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Rounds
And Races
by
William
Quan Judge
A FUNDAMENTAL axiom in Theosophy is that no one should
accept as unquestionably true any statement of fact, principle, or theory which
he has not tested for himself. This does not exclude a reasonable reliance upon
testimony; but only that blind credulity which sometimes passes for faith. As
we understand the rule, it is that we should at all times keep a clear and
distinct boundary between what we know, and what we only accept provisionally
on the testimony of those who have had larger experience until we reach a point
of view from which we can see its truth. We owe it to ourselves to enlarge the
sphere of clear knowledge and to push back as far as possible the boundary of
opinion and hypothesis.
The realm of knowledge has various departments. Our
physical senses furnish us one class of knowledge; our intellectual powers
investigate another field on mathematical lines; and yet another faculty
enables us to apprehend ethical teachings and to trace them to their true basis
in Karma. That we have other faculties, now largely latent, which when developed
will enable us to enter other fields of observation and investigation, is
beginning to be seen and appreciated. Among the subjects which man may thus in
the future examine for himself is a large block of truth concerning evolution,
the out-breathing of the Great Breath, the birth and development of a chain of
globes, and of human life thereon, some part of which has been imparted to us
by those who claim to know, and which is chiefly useful, perhaps, for the light
which it throws on our surroundings, our destiny, and our duty.
The grander sweeps of this block of truth are given to
us in the barest outline, and not until our present physical earth is reached
do we find anything like detailed information. From the hints given out,
however, and reasoning according to the doctrine of correspondences, "as
above, so below," we may plausibly infer many things in regard to other
globes and other systems; but such flights can hardly be taken with much profit
or
advantage until we become thoroughly familiar with the
things that are revealed in regard to our immediate surroundings.
In reading what has been written about the evolution
of our planetary chain, it becomes apparent that some writers either did not
have clear views on the subject, or that confusion and even contradiction have
resulted from difficulty in finding words adapted to its expression and in
using the words chosen in a strictly consistent manner.
The article entitled "Evolution" found on
page 117 of THE PATH for July, 1892, is, it seems to me, open to this
objection; and I ask leave of the Editor to contribute briefly to the work of
making the subject more clear.
The planetary chain consists of seven companion
globes, which for convenience of reference are named from the first seven
letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. We occupy globe D, the fourth
in the chain. The course of evolution begins on globe A, and proceeds by
regular stages through globes B, C, D, E, etc. In the beginning, globe A was
first evolved, and life received a certain degree of development upon it; then
globe B came into existence, and the life-wave removed
from globe A to B, where it went forward another stage; then globe C was
evolved and received the life wave for a still further stage in its progress;
and so on, until at the end of the first round globe G was evolved and
furnished the field for the highest development attainable in that round.
The first round - the first tour of the life-wave
through the seven globes from A to G - having been completed, the monads - the
life wave - passed again to globe A, and commenced the second round, or the
second tour through the chain.
Without following out details, it is enough to say
that three such rounds have been completed, and the fourth round has commenced
its sweep and is still in progress; and that we now occupy globe D in this
fourth round. Three times the life-wave has passed from globe A to globe G; and
has now reached globe D in its fourth tour through the chain.
Now, leaving entirely out of sight for the present
what has happened during the former three rounds, and on globes A, B, and C in
this fourth round, let us consider what has happened on globe D since the
life-wave reached it this fourth time; prefacing, however, the general statement
that this globe will be exhausted and the life-wave be ready to pass from it to
Globe E when seven root-races shall have finished their course here.
Each root-race is divided into seven sub-races; and
each sub-race into seven family-races; and so on; these divisions and
subdivisions following each the other, and not coexisting, except as an earlier
race or division of a race may survive its time and overlap a subsequent race
or division.
Since the life-wave reached globe D in this fourth round,
four root-races have run their course upon it, and the fifth root-race has
reached its fifth subdivision or sub-race, of which we are part. This fifth
sub-race is said to be preparing in
The sixth and seventh sub-races of the fifth root-race
must run their course, and these must be followed by the sixth and seventh
root-races with their various subdivisions, before the life-wave passes from
our present globe D and begins its further evolution on globe E. From analogy
we may infer that seven great races, with their sub-races, etc., will be
necessary to complete the work of that globe; and the same for globes F and G,
before the fourth round shall be concluded and the life-wave be ready to pass
to globe A for the beginning of the fifth round.
Thus the planetary chain consists of seven globes; the
life-wave makes during the existence of the chain seven complete tours of the
chain from globe A to globe G, these tours being called rounds; the life-wave
remains on each globe after reaching it in each round, until it completes seven
root races, divided into forty-nine sub-races and into three hundred and
forty-three family-races.
