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I. THE ORIGIN OF MANAS OR MIND - Part 1

WHAT we are dealing with here (taking these three factors in their order), is the fire of mind in connection with a solar Logos.  It has been earlier pointed out that mind has already been developed in a Heavenly Man, and therefore we must equally predicate anent a solar Logos that cosmic mind, or the fifth Principle, is His prime characteristic, and was perfected by Him in an earlier system.  We might now consider our first subdivision:

1. Cosmic Manas.

Whence comes this fire?  Where originates this vital heat, or vibratory activity, which is predominantly a feature of all conceivable Beings?  How far back is it possible for us to go?  Can we conceive of its origin?  What is this downpouring fire that animates the darkness of matter?

a. The Process of Individualisation.  Perhaps it may help somewhat if we here consider the question of INDIVIDUALISATION, or the process of intelligent self-realisation

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CHART V Evolution of a Solar Logos

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which so strikingly differentiates men from the animals.  At individualisation the two poles are approximated, and at their meeting light streams forth, irradiating the cave of matter, and lighting the pathway that must be trodden by the Pilgrim on his way back to his source.

This irradiation brings about, in connection with man,

Self-realisation.

Purpose.

Separation from all other individualised selves, or spheres.

Consciousness, above all.

Ability to evolve.

Capacity to "shine ever more and more unto the perfect day."

This is equally true of a solar Logos, and of a Heavenly Man.

Individualisation is literally the coming together (out of the darkness of abstraction), of the two factors of Spirit and matter by means of a third factor, the intelligent will, purpose and action of an Entity.  By the approximation of these two poles light is produced, a flame shines forth, a sphere of radiant glory is seen which gradually increases the intensity of its light, its heat and its radiance until capacity is reached, or that which we call perfection.  We should note and distinguish the words light, heat and radiance, which are the distinctive features of all individualised entities from Gods to men.

Man is beginning to arrive partially at the secret of this phenomenon through his ability to produce through scientific knowledge, that which is called electric light and which is used by man for illumination, heat and healing.  As more anent this matter is discovered by physical plane students, the whole question of existence and of creative activity will become clearer.

As regards the origin of the fire of mind something [346] more may be learned through studying the various methods of individualisation.  In connection with man these methods are three in number as far as we can tell, though the probability of there being several other methods which are inconceivable to man's finite comprehension, is quite possible.  These methods are:

First, the method pursued on the moon-chain (the planetary manifestation previous to ours), when, through innate force and energy, the conjunction of the three fires was brought about and the fire of matter contacted the fire of Spirit through the latent presence of the fiery spark of mind.  This spark of mind, working through the instinct, drove the material form or substance, into such activity that it was enabled to reach up to heights where its opposite pole could be contacted.  Animal-man aspired; Spirit answered; the vibration of the germ of mentality had permeated the substance like yeast.  Thus was consciousness awakened.  In the previous solar system, in connection with the Heavenly Men, this was the method pursued by Them, and These advanced cosmic Beings entered into consciousness and mastered the three lower planes of the cosmic physical,—the planes which man is endeavouring to master now.  They individualised as the result of work accomplished during incomprehensible aeons of endeavour. [cxxx]28  The earlier solar system was much longer in duration than this one will be, and force in matter was generated by the progression of the ages.  It was the period of the vitalisation of the spirillae in the physical permanent atom of the Logos.

In this method of individualisation, the emphasis is laid on the fact that the principle of manas is a part of the logoic character, and is part of His very nature.  It, therefore, has its origin in His Being or Self; it is [347] part of the content of the logoic Causal Body, and therefore permeates all manifestation which originates with Him.  Hence the accuracy of the statement that cosmic manas originates on the cosmic mental plane, and is a portion of the fire that animates that plane.

Second, in the second solar system, and in connection with the method employed therein, another point merits attention.  This fire of mind has its source in a constellation until recently unrecognized by exoteric science as having any relation of an intimate nature to our solar system, owing to its tremendous distance away.  The sun "Sirius" is the source of logoic manas in the same sense as the Pleiades are connected with the evolution of manas in the seven Heavenly Men, and Venus was responsible for the coming in of mind in the Earth chain.  Each was primary to the other, or was the agent which produced the first flicker of consciousness in the particular groups involved.  In every case the method was that of a slow evolutionary growth till the consciousness suddenly blazed forth owing to the interposition of force, apparently from an extraneous source,

 

1. The Logos................................

Solar System.......................

