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The Pedigree of Man
By Annie Besant
The Spiritual Pedigree
IN WESTERN LANDS, science during the last fifty years has been trying to trace what is called the pedigree of man. In Germany, in France, in England, scientific men have tried to arrange the vast number of facts collected, so as to draw a genealogical tree and represent the way in which man has evolved from the fire-mist to the civilized human being. The great difficulty with regard to these pedigrees of man has been the fact that they only apply to his physical nature; in the tracing of his body, scientists trace from step to step the way in which that wonderful and complicated organism has been built up cell by cell in all the kingdoms of nature; and this they have done with wonderful patience and with a large degree of success, although their ignorance of successive cycles of growth has caused much confusion, much linking together of types separated by incalculable aeons of time, and much turning upside down of sequences, and translation of descendants into the seats of ancestors.
But when you have traced even accurately the pedigree of man's body, you have not traced the pedigree of man. Man is not his body; the body is but the garment that he wears; and man can never be understood, when you leave out of his pedigree the Spirit that makes him eternal, and the intelligence, which is an aspect of that Spirit differentiating itself in the world of matter, and manifesting as intellect and as mind. Thus the scientific pedigrees of man are all thrown out of court by the partial nature of the pedigree, and by the fact that you find the least human part of man exclusively dealt with.
In theosophical teachings - those which have been given to us by the great Sages of the past, reinforced, verified, and repeated in scripture after scripture of all the great religions of the world - in these you will find a truer pedigree, that deals with every part of the nature of man. It is not alone in the Hindu
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Scriptures, though they are the fullest in this respect, that you can find traces of that primeval revelation, that you can understand something of the long road that man has travelled in his journey from the mineral to the God; nay, rather should I say, from the mineral to the God, for as is truly said, not only in Hindu writings, but by our brothers of Islam: "From God we came, and unto God do we return."
In order, then, that we may trace man's pedigree aright, we shall do well to follow the broad outlines laid down by that great disciple of the Sages, H.P.B. whom here I salute, with my heart's gratitude for the light and the knowledge that she has brought to the modern world. At the very outset of these lectures, I would acknowledge my debt to her great work, The Secret Doctrine, from which the whole plan and innumerable details are taken; I have added some facts, filled up some lacunae, bridged some gulfs, perhaps, but most of the materials are here, and are drawn from that record of her vast occult knowledge, her giant grasp of facts.
She taught us that, in trying to understand man and his pedigree, we must mark three great lines of evolution: first, the spiritual, which is by far the most important, for Spirit is the master of matter , guides it, shapes it, builds it into form; and unless the spiritual pedigree be known, man remains an insoluble problem. Then, at the other pole of human nature, the physical, the pedigree of man's body. The spiritual pedigree is the coming down by slow degrees of Spirit into Matter. The physical pedigree is the result of the upward climbing of the Spirit through the Matter, which it shapes for the expression of its own inherent powers, Then, looking at these two great lines, one from above downwards, the other from below upwards, we come to a point at which a third line of the evolution of man's pedigree joins these others and links them both to form the human being. That is the intellectual evolution; that is the coming of the Ego to take possession of his physical tabernacle, and to link to that tabernacle the Spirit which has brooded over it, which has by its subtle influence Shaped and fashioned it. When we have traced the spiritual evolution, the physical evolution, the intellectual evolution, then there unfolds before us
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a vast picture, in which we can see the whole pedigree of man traced in broad illuminative outlines, and we can begin to understand something of the wonder of that Human Nature which is God, God in manifested form, divine in essence and in powers.
H.P.B. says: "There exists in Nature a triple evolutionary scheme, for the formation of the three periodical Bases; or rather three separate schemes of evolution, which in our system are inextricably interwoven and interblended at every point ... 1. The Monadic, as the name implies, is concerned with the growth and development into still higher phases of activity of the Monad, in conjunction with: 2. The Intellectual, represented by the "Mind-intelligence's" (the Solar Gods, or the Fathers devoid of the creative fire), the 'givers of intelligence and consciousness' to man; and: 3. The Physical, represented by the shadows of the Lunar Fathers, round which Nature has consecrated the present physical body .... It is the union of these three streams in him, which makes him the complex being he now is."
Now that is the great task that lies before us in these lectures. To my hands, too feeble for the task, to my lips, not sufficiently articulate to speak it, has fallen this work, really far too great for one like myself, so limited alike in knowledge and in power to gain it; and all that I can hope to do is to place before you the results of some study, guided by knowledge far greater than my own, hoping that, not to dictate to you a scheme that you are bound to accept, but to throw out such hints as a student may throw out to students, which may help you in your own study and in your own research; to serve, if I may be so fortunate, as a clue through the labyrinth of Nature, which may aid you in your struggle to traverse it.
