SOME GLIMPSES OF OCCULTISM/PART 12

 

CHAPTER XII

 

THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

 

The subject of the future that lies before humanity may be treated in various ways; perhaps the simplest division which we can make is to speak first of the immediate future, then of the remoter future, then of the final goal. Both the immediate and the remoter future may be to some extent a matter of speculation, or perhaps we should rather say of calculation; but the final goal we know with absolute certainty, and that is the only thing which is really of importance. Still it is well that we should try to look forward a little, so that we who are units in this great mass of humanity may be able to take our part intelligently in the evolution which we see to be progressing all round us.

 

The conditions of the near future must naturally develop from those which we see today; and I think that as we look about us, unless we are terribly prejudiced, we must admit that in spite of our boasted civilization there is much which is highly unsatisfactory. Europe and America, with some of the English colonies, include between them the highest levels yet gained by this civilization of ours; yet we can hardly say with truth that in any of these countries the condition of affairs is at all what we would wish to see it. In every direction we see lamentable failures, although in certain matters there may be success and progress.

 

The Condition of Religion

 

Think of the condition in any or all of these countries of one of the most important factors of human life – religion. Wherever we may look all over the world we shall find religion in an unsatisfactory condition. That may be considered a bold and sweeping statement, yet I think examination will show that it is true. In all these which we consider the most advanced countries religion has now but little hold over the masses of the people. In some of the great Oriental lands it still holds sway, but even there it has become largely tinged with superstition, or else the people are atheistic and care for none of these things. In the Catholic countries of Europe the faith has terribly degenerated, and in some cases the grossest superstition is almost all that is left of it. In the countries which boast of themselves as belonging to reformed sects of various kinds the bulk of the people are paying no attention to religion at all, and if we turn to the educated classes or the cultured people in any of these countries, whether catholic or sectarian, we shall find that they are for the most part sceptical in their habits of thought. Sometimes they are openly sceptical in words also, but more frequently they profess some religion as a matter of course and of respectability, yet it is in no way a real or serious factor governing their every-day life.

 

Surely this is not a satisfactory state of affairs; for unless there is something of the nature of religion or philosophy to lead men’s thoughts away from the lower world to something grander and better and more enduring, the condition of a country can never be what it should be; and if that be so we must admit that in that direction at any rate there is much to be desired all over the world. Religion has given far too largely faith instead of knowledge; it has given us some hope, perhaps, but no certainty; it has put before us dogmas and authoritative statements, but little of clear reason, little that can be definitely comprehended; and that is why many of the most cultured people find themselves believing in it in only a half-hearted way, even if they are able to accept its conclusions at all.

 

Social Conditions

 

Again, if we examine the social conditions of the world, we must once more admit that things are far from satisfactory; for although there are those who push to the front and make enormous fortunes, there are also masses of people who are still steeped in poverty and in ignorance. This is not only of the backward countries of the world but to a great extent also even of those which are considered the most advanced; so that those who would try to help and to reform stand aghast at the sight and know not where to begin. In every country we see society more or less at war with itself, race against race, where there are different races, class against class, labour against capital, and sometimes even sex against sex. Everywhere seems to be the clash of warring interests, and so people range themselves on opposite sides. Then the question of government is also in an unsatisfactory condition; for I think all will agree that there is no country in the world which is governed, as every country in the world ought to be, solely with regard to the interests and advancement of the people who are governed. On the contrary we find everywhere personal and party considerations, and matters are in such condition that even the wisest and the best of our statesmen cannot do many things which they wish to do, and find themselves forced into many actions of which in truth they do not approve.

 

All of these difficulties arise from ignorance and selfishness. If men understood the plan of evolution, instead of working each for his own personal ends they would all join together as a community and work harmoniously for the good of all with mutual tolerance and forbearance. It is obvious that if this were done all of these evils would almost immediately cease, or at any rate could very shortly be removed. Even now there is a strong wave of feeling in the world tending in that direction, because every day a greater number of people are beginning to understand to some extend and to strive towards a better and more rational condition of affairs. There are many societies and associations which have for their object the amelioration of the condition of humanity. Some of them begin at one end and some at the other; each approaches it from his own point of view and with his own set of remedies, but at least they are striving towards that development of unselfishness which is the only true solution of all our difficulties.