Sirius

2. Seven Heavenly Men...............

Planetary scheme...............

Pleiades

3. Heavenly Man..........................

Earth chain..........................

Venus

 

This second method therefore is that which is brought about by the hastening of the evolutionary process through influences from outside; these tend to awaken consciousness, and to bring about the merging of the poles.  The first method touched upon was that of the earlier solar system.  The method we are now considering is the distinctive one of this solar system and will persist till the end of the mahamanvantara.

That the earlier method was seen in the moon-chain is only evidence of the steadfastness of the Law of Repetition by which every large cycle includes, in its earlier [348] stages, all the lesser, and repeats the earlier procedure.  This is a recognised fact, for instance, in the building of man's physical body, for the foetus reproduces all earlier stages and forms till the human is achieved; again, as we know, the fourth round reproduces briefly the earlier three but has its own distinctive quality.

b. The Method of Initiation.  In this second method the "Rods of Initiation" are used to effect certain results.  These rods are of four kinds:

1. Cosmic, used by a cosmic Logos in the initiations of a solar Logos, and of the three major planetary Logoi.

2. Systemic, used by a solar Logos in the initiations of a planetary Logos.

3. Planetary, used by a planetary Logos for initiatory purposes, and for the third, the fourth, and fifth major initiations, with the two higher.

4. Hierarchical, used by an occult Hierarchy for minor Initiations, and for the first two initiations of manas by the Bodhisattva. [cxxxi]29

When man individualised in Lemurian days (about eighteen million years ago), it was the application of the Rod of Initiation to the Logos of our Earth chain which brought about the event and touched into activity certain centres in His body with their corresponding groups.  This application, bringing about consciousness on some plane, may be regarded as literally the awakening of the lives concerned to participate in intelligent work on the mental plane.  Animal man was conscious on the physical, and on the astral planes.  By the stimulation effected by the electric rod this animal man awoke to consciousness on the mental.  Thus the three bodies were co-ordinated, and the Thinker enabled to function in them.

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All Rods of Initiation cause certain effects:

a. Stimulation of the latent fires till they blaze.

b. Synthesis of the fires through an occult activity that brings them within the radius of each other.

c. Increase of the vibratory activity of some centre, whether in man, a Heavenly Man, or a solar Logos.

d. Expansion of all the bodies, but primarily of the causal,—this also in speaking of all the three types of Entities.

All these results were seen when the Heavenly Man of our scheme took initiation eighteen million years ago.  This initiation was brought about—as earlier pointed out—by a peculiar juxtaposition of chains, globes and schemes, and caused such a stimulation of all the latent manasic units within His body that a downflow of pure manas from the planetary manasic permanent atom was possible along the path of the planetary antaskarana—a channel which exists in the case of the planetary Logos, and which has not to be built as in the case of man.  Along with this juxtaposition came a similar alignment with one of the Pleiades, permitting of manasic influence from that source. [cxxxii]30, [cxxxiii]31

Third, the third method of individualisation is the one to be followed in the next solar system, though it will have its faint beginnings in this one.  It is not based on latent activity as in the first case, nor in electrical polarity as in the second, but in a peculiar process of "occult abstraction" (using the word "abstraction" in its basic sense as "the drawing out" of essence).  This occult abstraction is brought about by an effort of the will at present incomprehensible.  The first method of individualisation [350] is that of the third aspect, or latent activity, and follows the line of least resistance under the Law of Economy; the second method is the purely electrical one, and works under the Law of Attraction; whilst the third method lies hidden in dynamic will and is as yet to us impossible and incomprehensible.

2. Planetary Manas.

We sought in the foregoing, to understand somewhat the origin of manas—whether cosmic, or otherwise—through the consideration of human individualisation and the method thereof.  We saw that individualisation is the conscious apprehension of the Self of its relation to all that constitutes the Not-Self, and that it is evoked in three ways, of which only two as yet are even dimly comprehensible.  In each case this awakening of consciousness is preceded by a period of gradual development, is instantaneous at the moment of Self-Realisation for the first time, and is succeeded by another period of gradual evolution.  This period of gradual evolution leads up to another crisis which we call initiation.  In one we have initiation into conscious existence, in the other initiation into spiritual existence or group identification.