We take the first of these three lines of human pedigree, the spiritual pedigree of man, In order to understand that, we must begin with two vast outlines. The first, the outline of those great Hierarchies of intelligences, of spiritual Intelligences, who, in past aeons, past universes, having completed their own human evolution, have climbed up to be co-workers with God in the shaping of a new Mundane Egg; these are the Hierarchies that
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guide and mould, the Architects, the Builders, of Solar systems. We need to get some idea, however vague, however imperfect, however paltry, of these vast Hierarchies that fill our solar system, and to whom we owe our spiritual evolution; some idea, traced with reverence, however imperfect it may be, for They are the life of the universe. They are the guides of spiritual, intellectual and physical evolution. The second outline is that of the Field of Evolution, the place wherein the evolution goes on.
Now according to the old occult records, identical on this point with the most ancient Hindu teachings, we find that our solar system has a life stretching behind it into what to us, is an illimitable past, counting, it is said, some 1,955,884,703 years up to the present time (as in the year 1903), a period so vast that it is but words that I utter; the words convey no idea to the human mind save that of illimitable antiquity.
Going back into that far off past, we see, to use the splendid simile of Manu, God as a Mountain of Light appearing to illuminate the darkness. No words can better convey the idea of that dawn of a new universe; words are almost hindrances in the way of the vague idea of the upspringing Light in the midst of darkness unfathomable. That is the simile chosen by the Father of Mankind, when he desired to describe to men the dawn of the solar system.
Then we are told-and we can only reverently repeat what we are told- that God unfolds Himself into a triple manifestation, into three Forms, and from that marvellous light we see issuing in wondrous magnificent outlines three mighty and divine Forms. They are the Powers, the Aspects of God to be manifested In the coming universe-He who creates, He who preserves, He who destroys when the end of the system approaches. The One In three Forms, the Three whose essence is One-we may phrase it as we will. Dimly we feel that we gaze at three Bases that appear for purposes of functioning, but that divide not the all-embracing Consciousness that ensouls Them. Those wondrous Forms we call the Logo), using that Greek term which means the Word, because the idea of sound beat expresses the incalculable potencies of manifested Deity- sound which creates, supports, destroys. Now this triplicity appears in every religion,
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save here and there, where for passing and temporary causes it has not been clearly and definitely stated. Go back to far Chaldea, study the remains plucked from the opened tombs of dead Egypt, the secrets which its mummies unfold, and everywhere, as well as in Hindu Scriptures, do you find shining out the Three from the One, One in the divinity of Their nature, Three in their manifested powers.
Then, around that wondrous Trinity, we see standing in the light coming forth from Them, Those, the fruits of past universes, who have won to that marvellous spiritual height; and the next Forms that we dimly glimpse, in the middle of the light, are of those who are called the Seven. The descriptive words, the names, applied to that number, the Seven differ in different religions. The Hindu speaks of the seven sons of Aditi- the eighth was the Sun, each son, having his own "house." They have been called the Seven Spirits in the Sun; the seven Mystery Gods was Their name in ancient Egypt. They were called in the religion of Zoroaster the seven Amshaspends. Among the Jews, They are the seven Sephiroth, among the Christians and Muhammadans, They are the seven Archangels. The names do not matter. Suffice it that every religion points to Them as standing round the manifested trinity, forming the Viceroys, as it were, of God in the vast Empire of the solar system, each one with His own kingdom, each one administering His own department. We call Them in Theosophy the Planetary Logoi, because these seven Spirits in the Sun have ever been identified with the seven sacred planets, which are Their physical bodies; those planets in their outer form here are globes, some of the globes that make up our solar system; but in their spiritual nature they are these mighty Sons of Aditi, who has each His own house, that is, His own planet, ruling over His own kingdom, a definite department of the solar universe.
Round these again, in wider circles, there come the mighty Ones, the Hierarchies that are the creative Hierarchies, or the Twelve Creative Orders, of the universe.
These are headed by the Twelve Great Gods, that appear in very ancient stories, looming vast and magnificent from the great distances in which They dwell. These are symbolized in.
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the familiar Signs of the Zodiac; for the Zodiac is no modern fancy, but was given to the Fourth race of men by the mighty Teachers, and you may read in your own records the names of some of these teachers, one of whom, Asuramaya, is known as the first of the great astronomers; it was he who gave the Zodiacs to Egypt and to India.
Those astronomical wheels are the symbols, the pictures in which the plan of the solar system is written, and in the traditions of the past we find the clue to the labyrinth, and we realize why we are told that a planet "rules" or is the Lord of, one of the signs of the Zodiac. For the planet is the Planetary Spirit, and His sign of the Zodiac is one of the chief Creative Hierarchies, containing within itself the remaining Hierarchies as sub-hierarchies, and these, under His control and direction, build up His kingdom, and help the Monads in it to evolve. If you bear this in mind, the picture, though wonderful, will not be confused. First comes the great Trinity; round that Trinity the seven Spirits who are the Viceroys in his universe.
Around them the twelve Creative Hierarchies, busy with the work of the construction of the universe. Now at the present stage of evolution, out of these twelve Creative Hierarchies, five have passed away from the ken of even the greatest and most developed Teachers of our world; four of them have passed onward into liberation, and one is touching the threshold of liberation; so that in our own evolution we have now only to deal with seven.
