilliancy to which all
earthly enj oyment i s as moonli ght unto
sunlight and that through his cle a r
,
knowl edge an d calm confide n ce the

po wer o f the endless l i fe shines ou t
upon al l thos e around him He may .
become a ce n tre o f p eace and j o y u n

speakabl e t o hundreds o f hi s fel low
men and may d o more good in a few
,
years o f that astral existence than e ver

he could have done in the longest phys
ical life .
H e is well aware t o o that th e re

, ,
lies be fore him a n other and still grand

er stage o f this wo n derful p os t m or te r n
-
li fe Just as b y his desi res and his

.
l ower thoughts he has made for him

sel f the surroundings o i his astral l i fe ,
s o has he by his higher thought and his
n obler aspirations mad e f o r himse l f a

li fe in the heaven world For h eave n -

.
is not a d r eam but a living and glorious

,
reality No t a city far away beyond

.
the stars with gates of pearl and streets

,
o f gold ,
reserve d f o r the ha bitation of
a favoured few but a state o f con ,
s c io u s n e s s into which eve r y man will
pass during the interval between his

lives o n ea r th No t an eternal abid
.
ing place truly but a condition O f bliss

-
,
indescribable lasting through many

centuries No t even that alone for
.
,
although it contains the r eality which

underlies al l the best and most s p iritual
ideas O f H eaven which have b e en p r o
pounded in various religions yet it ,
must by n o means be cons dered from i
that point Of view only .
I t is a r ealm o f natu r e which is of

—
exceeding im p o r tance to u s a vast and
splendid wo r ld of vivid li fe in which
we a r e l iv 1 ng now as well as in the ,
periods inte r vening between physical in

ca r nations I t is only o u r lack o f de
.
v e l o m e n t only the limitati o n imposed

p ,
upon us by this robe o f flesh that pre ,

D eath . 69
ve n ts us from fully realizing that all

the glory o f the highest heaven is about
us here and n o w and tha t influences
,
flowing from that world are ever play

ing u p on us i f we will only understand
,
and receive them I m p ossibl e as this

.
may s eem t o th e ma ri o f the world it ,
is the plainest o f realities to the occult

i st ; and to those w h o have not yet
grasped this fundamental truth we can
but repeat the advice given by the B u d
d h i s t teacher — '
D o n o t complain and
cry and pray but open your eyes and
,
see The light is all about yo u i f yo u

.
,
woul d only cast the bandage from you r

eyes an d loo k I t is s o wonderful so
.
,
beauti ful s o far b eyond what any man

,
has dream t o f or prayed f o r a n d it is ,

”
f o r ever and f o r ever 'Th e
. S ou l o
f
a P e opl e p
,
.
When the astral body which is the ,
vehicle O f the lower thought and desire ,
has gradually been worn away and left

behind the man finds himsel f inha b it
,
ing that highe r vehicle o f fine r matter

which we have called the mental body .
In this v ehicl e he is abl e to r e s p o n d to

th e v ibrati ons which reach him from the
correspond ing matter in the e x ter n al
—
world the matter O f the mental plane .
His time o f purgatory is over the lower ,
part of his nature has burnt itsel f away ,
and now there remain only the higher

thoughts and aspirations which he has
poured forth du r ing e arth l i fe These -
cluster round him and ma k e a sort o f

,
shell about him through the medium o f

,
which he is able to respo nd to certain

typ es o f vibration in this r efined matter .
The se thoughts which surround him are

the powers by which he draws u p on the
wealth o f the heaven world -
This .
mental plane i s a reflection of the D i

—
vine Mind a storehouse o f infinite ex
tent from which the p erso n en j oy i n g
heaven is abl e to draw j ust according
t o the power o f his o w n thoughts and
aspirations generated during the phys
ical and astral life .
3
All religions have spoken o f th e b l iss
,
Of H eaven yet few o f them have put

,
before u s with su fficient clearness this

Death . 71
l e adi ng idea w hich a l o n e explai n s ra

'
t io na l ly how f o r al l alike such bliss i s

—
possi b l e which is indeed the keyn ote
, ,
o f the co n ce p tion — the fact that each

m a n mak e s his o w n heave n b y selectio n
from th e ine ff a b l e sple n dours o f the
Thought o f Go d Himse l f A ma n de .
cides f o r himsel f b oth the length a n d

the character o f hi s heaven l i fe b y t h e - l
causes which he himsel f g e nerates du r

ing his earth l i fe ; therefore he ca nn ot
-
,
but have exactly the amount which he

h a s deserv ed a n d exactly the qual ity O f
j y
o which is b e st suited to hi s i d io s y n
c r a s ie s
. This is a worl d in which every
be ing must from the very fact o f h is
,
conscious n ess there be enj oying th e

