III. - MAN.
A stupendous revolution in the realm of spirit caused the source of all being
to begin an immediate emanation of itself, and this divine emanation was primordeal
man. By virtue of his divine origin, he was not only the most elevated and
ancient being, an expression of divine power and number, but while in possession
of all the privileges of a spirit, still he was surrounded by an indestructible
cover, which secured him against the destructive powers of the elements. In
this glorified condition, in which he experienced the most exalted happiness,
he was enable to command in the reign of the Invisible, as in that of the
Visible, to reveal the power of the Highest, and by the restoration of Unity
to restore order, peace and happiness. Dwelling in the centre of the square,
he could view the whole of his realm in all four directions and comprehend
at once the past, present and future. He possessed the power over life and
death of his inferiors, because he infused then with life by his presence,
and his withdrawal caused their death.[1]. But he became unfaithful. Instead
of governing the Sensuous, he confounded the four cardinal points of Light
and Truth, and thereby deprived himself of Light. Instead of only watching
the totality of his realm, he was attracted to a part of the same. He thereby
became involved in sensuosity, that is, he went from 4 to 9 and fell into
darkness [2]. That which to him formerly was a unity, now appeared to him
as multiple and subdivided; the sensuous took the place of the intellectual,
and the intellectual that of the sensuous. His crime consisted in his transition
from the supersensual to the sensual. The sensuous was not made for him, and
he was prohibited from tasting the same, but he lusted after the same, and
by obtaining the false enjoyment he lost the true one. He fell from spirit
into matter, and it is now the object of man's efforts to regain the former
position. He not only lost his original place in paradise (the intellectual
square); but he also lost his power, the living word; he became separated
into male and female. He also lost the invulnerable cover Of his primordial
state and hid himself in an animal body ("cloth of skin"), which
made him susceptible to the impression of the sensuous and exposed him to
the dangers of the elements.
However this mortal body, the seat and cause of his suffering became at the
same time a protecting coat against still greater dangers, to which he would
be exposed without such protection. The organs of this material body are in
exact proportion to his intellectual powers; its regularities are based on
a certain number and its natural colour on a certain order in the arrangement
of the elements. This body is a complete representation of the materials of
which the world is composed. It is a microcosmos and has the same proportions
and functions as the macrocosmos, and like the same, it has to combat all
inimical forces. It is the expression of a spiritual, but not thinking, principle,
called the eternal soul, and which is the link between the intellectual and
the physical body.
Man's present condition is more difficult now than before his fall. He has
more dangers to meet and less powers at his command to resist. He is still
engaged in the battle of the sensuous against the intellectual. He desires
to become spiritualized, but his body attracts him to the sensuous by a thousand
charms and draws him still deeper into the mire of matter, and his intellectual
principle cannot breathe the pure essence of life without the beneficial influence
of a higher reaction. But even the realm of the sensuous is a benefit to him
and acts as a safeguard and a starting point for his return. His power of
returning depends on his power to subdue everything that renders obscure his
true inferior nature, and to remove everything that prevents him from returning
to his original source. He cannot accomplish this in any other manner, than
by ascending on the same line by which he descended. He must return from 9
to 4, from the sensuous to the intellectual, from darkness to light. He must
penetrate the mists that hide the sun from his sight, until he arrives at
a point where the rays of the same reach him without refraction. This is the
great work of Redemption, by which man at first and before all vivifies and
strengthens the power of his intellectual germ, and by renewed stimulation
and expression of the same and by a well-directed will becomes susceptible
to the prerogatives of the spirit. By the exercise of courage and the possession
of Faith can the time of trial be shortened to a considerable extent; but
no vicarious atonement is possible, and the deeper man fell, the further will
he have to rise.
However man, feeble as he is, is not entirely dependent on his own resources
of inherent faculties of courage and will only, in his attempts to rise. There
are many great and good men, who stimulate him by their examples, if he chooses
to accept them for his guides; but besides these there are amongst us, and
have been at all times, real celestial agents on earth, who are taking the
utmost interest in our welfare. A direct intercourse with these men is not
impossible for man, if he becomes sufficiently purified to be approached by
them; they themselves being highly progressed and pure, although human beings
[3]. By a proper course of mental and spiritual training we can perceive,
or come in contact with, those beings. The less our attention is attracted
by sensuous things, the more the exterior man dies, the more alive becomes
the inner one. All this however, would be insufficient for the redemption
of man, if it were not for the constant activity of the universal spiritual
principle, by which all his powers are continually increased and vivified,
and by which man is led to the recognition of all things, and especially to
a knowledge of himself.
There is consequently no want of certain and powerful remedies by which man
can lift himself from darkness to light; but if he is too careless and negligent
to use these means, he will pass to a much more horrible condition; especially
if he denies the existence or necessity of such powers. He will then pass
into a condition from which he can only be redeemed by a most terrible and
continued purification. He will pass from 9 to 56. The law by which man passes
from 4 to 9 is terrible, but it is nothing in comparison with the law that
rules 56, a stupendous law, by which those which become exposed to its action
cannot arrive at 64 without having experienced the full rigour of that law.