 

The Work of Theosophy

 

Our own Theosophical Society is one of such organizations, for it is striving to help humanity. It has no connection with any form of politics, and is not trying to act directly in any way with regard to social conditions; its effort is rather to dispel ignorance, to put before men the truth about life and death, to show them why they are here and what lessons they have to learn, and so to bring them to understand and to realize the great truth of the brotherhood of man. Already much work has been done in that direction – work of which but little is known in America, because most of it has not been in this hemisphere. Though you have people of many different races in this country, you are gradually welding them all together into one race; so that it can hardly be said that any racial antagonisms exist, except, perhaps, that in the South between the whites and the Negroes. In Europe, however, there is still strong national feeling, and I am afraid much national misunderstanding. But it is a striking and interesting thing to see one of the conventions of the Theosophical Society here, at which are present men from all these races which so often misunderstand and suspect one another. It is pleasant and encouraging to see how all these men meet as brothers, how the racial differences and antagonisms have disappeared, and how unfeignedly they all rejoice to see one another. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that if Theosophy spread gradually among these various nations, if the majority, or even a large minority, of each nation understood and accepted the Theosophical ideas, anything like war between such nations would be impossible. All of them realize perfectly that the matters of the physical plane are of minor importance, and that all points connected with it can be easily settled if there is goodwill on both sides and an endeavour to discover the right and to do justice.

 

It only needs that men shall come to know and to understand one another, in order that they may also come to respect one another. A man of one nation may feel a prejudice against men of another nation in the abstract, and may retain this prejudice so long as he knows none of them intimately. The moment he comes into close relationship with them as friends, he discovers that they also are human beings with the same good qualities and the same faults and failings as his own countrymen, and inevitably these discoveries change his point of view with regard to them. He still retains his patriotism, his love of country and his own ideas upon many points, but he realizes that these others are also brothers and that although there may be many points upon which they differ yet there are far more in which this common brotherhood of humanity makes them agree. There you have a living example of the way in which, when ignorance is dispelled and greater knowledge is attained, a comprehension of the brotherhood follows and many dangers and difficulties are at once removed.

 

Its Work in the East

 

Even more striking results of the work of the Theosophical Society are to be seen in the East. I have seen several of the great Conventions of our Society at is headquarters in India; and it is a magnificent thing to see the scores of different races which come together there, representing in some cases religions which have been separated for thousands of years. These members may come from races which have hereditary antagonisms, or from faiths which regard one another as heretical, yet here at the Theosophical Convention they stand side by side, each one acknowledging the other’s claim to tolerance and brotherly treatment, each admitting the other to be in every way equal to himself.

 

I remember when the Sanskrit library was opened there at the Theosophical headquarters at Adyar, the President-Founder invited the representatives of all the great religions to come together and join in a kind of service of consecration or benediction. It was the first time in history, so far as we know, in which priests or preachers of these different faiths had met in this way on a common platform, each receiving the other as an equal, each sharing by their presence in the ceremonies of the other religions. We had there a Hindu Pujari from one of the principal temples; we had two prominent Buddhist monks from Ceylon; we had Parsee Mobeds from the neighbourhood of Bombay, and we had prominent Mohammedans from Central India; yet all these men joined together in fraternal accord. The only great religion not represented on that occasion was the Christian, and that was not the fault of our President, for he had sent invitations to leading Christians to take part in the ceremony, but in reply they could only regret that the others among whom they were asked to officiate were heathens, and that consequently they were unable to appear beside them upon a common platform.

