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UNVERST OF CALIFORNIA, AN DIEG

3 1822017065533

The Law of the
Rhythmic Breath

Teaching the Genera-
tion, Conservation, and
Control of Vital Force

BY
ELLA ADELIA FLETCHER

Author of
"The Woman Beautiful" "The Philosophy of Rest"

Life is from moment to moment; and
its perfection depends upon our ability
to maintain such a perfect balance of the
vital forces that harmonious vibrations
without shall find their affinity within.

R. F. FENNO & COMPANY

18 EAST SEVENTEENTH STREET, NEW YORK

Copyright 1908
By E. A. FLETCHER

411 Hgfiti of translation or nproduction rj

The Lsw of the Rhythmic Breatb

RAMA PRASAD, M. A., F.T.S.

WHO LIGHTED THE TORCH THAT ILLUMINED MY PATH,
THIS BOOK IS MOST GRATEFULLY

DEDICATED
*******

MAY IT IN TURN SHED LIGHT FOR OTHER SEEKERS

u When all the motions of the body have become per-
fectly rhythmical the body has, as it were, become a
gigantic battery of Will."

The body : u A means to an end ; an instrument
intended for the culture of the Soul."

Rajah Yoga.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE.

I. "Breath is Life" 9

II. The Master-Key of Creation 20

III. How to Gain the Master-Key 35

IV. How to Use the Master-Key 46

V. The Evolution of the Tattvas 57

VI. The Universality of the Tattvas 67

VII. More About the All-Pervading Tattva: Akasha 75
VIII. The Specific Influence of the Tattvas ... 83

IX. Tattvic Influences : Tejas, the Fire of Life . . 92

.A
X. Happiness Vibrations : Apas and Prithivi . . 104

XI. The Atmospheric Currents of Prana . . .116

XII. The Circulation of Prana in our Bodies . . 125

XIII. The Manifestations of Prana 137

XIV. Planetary Influences upon the Tattvas . . .148
XV. The Activities of the Macrocosm in the

Microcosm 161

XVI. More About Macrocosmic Activities in the

Microcosm 173

XVII. Mercury and the Activities of the Sushumna . 185

XVIII. Vital Centers for Concentration 196

XIX. The Connection of the Zodiac with Vital

Centers . 208

Table of Contents

CHAPTER. PAGE.

XX. The Crown of Concentration 218

XXI. The Sequence of Numbers 331

XXII. The Seven-Fold Constitution of Humanity . . 248

XXIII. Color in the Visible and Invisible. World.

Part 1 258

XXIV. Color in the Visible and Invisible World.

Part II. 270

XXV. Color in the Visible and Invisible World.

Conclusion 278

XXVI. The Normal Colors of Man's Principles.

Part 1 288

XXVII. The Normal Colors of Man's Principles.

Conclusion 299

XXVIII. The Auric Envelope : Its Constitution . . . 309
XXIX. The Auric Envelope: How Affected . . .318

XXX. The Auric Envelope: Its Colors 330

XXXI. How to Acquire Rhythmic Breathing . . . 341
XXXII. The Practical Application of These Laws . . 350

Glossary 363

Bibliography 370

CHAPTER I

" BREATH IS LIFE."

IS it wontedness and use, or perhaps, that un-
speakably deadening factor thoughtlessness,
that has robbed the pregnant aphorism
" BREATH IS LIFE " of every atom of its pro-
found significance?

None has ever gainsaid it, yet to the mass of
mankind it means no more than if one were to
write omicron muf And to that suicidal mania,
fear of fresh air and draughts, and its accom-
panying folly, flagrant neglect of the primal
function of breathing, the world pays an annual
tribute of at the lowest estimate a quarter million
lives; all sacrificed to -preventable disease! Even
without a regret for those sent thus prematurely
through the " Gates Ajar," think of the crushing
weight of sorrow this entails upon the world!
Though not our loss, the sorrow affects all within
its environment.

lo The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

But not alone the mass of humanity have been
thus apathetic. Until the beneficial cult of deep
breathing, a growth in rational doing and
thinking of the present generation only, the
man of science whose life work is to relieve human
suffering equally ignored this flaring torch
"BREATH IS LIFE," pointing unerringly to
fundamental truths of being, but which through-
out the centuries of Western civilization might
as well have been a dark lantern. It is my grate-
ful task — nay, happy opportunity — to prove to
you that it is a torch of such wonderful il-
luminating power that man's electric searchlights
should pale before it. It was a gain, a stalwart
stride in the right direction, to call attention to the
error of commonly fixed habits; but all that has
yet been accomplished is little more than one drop
of purity in a swamp of miasma. Busy people
think they have too much to do to give attention
to a function they have always supposed auto-
matic, never dreaming of the subtle sources of dis-
order affecting its normal activity, and as subtly
feeding and sowing disease. Also, to make a
bad matter worse, in all the so-called " systems "
of breathing taught, good, bad, and indifferent,
the fundamental principle of rhythmic harmony
has attracted little attention, and is rarely under-
stood.

Most persons who are interested in any system

Breath is Life 11

of breathing have become familiar with the terrr
Yoga breathing, yet it is so completely misunder-
stood that it oftener excites a smile than serious
attention; but this is another instance where the
precious pearl truth is in sight, and unseeing eyes
confound it with a worthless pebble.

All the ridicule, misunderstanding, and depre-
ciation of this cult are in reality due to the fact
that few expositors of Yoga breathing have ex-
plained either in their writings or verbally to pupils
the rationale upon which it is based. Reticence
on this vital point is due to one of two reasons:
either ignorance, or the belief that the age was not
yet prepared to be entrusted with a Truth of Life
which was till recently guarded in India as a most
sacred mystery. But in our day and generation,
Occidental peoples accept nothing blindly; all must
know the "Why?" and "Wherefore?" We
find the answer in the profoundly scientific teachings
of Hindu physiology, founded upon the inspira-
tional truths preserved to us in the Tantrik phi-
losophy, and in those sacred Sanskrit writings, the
Upanishads.

Only the arrogant egoism of Western civiliza-
tion has made it possible that enlightened minds
could read the Upanishads as they have done for
years and overlook the significant facts they con-
tain with reference to the union of breath with life.
These facts are the foundation for the deepest,

12 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

most philosophical, and only scientific cult of phys-
ical health and spiritual life; but, clothed in the
most poetic imagery, they have been studied, trans-
lated, and read for that alone, as curiosities of
literature.

It is a deplorable fact that these so-learned
minds rejected, without the experiments which
they are assured would verify the statements, but
with cheerful indulgence for the " childish vagar-
ies " and the credulity of those sacred writers who
believed them, all these profound truths weighted
with the most beneficial results to humankind, and
which, in consequence, have remained Occult mys-
teries closely guarded by the few who understood
them.

The forms of Yoga breathing which excite the
greatest incredulity, because differing radically
from accepted theories of the function, are best de-
scribed as alternate breathing; that is, through
each nostril in turn, the exhalations preceding the
inhalations from the same nostril.

This method is profoundly scientific, being
based upon a phenomenon of normal breathing al-
most unknown to Western scientists (eight years
ago, I heard of two Buffalo physicians who had
discovered it) . It is that every human being in-
hales and exhales for a certain period — nearly
an hour — through the right nostril and then all
unconsciously changes to the left for a like period.

Breath is Life 13

Hindu physiology begins its surprises by teach-
ing us that with every inhalation through the right
nostril a positive electrical current flows down the
right side of the spine, and with every inhalation
through the left nostril a negative current flows
down the left side. The lungs are correspond-
ingly charged with positive, or solar, and negative,
or lunar, currents. It is by means of the two cur-
rents that all the processes of life are performed,
and it is an imperative condition of health that
they be equally balanced. Upon their rhythmic
and harmonic flow, fed by the breath of life, de-
pends the measure of health and vitality in the
human system.

It is of interest here to state that early in 1905,
the newspapers chronicled the successful experi-
ments of Dr. Atkins, of the California Medical
College, who had discovered, and succeeded in
registering by mechanical means, " a positive and
a negative electrical current in the air chambers
of the lungs of a living person." Thus it will
be seen that Western science is painfully discover-
ing the truths which the Orient has had in its keep-
(ing since the earliest ages of man.

In two instances I have had substantial proof
that something of this knowledge was also in the
keeping of our North American Indian " Medi-
cine Man."

But the analysis of breath does not rest here.

14 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Of as vital importance are these facts: The uni-
versal current of life, Prdna, or vital force, which
pervades all space and is commonly recognized in
the body as breath (the distinction will be ex-
plained later) is compounded of atoms, or elec-
trons, which are differentiated by their character-
istic motions into five forms of vibrations. West-
ern science has recognized only two of these subtle
ethers, and has not yet discovered their pro-
found influence upon all living things.

We are compelled to use the Sanskrit terms for
these etheric forces, which are called generically
Tattvas, meaning literally a form of motion
(Mme. Blavatsky says the Tattvas "are both
Substance and Force, or Atomic matter and the
Spirit that ensouls it ") . The Tattvas — referred
to in the Upanishads as " the five vital airs " — are
specifically distinguished as ( i ) Akdsha, the sound
vibration; (2) Fdyu, the tangiferous vibration;
(3) Tejas, the luminiferous ether; (4) A pas, the
vibration of taste or gustiferous ether; and (5)
Prithivi, the odoriferous ether.

These five Tattvas, every one of which has its
positive and negative phases, mingle in varying
proportions in both the solar and lunar currents.
In normal health, their flow and proportion varies
from time to time with absolute rhythmic pre-
cision, every Tattva having its period of predom-
inance for a longer or shorter period. If human

Breath is Life 15.

beings were automatons, the regularity of these
vibrations would be as unchanging as the move-
ments of the planets in their orbits. But free will
and emotions, every thought and act of man, have
their effect for good or ill, and ages ago the Hin-
dus discovered that the inception of every disease
is in any influence which disturbs nature's intricate
but symmetrical balance of these etheric life-forces;
which, corresponding to the elements composing
the body, are renewed with every breath and, be-
ing elemental subdivisions of Prdna, furnish and
modify the activities of the whole human entity.
This explains the philosophy of alternate breath-
ing, the many forms of which are devised to re-
store the balance of the Tattvas. It also exposes
the error of the statement that, " A strictly well
person uses the right nostril by day, the left by
night." So far, indeed, from the truth is this,
that it would be a dangerous practice, and its ex-
act reverse in a modified form — a shorter period
— is the recommendation of adepts in Tattvic
philosophy. They commend the use of the nega-
tive breath — lunar current — at sunrise, and the
positive breath — solar current — at sunset ; the
reason being that the one is cooling, the other heat-
ing. They thus impose a certain check upon the
prevalent terrestrial influences, while putting us
en rapport with them, since two positives repel
each other, as do, of course two negative currents.

1 6 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

In the intense activities of our modern Western
life, the positive breath is employed in excess, us-
ing up all physical and mental force under the lash
of will-power. The resulting exhaustion —
sometimes amounting to painful prostration — is
because the impact of the positive current has over-
charged nerve centers ; the human wires over which
these currents flow slacken in this condition and
refuse to respond to the vibrations playing upon
them, so the negative current does not set in.
There is discord and struggle in all the atoms to
accomplish this, hence suffering. The quickest re-
lief for this condition is to close the right nostril
and take a few negative breaths, with deep, full
inhalations and slow, restrained exhalations from
the same nostril. Only a few moments voluntary
attention need be given. Once started the life-
current will do its recuperative work.

Beneficial effects are gained by employing the
positive breath when going to sleep, which is done
by lying on the left side. It counteracts a ten-
dency to an excess of the negative principle in the
heart at evening (at which time the negative — or
lunar, current is the stronger), and also protects
the sleeper from the frivolous and wasting activi-
ties caused by the invasion of idle thoughts (called
dreams) upon the field of subconsciousness when
the guarding mind is off duty. At dawn, it is
well to turn upon the right side, but other move-

Breath is Life 17

ments in the night can be made according to com-
fort and convenience. Nature may be trusted to
take care of breathing if we start it rhythmically.

The overwhelming importance of maintaining
the equal balance of these two currents will be ap-
preciated when it is known that the excessive pre-
ponderance of either causes death; each displaying
characteristic symptoms, and causing negative or
cardiac death and positive or spinal death. The
former is commonly diagnosed as heart failure,
and there is little doubt that in many cases the pa-
tient could be carried safely through the critical
moment if the attendants stopped the left nostril
and made the positive current of Prdna flow.
There are cases where exactly the opposite treat-
ment might be necessary. But if the nurse could
not determine which breath was flowing, a few
alternate breaths would assist nature to restore the
balance.

In cerebro-spinal meningitis, not serum but such
care as shall insure the rhythmic flow of the alter-
nating currents down the spine is the treatment the
symptoms call for, which agrees with but goes be-
yond the learned decision that fresh air was the
only hope in this disease.

How to direct and control these life currents in
manifold ways, promoting health, happiness, and
efficiency is the purpose of this book. Those who
wish to acquire the power should commit to mem-

1 8 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

ory the names of the Tattvas; and as a prelimin-
ary exercise can practice alternate breathing on a
count of four and eight pulse-beats or seconds, for
inhalations and exhalations, respectively (that is,
four to inhale, eight to exhale), or six and twelve,
according to the lung capacity, which should not
be forced, merely encouraged. Placing the first
.and second fingers of the left hand so that they can
alternately close the left and right nostrils, begin
the exercise by a thorough, deep exhalation.
Then close the right nostril and inhale through
the left; hold the breath for a perceptible moment,
then with gentle restraint exhale it through the
right nostril; next inhale through the right nostril
and exhale through the left. Repeat four times
(four negative breaths and four positive ones;
eight in all) and practice — it takes but a fraction
of time — on rising in the morning, at noon, and
in the evening.

The exercises can be taken standing, sitting or ly-
ing down. If the former, the spine should be held
free and erect; and under no circumstances be
twisted or bent from the shoulders; for it is the
nervous system which should receive the first and
most immediate benefit from the practice. Taken
in bed, after retiring, the exercises are very calm-
ing and sleep-inducing.

It is by means of these universal vibrations that
in actual fact — a literal truth — " The heart

Breath is Life 19

throbs of the Eternal Spirit pulsate through " us.
It is in this way that we actually live and move
and have our being in the God of Gods, the very
Light of Light. This Tattvic Law of the Uni-
verse solves the mysteries of the Omniscience,
Omnipresence, and Omnipotence of God, for there
is nothing where He is not.

CHAPTER II

THE MASTER-KEY OF CREATION

HARMONY is the least known but the
most indispensable factor of health and
mental serenity; while discord is the be-
ginning of all disease, discomfort, and all the fam-
ily of ^organizing elements; the names of which,
you may have noticed, all begin with the signifi-
cant prefix dis.

Harmony, therefore, is the law of order, — the
normal, natural condition of every atom and its
component spirillae (for which particles science is
reviving the name " corpuscles ") within the
crowning work of creation, the body-beautiful of
the human creature, as well as in the visible and
invisible world about us; and discord is the law of
disorder. To live in tune with the Universe, we
must live in harmony with its laws; and "THE
LAW OF THE RHYTHMIC BREATH"
gives us the master-key to these laws. Studied,
understood, and applied, no other road leads so
swiftly to spiritual consciousness; and at the same
time the Law reconciles science and religion as

20

; The Master-Key of Creation 2*

never before. For generations men read Bud-
dha's declaration that ignorance was " the root of
the huge poison-tree of mundane existence with its
trunk of pain; " but, ignoring his " Wheel of the
Law" in the body, they have sought for knowl-
edge far-afield, everywhere but within — in self-j
study and self-examination. And alas! so far
have men depreciated the higher self in man which
differentiates him from the lower animals, that
they have thought to arrive at accurate knowledge
of his physical characteristics by submitting help-
less brutes to the tortures of vivisection.

When the scientist understands the Tattvic Law
of the Universe, which opens to him the miracle-
world of Nature's forces, he will realize what aw-
ful powers of discord he thus sets in motion,
powers which, by an immutable law, must return,
like a boomerang, upon himself! Then, indeed,
will the helpless dumb creatures be freed from
man's reign of terrorism.

When we speak of harmony as inseparable from
health and all joy in living and doing, we are not
dealing with an abstract quality but with a con-
crete principle of motion underlying the ceaseless
activities, visible and invisible, of our Universe —
a macrocosm in which there is no " dead matter,"
but life, life everywhere. To the minutest parti-
cle, all is vibrating with ceaseless energy in that
mysterious, invisible realm which men are begin-

22 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

ning to penetrate by means of cunning instruments
devised with infinite patience and skill to supple-
ment the perceptions of the physical senses.
Science is creeping close to the long-hidden truths.

One of the recent discoveries is that " This mo-
tion is continually changing from one velocity to
another." This is the source of that beautiful
diversity in unity which keeps us wondering at the
infinite variety of Nature's marvelous works, and
it is caused by the characteristic vibrations of the
Tattvas, which are differentiated by form and
color, and whose energies can thus be analyzed and
recognized on all the planes of their activities
throughout the Universe. It is by this means
that Hindu physiology has traced their power, of-
fice, and effect in the human economy.

We are all familiar with the fact — indeed,
every school boy knows it — that our bodies are
said to be composed of the four elements: viz.,
air, fire, water, and earth; yet how many ever
think of it as anything but a figurative expres-
sion? Now, I am going to show you that it is
a statement de facto; but how much it shall signify
to you, dear reader, depends upon yourself. You
must think, or it will be barren of results. This
caution is based upon experience; for many per-
sons have learned this elemental distinction con-
cerning the nature of the Tattvas, and, not apply-
ing the knowledge, have gone no further, failing

iThe Master-Key of Creation 23

as utterly to grasp its deep significance as in the
old familiar statement.

Bearing in mind the previous explanation of the
positive and negative breath-currents, flowing in
regular alternation through the right and left nos-
trils respectively, and their differentiation into the
five Tattvas, we proceed now to an examination of
the character and properties of the separate Tatt-
tuas) and the effect of their action upon the physi-
cal, or gross, body.

Akdsha is the most refined or tenuous of the
elements, and on the gross plane of the physical
body is correctly classified as ether. Don't let it
confuse you when all the Tattvas are referred to
as ethers, for on their subtle planes of activity
they are so tenuous that wanting a strictly scientific
nomenclature, we must call the others also ethers.
They never, however, lose their distinctive quali-
ties; always, even in the closest union one with an-
other, they retain these characteristics of form,
color, and action which betray the presence of the
vibration, although every element restricts, and is
modified by, the vibrations of the elements with
which it is combined. Hence, there are manifold
permutations in form and color, producing vari-

Ctyr*

Akdsha is circular or oblong in form, and gives

this shape to the orifice of the ear, the organ of
hearing, whose perceptions its property of sound

24 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

stimulates. It is represented as a circle with a
single dot in the center and also as a dotted cir-
cle; for matter subjected to its influence gy-
rates with extreme velocity in tiny points that chase
one another within the circle. The positive phase
of Akdsha is colorless, sometimes described as
white, but it is a white pulsating with light; and
its negatives phase is indigo, so dark that to some
eyes it appears black. In this condition it holds
potentially all the other Tattvas or elements; and
it is the medium — space — in every state of mat-
ter which propagates sound.

The study of Akdsha discloses the secret of the
mysterious and varied effects of sound upon all
living creatures; for every vibration as it passes
through the " subtle sound-granules of space "
(space and sound being considered interchange-
able terms, so closely associated are they) creates
its own sound or tone, and registers its effect upon
human nerves even when beyond the range of
sense-perception.

Thus sound, with its inseparable associate
rhythm, is ever building or disintegrating; and is
a powerful force that man has urgent need to un-
derstand and learn to control, and use with intelli-
gence. Harmonious sounds are upbuilding and
life-giving, therefore constructive; while all sounds
which we class as noise are disintegrating in pro-
portion to the dissonance and broken rhythm of

The Master-Key of Creation 25

their crashing and grinding. The suffering such
warring turmoil inflicts upon sensitive people is
very real; and only more subtle because less per-
ceptible — like the drops of water that wear away
a stone — is the effect upon those less conscious
of the disturbance.

The vibrations of Fdyu, or tangiferous ether

— the air — are spherical in form, and its motion
is the duplicating of spheres, or groups of spheres.
The particular property of Fdyu is locomotion,
and it stimulates, or gives birth to, the sense of
touch; therefore we find its physical influence pre-
dominates in the skin which it forms and nour-
ishes. Motion in any part of the body is due to
the Vdyu centers of that part. It is naturally
prevalent in the lungs (or ought to be!) and is
regnant in the hands.

The color of Fdyu is usually described as blue,
but also sometimes as green. I believe the recon-
ciliation of the disagreement to be that blue is the
negative phase, and green the positive. In per-
mutation with other Tattvas where Fdyu pre-
dominates we have green-blue, and blue-green,
and yellow-blue. When green is reflected upward

— that is, the activity is upward instead of down-
ward — it becomes a mirror for the higher force,
absorbs the higher vibrations and is then no longer
green but its negative blue. All its effects in com-
bination with other Tattvas corroborate this con-

26 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

x

elusion. As we progress to the evolution of the
Tattvas this will be clearer.

Tejas is the luminiferous ether and the fire ele-
ment in the physical body, the agent which keeps
up internal heat and maintains the body's normal
temperature. It stimulates the sense of sight, is
therefore regnant in the optic nerves, and must be
recognized in the form of light as well as heat.
Tejas has the property of expansion, and causes
the swelling in inflammatory disorders; and, of
course, it is prevalent to great excess in fevers.
Its form is that of a triangle, its vibrations mov-
ing at right angles; hence causing friction which
generates heat ; and its color is red.

Apas, the gustiferous ether, is the water ele-
ment, and in its purest, most subtle state is white
or violet in color. It stimulates the sense of taste
and possesses the property of contraction. It pre-
dominates in the tongue, both in its office as a
sensuous and as an active organ, and its semi-lunar
(or wave-like) vibrations are the chief motive-
power in the production of voice.

The combination of Apas with other Tattvas
in manifold permutations produces the exquisite
variety in vocal tones, gives to them their color,
for every tone has a distinctive color, and creates
that subtle element which sways the emotions. It
is the color of the tone, which is a manifestation
of its form, that affects the nerves, sympathetically
or antagonistically; and a wide field for the scien-

The Master-Key of Creation

27

tifically accurate application of the therapeutic
value of music is open to the earnest student of
the Tattvas. The discipline and culture of voice-
production in speech itself are thus recognized as
of the highest importance.

Wherever water runs over sand, which it throws'
into waving forms, it furnishes a constant object-
lesson on the semi-lunar form of Apas vibrations.
The very name wave is a symbol of the curving
motion of water.

Last, but not least in this terrestrial life, comes
Prithivi, or odoriferous ether, the earth. It is
the vibration which excites the sense of smell, and
its characteristic properties are resistance and co-
hesion. Prithivi is quadrangular in form and, as
do all the Tattvas, impresses its form upon the
nerve ganglia in which it is predominant. Its
color is yellow, and it is the disorder of the earth
vibration which causes liver troubles, as the yellow
tinge of the skin betrays.

For convenience in study and reference this cap-
itulation of the Tattvas is given.

Element.

Color.

Property.

Form.

Sense-
perception.

A

i. Ak&sha.

Ether.

( White.

Space

Dotted Circle.

Hearing.

7 Indigo.

2. V&yu.

Air.

( Blue.

Locomotion.

Spherical.

Touch.

/ Green.

3- Tejas.

Fire.

Red.

Expansion.

Triangle.

Sight.

4. Apas.

Water.

( White.

Contraction.

Semi-lunar.

Taste.

\ Violet.

5. Prithivi.

Earth.

Yellow.

Cohesion.

Quadrangular.

Smell.

28 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

The Tattvas manifest their power in two ways,
gross and subtle; our bodies are the gross manifes-
tations of their activity, and through these, ani-
mating them and giving them all life, motion, and
force, play unceasingly the subtle Tattvas, which
govern the body physiologically, mentally, psychic-
ally, and spiritually, in an ever refining grada-
tion of force, and substance clothing that force.
Every nerve center, or plexus, is governed by a
particular Tattva; that is, is the seat of its special
manifestation; thus, though all the Tattvas are
present, there is a ruling one which is always in
health predominant.

Now, I neither ask nor wish that anyone should
believe any of these statements blindly. Don't
accept them because I say they are so. I do ask
that all who wish for freedom of mind and body,
for health based upon the serenity and confidence
that come from knowing the exact nature and ac-
tion of the agents you are employing to obtain that
blessing — I ask you to make the whole subject
the matter of serious study and thought.

Reason it out for yourselves. Look first
within, in the calm meditation that quiets the troops
of idle thoughts which make havoc of our ener-
gies and are a never ceasing source of discord;
and when you discover that the very name Tejas
is potent to raise your temperature if you send it
with commanding thought to its centers of

The Master-Key of Creation 29

action (see Chapter IX), you will begin to realize
the truth. With the first glimmer of this confi-
dence you will find your attention wonderfully
sharpened to the relations of external objects, and
no moment of thought on ^he subject will be fruit-
less.

In India, nothing is ever told to the student of
Occult mysteries which can be learned through
study and thought, for speculating upon these hid-
den relations of the natural forces furnishes the
wings upon which intuition takes its flight straight
to the cause. In this Western world, however,
where the art of thinking is less understood, the
student needs some guidance, but the quicker he
can stand on his own feet the better. In the phy-
sical world about us, you must be prepared to rec-
ognize the dominant Tattva or the combination of
elements in natural objects by the colors. Thus,
all the vegetable kingdom germinates in Mother
Earth — Prithivl, which is yellow, and draws
nourishment in proportion as it sends its roots deep
into her bosom; while it breaks into leaf and blos-
som and fruit in the ambient, elastic air — Fayu,
blue; and from the yellow and blue of its earth and
air-progenitors is evolved the grateful, refreshing
green.

The Tattvas are the artists who grave the won-
derful geometrical lines which can be studied in
sea-shells. Cross-sections of the shells of nummu-

30 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

lites (see Standard Dictionary) show Prithivi vi-
brations. The skin of a rattle-snake is a most in-
teresting study in the proof of the Tattvic Law.
This creature that hugs the earth and lives in it,
is striped down its back with cubes placed point to
point, the outer scales of which are yellow. Tejas
is the next most prominent influence, giving sharp
points to the scales, and its color is seen in the red-
dish brown of the darkest scales. Every scale
has a mid-rib dividing the positive from the nega-
tive. In snow crystals every Tattvic vibration
can be traced; and, when examined separately,
within their dazzling whiteness it is found that
all the colors of the spectrum are held latently.

Significant corroboration of Tantrik teaching
with regard to the structural effects everywhere
in the body of the varied Tattvic activities, is
found in Bain's description of the nerves. The
blue-white matter is in nerve threads composed of
bundles of microscopical fibres, of which it is es-
timated as many as 15,000 to 100,000 are united
in a single nerve. The grey-red nerve substance
is a mixture of these fibres and neurons or cells
" of various shapes, — round, oval, pear-shaped,
tailed, and star-like, or radiated " (Mind and
Body).

In the Cosmopolitan for September, 1905, is
an interesting article, " Artificial Creation of
Life," by Garrett P. Serviss, the illustrations in

The Master-Key of Creation 31

which furnish an admirable study of the Tattvas.
The article explains the experiments of Prof. Jac-
ques Loeb, of the University of California, which
have aroused deep interest in the scientific world.