,
highest spiritual b liss o f which he is

—
capabl e a world whose power o f r e
s p on s e to his aspirations is l imited only
b y his capacity t o aspire .
Furth e r de tails as t o the astral li f e

wil l b e found in Th e A s tr a l P l a n e ; the
heaven l i fe i s described in
-
T h e D ev a — w
ch a n i e P l a n e,
and in formation about
both is al so given in D e a th a n d A f ter ,
and in Th e O th e r S i d e of D ea th .
C H A PTE R V I I I .
MA N ’
S FA S T A N D F U TU R E .
When we have once graspe d the fact

that m a n has reached his present posi
tion through a long and varied series of
lives a question naturally arises in o u r
,
minds as to how far we can O b t a in any

info r mation ab o ut thi s ea r l ie r e v o l u t io n
,
which would Obviously be o f a b sorbing

interest to us Fortunately such in
.
formation is avail a ble n o t only by tra

,
dition but al so in an o ther and much

,
more cert ain way I have no space here

.
to dilate upon the marvel s o f p s y

ch o m e t r y but must sim p ly say that
,
there is abundant evidence to show that

nothing can happen without indelibly
—
r e c o rding itsel f that there exists a
k ind O f memory o f N ature from which
can be recovered with absolute accuracy
a true full and perfect picture o f any
, ,
M an s P a s t
’
a nd Future . 73
sc en e o r e v ent since the w orld b e gan .
Those t o whom this su b j ect is en tirely

new and w h o consequently see k f o r evi
,
’
dence should consult D r B uchanan s
,
.
Ps y ch o me tr y 01 Profess o r D enton s
”
’
~
S o u l of Th ing s ; but all occult students

are familiar with the possibility and ,
most o f the m with the method Of read ,
ing these records o f the past .
In essence this memory O f Nature

must be the D ivine Memory far away ,
beyond human reach ; b ut it is assuredly

reflected into lower planes s o that as ,
far a s events o n these lower planes are

concerned it i s recoverabl e by the
,
trained intelligence o f man Al l that .
p as s es b efore a mirror f o r instance

,
is ,
reflected o n its surface and t o o u r dim

,
eyes it seems that the images make n o

impression upon that surface b ut that ,
each passes away and lea v es n o trace .
Y e t that may n o t b e so ; it i s n ot d iffi

cult to imagine that an im p ression ma y
be left somewhat as the im p ressio n O f
,
every sound is left upon the sensitive

cyl inder o f a phonograph ; and it may
be possibl e to recover the impr e ssio n

from the mirror j ust as it is recoverable
from the phonograph .
The higher psychometry shows us

that this n ot only may be so but is so ; ,
and that not a mirro r o n ly but a n y ,
physical Obj ect retains the impression

,
o f a l l that has happe n ed withi n its

sight as it were We have thus at ou r
, .
disposal a faultlessly accurate method

o f arriving at the earl ier history o f o u r
wo rld and o f mankind and in this way ,
much t h at is o f the most en trancing in

t e r e s t can b e observed in every detail ,
a s though the scen es were being spe
c ia l l y rehearsed for ou r be n efit 'S ee .
C l a ir v oy a n ce p
,
.
I nvestigations into the past con

d ucted by these methods show a long
process o f gradual evolution slow but ,
never ceasing They show the D i v ine

-
.
Li fe rising from kingdom to kingdom ,
through th e mineral the vegetabl e the

, ,
animal until it reaches the human and

, ,
thus b inding them al l together into one

common brotherhood They show the .
Man s Pas t
’
a nd Future . 75
d eve lopm e nt o f man under the action

o f t w o great law s — fi r s t the law o f e v o
l u t io n which steadily presses him o n
,
ward and upward and secon dly the l aw ,
o f divi ne j ustice o r caus e a n d e ff ect

, ,
which b ri n gs him i n e v ita b ly th e result

o f his every actio n and thus g radual ly ,
teaches h im to liv e intelli gen tly in har

mony with the first law .
This lon g process o f e volution has

b ee n c a rri e d o u t n o t only o n this earth ,
but o n other gl ob es connected with it ;

but the subj ect is much to o vas t t o be
fully treated i n an eleme n tary bo ok such
as this It forms the pri n cipal theme
.
of Madame B l a v a t s ky s monumental ’
work Th e S e cr e t D oc tr i ne ; b ut before
,
commenci n g that students are advised

t o read the chapters on this su b j ect in
Mr s B esant s A n ci e n t Wis d o m and
.
’
Mr S in ne t t s Gr ow th of th e S ou l
.
’
.
The b ooks j ust m entioned will a i

ford the fullest availa b le in fo rm ation
not only as to man s past b ut as to his ’
future ; and though the glory that

a waits him is such as n o tongue can tel l ,
something at least may be understood

o f the ea r lier stages which lead towards
it That man is divine e v en now and

.
,
that he wil l presently unfold within

himsel f the poten tialities o f di v inity is ,
an idea which ap p ears to shoc k some

