The ocean of theosophy/ William Q. Judge

CHAPTER I
THEOSOPHY AND THE MASTERS
Theosophy generally defined. The existence of highly devel
oped men in the Universe. These men are the Mahatmas, Initiates,
Brothers, Adepts. How they work and why they remain now con
cealed. Their Lodge. They are perfected men from other periods
of evolution. They have had various names in history. Apollonius,
Moses, Solomon, and others were members of this fraternity.
They had one single doctrine. They are possible because man
may at last be as they are. They keep the true doctrine and cause
it to reappear at the- right time. Pages 1 to 14.
CHAPTER ir
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A view of the general laws governing the Cosmos. The seven
fold division in the system. Real Matter not visible and this
always known to the Lodge. Mind the intelligent portion of the
Cosmos. In the universal Mind the sevenfold plan of the Cosmos
is contained. Evolution proceeds upon the plan in the universal
Mind. Pcriod.s of Evolution come to an end; this is the Night of
Brahma. The Mosaic account of Cosmogenesis has dwarfed modern
conceptions. The Jews had merely one part of the doctrine taken
from the ancient Egyptians. The doctrine accords with the inner
meaning of Genesis. The general length of periods of Evolution.
Same doctrine as Herbert Spencer's. The old Hindu chronology
gives the details. The story of Solomon's Temple is that of the
evolution of man. The doctrine far older than the Christian one.
The real age of the world. Man is over 18,000,000 years old.
Evolution is accomplished solely by the Egos within that at last
become the users of human forms. Each of the seven principles
of man is derived from one of the seven great divisions of the
Universe. Pages 15 to 24.
CHAPTER III
THE EARTH CHAIN
The doctrine respecting the Earth. It is sevenfold also. It
is one of a chain of seven corresponding to man. The whole seven
are not in a chain separated as to members, but they interpenetrate
each other. The Earth chain is the reincarnation of a former old
and now dead chain. This old chain was one of which our moon is
the visible representative. Moon now dead and contracting. Venus,
Mars, etc., are living members of other similar chains to ours. A
mass of Egos for each chain. The number, though incalculable, is
definite. Their course of evolution through the seven globes. In
each a certain part of our nature is developed. At the fourth
globe the process of condensation is begun and reaches its limit.
Pages 25 to 31.
CHAPTER IV
SEPTENARY CONSTITUTION OF MAN
The constitution of man. How the doctrine differs from the ordi
nary Christian one. The real doctrine known in the first centuries
of this era, but purposely withdrawn from a nation not able to bear
it. The danger if the doctrine had not been withdrawn. The seven
fold division. The principles classified. The divisions agree ^th
the chain of seven globes. The lower man is a composite being.
His higher trinity. The lower four principles transitory and
perishable. Death leaves the trinity as the only persistent part of
us. What the physical man is, and what the other unseen mortal
man is. A second physical man not seen but still mortal. The
senses pertain to the unseen man and not to the visible one.
Pages 32 to 38.
CHAPTER V
BODY AND ASTRAL BODY
the body and life principle. The mystery of life. Sleep and
death are due to excess of life not bearable by the organism. The
body an illusion. What is the cell. Life is universal. It is not the
result of the organism. The Astral Body. What it is made of.
CONTENTS
Its powers and functions. As a model for the body. It is possessed
by all kingdoms of nature. Its power to travel. The real sense
organs are in the astral body. The place the astral body has at
spiritualistic seances. The astral body accounts for telepathy, clair
voyance, clairaudience, and all such psychical phenomena.
Pages 39 to 50.
CHAPTER VI
KAMA — DESIRE
The fourth principle. Kama Rupa. In English, the Passions and
Desires. Kama Rupa is not produced by the body but is the cause
for body. This is the balance principle of the seven. It is the basis
of action and mover of the will. Right desire leads to right act.