 

The Two Great Churches of Buddhism

 

Another striking result of the work of the Society – a piece of work for which especial credit should be given personally to its indefatigable President – was the bringing into closer touch of the Northern and Southern churches of Buddhism. Here were two sections of the great Buddhist religion, standing in somewhat the same relation to one another as the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Church – divisions which has been separated for many centuries, which had gradually grown more and more apart in doctrine and ritual. It was the President of the Theosophical Society to whom the idea occurred of drawing up a document containing certain grand common principles, to which he invited the assent of the heads of both these churches; and he visited the various countries concerned, obtained the signature of all the great dignitaries to this common document and thereby brought into intimate relation those who before had regarded one another with a certain amount of distrust and suspicion. Through his exertions also young students of the Northern church were sent to study under some of the leading monks of the South, so that there might be an ever increasing number of men in each of these churches who knew something directly and practically of the other.

 

To many of you all this means comparatively little, because you have no idea of the enormous importance of the interest concerned and of the numbers of people involved. It would no doubt be quite a marvellous achievement to bring together the Pope of Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to induce them each to acknowledge the other as his equal and as in every way as true a representative of original Christianity as himself. Yet this which was achieved by the President of our Society was in reality a matter on a much larger scale than that, for the numbers belonging to the two Buddhist churches far exceed those of the adherents of all the different sects of Christianity put together. So that it may certainly be said that already this Society of ours has done something towards the promotion of its first object, the Brotherhood of Humanity.

 

The Lessons to Be Learned

 

There is no country in the world where the work of the Society is not needed, for in every land there is much that this real knowledge of one another can do to bring the different sections of the community into greater harmony, to bring men to join together and to recognize the eternal brotherhood of all, to lead them all together towards the pursuit of high ideals and to teach them to discriminate the real from the unreal, to show them what objects are worth following and what are of minor importance. The study of these mighty truths will increase not only within our Theosophical Society but outside of it also. It matters but little by what name we call it; if the study of truth and the endeavour to realize these higher ideals spread abroad over the country we shall find that they carry peace and understanding and loving kindness in their train, and then presently we shall see a new and grander religion springing up which all may accept with equal freedom.

 

There are many lessons which we may learn from history. The leading countries of the earth think of themselves as embodying a great and advanced civilization, and we are apt to imagine that never before in the world has there been anything like the knowledge which we now possess. Along certain lines, perhaps, this may be true; yet there have been other mighty civilizations which have arisen and flourished and disappeared in turn. Their history is an image of our own, and their fate must one day overtake us also, however improbable that may appear to us now. In the magnificent civilization of Atlantis a level of universal prosperity for all was attained which we certainly have not yet reached, and that condition in their case was stable and lasted for thousands of years. But to that great race came also the test that comes to all nations, when the fuller truth gradually dawns upon them, and when their people come to know the possibility of powers higher than the physical plane. The nation of Atlantis misused these powers; the majority there chose the path of selfishness and not of selflessness, and so Atlantis perished.

 

We are now repeating the earlier part of their history; we are increasing in wealth and in prosperity, and we are gradually tending towards the world wide domination which was held by Atlantis. Many among us are now beginning to obtain glimpses, at any rate, of these higher powers; and the knowledge of them and the possession of them will steadily spread among us. So we are closely repeating the history of Atlantis; and the question for us is whether having thus reproduced the earlier part of it we are about to follow its example in the latter part – whether after repeating the glory and expansion of the world-wide empire, we are going also to repeat the disgrace and the downfall. Whether that will happen to the present civilization of the world or not depends largely upon the men of today, the men who are here at the beginning of the new order of things.

 

The Preparation of Our Future

 

In America especially glimpses of psychic development are common; and undoubtedly they will form a characteristic of the great new race which is to arise out of the intermixture of many nations which is taking place there. We are in truth assisting in the birth of a nation, and we must remember that a birth of a nation has many points in common with the birth of a child. We know that the future of the child depends largely on the thought and character of those who surround it in its earliest years, both before and after the moment of its birth. Just in the same manner the men of the present day have their part to play in the foundation of this new race, in the preparation of the future that awaits us.