good pe ople a n d to be considered by
,
them t o savour o f blasphemy Why it .
should be so is not easy to see for Jesus ,
himsel f reminds the Jews around him

o f the saying in their S criptures I ,
'
”
said ye are Gods and the doctrine of
, ,
t he d e ifi ca t io n of man was quite com

m o n l y held by th e Fathers o f the
C hurch . B u t i n these later days much
o f the earlier and purer doctrine has
been forgotten and misunderstood ; and

the t r uth n o w seems to be held in its
fulness o n ly b y the stude n t o f occult
ism .
S ometimes me n ask why i f man ,
was at the first a spar k o f the D ivine ,
it should be necessary for him t o go

through all these aeons of evolution in ,
volving so much sorrow and su ffering ,
only in order to be still D ivine at the

M an s P as t
’
a nd Future . 77
e n d o f it all B u t those w h o mak e this

.
obj ection have n o t yet comprehe n ded

the schem e That which came forth
from the D ivine was n ot yet man n o t —
yet even a spar k for th e r e was n o de
,
v e l o p e d individualization in it It was
simply a great cloud o f D ivin e essence ,
though capabl e o f conde n si ng event

u a ll y into many sparks .
Th e di fference b e tween its conditio n

when issuing forth and when retu rn ing
is exactly like that between a great
mass O f shining ne b ulou s matter and ,
the s o lar system which is eventual ly

formed ou t o f it The nebula is beauti
.
ful n o dou b t b ut vague and usel ess ;

, ,
the suns formed from it by slow e v o l u

tion po ur l i fe and heat and l ight upon
many worl ds and their inhabitants .
O r we may take a n other analo gy .
The human b ody is compo sed o f count

l ess millio n s O i tiny particles an d some ,
o f them are co n stantly being thrown o ff
from it S uppose that it w ere possibl e

.
for each O f thes e particles to g o through

some ki n d o f evolution by mean s o f
which it woul d in time becom e a

huma n being we should not say that
,
because it had b e en in a certai n s ense

human at the be gin n ing o f that e v ol u
tio n it had therefore not gained any
, ,
thin g when it reached the en d The .
esse n ce comes forth as a mere outpour

in g O f force even though it b e D ivine
,
force ; it returns in the form of thou

sands o f millions of mighty ad epts ,
each capa b le of himsel f developing into

a Logos .
Thus it will b e s ee n that we are

abundantly j ustified in the statement
that the future o f man is a future to
whose glory a n d splendour there is n o
limit And a most importa n t po i nt t o
.
remem b er is that this magnificent future

is for al l without e x ceptio n He whom .
—
we call the go od ma n that is the ma n ,
whose will moves with the D ivin e Will ,
whose actio n s are such as to h elp the

—
march o f e v olution makes rapid pro
gress o n th e upward path ; while the
ma n w h o u n i n tellige n tly opposes him
sel f to th e g reat curre n t b y striving to
M a n s P as t
’
a nd Future . 79
pursue selfish aims instead o f wor k

ing for the good Of the whole will be ,
able t o progress only very slowly an d

er r atically B u t the D ivin e Wil l is in
.
finitely stronger than any human will ,
and the wor k ing o f the great scheme is

perfect The man who do es n o t learn
.
his lesson the first time has simply to

try over and ov er again until he does
l earn it ; the D ivine patience is i n finite ,
and sooner o r later every human b ein g

attains th e goal appointed for him .
There is n o fear and n o uncertainty ,
but only perfect p eace f o r thos e w h o

know th e Law and the Will .
C H A PTE R I ' .
CA U S E A N D E F F E CT
In previous chapters we have con

s t a n t l y had to ta k e into consideration
this mighty law of action and reaction

under which e v ery man necessarily r e
ce iv e s his j ust desert ; f o r without this
l aw the rest of the D ivine scheme would

be incomprehensibl e t o us It is well
.
worth ou r while t o try t o O btain a true

appreciatio n o f this law and the first
,
step towards doing that is t o disabuse

our minds e n tirely o f the eccl esiastical
idea o f reward and punishment as fol
lowing upo n huma n actio n I t is ih .
evita b le that w e should con n ect with

that idea the thought o f a j udge a d
mi n istering such r e ward o r punishme n t ,
a n d then at o n c e follows the further
p ossi b ility that the j udge may b e more

lenient in one case than in another that ,
C aus e a nd Eff ect . 81
h e may be swayed by circumstances ,
that an a p pe al may be made to him and ,
that in that way the incidence O f the

law may b e m odified o r eve n escaped
altogether .
E very o n e O f these suggestions i s in

t h e highest degree misleading and the ,
whole bo dy o f thought t o which they

be long must be exorcised and utterl y
cast ou t b e fore we can arrive at any
real understanding O f the facts I f a .
man put his hand upon a b ar o f red hot -
i r on und er ordinary circumstances he

