they are, one and all, the agents of Karmic and Cosmic Laws. They vary infinitely in their respective states and degrees of Intelligence; and to call them all pure Spirits is only to indulge in poetical fancy. They are all in Evolution-Spiritual, Intellectual and Physical and each of these Beings either was or prepares to become a man. They are perfected, when not incipient, men.

The chief difficulty which prevents the men of science from believing in divine as well as nature Spirits is their materialism. The main impediment before the Spiritualist which hinders him from believing in the same, while preserving a blind belief in the "Spirits of the Departed" is the general ignorance of all, except some Occultists and Kabalists, about the true essence and nature of "matter." What we have tried to indicate is that "matter" is composed of Souls, whether Atma, Atma-Buddhi, or Atma-Buddhi-Manas, words which are the correspondences and fonts of Spirit, Soul and "matter" in everything. From the highest Dhyan-Chohan or "Archangel," down to the lowest conscious "Builder," all such are men from other periods of evolution on this or other Spheres; and so, also, the inferior, semi-intelligent and non-intelligent Elementals, incipient and embryonic Souls, are all future men.

(To be continued)

THE HYMN OF THE SPIRIT*

Purusha Sukta: Rig Veda, x, 90, 1-5.

Thousand-headed is Spirit, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed; he wrapping the world altogether, overpassed it by a space of ten fingers.

Spirit verily is all this, what has been and what shall be; also of immortality he is the lord, when he passes outward through the food of being.

So great is his greatness, yet Spirit is more ancient than this. For all these beings are but one step of him, three steps of him are eternal in the heavens.

As to the three steps, Spirit ascends upwards; one step, again, came into being here; he then extended everywhere, over what consumes and what consumes not.

From him was born Radiance, and, from Radiance, Spirit; he, born, stretched forth, behind the world and before.

*

Reprinted from the "Oriental Department" papers, March, 1895.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

At the meetings of The United Lodge of Theosophists a part of the time is devoted to Question and Answer. The questions and answers that follow were taken stenographically while "The Ocean of Theosophy," by Wm. Q. Judge, was being studied.

It should be remembered that while the answers are given from the standpoint of many years' experience and application, they are not to be taken as hard and fast definitions, nor as authoritative; but may be used as explanations and applications of the philosophy of Theosophy as related to the particular phases presented in the various questions. Each student, being "the final authority" for himself, should not accept any statement by any being whatever unless he himself perceives its truth. Beginning with Chapter I of the "Ocean," the succeeding chapters will be taken up seriatim.

CHAPTER IV.

This fourth chapter deals with the Septenary Constitution of Man; shows how the doctrine differs from the ordinary Christian one; gives the septenary constitution of Man; points to the intimate relation between the Septenary nature of the Earth and the Seven Principles of Man; explains what the real Man is as a being under the terms of Atma, Buddhi, Manas, the trinity or three higher principles; and classifies the transitory four lower principles as aspects of the three higher principles during Man's connection with the terrestrial world. We have all-it is presumed-not only read the chapter but studied it in the endeavor to understand what is therein. presented and will now proceed to the consideration of such questions as may have arisen.

Q. Mr. Judge refers to the necessity of care of the Self (page 29). If the Self is the cause of all, how could there be care of it?

A. The words referred to are not as stated in the question; they read, "the care of soul, which is the Self." It is through the Soul the acquired experience that Self perceives and acts; it is by means of Soul that Self learns to know Itself as of another nature than its experience, perceptions or embodiments. In the sense that there is no Soul possible without the Self; or in other words, there are no perceptions or experience possible without the Perceiver, the Soul is the Self, therefore the growth of soul depends upon the more and more full realization of the unchanging Self; this involves for us a "care" that we understand the nature and purpose of existence.

Q. On page 30, the chapter speaks of "rational and irrational soul". Could you explain the phrase?

A. "Rational soul" means that stage of evolved being which is self-conscious, and "irrational soul", those stages which are con

scious, but not self-conscious. There is a gulf between the highest. conscious animal and the lowest self-conscious man in respect to the sense of responsibility; man is responsible for his thoughts, words and deeds; the animal has no such perception, and thus is called irrational. Manas is active in Man whether in its higher-or lower aspect; in the animal it is latent. The term "irrational soul" has also been used to designate that class of human mentality which is wholly engrossed in physical existence.

Q. How does "This three-fold scheme of the nature of man contain the Theosophical teaching of his seven-fold constitution", as stated on page 30?

A. The answer is in the context, "because the four other divisions missing from the category can be found in the powers and functions of body and soul, as I shall attempt to show later on". The whole of the chapter is devoted to the answer practically; the last paragraph in the chapter gives a recapitulation, which if thought over will help to clarify, and explain.

Q. In what sense am I "my brother's keeper"?

A. Each being is of the same essential nature-Spirit; each evolves from within outward, and each at any given period occupies that place in the great community of souls which his degree of attainment provides. As all are from, and of, the same Source, and all are proceeding towards the same goal, the more progressed are in nature bound to help the lesser; the law of Karma inherent in each being provides for the adjustment of effects to causes. A general answer would imply that we are our brother's keeper in every sense; the more we know of the common source, nature and purpose of all, the better able will we be "to keep our brother".