These all touch us, as it were, our fragment of Deity, the portion of God, the Living Self, the living being, that presently we find composes one of these very Hierarchies in his highest, most spiritual nature. Let us try to glimpse the main characteristics of These, for we need, however vaguely, to characterize each of them, so that They may not be wholly blurred in our eyes, dazzled by the radiance in which They dwell.
First comes the Order that is only describable by words connected with fire; Formless Fiery Breaths,
They are called, Lords of Fire, Divine Flames, Divine Fires, Fiery Lions, Lions of Life: name after name, epithet after epithet,
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all circling round the attribute of fire, for they, it is written, are the Life and the Heart pf the universe, the Self, the kosmic Will, and through Them comes the divine ray of Supreme Self, that awakens self in the Monad of Man.
Below them comes the second great Hierarchy, two-fold in its nature, the "two-fold units," Fire and Ether, manifested Reason, the wisdom of the system, that we speak of as Kosmic Soul, that arouses Soul in the Monad of man.
Below Them again, the third, the Great, or Kosmic Mind, "the triads," Fire, Ether, Water, the Kosmic Activity, that will also bestow part of its essence on the Monad of man as he descends.
These are the Formless Creative Orders, dwelling in matter too subtle to assume a limiting form, matter in which all forms intermingle and interpenetrate.
Below these come the Creative Orders having Forms and first of these, fourth among the Hierarchies, is that which is ours, the Hierarchy of human Monads, not yet having left the bosom of our Highest Father, wherein in truth we ever remain, inseparable from him, although to us, in the mazes of matter, we seem to be utterly separated and distinct. We can dimly glimpse them as they stand there in the glory of their birth, with a "certain spiritual individuality," it is written, which has become more separate on the lower planes, these we shall come back to in a moment, after this rough and hasty outlining of the seven great Hierarchies, meant to give us a bird's eye view of the whole; these, called the Imperishable Lives, are the fourth of the seven Creative Orders - out of the twelve - with which we are concerned.
Then we come to the later three, that contain within them many who have already entered evolution in our own planetary scheme in past aeons, and of whom we may learn a little more, because they touch our own evolution.
The fifth hierarchy is named that of the Crocodile, and has for its symbol the pentagon; in this the dual spiritual and the dual physical aspects of Nature appear, the positive and the
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negative, at war with each other; these are the turbulent, the "rebels" of many a mythos.
Much shall we hear of some of these presently, of those who are called the Asuras born of the first body of Brahma which, cast off, became Darkness. A great host of Beings in this hierarchy have come from a past universe, and spring forth, full grown as it were, from the Planetary Logos. These also seem to be called Asuras but we are specially concerned with those born from the Body of Darkness, and belonging to this universe by their evolution. These are beings of great spiritual power and spiritual knowledge, but hide deep within themselves the germ, the essence, of Ahamkara, of that l-making faculty which is necessary for human evolution. They are the fruitage of the first planetary chain, a word that will become more familiar as we proceed.
The sixth of these great Hierarchies contains some that we can also recognize , who are born of the Body of Brahma which is known as the Body of Light, or of Day; a group of Devas is seen, shining out amid this host of Devas with especial glory, the Pitrs of the Devas, who are known by the name of Agnishvattas, Those who are called the "six-fold Dhyanis," They give to man all but the Atma and the physical body, and so are called the givers of the "five middle human principles," They guide the Monad in obtaining the permanent atoms connected with these principles, or the "five-fold plasm." They are the fruitage if the second planetary Chain. The Hierarchy includes also great hosts of Devas, the highest Nature Spirits, or Elementals of the Middle Kingdom.
The seventh Hierarchy contains those whom we know best under the name of the Lunar Pitris, or the Barhishad Pitris, born of the Body of Brahma which is called that of the Twilight, the Sandhya. They have to do with physical evolution, as the Agnishvatta Pitris have to deal with the intellectual evolution of man, so that we shall meet with both of these as we go on with . our study. Then, those we see crowding round them, belonging to their Hierarchy, are their agents in the work that lies before them, vast hosts of Devas, the lower Nature Spirits, or Elementals of the Lowest Kingdom, who will have to do with the
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actual building of the body of man. And here too are the "spirits of atoms," the seeds of evolution in future kalpas, with which we have here nothing to do.
Thus the seven great Hierarchies, or Creative Orders, stretch before us in their splendour, ready for the work of directing the unfolding of spiritual powers in a universe of matter.
Now glance with me at the second great outline, that of the Field of Evolution. Over this I pass rapidly, because its outlines will come to be very distinct as we deal with physical evolution; but we cannot catch the points of the spiritual evolution, unless we have before us the broad outlines of the Field in which that evolution is taking place. I call it the Field borrowing that term from The Bhagavad-Gita, because it is the very type of Matter. That word expresses, better than any term I can fashion for myself, all that is included under the name of Matter, in which evolution is to go on. We confine ourselves now to the kingdom of one Planetary Logos, that to which we belong, for each Planetary Logos presides over one Field of Evolution, and this we must study. I only deal with the fundamental principles. First, grasp clearly and strongly the phases of the Field. They are repeated over and over again, and, if once grasped, will be the Ariadne's clue to the labyrinth.