If a copy of the magazine be accessible, notice
first the five points of the starfish, which corres-
pond with the five Tattvas, as do the fingers and
toes of our bodies. Turn next to the large illus-
tration of Eggs of the Sea-urchin; then observe
a, " Beginning of segmentation," and b, " Second
step." You will see that the development is by
pairs or couples. These are the positive and neg-
ative atorns, which acting upon each other evolve
every succeeding step.

In a, Akdsha prevails; b, Fdyu; c, intermediate,
Akdsha predominant, with Fdyu and beginning of
Tejas; d, all the preceding with the addition of a
strong vibration from A-pas, the water element,
in crescentlike waves; e, Tejas is predominant, in
which state this artificial creature is said to " starve
to death."

Now the reasonable conjecture is that the ab-
rsence of Prithivi vibrations is the cause of the ces-
sation of evolution; and I have had the satisfac-
tion, since making the above notes, of finding the
following corroboration of my conjecture: In
one of the Upanishads the division of the " five-
fold " elements composing the physical body is
given according to their use. Water and earth

32 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

are said to be the food; fire and air, the feeders,
and ether, " the bowl into which all are poured."

It would simplify and facilitate the investiga-
tions of modern scientists beyond average compre-
hension if they would accept as the ground or basis
of their researches and experiments the Tattvic
Law of the Universe. Thus, radium in whatever
aspect of its activity is a form of Tejas. Every
manifestation of heat or light is caused by Tejas
vibrations. Radium is the highest vibration of the
solar current of Tejas yet discovered by man; and
in February, 1905, Professor Rutherford, of Mc-
Gill University, announced as a revolutionizing the-
ory the fact that the internal heat of the earth is
from radium.

To the " knower " of the Tattvas this is the only
possible conjecture, for the core of the earth is its
solar plexus, and must vibrate with the most sub-
tle form of Tejas, sun rays of a power inconceiv-
able before the discovery of radium.

As I weave these notes made seven months ago
into this chapter, the morning papers chronicle from
faraway Johannesburg, South Africa, Prof. George
Howard Darwin's speculations upon " the prob-
ability of radio-activity in the sun, which, if
proved, will subvert all the scientific theories of its
constitution, and of the age of the existing solar
system based thereon."

The life-current is more subtle than radio-ac-

The Master-Key of Creation 33

tivity, and it depends upon ourselves to how high
power we shall raise it. Never forget that
" Breath is the beam on which the whole house
of the body rests." If you wish to acquire the
ability to apply the Law and use the " master-key,"
be diligent in the practice of the breathing exer-!
else given in the first chapter. Make the slight
change of holding the breath for a longer interval

— not to exceed the inhalation — and fix the
thought upon following the vital current down
the spine; then, while holding the breath, upon
the sacral plexus, and follow it upward during ex-
halation. The length of time must be decided by
physical sensations. No slightest discomfort
should be felt. Restoration of the balance of the
Tattvas gives us rose-colored spectacles and all
the energy needed to meet life's demands even
though they be exacting.

The thought ministrations of Christian Science,
Mental Healing, and Faith Cure, which are
so " Winged with Power," employ the same force

— the only one — and are all manifestations of
the Tattvic law; for every thought excites a Tatt-
vic vibration, just as does the movement of a fin-
ger, and the calm fixity and intensity of the thought
are the measure of its force.

The throb of the great heart of the universe
proceeds from the unknowable primary cause, Di-
yine Spirit, back of all life, and its perpetual

34 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

source. Its dynamo holds the secret of perpetual
motion, fed by the positive and negative currents
of Divine Breath, the thought active and thought
quiescent or receptive of Him who spake the first
Word and declared, " It was very good." And
the " Harmony of the Spheres " is no poetic im-
agery, but describes the rhythmic movements, vi-
brant with melody, of the Great Breath after the
Tattvas, by interaction had been evolved, one after
another.

CHAPTER III

HOW TO GAIN THE MASTER-KEY

EVERY natural force is ready to work with
and for us if we use it intelligently, accord-
ing to its law. All readers of the previous
essays must comprehend now, I think, that the
Tattvic forces are the active agents of all Kosmic
intelligence and energy. Our task now is to learn
what is our measure of responsibility for their
harmonious movement, and how we can gain the
mastery instead of being mastered by them.

In the physical body, the nerves are the lines
through which the Tattvas speed to their assigned
field of influence, and one nerve may carry several
vibrations simultaneously just as a single electric
wire transmits many messages. The moment they
enter the human body, however, the Tattvic vi-
brations encounter the disturbing influences which
are ceaselessly arising in the average mind. The
reasons for this, though they have so completely
baffled the scientist that there are still many who
deny that thought can possibly influence matter,

35

36 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

are extremely simple, logical, and absolutely scien-
tific. In the Tattvic law we find the solution.

It has been demonstrated beyond question that
emotions of hate, passion, fear, or a guilty con-
science generate poisons in the human system which,
when not active enough to kill (the poisoned milk
of an angry mother has been known to kill her
nursing infant) are the primary cause of many
disorders ; and they give their distinct colors to the
secretions of the perspiratory glands. These ef-
fects are caused by the abnormal vibrations into
which the Tattvas are thrown by the above mental
states. Thus with every thought we are moulding
these bodies of ours to ease or dis-es.se.

Every atom, every molecule of your body is as
sensitive to the thoughts within (yea, and only
less sensitive to those without!) as is a feather
to a riffle of air. It is only strong, positive per-
sonalities who think their own thoughts; more
than half of humanity simply reflect the thoughts
of other people, for the Tattvas carry them to re-
sponsive minds. They are the wings of thought.

The usurped over-lordship of the sense-directed
mind is the source of most of the ills and sufferings
of the body; and its crowning sin and most disas-
trous menace are that it stifles the soul and prevents
its growth through the experiences which should
be its daily and hourly portion. The sooner you
recognize that you are a Soul and have a body

How to gain the Master-Key 37

(a world-wide difference from the ordinary con-
ception) the sooner you will become conscious of
an increased vitality and strength; for the rousing
of the soul to conscious activity through this rec-
ognition raises the Tattvic vibrations to a higher,
more subtle plane. The resulting sense of well-
being is the proof that you are actually remaking
your body of purer materials through the har-
monic co-operation of all the elements needed for
its up-building.

When once you have experienced the thrill that
this consciousness gives you, you will never again
deny the dynamic power of thought, nor the deeply
significant truth that spirit works through matter.

These physical bodies of ours are always in a
state of flux and reflux — like molten metal or
plastic gypsum — every component atom taking
the form — that is, the vibration, which the
thought of the moment gives rise to. Every
thought, even the most idle and fleeting which the
mind admits to its sanctum, speeds away on one of
the wires centering there, to affect for good or
ill the molecules influenced by that nerve.

When you banish the army of discordant war-
ring thoughts which sense-perceptions are ever
giving rise to, and declare your real self, your
soul, the ruler, you are exercising a will-power
which connects your soul with the great central
Dynamo, the Divine Spirit; and, with channels

j8 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

freed for their flow, streams of vital force will
speed over your nerves in full rhythmic currents,
which will stimulate all the atoms to harmonious
vibration.

Now, the problem before us is, how are we to
quiet the frivolous, discord-breeding activities of
our minds, so that our souls shall come into recog-
nized rulership of their mundane kingdoms, the
physical bodies, and be able to restore the rebellious
subjects of these kingdoms to the co-ordinate action
which their unity of interests demands? Here is
where knowledge of the Tattvas is of overwhelm-
ing importance to every human being.

We cannot accomplish this by study and reading
alone; knowing and doing are two distinct acts;
and it is only by using any knowledge that we
make it our own. The only road to the conquest
and control of these so restless minds is through
diligent practice of methods of breathing and con-
centration ; which, beginning by regulating the nor-
mal flow of the Tattvas, which purifies and
strengthens the nerves, then gives us the power
to silence the clamor of the senses and, with the
soul freed from the shackles of these energy-
wasters, to send the vital current wherever we
wish.

It is difficult for some to understand how the
positive and negative currents of Prana can flow
down the right and left sides of the spine and speed

How to gain the Master-Key 39

over the nerves, since breath, thy say, can enter the
lungs only.

The gross bulk of the air, that which inflates the
lungs, does not penetrate through muscles, nerves,
and bones. But the subtle force within it, that
which is life-giving, renewing, and rebuilding
speeds everywhere, an electric, vital fluid; and the
more rhythmical the breathing the greater the
tendency of all the molecules in the body to yield
to this current and move in the same direction,
which vastly increases the electrical power.

The distinction between breath and Prdna is a
very subtle one, and most attempts to describe the
latter consist of affirmations followed by denials.
Even the Swami Vivekananda, who could think so
clearly in English that he seemed to have a psycho-
logical grasp of Western modes of thought, could
not escape the Hindu propensity to strive for the
finest conceivable distinction. After saying that
the most obvious manifestation of Prdna is the
breath, and that " This Prdna is the vital force in
every being, and the finest and highest action of
Prdna is thought," he concludes by this statement:
" And yet we cannot call it force, because it is only
the manifestation of it.

Other writers are equally baffling, yet this need
not give us concern. Every one who practices will
learn to know Prdna for what it is. To say that
breath is " something very different from Prdna "

40 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

is not only misleading but unnecessarily confusing;
and in great part the ultimate analyses reached by
all these quibblings are distinctions without a dif-
ference, a splitting of hairs as it were; for a breath
without Prdna is unthinkable, since it pervades all
space, and has within it the force that moves the
Universe and holds the planets in their spheres.
Wanting Prdna we should not breath at all, and
its withdrawal brings physical life to its close.

Prdna is the terrestrial manifestation of solar
energy, and its perpetual cycling motion from
within outward and back again, supplies the lever
that controls the automatic contraction and expan-
sion of the lungs. It is, moreover, the vehicle
and stimulator of that thinking principle within
us which superintends all the automatic functions
of internal organs. The importance of never for-
getting the imperative need that the positive and
negative currents of Prdna be equally balanced
should now be clear to all students.

The control of this all-pervading energy, the
vital or creative force in every atom is called
Prdndydma; and it is in the Held-breath exercise
that we generate the will-power to gain this mas-
tery. The philosophy of this is that the force of
the vibrations thus concentrated upon given cen-
ters, or nerve-plexuses, strikes with such an impact
upon the myriad of molecules and atoms as to im-
part a sympathetic, rhythmical, direction and mo-

How to gain the Master-Key 41

tion; and, holding steadily to a single focus the
customary scattering mental impulses, thus gener-
ates higher and more subtle rates of vibration.
The higher they are, the purer and finer, and the
greater the power of the Tattvas which make up
the current of Prdna.

The next exercise, therefore, for which the pre-
ceding ones, besides having their special effect in
regulating the vital currents and calming the
nerves, have been a preparation, gives precedence
to holding the breath, hence its name. The Held-
breath is also alternate, and begins like the other
exercise with a negative — left — inhalation, clos-
ing the right nostril. The usual count for begin-
ners is four for inhalation, hold sixteen, and exhale,
through right nostril, during eight; then inhale
throught right nostril and continue by same count.
A complete exercise is one negative breath followed
by a positive, and therefore includes two held-
breaths and corresponding exhalations. This is
one " round," and four repetitions are sufficient
for one practice.

Rid yourself of any impression that you must
use force to hold the breath. That will cause con-
striction and tension somewhere, usually in the
throat. You simply arrest the outward motion,
and the whole passage over which the vital current
flows, from nostril to base of spine is perfectly
free. If you cannot so realize it, image to your-

42 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

self an open conduit filled with purest ozone run-
ning down through the center of your being.
Nothing but vigor can or should radiate from it.

This exercise for Prdndyamd should never be
taken within two hours after eating, and is best
practiced before meals. Four practice-periods
daily are sufficient, and the most favorable hours
are early in the morning, — the nearer sunrise the
better, — at noon, in the gloaming, and just before
retiring. It is very important that regularity,
should be observed in practice. More rapid prog-
ress will be made in two regular periods (same
time daily) than in many irregular ones. Length
of count can be increased from four to six as you
gain power; preserving, however, the same ratio,
as six, twenty-four, twelve. Upon this point,
Hindu teaching lays emphasis.

If you turn the thought inward, following the
current down, there will be no sensation of discom-
fort, oppression, or constriction anywhere during
the holding of the breath. Under this mental di-
rection the vital force will surge upon the desig-
nated center with stimulating power. The follow-
ing directions for concentration are to be considered
merely as suggestions for practice, and should be
varied according to personal needs. During the
first round, concentrate the thought upon the sac-
ral plexus; second round, upon the solar plexus;
third, between the shoulders, rather low down;

How to gain the Master-Key 43

and fourth round, at the back of the throat upon
the " nceud vital " in the great vagus nerve. It is
important to concentrate upon the same center or
centers in one round.

The solar plexus (back of the stomach and in
front of the aorta — the spot often described as
"the pit of the stomach") sends out important
ganglia through the viscera, and it is to the
whole nervous system what the heart is to the cir-
culation of the blood. Concentration in this center
not only affects profoundly the whole digestive
system — intestinal as well as gastric — stimulat-
ing normal functioning of every part, but it reacts
beneficially upon even remote centers through the
higher power of the electric current thus generated,
and strengthens the whole body. Hold the
thought while centering it here upon a luminous
deep blue disc encircled by rings of yellow, orange,
and red. Close your eyes and fix your mental
gaze upon the disc. It is a great help to mental
control, and you will soon see the glowing colors
so plainly that you will not need to imagine them.
The whole rainbow of colors can be seen by psychic
vision.

Sometimes it is an aid in getting control of the
mind to transfer the thought after the first eight of
holding to another plexus for the last half of the
count. Thus, hold first on sacral plexus, then
raise the thought to between the shoulders for the

44 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

last half of the sixteen; and hold on solar plexus
during eight, then transfer to the throat for re-
mainder of count.

The downward flowing currents are physical
in their influence and the upward flowing are
psychical, so it is always best to terminate practice
with concentration upon upper centers. Other im-
portant centers for concentration are the heart;
the tip of the nose; the toes, big and little; soles
of the feet when they are cold; between the eyes;
the tip and the root of the tongue ; the little fingers ;
and the brain-center, or top of the head. Concen-
tration upon these vital centers is force-creating as
faithful, regular practice will soon convince you.

To the invalid who seeks in these exercises res-
toration of the health and vigor longed for, I give
this special message: First image clearly what
you wish to attain, and then hold the image stead-
fastly in mind, — an image, or picture, of health,
strength, activity, and helpfulness instead of their
enslaving opposites. As far as possible, conscious-
ness of infirmities must be banished. Waste no
strength in denial of suffering. It is fearfully real
for the time being, but every moment when you
can put all the complications in the back-ground,
rising to a plane of serenity and harmonious vibra-
tions above them, assists in reflecting better con-
ditions.

This is why we should " become as little chil-

How to gain the Master-Key 45

dren." The child's mind is as free from prejudices
and beliefs as a fresh-washed slate from marks.
It reflects sympathetically every vibration cast
upon its innocent undefiled substance; and it is
most helpful when we grown-ups can cultivate a
child's power of " make-believe."

We are coming to realize that we choose for
ourselves of what stuff these physical bodies shall
be moulded, and in the ceaseless activities of our
minds determine whether they shall be harmonious
or discordant.

CHAPTER IV

HOW TO USE THE MASTER-KEY

THE secret of all success in every under-
taking is concentration of all energy and
all endeavor upon that aim. Remittent
effort, with many irons in the fire sharing atten-
tion and strength, is a wasting drain upon time
and human energy; and never, unless under rarely
fortuitous circumstances, produces more than
mediocre results.

This importance of concentration is well un-
derstood in its bearing upon the material interests
in life; but its real potentiality is not even dreamed
of until, in connection with the rhythmic breath,
it is used to bring the mind under control; and,
through the mind, the body. This system of
teaching the overcoming of the lower self, by no
means belittling the body or any form of matter
but recognizing the power and influence of every
atom, proves to us in clarion tones of conviction
the personal responsibility of all who are endowed
with intelligence for the perfection of that body
through right thinking.

46

How to use the Master-Key 47

It is by controlling these bodies of ours first,
with all their passions and emotions — none of
them designed for our undoing but as schools of
strength — that we build the ladders which carry
us to unknown, almost unbelievable heights of in-
tellectual and spiritual power; heights where we
know that all lasting, enduring power is indis-
solubly united with, because proceeding from, the
spiritual force; and is fed by rhythmic currents
of Tattvic vibrations of so high and subtle a char-
acter that they are unaffected by the disturbances
on the grosser planes of being. Only spiritually
can we know them; and in rare, exalted moments
they give us a perception of the " Harmony of
the Spheres." The source of strength thus
opened to one is inexhaustible. Practice will give
every human being access to it, for the reservoir
is within every soul.

The effective use of the master-key is by means
of concentration. Only thus can we gain so firm
a hold upon the key that we can unlock and open
the magic realm of power to which it gives access.
The practice of the exercises for Prdndyama puri-
fies the body through the impetus it gives to the
expulsion of all wastes, and it greatly increases
the flow of the most favorable Tattvas, which,
speeding rhythmically over the nerves, clear the
channels of all jarring and jangling vibrations, —
those irregular and abnormal atomic vibrations

48 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

which cause disease. In brief, this exercise —
through bringing the vital force, Prdna, under
control and raising the currents to vastly higher
power, more subtle vibrations, prepares the way
and the stimulus to gain the power of concentra-
tion; for every particle of control over Prdna is
control over the mind as well.

Concentration is the bridge which spans the
gulf between the visible, physical world and the
wonderful invisible one of Nature's finer forces.
It is the first step in consciously exercising the sub-
conscious mind, — the immediate vehicle of the
soul's expression. Only by concentration can we
quiet the kaleidoscopic flitting of idle thoughts
through the conscious mind. Through their train
of upheaving emotions, they are constantly beat-
ing upon Nature's harmonious vibrations and
throwing them into waves of discord. The mo-
ment we arrest, through concentration, the energy-
wasting activities of the senses, which furnish
much of this mental hash, we bring our minds un-
der control of our souls and give our real selves a
chance to live and develop the powers which lie
latent in every human being, awaiting only recog-
nition and the stimulus of use or exercise to be
evolved.

The need for the silent period of concentration
is the need for meditation, that men may learn to
know their spiritual selves, and gain the peace and

How To Use the Master-Key 49

strength which can be found in no other way.
The man of meditation is the man of poise who
meets life's perplexities with the confidence drawn
from this unfailing source. In the rush and tur-
moil of life this noblest part of being lies latent
when not denied. The progress of the race dur-
ing centuries has been vastly retarded by the mis-
taken attitude towards the soul. It has been
treated as a mysterious something, quite apart from
practical affairs, which must be " saved " for the
future life; forgetful — yea, for the most part ig-
norant ! — that it is ever and always the imma-
nent present which demands the exercise of the soul.
By the conquest of self in that exercise — and
the first enemy is selfishness — the soul saves it-
self and grows to immortal stature.

It is the exaltation of the physical body as the
mundane manifestation of self whose needs, com-
fort, and pleasure are of paramount importance
that has made possible the development of the
modern curse — Sunday saints who are week-day
sinners. The man who knows he is a soul and
that every vibration he sends out will return to
him, cannot have one set of morals for the first
day in the week, and an antagonistic code govern-
ing his business dealings and private life. No
one can learn the truths of the Tattvic Law with-
out realizing personal responsibility for every
thought and act. It is no longer an uncertain

50 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath"

belief, or a creed. It is absolute self-knowledge,
based upon unvarying natural law. And it ful-
fills the promise that " The Truth shall make him
whole."

The cult of the " Power of Silence " arose from
the immanent need to save the world from the
abyss of materialism into which it has been plung-
ing with its famous seven-leagued-boots of so-
called progress. Humanity is just rousing itself
to a realization of the depths of degradation to
which this mad pursuit of material things as the
be-all and end-all of existence is carrying the race.
And it is waves of spiritual vibrations, generated
by lofty aspirations in the silence, which are thus
stirring the public conscience as never before.

From this leaven are rising insistent demands
for ethical standards of conduct governing all hu-
man relations, and the time has come when these
demands can never be silenced till the principle of
the universal brotherhood of man passes from
theory into vigorous practice, purifying every
branch of government — Municipal and National
— and elevating all the activities and relations of
life.

This is the real Christ spirit which is to rescue
humanity from the present intolerable conditions
of sordid grind and vicious selfishness; and it is
our privilege and responsibility to aid in thought
as well as act in this evolution, of which Horatio

How To Use the Master-Key 51

Dresser wrote prophetically: ;< The law of the
Christ is the law of organic perfection, the Christ
spirit made social is the supreme triumph of all
the powers of evolution."

Spiritual thought must descend as a balm to
cleanse and to heal the wounds of crime. Not
the common vulgar crimes of ignorance or of un-
governable passion which education combats; but
the far more dangerous ones — more heinous in
the sight of God, more fatal to the soul ! — the
deliberate, cold-blooded crimes of Satanically im-
moral intellects which have sacrificed all human
welfare and National prosperity to selfish per-
sonal greed and ambition. All human moralities
melt away before such aims. But they can neither
affect nor withstand the force of the stupendous
moral wave circling round our sphere.

It is man himself who must ameliorate the pres-
ent deplorable conditions ; he created them — cre-
ated all wickedness, all crime and misery, through
wrong thinking prompting evil doing. There is
no wickedness in the lower kingdoms ; and through
the power of right-thinking man must lift the race
from its present state of wretchedness and suffer-
ing. He must change conditions. Every human
being, no matter how isolated the life, can aid the
cause by right thinking. It is the quality of our
thinking that — through the Tattvas we draw to
us — makes us what we are, and upon which all

52 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

our influence depends. Dedicate your daily life
to high ideals, and in this training of self-control
and self-knowledge your soul will increase in sen-
sitive intuition to all promptings from the creative
resources of the Spirit which are infinite.

Horatio Dresser, than whom none has aided
more in the cult of spiritual thought, says:
" Deep within every human soul there is a dorm-
ant intuition which, if it be quickened, will guide
us as unerringly as the instinct of the dove, to our
home in God " (Power of Silence) . That " quick-
ening " can be obtained only when we listen
for our soul's commands. This is difficult in the
hurly-burly of life till we have made our minds
sensitive to the soul's lightest whisper by wooing it
in silent concentration.

Remember that we thus raise the Tattvas to a
subtle plane, which means increasing activity, —
vastly increased velocity. This higher rate of vi-
brations increases the power of the soul to mani-
fest its control over the mind, in fact, puts the two
en rapport as nothing else can. The strength
which the mind thus gains is shared by every nerve
and externalized in the increased vigor and vitality
of the body. Existence should be made a joy.
Only thus can any soul manifest its highest powers.
And to this end the daily life as far as it is under
personal control, should be ordered with harmony
and restraint. Moderation in eating is important

How To Use the Master-Key 53

and the purer the foods — the substances furnished
for these marvelous Tattvic activities — the better
the results.

When there is extreme physical disturbance,
more especially congestions of any sort, the prac-
tice of the exercises for Prdndydma — the Held-
breath — would be better omitted. At such
times, alternate breathing — on a count of seven
for inhalation and nine for exhalation — aids won-
derfully in restoring poise, calming the mind, and
soothing pain. Hold the breath a few seconds
before exhalation, and observe a like interval be-
fore Inhaling the next breath. Repeat six or seven
times — that is, from twelve to fourteen breaths.
According to need, this exercise can be taken fre-
quently — every hour or two — through the day,
and is especially helpful at any moment of exces-
sive fatigue and mental or nervous disturbance.
It is the sovereign remedy in all crises of heart
weakness.

For pains in the back, the Held-breath exer-
cise affords almost immediate relief, and its con-
tinued and regular practice strengthens a weak
spine more than anything else I know of. It is
well to precede this exercise with several rounds
of alternate breathing as given above. Do not
confound these exercises with rhythmic breathing
(fully described in Chapter XXXI). They are
remedial and corrective, designed to restore

54 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

normal conditions. In the well-poised human be-
ing, Nature takes care of the regular alternation of
the currents.

Instead of counting numbers during these exer-
cises, and especially during the Held-breath, it is
best to think a rhythmic syllable or phrase, a sacred
word or lofty sentiment, the repetition of which
holds the attention and promotes harmony. There
is a deep significance in this which demands more
extended consideration than can be given now.
By accenting the first word in each group of
three or four (according to count), the mind car-
ries the number without difficulty, rhythm is pro-
moted, and another anchorage is formed for the
mind. This affirmation, from Mrs. Besant's
Thought Power, is an admirable sentiment for the
purpose: 'The Self is Peace; that Self am I.
The Self is Strength, that Self am I." But any
thought or word of deep significance to the student
will be effective.

In the practice of the exercises for Prdndyama
and in the period of concentration following it,
the eyes should be closed. This inhibits one dis-
turbing sense-activity, and at the same time dis-
closes to us a marvelous inner vision, whose de-
velopment, like that of all the senses, depends upon
use. The first aim of concentration is to with-
draw all the senses from every external excitant,

How To Use the Master-Key 55

for this aids powerfully in quieting the mind.
Exactly in the measure that we can hold our at-
tention to a given point, do we increase the rate
of the Tattvic vibrations, and therefore the force
of Prdna.

One of the earliest results of regular and ef-
fective practice is the discovery that this internal
vision looks upon a marvelous realm of color due
to the Tattvas which we are able to recognize by
their characteristic forms and colors. As these
vibrations mingle, they vary from their simple
forms to those of bewildering complexity, form-
ing every conceivable goemetrical line and figure,
and the blended colors producing myriad hues and
tints. Many movements whirl around a central
dot or vortex, which sometimes gives a sensation
of great depth or unfathomable space. This hole,
as it were, is Akdsha, the first vibration which was
thrown into undifferentiated matter by the great
Primary Cause, Divine Spirit — hence, the begin-
ning of the involution of Spirit into matter.
Sometimes this Akdshic depth might be described
as colorless — a glowing white light — again as
black in its intensity, really indigo. These are
the positive and negative phases; then, as the
Fdyn vibrations mingle with the Akdsha^ it
changes to deepest azure.

Those who have once seen the wonderful play

56 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

of light and color within realize for ever and aye
that there is a realm where there is no night, and
a light that penetrates the densest matter — the
light that never was on sea or land.

CHAPTER V

THE EVOLUTION OF THE TATTVAS

IN the evolution of the Tattvas we trace the
evolution of the Soul to its beginning in the
involution of the Spirit. The one is as in-
separably connected with the other as are the in-
teracting energies of the positive and negative life-
currents; the out-breathing and the in-breathing of
the Divine Spirit (or the thought active and the
thought quiescent), upon which all life and mo-
tion depend.

Thus, spiritual activity is the creator of all
things; and the energy behind all motion, without
which creation is unthinkable, derives its power
from the one source. The first manifestation of
that power was positive and negative — the ac-
tive impressing its thoughts or action upon the re-
ceptive passive — and A kasha was the first Tattva
evolved by the interaction of these Divine cur-
rents of spiritual force. The Kosmic void of un-
differentiated matter — the Hindu's Prakriti —
was formless, and the first need of differentiation
was the space in which to create many forms;
therefore, the characteristic property of Akdshic

57

58 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

vibrations is to make space, and the closer the im-
pact of matter upon the vibrations the louder is
the sound of their movement. This is the reason
of the phenomenon that Natural Philosophy ex-
plains as the denser the medium the better con-
ductor is it of sound.

The homely and familiar comparison (in the
Aitareya-Aranyaka-Upanishad) by the learned
Hindu teacher, of the ether — that is, the Akdsha
— to a bowl in which all the other elements were
poured, is extremely felicitous and graphic. In
very fact all the other Tattvas, one after the other
in their turn, were evolved and are continually
mingled in the spaces of Akdsha.