,
would b e badly b ur n t ; yet it w o ul d n o t

occur t o him t o say that Go d had pun
i s h ed him f o r putting his hand o n th e
bar He would real iz e that what had
.
happened w as precisely what might

have b een exp e cted under the action O f
the laws o f Nature and that o n e w h o
,
understood what heat is and h o w it acts

could explain e x actly the pr oductio n o f
the b ur n .
It is to b e O b served that the ma n s ’
intention in n o way a ffects the physical

result ; whether h e seized that ba r in
o r der to do some ha r m with it o r in

o r de r t o save someone else from in
j u r y he would b e bu r nt j ust the same
,
.
O f course in o ther and higher ways the

,
r esults would be quite d ifl e r e n t ; in the
one case he wo uld h ave done a noble

deed and would have the appro v al o f
,
his conscience while in the other he

,
could feel only remorse B u t the phys.
ical bu r n would be there in o n e case

j ust as much as in the other .
To obtain a true concepti o n o f the

wor k ing of this law o f cause and e f f ect
we must thin k o f it as acting auto
m a t ica l l y in exactly the s a me way
,
If .
we have a heavy weight hanging from

the ceiling by a ro p e and I exe r t a
,
ce r tain amo unt o f force in pushin g

against that weight we k now by the
,
laws o f mechanics that that weight wil l

p ress bac k against my hand with exact
l y the same amount O f force ; a n d this
r eaction will ope r ate with o ut the slight ‘
est reference to m y reason f o r disturb

ing its equilibrium S imila r ly the man
.
w h o commits an evil a ction distu r bs the

C a us e a nd Eff ect . 83
equilibrium O f t he great current o f evo

l u t io n ; and that mighty curr en t in
variably adj usts that equilibrium a t h i s
expen se .
I t must not be therefo re supposed

f o r a moment that the intention of the
action makes n o di ff e r ence ; o n the co n
t r a r y it is the most important factor
connected with it even th o ugh it does
,
n o t a ffect the result upon the p hysical
plane We are apt t o fo r get that the

.
intention i s itsel f a fo r ce and a force ,
acting upon the mental plane where the ,
matter i s s o much finer and vibrates s o

much more rapidly than o n o u r lower
level that the same amount Of energy
,
will produce enormously greater e ff ect .
The physical action will produc e its r e

sult o n th e physical plane but the men ,
tal energy o f the intention will wo r k

o u t its o w n result simultaneously in the
matter o f the mental plane totally ir ,
r espective O f the other and its e f fect i s

;
certain t o be very much the more im
portant o f the two I n this way it will
.
be seen that an absolutely p e r fect a d

j ustment i s always achieved ; for how

ever mixed the motives may be and ,
however good and evil m a y be mingled

in the physical r esults the equilibrium ,
will always be p e r fectly re a dj usted and ,
along every line perfect j ustice must be

don e .
We must not forget that it is the

man himsel f and no other who builds
his future characte r as well as p r oduces
his future circumstances S p ea k ing .
very generally it may b e said that

, ,
whil e his actions in one l i fe produce

his environment in the next his ,
thoughts in the o n e life are the chief

factors in the evolution Of his character
f o r the n ext .The method by which
all this work s i s an exceed i ngly inter
esting study but it would ta k e us far
,
too long to detail it he r e ; it ma y be

found very fully elaborated in Mr s B e .
sant s manual o n ' a r ma and also in

’
,
the chapter refer r ing t o this subj ect in

her A n cien t Wis d o m and in Mr S in
,
.
nett s E s o te ri c B u dd h is m t o which the

’
,
read er may be refe r red .

C aus e a nd Ef f ect . 85
It is O bvious that all these facts fur

n i sh us with excee dingly good re asons
for ma n y o f o u r ethical precepts I f .
thought be a mighty power capable o f

pr o ducing upon its o w n plane results
far more important than any that can be
achieved in physical li fe then the n e
,
c es s ity that man should co n trol that
force immediately becomes apparent .
No t o n ly i s the man building his o w n

future character by means O f his
thought but he is also constantly and
,
inevitably a ffecting t hose around him

by its means .
Hence there lies upon him a very

serious respo nsibility as t o the use
which he makes o f this power If the .
feeli n g o f annoyanc e o r hatred arise s

in the heart O f the ordinary man hi s ,
natural impuls e i s to express it i n some

way either in word or i n actio n The
ordi n ary rules o f civilized society h o w ,
ever for b i d him t o d o that and dictate

, ,
that h e shoul d as far as possi b l e repress

all outward sign O f his feeli ng s I f he .
succeeds i n doin g this he is apt t o co n