This principle has a higher and a lower aspect. The principle is in
the astral body. At death it coalesces with the astral body and
makes of it a shell of the man. It has powers of its own of an auto
matic nature. This shell is the so-called "spirit" of seances. It is a
danger to the race. Elementals help this shell at seances. No soul
or conscience present. Suicides and executed criminals leave very
coherent shells. The principle of desire is common to all the organ
ized kingdoms. It is the brute part of man. Man is now a fully
developed quaternary with the higher principles partially developed.
Pages 51 to 58.
CHAPTER VII
MANAS
Manas the fifth principle. The first of the real man. This is
the thinking principle and is not the product of brain. Brain is only
its instrument. How the light of mind was given to mindless men.
Perfected men from older systems gave it to us as they got it from
their predecessors. Manas is the storehouse of all thoughts. Manas
is the seer. If the connection between" Manas and brain is broken
the person is not able to cognize. The organs of the body cognize
nothing. Manas is divided into upper and lower. Its four peculiari
ties. Buddha, Jesus, and others had Manas fully developed. Atma
the Divine Ego. The permanent individuality. This permanent indi
viduality has been through every sort of experience in many bodies.
X THE OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY
Manas and matter have now a greater facility of action than in
former times. Manas is bound by desire, and this makes reincarna
tion a necessity. Pages 59 to 67.
CHAPTER VIII
OF REINCARNATION
Why is man as he is, and how did he come. What the Universe
is for. Spiritual and physical evolution demand reincarnation.
Reincarnation on the physical plane is reimbodiment or alteration of
form. The whole mass of matter of the globe will one day be men
in a period far distant. The doctrine ancient. Held by the early
Christians. Taught by Jesus. What reincarnates. Life's mysteries,
arise from incomplete incarnation of the higher principles. It is not
transmigration to lower forms. Explanation of Manu on this.
Pages 68 to 78.
CHAPTER IX
REINCARNATION CONTINUED
Objections urged. Desire cannot alter law. Early arrivals in
heaven. Must they wait for us. Recognition of the soul not dep^-
dent on objectivity. Heredity not an objection. What here^ty
does. Divergences in heredity not recognized. History goes against
heredity. Reincarnation not unjust. What is justice. We do not
suffer for another's but for our own deeds. Memory. Why we do
not remember other lives. Who docs? How to account for increase
of population. Pages 79 to 88.
CHAPTER X
ARGUMENTS SUPPORTING REINCARNATION
From the nature of the soul. From the laws of mind and soul.
From differences in character. From the necessity for discipline and
evolution. From differences of capacity and start in life at the
cradle. Individual identity proves it. The probable object of life
makes it necessary. One life not enough to cany out Nature's pur
poses. Mere death confers no advance. A school after death is
illogical. The persistence of savagery and the decay of nations give
support to it. The appearance of geniuses is due to remcarnation.
Inherent ideas common to man show it. Opposition to the doctrine
based solely on prejudice. Pages 80 to 99.
CHAPTER XI
KARMA
Definition of the word. An unfamiliar term. A beneficent law.
How present life is affected by past acts of other lives. Each act
has a thought at its root. Through Manas they react on each person
al life. Why people are bom deformed or in bad circumstances.
The three classes of Karma and its three fields of operation. National
and Racial Karma. Individual unhappiness and happiness. The
Master's words on Karma. Pages 100 to 111.
CHAPTER XII
KAMA LOKA
The first state after death. Where and what are heaven and hell?
Death of the body only the first step of death. A second death after
that. Separation of the seven principles into three classes. What
is Kama Loka? Origin of Christian purgatory. It is an astral sphere
with numerous degrees. The Skandhas. The astral shell of man in
Kama Loka. It is devoid of soul, mind, and conscience. It is the
"spirit" of the seance rooms. Classification of shells in Kama Loka.
Black magicians there. Fate of suicides and others. Pre-devachanic
unconsciousness. Pages 112 to 122.