For a solar Logos individualisation dates back to stages far anterior to the triplicity of solar systems which constitutes for Him the Eternal Now, but which from man's point of view embody the past, the present, and the future.  A planetary Logos individualised in a previous system; a man individualises in this; the planetary entities, now involutionary, will individualise in the next.

a. Consciousness and Existence.  From the wider point of view the terms initiation and individualisation are synonymous; they both express the idea of an expansion of consciousness, or of entrance into a new kingdom of nature.  The faculty of acquiring knowledge [351] [351] must be realised as paralleling the development of the sense of sight, or vision, as earlier pointed out.  The fire of mind shone forth and illuminated animal man in Lemurian days, during that vast cycle wherein sight opened up for him the physical plane.  The relationship between sight and mind is a very close one, and must not be lost from sight.  In the first round, and in the first root-race of this round, hearingwas the sense developed.  In the second round and the second root-race touch was evolved.  In the third round and corresponding root-race sight was added to the other two, and the Self which hears, and the Not-self which is touched, or apprehended as tangible, are related and connected by sight,—the correspondence to the intelligence that links.  Thus is brought about the blending of the three fires, and illumination is present.  But through all this evolutionary development the ONE Who hears, touches, and sees, persists and interprets according to the stage of the development of the manasic principle within Him.  This basic Interpreter is the Entity Who is independent of an existence which ever necessitates a form.  His is the life that causes matter to vibrate and He is therefore "fire by friction"; His is the life of pure Spirit which wills to be, and which utilises form, and is therefore electrical impulse on the cosmic physical plane or "electric fire"; His is the life that not only animates the atoms and electrifies them by His Own nature, but likewise knows itself to be one with all yet apart from all,—the thinking, discriminating, Self-realising something that we call MIND or Solar Fire.  Universal mind or manas permeates all, and is equally that Self-knowing, individualised Entity Whose body contains our solar Logos as well as certain other solar Logoi; Whose fire, heat and radiation embrace certain other solar systems and unify them with our own system so that one complete vital body forms the manifestation of this mighty cosmic Be- [352] ing. [352] Vortices of force on the cosmic etheric plane form the etheric framework of seven solar systems in the same way that the bodies of the seven Heavenly Men are the etheric centres for a solar Logos, and as the seven centres in man (existing in etheric matter), are the animating electrical impulse of his life.

To express the origin of manas apart from manifestation through a congery of systems, a solar system, or a man is for us impossible.  Only as one grasps the fact that each planetary scheme, for instance, serves as the body of a Heavenly Man Who is the directing Mind in that scheme, and the animating principle of manas or the active discriminating faculty which every atom in that scheme evinces; only when it is realised that a solar Logos is similarly the manasic principle of those large atoms we call schemes in their totality; only when it is apprehended that a cosmic Logos is again the instigating mind of the still vaster atoms we call systems; only when it is admitted that man is the animating discriminative faculty of the tiny spheres which form his body of manifestation; and finally, only when all this is meditated upon, and its truth accepted, will this question of the origin of manas assume a less abstruse character, and the difficulty of its comprehension be less appalling.

Man, the Thinker, the Knower, the manasic principle in the centre of the many spheres which form his bodies, manipulates electrical force in three departments (the physical, astral and mental bodies) through seven centres which are the focal points of force, and of its intelligent dispersal throughout his little system to the myriads of lesser atoms, which are the cells in these spheres.

A Heavenly Man equally, and in a wider sense, the Thinker and Knower, the manasic or mind principle plus the buddhic or Christ principle, manipulates electrical force through three principal vehicles or globes in atmic, buddhic, and manasic matter, dispersing it from thence [353] to the myriads of cells which correspond to the deva and human units.

A solar Logos in a still wider sense is the permeating universal Mind, the manasic principle, plus the buddhic and the will principle, working in three major schemes, by means of seven centres of force, and through the myriads of groups which are the cells in His body, in the same way as human beings are the cells in the body of a Heavenly Man.