86 An Out li ne of The os op hy .
g r atulate himsel f and to consider that

,
he has done the whole o f his duty The .
occult student however k nows that it

, ,
is necessary for him to ca r ry his self

control a great deal fu r ther than that ,
and that he must absolutely repress the

t h o u g h t O f irritation as wel l as its o u t
ward expression F o r he k nows that
.
his feelings set in motion tremendous

forces upon the astral plane that these ,
will act against the Obj ect o f his irrita

tion j ust as surely as a blow struc k
upon the physical plane and that in ,
many cases the r esults produced wil l be

f a r more serious an d lasting .
I t is true in a very real sense that

thoughts are things To clairvoyant .
sight thoughts ta k e definite form and

colour the latter o f course dependin g
, , ,
upon the rate o f vibration c o nnected

with them The study o f these forms
.
and colours is o f great interest A de .
scription Of them illustrated with col

o u r e d drawings will b e found in a n ar
t ic l e in L u ci fer f o r S eptember 1 896 ,

.
These considerations ope n up to us

Caus e and Ef f ect . 87
pos s i b il ities in var ious directio n s S i n ce .
it is easily possibl e to d o harm by

thou g ht it is a lso possi b le t o d o good
,
by it C urre n ts may b e set i n motion

.
which will carry me n tal h e lp a n d co m

fort to ma n y a su ff erin g frie n d and in ,
this way a whol e n ew worl d o f useful

ness ope n s be for e us Ma n y a g rateful
.
soul has been oppressed b y a feel in g

that for wa n t o f physica l wealth he was
una b le t o d o anything in retur n f o r the
kindn e ss l avished upon him b y a n other ;
but here is a method by which he can
be o f th e greatest ser v ice t o him in a
realm where physical wealth o r its ab
sence ma k es n o d i ffer e n ce .
All who ca n think can help others ;

and all w h o can help others ought t o
help In thi s case as i n ev ery other
.
, ,
k nowl e d ge i s power a n d thos e w h o u n

,
d e r s t a n d the law ca n us e the l aw .
'n owin g what eff ects upo n themselves

and upon others will be produced b y
certain thoughts they can delibe rately
,
arrange to produce these results I n .
thi s way a m a n ca n n o t o n ly steadily

mould his cha r acter in his p r esent life ,
but can decide exactly what it shall

be in the next For a thought is a
.
vibration in the matter of the mental

body and the same thought persistently
,
r epeated evo k es co r respo nding vibra

tions ' an octave higher as it were ) in
,
the matter o f the causal body I n this .
way qual ities are gradually built int o

the soul itsel f and they will certainly
,
r eappear as part Of the stoc k in trade - -
with which he commences his next in

carnation I t i s in this way by wo r k
.
,
ing from below upwards that the fac ,
u l t ie s and qualities o f the soul are grad
u a l l y evolved ,
and thus man takes his
evolution largely i nto his own hands
and begins to co Operate intelligently in
-
the great scheme Of the D eity .
F o r fu r ther information on this sub

j ec t the best boo k to study is M rs B e .
sant s upo n Th ou g h t P o w er i ts Con

’
,
tr ol a n d C u l tu r e .
C H A PTE R ' .
WH AT TH E O S O P H Y D OE S
FO R U S .
It must already b e O b vious t o the

careful reader how utterly thes e Theo
S ophical conceptions change the man s
’
entire view of li fe when h e once b e

comes fully convinced o f th em ; a n d the
direction o f many o f these changes and ,
the reasons o n which they are b ased ,
will have been see n from what has a l

ready been w r itten .
We gain from Theosophy a rational

comprehension O f that li fe which was
before f o r s o ma n y o f us a mer e u n
—
solved probl em a riddl e without a n
answer From it we know why we ar e
.
here what we are expected t o d o a n d

, ,
h o w we ought t o set to work t o d o it .
We see that however little l i fe may

,
seem worth l iving f o r the sak e O f a n y

G
pleasures or profits bel o nging e x clus

iv e l y to the p hysical plane it is very ,
emphatically worth l ivi n g when r e

garded me rely as a school to pr e p are us
for the indescribable glories and the in
finite possibilities o i the higher planes .
I n the light o f the informatio n

which we acquire we see n ot only h o w
,
to evolve ourselves but also how t o

,
—
help others to evolve how by thought
and action to ma k e ourselves most u se
ful first o f all to the small circl e of
,
those most closely associated with us

or those whom we especial ly love and ,
then gradual ly by deg r ees as o u r power

,
increases to the entire huma n race B y

, .
feelings and thoughts such as these we

find ourselves li fted altogether to a
higher platform and we see how nar
,
row and despicabl e is the petty and per

sonal thought which has so often o ccu
pied u s in the past We inevitably b e
.
gin to regard everyth i ng n ot merely as

it a ff ects our infinitesimal selves but ,
from the wider standpo int O f its in

fl u e n ce upon humanity as a whole .
Wha t Theos ophy does f or us . 91
The various troubles and sorrows

which come to us are s o often seen
o u t o f al l proportion because they are
s o n ear to us ; they seem t o obscure
th e whole horizon as a plate held near