CHAPTER XIII
DEVACHAN
The meaning of the term. A state of Atma-Buddhi-Manas.
Operation of Kamia on Devachan. The necessity for Devachan.
It is another sort of thinking with no physical body to clog it. Only
two fields for operation of causes — subjective and objective.
Devachan is one. No time there for the soul. Length of stay
therein. Mathematics of the soul. Average stay therein is 1500
mortal years. Depends on psychic impulses of life. Its use and
purpose. On the last thoughts at death the devachanic state is
fashioned. Devachan not meaningless. Do we see those left^behind?
We bring their images before us. Entities in Devachan
have a power to help those they love. Mediums cannot go to those
in Devachan except in rare cases and when the person is pure.
Adepts only can help those in Devachan. Pages 123 to 131.
CHAPTER XIV
CYCLES
One of the most important doctrines. Corresponding words in
the Sanskrit. Few cycles known to the West. They cause the
reappearance of former living personages. They affect life and
evolution. When did the first moment -come. The first rate of
vibration determines the subsequent ones. When man leaves the
globe the forces die. Convulsions and cataclysms. Reincarnation
and karma intermixed with cyclic law. Civilizations cycle back.
The cycle of Avatars. Krishna, Buddha, and others come under
cycles. Minor personages and great leaders. Intersection of cycles
causes convulsions. The Moon, Sun, and Sidereal cycles. Individual
cycles and that of reincarnation. The motion through the constel
lations, and the meaning of the story of Jonah. The Zodiacal clock.
How the ideas are impressed and preserved by nations. Cause
for earthquakes, Cosmic Fire, Glaciation, and Floods. The Brah*
manical Cycles. Pages 132 to 143.
CHAPTER XV
DIFFERENTIATION OF SPECIES — MISSING LINKS
■Ultimate origin of man not discoverable. Man not derived
from a single pair, nor from the animals. Seven races of men
appeared simultaneously on the globe. They are now amalgan^ed
and will differentiate. The Anthropoid Apes. Their ongm. They
came from man. They are the descendants of offspring from un
natural union in the third and fourth rounds. The Delayed Races.
The secret books on the question. Human featur^ of a^s accounted
for. The lower kingdoms from other planets. Their differentiauon
by intelligent interference by the Dhyanis. The midway pomt of
evolution. Astral forms of old rounds solidified m physical rounds.
Missing links, what they are and why Science cannot discover them.
The aim of Nature in all this work. Pages 144 to 151.
CHAPTER XVI
PSYCHIC LAWS, FORCES, AND PHENOMENA
No true psychology in the West. It exists in the Orient. Man
the mirror of all forces. Gravitation only a half law. Importance
of polarity and cohesion. Rendering objects invisible. Imagination
all powerful. Mental telegraphy. Reading minds is burglary.
Apportation, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and second-sight. Pictures
in the Astral Light. Dreams and visions. Apparitions. Real
clairvoyance. Inner stimulus makes outer impression. Astral
Light the Register of everything. Pages 152 to 164.
CHAPTER XVII
PSYCHIC PHENOMENA AND SPIRITUALISM
Spiritualism wrongly named. Should be called necromancy and
the worship of the dead. This cult did not originate in America.
The practice long known in India. The facts recorded deserve
examination. Theosophists admit the facts but interpret them
differently from the "spiritualist." The examination confined to
the question of whether the dead return. The dead do not return
thus. The mass of communications are from the astral shell of man.
Objections stated to the claims made by mediums. The record
justifies the ridicule of science. Materialization and what it is.
A mass of electric magnetic matter with a picture upon it from the
astral light. Or it is the astral body of the medium extruded
from the living body. Analysis of the laws to be known before
the phenomena can be understood. The timbre of the "independent
voice." Importance of the astral realm. The Dangers of mediumship.
Attempt to get these powers for money or selfish ends also
dangerous. Cyclic law ordains the slackening of the force at this
time. The purpose of the Lodge. Pages 165 to 173.