Akdshic energy, expressed as sound, has long
been recognized as both the builder and disinte-
grator of form. The wonderfully beautiful geo-
metrical forms into which dry sand, sprinkled upon
a drum-head or upon a sonorous plate, will move
under the impulse given by musical tones show the
ever formative effect of Akdshic vibrations.

It was through an ingenious device of the Ger-
man philosopher Chladni that sound vibrations
were first made visible — circa 1785. He ob-
served that plates of metal or glass gave out dif-
ferent sounds according as they were struck at dif-
ferent points; and he conceived the idea of strew-
ing the surface with fine sand, and drawing a vio-
lin bow across the edge of the plate, while damping

The Evolution of the Tattvas 59

the vibrations at certain points by touching the
edge with his finger tips. This established nodal,
or rest, lines along which the sand grains shifted,
showing the form of the vibrations; and by vary-
ing the points of contact, both for drawing the
bow and damping the vibrations, a great variety
of beautiful figures were produced corresponding
with varying tones. It was thus found that a
given tone always produced the same figure; so
the experiments disclosed an unvarying law of
sound vibrations.

Illustrations of these sand forms, called
" Chladni's Figures," can be seen in Tyndall's
Sound and in most text books upon Natural Phil-
osophy. They are of particular interest in our
study because they betray the presence of all the
Tattvas in manifold combinations in the different
musical tones, and show how their characteristic
vibrations are modified by interaction one with an-
other.

Efforts to establish the laws of tonal color
should investigate this field; for color, following
form in Kosmic manifestation, is inseparably con-
nected with it, and as invariable as the form.
Each may be recognized by the other. Helmholtz
discovered that every color has its special vibration
(that is, /orw), but he drew the false inference
therefrom, that the secondary colors were not
formed from the primaries. The Tattvic law cor-

60 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

roborates the original conception, and by its means
the presence of any element can be detected by the
known influences, or effects, of the blending of
colors.

" In the realm of hidden Forces," every audible
sound is a subjective color; and, vice versa, every
visible color is an inaudible sound. Both proceed
from the same potential substance which Physi-
cists used to call ether. Occultists pronounce it,
" plastic, though invisible, Space."

The deeper we study the Tattvic Law of the
Universe the deeper is our conviction that every-
thing in the natural world moves rhythmically.
It is only when the human mind steps in with its
responsibility of free will to choose the right or
the wrong thought and act that life's rhythm is
broken and all its vibrations thrown into a discord-
ant jangle.

There is a center of unity in all things, — the
ever present Akdsha; and creative power, working
in this center, always manifests itself with rhyth-
mic harmony. Holding as it does every form
(and therefore, all colors) potentially, Akdsha
at all times foreshadows the qualities of all the
Tattvas, and intervenes between every two.
Every progressive step in the evolution of the
Tattvas is instinct with Divine intelligence, prepar-
ing the way for the crowning effort of creation —
man with his manifold activities, equipped to con-

The Evolution of the Tattvas 61

quer and dominate the vast realms of inanimate
nature.

Space having resulted from the interaction of
the positive and negative currents of Akdsha,
there was room for locomotion; and the spheres
of Vdyu appeared next and began to whirl in the
Akdshic vortices, born of the union of the Akdshic
currents. Again I must refer to the illustrations
of Professor Loeb's biological work in the Septem-
ber, 1905, Cosmopolitan; for, as far as that spark
of laboratory-created life progressed, it corrobor-
ates the Hindu revelation of the evolution of the
Tattvas, and the law of their several activities
and influences.

After Fdyu, the next need was heat to expand
the air, therefore we find that the mingling of
Vdyu vibrations with 'Akdsha produces Tejas vibra-
tions of light which generate heat, and which man-
ifest their presence in this dual character.
Through the action of heat upon air, water is
formed, hence Apas vibrations were the next re-
sult of creative energy; and the combined activities
of the other Tattvas condensed water into Prithlvi
vibrations, completing the primary differentiations
of Kosmic matter. Thus, with the fifth Tattva,
the self-conscious universe, an ocean of subtly fine,
psychic matter, came into existence. By succes-
sive interaction, following the established law —
the Tattvic vibrations becoming ever coarser in

62 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

their descent — the other planes of existence
through the mental to the physiological were
evolved; till the involution of the Spirit in the ter-
restrial elements was completed, and the earth
with its teeming life whirled in space.

The evolution of the soul thus involved is man's
task in his earthly pilgrimage, and it is alone
through spiritual thinking and living that he can
make that task a daily joy, and feel the exhilaration
in facing every duty which more than half accom-
plishes the work.

A spiritual philosophy of life is the foundation
of all right thinking and living. In it is found
the solution of Ruskin's assertion : " It is only
by labor that thought can be made healthy, and
only by thought that labor can be made happy."
Health is the mainspring of all successful effort,
and the spiritually alive soul can command health
as the first blessing. It is the natural and inevit-
able reward of right thinking and spiritual living;
that is, living under the direct guidance of the
soul.

! When we consciously subordinate the physical
to the spiritual, all the atoms in our bodies feel
an impulse toward order from the rhythmic flow
of the Tattvas; and even the most rebellious yields
to the magnetic attraction and vibrates in harmony
with the prevailing rhythm when the currents are
fully established and maintained in perfect equili-

The Evolution of the Tattvas 63

brium. This is the secret of all the miraculous
recoveries of bed-ridden invalids; for in moments
of supreme exaltation through faith or enthusiasm,
the Tattvic currents are raised to so high power
as to sweep all obstructions from their path, and
to impart synchronous action to the hitherto war-
ring elements, which almost instantly thrills the
body with a sensation of strength.

The higher we raise our vibrations through the
purifying action of rhythmic breathing and benefi-
cent thinking, the more we shall be in touch and
cooperate with the finer forces round about us —
their waves even breaking over us — and waiting
for our recognition to lift us to higher states of
efficiency, — of comprehension, of intuition, of
power to think and to do. Spiritual perceptions
and spiritual strength make possible a degree of
activity — both mental and physical — a power
of accomplishment in a given task, utterly beyond
the capability of mere physical energy. Work
which on the physical plane is effort, becomes a
joy and an inspiration when we call to our aid our
ever ready, ever waiting, spiritual forces.

It is the attitude of thought which makes all
the difference, because every atom of energy in the
physique has its source in the Spirit. But on the
material plane of manifestation, as when we speak
of " mere physical strength " or " brute force,"
the vibrations are grosser in character, unfit ma-

64 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

terial for the Spirit's activity, therefore, lacking
entirely the spiritual fire which sustains enthusiasm
and gives electrical force to every thought and act
thus inspired.

It is this spiritual energy which in rare emer-
gencies and moments of supreme excitement en-
ables people to forget the limits of physical
strength and to execute the ordinarily impossible.
I knew a very delicate young girl, the accepted es-
timate of whose strength and endurance exempted
her from even the usual exertions of daily life in
the home, who, under the excitement caused by
a disastrous fire very near, moved several inches
out from the wall a bookcase eight feet high which
was filled from floor to top with heavy books. It
was all that three strong men could do to put the
case back in its place the next morning. We can
train ourselves to employ this spiritual energy at
need, and thus eliminate many of the most trying
conditions in life. The wastefulness of common
methods of thought is a constant drain of psychic
energy which we can better employ.

Every fact that has been stated can be verified
by personal experiment, which means persistent
practice of the breathing and concentration exer-
cises already given; not intermittent practice when
you are reminded of it by bad feelings or when
you happen to think of it or have nothing else you
would rather do. To derive the benefit, spirit-

The Evolution of the Tattvas 65

ual, mental, and physical which I assume all my
readers are seeking, the practice must be regular
and at the regular periods — as nearly as possible
the same daily. Never let any of the exercises be-
come automatic. Hold the mind to the center.

I have tried to make it very clear that the pur-
pose of the exercises in alternate breathing is to
restore the balance of the Tattvas and the alter-
nating currents of Prdna (positive and negative),
the inequality of which is the primary source of all
disease. Habitual breathing should be as full,
deep, and regular as conscious direction from time
to time can make it. Habit is everything in this,
and in forming good habits Nature comes to our
aid with joyful alacrity. I have failed utterly in
my purpose if I have not convinced you that phy-
sical, mental, and spiritual harmony are promoted
by habits of rhythmic breathing in the purest air
obtainable. It need not be cold air to be pure,
but it must be fresh, unbreathed air.

Continued practice of the exercises will convince
you that you are treading the long hidden, closely
guarded path leading to Nature's treasury of se-
crets. If your interests and pursuits are scientific,
before your clearing vision wall after wall, hith-
erto baffling, will fall, disclosing long vistas
cleared and ready for your seeing eyes with as-
sured foundations, basic laws, inviting your fas-
cinating experiments into the myriad permutations

66 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

of these marvelous forces. Never for an instant
are they inactive, but ever building and disintegrat-
ing the visible and the invisible universe, involv-
ing and evolving through their vibrations every
atom therein contained.

CHAPTER VI

THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE TATTVAS

IT should be plain to all my readers now that to
neglect proper exercise of the lungs by deep,
full inhalations of pure, unbreathed air, is a
positive self-limitation of vital force which can be
justly named " slow suicide." The individual
thus living, even under the most fortunate circum-
stances otherwise, never attains the maximum of
his or her efficiency and power, and invites every
disease. You thus feed the disintegrating forces
with the corruption which increases their activity;
and shut out the renewing elements which upbuild,
while furnishing the stimulus to cast out the worn
out products of physical energy. And this man-
ner of living, which is the confirmed habit of multi-
tudes, is the progenitor of most of the ills from
which humanity suffers.

The day is dawning when that infamous old
aphorism anent the " ills that human flesh is heir
to " will be recognized for what it is, — the hid-
eous subterfuge of ignorance and credulity. It
has caused the most flagrant violations of Natural
Law, and weighed like an incubus upon the human

6?

68 (The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

race, encouraging fear and every other prolific
agent of evil and suffering, being a common source
of that weakness and inefficiency which produce
poverty. Fear breaks down tissue, and disorgan-
izes nerve cells as much as any acknowledged dis-
ease. It is only blindness to the latent, the poten-
tial, powers within that makes possible the con-
ditions from which a majority of mankind suffer
daily. As I shall show you, this is no digression
from our subject, the study of the Tattvas, but
most intimately connected therewith.

When you pray for strength, for health, for re-
lief from pain, do you realize what answer comes
back to you from Divine silence ? It says to you :
" Take them. The avenues are always open to
you. Nothing obstructs them but your own will
and wrong thoughts."

The moment you think health and strength
yourself, that moment you begin to clear from all
obstructions the channels of communication with
the sources of life-force; for every vibration on
the mental plane reacts upon those of the physio-
logical plane. Notice particularly that your very
thought is instantly reflected in a fuller infla-
tion of the lungs, which checks the disorder within
and improves the vibrations; and throughout the
universe like seeks like. Therefore, by a simple
change of mental attitude — simple, but oh, so im-
portant ! — you invite harmony instead of dis-

The Universality of the Tattvas 69

cord, and co-operate with Nature in her ceaseless
efforts to restore all the disordered vibrations in
your body to their normal conditions of perfect
rhythmic balance.

From the ever-blessed moment that you realize
your soul to be the rightful ruler of its tenement,
the physical body, and bring your will under the
soul's control — thereby transmuting it into soul-
force — rhythmic vibrations will inaugurate their
curative, restorative work. Say in your heart:
Peace! Peace! Peace! Ye warring f actions 1
Ye can no longer have dominion over me. I am
one with all the power for good in the Universe,
and I will admit only good.

The more you know of the Tattvic Law of the
Universe the deeper will be your conviction of
these truths, and of the individual responsibility
for health as the first condition for beginning to
fulfill God's intentions when he first thought of
you. Shakespeare's intuitions grasped a sublime
truth. The world is a stage; and, like the actors
in a play, to each and every one is assigned a
given role. There is a part adapted to you as
to no other; and yours is the task to develop those
spiritual and moral qualities that lead to the per-
fection of your latent abilities, and give you the
key, through intuitive comprehension, to the se-
crets of your strength and your weakness, — both
physical and moral. To obey the command,

70 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

" Know thyself," is to learn the nature of these
hidden forces, the Tattvas, whose ceaseless activi-
ties, governed or misgoverned, make us what we
are.

The varying effects of the different Tattvas in
their activities within the physical body are as dis-
similar as their characteristic qualities; and, there-
fore, the predominance of certain ones, even when
that condition is normal, is unfortunate, and their
excess is baneful. It is through the freedom of
the will that you can control and correct the forces
generated in your body, and draw to you the benefi-
cent ones you desire.

The characteristic form, features, and coloring

— complexion, hair, and eyes — which distinguish
human beings one from the other, are due to the
particular permutations of the Tattvas, which, on
the gross plane of their activities, make up the
component elements of different physiques. Their
mental influence is, of course, equally important
and individual (the physiological being, in fact,
its reflection), the opinions formed, the bent of
every mind being due to the bias given to it by the
prevailing elements, or Tattvas.

This individuality, stamped by the Tattvas, is
determined by the color — that is, the vibration

— of the planet under which one is born. This
fact gives us the scientific basis for astrology,
every planet being the center of a specific Tattvic

The Universality of the Tattvas 71

influence just as are the ganglia of the nervous
system. This agrees with and explains the puz-
zling tenet of Hermetic philosophy, " As it is
above, so is it below," and shows the close parallel-
ism between the microcosm and the macrocosm.
Always an acknowledged truth, modern science has
yet to point out the first coincidence. The Tatt-
vic vibrations corresponding thus with the planets
necessarily vary in force according to their move-
ments; every planet, and therefore the force of
vibrations emanating from it, being modified in
manifold ways according to its nearness to or re-
moteness from a sympathetic or a dominating sis-
ter orb. Much more concerning these correspond-
ences will be developed in later chapters. It could
not be so well understood now. It suffices to state
here that every activity in man is a microcosmic
reflection of macrocosmic activity.

This Tattvic influence is the energy, working
by the same law, throughout the kingdoms, min-
eral, vegetable, and animal of this vast universe.
Their myriads of permutations furnish the diver-
sity which charms us, and their invariability that
ever-recurring unity of action that baffles the phy-
sicist with amazing paradoxes.

In the process of evolution, every Tattva,
though retaining its essential primary quali-
ties (the properties already described as differen-
tiating one Tattva from another — see table of

72 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

the Tattvas, chapter II), combines with the other
Tattvas in the proportions of 4 to i, and in the
mingling is modified by their qualities. Thus,
every molecule of Fdyu consists of four parts of
Fdyu and one each of the four other Tattvas,
forming a five- fold division; together with two
phases, negative and positive, which make up the
mystic seven-fold. This number is now recog-
nized in science as establishing the Periodic Law
or system, which, grouping elements according to
their atomic weight, shows that elements of similar
chemical behavior occur once in seven; that is, in
octaves as do the tones of the musical scale.

Bearing in mind the process of their evolution
one after another from ethereal space to the cohe-
sive resistance of Prithivi, the earth vibration, it
should be understood that every successive Tattva,
even in its primary and most subtle form, becomes
more complex, for it contains the impress of those
preceding it. Thus, Prithivi partakes of the qual-
ities of the four preceding Tattvas, and adds its
own specific property. Two adjacent Tattvas
mingle more freely with each other than with the
more remote ones. For example, Prithivi and
Apas are more sympathetic and congenial than
Tejas and Prithivi; and Apas yields to Tejas be-
fore it does to Fdyu. We see this process exactly
illustrated in the change of ice (Prithivic state of
matter) through water to vapor. Akdsha inter-

The Universality of the Tattvas 73

venes between every two states, receiving the can-
celled vibrations of the element passing into a la-
tent condition and yielding the potentiality of the
supervening element; continuing, you see, to serve
as the bowl in which Nature does her mixing.

In physics, an important law of motion — known
as " Newton's third law " — is this : " For every
action there is a reaction, equal in amount and op-
posite in direction." This principle governs all
Tattvic vibrations. In the separate Tattvas,
every atom is reacted upon by an opposite
force, — the negative atom by a positive atom, —
and when the equal and opposite vibrations of the
same Tattva meet they cancel each other, and to-
gether pass into the Akdshic state. An illustra-
tion of this law can be seen when two waves of
equal size come together so that the crest of one
falls into the trough of the other. Thus meeting,

the waves are cancelled and smooth water results.

A

This conjunction, or rest point, is Akdshic; for
Akdsha precedes and follows every change on
every plane of motion and life.

In the action of light-waves the same phenome-
non has been observed whenever a difference of
path brings passing waves so that the crest of one
set of rays falls over the trough of the other set.
The conjunction (Akashic) of the two beams of
light produces darkness. The interference of
sound, as when the condensed part of one sound

74 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

meets the rarified part of another, and they neutral-
ize each other, producing silence, is yet another
illustration of this physical law. It was formerly
considered an " acoustic paradox."

These few illustrations show how the Tattvic
Law explains the most puzzling and contradictory
secrets of Nature's workshop. They are given
only as index-fingers pointing the way for every
interested student to make original discoveries.
This, to every real thinker, adds a zest which
nothing else can give, and becomes a spur to con-
stant effort and constant progress.

CHAPTER VII

MORE ABOUT THE ALL-PERVADING TATTVA
AKASHA

RECENT scientific discoveries which have
tumbled century-honored theories from
their pedestals to an abyss where we are
hastening to bury them in that oblivion of disuse
which the world heaps upon its recognized errors,
make it important to the student that a little more
space be given to pointing out the interesting cor-
roboration of the Tattvic Law which we can find
in all of these wonders.

The greatest bar to scientific progress is stated
in this trenchant form by Mme. Blavatsky:

" Pure force is nothing in the world of physics;
it is ALL in the domain of Spirit ! " Now, notice
this particularly. It is the world of force which
the modern scientist is beginning to penetrate; a
world of such stupendous forces as astounds him,
and at every step he is coming nearer to the Tatt-
vic Law.

The " Forty-nine Fires " of the Vedas are the
seven permutations of the Tatfuas and the two
forces, hidden as yet and undefined, behind the posi-

75

76 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

tive and negative currents of Prana (7 x 7 = 49).
Every one of these has well-determined chemical
and physical potencies in contact with terrestrial
matter, and a distinct function in the physical and
spiritual worlds, with a corresponding relation to
a human psychic faculty. To the ancient Hindu
adept all these hidden forces were as an open book,
and years ago India's initiates accurately predicted
all the amazing discoveries and inventions of re-
cent years, which have furnished new foundations
for science and kept the world marvelling.

Out of the invisible, Sir William Crookes, with
his " radiant matter," and Roentgen, with his X-
ray, lured two of these " Forty-nine Fires." With
the X-ray, the principle of radio-activity which
revolutionized science was established; and it
paved the way for the discovery of the twentieth-
century marvel, radium, which disclosed radio-
activity as an actual property of matter. No one
conversant with the Tattvic Law can doubt that
radium and all the radio-active substances can be
properly classified among the " Forty-nine Fires "
of the Vedas.

In all these progressions and permutations, the
higher, more subtle plane, or state, of matter is
positive to the next lower, and every lower one is
the result of the interaction of the positive and
negative phases of the next higher state.

Radium furnishes us with invaluable data corro-

The All-Pervading Akasha 77

berating the Tattvic Law. But in order to com-
prehend the velocity of these vibrations (which
are ceaselessly bombarding us) and the intricacy
of the Tattvic permutations, a few words concern-
ing the nature of atoms will be helpful. The
word atom is still defined in standard dictionaries,
and in text-books upon physics published within
the present decade, as that ultimate particle of a
molecule which is indivisible. In a very slipshod
fashion, atom has also been defined as interchange-
able with molecule, and, therefore, it has crept
into very general usage in the same sense. Al-
though a molecule is described as " The smallest
portion of any substance in which its properties re-
side," it is possible, by means of heat or some other
chemical agent, to separate a molecule into two
or more particles, called atoms, " and these can-
not be further divided " was the ultimatum of
Natural Philosophy. Until quite recently, the
hydrogen atom was the smallest mass of matter
known to science, and, therefore, the accepted unit
of atomic weight.

But what says Prof. George Darwin as to this?
" It has been proved that the simplest of all atoms
— namely, that of hydrogen — consists of eight
hundred separate parts, while the number of atoms
in the denser metals must be counted by tens of
thousands. These separate parts have been called
corpuscles, or electrons, and may be described as

78 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

particles of negative electricity. It is paradoxi-
cal, yet true, that the physicist knows more about
these ultra-atomic corpuscles and can more easily
count them than is the case with the atom of
which they form the parts."

Some of these corpuscles move at a speed of
200,000 miles a second, and the unscientific reader
will get a clearer idea of their minuteness if told
that the molecule, of which they are parts, is so
small as to be invisible even under the most power-
ful microscope. Sir William Thompson made
this graphic comparison : " If a drop of water as
large as a pea were magnified to the size of the
earth, the molecule would appear scarcely larger
than the original drop."

Radium gives off three kinds of rays which have
been named respectively alpha, beta, and gamma.
The alpha rays are compared to the " ions," or
tiny particles, which fly from red-hot metals.
They are positively electrified, and the particles
are about twice the mass of the hydrogen atom.
These rays have a velocity of 20,000 miles a sec-
ond, and are constantly emitted from radium in
its natural state without perceptible loss to its sub-
stance any more than the exhalation of its odor
changes a flower. The beta rays are negatively
charged corpuscles, about one two-thousandth the
size of those making up the alpha rays; and, save
for their greater velocity — circa 100,000 miles

The All-Pervading Akasha 79

a second — are said to exactly resemble the cath-
ode rays produced by an electric discharge inside
a Crooke's tube.

The gamma rays are not so well understood as
the two others, but are believed to be identical
with X-rays. Are they not the union of the alpha
and beta rays after passing through the Akdshic
state forming a Tattvic permutation? A spec-
trum analysis of the rays should determine this.
The spectrum of every substance and element re-
veals its Tattvic nature by means of the prevalent
color, or colors ; and the greater the heat to which
the matter is subjected the nearer it approaches
its solar, instead of terrestrial, state.

A

Akasha is well-named the " all-pervading Tatt-
va." In chemical changes of one state of matter
into another, you have been shown in these illus-
trations not only that Akasha intervenes, but how
it acts; that it is the substratum, or base (in all
phenomena or paradoxes) which baffles the scien-
tist. As in things external, so it is within; and
your observation of natural phenomena will aid
vastly in the understanding of your own microcosm,
wherein the Tattvic Law comes under the influ-
ence of your thoughts and will-power, and the
currents of Prana may thereby be thrown entirely
out of rhythmic balance.

In consequence of its universal prevalence nor-
mally, it is not surprising to learn that the excess

8o The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

A.

of Akdsha is disastrous, and according to the phase
of its activity causes discomfort or misfortune.
Among the traits and emotions which give evi-
dence of this predominance or excess are forget-
< fulness, covetousness, and obstinacy (headiness),
and blindness and unreason in matters concerning
the affections. Emotions of repulsion, shame,
and fear are due to the same source; and the
tremor which shakes fear-stricken people comes
from hollows in the veins caused by Akdshic vibra-
tions in excess. To this effect is due the physical
and mental tension which so unnerve the victim.

" The remedy," do you ask? What is free will
for, if not to give us power to choose our thoughts
and the deeds resulting therefrom? The " bliss "
of ignorance is that we are not to blame if we do
not know the error of certain thoughts and ac-
tions. Invariably we must suffer both mentally
and physically for such error ; but only knowledge,
bringing power, brings also responsibility. Never
forget that it is the form of motion that causes
the state, and that form can therefore change it.

A caution is necessary here: It is impossible
to energize the nerves when they are strained by
constant tension. Paradoxical as it is these two
conditions are often confounded, but there is a
marked distinction between tensing and energizing
the nerves. The accepted theory of tension con-
sidered mechanically — as of a wire or rope — is

The All-Pervading Akasha 81

to put all the strain upon it that it will bear.
Nerve- and muscle-tension wears people tremend-
ously because it is a stretching, straining, and
sundering of atoms one from another which breaks
down structure physiologically. In concentration
of energy — as in the Held-breath exercise — the
reverse is the condition. The atoms are com-
pacted closer and closer together, and thrill with
the force of unison and the harmony of synchron-
ous motion. Thus the most delicate and finest
nerve is raised to the power of a larger one; and
the increase of energy throughout the nervous sys-
tem corresponds.

Face every mental or physical crisis first, by tak-
ing a few deep, full inspirations to change the air
— and thus the vibrations, that is, the form of
action — in the lungs; and follow this with eight
or ten repetitions of the nerve-purifying and nerve-
strengthening alternate breathing, as directed in
Chapter IV. While thus breathing, look within,
and seek that heart-silence which carries you to
the radiant center of your being, and laps you in
poise and confidence.

You will thus raise your vibrations to a higher
plane, and in doing this you not only lift yourself
into a state in sympathy with higher influ-
ences and draw them to you, but above condi-
tions where unwholesome vibrations and thoughts
(similar to those you may desire to expel) reach

82 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

you. You are making for yourself a protecting
sheath against demoralizing mundane influences of
that earth, earthy character which feeds material-
ism. Sympathetic vibrations are the wires upon
which epidemics spread from victim to victim, and
commonly that sympathy is fear. But courage
and confidence can be made equally contagious.
Happy, courageous thoughts draw the vibrations
of happiness and courage; and, steadfastly main-
tained, will spread a contagion of health and
happiness round about you.

CHAPTER VIII

THE SPECIFIC INFLUENCE OF THE TATTVAS

IN the invariability of those characteristics of
every Tattoo, which differentiate one from an-
other, we find the reason for the force of hab-
its, and the clue to that inexorable law of like seek-
ing like. This law is set forth in the Bible with
stern realism, appearing as so manifest an injus-
tice that to many souls it is a hopeless stumbling
block.

What are habits? The established periodicity
of a certain vibration, or vibrations; for all forces
in nature by an inherent law of their being, come
back to their source. This tendency in atom,
molecule, and cell to repetition of motion is due
to the unvarying law of rhythm. All examina-
tions of molecules prove that their movements
are periodical, and when normal rhythmical. All
life is a matter of vibration, every act, every
thought, is a Tattvic vibration, — and once a given
vibration has occurred, not only is it apt to recur,
come back to its source, but every repetition in-
creases that liability and its facility of action, be-
cause, it cuts deeper its channel through the

84 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

directing brain or nerve substance. The great
law of rhythm is the director, incentive, or cause
of all automatisms. For this reason, also, con-
sonance of action draws similar vibrations to-
gether. The way is made and invites that vibra-
tion.

Thus, on the mental plane, similar thoughts
flash from one receptive mind to another as the
needle is drawn to a magnet. On the gross ma-
terial plane, water mingles with water, oil with
oil; and every one knows how all tangible things
of like nature are drawn together, and similar
events occur in groups whether they be tragedies
or festivals. But knowledge of the underlying
cause puts in our hands a weapon of defence
against the seeming cruelty and hardship of this
law. We must ban the thoughts which cut the
channels for unfavorable vibrations, and avoid the
deeds which deepen and make more permanent
their impression.