 

In this preparation we who are studying the truths of Theosophy have our part to play. If we realize something of these higher truths, if we understand the necessity of high and spiritual ideals, now is the time for us to try to spread this knowledge of the truth and to put it forward in a common-sense way before those who can understand it wherever opportunity offers. We must offer them this higher belief, based not upon dogmas or sacred books, but upon sound reason and common-sense, reasoning steadily upward step by step from things clearly known and recognized by science to those which as yet are known only to the few. If we can succeed in doing this we shall help in securing for this immediate future a development of good and not of evil. We must remember that it is the power of our thought and the power of our action, as well as the power of our speech, which will produce its effect in these matters.

 

Never was there a greater need for the diffusion of knowledge, for in the present ignorance of men there is a real and imminent danger. We have in the immediate future the possibility of serious struggle; we have all the elements of a possible social upheaval, and we have no religion with sufficient hold upon the people to check what may develop into a wild and dangerous movement. As yet philosophy is the study of the few only, and the science which has done so much for us, and has achieved so many triumphs, cannot stay the danger which threatens us. The only thing that can prevent it is the diffusion of knowledge, so that men shall understand what is really best for them and shall realize that nothing can ever be good for one which is against the interest of the whole.

 

Development Must Come

 

That change and development must come is certain; the only question is how it shall come – how the new order shall replace the old with as little friction and as little suffering as possible. Material and philosophical science must be perfected, until every natural force is subjugated to man’s service; knowledge will grow until it rends the veil from every secret in the boundless fields of hitherto unknown truth; idyllic social economics will follow in the wake of individual refinement until there is nothing left to fight for, and hardly anything left to sigh for; for in all the world needless sorrow and suffering and death will be known no more. The gaunt spectre of loathsome disease will be laid forever by the awakened might of physiological science, so that men will die only in the fullness of their days, and may well be enabled to condense into one incarnation such development as now spreads itself over two or three. The ghastly monster of ruthless war will be smitten by the fiery sword of intellectual power, the sordid demon of grinding fruitless toil, with its attendant imps of starvation, degradation, and moral death, will be bound in chains by the mighty arm of moral responsibility, and human beings will no longer be treated as a little lower than the beasts of the field. Education will pierce the viscid depths of poverty, and will raise even the humblest of the human race into the self-respecting, self-restraining ranks of the men who know.

 

All this must surely come; as the sense of duty spreads among men, it will draw forth the rich man from his selfish isolation to employ the talents which have been given him for the helping and the uplifting of his fellows; the extremes of wealth and poverty will be alike impossible, for the simpler and the purer life must take the place of all the present unnecessary complications. This is in our future, and I hope it may be the near future; but how it shall come depends largely upon the extent to which the light of truth can be spread through the world now. There is no time to waste, for the forces of discontent and danger are daily growing, and at any moment some spark may light a conflagration, the extent of which no man can foresee.

 

The Remoter Future

 

We can speak with greater certainty as to the remoter future than we can with regard to that which is more immediately impending. The study of the earlier ages of humanity and a comparison of their conditions with the state of affairs at the present day shows us the direction in which evolution is moving; so that there can be no question that after a certain considerable lapse of time qualities which are now only just beginning to dawn will be fully developed, and all the conditions of society will be radically changed thereby. There can be no uncertainty with regard to this; but the intermediate steps through which we must pass are not so clearly defined. I have often had occasion to speak of the possession by man of the astral and mental bodies, and of the development within some of us of the senses of these bodies, so that they have become what is commonly called clairvoyant. Those who possess these faculties now are those who have turned their attention  especially to them either in this life or in some previous existence; but the faculties are the heritage of every human being, and the race is moving steadily towards their fuller development.

 

I have explained in the concluding chapter of The Other Side of Death how the man who wishes for the use of these faculties may proceed to unfold them within himself. That process, however, is only an acceleration of what nature is gradually doing for us all; and the time is not far distant when a considerable portion of the higher races of mankind will possess them naturally and without any special effort. In America we have striking evidence that this statement is true, for the proportion of partially psychic men and women is far greater here than it is in any of the older nations with the exception, perhaps, of some of the smaller and distinctly Keltic races, such as the Highlanders of Scotland. There must be many among my hearers or my readers who know from their own experience that what I am saying is true, and there must be many more who know it from the evidence of relations or friends who already possess these faculties to a greater or less extent. Although to the majority of mankind such faculties will come only gradually, yet we must remember that they will come with steadily increasing rapidity, because the more widely they are known, and the more they are in the air, the easier it will be for those to develop them in whom they are already near the surface.