,
the eyes will shut o u t the sun so that ,
we O ft e n forget that the heart o f being

'
”
i s celestial rest B u t Theosophical
.
teaching brings al l these things into due

pe rspective a n d enables us to rise above
,
these clouds t o loo k down and see

,
things as the y are and n o t merely as

,
they appear when loo k ed at from b e

low by very limited V i s i on We learn .
to si n k altogether the lower personality ,
with its mass O f delusions and p re j u

dices and its inability t o see anythin g
truly ; we lear n to ris e to a n impersonal
a n d u n selfish sta n dpoi n t where to d o ,
right f o r ri g ht s sake seems t o us the

’
o n ly rule o f li fe a n d to help our fellow

,
ma n the g reatest of ou r j oys .
F or it is a l ife o f j oy that n o w O pe n s
b efor e us As the man evolves his
.
,
sym pa thy a n d compassion i n creas e s o ,
that he b ecomes more and more sensi

92 An O ut li ne of The os ophy .
tive to the sin and sorrow a n d su ffer

in g of the wo r ld Y e t at the same time
.
he sees more and more clearly the cause

o f that suffering and understands ever
,
more and more ful ly th a t in spite of it ,
all all things are wor k ing together for

,
the final good o f al l And so there .
comes to him not only the deep content

and a b solute security which is born o f
the certainty that all is well but als o ,
the definite and radiant j oy derived

from the contemplation o f the m a gn ifi
cent plan O f the Logos and of the ,
steady un failing success with which

that mighty sche me moves to its a p
poi n t e d end He learns that God means
.
us to be happy a n d that it is d e fi n itely

,
o u r duty to be so i n order that we may

,
spread around us vi b ratio n s O f happi

ne ss upo n others si n ce that is one o f
,
the methods by which we may l ighten

th e sorrow o f the world .
I n ordi n ary l ife a great part o f the .
a nn oya n ce which men feel i n co nn ectio n

with their various troubl es is O ft en
caused b y a feeling that they come to
What Theos ophy does f or us . 93
them u n j ustly A man will say ' Why

.
'
shoul d all this com e t o me ? Th e r e is

my n eigh b our w h o is in n o way a better
,
ma n than I yet h e do e s n o t su ff er from

,
sickness from loss o f friends o r loss O f

, ,
”
wealth ; why the n should I ?
Theosophy sa ve s its stud en ts from
this mistake since it makes it a b solutely
,
clear t o them that n o undeser ve d su ff er ‘
ing can ever come t o any man What .
ever trouble we may encounter is simply

o f th e nature o f a debt that we have i n
curred ; sinc e it has t o b e paid the ,
soo n er it i s cl eared O ff the b etter Nor .
is this al l ; f o r every such trouble i s

an opportunity f o r devel o pment I f we .
bear it patiently a n d b ravely n o t allow ,
in g it t o crush us b ut meetin g it and

,
maki ng the b est o f it w e th e re b y evolve

,
withi n oursel v es the v alua b l e qualities

of coura ge p e rsevera n c e determina
, ,
tio n ; a n d s o ou t o f th e result o f ou r
si n s o f lo ng a go we b ri ng goo d i n stead
o f evil.
As has b e for e be e n stated all fea r ,
o f death is entirely removed for t h e

Theosophical student because he u n der ,
stands fully what death is H e no .
longer mour ns for those who ha v e gone

before becaus e they are still pres en t
,
with him and he kn ows that to give

,
way t o selfish grief would b e to cause

sadness and depression to th e m S ince .
they are very near to him an d since the ,
sympathy between them and himself is

closer than ever before he is wel l awa r e ,
that uncontrolled grief in him will as

s u r e d l y reflect itsel f upo n them .
Not that Theosophy counsels him to

forget the dead ; o n the contrary it ,
encourages him t o remember them as

o ften as possible b ut never with sel f
,
ish sorrow n ever with a longi n g t o

,
bring them b ack t o ea rth n ever with ,
thought O f h is appare n t loss b ut only ,
o f their g reat gain I t assures him that

.
a strong loving thought wil l b e a pote n t

factor i n their evolutio n and that i f he ,
will b ut t hi n k rightly a n d r e aso n ably

a b out them he may re n der th e m the
g r e at e st a ssista n ce in their upward
p ro g re .ss
What Theos ophy does f or us . 95
A careful study of th e li fe o f man

i n the period betwee n his incar n ations
shows how small a proportio n thi s
physical li fe bears to the whol e In the.
case o f the a v erage educat e d a n d cul

t u r e d man O f any o f th e hi g her races
—
the period O f on e li f e that is t o say o f
o n e day i n the real lif e — would a v era g e
about fifte e n hundr e d years O f this
.
period perhaps se v e n ty or e i ghty years

woul d be spe n t in physical l i fe som e ,
fifteen o r twenty upo n the astral pl a n e ,
and all the res t i n the he a v e n world -