The cosmic Logos of our system works similarly through three major systems (of which ours is not one), utilising seven solar systems (of which ours is one), for the distribution of His force and having myriads of sevenfold groups as the cells of His body.

b. Will and ordered purpose.  Thus all that we can really predicate anent the origin of manas is that it is the unified will-activity, or the purposeful expression of the realised Identity of some great Self which colours the life and swings into intelligent co-operation all the lesser units included in its sphere of influence.  Each of us, in illustration, is the thinking purposeful Entity who acts as the manasic principle, and the spring of action, to all the units included in our three bodies.  Each of us sways them to our will; we act, and by acting, force co-operation as we see fit.  The Logos does the same on a larger scale.  In this thought lies light on the question of karma, of free-will and of responsibility.  Manas is, really WILL working itself out on the physical plane, and the truth of this will be seen when it is realised that all our planes form the cosmic physical plane, whereon an Entity, inconceivably greater than our Logos, is working out a set purpose through the Logos, through us, through all Spirit-substance that is included within His sphere of radiatory activity.

Certain problems of real interest are prone to enter our minds, but they serve only to develop abstract thought [354] and to expand the consciousness, for they are as yet insoluble and will remain so.  Some of them might be enumerated as follows:

1. Who is the cosmic Entity in Whose scheme our Logos plays his little part?

2. What is the nature of the great purpose He is working out?

3. Which centre in His body is represented by our solar system?

4. What is the nature of the incarnation He is now undergoing?

5. What are the ten systems—the three and the seven—of which our solar system is one?  Must we look for the major three within the seven, or extraneously?

6. What is the coloring or basic quality of this cosmic Entity?

7. Is the colouring of the fourth cosmic ether (the buddhic plane), blue, or is it violet to correspond with our fourth physical ether?  Why is buddhi exoterically regarded as yellow in color?

8. Which are the primary three centres in the body of our solar Logos and which the minor four?

9. What is the karma of the different schemes?

10. What is the over-balancing karma of the Logos Himself as it affects the ten schemes within His system?

All these questions, and numbers of others, will arise in the mind of the interested student, but beyond the formulation of them he may not as yet go, though the fifth round will see the realisation, by men, of the nature of the karma of the Logos of our chain.  Words, as oft we have been told, blind and stultify.

In summing up, this quality of manas may be somewhat apprehended if the student regards it as the intelligent [355] will. the active purpose, and the fixed idea of some Entity which brings about existence, utilises form, and works out effects from causes through discrimination in matter, separation into form, and the driving of all units within His sphere of influence to the fulfilment of that set purpose.  Man is the originating source of mind as regards the matter of his vehicles, and their latent manasic impulse.  So again with a Heavenly Man and His larger sphere of influence, and so with the solar Logos.  Each discriminated, and thus formed His ring-pass-not; each has a purpose in view for every incarnation; each is actively following and intelligently working to effect certain ends, and thus each is the originator of manas to His scheme; each is the animating fire of intelligence to his system; each, through this very manasic principle individualises, expands gradually this self-realisation till it includes the ring-pass-not of the Entity through Whom the fifth principle comes to him; and each attains initiation, and eventually escapes from form.

3. Human Manas.

We are now to consider primarily man and the manasic principle, its development in the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human Monads, with special reference to our Earth chain.

We have seen that, to all intents and purposes, manas is the active will of an Entity working itself out through all the lesser lives who go to the content of the ring-pass-not or sphere of influence of the indwelling Existence.  Therefore—as concerning man on this chain—he is but expressing the purpose and the will in action of the planetary Logos in Whose body he is a cell or lesser life.

Certain mysteries arise consequently for our consideration which are connected with the life cycles of the Heavenly Man of our scheme, and particularly in relation to that special incarnation of His which we call the cycle [356] of manifestation on the dense physical globe, the earth.  He wears the planetary body as man wears the robe of the physical body, and by means of this objective form He works His purposes out on the physical plane, through the factor of mind achieving certain goals.  Incidentally, the cells in His body conform to that Mind which plays upon them, just as man, the intelligent principle of incarnation on the physical plane, brings into conformity with his purpose the atoms of his body, and stimulates ever more and more the spirillae of those atoms by the force of his mind playing upon them.