Ignorance is described in Sanskrit as darkness
— called Avidyd — and is considered a very dark
state of Akasha. The gross vibrations have be-
come " set," as it were, through the non-reception
of other vibrations — meaning fresh ideas; and
as the victim of mental inactivity grows older this
Avidya (uh-veed-yah) state renders it ever harder
to make an impression upon such a brain. Every
new thought makes a new channel in the brain,

The Influence of the Tattvas 8$

which explains the high average of conservatism
in the human race. People are prone to follow
ruts; it is harder to make new roads, which is
evidenced in our idiomatic expression, " to break
a road." The fewer channels there have been in
a brain the less yielding is the substance — " dark-
ness " well describes it — and the more difficult it
is to penetrate it with new ideas which must thread
their way through. Swami Vivekananda ex-
pressed this in a graphic figure of speech :

" The more thoughtful the man the more com-
plicated will be the streets in his brain, and the
more easily he will take to new ideas, and under-
stand them." It is not the mere bulk of a brain
but the character of its cells, its atomic structure,
that makes the intellectual giant.

This follows the law of the whole physical
economy, that parts or organs which are kept in
a state of activity are more pliable and respond to
unusual demands upon their strength or endurance
exactly in the measure that they have been exer-
cised. Nothing in the universe is in a state of per-
manence or stands still as it were. Everything is
either improving, building up, or disintegrating;
and the atoms in our bodies follow the Tattvic
laws of universal motion.

But, never forget, you are free to choose what
the motion shall be; whether harmonious, build-
ing up, or discordant, which is disintegrating.

B6 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

For the physiological plane is a reflection of the
mental plane, and your own thoughts can be made
paramount in influence, protecting the body from
unfavorable vibrations which otherwise would find
entrance. So all-pervading, so deep-lying is this
law of like seeking like that we gain in health as
we promote the health of others; and our happi-
ness is increased in the direct ratio that we make
others happy. That is the line of least resistance;
arid the easiest way to win all benefits, guerdons,
or material success whatsoever, is to seek those
blessings for others.

The mind which is stirred to emotional excite-
ment by the trifling annoyances and perplexities of
the average daily life, plunging into wordy con-
flicts upon the slightest provocation, is wooing
every and any physical disorder, makes rhythmic
harmony of physical functions impossible, and in-
vites the disturbance of the Tejas Tattva, — a
most dangerous vibration when thrown out of bal-
ance, disturbing its legitimate functions. Every
reaction in the form of hatred or evil — even re-
pugnance of the intense sort, the deep revulsions
that stir up whirlpools of emotion — disturbs the
balance of Tejas and weakens the mind, exposing
it to be more easily stirred; for every unhappy
thought is responded to by an unhappy, disordered
vibration. We contribute our mite towards uni-
versal harmony by cultivating indifference to

The Influence of the Tattvas 87

evils which we have no power to remedy or alle-
viate. Every manifestation of control in such
cases, by which we retain our poise and, therefore,
our judgment, also strengthens the mind and in-
creases our power. The energy thus gained and
stored is converted to a higher power.

Tantrik philosophy explains minutely the effect
of the different Tattvas upon human life, health,
and happiness, prophesying good or bad fortune
for many of the habitual acts of daily life, ac-
cording as they are performed with one or the
other current of Prdna, or during the prevalence
of certain Tattvas. While some of this detail is
more curious than practical, and part of it is obso-
lete, not applying to conventions of modern life,
there is much that is fundamental; much which
can be proved in many experiences; and is con-
stantly corroborated in every system of mental
therapeutics.

The all-pervading Akdsha has centers of dom-
inant influence in the brain and ears; and there are
periods when it is prevalent in the throat, spine,
heart, and anus. Always active in the exercise of
thought, and becoming predominant during in-
tense mental application and in meditation, brood-
ing and melancholy induce its excess, and, in con-
sequence, affect the general health. Knowing
this, we must utilize the normal and fortunate

.2

powers of Akdsha, and inhibit its malefic influences

88 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

by changing our vibrations when they manifest
their presence.

The natural corrective of happy thoughts is
beneficent because they encourage the flow of
Prithivi, — the extreme of the Tattvic scale from
Akdsha. Not rose-colored spectacles but yellow
ones should be given to people addicted " to the
blues," and they should be kept in the sunshine
when possible and be surrounded by floods of
golden light, living in yellow-hung rooms. Hy-
steria and lunacy indicate the disastrous prepon-
derance of Akdsha and call for the yellow treat-
ment, and every influence possible that will reduce
the Akdshic vibrations to their lowest normal flow.
The consideration of Prithivi, which must come in
its natural sequence will develop more details.

Remember that as the foreshadower of every
other Tattva all possibilities can be developed
from the Akdsha. That is the form of its mental
prevalence. It is for us to choose the ingredients
and do the mixing! It is the stagnation and mis-
use of Akdsha which are to be shunned. The
. taste of Akdsha is said to be bitter, but I believe
» it can also be proved to be salt. It is the light-
est of the Tattvas. Taking ten as the unit of
Akdsha, they increase in weight by ten in natural
order from Vdyu twenty to Prithivi fifty.

Vdyu is only less unfortunate when excessively
predominant than Akdsha; and, as their relations

The Influence of the Tattvas 89

are close, the presence of one in excess indicates a
preponderance of the other, or is apt to be ac-
companied by it. In speaking of the manifesta-
tions of Fdyu or its centers of dominant influence,
the reader is cautioned against confounding the
Fdyu Tattva with another Sanskrit use of the word
which has entirely misled some students. The
word is derived from the root va, to move, and
signifies a motive-power. Certain organic func-
tions of the body, which are considered as so
many manifestations of Prdna, are generically
called Fdyus, though having specific names. In
this sense, Fdyus are nothing more than forces of
Prdna; or it would be clearer to say they are evi-
dences of Prdnlc power. In only one of these so-
called " Fdyus " — the function of breathing —
is the Fdyu Tattva prevalent. To avoid confu-
sion, I shall restrict the use of the word to its
Tattvlc sense. It is much clearer to know these
manifestations of Prdna by their specific names,
when we come to them.

You have learned that the sense of touch is
stimulated by the Fdyu Tattva, and that a specific
field of its gross activities is to furnish the thin,
elastic sheath-garment that protects the sensitive
flesh, — the skin of the body. The two phases,
positive and negative, of Fdyu, form the positive
and the negative skin, each of which has five lay-
ers in which the other Tattvas mingle, one after

90 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

the other, with the Fdyu, and disclose their in-
fluence by the modifications in the forms of the
cells. An illustration of a magnified section of
skin betrays all these Tattvic activities in oblong,
squared, and triangulated spheres and dotted cir-
cles. In a single layer of the cuticle, it is com-
puted there are a billion scale-like cells to the
square inch.

Every movement of the body is a manifesta-
tion of Fdyu, and acts of levitation are exhibitions
of supreme mastery of this Tattva. It is more
than probable that it is an excess of Fdyu which
gives people sometimes in dreams the sensation of
flying; and deep breathing when walking almost
literally gives wings to the feet, so lithe and buoy-
ant does it make the body.

Fdyu has an acid taste, and the acidity of the
stomach which accompanies most gastric disturb-
ances is unmistakable proof that this Tattva is
flowing in excess. All the exercises in alternate
breathing, and the Held-breath especially, are of
great benefit in all gastric disorders; and I know
of nothing else that can give so speedy relief to
intense suffering in acute attacks. Four or five
repetitions of the Held-breath exercise are suffi-
cient at one practice, but the intervals of practice
may be every hour if the need be urgent. Do not
confound Prdndydma with the exercise; that is,
do not say you take a Prdndydma. You take an

The Influence of the Tattvas 91

exercise — the Held-breath — to acquire Prdndy-
dma — the control of Prdna. Always clear
speaking promotes clear thinking and facile doing.

You will understand now that it is the law of
periodicity which makes it so important that
periods of practice, both for the breathing exer-
cises and for concentration be observed regularly;
that is, at as nearly the same hour every day as
possible. Regularity in this greatly promotes the
harmony and ease of the doing, and increases the
benefits proportionally. No ordinary interrup-
tions should be permitted to interfere with this,
especially during the first months of practice.

The attitude of mental serenity gained in med-
itation upon the Higher Self, when we come into
a consciousness of inward power from our union
with the great Central Dynamo of life itself, gives
us a physical poise which is invaluable in meeting
the vicissitudes of daily activities and lessens the
friction beyond compare. And the benefit is not
merely personal. The serenity and physical har-
mony of one such well-poised person will impart
its benison to a whole group.

CHAPTER IX

TATTVIC INFLUENCES: TEJAS, THE FIRE OF LIFE

IT is only natural and in perfect accord with
the harmony which we observe throughout
nature that the Tattva which puts us in hap-
piest relations with the universe while we live on
the terrestrial plane is the earth element, or
Prithivi. Moreover, the fortunate influences of
the Tattvas upon mundane life, decrease, ac-
cording to Tantrik philosophy, in exact ratio to
their remoteness from the terrestrial element;
and the lower triplicity — Prithivi, Apas, and
Tejas — work together with paramount influence
upon human life — for good when harmoniously
balanced, and for untold evil when misused. And
this influence is not alone upon the gross plane in
perfecting the physical body and maintaining the
equability and harmonious functioning of all its
organs, but also in subtler ways through the great
sympathetic nervous system, which is the connect-
ing link with exterior vibrations.

We are constantly lapped in an ocean of life-
giving Prana flowing in full currents of rhythmic
harmony from its solar center; but in diseased

92

Tejas, the Fire of Life 93

physical conditions, these currents are beaten back,
deflected as it were, by the antagonistic repulsion
of the discordant vibrations holding sway over
the body and surrounding it with their unwhole-
some atmosphere. Thus, the Universe of mat-
ter, to our vision unmanifested, surrounds us.
We choose from it what we will!

If we desire harmony and poise, we must think
of harmony and poise, for such vibrations do not
impinge upon either physical or mental states of
heat and excitement or depression and worry.

Here is the place to protest emphatically against
the false logic which argues that there is no deep
feeling, no earnestness, unless it expresses itself
with passion and excitement, and defends the
strenuous life as the only progressive life of deeds
and accomplishment. At this particular epoch of
racial evolution, especially as expressed in Ameri-
can life, the influence of this sophistical denuncia-
tion of the good, the true, and the beautiful in de-
fence of the bad, the wrong, and the hideous is de-
plorable. The intemperance of living which it ad-
vocates and extols is a national menace, for it af-
fects men and women mentally and morally as
well as physically; and characters deteriorate even
faster than physiques under the iniquitous strain
after success at any cost.

You will learn in this study of self-develop-
ment — that is, soul growth — through self-con-

94 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

trol that all great forces, working harmoniously to
a given end, come out of the silence ; just as Admiral
Togo's fleet sailed out of the silent mist on that
memorable May morning in the Tsushima Straits,
and gave such an exhibition of conserved power
as the world never before witnessed. All that
this wonderful self-contained nation, Dai Nippon,
has accomplished is an object-lesson of superbly
controlled force. She is unlikely to fulfill any of
the dire Western prophecies of " yellow peril " —
fear of which exists only in the strenuous imagin-
ations that picture the possibilities of power mis-
used — for Nippon's samurai spirit is not preda-
tory.

Those who understand how deeply bushido in-
fluences the national life realize that Japan has in
this word not merely enlarged the universal vocab-
ulary of expressive, high-thought symbols, but
that she has given to the world an exalted, ethical
standard of character. Bushido, " the Soul of
Nippon," implies the spirit of discipline and sacri-
fice, of gentleness and firmness, of honor and in-
tegrity, of heroic endurance and chivalry. All
that the Western world can teach Japan of ma-
terial progress is elevated and transmuted through
bushido into something which the average West-
ern mind — the commercial, How-much-can-you-
get-f or-it ? mind — cannot comprehend ; in which,
therefore, danger is scented.

Tejas, the Fire of Life 95

But the whole secret is that the Nipponese have
never lost touch with Nature. They have kept
close to the soul of things, to the heart of the uni-
verse, with senses trained to consciousness of the
nearness of the spiritual plane, which the Western
people have blindly ignored, when not denied, in
their head-long pursuit of things material. Ja-
pan's own peril is only from those of her people
who imitate too closely Western commercial meth-
ods, forgetting the traditions of the past, or never
themselves trained in them.

We who have worked so hard and made such
tremendous sacrifices of the best things, the real
prizes in life, pursuing wrong roads leading to
precipices or blind alleys and forming wrong hab-
its of thinking and doing, must now go into the
silence to find our moral as well as physical equili-
brium; to discover the right path leading to ra-
tional living and thinking and the forming of nor-
mal, harmonious habits.

It is in the stillness that we give the rhythmic
breath of life (ever offering its healing restora-
tive power) an opportunity to overcome the an-
tagonistic, disordered vibrations in our bodies,
and draw into synchronous movement — that is,
vibration — all the rebellious atoms and molecules
which have been setting up independent republics,
all warring against one another. The state we
woo is inward and individual, and not dependent

96 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

upon exterior silence although aided by it. As the
delicious calm of this stillness in which we try to
enwrap ourselves makes its presence felt, a poise
and serenity flows over and through us, penetrat-
ing every fiber of our beings and restoring confi-
dence and power; but few, even when rejoicing in
this new-found strength, attempt to analyze its
source. It is the magnetism generated by the
rhythmic current of Prana, which, sweeping
through every channel, imparts corresponding mo-
tion to every atom, as a great tidal stream sweeps
through its estuaries with irresistible force, carry-
ing all obstructions before it, and compels every
molecule of water to flow in the same direction.

The rhythmic current of Prdna coming under
the control of the soul-centered will thus affects
for good the whole being. When practicing the
breathing exercises and endeavoring to concentrate
the mind upon a given center or subject causes phy-
sical disturbance, it is because this control has not
been gained. The disturbance is open revolt
against control and order. Not struggling but
letting-go is necessary. Retire to the silence of
the soul on the heights of your being, and reflect
its calm upon the mind. Downward, to those
rebellious physical atoms the reflection must pass
on. It is the unchangeable law. The rhythmic
word or affirmation is at such times most helpful.
There is a monitor within who quickly takes cog-

Tejai, the Fire of Life 97

nizance of the accent and establishes the rhythm,
so that you feel every group when it is complete.
This holds attention and prevents the exercise from
becoming mechanical, in which state the benefit is
greatly lessened.

The figure of man, standing with outstretched
arms, epitomizes from his crown to his toes pre-
dominant Tattvic influences in the exact order of
their evolution. Akdsha is prevalent in the head
which is raised heavenward. Out of this Akdshic
bowl of mentality comes whatever of good or evil
our consciousness mixes there, to be reflected upon
the physical plane, and affect for weal or woe our-
selves and our fellows; for none can live to him-
self alone. Fdyu has its keenest vibrations in those
extended fingers; Tejas is extremely active
throughout the torso, and has more centers of dom-
inant influence there than any other Tattva; Apas is
influential in the knees; and Prithivi, predominat-
ing in the soles of the feet, maintains man's gravity
as his feet press Mother Earth and meet her sym-
pathetic vibrations.

A deep significance is here. The living man is
the live cross. It should not need historical proof
that the cross is the most ancient of symbols — its
origin lost in the mists of antiquity — to convince
us that like all symbology it originally expressed
the recognition of the Truth of Being. That is,
the dual Principle — Spirit-matter, positive-nega-

98 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

tive — and the elemental forces evolved therefrom,
which involved the submergence of the Spirit, and
out of which the Soul must be evolved. And just
as the Spirit in order to manifest laid Itself upon
the cross (the first sacrifice), the " spark " of spirit-
ual fire radiating from center to circumference,
thereby limiting Itself to the sphere, so the soul cen-
ter of man is at the intersection of the cross just
between the shoulders, where Angel's wings are
always indicated; and whether there be winged
angels in very fact matters not the least. They
symbolize the flight of the soul when it recognizes
its own power and freedom.

The intimate relations of Tejas with the vital
organs, so compactly fitting the one to the other
in the torso, makes the rhythmic flow of this Tattva
in its divinely assigned proportions of paramount
importance to both health and happiness. Not
only does it maintain the normal heat of the body,
with centers of great activity in the sacral and solar
plexuses and between the shoulders, but it presides
over digestion and distributes the renewing nutrient
juices throughout the system. In disturbed condi-
tions it destroys its own work. The positive phase
of Tejas is manifested in the stomach and its neg-
ative phase in the duodenum. Its prevalence in
digestion explains the close sympathy between the
stomach and brain ; for as Tejas stimulates the optic
nerves, it has at all times a strong influence upon

Tejas, the Fire of Life 99

thoughts, and correspondingly suffers' as strong a
re-action from them. Indeed, no other Tattva is
so quickly affected by every mental disturbance.

The Hindu god of fire — that is, the power or
force in this element, the luminiferous ether — is
called " Agni," and this word is frequently used in-
terchangeably with Tejas to signify the same ele-
ment; though, in some of the Upanishads the dis-
tinction is made of naming heat or fire " Agni,"
and light " Tejas." The god " Agni " is repre-
sented with seven tongues, which of course symbol-
ize the seven permutations of the Tattva. There
are many references in the Upanishads to Agni as
" the fire within by which the foods are cooked."
The student is bade to stop his ears and meditate
upon the throbbing he hears within which he should
recognize as the noise of Agni's activity; and also
as tangible proof of the life and light within which
are one with the Spirit Divine, in very truth, not
figuratively, omnipresent. On the approach of
death this inward noise ceases. The forces of life
are withdrawing.

Agni is the name of various plants, among them
Citrus acidus (lemon) and Plumbago Zeylanica,
a member of the leadwort family. Other plants
are called " Tejas; " among them several scarlet-
flowered ones; and were we to make a careful ex-
amination of these plants we should doubtless find
they all possess some pungent or heating property.

ioo The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

The fibrous aril of the nutmeg, known to com-
merce as " mace," betrays in its red color and its
fiery pungency its affinity with Tejas, the taste of
which is pungent. Tejas is closely associated with
minerals, and during its flow, according to Tattvic
philosophy, the thought of minerals and quadru-
peds rises in the mind. Gastric juices, lymph,
bile, and marrow are in Sanskrit called either
" agni " or " tejas." When people are " cold to
the marrow of their bones," something is wrong
with Tejas.

In all hot disputes and excitement Tejas vibra-
tions are disordered and increased; and in excess it
becomes the instigator of the most diabolic crimes,
blindfolding reason and shackling self-control. In
Sanskrit, impatience and inability to put up with
inconvenience (general cantankerousness as it were)
are called " tejas." The word identifies the sharp
edge of a knife, as also the point of a flame; and all
brilliant, dazzling, glowing, flaring things are
known as tejas.

I believe the Tejas Tattva to be the chief force
employed in all intense, effective, organizing
thought; and also the space-annihilating vibration
which is the mysterious agent in thought transfer-
ence, and which transports us mentally from New
York to Tokyo at a speed that leaves Puck a lag-
gard. This conjecture is corroborated by the fact
that the Sanskrit name for the brain is tejas. The

Tejas, the Fire of Life IOI«

concentration in the brain of this radiant, disinte-
grating and transforming force in a state of great
activity would account for the vast discrepancy
between the fatigue effects of mental and physical
exertion. It is well known that the breaking down
of tissue in the brain during intense application is
so rapid that three hours of brainwork is as great
a drain upon the physical forces as a whole day of
manual labor.

A logical diagnosis of rheumatism by the Tatt-
vic law explains its cause as an excess of Fdyu and
a decrease of Apas vibrations causing extreme acid-
ity of all the secretions and excretions of the body.
The intense suffering in the bony structure arises
from the pressure upon these vibrations of the co-
hesive Prithivi Tattva; and the relief which hot
baths and inunctions of pungent oils afford is due
to the expansion of the luminiferous ether, the flow
of Tejas being thus accelerated and encouraged.

An increased flow of A pas naturally follows, and
this water vibration dilutes and washes away the
acid impurities whose clogging wastes have choked
channels.

For some years before radium was discovered,
the miners working in large Montana mines were
familiar with a strange mineral which they were
positive possessed curative properties. They
called it " Medicine ore " and " rheumatism rock; "
and they carried bits of it in their pockets belie v-

The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

ing it a positive cure for kidney and stomach troub-
les, " miner's consumption," rheumatism, and some
nervous disorders. The mineral emits phosphores-
cent light under slight friction, but there is abso-
lutely no perceptible heat in it, and the radiance is
most brilliant under water.

When radium was discovered, it occurred to
one of the miners that the " rheumatism rock "
might contain the rare new element, and he induced
some Butte chemists to examine it. Careful tests
and analysis disclosed a trace of radio-activity, and
the mineral has been named " radiumite; " but no
one can account for its strange medicinal virtues,
which have been substantiated by many experiments
under close observation of a prominent Butte physi-
sian. It is of course an igneous rock aglow with
subtle Tejas vibrations, which explains clearly and
scientifically its magical curative and invigorating
properties. To the underground worker especially
is it a blessed boon, supplying him with the life ele-
ment of which his deprivation of sunshine and
light robs him.

You see it is of vast importance to human well-
being that the balance of the Tattvas be main-
tained, and this is the remedial office of alternate
breathing.

It is sometimes very helpful in crises of great
fatigue and exhaustion following strenuous exer-
tion, to take several full deep negative breaths —

Tejas, the Fire of Life 103

inhalations through left nostril — exhaling all
through right nostril. Hold the breath in and
out while you count nine, and increase this count
as control is gained ; but never do it to the point of

least strain or discomfort. Take the exercise lying/

i
prone upon the back, perfectly relaxed, or when

walking in the open air.

CHAPTER X

HAPPINESS VIBRATIONS : APAS AND PRITHIVI

THE Tattvic Law of the Universe, under-
stood and applied in daily life and
thought, makes living under the old re-
gime of blind submission to unknown forces, gener-
ally believed to be malefic and always endangering
health, an utter impossibility, — really unthinkable.
And the application of the Law leads one to spirit-
ual living by as direct a course as the flight of a
homing pigeon. This radical change of thought
is a regeneration, but concerning the transition,
there are several things to be considered.

In this pouring of the new wine of Higher
Thought, or Spiritual consciousness, which is the
only real life, into the old bottles of disordered
bodies, the only trouble arises from failure to
cleanse the bottles properly. Progress will be de-
layed as long as impurities of any sort are permit-
ted to pollute " The temple of the Living God." i

There are many kinds of pollution, and some of
the most insidious society smiles upon as pleasures.
Gormandizing, dissipation and excesses of any sort
which recklessly exhaust nerve strength, and pick-

104

Happiness Vibrations 105

ling the body with nicotine till the stale, rank odor
oozes from its pores, are of these; and habits which
thus ignore the body's need of order, cleanliness,
and purity within as without must be changed be-
fore the " old bottle " is fit for the new wine. It is
a fatal mistake to belittle the body, for it is only
when we have, through considering its needs ration-
ally, moulded it into a wholesome, perfect body
that we can forget it and make of it the perfect in-
strument for the soul's activities for which it was
divinely destined.

When consciousness, in thraldom to the senses,
is tossed hither and yon by fear and anxiety
concerning the painful phenomena of physical dis-
turbances, the soul is a prisoner in the darkest
corner of the basement, and is powerless to exer-
cise control, — it is reduced to the lowest servitude.
But with recognition of the real status of the soul
the physical conquest is more than half-achieved.
There need be no ordeal of purification when the
soul rules; no struggle of contending forces in the
physiological chemistry; for as darkness is dissi-
pated by light so there can be neither impurities
nor discord when the soul turns on the spiritual cur-
rent. When there is painful physical conflict, it
is a reflection of the mental state, — a half-hearted-
ness and wavering of faith and confidence from
failure to comprehend the great truths involved,
and hence inability to develop the latent soul-force.

io6 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

The temptation to indulge in those pleasures of
the senses which are physically injurious loses its
fascination and is seen in its true light when the
soul wakes to its real duty and the consciousness of
its glorious power. This is the secret of the won-
derful hypnotic influence that " cures " the desper-
ately ill, and releases youth from thraldom to petty
vices that have enchained the will and threaten to
wreck the moral being. By hypnotic suggestion
the soul is roused to consciousness of its power and
duty, and the soul itself works the miracle.

Moreover, the soul is receptive to suggestion in
natural as in hypnotic sleep, for it is then released
from the delusions and illusions of the senses, and
is itself in touch with higher influences ; consciously,
when its aspirations lead it thitherward, but under
any and all circumstances more accessible to them.
It is not, perhaps, generally recognized that " the
night time of the body is the day-time of the soul,"
which was the creed of lamblichus, leader of the
Neoplatonists. This is the divine opportunity for
soul growth — the saving provision or means by
which God retains at least a faint hold upon even
,the most wayward of His children. It explains,
also, the inestimable value of the quiet period of
introspection and uplifting thought which should
precede the laying of the head upon the pillow for
the night's rest. Incalculable harm is done to little
children by sending them weeping and rebellious

Happiness Vibrations 107

to bed, — a sure prelude to restless, troubled sleep,
with a sense of injury stabbing the heart and rank-
ling in the mind. It is a preparation inviting all
evil influences and repelling the good. Life's
cares and the world's travail should be dropped
with our garments and we should trust ourselves
with happy confidence to the blessed ministrations
of the divine mystery of sleep, when the soul is
offered release from its physical trammels.

The thoughts which occupy the mind at the mo-
ment when Sleep gently slips the cap of oblivion
over our brains are of paramount influence not
merely upon the rest which should ensue but also
upon the general health, because they determine
in no slight degree the character of the Tattvic flow
and the equable balance of the two currents of
Prana. Apas and Prithivi, the water and earth
elements, are favorable vibrations whose flow we
encourage by cheerfulness, serene poise, pleasure,
satisfaction and all pure forms of genuine happi-
ness. We can thus by governing our unruly
thoughts correct inherited surplusage of unfavor-
ble vibrations and furnish the conditions that at-
tract to us more fortunate ones.

Remember always that it is the mind which dic-
tates every action that disturbs the Tattvic balance
of the vital current, and that the endowment of
free will makes every human being responsible for
the thoughts that supply the impulse. The Tan-

io8 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

trik philosophers held the firm conviction that if
the human mind were steadfastly fixed upon any ob-
ject for a certain time it was absolutely sure by very
force of will to attain that object.

Now, tell me, is there anything new under the
sun? I must here enter my protest against this
age-honored belief in the power of mind being in
our day mis-called " New Thought." Its proper
name, giving it something of the dignity its due in
the revived cult which is mercifully encircling the
earth, is " Higher Thought," as distinguished from
the stultifying bondage of materialism. It is older
far than materialism (only a passing phase of way-
ward human struggles to know all things marking
the close of the Black Age). Why belittle the
golden light of the Truth by the term " new," as
if it were but half-known and untried?

The therapeutic effect of happiness has been long
recognized, and every physician feels that his bat-
tle with disease is half-won when he can keep his
patient in a happy, cheerful frame of mind. Yet
the vital significance of this favorable mental state
has probably never been even surmised in Occiden-
tal practice. It will advance the science of medi-
cine (purely empiric now) more than any discovery
since Harvey's of the circulation of the blood, when
it is known that instead of being itself, " a direct
product from blood," as noted physiologists have
maintained, the nerve-force (called by them " nerv-

Happiness Vibrations 109

ous ether") imparts to the blood all the energy
and power it possesses. Indeed, Tantrik philoso-
phy pronounces the system of blood vessels only the
shadow of the nervous system. All physiological
effects are the products of nerve activity. Every
atom of energy in the human being is transmitted
by the nerves, and the form of that energy and the
tempo of its vibrations, whether in rhythmic har-
mony or broken and discordant, is determined by
the mind.