,
which is th e refore b y very far the most

importa n t part Of man s e xiste n ce Nat
’
.
u ra l l y these proportio n s v ary co n sidera
bly f o r di ffere n t type s o f me n a n d whe n

,
w e com e to consider the you nge r soul s ,
bo r n either i n in f e rior races o r i n the

low e r ra n ks o f o u r ow n w e fi n d that
,
thes e proportio n s ar e en tirely cha ng ed ,
f o r th e astral li f e i s lik e ly to be m uch

lo nger a n d th e h ea ven l i f e m uch short
-
e r I n t he ca s e o f th e a b solut e sa v a ge
—
.
there is scarcely a n y heave n l i fe at a l l ,
be caus e h e has n ot ye t d e v e l oped withi n

96 An O ut li ne of TheOS t phy .
hims e the qualities which alone enable

l f
the man to attain that life .
Th e knowled g e o f al l these facts

gives a clear n ess a n d certainty to o u r
anticipations o f the future which is a
welcome rel ief from the vagueness and
indecision o f ordinary thought on these
su bj ects It would be impossible for a
.
Theosophist to have any fears about his

”
f o r he k nows that the r e is
'
s alvation ,
nothing for man to be saved from ex

cept his o w n ignorance and he would ,
consider it the grossest blasphemy t o
doubt that the will o f the Logos wil l

a ssuredly b e fulfilled in the case o f
e very o n e of his children .
”
N o vagu e eternal hope is his b ut
'
,
utter c e rtainty born of his knowledge

,
o f the eternal law He cannot fear.
the futur e b ecause he k n ows the future ;

,
so his o n ly a n xiety is to make himsel f

t
worthy to b ear his part i n the mighty

work o f evolutio n I t may well b e that
.
there is very little that he can do as

yet ; yet there is no n e but can do some ‘
thing j ust where he stands in the cir

, ,
What Th eos op hy does f or us . 97
cl e arou n d him however lowly t h at

,
m ay be .
E v ery m a n h a s his O pportu n iti e s ,
f o r eve ry co nne ctio n is an Opportu n ity .
E v e ry o n e with who m w e are b rou ght

i n to contact i s a soul w h o may be
—
helped whether it b e a child b or n i n to
the family a friend who com e s i n to ou r
,
circle a s ervan t w h o j oins ou r house

—
,
hold everyone gives in some way o r

other an Opportunity It is n o t f o r a
.
moment suggested that w e should make

ourselves n uisanc e s b y thrustin g o u r
opinions a n d ideas upo n e very on e with
whom we come into co n tact as the ,
m o re i gn ora n t and tactless o f ou r relig

ious frie n ds sometim e s d o ; b ut w e
should b e i n a n attitude o f c o nti n ual
readi n ess to help .
Indeed w e shoul d e v e r be e ag e rly

,
watchi ng f o r a n opportu n ity t o help ,
eith e r with m aterial aid s o far as that

,
may be withi n ou r power o r with th e ,
b e n efit o f ou r a dvice o r o u r k n o wl e d ge ,
whe n ever thos e may be ask e d f o r O fte n .
cases aris e in which help b y word o r

98 An Outl i ne of Theos op hy .
deed is impossible for us ; but there can

never be a case in which friendly and
helpful thought cannot be po ured forth ,
and no n e who understands the power

o f thought will doubt as to its result ,
eve n though it may n ot be imm ediately

visible upon the physical plane .
The student o f Theosophy should

be distinguishable from the rest of the
worl d by hi s perennial cheerfulness his ,
undaunted courage under di fficulties ,
and his ready sympathy an d helpful

ness Assuredly in spite o f his cheer
.
,
ful n ess he will be o ne who takes l ife

—
,
seriously o n e w h o realizes that ther e

is much for each to do i n the w o r l d a n d ,
i
n o time t o waste He will see the me

ce s s ity f o r gai n i ng perfect control of
hims e l f a n d his various vehicles b e ,
caus e o n ly ih that way ca n h e be thor ~
ou ghly fitt e d to h e lp others when the

opportu n ity co me s t o hi m He w ill
.
r a ng e hi m sel f ever on the side O f the

higher rath e r tha n th e l ower thought ,
the n ob l er rather tha n the b aser ; his

toleration will be perfec t b eca use h e
,
What Theos ophy doe s f or us . 99
sees th e g oo d i n all H e wil l d e li be r

.
ately take the optimistic rather tha n

the pessimistic view o f everythi ng the ,
hope ful rather tha n the cynical b eca us e ,
he k n ows that t o b e fu n dame n tally the

—
true v iew the evil in e verythin g being
necess a rily the imperma n ent part si n ce ,
in th e end only the good ca n endure .
Thus h e will look ever for the good

in everythin g that he may endeavour
,
t o strengthen it ; h e will watch for th e

working o f the great l aw o f evolution
in order that he may range himsel f o n
its side and contribute t o its ener gy
,
his ti n y stream o f force In this way .