 

Let us think then of the time when the majority of the men of advanced races will possess such endowments as these, and let us see what difference that will make in their lives. Naturally the development of astral sight will come first. To the advanced and trained clairvoyant the possession of astral sight is a small matter, for he can reach higher than that, and has much more extended powers at his command. But for the majority of people the possession of even this faculty would change the whole face of life. I remember once hearing Mrs. Besant speak on this subject; and she explained that there were three great parallel roads, as it were, along which men would progress – the paths of Power, Wisdom and Love. She said that if one examines these three roads, one may easily see for oneself what difference will be made in each of them when the higher faculties of man are developed. Under these three headings she grouped the various activities through which the powers of man could be manifested. Under the heading of love, for example, is grouped all that belongs to the religious aspect of life – our devotion towards those above us, towards the Great Ones, and towards the Deity, and also, on the other hand, our love and sympathy and helpfulness towards those around us or behind us in evolution. On the wisdom side of man’s evolution we have his development along the lines of science, or philosophy, or art – developments at present perhaps somewhat rudimentary, yet they will be built into fuller and more perfect knowledge as time goes on. Under the power side of the man’s development comes the whole question of government and of organization in all its aspects.

 

In all these lines of progress we are only at the beginning; and yet, though truly we have not advanced very far, it would seem as though in all of them we are coming to dead walls beyond which it is difficult for us to see our way. Even in science, whose triumphs have been so great, we appear to be coming in many directions almost to the limit of what is possible for us. Science commences with the study of the material, and naturally its tendency is to be materialistic. Yet, it constantly finds itself transcending the material; as Mr. Fullerton has well remarked, “Hardly have we entered upon the examination of any phenomenon before we come to the borders of the unseen. We attempt the study of the expansive forces of steam. Yet steam is a vapour, visible only as it is chilled by the cooler atmosphere. We seek to discover what electricity is, to learn its actual nature, whether it is a current or a vibration. Yet in its one reality it eludes the keenest eye, and only can we examine its effects as they display themselves in the field of manifestation. Light, heat, gravitation, chemical affinity, what do we know of them in their essence, how do we know of them at all except as they emerge from the hidden world and produce some effect in the world of matter? Life itself we perceive only in its activities; what it is , the invisible force which sweeps over the world and through all things, we cannot define; not until its consequences palpably disclose themselves are we aware of its presence. And so with all the objects perceptible to the senses. But a very little way do we go in our examination before the senses are transcended, the border of the unseen is reached, and the examination is closed in powerlessness.” (Proofs of Theosophy, p.2)

 

The Effect of Astral Development

 

Let us see then how the development of astral consciousness would affect mankind upon these various sides of their evolution. At present a large section of our people is still utterly uncertain as to whether there exists anything beyond the material; and a much larger section has no real belief in anything beyond the material, even though it may profess to have it. This uncertainty and practical scepticism would necessarily at once disappear if any large proportion of men possessed the faculties of the astral plane. The whole question of the survival of man after death, with all that depends upon it, would then no longer be arguable, for living men would see constantly around them those whom we call the dead. There could no longer be any scepticism as to the existence of the great Divine Power, for His action would be clearly visible to men in many ways. No man who is clairvoyant, who possesses a properly developed sight of the higher planes, can ever be an atheist. It is not that he sees God Himself, for as your scriptures tell you, “No man hath seen God at any time”; but he does see on all hands such direct evidence of a mighty scheme, of tremendous power wielded by transcendent intelligence, that it is impossible for him to doubt the existence of the directing Deity. Many of the things about which men argue now will then be matters of knowledge, though no doubt there will still be much room for speculation with regard to other and higher matters.