Happiness is an upbuilding force only equalled
by the sun's rays. It is sunshine in the heart I
And it moves with a joyous rhythm that sings
through all the Nddis (nerves and blood vessels) of
the body. Therefore, no medicine in the pharma-
copoeia possesses the curative virtue of happiness vi-
brations; while anxiety, worry, depression, and ex-
citement of the heated flurry sort cause varying
forms of stagnation and disintegration, which dis-
turb the balance of the Tatfuas, compel the flow of
those which in excess are most inauspicious, and
invite the very discord that fear dreads. Wrong
thoughts and fear are the busiest builders of
disease, suffering, and weakness that I know
of, for they are the disrupters of the physiolog-
ical balance of the Tattvas; that is, their man-
ifestation on the gross plane of activity. It is the
perfect balance of the positive and negative cur-
rents of Prdna which maintains life.

no The Law of the Rhythmic Breath"

In the well-poised, symmetrical, harmonious life,
Prithivi and Apas are the predominant Tattvas.
In temperature, Prithivi is next to Tejas, and Apas
is the coolest of the Tattvas, exercising a restraint
jupon the two heating forces, as does Vdyu in a
lesser degree. The craving for water when over-
heated is perfectly natural and can be gratified with
benefit only, if the water be taken at a rational tem-
perature; that is, cool, but not iced. A kasha, says
Rama Prasad, " has a state which neither cools nor
heats. This state is, therefore, the most dangerous
of all; and, if prolonged, causes debility, disease,
and death."

The lowering or raising of the body's normal
temperature, a condition always watched with keen-
est anxiety by physician and nurse, is one of the
first symptoms of disturbance in the balance of the
Tattvas. If, for example, Tejas flows too long,
it is robbing Prithivi, which follows it, of part of
its assigned period of activity, and the temperature
of the body rises above normal heat; and, in like
manner, every Tattva which exceeds its regular
period prevents its successor from setting in when
it should ; and as every one has its assigned field of
activity, — some organ where it is supreme, some
elemental need which only that Tattva can supply,
— discord, disorder, and disease quickly manifest
themselves. This is the real office of pain, not dis-
ciplinary but beneficent; to give man immediate

Happiness Vibrations in

warning when he has transgressed the Divine laws
which secure his well-being. When the Tattvas
flow in rhythmic sequence and harmony, the deli-
cate transition of one into another as they change
(iis imperceptible.

All ignoble emotions, as jealousy, envy, malice,
carping criticism or fault-finding, and uncharitable-
ness have their physiological effect in disturbances
of the Tattvas compelling the prolonged flow of
those unfavorable in terrestrial activities, and re-
pelling the joy-giving and health-upbuilding vibra-
tions.

Of all the Tattvas, Apas carries the breath deep-
est, and next to it comes Prithivl, which discloses
one secret of the inestimable benefit, the revivifying
effect, derived from deep breathing, without which
these beneficent Tattvas are denied their fullest ac-
tivity. The dominance of A pas in this function
is confirmed by the great semi-lunar ganglion which
supplies the diaphragm with its nerves of involun-
tary motion. Any injury to these nerves is marked
by symptoms of suffocation (as in drowning) , from
Which the patient sometimes dies suddenly. These
two Tattvas work together in complete harmony,
under direct command from the soul, for the re-
lease of the body from the dominion of pain and
disease. Apas, the universal solvent, slakes thirst,
allays fevers, washes away the germs of disease
when we will it to perform that office, and imparts

H2 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

endurance under the privation of hunger and thirst.

The exercise of the Held breath encourages in a
marked degree the flow of Prithivi, and it is
brought into great activity during Prdnaydma.
!This Tattva gives endurance to acts performed dur-
ing its flow, increases the power of attention, stimu-
lates memory, and strengthens the will-power.
The prevalence of Prithivi imparts a golden tinge
to the circle of light about our heads and to the
brilliant play of light-vibrations seen within. This
inner light sometimes glows as brilliantly as the
sunshine streaming through the purest atmosphere.
It is a startling proof of the reality of this inner
world, pulsing with golden glory, which we pene-
trate in concentration, when, after such experience,
one opens the eyes upon a grey and gloomy sky.
This has often happened to the writer, whose gaze,
from her study windows, sweeps over acres of
house-tops to a hill-bound horizon thirty miles dis-
tant. At such times, the external gloom seems
the unreality !

Prithivi is sweet smelling and sweet to the taste,
jjwhile Apas is astringent, salty, and is itself the
'taster; that is, it stimulates the sense of taste.
Apas is the predominant Tattva in saliva, which ac-
counts for the extraordinary solvent power of this
digestive fluid. It is gross injustice to the whole
digestive canal to hastily cram into it a load of half-
masticated food, thus depriving Apas of opportu-

Happiness Vibrations

nity to perform its assigned work and thrusting
upon the other Tattvas an office they are unfitted
for. Much of our food is put into the mouth in
the Prithivic — solid — state, and should be re-
duced to Apas — liquid — before we permit it to
pass through the Apas gate of taste by swallowing
it. Tejas works harmoniously after Apas, but
when required to perform not merely double duty
but work it is, chemically speaking, unable to do,
the effort generates an overplus of Fdyu (see Chap-
ter VIII). Gastric disturbances of the most seri-
ous character have often no other origin than this.
Sudden deaths from nominal heart-failure have
been caused in this way, the pressure of the gas —
Akdsha and Fdyu — upon the heart arresting its
action.

The great benefit derived from walking is that
through the exercise of the feet and their contact
with the ground we are attuned to terrestrial forces.
Not only does the Prithivi Tattva in the feet in-
crease in strength, but throughout the body it works
more actively in all its centers. It shares the in-
fluence of Tejas in the solar plexus, and stimulates
the wholesome normal flow of this Tattva in all its
centers. As Prithivi is active in the liver and in
the lower intestine and kidneys, it can be readily un-
derstood that the exercise of walking is an un-
equalled stimulus to healthful digestion, if we eat
pure foods adapted to our physical needs and per-

H4 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

form the only voluntary process of digestion —
mastication — with the care its importance de-
mands.

A pas being regnant in the mouth and throat is
naturally the prevalent Tattoo, in the function of
speech and production of voice. As the semi-lunar
current of this Tattva passes over the muscles of
the vocal cords they are drawn up and contracted.
The deeper the curves the tenser the cords, and the
variations in sound and tone are due to the modifi-
cations of this stimulating Tattva through its per-
mutations with the others.

The anatomy of the larynx is a beautiful ex-
ample of the co-operative action of the Tattvas.
Five cartilages corresponding to the different Tatt-
vas enter into the construction of this marvellous
vocal instrument, itself of triangular form blended
with crescent-like curves. Be not confused by read-
ing in Century Dictionary that there are nine cart-
ilages. All but the ring-like cricoid cartilage, the
seat of Akdsha, which connects the larynx with the
trachea, are in pairs, and the dictionary counts them
separately, though this is not usual in physiologies.
The spherical form of Fdyu is recognized in the
thyroid cartilage (Adam's apple), upon the action
of which the intensity of the voice is determined;
Tejas influence is seen in the triangles of the Ary-
tenoids, and that of Prithivi is recognized in the
hardest of these cartilaginous bodies, the cornicula

Happiness Vibrations 115

laryngis. All these forms are rounded and modi-
fied by the prevalent Apas, and throughout the
whole body its centers of activity can be traced in
semi-lunar valves, ganglia, and cartilages.

Concerning the changing tones of the voice in
speech and song and their correspondingly changed
colors facts of much interest will be developed in a
later chapter. The thoughtful student, however,
must already realize something of the Tattvic value
of an agreeable tone in the speaking voice, — of
music in speech. Every word we utter has its ef-
fect upon the invisible forces around us. It has
been said that " to pronounce a word is to evoke a
thought and make it present. The magnetic po-
tency of the human speech is the commencement of
every manifestation in the Occult World." Re-
member the formative power of sound, ever build-
ing or disintegrating. It is a stupendous force
when properly directed, for the subtle sound-space
atoms are everywhere ; and pleasant speech is every
human being's contribution to universal rhythm and
harmony, but it affects immediately and most pow-
erfully himself and his associates.

CHAPTER XI

THE ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS OF PR^NA

THE Chinese artist Shakaku, living in the
fifth century of our era, laid down six
canons of art, of which the first and most
important principle concerned itself with " The
Life-Movement of the Spirit through the Rhythm
of Things." It is this " Life-Movement of the
Spirit " that I shall now endeavor to make clear to
you, disclosing the subtle bonds of rhythmic in-
fluence that connect every human being with the
vast spaces of the Universe, and open to him its
illimitable resources, if he but use them aright.

The broad and general divisions of influence
throughout the Kosmos are positive and negative,
and all life upon the earth reflects these in all of its
component parts, whatsoever their diversity and
complexity. Every human being is an electric bat-
tery with the regulation of " poles " and develop-
ment of power under his own control. The physi-
cal organism is an exquisitely adjusted system of
electrical and magnetic activities, every positive hav-
ing its receptive negative, and every negative its
corresponding positive; and the harmonious inter-

116

Atmospheric Currents of Prana 117

action of these establishes the key-note of the in-
dividual rhythm.

But mark this well. The perfect balance of
these electrical life- forces can be maintained only
through deep rhythmic breathing of the purest air;
and I shall harp upon this string till no reader can
ever forget it for a moment. Be not content with
letting some one else breathe fresh air, laboring un-
der the iniquitous delusion that you are too delicate,
" too sensitive to cold," to bear it; but insist upon
having it yourself by day and by night. Not till
you do this can you begin to manifest the real
power, mental as well as physical, which is your na-
tural inheritance. The want of fresh air is the
father of all colds and most lung troubles, and the
increased awakening to this truth is a most hopeful
sign of the day.

During the winter of 1905-6, one of the largest
hospitals in New York adopted the plan of car-
ing for all pneumonia patients on the roof in the
open air, canvas awnings to screen from the wind
being the only shelter. Every patient so treated
recovered! During the two succeeding winters,
this treatment has been greatly extended, and with
unvarying success.

At the risk of tiresome iteration, I must again
state that human beings do not normally breathe
through both nostrils at the same time; and the
breathing exercises already advised are not an arro-

n8 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

gant effort to change the natural order of this life-
function, but a scientific attempt to restore it. Nor
are they new inventions or devices originating in
the Occident. The knowledge of correct rhythmic
breathing and of the exercises in alternate breathing
which purify the nerves, restore the disturbed bal-
ance of the life-current, and preserve the harmony
necessary for health, is the common heritage of
the East Indian people. Down through the ages it
has come to them; and the practice of breathing
exercises precedes their daily devotions.

The continued flowing of both positive and nega-
tive breath-currents simultaneously marks extreme
physical disturbance, a nullifying of life- force, and
the Tantrists believed it an indication of approach-
ing death, showing the breaking up of the physical
entity.

An ocean of solar Prdna surrounds the great orb
of day, and it is the particular state of its Tattvic
matter which sustains and keeps in its orderly rhyth-
mic movements the whole solar system. As the
vibrations of the solar Prdna approach the earth
they are arrested by a broad band of Akdsha which
gives birth to the terrestrial Fdyu. This forms a
blue sphere about the earth limiting its movements.
No explanation for this is given, but following the
Tattvic law the natural inference is that the extent
of the earth atmosphere is limited by the conjunc-
tion of the solar and terrestrial currents, an dkasha

Atmospheric Currents of Prana 119

always emerging from such chemical affinity, as
when two Tattvas meet and mingle; and from this
Akdsha is naturally evolved the Vdyu forming our
atmosphere, the color of which makes the cloudless
sky blue.

This is all the result of Tattvic energy; and we
must now grasp the sense of that subtle something
which binds the Tattvas together and directs their
activities, ever carrying them onward, and never
arrested by them. This is the spiritual essence,
sustaining life from moment to moment, always
pouring out from the great Central Dynamo under
Divine guidance, and borne to us on the solar rays.
No Akdsha nor Vdyu can arrest it since they are
but forms of its ceaseless energy; therefore, these
rays, bearing the gift of life to earth organisms, are
merely refracted by these media and pass onward to
exercise their organizing influence through terres-
trial Prdna, a modification of the solar state.

The positive and negative streams of the life-
current as they flow about our terrestrial sphere re-
ceive their direction — that is, are controlled in
their course — by the aspects which the sun, the
moon, and the earth present to one another. In
considering terrestrial life, the first division of these
positive and negative influences is that of the sea-
sons, reckoning the six months when the sun is
North of the equator as summer, during which the
positive solar current flows from the North Pole

I2O The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

to the South, and the negative in the opposite direc-
tion. When the sun sinks southward below the
equator in the early autumn, the negative current
sets in from trie North Pole, and the positive cur-
rent flows from the South.

These two great divisions of time, and of in-
fluence upon earth life, are called by the Hindus
the day and night of the Devas (or "a Daiva day
and night"). The Tantrists further divide the
month into " a Pitrya day and night " according
to the moon's phases; the light half of the month
(moonlight nights) being positive, or day, to the
dark half which is its negative or night. Thus,
you see, the positive current — upon the physical
plane of life, the sun-breath — is always reckoned
as the day time of life; and the negative, as
the night time. The positive is the period of ac-
tivity; the negative of the receptive brooding and
preparation, by rest, for further activity.

Of supreme importance, however, to earth life is
this : As the earth turns upon her own axis while
moving round the great life-orb, other, more dom-
inant and powerful, and more constantly alternat-
ing influences than the North and South currents
are developed in terrestrial Prana. These are the'
day and night currents controlled by the rising and
the setting of the sun.

Solar force is centered in the East, and the
lunar, or sun-shadow, in the West; and with the

Atmospheric Currents of Prana 121

rising of the sun every foot of the earth's surface
as it comes under the influence of the solar rays re-
ceives the positive life-current which streams west-
ward along these rays. At the same time the
lunar, or negative, current flows eastward; and
with the setting of the sun the daily direction of
these currents is exactly reversed. The sweep of
this solar current of Prana westward, being much
stronger than the Polar currents, deflects the
Northern current in the same direction; and the
lunar current has a corresponding effect upon the
negative current from the South, carrying it east-
ward.

This is doubtless the reason that the needle of
a compass and a magnet never point exactly to the
poles, being deflected east of the North Pole and
West of the South.

The quiescent moment at dawn and in the twi-
light marks the Sushumnd (Soo-shum-nah) , or
conjunction of the two currents, when Akdsha pre-
vails in the Prana. It is for this reason that the
Hindu so scrupulously takes his breathing exer-
cises and meditates during these two periods, be-
lieving the influences of Nature to be especially
favorable.

During the day the earth is negative, having
yielded her positive radiations to the lunar cur-
rent — moon-breath — of the brooding night.
Dawn thus finds her in the condition to be re-

122 The taw of the Rhythmic BreatK

ceptively grateful for the invigorating rays of the
positive or solar vibrations. But there are high-
tides and low-tides of this influence according to
the direction of the solar rays; and every particle
of organic life upon the earth's teeming surface is
subjected further to the influence of minor currents
from the moon as she passes from one constella-
tion to another in her eccentric orbit.

This varying strength of the solar and lunar
currents causes momentary changes in terrestrial
Prdna which are reflected in our bodies. It is an
ebb and flow, as it were ; a forward and backward
movement; and it is this Great Breath of the Uni-
verse that gives the impulse to organic breathing.
With its on-rush we inhale, and the current of
Prdna is sent to the farthest ends of the gross
vessels — the nerve and blood channels — of the
physique. The succeeding moment imparts the
backward impulse and with the receding flow of
the vital current, exhalation takes place.

The throbbing of the heart, its expansion — the
diastole — and contraction — the systole — cor-
respond with the flow of Prdna. But the rapidity
of these inward and outward — forward and back-
ward — movements of Prdna varies in different
organisms. The influences which establish this in-
dividuality, inseparably associated with the corres-
pondencies between the macrocosm and the

Atmospheric Currents of Prana 123!

microcosm, are the subject of the next chapter.

The laws governing the flow of solar Prana to
the earth and round about it apply equally to all
the planets and constellations, but with this differ-
ence: the states of Tattvic matter in and about
every such center are variously modified and every
planet has a dominating Tattva, just as Prithivi
is pre-eminent upon Mother Earth. It is this
radical difference of Tattvic activity which makes
all conjectures upon the possibilities of life upon
the other planets absolutely futile, till minds can
grasp the conception of other planes of life — life
maintained by subtler vibrations, or, in terms of
modern science, different chemical affinities — with
totally changed nervous systems and physical struc-
ture.

The need of the hour is to better understand
these earth bodies of ours, these vehicles intended
to facilitate the soul's activities; to recognize that
they are always in the making, and that influences
undreamed of by the materialist are ever active in
the making. Life is a matter of moment to mo-
ment, of unceasing change. Thought is the great
dynamic power which determines the nature of the
vibrations we draw to us. Directed by a soul-gov-
erned will we can make them as harmonious and
favorable as needs require. And the deeper,
fuller, and slower we breathe, the more do we

124 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

facilitate these natural operations, upon the per-
fection of which depends the physical well-being.
Spend no breath in denying evil, but steadfastly
affirm health 1

CHAPTER XII

THE CIRCULATION OF PRA"NA IN OUR BODIES

THE preceding study of our life-forces has
taught the reader what that atmosphere
of psychic ether is in which, as even
modern science has at last recognized, we dwell.
We are now to study the circulation of this ether
— the terrestrial Prana — as it enters the body
and passes from one vital center to another, work-
ing with such marvelous intelligence and system
that its component corpuscles and " ions " may
well be said to be endowed with thought.

The philosophy of the Tattvic Law of the Uni-
verse is beautiful in its simplicity when fully un-
derstood, and the student grasps the subtle rela*
tions of cause and effect and holds in his mind's
eye a soul-uplifting picture of the whole Kosmos.
But this cannot be gained without personal effort,
for the law presents at the outset some facts so
opposed to the accepted order of things that it
seems impossible to explain the theory in words so
convincingly simple as to be comprehended by all
readers. It is the truth of being which the Tattvic
Law discloses, but to understand these truths and

125

126, The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

reap the full benefit of the knowledge, you must
weigh them with unprejudiced minds.

Think for a moment how profoundly the au-
thority of the senses must have been shaken when
the first microscope revealed to man the heretofore
invisible world in touch with him everywhere,
teeming with undreamed-of activities, governed by
the same laws as the visible realm, and similar but
infinitely finer forces than those he already knew
and had weighed and classified! When the mi-
croscope opened the first gate into the invisible
kingdom which surrounds us, it disclosed also the
short-comings, or limitations, of the physical
senses; and, with many other marvelous instru-
ments since invented which penetrate and weigh
and measure the unseen, the experience should
warn us never to deny any new thing because our
senses have hitherto failed to cognize it.

Then, too, when difficulties present themselves,
it is defrauding self to seek outside help before try-
ing to solve them by real thinking — such mental
exercise as will make the brain more pliable and
receptive. You can draw no knowledge from any;
'printed book, from written word whatsoever, un-
less with receptive mind you think the matter over
and make it your own. Much study and the
reading of many books become a delusion and a
snare unless time for thought be given and the
mind assimilates and digests the facts. Only thus

Circulation of Prana 127

can we invite winged thoughts of inspiration, and
encourage the development of the Higher Self.

Moreover, if you would reap full advantage
from the study, a state of mind in sympathy with
the subject and matter under discussion is abso-
lutely necessary. Antipathy and antagonism, the
spirit of denial, close the receptive channels be-
cause blinding judgment and obscuring the intel-
lect. An intense desire for knowledge of a par-
ticular kind — especially for Light on the Path —
opens the way and attracts the vibrations that lead
you almost unerringly to your goal.

Unfortunately, most people face a novel prop-
osition with all the antagonism of previously ac-
cepted theories arrayed against it. But you must
now cast any prejudices you may have behind you
and prepare with inquiring mind to understand the
only logical and scientific explanation which has
ever been conceived of that most wonderful mech-
anism, the human body. It is a conception which
makes natural — brings into the realm of reality
— what has heretofore been considered supernat-
ural, when not dismissed contemptuously as " mere
superstition," and lifts the veil from the mysteri-
ous relations which connect the human being with
the whole solar system, and make the physical in-
strument a sensitive harp played upon by myriads
of vibrating waves.

Tantrik philosophy studies and analyzes the cir-

1281 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

culation of Prdna in the human body from the
moment that its two currents — positive and nega-
tive — establish their northern and southern cen-
ters of influence in the embryo; the northern, or
positive, focus becoming the brain center; and the
southern, or negative, the heart. The interaction
of these two currents working from center to cen-
ter, back and forth in rhythm with the Great
Breath of the Universe, guided, directed, and re-
strained by the Tattvic vibrations emanating from
every center of force in the starry firmament, grad-
ually builds up the marvelous nervous and vascular
systems connecting these two centers of life, and
ramifying thence throughout the human entity till
the living temple is made ready for the in-dwelling
soul!

Thus, as related to each other, the nervous sys-
tem is positive and the blood system negative; but
the diurnal rotation of our earth affects our bodies
as it is itself affected, and gives rise to other cur-
rents which divide these systems into East and
•West, or positive and negative halves. The right
jside of the body corresponds to the East, and is
under positive influence; and the left side to the
West, and is negatively affected. Then the cor-
relative influence of all these currents develops in
each center — the brain and the heart — a further
division into lower and upper chambers. In the
northern center we know the upper, or positive,

Circulation of Prana 129

division as the cerebrum (always recognized in
physiology as the dominant part of the brain), and
the lower, or negative, as the cerebellum. In the
heart, we can identify the auricles as the negative,
and the ventricles as the positive divisions. Notice
that in both centers the positive divisions are near-
est the poles of these centers; thus, the lower cham-
bers of the southern center are positive, and the
upper part of the brain; that is, the hemispheres
of the cerebrum. Put yourself in imagination
within your egg-shaped aura and this will be clear
to you.

The eastern and western currents of Prana make
for themselves two main channels called respec-
tively Pin gala (the positive) and Ida (Ee-dah —
the negative), which run down the length of the
spine forming the trunks of the great sympathetic
system. The spinal canal is the Sushumna, the
conjunction of the two currents where the Prana
changes from side to side. There is also a cardiac
Sushumna midway between the right and left lobes
of the heart. To all these conduits of force —
nerves, arteries, and veins — the Tantrists give the
name " Nadi," and for the sake of its simplicity
we will retain it. The three Nddis above men-
tioned are the most important in the body being
the great reservoirs and conduits of life- force.

Radiating from both the Ida and the Pingala
are fifty principal Nddis, and these branch into

130 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

hundreds and other hundreds till 10,100 branch-
Nadis are reckoned; and through the ramification
of these into thousands of " twigs," the Nadis of
the third degree become so minute as to be visible
only under the microscope; and the total number
is reckoned as 727,210,201 Nadis. Wherever
this vast net work of nerves spreads throughout
the body there are blood vessels running side by
side proceeding from the Nadis of the heart.

Thus, you see, the real force of life dwells in
the nervous system, which receives the positive
solar current of Prana; while the blood vessels re-
ceive through the nerves the negative lunar current.
The one, therefore, represents the sun, and the
other the moon; but these two phases of life-sus-
taining matter are merely different conditions or
states of the same substance, — Prana, the solar
matter; and its manifestations in the body are an
exact expression of the terrestrial Prana as is that
of its solar source.

I shall also use the Tantrik term Chakra — sig-
nifying a disc or circle — in describing the pairs of
sensory and motor nerves branching from the
spinal cord. These thirty-one Chakras of the
spine are brought into existence by the thirty-one
sunrises in a zodiacal sign, and the Tantrists rec-
ognize a like number of Chakras in the heart
which correspond with the sunsets. Animating
and inspiring the " thousand-petalled lotus " of

Circulation of Prana 13 11

the brain are twelve pair of nerves which corre-
spond with the signs of the Zodiac in their positive
phase ; and, likewise, from the " four-petalled
lotus " of the heart proceed twelve Nddis — con-
duits of blood — which reflect the negative aspects
of the zodiacal signs (these can be identified in
any good illustration of the heart) .

Thus the microcosm mirrors in itself the macro-
cosm, and every Nddi and Chakra therein is con-
nected with the greater sphere by invisible lines of
a power and influence that human intellect has
never yet weighed nor measured. Although there
have come down through the ages hints of these
mysterious relations which would not be silenced,
modern thought has brushed them aside contempt-
uously as rank superstition. Ere long all the text-
books will have to be re-written.

Mme. Blavatsky says : " The heart is king,
the most important organ in the body of man."
And she further states that esoterically it is the
" seven-leaved lotus . . . the cave of Buddhi,
with its seven compartments " and corresponding
" brains; " that is, states of spiritual consciousness.
The Hindu Trimurti (Trinity) corresponds in
the world of matter with Fire (Sun), Water, and
Earth; and is symbolized by the Lotus, which,
rooted in the earth, grows up through the water to
expand in the sun-warmed air into leaf and bud and
blossom. A most sacred symbol to the Hindu, this

1323 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

transition from root to sun-kissed lily expressed to
him the evolution of the soul through its earthly
physical vehicle to spiritual consciousness. Here,
again, we have proof of the aptness of the sym-
bology; for these descriptions of both heart and
brain are corroborated by clairvoyant sight, which
sees, surrounding both these centers, countless
radiations of exquisite opalescent prismatic colors.
They circle and return, outlining in very fact the
many-petalled sacred lily of the Orient (For
striking illustration of this see Babbitt's Principles
of Light and Color. P. 48 1 ) .

The sympathetic cords — the Pingala and the
Ida — consist of chains of ganglia which are cen-
ters of Tattvic influence, — the Padmas or lotuses
of the Tantras. These Tattvic centers are of five
sorts, taking the form of the prevalent Tattva.
Thus the Prithivi centers are quadrangular; the
Apas, semi-lunar; Tejas, triangular; Vayu, spher-
ical; and Akdsha, circular; and Tattvic permuta-
tions form composite ganglia. It is of interest to
record here that five distinct types of cells in
the spinal ganglia of our friend, the dog, are
known to anatomists, every one of which could
probably be identified with the Tattvic force
therein manifested. Although the record of the
human neurons is incomplete, it has been noticed
that the spherical germinal cells, " partly for rea-
sons at present not clear, later assume, in different

Circulation of Prana 133

regions, very different shapes." The signficance
of this change of form, however, seems never to
have been surmised by the anatomists.

In Standard dictionary, under the word " Peri-
neurium," an interesting illustration can be seen
of a cross-section of a nerve. There are five coils
of wire-like fibres grouped together in the gen-
eral sheath. They vary greatly in size, and
every coil has its own insulating sheath, pre-
serving to every Tattva its inviolate line, though
all run over the same wire, or nerve. Presumably,
the sizes of the coils vary according to the domi-
nance of the Tatty as.

The Padmas of the sympathetic cord are closely
connected with all the thirty-one Chakras of the
spine. Those of the Pingald are, of course, posi-
tively electrified, and they owe allegiance to the
brain; and those of the Ida are negative and owe
allegiance to the heart.

The movement of Prana through the nervous
system corresponds with the course of the sun
through the signs of the Zodiac and with ter-
restrial rotation. As the sun passes from one sign
to another, the Prana moves to the corresponding
Nadis of the brain. At sunrise, the rays of this
localized Prana descend every day to the spinal
Chakra on the Pingald side corresponding with
the position of the sun in the zodiacal sign. Thus,
every Chakra in turn, day by day, is the microcos-

134 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

mic correspondence with the ecliptical Prdna of
the macrocosm; and from it the Prdna streams
along the nerves of the right side, gradually enter-
ing the arteries and veins.