Here comes the opportunity to make clear something that is oft lost sight of in the general fog surrounding this subject.  The human and deva units on the upward arc, who are the cells in His body, go to the formation of the centres, and not to the remainder of the cellular vital substance of His vehicles.  Man has a body made up of matter which is applied to different uses, yet which forms a unit.  In this unit there are certain areas of more vital importance than other areas from the standpoint of energising force.  Such an area as the heart may, in this connection, be considered and compared (as regards force value) with such an area as the calf of the leg.  The entity, man, utilises both, but the heart centre is of paramount importance.  Thus is it also with a Heavenly Man.  The two great Hierarchies—deva and human—are force centres in the body of a planetary Logos; the other evolutions of an involutionary nature extant within the scheme, and the remainder of the active substance of the globes, and all contained therein, go to the content of the remainder of His body.

a. Man and the planetary Logos.  With the deva evolution at this point we have nought to do.  I seek to concentrate attention on man, as he functions on earth.  In order to clarify the idea of manas and its relation to a human being it is necessary to point out certain things [357] in connection with a Heavenly Man which must be borne in mind.

First, that each Heavenly Man holds the position of a centre in the body of a solar Logos; therefore, the Logos of a scheme will embody some outstanding characteristic.  The ten schemes are the seven, and the synthesising three—not the seven and a lower three.  The lower centres were vital in the last solar system (from the esoteric standpoint), and are not counted in this; they were synthesised and absorbed during the obscuration process of System I.

Secondly, each Heavenly Man is consequently the embodiment of a particular kind of electrical force which flows through His scheme as man's force flows through some one of the etheric centres in his body.  Each scheme, as each human centre, will

a. Vibrate to some one key.

b. Have its own colouring.

c. Resemble, when seen from the higher planes, a vast lotus.

d. Possess, according to its vibratory capacity, a definite number of petals.

e. Be connected in geometrical formation with certain other centres of Heavenly Men, making systemic triangles. [cxxxiv]32

f. Be characterised by different stages of activity according to the initiation towards which the Logos may be working.  Thus, at one period one centre or Heavenly Man may be the subject of logoic attention, and of specialised stimulation, and at another period a totally different scheme may be the object of vitalisation.  For some time the Logos has turned His attention to the Earth Scheme and to Saturn, whilst Uranus is receiving [358] stimulation.  Much is therefore accentuated, and increased evolutionary development is the consequence of this divine attention.

When these facts are borne in mind it will be seen that the interaction, and the complexity, is of vast proportions, and man can do no more than accept the fact, and leave the explanation until his consciousness is of greater scope.

Third, one of the mysteries revealed at initiation is that of the logoic centre which our scheme represents, and the type of electrical fire which is flowing through it.  The "Seven Brothers," or the seven types of fohatic force, express Themselves through the seven centres, and the One Who is animating our scheme stands revealed at the third Initiation.  It is by knowledge of the nature and quality of the electrical force of our centre, and by realisation of the place our centre holds in the body logoic, that the Hierarchy achieves the aims of evolution.  It will be obvious that the Heavenly Man Who stands for the kundalini centre, for instance, will work differently, and have a different purpose and method, from His Brother Who stands for the heart centre in the body logoic, or to the Heavenly Man Who embodies the logoic solar plexus.  From this it is apparent that:

a. The type of electrical force

b. The vibratory action

c. The purpose

d. The evolutionary development

e. The dual and triangular interaction

of all the Heavenly Men will differ, and so will the evolutions that form the cells in Their Bodies differ likewise.  Little has as yet been revealed anent the types of evolutions which are to be found in the other schemes of our system.  Suffice it to say that in all the schemes, on some [359] globe in the scheme, human beings or self-conscious units, are to be found.  Conditions of life, environment and form may differ, but the human Hierarchy works in all schemes.

It must also be borne in mind that just as all seven Heavenly Men are found in the body logoic, and are Themselves under the influence of seven solar Logoi (using the word "influence" in its astrological sense), so in a planetary scheme with its seven globes each is astrologically under the influence of all the seven Heavenly Men.  A scheme is but a replica of a system.  Each of the Heavenly Men pours forth His radiation or influence, and stimulates in some way some other centre or globe.  To word it otherwise, His magnetism is felt by His Brothers in a greater or less degree according to the work being undertaken at any one time.  At present the Heavenly Men, representing centres at different stages of stimulation, being not all equally developed and being not as yet psychically unified, this magnetic interplay is little realised, and the psychic flow from one scheme to another is little utilised or comprehended.  As time elapses this interplay of force will become more evident and the force will be consciously employed.  When men, for instance, know

The quality of the force flowing through their particular scheme;

The purpose and name of the centre they stand within;

The centre or Heavenly Man with Whom the Logos of their scheme is allied;

Which two schemes form, with their own, a triangle for logoic force at a certain stage of evolutionary development;