Q. How is it that "Behind will, stands desire"? It seems as though it should be reversed.

A. We do not act until there is desire or intention to do so; Will is the force of consciousness in action. Will, being the force behind action or desire, is colorless; it is colored by the nature of the desire or feeling. No desire, no action. It is the motive or desire behind the use of our colorless will power that qualifies the action of our thought, word or deed.

Q. Why is it that we cling so to bodily existence?

A. Because of our desire to so do, knowing no better. Our desire sets in action our Will in that direction, and by our desire and desires, we make attractions and attachments that hold us. As all our powers spring from and rest in the Self-or Spirit, and ast we use those powers for sentient physical existence, the bondage is strong. Release comes from a full and true understanding of our own and all nature, when the powers of Spirit will be employed for all, and in all directions, and not exercised as they are, in one direction only, physically and in pursuit of personal desires.

Q. What is the difference between the individuality and the personality?

A. "Individuality," theosophically defined, is the Higher Ego; "personality" is the false ego: that aspect of the reincarnating ego which is connected with, and immersed in, terrestrial existence and imagines itself to be the senses, qualities, and faculties which it possesses physically.

Q. What would you call "soul powers"?

A. All powers of every kind are soul powers; those powers we use or rather misuse-in our every-day existence are soulpowers. It is the misuse of "soul powers" that brings karmic retribution.

Q. How can thought be so powerful?

A. Because every form seen by us, or unseen, is endowed with intelligence in some degree; because thought precedes action and institutes it, and because the effects of thought are consciously or unconsciously felt by beings near and remote, arousing them to some kind of action. Thought does not exist of itself, it is always the product of some Thinker; every thought is in regard to some thing and produces an image of that thing; the concentration of the Thinker upon the matrix he has created, draws into it the lives that swarm in the terrestrial atmosphere, energizes them and gives them direction, according to the motive and desire of the Thinker; this matrix, made a living force, can insidiously impel to action other Thinkers whose natures and desires are similar, or who have the seeds of such desires within them, and all this whether the creator of the matrix is conscious of the results or not. "Thought" or more correctly, the ability to think, is the most powerful creative, destructive, preservative or regenerative agent that any beings possess: it acts weakly or strongly, according to the knowledge and power of concentration of the Thinker. In occultism, "thought" is the real plane of action; what we see or perceive physically are merely the effects of thought.

Q. Unity is spoken of: how can there be unity in all these separated or different principles?

A. All the principles are merely aspects of the One Principle; more or less conditioned modes and bases of thought and action. Unity lies in the fact that all temporary differentiations proceed from, and rest in, the essential spiritual nature of all beings. There could be no diversity without unity as a basis. We all live, and life in all of us is a unity, but our use and expressions of life present great diversities.

Q. Will we always have an earth and an earthly body? Or will we ever get above this altogether?

A. It is not a question of earthly, or what we now perceive as physical matter. Wherever we exist, it must be in some form

of substance as an embodiment, and that then will be as objective to us as is our present earthly matter. So long as manifestation endures, experience of any kind implies objectivity on every plane; if there is no basis for experience, there is no experience. The trouble is not with the earth as it now is or ever will be, it is with ourselves, imbued as we are with false conceptions of every kind. We have the power to understand our nature and the nature of all beings, and through that understanding to purify our own natures, and in so doing raise up and purify the natures of others like ourselves, as well as the beings below us. We cannot leave the earth until we have done our part to the full, and then it will be so different that perhaps we will not want to leave it, although we will have earned the right to choose. Read the Voice of the Silence.

Q. What is meant by "each principle is correlated to a plane, a planet and a race" (page 30) ?

A. The Root and substratum of all that is, is Spirit, Selfexisting and All-pervading. It is the Unity within which all differentiation takes place. The Unity is not destroyed because of any number of diversities that may be evolved from and within It; an efficient Cause is not eliminated as long as there is a basis in which effects may be produced. Manifestation means differentiation from and within the Unity; the statement of the Secret Doctrine is that manifestation or differentiation proceeds in seven ways or stages, that this applies to all degrees of substance and all forms, and all kinds of beings. Man is shown to have seven principles; He derived these principles one at a time, as differentiation of the planet proceeded; therefore each principle of Man is correlated to a particular stage of differentiation of the planet. Each planet, again, in our solar system has seven principles, so that Man, planets and solar systems have as their constituent parts similar principles, and each principle in Man, planets or solar systems, are co-related to each other; there is therefore an active or latent relation between each and every form and being, which, as we grow in knowledge and wisdom may be availed of. Humanity, as a whole, proceeds also in seven stages, concurrently with the conditions of the planet, and thus at each stage is called a Race, each of which, again, has its seven subdivisions expressed again in a number of septenary ways. So, from top to bottom and in every direction, there is a channel, plane and relation between every form and being and every other, from highest to lowest; and this relation exists, whether any being in any particular state of perception is aware of it, or not. Knowledge of this great fact, and the arousing within ourselves of the necessary conditions, will enable us to use and direct the sevenfold occult forces. All nature is before us and within us, we must therefore take and use what we can, and wisely; the steps necessary are shown in Theosophy and no one of these may be overpassed.