There are seven great stages of spiritual evolution. During three the Spirit descends. As it descends, it broods over Matter certain powers, certain qualities, certain attributes, and those qualities, powers, and attributes are the outcome of the first three stages of the descent of the Spirit. Then comes a stage, the fourth, that stands alone, where Matter, having been thus gifted with various powers and various attributes, comes into manifold relations with the reforming Spirit, which now enters it. This is the great battle of the universe, the conflict between Spirit and Matter, the Battle Field, of the vast hosts of the two opposing armies. Here, in this part of the field, is the point of balance; the Spirit, coming into innumerable relations with Matter, is at first overpowered; then comes the point of balance, when neither has the advantage over the other; then slowly the Spirit begins to triumph over Matter, so that, when this fourth stage is over, Spirit is the master of Matter, and is ready for his
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ascent through the three stages that complete the seven. The Spirit, in these, organises the Matter which he has mastered, and ensouled, and turns it to his own purposes, shapes it for his own expression, so that Matter may become the means whereby all the powers of the Spirit shall be made manifest and active; the last three stages are taken up by that spiritual ascent. Three, then, of descent, giving qualities; one of struggle, forming manifold relations; three of ascent, wherein Matter is fashioned by Spirit into the perfect vehicle he needs for his own manifestation.
Now cling to that main idea, for it is repeated at every stage, and governs each stage, no matter how many additional complexities may mark the stage; over and over again it gives you the clue, when you are losing yourselves in that confusion of Chains, Rounds, Globes and Races, that is so fertile a source of trouble to the theosophical student.
What is the next thing to grasp? That which is called the planetary Chain. Considered as a whole, it forms the Vehicle of the planetary Logos, in which His life incarnates. Seven stages must be passed through, so seven the Chains will be; three Chains in which Spirit will be descending; one Chain, the fourth, in which Spirit and Matter will be inter-linking and inter-weaving and forming innumerable relations; then three chains of upward climbing, at the end of which all shall return into the bosom of the Planetary logos, to merge into God with the fruitage of evolution. The planetary Chain may thus be thought of as the bodies in which the life of the Planetary logos reincarnates itself seven times, each Chain beginning with the fruitage of its predecessor, each handing on to its successor that which itself has made.
The period during which a planetary Chain lasts is called a planetary evolution, and each evolution is followed by a planetary Dissolution; the beings whose highest principles have been evolved during the evolution pass at its close, into a blissful state of super-consciousness, the planetary Nirvana, while those who have not evolved so far sink into peaceful sleep. These 'nirvanees' do not come back to birth until the
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succeeding chain has evolved vehicles suitable to their further growth.
Let us examine a single planetary Chain, and see how it is composed, what are the links that make up the Chain. Each link of the chain is a round, or circle, of life; a wave of life makes a complete circle, on the principle already enunciated, passing through seven stages; during three stages the life descends into matter, and gives birth to more and more material forms; in the fourth the life-wave evolves forms in which conflict is carried on; in the remaining three the life-wave" ascends, and the forms to which it has given birth become more and more spiritual; moreover, each Round of the life-wave evolves one kingdom of nature - the three elemental, the mineral, vegetable, animal, human - to the highest perfection of its own type, the future types, not belonging to the round, being indeed present, but more or less embryonic, compared with their future development. Thus seven rounds, seven successive circles of the life-wave, are the links which compose the planetary Chain.
Let us take a single Round, a single life-circle, and we find this again has its own seven stages, but this time each stage is a Globe, a world. In the first three forms are evolved; in the middle, the gulf is spanned between the forms and the overbrooding spirits, and the forms become ensouled; in the later three, the Spirits shape the forms to their will. To distinguish these Globes from each other, the letters of the alphabet from A to G have been used, and the Globes in the arc of descent and the globes in the arc of ascent correspond with each other: those in the upward are showing out in completion that which those in the downward arc embryonically adumbrate, while the middle Globe is the point of balance of conflict, of turning. Globe A is of subtle mental matter, and is archetypal i.e. contains the archetypes of the forms to be produced in the Round; H>P>B. explains: 'The word "archetypal" must not be taken here in the sense that the Platonists gave to it, i.e. the world as it existed in the mind of the Deity; but in that of a world made as a first model, to be followed and improved upon by the worlds which succeed it physically.' Globe G corresponding with A as to matter, on the upward arc, contains the archetypes of
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Globe A, worked out in detail and perfected. Globe B is of denser mental matter, and is creative, or intellectual, i.e. contains the concrete types derived from the archetypes, the qualities marked, the forms crude and rough; Globe F, corresponding with B on the upward arc, contains these forms elaborated and refined. Globe C is of astral matter and is substantial or formative, i.e. builds the crude forms in denser matter; and its corresponding Globe E shows them in similar matter, but exquisitely adapted for their functions. Globe D is of physical matter, and is the turning point, the field of conflict between Spirit and Matter. In each Globe successively is evolved one stage in the kingdom which is being developed in the Round, so that when the life-wave has completed its circuit round the seven Globes, i.e. has completed a Reund, the kingdom is completely evolved. And all the kingdoms, behind the one characteristic of the Round, are advanced a stage in their embryonic career. Thus in the first Round, the Highest Elemental Kingdom is completed, the remaining two elemental and the mineral shew all their types, and the vegetable, animal and human are sketched out, but inchoate, and so on. this will be more fully dealt with under physical evolution. These Globes of our own Chain are often spoken of in the Puranas as Dvipas, Jambudvipa being our own earth.