The secret of the cycles, or the periods of stimulation or obscuration;

then will the body logoic begin to achieve its purpose; [360] then will the Logos of our system begin to blend and merge and co-ordinate all His vehicles; then will the force flow through all the centres unimpeded; and then will the glory shine out, and each cell in every body—logoic, planetary, deva and human, blaze forth with perfected glory, vibrate with adjusted accuracy, and a major cosmic initiation be taken.

b. The Logos of our Scheme. The Heavenly Man or planetary Logos of the Earth scheme can be considered in various ways, and as is our custom we will simply tabulate the statements anent Him which, when considered at length by the individual student, should serve to make the FACT of the essential Personality of this great Entity, the work that He is endeavouring to accomplish, and the relationship of the human Hierarchy to Him, a greater reality.  We must bear in mind in studying this matter that it will not be possible to reveal for general publication details as to His specific Identity, His number and His scope of conscious development.  Such mysteries, as earlier pointed out, are reserved for those who are pledged to keep silent.  But some general idea may be conveyed before we take up specifically this chain and round.

It might be asked wherein all this information is of use, and what purpose it serves in this hour of the world's need.  Apart from the fact that the cyclic giving out of the truth works under the law, and may not be gain-said, it is suggested for consideration that much advantage will be felt when men in large numbers conceive of the purpose of specific manifestations, when they realise that all forms are but the modes of expression of certain Entities or Beings, Who occupy them for cycles of definite duration in order to attain a purpose, and that each life—great or small—serves its own ends, yet subserves the greater ends of the Being in Whose body it is a corporate part.  The details of the plan may not be given. [361] [361] The general outline—solar, planetary, and hierarchical—may be suggested, and by the very suggestion, bring order into the thoughts of men as they view the apparent chaos of the moment.  Let us not forget, that when order is brought about, and united thought produced on the mental plane, then order transpires eventually on the physical plane.

The planetary Logos of this scheme is one of the four minor Logoi, or Lords of the Rays, and is specially concerned therefore with the development of one attribute of manas.  Each of the four minor Rays is, as we know, eventually synthesised, or absorbed into that Ray which is represented on our earth by the Mahachohan.  He is the Lord of the third major Ray or Aspect, and synthesises the four.  These four Rays with their synthesising Ray make the five rays of Manas or Mind.  We can consider them as:

a. The fivefold Brahma Aspect.

b. They were the five Rays of prime importance in the first solar system, and were the five individualised Heavenly Men, called the Mind-born Sons of Brahma.  Through the individualisation of the four in that system the individualisation of the great cosmic Entity we call Brahma was brought about.  He individualised and the four go to the content of His body.

c. They are represented on our earth by the five Kumaras Who obeyed the Law, and took human form, as H. P. B. [cxxxv]33 hints in several passages in the Secret Doctrine.

This scheme is considered as the fourth and the one of the most importance in the system during this particular cycle for the following reasons:

Our solar system, being considered as of the fourth [362] order, and our scheme being the fourth in order, there is consequently a moment of special opportunity afforded our planetary Logos through the alignment brought about.  It eventuates in the turning of the attention of the logoic kundalini fire towards this centre, our scheme, and the subsequent results are in process of working out.

Within the scheme the chain that concerns us the most, and which is temporarily of the most vital importance to the planetary Logos, is the Earth chain, the fourth in order again, thus bringing about another alignment of very grave moment.  This carries with it special opportunity, and permits of the entry of force from the cosmos itself, or of extra-systemic electrical vitality.  This super-stimulation results in what looks to us like cataclysms, and a stupendous shattering of forms, but it is simply the necessary sequence to the vitalisation of the life within the form, and the breaking of the limiting form unable to bear the cosmic action.

Again within the chain, the globe at present receiving planetary polarisation, or at present embodying in a special sense the life of the planetary Logos is the Earth, the fourth in order.  This brings about a still further alignment.

Add to the above facts the accepted knowledge that this is the fourth round and we have a fivefold alignment which is of paramount significance to us all, though it had even greater significance and force in the fourth root-race, and brought about that stupendous psychic event—the opening of the door of Initiation to the human Hierarchy.

These very important facts merit close attention, and the consideration of all occult students.  They hold the key whereby some comprehension of manas and of planetary evolution may come about.  What have we, therefore, in this special cyclic alignment?