,
by strivi n g always t o help a n d n e ve r to ,
hinder he will b ecom e in his small

, ,
sphere o f influe n ce o n e O f the b e n efi ce n t

,
powers o f Nature ; i n howe v er l owly

a ma n ner at howe v er u n thinka b l e a
,
distance he is yet a fellow worker -
—
,
together with Go d a n d that i s the

hi gh e st honour a n d the g reatest privi
l ege that ca n e v er fall t o th e l ot o f
man .
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY .
Th e re i s
S a tyé n n as ti li gi n
Re o
no
p aro
H i gh e r
d h a rma h
th n T tha ru .
OB JE CTS .
To f o rm a n u cl e u s o f t h e u n i ve r s a l B ro th e r
h oo d o f H u m a n i ty w it h o ut d i s t i n cti o n o f
.
ra ce c r e e d ca s t e o r c o l o u r
,
,
s ex
, , .
To en c o u r a g e t h e s tu d y of c o m p a r a t ive r e
lig ion p h i l o s o p h y a n d s c i en c e
.
.
,
To i nv es ti ga t e u ne xp l a in e d l a w s o f n a tu r e
an d t h e p o w e r s l a t en t i n m a n .
RETURN CIRCULATIO N DEPART
A l l B O O 'S
. MA Y BE RECA LLED A FTER 7 DA YS
Re ne wa l s a nd R
e c h a rge s ma y be ma de 4 da y s p rio
Bo o ks ma y b e R
e ne w e d by ca ll i ng 642 -3 405 .

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A N O U TL I N E O F

For many a yea r me n have bee n ,

discussi n g ar guing e nquirin g about

H is r e lation t o man and a b out the past

and futur e o f humanity S o radically

hav e they di ff er e d upo n thes e points ,

a n d s o b itt e rly ha ve they assailed and

there has come t o be a ﬁ r m l y rooted -

popul ar opinion that with regard t o all

4 An O utline of Theos ophy .

amid a cloud o f unsound deduct i on s

though f r equentl y i nc r edible a sse rt i o ns ,

m a de on these sub j ects on behalf of the

unnatu ra l unde r th e ci rcumst a nces ,

is enti r el y unt r ue The r e a r e de ﬁn it e

o sop h y g ives the m to us ; but it o ff e r s

te r s of faith but a s sub j ects f o r stud y

It is not it self a r el i gion but i t be a r s t o

the r el i g i ou s the sa m e r el a ti on as d i d the

eve r in a n y of them is un r e a s onable it

D eit y and de r oga to ry to H im ; what

sizes and thus combine s all into one

harmon i ous whole .

I t ho lds that tru th on all these most

siders all the various religions a s state

fer much as t o n o men clature a n d as t o

o n ly matt e rs which ar e of real import

must d eve lop e th e v ices which he m ust

a v oid On th e s e practical points t h e

teachi ng is identical in Hi n duism a n d

h a mm a d a n i s m in Judaism and C hris

Theosophy may b e descri be d t o the

studi e d it it is n ot th e ory b ut fact ; f or

s tudied a n d its t e achi ng s ar e ve riﬁa b le

by i nv esti gati o n a n d ex p e rim en t f o r

facts of N ature so far as they are

H ow did this scheme be come known ,

some may ask ; by wh o m was it dis

known to mankind though sometimes ,

tem p orarily forgotten in certain parts

a certain bo dy o f hi ghly d ev elop e d men

—men n ot o f any on e nation b ut o f all

the advanced nations who have held it

specially studyin g it while its broad ,

principles have always bee n known in

d ev eloped men exists n ow as i n past ,

ages a n d Theosophical teaching is pu b

l is h e d to the Wester n world at thei r

Those who a r e igno r ant have s ome

times cl am orously insisted that i f this ,

be s o these truths ought to have been

published long a g o ; and most unj ustly

They forget that al l w h o hav e real ly

that we in the Wester n world are truly

E u r ope was conten t to l ive f o r the most

part in the grossest sup e rstition ; and

when a reaction at l ast s e t in from the

it brought a p eriod o f atheism which ,

was j ust as conceited and bigoted in

o n ly n o w that some o f the humbler and

more reasona b l e o f o u r peopl e are b e

n ot real information availabl e some

Though thes e reasona b l e enquirers

Th e osophical S ociety has been fou n ded