Man, who does not perform his duty during the time appointed to him, must
begin again, but starts from a point farther back and has to labour for a
much longer period; and after that there is still a more terrible and almost
infinite period of suffering. The unfortunate beings belonging to that class,
are like the satellites of "Saturn", which continually revolve around
its ring, without being able to enter into the same. They cannot enter the
sphere of Good, and see the light without being able to approach to it, and
have to suffer, until all their impurities are burned and destroyed by their
own inherent light. [4]
But by the proper use of his faculties man is certain to attain his object,
and his doubts vanish as he rises. He need not fear death, because death is
only terrible to those who have amalgamated themselves entirely with the sensuous;
and if he elevates himself by his will to such a degree of purity, as to become
one with Divinity, he will then even in this life be able to spiritualise
his own being sufficiently, to behold the whole realm of the Intellectual,
and he will find himself much nearer to God than he ever expected to be able
to go. The divine agents will be perceived by him, he does not need to read
any books to obtain instruction, [5] and he is so much advanced on the road
to perfection that death only needs to remove the gross material veil, to
let his intellectual temple appear in its full beauty: because then he will
live and act entirely in the sphere of the Infinite.
If we look at man in his social relations, we find that the origin of the
social state, consists neither in a forcible gathering of men by some powerful
individuals, nor in an arbitrary or indiscriminate confluence of entities
to a common unity by means of a social contract. PÉrimordial man was
born to rule, not over his equals but over inferior beings. He could not belong
to any political body of men, which body cannot exist without sensuous links
and intellectual privations. But as he became more and more sensuous, his
condition became one of an uninterrupted chain of wants, dependencies and
necessities; and the social organisation became necessary to supply those
wants ant to free again his intellectual nature and regain his rights. The
formation of society was therefore not an act of arbitrariness but of necessity;
its purpose is education and its final aim freedom and recovery of the rights
of the individuals out of which it is composed. The legitimacy of the rule
of one man over another depends upon their respective degrees of depravity
or real nobility. A large number of individual parts of society sinks into
the mire of the elements, and it is therefore natural and necessary that they
should be assisted to rise by those that are less deprived; and only in this
respect can an authority be legitimate, while in any other case it would necessarily
be the highest degree of injustice. The farther an individual is advanced
on the road to his own individual perfection and purification, the more he
obtains a power over others, based upon justice, and the more he approaches
the light, the more extended will be his influence over those that are withdrawing
from the same.
A child cannot be its own father, teacher and provider, and collective man
needs certain guides, possessed of certain virtues. Government therefore ought
to consider it its first duty to educate the intellect of man, abolish evils
and provide for the gratification of the real necessities of man. Religion
and Politics have an identical aim, and each king therefore should also be
a Melchisedech or high priest. Mankind, in attempting to separate what they
consider "wordly" from the spiritual, has lost the true spirit,
and kings and priests, by losing the true spirit of religion and becoming
sectarian, have lost their power. True religion and true freedom are inseparable.
Primordial man was in possession of the power of punishing his inferiors and
even to deprive them of life by depriving them of his life-giving presence;
but man in his present condition has lost the power, and no person has the
right to punish or kill another person. The power of kings and judges to punish
is therefore symbolic, and they possess such rights only as the representatives
of a higher authority than individual man and therefore ought to exercise
such powers only in the interest of their highest conception of justice. Punishment
ought to be proportionate in severity to the severity of the crimes, and it
is unjust to punish only those crimes which have committed against the physical
man, so-called political or temporal crimes; and to let those criminals go
free, who attempt to poison, injure or destroy the intellectual or spiritual
part of man. The cause of this injustice is that those who are entrusted with
authority are themselves imperfect or criminal or liable to misuse their authority,
and mankind cannot expect to arrive at the golden age before its leaders will
be more perfect men, whose hearts are filled with love for humanity, and whose
minds are illuminated by the divine intelligence of the universal spirit.
Note 1 of the Editor of the Theosophist:
[This death is spiritual death. When the communication between a human being
and his divine immortal Atma, his "logos" is dissevered, the result
will be the spiritual death of man. - Ed. ]
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Note 2 of the Editor of the Theosophist:
[Number 4 represents the sacred square, which is the symbol of the manifested
logos. 4 becomes 9 when the logos or spiritual monad attach itself to the
remaining 5 principles in man. This is the descend of spirit into matter which
is darkness.- Ed.]
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Note 3 of the Editor of the Theosophist:
[ Such men are the real originators of the present Theosophical Society. -
Ed. ]
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Note 4 of the Editor of the Theosophist:
[ The number 56(7x8) signifies the eight sphere. 5 (one half of 10) is the
number of idolatry, and 6 signifies the sphere of Light. Both numbers combined
are the type of the separation of the bad from the circle of good (61), composed
of Light (6) and its exalted inhabitants (1). - Ed.]
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Note 5 of the Editor of the Theosophist:
[ This is likely to be misunderstood. He may have to read a good many books,
before he arrives at a point where he needs them no more. - Ed. ]