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1. A solar system of the fourth order.

2. The fourth scheme in the system.

3. The fourth chain in the scheme.

4. The fourth globe in the chain.

5. The fourth round. [cxxxvi]34

All these are found active within the same cycle, and all therefore bring about a simultaneous alignment which results in the clearing of a channel direct from the heart of our scheme through every ring-pass-not to the cosmic correspondence, found outside the solar sphere.

To the above realisation, we must add yet the further fact that the fourth Creative Hierarchy is the one whose evolution we are considering, and it will be apparent to the most superficial student that in these thoughts lies hidden the clue, not only to man but to the entire cyclic evolution in which he is taking part.

The fourth Creative Hierarchy is essentially the Hierarchy of manas.  This is no play on words, but a statement of deep occult significance.  The statement has been made with entire accuracy that five Hierarchies out of the twelve have passed out and that seven remain.  Of these seven, our human Hierarchy is the fourth, making it literally the ninth when counting the entire twelve.  In this connection it would be well to link up the statements that have been made to the effect that the five Kumaras or Heavenly Men Who definitely embody the manasic principle (or the five Rays over which the systemic correspondence to the Mahachohan presides) developed [364] manas in an earlier system; They passed out of the wave of manasic influence as far as Their own Nature is concerned.

We must remember also that nine is the number of Initiation, or of the major Initiations of Manas, wherein man becomes a perfect Nine, or literally is the number of his Hierarchy.  This is from the standpoint of the three systems, though his present systemic number may be four.

In occupying ourselves with these various statements anent our scheme and its Ruler we have seen that this particular cycle, or incarnation of His, is one of great importance, not only to Himself but to the entire system.  The planetary Logos of this scheme is primarily occupied with a particular group of units, or with those Monads who vibrate to His key, are colored by the same colour as Himself, answer to the same number, and are esoterically known by the same Name.  One point here needs emphasis:  all Monads pass at different times under the influence of the different planetary Logoi, and all are found at some time in each scheme.  This does not mean that every human unit passes a period of incarnation in each scheme.  It means that on some one globe in every scheme, human units will be found either prior to physical incarnation, between different egoic cycles (a totally different thing to periods between physical lives), between different rounds or manvantaras, or between the various root-races and subraces.  As stated in various occult books, many of the present advanced humanity individualised on the moon chain, and only took physical bodies in the earth chain during the fourth root-race, thus escaping incarnation during the first three rounds, and the first two races of the fourth round.  In the interim, they came under the planetary influence of another Logos of a scheme, and were occupied during that immense period of time in fanning the manasic flame, and developing [365] the attributes of manas, so that the Atlantean root-race found them adequately equipped to cope with life conditions.

This participation in the life and influence of the different schemes is effected in four different ways:

First, through passing the interim between egoic cycles of physical incarnation on the particular globe of their scheme, which numerically coincides with the particular other scheme whose influence is desired, either from deliberate choice or karmically necessitated.  Each globe in a chain is occultly linked with the chain of its own number, and with the scheme of a similar number.  For instance:  Globe 2, Chain 2, and scheme 2 during round 2 are specially linked and vitalised, and are the focal point of peculiar attention on the part of the Logos of that scheme.  Similarly (again in illustration) globe 2, chain 2 during round 2 in any scheme such as the fifth, for instance, are aligned or connected esoterically with the second scheme.  This gives opportunity for the units in the body of any Logos to come under the influence of another Logos, and within his vibratory radiation.

Second, through a direct transference of the units in incarnation in any scheme (during an interlude) to some globe in another scheme where they are subjected to the stimulation and vibration peculiar to that scheme.  These two methods are the most usual.  This transference will seem mysteriously impossible unless the student is careful to realise that it is the transference of the individualised lives and not the transference of the forms which they occupy.  The whole matter is psychic, and based on the unity of the anima mundi.  It is only possible at those periods when two Heavenly Men are mutually finding each other—under the Law of Attraction—and thus swinging into the magnetic radius of each other.

Third, through a conscious passage of the initiate, [366] through initiation, from one scheme to another.  This is frequently done, and hints of it have been given by different writers and thinkers, though several have confused the globes of their own chain with the scheme of the same number, or have mistaken another chain within the scheme for another scheme.