 

The change will also be great with regard to what Mrs. Besant calls the love side of the evolution of man. Our relation and our obligation towards intelligences greater than ours, towards great teachers of the past and of the present, will be unquestioned, because we shall see and realize their power and influence. When we turn our thought in the other direction and think of our influence upon those about us and upon those below us, again we see what a vast difference must necessarily be made when there is an abundance of activity and of intelligent help, when every man who has gained this sight knows how to use it in dealing with his fellow-men, because he can see what they think and what they feel, and therefore he is no longer working blindly. A doctor will know what is the matter with his patient without having to make experiments, and so he will be able to prescribe just what is necessary for his recovery. Men will work intelligently for the helping of their fellows, and so all their efforts will be far better directed than they can be now.

 

Think what it will do for us in the education of our children when we have teachers who can see and understand. Now we inevitably apply methods of education somewhat loosely, not fully comprehending how great are the differences between the souls that come to us in these young bodies. But then with the higher sight will come intelligence and discrimination, so that no child shall be put into the wrong place, into a place that does no fit him; but in each case those who are responsible for his instruction and his guidance will see precisely for what he is fitted and will know exactly what he can do. The schoolmaster of that future day will watch the germs within his pupils as they unfold, and will work to repress the evil and develop the good. We may see how much of advancement might in this way be attained even in a single generation, if we think of all the people whom we know, and how different they would be if all the undesirable qualities which they possess were eliminated, and all the good ones enormously strengthened. Such an ideal society as that could be brought into existence and could be universally extended in two or three generations, if parents and teachers were able to see and to act intelligently. Even now without the development of the astral sight there is much that may be done, if parents and guardians and teachers will only read and learn for themselves about these things.

 

On the wisdom side of man’s evolution this new sight would make a wonderful change. As I have said, there are now many limitations for the scientific man in almost every direction. He has improved and refined and specialized his instruments to a wonderful pitch of perfection, and yet the highest that he can reach falls short of so much that needs to know. He talks about and he works with his atoms and his molecules, and yet no man living has ever by means of any scientific instrument seen an atom or a molecule. These things can be seen by the developed clairvoyant sight – I do not mean by ordinary clairvoyance such as that which is frequently advertised in the newspapers, but by definitely trained clairvoyance or rather by a special application of that sight. This power of magnification has apparently always been understood in the East – at least we find reference to the possession of this power in some of the earlier Hindu books. By its means the various atoms and molecules postulated by science may be seen to be not merely hypotheses but facts. Here then is a grand possibility lying before the chemist of the future. He will not merely theorize, but as he mixes his various chemicals he will watch the combinations and the changes, and will therefore understand far more clearly what he is doing. As we said before, the doctor will then diagnose by direct vision, and not by mere inference from external symptoms. Now in many cases he administers his drugs to counteract these external symptoms merely, and he hopes that the results of some at least of them may be satisfactory; then he will be able to see the effect of each drug in various cases and can observe and test it fully.

 

Another department in which a great difference will certainly be made is psychology. Now men argue much about the degree to which consciousness is developed in animals, and how it works at different stages of human evolution. Then there will be no need for them to argue about such matters, because they will be able to see how the consciousness works, and it will be within their power to identify themselves for the moment with the consciousness of an animal, so that they may know what it is and how its strange limitations act. The increase of our knowledge cannot but be wonderful, yet it is certain that this must come, since it is directly in line with the development which has already come to us and since the powers by which it will be gained have already unfolded themselves to some of us. There are many among us who have seen really highly developed men – those whom we call the Masters of Wisdom; and we see that they possess all these qualities of which we speak. What they are now, all of us will presently be; and consequently we are not guessing or speculating when we speak of this remoter future, but we are describing the inevitable advancement of the human race.