Always, under normal conditions, Prdna is
stronger till noon in the nerve than in the blood
Chakras. At mid-day these two great life-dis-
tributing systems of the body are equally balanced ;
and this perfect equilibrium fits the individual for
the fullest expression of his physical and mental
powers. He is in the enjoyment of the noon-day
of his strength. It is most unscientific and a
brutal imposition upon the stomach to load it up
at this time, when the day's labor is but half-done,
with a hearty meal of foods difficult to digest. It
is a flagrant waste of both strength and food.
Only a light luncheon of easily digested foods
should be taken. Especially for all sedentary
workers this rule should be made a hard and fast
one.

From noon on the blood is the great absorber,
and at sunset the solar Prdna has passed entirely
into the Nddls of the blood. The impact of these
positive vibrations has beaten upon the Tattvic
cords of the various sensuous and active organs
until they are weary and have lost the power of
sympathetic response to external stimuli. There-
fore, the fatigue and lassitude commonly felt as
night approaches are perfectly normal, and are

Circulation of Prana 135*

Nature's warning signals to halt, the hour for
rest has come. When the positive current gains
more than ordinary strength, as when will-power
flogs an exhausted mind or body to continued ef-
fort, the senses are so over-stimulated that they
cease to respond to external excitants, and pro-
longed abuse causes their breakdown. After sun-
down, the heart — the negative southern center —
gathers the Prana to itself, whence it spreads grad-
ually into the left-side Nddls of the blood, and
returns from them into the nerves. At midnight
the two systems are again equalized in strength;
but at sunrise, the Prana has passed into the nerves
and is ready for the daily circuit, descending to the
spinal Chakra succeeding the one through which
it streamed the previous day.

The moon, moving twelve times faster than the
sun, is the source of minor lunar currents of Prana
that move correspondingly faster than the solar
current whose diurnal circuit we have just traced.
These movements correspond with the movements
of the sun and moon through the zodiacal signs;
and their interaction is the immediate cause of the
periodical changes of breath. Thus while the/
sun's rays are reflected in one Chakra, those or
the moon pass through twelve odd Chakras; and
the lunar current of Prana streams from the spine
to the heart in a fraction less than an hour, — 58
m. 4 s. — and returns in the same time. While it

136 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

is passing from the spine to the right; that is, from
the northern center to the East, the breath flows
out of the right nostril and, as the Shivagama
describes it, the right side of the body is the " full
side."

When the Prdna enters the cardiac canal, the
heart Sushumnd, the breath, for a few seconds, is
imperceptible in the nostrils. As it leaves the
heart from the left — that is, moving to the West
— to return to the brain, the breath flows from
the left nostril. And thus, hour by hour, or a
duration of two and a half Charts ( i Ghari equals
24 minutes), the solar and lunar currents alter-
nate; and thus they would rotate, " forever and a
day," in agreement with the unchanging laws of
the universe, but for the disturbing factors of hu-
man will and emotions. But the freedom which
has wrought so much evil is simply a power mis-
used. It is even more powerful for good.

The periodicity of special wave vibrations which
stamps upon every mind its bias, imparting its in-
dividuality, is established at the moment of birth
by the Prdnic current prevalent at the time. But
never forget that we have the ability to overcome
unfavorable vibrations, and the overcoming de-
velops latent power as nothing else can. Self-
conquest is the greatest achievement, and the self-
conquest won by the light of the Tattvic Law is a
process of uplifting development, a growth of soul-
power, not of humiliating self-abasement.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MANIFESTATIONS OF PRANA

WHAT we know as the manifestations of
Prana are the periodic changes of its
center of activity from one vital func-
tion to another in unvarying progression, appar-
ently regulated in the order of manifestation by the
changes in the flow of the Tattvas.

For these manifestations of Prana are of course
manifestations of various Tattvic activities. Con-
cerning this the Upanishad explains : " As the
paramount power appoints its servants, telling
them, ' Rule such and such villages,' so does the
Prana. It puts its different manifestations (its
elemental servants) in different places," and they
follow in the order in which the flow of the Tatt-
vas succeed one another; by the "flow" being
meant the predominance of one Tattva more than
the others. It is not to be understood, for exam-
ple, when Vayu is said to be flowing that Vdyu is
the only Tattva present in the Prdnic current; but
it is in greater proportion — four atoms to one
each of the other four — in order that its centers
can be renewed. Whether waking or sleeping,

137

138! The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

while life animates the physical entity, these
changes succeed one another ceaselessly and meth-
odically.

According to the Shivdgama, the flow of the
Tattvas is " Ghari by Ghari " (about twenty-four
minutes), one after the other; and the current of
Prdna is active in all the centers of the prevalent
Tattva at the same time. This, however, does not
agree with the teaching of the modern Guras and
learned pundits of East India, but I believe I can
reconcile the two.

The Shivdgama is none too clear in describing
these changes, and the Upanishads are entirely in-
definite on the subject. Therefore, it is not surpris-
ing that some students have confounded the Tatt-
vic changes, or the manifestations of Prdna in
Tattvic centers, with the changes of the Pranic
currents which are much longer, and this has led
to some confusion and diversity of opinion as to
the changes of breath.

The succession of the Tattvas is not in the exact
order of their evolution, and it varies also accord-
ing to the part of the body in which the current
of Prana is at the time active. Thus, while it is
in the back part of the body on the right side, the
Tattvas change from Fdyu to Tejas, Prithivi, and
A pas; and when the life-current passes into the
front part of the right side they change from Apas
through Prithivi and Tejas back to Vdyu. The

Manifestations of Prana 139

changes on the left side are exactly reversed, for
negative action is a reflection of the positive, re-
ceiving its impressions as does a mirror that of the
object before it. If we could keep this always in
mind it would explain many puzzling things. As
Akdsha flows between every two Tattvas and is
active in the Sttshumnd which intervenes between
the changes of Prdnlc currents, the time of its flow
is broken into shorter intervals; and, therefore,
the description " Ghari by Ghari " could not apply
to it.

It is my belief that the meaning of the Shivd-
gama has been misunderstood, and that the de-
scription therein of the flow of the Tattvas applies
to their changes in the solar and terrestrial currents
of Prana, and not at all to those in the human
physique. Just as the planets are distinguished one
from another by the predominance of a ruling
Tattva, so also is every species of earth life thus
differentiated; and the lower the grade of life the
simpler the structure and, consequently, the vibra-
tion and the color. This is proved in the auras
of minerals, which show only one color, and of the
flora and fauna which display more and more com-
plex colors as they ascend in the scale of life.

As you might conjecture from its life under the
ground, in the busy ant Privithi is the dominant
Tattva; and the reason the fly goes into hiding or
persistently attacks the human being and all warm-

1401 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

blooded creatures when cold winds blow and on
raw, damp days, is that Tejas is its life element.
I have found that the most obstinate nuisance will
cease his persecutions on such days if a pitcher of
hot water be placed nearby. He will hug it as
long as warmth lingers. In the birds of the air
Fdyu predominates over Prithivi, while in the
quadruped who clings to the earth with four feet
this is exactly reversed.

I have frequently given emphasis to the fact
that upon man is placed the responsibility of choos-
ing for himself what shall be the dominant Tattvic
activities of his being, and that upon his choice
depends not alone his own weal and woe but the
comfort, happiness, and well-being of all whose
lives are connected with him. Therefore, know-
ing as you do now the terrestrial influences of the
various Tattvas, it must certainly appeal to you
as more logical that some of them should have a
greater normal flow than others; and this is ex-
actly the teaching at the present time of the East
Indian Guras. By this method, their order is as
given above, but Fayu is said to flow eight min-
utes; Tejas, twelve minutes; Prithivi, twenty min-
utes; Apas, sixteen minutes; and A kasha, only
four. As this totals sixty minutes, the rational
conclusion is that the exact period is a fraction less
and that there is one complete change of the

Manifestations of Prana 141

Tattvas during the flow of each current of Prana.

Now, if you remember that five Charts are
about equal to two hours you will understand that
by the Shivdgama reckoning we are confronted
i with the puzzling statement that there is only one
complete change of the Tattvas during the flow
of the two currents, that is during a positive period
when the breath is in the right lung and the cur-
rents are flowing from the northern to the south-
ern center; and a negative one when the breath is
in the left lung and the direction is reversed, the
Prana flowing from the heart, or southern center,
northward on the left side. Yet the statement is
also made in the Shivagama that " In the left as
well as in the right there is the five-fold rise " [of
the Tattvas]. That the Tattvic changes in the
world current are " Ghari by Ghari " is my con-
viction.

With regard to the two currents of Prdna, it is
significant that the period of their flow exactly
corresponds with a twelfth of the moon's eccentric
diurnal orbit, during which period there is a
marked change in her elongation, or angular dis-
tance from the sun, and this change in the wave
vibrations is reflected in the breath. The Tan-
trists believed the lunar current to be most pow-
erful during the rise of Taurus, Cancer, Virgo,
Scorpio, Capricornus, and Pisces; and the solar

142 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

current to be dominant when Aries, Gemini, Leo,
Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius are in the as-
cendant.

To understand this clearly we must grasp the
conception of the wheel within wheels, — the ever-
present positive and negative forces in every divi-
sion of every activity down to the infinitesimal
molecule. Thus, though the lunar current is nega-
tive to the solar, it is itself compounded of positive
and negative atoms and has its positive aspect. In
no other way can we reconcile the flow of the lunar
current southward on the right (the positive) side
to the heart, during which time the breath flows
from the positive nostril. Therefore, in its effects
and action, or movement, it is like the solar current,
for it is positively electrified. We are simply to
understand that the course of the current through
the body is influenced by the direction given to the
moon's rays from its position in the heavens.

But always the Rayi — lunar current, or negative
phase of Prdna — is the " cooler state of life-
matter which is only the shade of Prdna, the orig-
inal state." It "has the qualities of Amrita, the
giver of eternaji life;" and also, "In the left
Nddi, the appearance of the breath is that of the
Amrita (nectar) ; it is the great nourisher of the
world."

On the first lunar day — that is, the first day of
the " bright fortnight," or moonlight nights — the

Manifestations of Prana 143

lunar current, which is then the stronger, is said
to flow at the rising of the sun, and during the
dark fortnight the solar current comes in first, the
currents alternating one after the other as pre-
viously described. In spite of this normal order,
however, Tantrik philosophy teaches that " It con-
fers groups of good qualities " to cause the nega-
tive breath to flow at sunrise and the positive
breath at sundown. Any electrician should under-
stand the rationale of this, for it puts the body in
a receptive condition towards the terrestrial Prdna,
which is at the maximum of its positive phase at
sunrise. If it is the normal condition for the lunar
current to come in first during the bright fort-
night, we need seek no further reason for its be-
ing considered the most fortunate half of the
month, especially for women, who are the nega-
tive half of humanity.

The most important of the manifestations of
Prana are five in number, though the Hindu
proness to the ultimate analysis rests not till it enu-
merates ten of these forces, or so-called Vdyus. But
as the five minor ones are but modifications of the
others, signs as it were of their activities, we will
confine our examination to those governing organic
functions.

The first is the act of breathing, and as this func-
tion is the key to the changes of the life-current,
it bears the same name and is identified as Prana,

144 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

being, says Rama Prasad, " that manifestation of
the life-coil which draws atmospheric air from
without into the system." Fdyu is the prevalent
Tattva, and the right lung is the seat of its posi-
tive phase, and the left, of the negative. The pul-
monary circulation of blood in the upper Chakra
(the cavity of the chest) is positive to that in the
lower Chakra (below the diaphragm), but also
arterial blood in both Chakras, or systems of circu-
lation, is positive to the negative veins. The cap-
illaries are the Sushumnd of the vascular system.
Thus, again, you find the wheel within wheel.

The second manifestation of Prana is Samana
which governs the processes of digestion and as-
similation, carrying the nutrient juices where
needed. Tejas is the ruling Tattva, and the stom-
ach and navel the seats of its positive phase, while
the negative phase is active in the duodenum.
Apdna, the third manifestation, governs the ex-
cretory functions, in which Prithivi predominates;
the positive phase working in the long intestine,
and the negative, in the kidneys. As Apdna is
said to throw " from inside, out of the system,
things which are not needed there," it is reasonable
to conclude that the function of Prithivi in both
skin and lungs is excretory, and that perspiration is
also a manifestation of Apdna.

Vydna, the fourth manifestation, is the seat of
Apas, and is present all over the body, being that

Manifestations of Prana 145

force, which, during life keeps all parts in perfect
shape and resists breaking down and disintegra-
tion. This preponderance of Apas — five-sixths
of the human body is water — can be traced
throughout the physical structure, its seats of in-
fluence being more clearly defined anatomically
than those of any other Tattva. The semi-lunar
valves in arteries and veins are among these.

The fifth manifestation is Uddna, the seat of
Akdsha. It is the power which inclines the life-
forces back to the centers — northern or southern
— and is regnant therefore in the spine and heart,
and also in the throat. A lump in the throat,
when the breath catches and almost goes, after a
quick run, proclaims the presence of Uddna, and
this manifestation is dangerous. It is evidence of
the excess of one current, and if it passes to a cer-
tain delicate line beyond the ordinary limit, the
opposite current fails to react, Prdna remains in
the Sushumnd, and death results. These are the
moments when life hangs by a thread, so delicate
is the balance. To stimulate the opposite current
to flow is the need at this critical moment, and
probably in most cases it is the positive current
which has done the mischief.

Whole books of the Upanishads are devoted to
poetical descriptions of these manifestations of
Prdna, imagination revelling in depicting their
power. Prdna is usually described as declaring

146 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

" itself five-fold " through " unfolding " the va-
rious elements, or Tattvas, in these several mani-
festations. There are said to be " five gates to
the heart," for the Devas, or senses (remem-
ber that every sense corresponds to a special
Tattva which stimulates its activity), and the heart
is the ruler of the sensuous and active organs. The
heart receives impressions from the positive Prana,
and it is the' nature of the heart's reflection of these
upon which human actions and the work of the
world depend. The eastern gate is Prdna, man-
ifested in " up-breathing." Apdna, the western
gate, is described as down-breathing, and the deity
that exists in the earth (in modern phraseology,
gravity) is there to support man's Apana, ever at-
tracting its activities downwards.

Samdna, the northern gate, is described as on-
breathing, because it impels the grosser materials
of food to the Apdna, and conveys the finer and
more subtle nutriment to the limbs. Fydna is the
southern gate, and, pervading the blood-A^w, is
recognized as back-breathing. Uddna is called the
upper gate, and distinguished as out-breathing, be-
ing most perceptible in the throat. Now, this up-
ward impulse has its normal beneficent phase, en-
couraging " growth, lightness and agility," and it
is evil only when the currents are unbalanced; for
the Tattvic Law of Harmony requires that these

Manifestations of Prana 147

two vital creative forces be equally active, but al-
ternately dominate one another.

As these manifestations change from one to an-
other the state of Sushumnd intervenes; therefore,
the rays of Sushumnd extend all over the body
midway between the positive and negative Nddis,
and are the medium by which the Prana passes
back and forth from the positive to the negative
parts of the body and 'vice versa.

The rule holds good to all eternity that like
seeks like. You must think in harmony with the
purest vibrations of the external world, if you
would reap the benefit of your kinship with all
good and all power in the Universe. Understand
well and clearly this fact: The very ability to
think at all implies the freedom to use the power
beneficently instead of harmfully, — to change your
thoughts from one thing to another as easily as you
do your garments. Nothing is impossible to the
soul-directed thought; failure is through want of
faith, of fixedness of purpose and aim; success is
in direct proportion to the unswerving trust of
our belief. It is we who fail ; never the law 1 Our
very failures testify to that.

CHAPTER XIV

PLANETARY INFLUENCES UPON THE TATTVAS

WE have heretofore considered the regular,
normal order of the solar and lunar cur-
rents of Prdna, and it should be clearly
understood by this time that the Tattvic state of
these currents is a most important factor in de-
termining the beneficial effects upon the whole phy-
sical being of their even, balanced flow in deep, full
rhythmical breathing.

The paramount influence affecting this comes
from the planets, every one of which establishes
its own currents in the organism, determined in
degree and kind by the planets' position in the firm-
ament and consequent relation with all other plan-
ets. It is the strength of these currents, varying
in different people, which distinguishes the individ-
ualized, local Prdna from the universal terrestrial
Prdna. In this fact we find corroboration of all
that astrology claims concerning the planetary in-
fluences at the moment of birth upon human life
and character.

There are seven descriptions of life-currents,
148

Planetary Influences 149

corresponding exactly with the planets of the solar
system and influenced by them, which flow around
the spinal Chakras, every Chakra being itself, in
the activities therein centered, a minature copy of
the Zodiac with divisions of influence corresponding
to its heavenly signs. Several of these currents,
or even all, may be passing along at the same time
over the same nerve and around the same Chakra,
just as varying electric currents pass simultaneously
over the same wire. The multitudinous fibers in
a single nerve prevent any " interference." But
every Tattva will be more active in certain divis-
ions of the Chakra according to the position in the
Zodiac of the planetary influence; for the vibra-
tions of the microcosm correspond with those of
the macrocosm.

These seven variations are all to be understood
as Tattvic modifications of Prana, and they would
flow on forever and aye within the body as with-
out in undisturbed harmony when Nature is serene,
and affected by her storms only when in planetary,
or Tattvic sympathy with them, but for the erratic
working of human free will. As already stated
many times, all disease is the result of disturbances
in the regular balance of the positive and negative,
or solar and lunar, currents of Prana, and of the
normal flow of the Tattvas; and human errors,
emotions, and deeds are the most common dis-
turbing factors. But the changes thus injected

150 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

into the localized, or individualized, Prdna prove
to us as nothing else can the dynamic power of
thought, itself manipulating and disturbing these
forces and therefore superior to them; and disclose
to the spiritually alive soul glimpses of limitless
realms for conquest.

To the materialist these realms of power are a
sealed book, and will forever remain beyond his
vision. He is the victim of self-limitation ! They
are accessible only to the soul-directed will, which,
governing thought, chooses the right path and car-
ries consciousness to higher planes of harmonic vi-
brations. The human instrument is thus tuned to
purer and higher influences.

An ocean of thought-vibrations is beating upon
our brains every instant, seeking sympathetic vi-
brations upon which to impinge. This is the se-
cret of the same thought flashing through many
brains under the same Tattvic influence at the same
time. While this Tattvic (or planetary) influence
determines the thoughts and the deeds of the
drifters and all in negative — that is, receptive —
conditions, OURS is THE POWER TO CHOOSE THE
THOUGHT. The free will that is a peril is also
the greatest blessing, putting in our grasp the ever-
ready means to overcome physical evils; and the
needs of the hour are ethical training in choice, and
the education of the will. Evil seeks evil with a
marvellous power of accretion and disturbance,

Planetary Influences 151

but think not for a moment that all good is not
even more powerful. The one corresponds to
darkness, the other to light; the one is disintegrat-
ing, the other upbuilding and renewing. " There
is in things evil an element of self-destruction, in
the operation of which lies the safety of the Uni-
verse " ( The Perfect Way, p. 189).

Thus the Tattvic state of Prdna in every human
being is determined by the position and strength
of the various local currents. Color in different
plexuses varies from moment to moment as the
Tattvic currents change and according to the flow
of the Prdnlc current, the state of which — positive
or negative — modifies the prevalent color. The
negative current of Prdna is said to be pure white,
and the positive is tinged with red, — sometimes
described as rose-color. This agrees perfectly
with the color of the nerves, the sensory (afferent
and posterior), which are the negative ones, being
bluish-white; and the motor (efferent and anter-
ior), are reddish-grey. The prevalent Tattva in-
jects its particular hue. When by any act of ours
one or more of these Tattvas is abnormally stimu-
lated — as in states of excitement, anger, hatred,
jealousy, or depression and manifold worries —
it not merely upsets the balance of the prevalent
Tattvic currents of the moment, but the disorder is
stamped upon the current of the hour; and it passes
on into the vast spaces of the Universe to return

152 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

again and again with varying degrees of force ac-
cording as the planets return to positions and rela-
tions one to another approximating the conditions
at the time of the original disturbance.

All the misery in the world is primarily due to
foul magnetisms (which are evil vibrations of tre-
mendously penetrative and compelling power) gen-
erated by wrong and impure thoughts and by fear,
and constantly fed by the crimes of the depraved
and the sins of the weak. The world has grown
old trying to punish crime out of existence. But it
can never be lessened till the leaven of spiritual
thought reaches the masses; and the basic truth,
that wholesome, joyful thinking makes healthy,
happy people is universally known.

It is possible to gain such power over the Pranlc
currents through perfect concentration — right
thinking held steadfastly to the desired end — and
careful attention to breathing correctly and rhyth-
mically, as to put them in any Tattvic state desired;
and this frees one from all antagonistic influences,
whether hereditary or the chance (?) of birth —
that is, planetary conditions at the moment.
" Neither the lunar day, nor the constellations, norj
the solar day, nor planet, nor god [that is, force]"
have power to affect one who knows the Tattvic
Law and applies it through habitual practice and
right direction of thought and willpower. A hu-
man soul is more to God than any planet, and all

Planetary Influences 153

the creative powers of the Universe work with and
for the right.

Throughout the Universe we have the seven-
fold division, and that the planets are closely re-
lated with this, having each a correspondence with
plane and principle and element, with color and
with tone, is so manifest to the Occult student
as to need no demonstration. We are so wonted
to this seven-fold division in some of the common
affairs of life as to accept it unquestioningly.
Thus, the seven days of the week are named from
the planets, not in haphazard fashion, but strictly
in accordance with their movements hour by hour.

A cardinal tenet of the earliest known principles
of astrology was that every hour and every day is
under the direct rule and influence of a planet; and
there is no record of a period when the nearer plan-
ets, from Saturn to Mercury, were not known and
symbolized as in our era. Of these, the sun and
moon, supposed by the Egyptians to circle round
the earth, were recognized as paramount in influ-
ence upon it; and the others were dignified accord-
ing to the periods of their orbits which were the
gauge of their distance.

The planet ruling the first hour names the day,
and the succession begins with Saturn, the most
distant, and takes the planets in their order, viz. :
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, and
Luna. Thus, on Saturn's day Jupiter rules the

154 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

second hour; Mars, the third; Sol (sun), the
fourth; Venus, the fifth; Mercury, the sixth; and
Luna, the seventh. Every planet reigns the first
hour of its own day, and the eighth, fifteenth, and
twenty-second. Three repetitions carry us through
the twenty-first hour; Saturn rules the twenty-
second; Jupiter, the twenty-third; and Mars the
twenty- fourth, finishing the day. Then Sol rules
the first hour of the succeeding day, which is Sun-
day; called by the Romans Dies Dominica, or
Lord's Day, — the day of the Lord Sun. Some au-
thorities count from the rising of the sun; but a
very old work, Arcandum's Astrology, reckons this
planetary rule of hours from midnight which agrees
with the modern reckoning of time.

The orderly repetition brings Luna — the moon
— in as ruler of the next day, hence, Monday;
Mars, (French, Mardi], Tuesday; Mercury, Wed-
nesday; Jupiter, (Saxon, Thor), Thursday; and
Venus (Saxon, Frea), Friday. All of the Latin
tongues preserve in the names for the days of
the week their planetary origin; but the Saxon de-
rivation of English nomenclature has in ours ob-
scured it in part.

All possibility that chance or pure arbitrary se-
lection had any part in thus naming the days seems
eliminated when we consider the double harmony
ruling the order. The succession of the planets
is not only from the slowest, Saturn, to the swift-

Planetary Influences 155

est, the moon; but also in the exact order of their
distance from the earth, from the most remote to
the nearest. In matters astrological it is this reg-
ular succession of the planets, hour by hour, that
determines fortunate planetary hours for various
acts and undertakings. They are not, however,1
the same for all persons, being modified in effect by
the characteristics established at the nativity.

It is interesting while on the subject, and piles
up the authority for thus naming the days of the
week and their order as we know them, to mention
that the seven Hebrew words for the first seven
cardinal numbers are all formed of one syllable that
signifies a star (or fire or light) and another ex-
pressing its quality, and they follow strictly the
above order, beginning with Sunday as the first
day of the week. This is conclusive evidence that
at the earliest formation of that language the re-
lation between the planets and the days of the
week was recognized as a basic fact in nature.
The characteristic influences of the several planets
thus expressed in the Hebrew names agree perfectly
with the attributes still commonly assigned them;
and as they are important in our further study I
give them here with the original uncorrupted form
of the Hebrew numbers:

1. Ash-shed; Sol, all-bountiful fire.

2. Ash-nem; Luna, star of slumber, star of
oracles.

156 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

3. Ash-lesh; Mars, star of flame.

4. Ar-rabo; Mercury, star of activity.

5. Chem-ash; Jupiter, star of warmth, star of
joy.

6. Ash-ish; Venus, star of existence.

7. Ash-shebo; Saturn, star of old age, and
signifying also the end and the beginning.

In further consideration of planetary influences,
there seem to be convincing reasons for observing
scrupulously this natural order of the planets in
time and space, — the only one which satisfies my
mind as in harmony with the Tattvic Law. Con-
fronted with the problem of harmonizing these, it
was for a time bewildering to find how many tables
of planetary correspondencies with color, number,
metals, elements, and days had been devised in
which the natural sequence of the planets is con-
stantly violated, and the days of the week are
thrown into utter confusion; Monday following
Tuesday, and Saturday, Wednesday. There is
but one solitary anchor of agreement upon these
planetary correspondencies between the various
tables, religious, Occult, astrological, and astronom-
ical,— with but one exception, to my knowledge,
all connect Mars with fire, heat and passion, and
the strife that leads to armed contest; hence, he
was called the god of war. We shall weigh the
authority of some of these tables when we study
in their turn color and number in greater detail.

Planetary Influences 157

Our immediate interest now is with the Tattvic cor-
respondencies which subject their activities — that
is, their vibrations — in physical organisms to
planetary influences.

The Shwagam*, which is the Sanskrit authority
for most of our knowledge concerning the Tattvic
Law, gives two sets of Tattvic values or corres-
pondencies for the planets, which at the outset is
bewildering and unsatisfactory. There is but the
slightest agreement between the two; and upon ex-
amination the logical mind rejects both as equally
arbitrary and capricious, and seeks for a satisfac-
tory hypothesis upon which to base the law of cor-
respondencies.

We ask ourselves: How do the planets differ
one from another in elementary substances, and
how are the Tattvas differentiated? In the evolu-
tion of the latter (see Chapter V) we know that

Aj /

Akdsha — the bowl in which all are mixed — is
the most sublimated and that they increase in dens-
ity as they descend to Prithivi, the activities of
which tend to cohesiveness and compactness. This
brings us immediately to the question: Are not
(the planets differentiated in the same way, and
is not their density determined in like manner, or
by the variation in the proportions of the Tattvas?
If so, which is the most ethereal?

Fortunately modern science has arrived at very
definite conclusions upon this subject of the density

158 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

of the planets, — a triumph of mathematics, that
wonderful science on the wings of which the most
severely materialistic mind fares forth into the in-
visible and brings back irrefutable data. When
we group the planets in the astronomical order of
their density; we find that it increases in an almost
regular progression from Saturn to Mercury,
which harmonizes perfectly in sequence with the
age-honored order of the hour-by-hour rule; that
is, from the most distant to the nearest. The re-
mote planets Uranus (Herschel) and Neptune
(pronounced by Occultists to be outside our sys-
tem) do not come within the relations we are con-
sidering. They were unknown and invisible to
the ancient world. Both discovered within the last
century and a quarter (1781-1846, respectively),
their influence upon earth life as yet is very slight,
but they are heralds of coming changes.