It should be remembered that the flow of the life-wave
is not continuous: it has its ebb as well as its flood. There is a period of
rest or pralaya after the close of each round before another is commenced: a
pralaya after each globe in the round; similarly each race, sub-race, etc., is preceded
and followed by its pralayic rest. The purpose of this paper is not to develop
the entire scheme in all its completeness, even if that were possible; but to
bring out as sharply as may be the general outlines, and especially to note the
distinction between rounds and races, the seven rounds being seven circuits of
the entire chain, while the seven root-races are seven life-waves (or seven
repetitions of the same wave) which consecutively flow and ebb on each globe
before leaving it. There are seven root-races on each globe; forty-nine
root-races in each round; three hundred and forty-three root-races in the seven
rounds which complete the life of the planetary chain.
In studying this subject, it must be borne in mind
that, while numerous passages in The Secret Doctrine refer to universal
cosmogony and the evolution of the solar system and of our planetary chain,
still the bulk of that work is devoted to the evolution of humanity on globe D
in the fourth round only. It must also be remembered that the groups of monads
discussed in "Theosophical Gleanings" in Vol. VI of Lucifer are not
to be
taken as identical with the seven root-races through
which the monadic host passes on each globe in each round.
The foregoing outline of the course of evolution
through the SEVEN ETERNITIES of a maha-manvantara is mechanical and clumsy; it
is only a skeleton, which must be clothed upon with muscles and sinews by
reading between the lines before its true relations and proportions can be
understood. The following quotations from The Secret Doctrine will perhaps
throw a ray of light upon the connection of the globes of the chain:
It only stands to reason that the globes which
overshadow our earth must be on different and superior planes. In short, as
globes,
they
are in
COADUNITION
but
not
IN
CONSUBSTANTIALITY
WITH
OUR EARTH.
(The capitals are in the text.) Vol. I, p. 166.
When "other worlds" are mentioned . . . the
Occultist does not locate these spheres either outside or inside our Earth for
their location is nowhere in the space known to and conceived by the profane.
They are, as it were, blended with our world — interpenetrating it and
interpenetrated
by it. Vol. I, p. 605.
In a foot note to page 265 of
ALPHA
Path, December, 1892
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Nature is infinite in space and time -- boundless and eternal,
unfathomable and ineffable. The all-pervading essence of infinite nature can be
called space, consciousness, life, substance, force, energy, divinity -- all of
which are fundamentally one.
2) The finite and the infinite
Nature is a unity in diversity, one in essence, manifold in form. The
infinite whole is composed of an infinite number of finite wholes -- the
relatively stable and autonomous things (natural systems or artefacts) that we
observe around us. Every natural system is not only a conscious, living,
substantial entity, but is consciousness-life-substance, of a particular range
of density and form. Infinite nature is an abstraction, not an entity; it
therefore does not act or change and has no attributes. The finite, concrete
systems of which it is composed, on the other hand, move and change, act and
interact, and possess attributes. They are composite, inhomogeneous, and
ultimately transient.
3) Vibration/worlds within worlds
The one essence manifests not only in infinitely varied forms, and on
infinitely varied scales, but also in infinitely varying degrees of
spirituality and substantiality, comprising an infinite spectrum of vibration
or density. There is therefore an endless series of interpenetrating,
interacting worlds within worlds, systems within systems.
The energy-substances of higher planes or subplanes (a plane being a
particular range of vibration) are relatively more homogeneous and less
differentiated than those of lower planes or subplanes.
Just as boundless space is comprised of endless finite units of space,
so eternal duration is comprised of endless finite units of time. Space is the
infinite totality of worlds within worlds, but appears predominantly empty
because only a tiny fraction of the energy-substances composing it are
perceptible and tangible to an entity at any particular moment. Time is a
concept we use to quantify the rate at which events occur; it is a function of
change and motion, and presupposes a succession of cause and effect.
Every entity is extended in space and changes 'in time'.
All change (of position, substance, or form) is the result of causes;
there is no such thing as absolute chance. Nothing can happen for no reason at
all for nothing exists in isolation; everything is part of an intricate web of
causal interconnections and interactions. The keynote of nature is harmony:
every action is automatically followed by an equal and opposite reaction, which
sooner or later rebounds upon the originator of the initial act. Thus, all our
thoughts and deeds will eventually bring us 'fortune' or 'misfortune' according
to the degree to which they were harmonious or disharmonious. In the long term,
perfect justice prevails in nature.
Because nature is fundamentally one, and the same basic habits and
structural, geometric, and evolutionary principles apply throughout, there are
correspondences between microcosm and macrocosm. The principle of analogy -- as
above, so below -- is a vital tool in our efforts to understand reality.