Our own Field of Evolution, so that we may realise where we are standing now, must be clearly seen. Out Planetary Logos, spoken of as Brahma, in His creative function to us, has already carried His kingdom into the fourth stage of its evolution; we are in the fourth planetary Chain. Of the first planetary Chain, the archetypal, we know nothing, save that it is spoken as His Body of Darkness, or of Night, and that its fruitage was the Asuras. Of the second planetary Chain, the creative, we know nothing, save that it was His Body of Light, or of Day, and produced the Agnishvatta Pitrs. Of the third planetary Chain, the formative, we know a little for its Globe D was the Moon, and it was His body of Twilight, and the evolved the Barhishad Pitris and seven classBS of Monads for its successor; we call it the lunar Chain. The fourth planetary chain, the physical, is the terrene, its globe D being our Earth, and it is His Body of Dawn, and is evolving men.
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Having thus laid down the broad outlines of the Hierarchies and the Field, we may return to the study of the fourth Hierarchy, that of the Human Monads, those who are to become "Men" in the terrene planetary Chain. And this Chain is the fourth, the Chain of struggle, of balance, the Chain in which Spirit and Matter are to be interlinked and interwoven, so that the highest and the lowest, the two poles of nature, shall join in one complex being, Man — Man who is the starting point for the higher evolution. Moreover, the Monads are now on the fourth Globe, Globe D, which is our earth, the Globe of this Chain, being placed with regard to the other Chains. The Monads are thus at the very centre of the struggle, at the point of keenest combat and of greatest difficulty, truly on the planetary Kurukshetra; here, in the fourth Globe of the fourth Chain must be waged the greatest conflict of Spirit and Matter, to end in the triumph of Spirit.
I have used the word 'Human Monad.' Let me define what is meant in Occultism by the word "man." " Man" is that being in the universe, in whatever part of the universe he may be, in whom highest Spirit and lowest Matter are joined together by intelligence, thus ultimately making a manifested God, who will then go forth, conquering and to conquer, through the illimitable future that stretches before him. "Man is not necessarily of just the form that you now see. He may have a million forms: "Man" means that being in whom Spirit and Matter have joined hands, in whom they have become, or are becoming, balanced, in whom ultimately Spirit has conquered or will conquer, Matter.
In whatever being those conditions are found, "Man" is the word which is used in the occult writings to describe him. It is not limited simply to ourselves, one puny race of the vast human Hierarchy. To show his position in evolution, and that is the medium position I have described, H.P.B. has said that every being in this universe has passed through the human kingdom, or must pass, if he has not already passed it; if he has passed beyond it; he must have passed through it; if he has not reached it, he will have to pass through it in the future. It does not depend on third globe, nor on this race. "Man" is the battle ground of Matter and Spirit, and every being must, like
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Yudhishtira, fight his Kurukshetra, and conquer, before he enters on his divine kingdom. Such then is "Man."
The Monad is the divine Spirit which is man's upper pole, bom from Ishvara Himself, or rather born within Him, as a centre in His life, "a portion of Myself." "'Lift thy head, O Lanoo; dost thou see one, or, countless, lights above thee, burning in the dark midnight sky?' ' I sense one Flame, O Gurudeva; I see countless undetached sparks shining in it."
The Flame is Ishvara, in His manifestation as the First Logos; the undetached sparks are the human and other Monads. The will of Ishvara to manifest works in these portions of Himself, undetached from Him, and this will turns them towards the world of matter, and they pass into the Second Logos, and dwell in Him, the Sons of the Father; from the Third Logos they receive the touch that gives to each a "spiritual individuality," the faint adumbration of separateness. They .enter the streams which from the Three divide into the Seven, and each group takes on the colour belonging to the Planetary Logos into whom it has flowed, and then the seven colours interweave in wondrous maze of flashing lights - the first great choral heavenly dance, the solar Rasalila - until within each Planetary Logos the seven rays of colour are seen, a sevenfold splendor, dominated in each by His own colour, which lends its hue to all the rays within it. Hence is it said that "every man is born under a planet,' since on each Globe in every planetary Chain appear the seven groups of Monads, each coloured by his "Father-Star."
Still is the Monad not ready to issue on his long pilgrimage, for it's attention is not turned outwards, and the three aspects of his nature, reproductions of the three aspects of Ishvara, play upon each other within him and are not turned to the Universe. But now they begin to descend through the Creative Orders. From the first Creative Hierarchy comes the life-thrill that awakens to outward turning life the Will, the atmic aspect; from the second Creative Hierarchy proceeds the impulse that similarly awakens the Wisdom, the buddhic, aspect; from the third that which awakens the Activity, the manasic, aspect. Thus amused to turn his attention outwards, the Monad is ready for his descent.
