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Here again, the untranslateable term S AT ( Be-ness ) is likely to lead into an erroneous conception, since that which is manifested cannot be S AT, but is something phenomenal, not everlasting, nor, in truth, even sempiternal. It is coeval and [[Vol. 1, Page]] 120 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. coexistent with the One Life, "Secondless," but as a manifestation it is still a Maya -- like the rest. This "World of Truth" can be described only in the words of the Commentary as "A bright star dropped from the heart of Eternity; the beacon of hope on whose Seven Rays hang the Seven Worlds of Being." Truly so; since those are the Seven Lights whose reflections are the human immortal Monads -- the Atma, or the irradiating Spirit of every creature of the human family. First, this septenary Light; then: -- ( c ) The "Divine World" -- the countless Lights lit at the primeval Light -- the Buddhis, or formless divine Souls, of the last Arupa (formless) world; the "Sum Total," in the mysterious language of the old Stanza. In the Catechism, the Master is made to ask the pupil: -- " Lift thy head, oh Lanoo; dost thou see one, or countless lights above thee, burning in the dark midnight sky? " " I sense one Flame, oh Gurudeva, I see countless undetached sparks shining in it. " " Thou sayest well. And now look around and into thyself. That light which burns inside thee, dost thou feel it different in anywise from the light that shines in thy Brother-men? " " It is in no way different, though the prisoner is held in bondage by Karma, and though its outer garments delude the ignorant into saying, ' Thy Soul and My Soul. ' " The radical unity of the ultimate essence of each constituent part of compounds in Nature -- from Star to mineral Atom, from the highest Dhyan Chohan to the smallest infusoria, in the fullest acceptation of the term, and whether applied to the spiritual, intellectual, or physical worlds -- this is the one fundamental law in Occult Science. "The Deity is boundless and infinite expansion," says an Occult axiom; and hence, as remarked, the name of Brahma.* There is a deep philosophy underlying the earliest worship in the world, that of the Sun and of Fire. Of all the Elements known to physical science, Fire is the one that has ever eluded definite analysis. It is confidently asserted that [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * In the Rig Veda we find the names Brahmanaspati and Brihaspati alternating and equivalent to each other. Also see "Brihad Upanishad"; Brihaspati is a deity called "the Father of the gods." [[Vol. 1, Page]] 121 THE MYSTERY OF THE FIRE. Air is a mixture containing the gases Oxygen and Nitrogen. We view the Universe and the Earth as matter composed of definite chemical molecules. We speak of the primitive ten Earths, endowing each with a Greek or Latin name. We say that water is, chemically, a compound of Oxygen and Hydrogen. But what is F IRE? It is the effect of combustion, we are gravely answered. It is heat and light and motion, and a correlation of physical and chemical forces in general. And this scientific definition is philosophically supplemented by the theological one in Webster's Dictionary, which explains fire as "the instrument of punishment, or the punishment of the impenitent in another state" -- the "state," by the bye, being supposed to be spiritual; but, alas! the presence of fire would seem to be a convincing proof of its material nature. Yet, speaking of the illusion of regarding phenomena as simple, because they are familiar, Professor Bain says ( Logic. Part II.): "Very familiar facts seem to stand in no need of explanation themselves and to be the means of explaining whatever can be assimilated to them. Thus, the boiling and evaporation of a liquid is supposed to be a very simple phenomenon requiring no explanation, and a satisfactory explanation of rarer phenomena. That water should dry up is, to the uninstructed mind, a thing wholly intelligible; whereas to the man acquainted with physical science the liquid state is anomalous and inexplicable. The lighting of a fire by a flame is a GREAT SCIENTIFIC DIFFICULTY, yet few people think so" (p. 125). What says the esoteric teaching with regard to fire? "Fire," it says, "is the most perfect and unadulterated reflection, in Heaven as on Earth, of the O NE F LAME. It is Life and Death, the origin and the end of every material thing. It is divine ' S UBSTANCE.' " Thus, not only the F IRE- W ORSHIPPER, the Parsee, but even the wandering savage tribes of America, which proclaim themselves "born of fire," show more science in their creeds and truth in their superstitions, than all the speculations of modern physics and learning. The Christian who says: "God is a living Fire," and speaks of the Pentecostal "Tongues of Fire" and of the "burning bush" of Moses, is as much a fire-worshipper as any other "heathen." The Rosicrucians, among all the mystics and Kabalists, were those who defined Fire in the right and most correct way. Procure a sixpenny lamp, keep it only supplied with oil, and you will be able to light at its flame the lamps, candles, [[Vol. 1, Page]] 122 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. and fires of the whole globe without diminishing that flame. If the Deity, the radical One, is eternal and an infinite substance ("the Lord thy God is a consuming fire") and never consumed, then it does not seem reasonable that the Occult teaching should be held as unphilosophical when it says: "Thus were the Arupa and Rupa worlds formed: from O NE light seven lights; from each of the seven, seven times seven," etc., etc. ------- STANZA V. -- Continued. 5. F OHAT TAKES FIVE STRIDES ( having already taken the first three ) ( a ) , AND BUILDS A WINGED WHEEL AT EACH CORNER OF THE SQUARE FOR THE FOUR HOLY ONES . . . . . AND THEIR ARMIES ( hosts ) ( b ) . ( a ) The "strides," as already explained (see Commentary on Stanza IV .), refer to both the Cosmic and the Human principles -- the latter of which consist, in the exoteric division, of three (Spirit, Soul, and Body), and, in the esoteric calculation, of seven principles -- three rays of the Essence and four aspects.* Those who have studied Mr. Sinnett's " Esoteric Buddhism " can easily grasp the nomenclature.