All finite systems and their attributes are relative. For any entity,
energy-substances vibrating within the same range of frequencies as its outer
body are 'physical' matter, and finer grades of substance are what we call
energy, force, thought, desire, mind, spirit, consciousness, but these are just
as material to entities on the corresponding planes as our physical world is to
us. Distance and time units are also relative: an atom is a solar system on its
own scale, reembodying perhaps millions of times in what for us is one second,
and our whole galaxy may be a molecule in some supercosmic entity, for which a
million of our years is just a second. The range of scale is infinite:
matter-consciousness is both infinitely divisible and infinitely aggregative.
All natural systems consist of smaller systems and form part of larger
systems. Hierarchies extend both 'horizontally' (on the same plane) and
'vertically' or inwardly (to higher and lower planes). On the horizontal level,
subatomic particles form atoms, which combine into molecules, which arrange
themselves into cells, which form tissues and organs, which form part of
organisms, which form part of ecosystems, which form part of planets, solar
systems, galaxies, etc. The constitution of worlds and of the organisms that
inhabit them form 'vertical' hierarchies, and can be divided into several
interpenetrating layers or elements, from physical-astral to psychomental to
spiritual-divine, each of which can be further divided.
The human constitution can be divided up in several different ways: e.g.
into a trinity of body, soul, and spirit; or into 7 'principles' -- a lower
quaternary consisting of physical body, astral model-body, life-energy, and
lower thoughts and desires, and an upper triad consisting of higher mind
(reincarnating ego), spiritual intuition, and inner god. A planet or star can
be regarded as a 'chain' of 12 globes, existing on 7 planes, each globe
comprising several subplanes.
The highest part of every multilevelled organism or hierarchy is its
spiritual summit or 'absolute', meaning a collective entity or 'deity' which is
relatively perfected in relation to the hierarchy in question. But the most
'spiritual' pole of one hierarchy is the most 'material' pole of the next,
superior hierarchy, just as the lowest pole of one hierarchy is the highest
pole of the one below.
Each level of a hierarchical system exercises a formative and organizing
influence on the lower levels (through the patterns and prototypes stored up
from past cycles of activity), while the lower levels in turn react upon the
higher. A system is therefore formed and organized mainly from within outwards,
from the inner levels of its constitution, which are relatively more enduring
and developed than the outer levels. This inner guidance is sometimes active
and selfconscious, as in our acts of free will (constrained, however, by karmic
tendencies from the past), and sometimes it is automatic and passive, giving
rise to our own automatic bodily functions and habitual and instinctual
behavior, and to the orderly, lawlike operations of nature in general. The
'laws' of nature are therefore the habits of the various grades of conscious
entities that compose reality, ranging from higher intelligences (collectively forming the universal mind) to
elemental nature-forces.
10) Consciousness and its vehicles
The core of every entity -- whether atom, human, planet, or star -- is a
monad, a unit of consciousness-life-substance, which acts through a series of
more material vehicles or bodies. The monad or self in which the consciousness
of a particular organism is focused is animated by higher monads and expresses
itself through a series of lesser monads, each of which is the nucleus of one
of the lower vehicles of the entity in question. The following monads can be
distinguished: the divine or galactic monad, the spiritual or solar monad, the
higher human or planetary-chain monad, the lower human or globe monad, and the
animal, vital-astral, and physical monads. At our present stage of evolution,
we are essentially the lower human monad, and our task is to raise our
consciousness from the animal-human to the spiritual-human level of it.
Evolution means the unfolding, the bringing into active manifestation,
of latent powers and faculties 'involved' in a previous cycle of evolution. It
is the building of ever fitter vehicles for the expression of the mental and
spiritual powers of the monad. The more sophisticated the lower vehicles of an
entity, the greater their ability to express the powers locked up in the higher
levels of its constitution. Thus all things are alive and conscious, but the
degree of manifest life and consciousness is extremely varied.
Evolution results from the interplay of inner impulses and environmental
stimuli. Ever building on and modifying the patterns of the past, nature is
infinitely creative.
12) Cyclic evolution/re-embodiment
Cyclic evolution is a fundamental habit of nature. A period of
evolutionary activity is followed by a period of rest. All natural systems
evolve through re-embodiment. Entities are born from a seed or nucleus
remaining from the previous evolutionary cycle of the monad, develop to
maturity, grow old, and pass away, only to re-embody in a new form after a
period of rest. Each new embodiment is the product of past karma and present
choices.
Nothing comes from nothing: matter and energy can be neither created nor
destroyed, but only transformed. Everything evolves from preexisting material.
The growth of the body of an organism is initiated on inner planes, and
involves the transformation of higher energy-substances into lower, more
material ones, together with the attraction of matter from the environment.