Dropping out of this planetary sequence, tem-
porarily, during our search for Tattvic correspon-
dencies, the sun and moon, lords respectively of the
positive and negative currents of Prdna, we are
reminded that the earth upon which we live is also
a planet and has its place in this progression of
density; and we find it between Venus and Mer-
cury. But in her orbital distance from the sun, the
earth's place in the sequence is between Venus and
Mars. Remember this, for it will be found to
explain a seeming Tattvic irregularity.

Planetary Influences 159

I do not expect those readers who have merely
read these lessons so far, and have neither practiced
nor studied, therefore do not know one Tattvr,
from another nor recall their distinguishing char-
acteristics, to grasp the significance of the above
established facts. It is not mere phenomena we
are seeking but absolute truth. And those who are
beginning to know the separate Tattvas by their
fixed activities and relations and invariable effects
must already understand their logical corresponden-
cies with the planets. Here is the opportunity to
do some serious thinking. All interested students
should meditate upon the subject and see how near
they can come to a correct solution of the problem
before reading the next chapter.

It is necessary to give extreme emphasis to the
fact that these lessons are neither mere speculations
nor simply disclosures of curious mysteries. They
are the first attempt to explain, in so practical a
manner as to apply to every human need, the basic
truths, as far as human intelligence has yet un-
ravelled them, concerning the vital force in human
organisms. And their value is that they teach a
thoroughly scientific method of personal training
to obtain control of body and mind, and make them
the perfect vehicles for the soul's expression that
the Creator intended. Only by means of constant
and regular practice of the breathing exercises and
of concentration can these benefits be gained. In

l6o [The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

concentration the mind is gradually attuned to those
Kosmic influences which in their very nature are an-
tagonistic to the evil material inclinations that are
hazards to physical health and check our evolu-
tionary progress.

It is through the ability to control Prdna and
center it wherever we desire that we build the lad-
der to perfect centralization; a state of pure con-
centration which is lofty aspiration and, releasing
the soul from its physical chains, places it upon its
own throne, and discloses to it the realms of know-
ledge and power to which it has access.

CHAPTER XV

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MACROCOSM IN THE
MICROCOSM

THE new science declares confidently that
we are akin to the stars, meaning thereby
that, being composed of like elements
though in vastly different states, we have through
countless ages evolved therefrom. Yet it would
cut us off entirely from that influence now ! And
this is the great stumbling block of progress.

When science goes further and recognizes that
mankind, as also every living creature and every
visible, material thing, is ever in the making and
has never been severed from that original kinship,
humanity will gain an immense impetus in the up-
ward ascent of the evolutionary spiral, towards the
development of spiritual senses. The X-ray fore-
shadows the powers humanity will thus gain.

Fortunately, recent discoveries are fast under-
mining the walls between the visible and invisible
that materialism has with such blind zeal endeav-
ored to render impregnable. It is of vast signifi-
cance to have discovered that " The chemistry of
all parts of space is the same." The factor which

161

1 62 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

they leave out of all their calculations and investi-
gations is " The Life-Movement of the Spirit
through the Rhythm of Things." This is the en-
ergy within energy behind all phenomena, the Soul
of every atom, an energy of which we are a part,
and of which we use whatever we will; that is,
whatever we fit ourselves for through training of
will and desire and thought.

Of stupendous import to the race is it to study
present stellar influences, realizing that the most
distant star that lights the midnight canopy has its
not insignificant part to play in the Kosmic whole
— just as every atom and molecule in the physical
body has its use and connection with that whole.
All phenomena, atmospheric, terrene, physical, or
mental, may be traced to Kosmic energies, a part
of which we are.

Every point in the macrocosm is a center of ac-
tion and reaction for the whole ocean of Prdna;
and every one of these centers has its own atmos-
phere with its special limit. Rama Prasad says
they might be called " solar atoms." They are
" of various classes according to the prevalence of
one or more of the constituent Tattvas." And yet
further, " Every atom has, therefore, for its con-
stituents, all the four Tattvas, in varying propor-
tions according to its position in respect of others.
The different classes of these solar atoms appear
on the terrestrial plane as the various elements

Activities of the Macrocosm 163

of chemistry." These points — the most infinites-
imal units of time as of space — are called
Trutis in Sanskrit, and lacking a word to so
clearly identify the thing, I shall use it. To
understand the ceaseless play of vibratory rays
emanating from the celestial workshops, meeting
and crossing or impinging upon one another on
varying planes, imagine, if you can, the spectacle
presented if seven or more particles of radium
could be so placed and displayed in a darkened
room that you could see the criss-crossing of their
brilliant rays in a bewildering maze.

At every intersection of rays there would be a
Trutl receiving those rays, but no two Trutis could
possibly receive precisely the same vibrations, for
not only are there three kinds of rays to move at
varying tangents but the Trutis would vary in
plane and also in distance from the centers. Just
such streams of influence are beating upon us all the
time. In the zone of earth-life, every Trutl of
the ecliptical space is an individual organism whose
life-phases change with the momentary variations
of the Tattvic vibrations as the earth and her sister
planets whirl in their orbits.

Man is a microcosmic sphere of energy exactly
duplicating or reflecting the macrocosmic sphere,
of which he is as it were a single cell, made up of
millions of atoms held together by vibratory law.
Just as no two Trutis can be exactly alike, so no two

164 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

human beings are, for the unceasing play of the
Tattvas is a constant mingling and changing under
the ebb and flow of the Great Breath, which holds
all the planets and constellations in their assigned
orbits. Thus the Tattvas are the forces that lie at
the root of all manifestations. They are that
which lies behind every natural phenomenon. But
it is only when the Tattvas reach a certain state of
density that they become visible. The sun, stars,
and planets are the visible, materialized centers of
invisible, spiritual and ethereal forces. To spirit-
ual vision no matter is dense.

It should be remembered that no two planets
move with the same velocity or in the same orbit,
and that consequently their aspects one to another
are incessantly changing. The varying forms of
Tattvic force and influence cause this and it is the
reaction from the planets which injects such varia-
tion in the Pranic currents flowing earthward; and,
in consequence, into every species of earth organ-
ism — these organisms being, as you will remem-
ber, manifestations on the gross (that is, visible!)
plane of Tattvic activities.

Astronomers have recognized that the mutual
interaction between the planets is a never-ending
source of perturbations and disturbances, now
checking and diverting, now restraining and now
accelerating each and every one in its orbit, so that
their paths through the congeries of stars which

Activities of the Macrocosm 165

form the constellations, though never diverging
far from the ecliptic, are most devious, being
marked by eccentric loops and kinks recoiling upon
their celestial pathways. Size and weight or ve-
locity of motion, and especially their position in re-
lation to the sun have been the factors supposed to
account for the influences and antagonisms driving
these stellar lords to so erratic conduct.

That the antagonism was in substance, a ques-
tion of chemical affinity or repulsion — shall we
not say of electrical condition ? — seems never to
have occurred to investigators. But when we ap-
ply the Tattvic Law to the problem there is the
most logical basis to believe that it solves the enig-
ma, accounting for all vagaries and idiosyncrasies
and for the known influences of one planet upon
another.

Let us begin with Saturn. By our law of corres-
pondencies, it seems a simple matter to recognize
that this most masterful and significant of the ma-
jor planets is the center of Akdshic influence, and
derives from the predominance of this Tattva all
the malefic influences which the astrologer attri-
butes to the " great infortune." The rays of light
thus thrown upon the subject dissipate a cloud of
mystery and make clear hitherto unexplainable
phenomena, as also many a legend and story of old.
Both Saturn and Jupiter are said to present " only
a surface of clouds, and may not have anything

1 66 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

solid about them;" but it is suspected that they
have a high temperature. Some states of Akdsha
are known to be marked by an extraordinarily high
temperature, and " a surface of cloud " is what we
should naturally expect.

Even to the naked eye Saturn gleams with a
cold blue light. Seen through a five-inch telescope,
the planet appears of a cool silver-white color, with
delicate greyish shadings, blending one with an-
other as they stretch from the bright equatorial
belt to the deep blue poles. These polar caps are
sometimes described as of a dark greenish hue, but
the great dissimilarity in human optics would ac-
count for this discrepancy, as also would changing
Tattvlc conditions. An interesting feature is that
the planet is banded by vari-colored belts, red, or-
ange, and sometimes delicate rose-color; they are,
however, less brilliant than Jupiter's belts and not
recognized as so variable.

But the greatest distinction of Saturn — the phe-
nomenon that puzzles the scientists the most — is
its remarkable system of rings, separate from the
planet and surrounding its equatorial belt. There
are two broad, bright bands, separated from each
other by " a black line " (indigo?), which " line "
marks a i,6oo-mile gap; and a third dusky inner
ring which is only faintly luminous and so transpa-
rent that the edge of the planet can be seen through

Activities of the Macrocosm 167

its mass. The space between them has been meas-
ured and it is estimated to be from nine to ten
thousand miles broad. The inner and outer rings
are over 10,000 miles in width, and the middle one
is more than a third broader, being 16,500 miles
wide.

To the knower of the Tattvas, the only possible
hypothesis is that these rings are Tattvic emana-
tions from the mother bowl of Akdsha, and their
peculiarities so far as known perfectly agree with
their natural identification. Thus, the "gauzy,"
" crepy " inner ring is Fdyu (air), whence emerges
the brightest and broadest ring, Tejas. The ex-
pansive nature of this Tattva explains its greater
width, and the qualities of light and heat and its
characteristic color, its superior brilliancy. The
outer ring appears to be Prithivi. Color and vol-
ume corroborate this suggestion, while in the mid-
night-gap that separates it from Tejas, Akdsha
must hold Apas (water) in a latent state. This
order of visibility corresponds perfectly with the
planetary sequence, and also with the changes of
the Tattvas in the currents of Prdna within our
bodies, as described in Chapter XIII, where your
attention was attracted to the peculiarity that the
order of evolution (see Chapter V ) was violated.
I am satisfied that we find in the planetary sequence
the explanation for this, and the famous rings of

i68; The Law of the Rhythmic Breath
Saturn corroborate the belief. No other planets

A r

have rings. Only from Akdsha could they eman-
ate.

Saturn's rings are the girdle with which Satan
alone among the gods is girt about; for Satan is the
Soul and spiritual ruler of Saturn. His kingdom
is the house of matter. " Evil is the result of lim-
itation, and Satan is the Lord of Limit" (see
"Perfect Way," page 369). Remember that
through Akdsha spirit descended into matter.

Ancient myths represent Saturn as devouring his
children, which symbolizes exactly what the Akd-
sh'ic Tattva does with every other Tattva. Ages
before Christ, all the lesser celestial bodies were re-
garded as Saturn's children. The Hebrews had
several names for Saturn, but as Sater, or Seater,
the attributes conferred upon him will be recog-
nized as symbolizing perfectly the qualities or pow-
ers of Akdsha. He was called the " god of se-
crecy," " parent of successive being," and " author
of generation." It was believed that Sater con-
sumed all things and again repaired them. Men
were in closer touch in those days with matters ce-
lestial to have felt the mysterious influences of all
these things which it is our privilege to understand
rationally as inherent in the power of one of the
centers from which the life we live is flowing con-
stantly to us.

Saturn's influence tends to fix more deeply that

Activities of the Macrocosm 169

of other planets. He rules the East wind which,
moving contrary to the earth's motion, conduces
greatly to dampness and depletes the electricity in
the atmosphere. This is one reason why the East
wind " gets onto " people's nerves. They are fail-
ing to receive the normal supply, but the remedy is
to generate it within. Fear has always been recog-
nized as the active expression of the Saturn prin-
ciple, and certainly nothing more is needed to iden-
tify the A kasha influence.

Now the soul and life of the whole Solar System
is the solar orb, and the human " soul is as a spirit-
ual sun, corresponding in all things with the solar
orb." If it permits evil to exist in its sphere — the
microcosm — that evil will attract corresponding
astral influences from the macrocosm. Disturbing
influences can thus, of course, enter the body as the
Tattvas change in their normal course ; but thought
has the power either to subdue them when they ap-
pear or to repel them before they find entrance,
through holding tenaciously thoughts of serene
confidence. Imagination is the architect, and
thought the builder. We must have a perfect
plan and use good materials if we would protect
our bodies from the external disturbing thought-
influences to which every organ is more or less sen-
sitive. Its receptivity depends upon us.

Excessive indulgence in the gratification of any
special sense-pleasure tends to exaggerate the

fiyo The Law of the Rhythmic Breath*

Tattva ruling that sense to an unwholesome degree.
Thus the intensifying of one color may be the
extinction of others, and at least casts an evil shade
upon them; and this, of course, affects the whole
current of Prdna, disturbing the Tattvlc balance.
Many diseases, petty and grave, result from no
other cause.

The fact must never be lost sight of that spirit-
ual energy differs from physical energy almost as
much as does light from darkness. It is not de-
pendent upon these celestial currents of ether which
carry the renewing elements of physical matter, but
is itself one with that even more subtle force that
permits them to manifest on the gross, visible
plane. It is the only unchangeable Principle
within us, the real substance which never disin-
tegrates.

The power to control the physical self and make
of it the perfect vehicle it is intended to be for the
growth and development of this spiritual self, is
gained more rapidly by persistent and regular prac-
tice of the Alternate and Held-breath exercises,
and by thoughtful attention from time to time to
deep rhythmic breathing, than by any other system
of discipline and study or therapeutic regime that
I know of. I have already advocated this so
earnestly and so repeatedly that further word or
explanation seems superfluous.

Activities of the Macrocosm 171

Exhaustion is due entirely to the disordered
state of the human battery, and in this condition all
organic functions are lowered in tone and quickly
reflect that disorder. Neither lungs, skin, nor
kidneys have sufficient energy to eliminate the rap-
idly accumulating wastes; hence vital centers be-
come clogged, and serious disease sets in wherever
the physical structure is weakest. The first need
at such times is to renew the battery and restore
the balance of the disordered currents of vital
force; and the media for doing this — breathing
exercises — is so simple, so easy to apply, that the
most helpless invalid, if the mind be sane and
capable of directing, can employ it for regenerat-
ing the whole being. Both nerve and blood cir-
culation — and thereby all functions — are stim-
ulated more by this method than by any possible
physical culture exercises.

And here a caution is timely: There is a vast
difference in attempting to exercise " healing "
power from without, as when denying disease and
pain, and working from within outward in affirma-
tion of the desired condition. The resulting
atomic vibrations and the potencies involved are
very different. The one is a species of constraint,
the other is free, upward guidance.

We must strive for poise and tranquillity, for
repose and confidence; which, manifesting them-

172! The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

selves in good colors — favorable Tattvas —
draw good and pure colors, and help to build purer
and stronger the life thus aiming for the highest
and the best.

CHAPTER XVI

'MORE ABOUT MACROCOSMIC ACTIVITIES IN THE
MICROCOSM

WITH the identification of Saturn as the
highest manifestation upon a visible
plane of Akdshic activity, the way is
made plain for us to read God's handwriting in the
heavens, where he plainly discloses the whole
scheme of creation — the descent of spirit into
matter through the gradually increasing density of
the same, primarily simple, elements ever growing
more complicated by repeated permutations as they
become more gross.

This is the secret of the fact that " The chem-
istry of all parts of space is the same." But the
puzzle of the scientist in all his investigations is the
ever-recurring Akdsha — the neutral point, the
Sushumnd, into which all activities disappear or
merge. He calls it usually X ; that is unknown —
hence the X-ray; and the Gamma-ray of radium is
thus classed. The ether of science is the grossest
manifestation of Akdsha, though Mme. Blavatsky
says that on our plane, for us mortals, it is the sev-

173

174 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

enth Principle of the astral light, and three degrees
higher than radiant matter.

In Jupiter the predominant Tattva is Fdyu, next
in order to Akdsha. When near together Jupiter
and Saturn disturb each other more than do any
other planets. As there must be a close affinity
between ether and air this is exactly what we
should expect; but were it not for the vast space
separating Jupiter from Mars — double the ratio
of that between other planets according to Bode's
symmetrical law of progression — there would be
even greater disturbances when these two planets
approach each other. As it is, the violent impact
of their predominant Tattvas — Air and Fire —
is the cause of thunder. The severity and preva-
lence of thunder storms depends upon their aspects
one to another.

Examined through a large telescope, the Tattvic
activities in Jupiter's globe present a beautiful
picture of varied and changing color, olive-greens
and purple mingling with the more predominant
brown, red, and yellow. Although well-defined
zones of reddish clouds — Tejas vibrations —
stretch around the sphere parallel with Jupiter's
equator, all these masses display the peculiarities
of clouds, as in our earth atmosphere of air, mov-
ing with varying velocity in strong aerial currents
and constantly changing their relative positions.

The equatorial belt itself, brilliantly lemon-

More About Macrocosmic Activities 175;

hued or sometimes ruddy, shows Prithivi, and the
region is sprinkled over with balloon-shaped white
masses which are naturally Apas. These move
faster than the dark and brighter-hued masses.
The famous " great red spot," of vast dimensions,
is an exception to the other evanescent phenomena ;
for, though changing hue from time to time, its
stability of position has been an important aid to
the astronomer in ascertaining not merely data
concerning Jupiter but important facts in physics.
The rapidity of changes upon the surface of the
planet indicate to the scientist " a temperature not
much short of incandescence." We who know the
qualities of the Tattvas can recognize the source
of this as the Tejas of the " great red spot," the
next Tattva evolved after Fdyu. Towards the
poles of the planet the pure Jupiter vibration —
Fdyu — is seen in a vast expanse of blue and blue-
grey.

When favorably placed in a nativity, the in-
fluence of Jupiter promotes a fortunate and hon-
ored life, and therefore he has been called " the
god of fortune." Seen with the naked eye the
planet is a beautiful object, shining with a silvery-
white light; and it was so placed during the winter
of 1906-7 that no cloudless nights could possibly
be very dark. On moonless nights Jupiter may
cast a shadow on the snow.

Astrologically considered, Jupiter represents the

176 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

temperate, moist element in nature, its special func-
tion being to disintegrate and help to germinate;
that is, to promote change in all things visible,
and this we know to be the special attribute of
Fayu, — motion, tireless, ceaseless motion, for
which Akdsha is ever at hand providing the space.
The color and number of Jupiter's four moons is
further corroboration of the Tattvic Law. There
are two blue satellites and one red and one yellow.
The Apas Tattva in the Jupiter atmosphere
would reflect blue just as a body of water on
the earth reflects the blue of an azure sky above it.
Thus the Jupiter system reflects the law of system
within system, every Truti of which manifests the
whole law.

The characteristics of Mars, in which Tejas pre-
dominates, have always been so striking that there
is a gratifying agreement in all speculations, rec-
ords, and legends concerning the planet. There
is great antagonism between Mars and Venus,
as why should there not be since water extinguishes
fire? Therefore, to secure a measure of stability,
our earth comes between these natural enemies as
a pacificator; and this greater planetary stability is
reflected in the Tattvic changes in our bodies,
which are smoother, more harmonious and imper-
ceptible, flowing from Tejas into Prithivi and then
into 'Apas than could be the case if Apas came next
to Tejas.

More About Macrocosmic Activities 177

Fevers and chills, blushing, and sudden waves
of upheaving discord flowing through the body are
all manifestations of disorder in the flow of the
Tattvas, but more especially of Tejas. And al-
ways the remedy is to face the situation — no mat-
ter what the cause — with mental poise and con-
fidence; directing, as long as the disturbance lasts,
frequent repetitions of the exercise in Alternate
Breathing, and regularly inhaling deep, full,
rhythmic breaths. Remember that for all chilly
conditions the Held Breath is most efficacious. It
may be repeated, with concentration mainly upon
the feet and the solar plexus, till perspiration is
induced.

Through a telescope, Mars displays white at the
polar caps; but the ardent, fiery orb appears, even
to the naked eye when favorably situated for ob-
servation, of a reddish or orange hue. The fiery
strength of Tejas vibrations, called into increased
activity by all emotion and by intense feeling and
by love, have always been recognized as stimulat-
ing the passions of man to strife and war; hence
Mars was the god of war. During the rare pe-
riods of peace in Old Rome, all the panoply and
pageantry of war, including the gorgeous red man-
tles, were treasured in the Temple of Mars.

The planet Mars is said to be always an enemy
of Mercury, but this is the evil aspect of Mars —
the contentious state of the planetary vibrations

The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

which struggle against the higher and purer condi-
tions of the Mercury influence. These are felt by
all human beings in the proportion that they permit
themselves to be swayed by passion and excitement
without restraint of reason and will. Even so-
called " just " indignation injects disorder disturb-
ing the rhythm and harmony of Tatrvic activities
within, and should be shunned.

When fortunately placed at birth the influence
of Mars gives to a character earnestness, patience,
determination, and courage combined with gentle-
ness. But the cruel, tyrannical, unjust man, al-
ways quarrelsome and often a vain boaster, is
under the influence of Mars' most malefic vibra-
tions. He is his own worst enemy, but unfortu-
nately makes an atmosphere of unhappiness
wherever he may be. He can win his freedom
only through self-conquest, and that is what his
free will is for. I must insistently reiterate that
every human being has the power to choose be-
tween the Tattvic vibrations which may thrill him
with harmony or rend him with discord. The
rays of certain Tattvic states will be reflected only
when the surface is akin. Our thoughts govern
that and attract to us our affinities. If we think
passion and hate, Tejas is ever ready to supply the
fuel. Every exhibition of ungoverned passion in
man is a microcosmic cyclone, the path of whose

More About Macrocosmic Activities 179

destruction is limited only by the chances of en-
vironment.

Although the earth, the most important planet
to us, is commonly ignored in considering the plan-
etary correspondences with the Tattvas, and the
source of the Prhhivic current has been severally
attributed to the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter, I
deem this not merely short-sighted but a grave
error, the only rational solution of which is that it
was done in the first place " as a blind " — a reason
Mme. Blavatsky assigns for many puzzles. To
do this is to take the earth out of its orbit, so to
speak, and make of it an exception to the law. It
is but logical to believe that as the Akdshic current
emanates in greater force from Saturn, and the
Fdyu from Jupiter, so does also the Prithivic cur-
rent emanate as the ruling Tattva from our Mother
Earth. If we accept this as proved through the
invariability of Natural Law, it explains perfectly
the reason for the preponderating flow of Prithivi
in our Prdnlc life-currents (see Chapter XIII).
It is the Tattva of our environment, and in its nor-
mal flow puts us and holds us in sympathy with that
environment.

Now, please do not ask me how you are to know
when this Tattva, or any other special one, is flow-
ing normally or is disturbed. I have described the
varied activities and effects of the different Tattvas

1 80 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

within the human entity with much more detail than
has ever been before attempted. I have analyzed
them as only long study and unceasing practice and
experiment could enable one to do, and I gladly
give to you the benefit of my research expressed as
fully and as clearly as love for the task and enthu-
siasm of purpose can do it. I cannot, however,
supply the application and the perseverance indi-
vidually needed before you can make this detail
your own. Without the exercise of these faculties,
you can never hope to gain a practical knowledge
of the Tattvas. It is not a thing that can be
poured over you " in words, mere words." You
must think yourself. Remember what I told you
in an early chapter: that the Hindu teacher never
imparts any fact to a student which by long medi-
tation he can find out for himself.

It is not by once reading, but only after many
readings and much thinking that you can reason-
ably expect to master the mass of detail contained
in these chapters; the difficulty being the greater
because the subject is — to most readers — abso-
lutely novel. But it is only by thus mastering it
that anyone can make a personal application of this
Law of Life.

When our feet press the earth we receive the
strongest and purest vibrations of Prithivi, which
is the secret of the exhilaration we feel when we
can get into the real country, and of the benefit

More About Macrocosmic Activities i8r

to nerves and soul derived from long country
tramps. This fact also discloses the deep philoso-
phy of Father Kneipp's barefoot treatment. In
the early morning, before the day's struggle and
conflict have generated discord (this especially in
large communities where human beings are herded
closely), the vibrations are at the highest state of
harmonic activity; and when the feet tread the
dew-wet grass, the double benefit is gained of re-
ceiving the two most favorable Tattvas in their
freshest and most refined, highly electrified states.
On our planet, the Prithivi vibrations are negative
to Tejas (Mars) and positive to Apas (Venus) ;
thus water is negative to the earth. Most dwellers
in large cities, where the earth is for the most part
solidly incased in stone and brick and asphalt, are
grievously handicapped, for it is seldom that their
feet come in direct contact with Mother Earth.
The efficacy of mud-baths is derived from the earth
vibrations, but like benefits can be obtained by en-
couraging in more congenial ways the flow of
'Prithivi/

The planetary influence of Venus upon terrestrial
life is very important as the A pas Tattva which
predominates in that near and brilliant planet is
the unifying element that gives to organized mat-
ter its quality of stability. In dry seasons all the
green things of earth suffer and many of them
quickly fade and perish because Mars unites with

1 82 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

the Sun to divert or absorb the cooling and refresh-
ing Apas vibrations from Venus, and their own
rays increase proportionally in fervor and burning
power.

As five-sixths of the human body is composed of
water it is of the utmost importance that oppor-
tunity be given for the fullest normal play of the
Apas Tattva; and this, you will remember, re-
quires that the lowest cells in the lungs be filled.
Tight-lacing inhibits this absolutely, as it holds the
lower lobes of the lungs in a vise-like grip; and
usually it prevents anything approaching a free
movement of the diaphragm. The practice is
slow suicide, yet women revive the iniquitous cus-
tom — as at present — whenever fashion gives the
command. The stability of Apas is recognized
in that manifestation of Prdna which is known as
Fydna; the force which, during life, keeps the
whole body in shape and resists the breaking down
and disintegration of its tissues.

Next to the deprivation of fresh air, perhaps
the most prolific source of human ills is from stint-
ing the body in its supply of pure water inside and
out. As a rule, those who drink water most freely,
take it when they should not, — with their meals,
when the important digestive fluids need to be
undiluted in order to put in their fine work. The
greatest benefit derived from visits to famous Euro-
pean " cures " is due not half so much to the sge-

More About Macrocosmic Activities 1183

cial virtue of the mineral water as to the fact that
for several weeks the business of life is the drink-
ing of water in quantities limited only by the ability
to swallow it. If people formed the habit of
drinking pure water freely between meals and, es-
pecially, the last thing at night and the first thing
in the morning, they would not need to " take the
cure."

Water is the mystical symbol of the soul because
it is ever chemically pure. While it is the great
solvent, it is also the absolvent and purifier, for
whatever of foulness it takes up is held in suspen-
sion and can be eliminated by distillation. And
thus it is with the soul. Its " saving " is the
choice of freeing itself from the passions and er-
rors of the material, sense life. The pure, self-
controlled soul and the physical body wherein it
dwells — which ever and always reflects the power
controlling it — are alike freed from the Karma
and the impurity of unfavorable planetary vibra-
tions which sow discord and incite to evil.

Never lose sight of the fact that the Sun is the
source of the Prdnic, or life-current, which contains
in itself all the Tattvas; but the variations in the
proportions of the Tattvas injected into the life-
current come from the planetary currents, in every
one of which the ruling Tattva of the planet pre-
dominates. It is interesting to know that the spec-
trum of Venus shows the presence of watery vapor.

1 84 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Thus it is that the activities of the macrocosm are
reflected in the microcosm.