 

In the field of philosophy the plainest of facts will replace many of the theories of the present day. No doubt our metaphysicians will still continue to argue about matters far above any which even that higher sight can see; but, at any rate, they will have a definite basis, a foundation from which to start in their theories, and that cannot but make considerable difference to them. Another side of our knowledge which will be revolutionized will be the study of history, for one of the faculties belonging to these higher planes is the power of looking back into the records of the past. At present we must trust ourselves in the hands of the historian, who may be ignorant or mistaken and is almost necessarily more or less partial. Then we shall be able to look back at will upon these records of the Divine memory, which show everything that has been done or spoken or thought all over the world, so that instead of hearing only an imperfect account of one side of the story we shall be able to live at will amongst the civilizations of hundreds of thousands of years ago and see their action and working as clearly and vividly as that which is passing around us. Psychometry shows us even now that this is a possibility, and it is certain that this will be the way in which the future history will be written, so that we shall know, instead of vaguely guessing.

 

Our religious friends argue much about heaven and hell, and are terribly afraid of the latter; indeed it would sometimes almost seem as though they were afraid of the former as well, from the manner in which they exert themselves to avoid going there. In the future no questions or disputes about these conditions will be possible, because man will see for himself that there is no hell, though he will also see that those who live an evil life are by that fact storing up for themselves undesirable results and an unpleasant time in the astral life. The glories of the heaven-world will also be open to his sight, and he will realize that man needs only a development of faculty in order to place him at once, here and now, in the midst of all the bliss that wondrous life can give. Thus also with many points about which men argue in religion – about the verbal accuracy of the gospel stories and of other parts of what is called sacred history; in those days the facts will be obvious, and there will be no longer room for argument.

 

What a change will come over our conceptions of art and music also! For the artist of that day there will be many more colours and many more shades of colour than those of which we now know, for the knowledge of the higher planes brings as one of its earliest results the power of appreciating different hues. The music of that day will be accompanied by colour, just as the colour studies will be accompanied by harmonious sound; for sound and colour are two aspects of every ordered motion, so that a magnificent piece played upon the organ will be accompanied by a splendid display of glowing colour, and thus another interest will be added to the delight of glorious music, and an additional advantage will in this way be enjoyed by the students of music and art.

 

A great change too will come over the power side of man’s development; the whole question of government and organization will stand upon a different basis. Men will see then the effect upon the astral plane of many of their actions upon the physical, and thus much that is now done thoughtlessly will become an impossibility. There could be no possibility of the slaughter of animals for food, for example, if men were able to see the results upon the astral plane which that slaughter produces. The crime which men call sport would be abolished if they were able to see what it is that they are really doing. It needs so slight a development to change the whole face of this which we call civilization, and to change it greatly for the better.

 

The Faculty of the Mental Plane

 

Yet most of this of which I have spoken is only one stage of the development, and the first stage. Most of this, and in many lines much more than this, would follow from the unfolding of the merely astral sight in man; yet above and beyond that there lies the mental plane. I tried to give some faint idea of that when I spoke of the Heaven-world; yet I know well how far short all physical words must fall in the attempt to describe the splendour of the mental plane, so that now just as was the case two thousand years ago the only satisfactory statement that can be made about that celestial world is that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” And remember, that means for all, because all men will love the divine as soon as they know the divine. It is only because they are ignorant, because they cannot see, that some are now working for what they mistakenly consider their own separated interests, instead of following the line of the Divine will. They have only to see and know, and they will follow it and intelligently co-operate with it.

 

It must be remembered that in this distant future the life of the mental plane will be part, and the principal part, of our daily life. At present most of those who are able to enjoy the vision of the heaven-world can reach it only when the physical body is in a condition of trance. That is not the only way in which this can be seen, but we are so used to paying attention to the senses of the physical body and the impressions received through them, that while these are pressing upon us we are not free to listen to the whisperings from the higher worlds. But there comes to every man in the course of his evolution a time when he possesses his astral faculties along with the physical, and has them at his command all the while. Thus whenever he meets a friend he sees his astral body as well as his physical; and it is only a question of a further step in evolution to be able to see the mind-body as well. When this power comes to the man the mental plane is open to him, so that even while he walks the earth and takes part in his daily business he is yet living in heaven in very truth, for its powers are his, its knowledge is his, its bliss is his. That will be true for every one of us – not for all at first, nor for all simultaneously, because all men will not be equal in their development then, any more than they are now. There are younger souls and older souls, and those who belong now to savage races may by that time have developed to our present level; but we shall not have been standing still during the intervening period, and so we shall then have reached a far higher level than this. These things are today within the reach only of those who have especially studied in order to develop these faculties, but by that time they will be in the hands of the majority of the educated and cultured men of the advanced races.