Fourth, the fourth method of transference of consciousness, and the bringing of the life units under the focal power of a Lord of a Ray, can be brought about through knowledge of certain mantrams and formulae.  On this we may not enlarge as these mantrams are esoteric and the use of them is fraught with much danger to the uninitiated.

The planetary Logos of this scheme is called "the First Kumara," the One Initiator, and the statement is made that He came to this planet from Venus, Venus being "the Earth's primary."  This needs elucidation somewhat, though it may not be permitted to do more than convey a few hints as to the truth.  The fact is one of the most mysterious in the development of our scheme, and in it lies hidden the secret of this world cycle.  It is not easy to convey the truth and words but seem to veil and cloak.

Perhaps a hint may be given in pointing out that there is an analogy between the coming in of the Ego in full sway and its taking hold at certain periods in the life of a human being.  At seven years we are told the Ego "takes hold," and again at adolescence; at twenty-one that hold may be made still firmer.  Again, as lives are passed, the Ego (in connection with a human being) grips its vehicles and so sways them to his purpose with more effect and fullness.  The same procedure can be seen in relation to a Heavenly Man and His body of manifestation, a scheme.  It must be remembered that every scheme has seven chains; that each chain has seven globes, making a totality of forty-nine globes; [367] that each globe is again in turn occupied by the life of the Logos during what we call seven rounds, making literally three hundred and forty-three incarnations, or fresh impulses to manifest.  We must add to these major manifestations such lesser ones as those named by us root-races, and subraces, also branch races, and thus we are faced with a complexity that is enough to stagger the average student.  The planetary wheel of life turns on its lesser scale the wheel of life of the little pilgrim we call man; as it turns, it sweeps the life of the evolving planetary Logos into ever new forms and experiences until the fire of Spirit burns up all lesser fires.

As earlier pointed out, each Heavenly Man is linked with one of His Brothers under the Law of Mutual Attraction, which manifests so degradingly as yet upon the physical plane, through the life of the human unit, imprisoned in physical form.  Psychically the link is of a different nature, and such a link is found between the planetary Logos of the scheme we call Venus, and the Logos of our scheme.  This psychic interaction has its cyclic ebb and flow, as ebbs and flows all life force.  In Lemurian days came a period of close interaction which brought about an incarnation on the physical planet of the Logos of our scheme, the Head of the Hierarchy, and the One Initiator.  This could not have been effected had not the planetary Logos of the Venus scheme been in a position to link up closely with ours.

c. Venus and the Earth Chain.  This question of the coming of the Lords of Flame to the planet Earth is deeply involved (as stated above) in the relationship existing between the Heavenly Man of the Earth scheme and the Lord of the Venus scheme.  Until more detailed information is permitted publication anent these two great Entities, little more can be done beyond indicating some probabilities, and pointing out certain factors which students should carefully bear in mind.  The state- [368] ment has been made that (owing to the Venusian scheme being in its fifth round) its humanity is consequently further advanced than ours, and can help us, and that this help came in Lemurian days.  This is an instance of a partial truth and its misinterpretation.  The Venusian scheme is—as stated in the Secret Doctrine [cxxxvii]35—in its fifth and last round; its humanity is very far ahead of ours in certain particulars, but the momentous occurrence in the third root-race was due to the following causes, and not to the factor of the greater advancement of a certain group of human beings:

First, the Venus Scheme, viewed as a logoic centre, is more active than ours, and therefore its radiatory magnetism is far more widely spread.  Its radiation is such that on the buddhic plane it swept within its magnetic radius that chain in our scheme which is composed predominantly of buddhic matter.  Then, via that chain, it magnetised the corresponding globe in our chain, and this resulted in a specific vitalisation in the dense planet itself.

Second, just as in the case of man, certain triangles of force are found at different stages of evolution, or (to word it otherwise) different centres become geometrically linked, such as the

a. Base of the spine,

b. Solar plexus,

c. Heart;

or again,

a. Solar Plexus,

b. Heart,

c. Throat,

so, in the case of a Heavenly Man, or of a solar Logos, a similar event occurs.  Such an event transpired in this round in relation to the centre which our planetary Logos [369] embodies.  It became geometrically linked with two other centres, of which Venus was one, and logoic Kundalini—circulating with tremendous force through this adjusted Triangle—brought about that intensification of vibration in the human family which resulted in individualisation.  We might here enumerate the schemes as a basis for our further work: