Page 15 (part 12)

( a ) This sentence: "The thread between the silent watcher and his shadow (man) becomes stronger" -- with every re-incarnation -- is another psychological mystery, that will find its explanation in Book II. For the present it will suffice to say that the "Watcher" and his "Shadows" -- the latter numbering as many as there are re-incarnations for the monad -- are one. The Watcher, or the divine prototype, is at the upper rung of the ladder of being; the shadow, at the lower. Withal, the Monad of every living being, unless his moral turpitude breaks the connection and runs loose and "astray into the lunar path" -- to use the Occult expression -- is an individual Dhyan Chohan , distinct from others , a kind of spiritual individuality of its own , during one special Manvantara. Its Primary , the Spirit (Atman) is one, of course, with Paramatma (the one Universal Spirit), but the vehicle (Vahan) it is enshrined in, the Buddhi , is part and parcel of that Dhyan-Chohanic Essence; and it is in this that lies the mystery of that ubiquity , which was discussed a few pages back. "My Father, that is in Heaven, and I -- are one," -- says the Christian Scripture; in this, at any rate, it is the faithful echo of the esoteric tenet. ------- STANZA VII. -- Continued. 7. T HIS IS THY PRESENT WHEEL -- SAID THE F LAME TO THE S PARK. T HOU ART MYSELF, MY IMAGE AND MY SHADOW. I HAVE CLOTHED MYSELF IN THEE, AND THOU ART MY VAHAN ( vehicle ) TO THE DAY, " B E WITH US," WHEN THOU SHALT RE-BECOME MYSELF AND OTHERS, THYSELF AND ME ( a ), THEN THE BUILDERS, HAVING DONNED THEIR FIRST CLOTHING, DESCEND ON RADIANT EARTH, AND REIGN OVER MEN -- WHO ARE THEMSELVES ( b ). ( a ) The day when "the spark will re-become the Flame (man will merge into his Dhyan Chohan) myself and others, thyself and me," as the Stanza has it -- means this: In Paranirvana -- when Pralaya will have reduced not only material and psychical bodies, but even the spiritual Ego ( s ) to their original principle -- the Past, Present, and even Future [[Vol. 1, Page]] 266 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. Humanities, like all things, will be one and the same. Everything will have re-entered the Great Breath. In other words, everything will be "merged in Brahma" or the divine unity. Is this annihilation, as some think? Or Atheism , as other critics -- the worshippers of a personal deity and believers in an unphilosophical paradise -- are inclined to suppose? Neither. It is worse than useless to return to the question of implied atheism in that which is spirituality of a most refined character. To see in Nirvana annihilation amounts to saying of a man plunged in a sound dreamless sleep -- one that leaves no impression on the physical memory and brain , because the sleeper ' s Higher Self is in its original state of absolute consciousness during those hours -- that he, too, is annihilated. The latter simile answers only to one side of the question -- the most material; since re - absorption is by no means such a "dreamless sleep," but, on the contrary, absolute existence, an unconditioned unity, or a state, to describe which human language is absolutely and hopelessly inadequate. The only approach to anything like a comprehensive conception of it can be attempted solely in the panoramic visions of the soul, through spiritual ideations of the divine monad. Nor is the individuality -- nor even the essence of the personality , if any be left behind -- lost, because re-absorbed. For, however limitless -- from a human standpoint -- the paranirvanic state, it has yet a limit in Eternity. Once reached, the same monad will re - emerge therefrom, as a still higher being, on a far higher plane, to recommence its cycle of perfected activity. The human mind cannot in its present stage of development transcend, scarcely reach this plane of thought. It totters here, on the brink of incomprehensible Absoluteness and Eternity. ( b ) The "Watchers" reign over man during the whole period of Satya Yuga and the smaller subsequent yugas, down to the beginning of the Third Root Race; after which it is the Patriarchs, Heroes, and the Manes ( see Egyptian Dynasties enumerated by the priests to Solon ), the incarnated Dhyanis of a lower order, up to King Menes and the human kings of other nations; all were recorded carefully. In the views of symbologists this Mythopoeic Age is of course only regarded as a fairy tale. But since traditions and even Chronicles of such dynasties of divine Kings -- of gods reigning over men followed by dynasties of Heroes or Giants -- exist in the annals of every nation, it is difficult to understand how all the peoples under the sun, some of whom are separated by vast [[Vol. 1, Page]] 267 EARTH, PEOPLED FROM HEAVEN. oceans and belong to different hemispheres, such as the ancient Peruvians and Mexicans, as well as the Chaldeans, could have worked out the same "fairy tales" in the same order of events.* However, as the Secret Doctrine teaches history -- which, for being esoteric and traditional, is none the less more reliable than profane history -- we are as entitled to our beliefs as anyone else, whether religionist or sceptic. And that Doctrine says that the Dhyani-Buddhas of the two higher groups, namely, the "Watchers" or the "Architects," furnished the many and various races with divine kings and leaders. It is the latter who taught humanity their arts and sciences, and the former who revealed to the incarnated Monads that had just shaken off their vehicles of the lower Kingdoms -- and who had, therefore, lost every recollection of their divine origin -- the great spiritual truths of the transcendental worlds. (See Book II., "Divine Dynasties.") Thus, as expressed in the Stanza, the Watchers descended on Earth and reigned over men -- " who are themselves. " The reigning kings had finished their cycle on Earth and other worlds, in the preceding Rounds. In the future manvantaras they will have risen to higher systems than our planetary world; and it is the Elect of our Humanity, the Pioneers on the hard and difficult path of Progress, who will take the places of their predecessors. The next great Manvantara will witness the men of our own life-cycle becoming the instructors and guides of a mankind whose Monads may now yet be imprisoned -- semi-conscious -- in the most intellectual of the animal kingdom, while their lower principles will be animating, perhaps, the highest specimens of the Vegetable world.