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These preparatory stages accomplished, the vast host of the Monads that are to become human have reached their abiding place, where they will dwell for innumerable ages. They are the fourth Creative Hierarchy, ready for their pilgrimage. Each of them is 'an individual Dhyan Chohan, distinct from others,' but they are too subtle, too lofty, in their nature to be able to enter into the five-fold universe, the universe of grosser-matter.
Yet they must find a vehicle, since their divine powers are to become effective in the worlds before them, and as the mighty vibrations of the Sun throw matter into the vibrations we call his rays, so does the Monad cause the atomic matter of the atmic, buddhic and manasic planes - surrounding him as the ether of space surrounds the Sun - to vibrate, and thus makes for himself a Ray, triple like his own three-fold nature. In this he is aided by the fifth and sixth Creative hierarchies, who have passed through a similar experience before; the fifth Hierarchy guides the vibratory wave from the Will-aspect to the atmic atom, and the atmic atom, vibrating to the Will-aspect, is called Atma; the sixth Hierarchy guides the vibratory wave from the wisdom-aspect to the buddhic atom, and the buddhic atom, vibrating to the Wisdom-aspect is called Buddhi; also it guides the vibratory wave from the activity-aspect to the manasic atom, and the manasic atom, vibrating to the Activity-aspect, is called Manah. Thus Atma-Buddhi-Manah, the Monad in the world of manifestation, is formed, the Ray of the true Monad beyond the five-fold universe.
Here is the mystery of the Watcher, the spectator, the actionless Atma, who abides ever in his triple nature on his own plane, and lives in the world of men by his Ray, which animates his shadows, the fleeting lives on earth. It is written in the stanzas of Dzyan: 'Said the Flame to the Spark: "Thou art myself, my Image and my Shadow. I have clothed myself in thee, and thou art my vahan(vehicleO to the day be with us, when thou shalt rebecome myself and others, thy self and me."' The Flame, the Monad, sends out the thread of Life, the triple thread, woven out of his own nature, and on this, the Sutratma, 'the Thread-soul' are all the incarnations, the shadows, strung. "The Watcher and his shadows - the latter numbering as many as there are
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reincarnations for the Monad - are one. The Watcher, or the Divine Prototype, is at the upper end of the ladder of being; the shadow at the lower." He, the Watcher, is our Father in Heaven, and " I and my Father are one." We are the shadows in our personalities, the Image - the Son of the Father - in our individualities; the innumerable shadows are cast by the Ray, and are the pearls strung on the thread of Life. The shadows do the work on the lower planes, and are moved by the Monad through his image, or Ray, at first so feebly that his influence is well-nigh imperceptible later with ever-increasing power : The thread between the Silent Watcher and his Shadow becomes more strong and radiant with every change."
We must now give to the Son the name of the Father, to the Image the name of the Watcher, and call him the Monad; for there is no other name by which fitly to describe him, and truly is he one and the same. But the Image is now clothed in matter, veiled in Avidya, and blinded by the envelope he has not yet essayed, he is weak and limited in the world he has entered. He comes to be his master, but has first to learn obedience : "though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things that he suffered, and being made perfect." He becomes Master of Life and Death. He forgets his birth place, as he falls asleep in matter, and only gradually will the impacts from without stir his dreamy divinity into answer in manifestation.
The Monads are now, as we have seen, ready, and they pass into the first planetary Chain, the Archetypal. All that we know of them there is that the most progressed of them became Asuras, and passed into the fifth Creative Hierarchy. Others, less progressed, took up their evolution in the second planetary Chain, the Creative, and the most progressed of them became Agnishvattas, and entered the sixth Creative Hierarchy. Once more, the less progressed took up their evolution in the third planetary Chain, the lunar, and here we see them, on their emergence from it, classed in three great groups.
1. First, come the true Pitrs, sometimes called the Lunar, but better the Barhishad, Pitrs, who are the most progressed entities from the lunar Chain, who entered, at its close, the seventh Creative Hierarchy. These are the 'Lunar Gods.' the
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'Lords of the Moon of the airy bodies,' who are to be charged with the duty of guiding physical evolution in the fourth planetary Chain, the terrene. With these, but less developed, are two classes of Monads, variously named Lower Dhyanis, Solar Pitrs - the ranks in the lunar Chain immediately below the Barhishad Pitrs - the first class of whom had developed the causal body, and the second class of whom were just ready for its formation, too far advanced to enter the fourth Chain in its earlier Round, in the third and fourth Root Races. Thus this first great group contains three classes of Monads.
2. Four classes, sufficiently evolved to reach the human stage during the first three and a half Rounds of the terrene Chain. These are also often spoken of as 'Inner Pitrs,' and the name is not wholly inapplicable, since they come from the lunar Chain; still they are not 'ancestors' of men, but are evolving into men, and should not therefore be called Pitrs. This name was, however, given to them by H.P.B., and has become incorporated into theosophical'terminology. It does not much matter, if they are not confused with the true Lunar Pitrs of Group 1, the Lords of the Moon.