When an organism has exhausted the store of vital energy with which it
is born, the coordinating force of the indwelling monad is withdrawn, and the
organism 'dies', i.e. falls apart as a unit, and its constituent components go
their separate ways. The lower vehicles decompose on their respective
subplanes, while, in the case of humans, the reincarnating ego enters a
dreamlike state of rest and assimilates the experiences of the previous
incarnation. When the time comes for the next embodiment, the reincarnating ego
clothes itself in many of the same atoms of different grades that it had used
previously, bearing the appropriate karmic impress. The same basic processes of
birth, death,
and rebirth apply to all entities, from atoms to humans to stars.
14) Evolution and involution of worlds
Worlds or spheres, such as planets and stars, are composed of, and
provide the field for the evolution of, 10 kingdoms -- 3 elemental kingdoms,
mineral, plant, animal, and human kingdoms, and 3 spiritual kingdoms. The impulse
for a new manifestation of a world issues from its spiritual summit or
hierarch, from which emanate a series of steadily denser globes or planes; the
One expands into the many. During the first half of the evolutionary cycle (the
arc of descent) the energy-substances of each plane materialize or condense,
while during the second half (the arc of ascent) the trend is towards
dematerialization or etherealization, as globes and entities are reabsorbed
into the spiritual hierarch for a period of nirvanic rest. The descending arc
is characterized by the evolution of matter and involution of spirit, while the
ascending arc is characterized by the evolution of spirit and involution of
matter.
In each grand cycle of evolution, comprising many planetary embodiments,
a monad begins as an unselfconsciousness god-spark, embodies in every kingdom
of nature for the purpose of gaining experience and unfolding its inherent
faculties, and ends the cycle as a self conscious god. Elementals ('baby
monads') have no free choice, but automatically act in harmony with one another
and the rest of nature. In each successive kingdom differentiation and
individuality increase, and reach their peak in the human kingdom with the
attainment of selfconsciousness and a large measure of free will.
In the human kingdom in particular, self-directed evolution comes into
its own. There is no superior power granting privileges or handing out favours;
we evolve according to our karmic merits and demerits. As we progress through
the spiritual kingdoms we become increasingly at one again with nature, and
willingly 'sacrifice' our circumscribed selfconscious freedoms (especially the
freedom to 'do our own thing') in order to work in peace and harmony with the
greater whole of which we form an integral part. The highest gods of one
hierarchy or world-system begin as elementals in the next. The matter of any
plane is composed of aggregated, crystallized monads in their nirvanic sleep,
and the spiritual and divine entities embodied as planets and stars are the
electrons and atomic nuclei -- the material building blocks -- of worlds on
even larger scales. Evolution is without beginning and without end, an endless
adventure through the fields of infinitude, in which there are always new
worlds of experience in which to become selfconscious masters of life.
There is no absolute separateness in nature. All things are made of the
same essence, have the same spiritual-divine potential, and are interlinked by
magnetic ties of sympathy. It is impossible to realize our full potential,
unless we recognize the spiritual unity of all living beings and make universal
brotherhood the keynote of our lives.
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Foundation of the
Original Theosophical Society 1875
The first Theosophical Society was founded
in New York on
November 17th 1875 by Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky,
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan
Judge and others.
The Theosophical Movement now consists of a
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Cardiff Theosophical Society has been
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मूल थियोसोफिकल सोसायटी 1875 फाउंडेशन
पहले थियोसोफिकल सोसायटी को न्यूयॉर्क में स्थापित किया गया था
17 नवंबर Helena Petrovna Blavatsky द्वारा 1875,
कर्नल Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge और दूसरों.
थियोसोफिकल आंदोलन अब एक विविध रेंज के होते हैं
आगे थियोसोफिकल परंपरा ले जो संगठनों.
कार्डिफ थियोसोफिकल सोसायटी 1908 के बाद से ब्रह्मविद्या को बढ़ावा देने की गई है
_______________________________________
Mūla
thiyōsōphikala sōsāyaṭī 1875
phā'uṇḍēśana
Pahalē thiyōsōphikala sōsāyaṭī kō
n'yūyŏrka mēṁ sthāpita kiyā gayā thā
17 Navambara Helena Petrovna Blavatsky dvārā 1875,
Kamala Henry Steel Olcott, aura dūsarōṁ.
Thiyōsōphikala āndōlana aba ēka vividha
rēn̄ja kē hōtē haiṁ
Āgē thiyōsōphikala paramparā lē jō
saṅgaṭhanōṁ.
Kārḍipha thiyōsōphikala sōsāyaṭī 1908
kē bāda sē brahmavidyā
kō baṛhāvā
dēnē kī ga'ī hai
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