 

The few who hold these powers now are, as it were, eyes for the rest of the race, and the use their  powers only in the service of their brothers, and never for private gain. The man who has evolved so far as this knows that nothing can ever be a gain for one unless it is also in harmony with the advancement of all. He knows that there is no such thing as a private gain at another man’s cost. Consequently he begins to see that the only true advantage is that gain which he shares with all; that every advance that he makes in the way of spiritual progress or development is something gained not for himself alone but for others. If he gains knowledge and self-control he assuredly acquires much for himself, yet he takes nothing away from any one else. He may hand on his knowledge to others, and yet lose nothing; indeed the more of his knowledge he passes on in this way the more he is likely to acquire himself. If a man keeps the channel of his mind ever open and lets his knowledge flow through it for the benefit of others, then the way is open for fresh knowledge constantly to pour in from above, just as a stream of water flows through an open pipe, and it is always kept clean and pure. But if the knowledge flows into the man and is not passed through, then that man speedily becomes like the end of the pipe from which there is no outlet, in which the water becomes stagnant and is liable to be choked up with all manner of foulness and impurity. Of these true riches the more we give away the more we have for ourselves; and to win them is the only really useful acquirement of riches, if we can but understand it.

 

Still Higher Possibilities

 

So we see how development will proceed. The Theosophical student knows that beyond and above even the mental plane there lies that still higher realm which we call the buddhic, where the perfect unity of mankind is seen. There a man may know, not by mere intellectual appreciation, but by definite experience, the fact that humanity is a brotherhood because of the spiritual unity which underlies it all. Here, though he is still himself and his consciousness is his own, it has widened out into such perfect sympathy with the consciousness of others that he realizes that he is truly only part of a mighty whole. He sees how the evolution of that whole is steadily progressing, and how he must work towards that end without any thought of himself as a separate entity, since that is merely a delusion belonging to these lower planes. When we realize this one thing, we know also the splendid advancement that must come to man, for we see how it leads upwards to that final goal when man himself shall be as God, for every man’s consciousness shall widen out into that Divine consciousness and shall be a centre of love and light and glory, the organizer and ruler and life-giver of a system, the creator of evolutions yet to come.

 

That is the future that lies before us, yet even that is not the final goal. It is the goal intended for us at the end of this stage in our evolution; yet progress ends not with that. What lies beyond it in still higher realms of Divinity we know not now, but we shall know some day. No words can picture, no thought can reach it, yet that future is sure. The only thing that is not sure is how long we shall be in gaining it; yet we are on the way to it even now, and it is in the hands of the men of today to hasten our progress towards it. For we are of this humanity that is progressing – only a small part of it truly, yet not without power and not without responsibility; and if we intelligently bear our part in the work of today we can do much towards hastening the approach of this splendour which is so much greater than human words can say. This at least we can do; each one of us can make himself a centre, and try to do his best to spread the knowledge of the truth by his thought and word and deed; he can hold himself steady and calm and serene, he can keep the higher ideal before him, and never allow himself to be swept off his feet by waves of passion or by thoughts of selfishness. He can earnestly devote himself to the study of these higher truths, so that he may fully understand how best to work for them. Let him try do what we in this Theosophical Society are doing; let him try to advance and to aid the world by putting these truths before men, thus helping to bring nearer the time when all men shall understand one another, because they understand the mighty system of which they form a part.

 

This glorious future of which we speak is not the mere dream of a poet or ecstatic, it is a certainty beyond all doubt; it is a certainty because this evolution is God’s will for man, and His kingdom shall come, and His will shall be done, on earth as it is in heaven.