3. Three classes, who dropped out of the lunar evolution by falling too far behind the general advance. These will only touch humanity at the close of the seventh Round of the terrene Chain, and will form the humanity of the fifth planetary Chain, the one that will succeed our own. They are at present climbing their slow way upwards in the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms.
These seven classes, forming Groups 2 and 3, are the seven classes of 'lunar Pitrs' often mentioned by H.P.B. In order to avoid confusion, I shall speak of them merely as 'monads of the lunar Chain' - a term also used by her - or ex-lunar monads, and shall restrict the use of the term 'Lunar Pitrs' to the 'Lords of the Moon of the airy bodies.' These Monads of the lunar Chain are said to be classed according to 'evolution consciousness and merit,' and this fixed their entry in succession in time.
These seven classes, due to these evolutionary differences, must not be confused with the seven types of Monads, due to
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the colorings received from the seven Planetary Logoi, previously mentioned. In each of the seven classes will be found Monads of all the seven types, so that each class has representations of each of the seven colours. These seven types, therefore, appear simultaneously and side by side, when a class enters the planetary Chain, and each successive class shews not within itself the seven types.
For our tracing of the monadic pedigree of man, we omit Group 1 altogether for the present, the Lunar Pitrs, because they are, concerned with physical evolution, and the two classes of Lower Dhyanis, because they are in the lower Nirvana, assimilating the spiritual and mental results of past experiences, and will not enter the earth Chain until the fourth Round. We have to do here only with Groups 2 and 3, the seven classes of which arrive successively on the earth.
The Monad, Atma-Buddhi-Manah, broods over the evolving forms, not descending below the atomic level of the manasic plane, and represented by the three atoms, acquired for this Chain, as previously said, by the aid of the fifth and sixth Creative Orders. A thread of life, clothed in buddhic matter, is sent forth, and becomes attached to the atoms available for appropriation at each successive stage as 'permanent atoms,1 and these make part of the forms prepared for him by the activities of the Lords of the Moon, in the order we shall study under 'Physical evolution.' It will suffice to say here that on each Globe the seven kingdoms - three elemental, one mineral, one vegetable, one animal, one human - are represented, those belonging to the Round, or to previous Rounds, fully, those beyond the evolution of the round, embryonically. And though it may seem strange to speak of our present humanity as embryonic, yet truly is it so in comparison with the beings of at present unimaginable splendor who shall be the humanity of the seventh, the human, Chain. Each kingdom is divided into seven stages - departments or provinces - as we see plainly when we come to man, with his seven Root Races, through these stages are not so marked to our eyes in the lower kingdoms. And in fact we only recognise their existence by the fact that the Monads,
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who travel more slowly in proportion as they are less progressed, gradually trail off in ever-lengthening procession, failing more and more behind as the younger travel along the Globes of the terrene Chain.
When the ex-lunar Monads of the first class in Group 2 - the most developed - arrive on Globe A of the terrene Circle, they pass very rapidly through the forms - prepared by the Barhishad Pitrs - of the six lower kingdoms and reach the lowest stage of the human kingdom. They repeat the process on Globe B, C, D, E, F and G, adding one human stage on each Globe, until on Globe G they complete the seven human stages, and have passed through the whole forty-nine stages- sever in each of the seven kingdoms - that occur in each Round. I may again remind you that 'human' here does not mean anything like the 'human' that we know; even on Globe D of the Round these Monads do not find any physical human forms.
The ex-lunar monads of class 2 follow 1, but travel less rapidly than their predecessors, so that at the end of the round only completed the animal and touched the border of the human; only in the next Round will they complete the seven stages of the human kingdom.
The ex-lunar Monads of class 3 follow class 2, but fall a little further behind, and see only ready to escape from a little further behind, and are only ready to escape from the vegetable into the animal kingdom at the close of the first Round; while those of class 4 are only ready to escape from the mineral.
The remaining three classes, forming Group 3 of the ex-lunar Monads, are respectively on the borders of the mineral, the higher and the middle elemental kingdoms, at the close of the first Round.
Thus class 1 has accomplished forty-nine stages; class 2, forty-two; class 3, thirty-five; class 4, twenty-eight; class 5,twenty-one; class 6, fourteen; class 7, seven. Or, taking the last class as the unit, class 1 travels seven times as fast; class 2, six times; class
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3, five times class 4, tour times; class 5, three times; class 6,
twice.
It must be remembered that only the archetypes of the mineral
kingdom are on globe A in the first Round, and that the densest
type of matter available in this round is only touched in the
mineral kingdom on Globe D, the higher types, vegetable,
animal, and human, existing only as, mental germs.
In the second round the ex-lunar Monads of the first class entered only the human kingdom, strengthening the germs in which they dwelt; those of the second class reached the human and acquired one stage of progress on each Globe completing the seven stages on Globe G; the third class touched the human in the second Round, while the fourth completed the vegetable and were ready for the animal.
In the third round the ex-lunar Monads of the first and second classes still worked at the developing germs of humanity, while the third conquered the seven stages of the human kingdom in this round, and the fourth just received its borders, thus passing into the human kingdom with the beginning of the fourth Round.
Meanwhile the three laggard classes climbed slowly upwards, so that in the fourth round all had escaped from the elemental kingdom, and they are now the Monads of animals, vegetables and minerals, not to reach the human kingdom in this chain, since human forms of a type sufficiently low for their humanising are no longer produced by nature.
The fourth round is often called the human round, since the archetypes of each Root Race appeared on Globe A at the beginning of the round; but it is really the Round in which the mineral reaches its perfection, i.e. the point of greatest hardness and density.
When the foremost of the circling Monads reached, Globe D on the fourth Round, they were ready for the development of man on a far higher model, and the Chhaya of the Barhishad Pitrs now became the form to which the permanent physical atom attached itself, the chhaya being of etheric matter. The Aiteraya
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Brahmana sketches in a few phrases this long evolution, this passing of the Monads through the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, and the reaching of human; ' In herbs and trees life is seen: intelligence in breathing creatures, and in these breathing creatures the Self is more manifest; he is most supplied with knowledge. He speaks that which he knows; he sees that which he knows; he knows what occurred yesterday; he knows the visible and the invisible; by the mortal he desires the immortal. Thus supplied is he.' On this runs the commentary of Sayana:' In the unconscious, earth, stones, etc. only Sat is manifest, and the Atma has not yet attained to the form of Jiva. The unmoving Jivas, namely the herbs and trees, and also the moving Jivas, which have Prana as breath, both these are stages of manifestation in a higher degree.'
The foremost Monads are now brooding over the embryonic forms of the first Root Race, and shaping the growth of the human foetus in the womb of time. Their Rays warm into activity the envelopes of matter that enshroud them, and shape them into organs of communication with the outer world. The sense of hearing is the first to be developed, that which will respond to the rate of vibrations hereafter to be known as sound. Awake on its own plane, the monadic consciousness responds dimly, very dimly, through the enveloping matter, so that the forms are well-nigh senseless; they feel on the physical plane the presence of fire, the first impact to which consciousness there responds through the new forms.
As the monad passes into the second Root Race, he adds to his physical plane consciousness the sense of touch, and begins to respond to the impact of air as well as of fire; as we listen, we hear faint chant-like sounds issuing from the varied nondescript forms that represent humanity, open vowel like sounds, inarticulate, faintly indicating the stirrings of emotions moved from hidden springs. Such consciousness as there is belongs to above rather than to below; there is dreamy quiet enjoyment, arising from within, but little sense of pleasure or pain, stimulated from without. It is the monadic consciousness, awake on the higher planes but not on the lower, and the forms
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are but slightly responsive, almost senseless, though more responsive than those of the first race.
With the entry of the Monad into the third root race, progress quickens; sight is slowly added to the senses of hearing and touch, and with this the recognition of the outer world becomes clearer and more definite. Language, consisting of mere cries through the first and second sub-races, cries of pleasure and pain, of love and wrath, becomes monosyllabic in the third sub-race. Consciousness of the impacts of water is added to that of the impacts of fire and air, and the human form, crude and clumsy, but now distinctly human, brooded over by the Monad, is ready for the incoming of the intelligence which shall make it man. It is now fairly responsive to the thrills of life that reach it from above, but on the physical plane is stupid, ignorant, moved by rushes of pain and pleasure stimulated from without, and blindly yielding to their currents, drifted hither and thither. The Monad cannot check its physical vehicle, answering to the strong impacts of its own plane, and answering the more strongly as more life is poured into it from above; the life is transmuted into sense-responses, and flows along the channels of animal instincts. For the Monad to increase the life-flow will be to increase the danger; it is like increasing stream-pressure in an engine without a driver.
Then come in the sons of Mind, to add the element needed for safety and for progress, The intellectual evolution must now begin, and for a time obscure the spiritual. The spiritual must give way before the rush of intelligence, and retire into the background for awhile, leaving intelligence to grasp the reins and guide the next stage of evolution. The Monad will silently and subtly begin to inform the intelligence, working through it indirectly, stimulating it by its energies, evolving it by a ceaseless flow of potent influence from within, while intelligence grapples with the lower vehicles, to be at first conquered and enslaved but slowly to master and to rule. And here we leave monadic evolution, now to go on silently beneath the surface, till the time shall come when the triumphant intellect shall merge in the Spirit.
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Such, briefly stated, is our pedigree on the side of Spirit; we see our birth in God; we see the groups of Mighty Ones that nurtured our infancy; we see the stages of our growth, as we descend from Chain to Chain, from Round to Round, from Globe to Globe, until we reach our own familiar earth, and touch the ground we know. Then we sense dimly the coming of the 'Sons of Night,' the 'Sons of the Dark Wisdom,' those who bring ahamkara for the building of man, and we know that here is another line of our pedigree, that they too are ourselves. We see the Spirit obscured, and know that the Spirit must mature in silence, while the warrior Intellect carries on the combat; until the time shall come when Intellect shall lay his spoils at the feet of Spirit, and man, become divine, shall reign on earth.
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