It is in the pulmonary manifestation of Prdna
that the Tattvic condition of the vital currents can
be most indisputably ascertained; for every Tattva
throws the elastic spongy cells of the lungs into the
from of its characteristic vibration. Thus when
the 'A pas Tattva is prevalent, the cells expand in
crescent-like shape. When Tejas predominates,
they are triangular, and with Fdyu, spherical ; and
various modifications of these geometrical forms
indicate the Tattvic permutations. The test sug-
gested for examining these is to hold a brilliant-
surfaced mirror before the mouth to intercept the
exhalations. The vapor as it condenses upon the
cool surface will take the form of the vibration
dominant at the moment; and it can be best seen by
another person looking over the shoulder of the
one whose breath is under examination, as of course
these vapor cells are extremely evanescent.

We have now identified the planetary corre-
spondencies with all the Tattvas, and there yet
remains the smallest and swiftest of the heavenly
host, Mercury, who yields nothing in importance
to the more brilliant and better-known orbs. He
is the bond of union, and truly " the messenger
of the gods." How he performs this office I shall
try to make plain in the next chapter.

CHAPTER XVII

MERCURY AND THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUSHUMNA

<*TT "IT ERMES, as the messenger of God,
I I reveals to us His paternal will, and

JL -*- — developing in us intuition — im-
parts to us knowledge. The knowledge which
descends into the soul from above, excels any that
can be attained by the mere exercise of the intel-
lect."

This quotation from the Neoplatonist Proclus
is a most fitting introduction to our study of the
influence of the planet Mercury — called by the
Greeks, "Hermes" — upon human life, for by
the illuminating light of the Tattvic Law we are
able to remove the statement from the realm of
" mere speculation," to which it has been indul-
gently relegated for centuries, and to feel convinced
of the intuitional truth embodied in the ancient
Greek thought. All scientific data concerning the
planet Mercury as well as the fables and ancient
myths connecting planet and god are strictly in
harmony with what I believe to be Mercury's

185

1 86 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

activities and influences, whether heavenly or ter-
restrial.

Briefly reviewing the first mentioned, we learn
that as a stellar body Mercury is exceptional in
many ways, and has always baffled the astronomer
in his efforts to obtain accurate data concerning its
constitution and environment. It is the smallest
planet in diameter but the swiftest in motion; has
the least mass but the greatest density, being two
and one-fourth times denser than the earth, and
only slightly less dense than the metal mercury; is
nearest to the sun and has the most eccentric orbit.
As seen from the sun, Mercury passes through one
constellation of the Zodiac in a fraction over seven
days, completing the circuit of the Zodiac in
eighty-eight days; and as seen from the earth it
makes three complete circuits of the sun in three
hundred and forty-eight days. Also from our
point of view, the planet is usually in the same con-
stellation with the sun, and is never farther away
than a nearby sign.

The astronomer considers it more than doubtful
if Mercury has any atmosphere, and it has no satel-
lite. When it can be observed in the same tele-
scopic field with Venus, its totally different con-
stitution is plainly betrayed by its markedly lower
Albedo, or reflecting power; for Mercury ap-
pears as zinc or lead contrasted with the dazzling
silver-white radiance of Venus. Now, I should

Activities of the Sushumna 187

like you to remember, in this connection, that
wherever or whenever the Apas Tattva — most
prevalent in Venus — can be isolated, it is recog-
nized by its glistening silvery whiteness. It is said
to impart a silvery edge to the human aura.

I wish I knew how many of my readers could
answer the question: What are the three prin-
cipal Nadis in the physical body? Those who
cannot would better re-read Chapter XII. and fix
firmly in their minds the names and offices of " the
great main reservoir and conduits of life-force."
You will understand perfectly then that thePingala,
on the right side of the spine, is the conduit of the
solar current (positive), and the Ida, on the left
side, of the lunar current (negative) ; and, there-
fore, these Nddis correspond respectively with the
sun and the moon and are influenced by their activ-
ities. With what does the Sushumna, in which the
two currents meet, correspond?

In our study of planetary relations and influences,
we have traced the correspondence of the organic
activities in the human body with the whole solar
system, and the truth of the old Greek aphorism,
" As it is above, so is it below," has been made to
us a living reality. :< When once your attention
is drawn to the fact, you will constantly come upon
proof that to many ancient people this was a fa-
miliar truth. Bacon says the ancients styled man,
" a little world in himself." Now, the correspond-

1 88 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

ence of the constellations of the Zodiac and the
planets with all the organs of the human body
through its nervous system is but the microcosmic
reflection of the vast system of Kosmic vibrations.
Therefore, in the solar system we must find the
Kosmic Sushumna in which the solar and lunar
currents meet.

In the progress of the human soul, in its evolu-
tion, its growth and development, there is nothing
more important than the office of the Sushumna.
Consequently it is inconceivable that it has not a
Kosmic prototype of equal importance to the solar
system. In the gloaming, at dawn and at twi-
light, the solar and lunar currents meet in the Kos-
mic Sushumna. The identification of Mercury as
this Sushumna of the macrocosm makes perfectly
clear and comprehensible all the dignities, attributes,
and influences which legend and fable have con-
ferred upon the planet, both actually and sym-
bolically; and explains many of the characteristics
that have puzzled the astronomer. No other
planet possesses any attributes that connect it with
the office of the Sushumna.

Again giving precedence to known facts, our first
clue is that Mercury is in the closest Kosmical re-
lation to the sun. Indeed, so close is it that only
the patient observer who keeps in touch with the
movements of the planet and knows when and
where to look for it ever sees it. There is a tra-

Activities of the Sushumnsj 189

dition that the eyes of Copernicus were never grat-
ified by the sight of this swift solar attendant. In
the latitude of New York and neighboring States,
for about a fortnight during its greatest Eastern
elongation from the sun, Mercury can be seen in
the early twilight just before its setting; and for a
like period when the planet is West of the sun, ris-
ing before the orb of day, it can be seen in the early
dawn. During the first weeks of December, 1906,
Mercury was a morning star, and was seen in close
companionship with Venus. These neighboring
planets were in Scorpio ; and only two signs to the
Southwest, in Virgo, the crescent of the waning
moon was in conjunction with Mars. The spec-
tacle was unforgetably beautiful, — worth many
early risings to enjoy.

It was a reminder, also, that both esoterically
and astrologically, Mercury and Venus are consid-
ered spiritual affinities, while Mars and Saturn are
thought to have a close physical sympathy. This
latter may be beneficial or harmful according as the
physical is kept under subjection and subordinated
to its divinely planned office as a perfectly fitted
vehicle for the soul's activities, or is given free rein
and stifles all higher interests.

Now, Mercury is the unifying element between
the several Principles of man as between the Tatt-
vas. The strife the planet arouses is that it is ever
impelling upward and resists downward tenden-

190 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

cies. It is Mercury's rod that pricks the con-
science and would ever extend its support in the
struggle against wayward impulses. When you
fully understand the entire office of the Sushumnd,
this will be quite plain.

Both the density and the swiftness of Mercury
are accounted for, or explained, by the Tattvic
state of Prdna when in the Sushumnd. Of course
it is the same in the macrocosm as in the microcosm,
only on a vaster scale. Though apparently quies-
cent during the moment of conjunction, the quies-
cence is but seeming. The concentrated energy
of the Tattvas through their closely compacted
atoms in the united currents as they meet in the
Sushumnd produces a state of extreme density.
During concentration, when alone the higher office
of the Sushumnd is called into activity, the velocity
of the vibrations is stimulated to an inconceivable
speed.

(Six months after this study of Mercury's influ-
ences was first set in type, I had the extreme grati-
fication of finding the following corroboration of
my belief. Alchemists knew " Mercury has to be
ever near Isis [the moon] as her minister, as with-
out Mercury neither Isis nor Osiris [the sun] can
accomplish anything in their great work." — Secret
Doctrine, Vol. i, p. 388).

Curiously enough, we have in the rise of mercury
in a thermometer a perfect symbol of the rise of the

Activities of the Sushumna 191

vital force in the Sushumna, for the state of in-
creased activity and density and vastly increased
velocity is also one of rising temperature. The
spinal Sushumnd, which we have now specially to
consider, is a hollow canal in the center of the spinal
cord. In ordinary persons who are absorbed in
trivialities and purely material interests, it is closed
at the base, the point of union between the Pin-
gala and Ida, where the residual nervous action —
the memory of sensations — is stored in the sacral
plexus. This canal is the so-called Occult channel
of Prdna, through which, when roused to activity,
the coiled-up latent Prdna, or Kundalini, ascends
from the sacral plexus to the brain, and striking
upon the pituitary body (the will-energizer) stim-
ulates it to such activity that it in turn kindles the
spiritual fire of the pineal gland. The first hint
the student has that he is rousing this slumbering
power is a sensation of warmth in the basic plexus
— the Mulddhdri of the Yogi — where it is
" coiled-up " ; and as the soul-governed will con-
trols Prdna and holds it to the ascent through the
canal, the heat increases.

All aspirations for higher things, all exaltation of
prayer and worship, tend to set free a minute por-
tion of this Kundalini, the " coiled-up one." Thus,
you see, the path to " the Mystic Realm of the
Undiscovered " leads through the Sushumnd. We
enter it in meditation. Often unknowingly, it is

192 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

traversed by many a rapt enthusiast, and by the ar-
dent inventor who wrests Nature's secrets from her
vast repositories. Intuitional truths are never dis-
covered elsewhere. Swami Vivekananda says:
;' Wherever there is any manifestation of what is
ordinarily called supernatural power or wisdom,
there must have been a little current of Kundalinl
which found its way into the Sushumna."

The data concerning Mercury's close associa-
tion with our spiritual natures is practically with-
out limit, as he who begins to search will find.
The symbol of the planet expresses the trinity or
three in one, the circle representing the Spirit be-
cause without beginning or end. The crescent is
the reflection, or Soul, — the negative of the Spirit
as is the Moon of the Sun; and the cross typifies
the four elements of the physical, or gross, plane
of activity. There are four elemental divisions,
called the " triplicities," of the Zodiac, and Mer-
cury's influence in the varying signs is distinct.
The astrologer Hazelrigg finds all the planetary
symbols equally significant with that of Mercury,
and believes none to be arbitrary signs, which is in
agreement with all Occult teaching.

In all ancient lore, we find Mercury accredited
as ruling the mind. Everywhere in myth and
story he is sent as the interpreter and messenger
to the understanding and reason of man. Even
the thievish disposition attributed to Mercury sym«

Activities of the Sushumna 193

bolized the facility with which reason and under-
standing appropriate all knowledge. The very
term thought is said by Anna Kingsford to be " the
Egyptian equivalent for Hermes, the God Thaut,
frequently written Thoth; these being for the
Greeks and Egyptians the personification of the
Divine Intelligence," that is, His messenger. The
same Spirit was manifested to the Hebrew as Raph-
ael,— like Hermes called " the physician of
souls; " and to the Hindu as Buddhi.

One of the chief glories of Hermes was his con-
quest of the hundred-eyed Argus, which denotes,
Mrs. Kingsford says : " The victory of the un-
derstanding over fate. For Argus represents the
power of thetstars over the unenfranchised soul."
This corroborates what I have constantly endeav-
ored to make emphatic, that the power of human
thought guided by reason can change the planetary
currents. The powers of reason and understand-
ing to which Mercury guides us are above mere
cold intellection. It is the stifling of pure reason
by the exaltation of the human sense-governed
mind that produced the rank materialism which has
marked recent decades and from which Higher
Thought is freeing the race of mankind.

The Roman name Mercury, by which we desig-
nate the planet, comes from merx, merchandise.
Their god was of a much more material and sordid
character than the Greek Hermes with whom they

194 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

identified him, which betrays the truth that the peo-
ple had degenerated and become more material.
They chose to degrade " Hermes * * *
Archangel, who bears the rod of knowledge by
which all things in heaven and earth are measured "
(The Perfect Way^ p. 367), to a crafty, commer-
cial god.

The farther back we go the more elemental,
more spiritual are all the gods. Zeus is believed
to have meant originally " the glistening ether."
Hindu genius spiritualizes its sense-conceptions
with wonderful readiness. The more remotely
their myths are traced the more " atmospheric "
do they become. The more the god merges with
the planet and its ensouling Force. •»

A concluding word as to practice: When our
wills hold our minds in check and thus restrain the
scattering of forces through wasteful and, oftener
than not, discordant activities, the Prdnic currents
flow rhythmically and gather force and strength
as all the molecules of the body yield to the har-
mony and tend to move in the same direction, —
which means a tremendous gain in electric power:
Only by the uplift of this conscious direction can
we connect with the great Central Dynamo, the
Divine Spirit.

Thus the soul-directed thought is electrical, it-
self a ray of spiritual powers, the effectual energy
of which is gauged by the steadfastness of purpose,

Activities of the Sushumna 195

the soul-force, which directs it. Never forget that
the mind which is the disturber and disorganizer,
creating all discord, when brought under control
is the agent of our freedom. There is no limit
to the power of thought.

CHAPTER XVIII

.VITAL CENTERS FOR CONCENTRATION

I

IT should be very clear to my readers, now, that
subtle bonds of rhythmic influence connect
every human being with the vast spaces of the
universe, and open to him illimitable resources if
he but uses them aright. But alas! This is the
crux of the problem. How many use them aright ?
Even the knowing how does not confer the power
to do. Desire and will decide that! IT IS
ONLY THROUGH USE THAT KNOW-
LEDGE BECOMES A HABIT AND THEN
A POWER!

What is the purpose of concentration? It is to
develop power; to develop the best there is in the
individual through gaining control of the lower
Principles and using the higher ones latent in
every human being. But let me say at the out-
set of this study, lest some students have an en-
tirely erroneous idea of our object: // is not to
develop psychic powers. No ; our object — a fore-
cast of which was given in the last chapter — is
far higher, vastly more important. It is, first, to
complete the work which I trust is already well

196

Vital Centers for Concentration 197

begun — the effort to obtain control of the mind ;
that wonderful instrument through which the dy-
namic power of thought manifests; by controlling
which alone we can hope to exercise the power for
good only.

Not till we quiet the mind's useless activities, and
can hold it in leash, an obedient servant as it was
designed to be, can we hope to attain the higher
reward of concentration — the joy — the benedic-
tion — of a realization of soul-consciousness.
This once achieved places a power for good under
the control of a soul-directed Will that can never
fail its possessor in any crisis.

A certain measure of development of the psychic
senses comes as a natural attribute of growing spir-
ituality, but this is not a real attainment in itself
or for itself; and it varies greatly in degree in dif-
ferent constitutions and according to how it is em-
ployed. When made an end and aim by absorp-
tion in its phenomena, the activities of mere astral
life which may be even more trivial than on this ter-
restrial plane, it leads to gross abuse of the powers;
blocks irretrievably self-conquest and spiritual de-
velopment, and invites untold misery in manifold
forms.

You have learned that thought is the creator of
force within these bodies; that is, the form of
force active within is largely determined by the
mind's habitual thoughts, and the ratio of the vi-

1 98! The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

brations by the plane of its activity. Thus it is a
demonstrable fact, a basic law of nature too long
ignored, when not vehemently denied, that with
every thought, since the mind reflects its vibrations
upon the physical plane below, we are moulding
these bodies of ours to ease or disease (see Chap-
ter III). Then the greatest need of every human
being is to gain control of the mind, and put a stop
forever and aye to the discordant hash which the
uncontrolled mind contrives to mix out of the or-
dinary events and duties of life from hour to hour.

Not until you can control your body through
you mind being brought under control, will you be
freed from that body's whimsies ! When you have
conquered the vehicle (the body), it will be your
willing, skillful servant, fulfilling its divinely plan-
ned purpose of furthering growth and develop-
ment instead of hampering it. Therefore, before
progress can be made upon the spiritual plane, it
is absolutely necessary to obtain physical and men-
tal control, to bring the lower Principles into work-
ing harmony. When we know what the ideal is,
as Swami Vivekananda said : " What remains is
to practice the methods of reaching it."

The Swami's inspired aphorisms prefatory to
Raja Yoga are of deep significance here :

" EACH SOUL is POTENTIALLY DIVINE. THE

GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THIS DIVINITY WITHIN BY

Vital Centers for Concentration 199

CONTROLLING NATURE, EXTERNAL AND IN-
TERNAL."

This mischievous mind, which uncontrolled
turns many a paradise into purgatory, can be con-
trolled for good only through a soul-directed and
governed WILL, and nothing else so hastens the
attainment of this mental control — the first step-
ping-stone towards the realization of soul-power
— as the practice of Concentration. As you must
well understand now, it is the only method of rous-
ing the Kundalini; also called " The Tree of Know-
ledge," being the latent Prana, or stored-up resi-
dual sensations in the great root-receptacle, or basic
plexus. When this force, sleeping in every human
being, is awakened through concentration it ascends
the spinal canal by slow stages from one center to
another, gathering strength in every Padma, till it
rouses the potencies in the brain-centers of real il-
lumination. This effort brings us under the most
beneficent influence of Mercury, — an influence that
is ever striving to purify us and lift us to higher
planes of living and thinking.

Moreover, concentration is the only entrance to
the blessed realm of Silence; that wordless space
vibrant with peace; the peace of exquisitely subtle
spiritual force, where we come in touch with the
soul of things and thereby find our own souls. In
the unspeakable peace of this precious Silence, the

2OO The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

world of the senses disappears in a conscious rap-
port with the vaster universe of living thought
which needs no words to clothe its meaning. It
is the " Knowledge space " of the Yogi.

If you but think of it we are on the verge of Si-
lence at every moment of existence. Its omnipres-
ence laps us round about as the Universe of the
invisible and inaudible, teeming with activities so
infinitely finer, more subtle, that they escape cog-
nizance by our grosser sense-perceptions. At any
instant when we can shut out the consciousness of
this physical environment we open the avenues of
that consciousness to this inner silent world, and the
importance of the experience is incalculable.
Every time we attain it, the way is made easier to
repeat the experience till it carries us to the full
realization of the real subjective self.

Remember what I said in an early chapter:
The life-current is more subtle than radio-activity,
and it depends upon ourselves to how high power
we shall raise it. The holding the attention — all
our consciousness — to a given point, as when cen-
tering upon a special plexus or organ, accelerates
the velocity of the Tattvic vibrations and, there-
fore, the force of Prdna. This effect and benefit
are the immediate reward for the regular practice
of the Held-Breath exercise for Prdndyama, in
which, through the polarization of the vital cur-
rents greatly increased power is generated and the

Vital Centers for Concentration 201

whole nervous system is energized. The benefit
derived from the exercise is in exact ratio to the
success of the student in holding the current men-
tally to the designated center. A good beginning
is thus made in mental control, for the brain ap-
propriates its full share of the energy, gains stead-
iness and flexibility, and the memory is quickened.
All mental effort is made easier and more fruitful,
and the voice — so intimately associated with our
mentality — gains sweetness and fullness of tone,
evidencing the increasing harmony of the life.
All harsh, uneven, and strident tones can thus be
overcome.

In concentration we develop still higher power
— the power of higher forces on higher planes of
activity. With regard to these varying planes,
please remember that every one is positive to the
next below and negative to the one above ; and that
the higher they are the finer, swifter, and more
subtle are the vibrations. As you progress, gain-
ing more and more control over the physical, and
insight into the mental activities of your being, you
will receive irrefutable proof that the spirit brings
out power wherever it is focused.

When there is a state of physical discord and
the need is to purify and harmonize the Tattvic
vibrations on the physical plane as well as to ob-
tain mental control, the most important centers
upon which to concentrate are the sacral and the

2O2' The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

solar plexuses; the pituitary body (high up back
of the throat), which is intimately connected with
the ninth and tenth cranial nerves; and that core
of the brain, the pineal gland.

The sacral plexus is so-called because situated in
the sacrum; a composite bone formed of the union
of the vertebrae between the lumbar and the coccy-
geal regions of the spine, containing the dorsal
part of the pelvis. In man the sacrum, or sacred
bone, is triangular, and consists of five vertebrae.
This shape conforms to the basic plexus which it
shelters, and proclaims it a dominating center of
Tejas activity, whence this Tattva's stimulating vi-
brations speed to all the organs in this part of the
body. No other Tattva responds so instantly to a
thought, or to a glance from a speaking eye; for,
remember, Tejas is regnant in the optic nerves.
Therefore, as behind every thought is desire, the
harmonious activity of Tejas in these vital organs
depends upon the purity, saneness, and wholesome-
ness of our desires; and their control by a soul-
governed Will affects the human life beyond all
other influences. It is the difference between aspir-
ing to be Godlike, and yielding to be the shut-
tlecock of the physical senses.

This is, of course, the turning point in life, for
we all are and become what our desires mould.
Desire prompts the Will to action. Shall it be a
lawless ruler? Right here is the most prolific

Vital Centers for Concentration 203

source of evil. It is easier far to drift with desire;
but know, once for all, it is the path of discord,
the sower of disturbance.

In the Zodiac we find the clue to these close re-
lations of organic sympathy which affect human
life and character so profoundly. The constella-
tion Scorpio is the symbol of desire because it ex-
ercises a paramount influence upon the physical
center where desires are generated. This activity
is assigned to the coccygeal gland (also known as
Luschka's gland), situated near the extremity of
the spinal column. This gland is most intimately
associated with the arteries and nerves; but its ex-
act function, like that of the spleen, pituitary body,
and pineal gland, still remains a mystery to the
anatomist. Scorpio is one of the " houses " of
Mars. Now thought, under the influence of Sagit-
tarius (next East of Scorpio as seen in the Heav-
ens) is either above or below desire exactly accord-
ing to the direction of our thoughts. If these are
of the earth, earthy, the direction of these stellar
influences is downward from Aries, governing the
head, to Pisces ruling the feet.

The familiar figure of man in the almanacs
shows the commonly assigned influence of the zo-
diacal signs upon different parts of the body. Fa-
miliar as it is, though, how little the illustration
signifies to the majority of mankind ! Yet the con-
nection is deeply significant; and to a certain de-

2O4 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

gree it is natural, normal, and healthful. You
have learned that the soles of the feet are centers
of Prithivic activity, and that in the contact of the
feet with Mother Earth the flow of pure Prithivi
vibrations is greatly stimulated. This Tattvic
emanation received from the earth is an extremely
subtle, ethereal magnetism which exhilarates the
whole body. Whether the elemental forces which
develop as this subtle Tattva ascends and stimulates
and mingles with Tejas shall be purely physical or
shall be transmuted into purer and higher princi-
ples depends upon its use or abuse.

The guide to both paths is in the Zodiac. For
still within man is the Occult spiritual Zodiac
which, corresponding exactly with that of the ma-
crocosm, is circular. In this, notice particularly
that Sagittarius is above Scorpio, and that Pisces —
the abstract symbol of the will and influencing it —
reflects its power upon desire in a vertical ray from
above as in the physical Zodiac it reflects it from
below. Accepting the guidance of Mercury and
governing the body by reason and understanding
we develop the power to employ all its mysterious
forces for good. By controlling his desires
through the power of thought — much easier than
he who has never tried to dreams — man enters the
upward, spiritual path, thus overcoming the down-
ward and outward flow of his activities and emo-

Vital Centers for Concentration 205

tions to things purely physical through the stimulus
of his sense perceptions.

Notice also with care that it is not the will but
thought which must first be employed to control
desire and give it an upward impulse. Until this
is accomplished, will is at the mercy of desire and
but strengthens its evil intents. The moment
thought, which directs and controls desire, recog-
nizes its own agency, refuses to be swayed by im-
pulses, and gains the mastery, the Will ascends to
its higher plane, and its reflection transmutes de-
sire to loftier aims; for Will and desire are the
higher and lower aspects of one and the same thing.
It is by the proper exercise of our Will that we ac-
complish all things on the higher planes and free
our souls from physical chains.

Thus in all this overcoming we are building
character, shaping destiny. And the petty trials,
the small frictions of life are just as important if
allowed to do their work of discord as seemingly
more important matters. They demand their cor-
responding measures of resistance, — not the resist-
ance of struggle, but the more effective resistance
of poise, ensuring the calm spirit that commands
reason and, therefore, can meet the annoyance with
wise judgment.

Be not anxious if at first when trying to concen-
trate and enter the Silence a multitude of thoughts

206 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

flit through the mind. It is the beginning of
discipline to watch these vagaries. They will sur-
prise you, but you will soon realize that you your-
self are above and superior to the mind. You will
separate yourself from it; and next will come the
calm and confidence derived from consciousness of
power to check and control the whole unruly tribe
of trouble-makers and peace- and mind-destroyers.
This, however, is not gained in a day, nor is it the
reward of irregular, haphazard practice.

The influence of the Zodiac upon other vital cen-
ters, showing what is gained by concentration upon
them, will be fully explained as we continue this
study of the inter-relations of man and the Uni-
verse.

In all practice, assume an easy, erect posture
(not "slumping" nor lounging; that is). This
is especially important in the Held-Breath exercise ;
for as the object in view is to obtain control of
Prana, the region of the principle Nddis through
which the currents flow must be free from all con-
straint or strain. These lessons ought to have con-
vinced everyone already that at all times any pres-
sure upon the spinal column is an iniquitous menace
to the very reservoir of life. But especially dur-
ing periods of practice should attention be given to
the absolute freedom of the spine and chest which
should form an erect support for the neck and head
poised in line above them. To twist or crook the

Vital Centers for Concentration 207

spine during meditation or when concentrating the
Prana in different plexuses will not merely defeat
the purpose but may cause disturbance, just as elec-
tric wires, if crossed and tangled, raise the mis-
chief 1

CHAPTER XIX

THE CONNECTION OF THE ZODIAC WITH VITAL
CENTERS

YOU are now prepared to appreciate the
significance of the statement that the con-
stellations of the Zodiac severally reflect
every stage of the involution of the Spirit into mat-
ter and its evolution out of it. Every zodiacal sign
is the geometrical symbol of a great truth and fun-
damental law of existence; for it corresponds with
successive stages in racial development through its
connection with some physical center and the ab-
stract principle which that center influences.

The internal man is formed in the image of the
whole Kosmos, and the germ of correspondence
with every principle, from the lowest to the high-
est, is in every human being. All aspiration and
striving for excellence, all recognition of the value
of the best, even on the material plane, and dissatis-
faction with anything short of that best, is the
struggle of these potentialities for recognition
and for opportunity to develop. God's plan of
perfection for the race can never be thwarted no
matter how blindly we go astray. If we would

208

The Zodiac's Influence Within 209

shorten the period of our probation and trial, we
must recognize the Truth of Being, and work with
the law of constant unfoldment and developing
improvement. There is a divine discontent that
spurs us onward and upward, but far from being
incompatible with poise and confidence and trust
it is furthered by these ; and it is wide as the poles
asunder from fret and worry and anxiety.

Our problem is to adjust the outer man, the phy-
sical self, to harmonious relations with his inner
spiritual self; for this is the only path to the over-
coming of temptations, folly, and disease, — all the
evils in short which purely physical or material liv-
ing generates. The right use of the power of
thought is the medium of adjustment, and we
choose for ourselves what use shall be made of it.
When an evil thought enters the mind promptly
replace it with a good one. This is much better
than to engage in a struggle to resist evil. It is
the quickest method of shunting the mind to an-
other track and of shutting the door between
you and temptation, if the evil be of that nature.
And at the same time it strengthens the mind to
admit only the good, and trains desire to long for
it and choose it. You thus cultivate receptivity to
the highest, the best, and the purest; and are con-
stantly refining and harmonizing the vibrations in
every sphere of your being.

I wish to impress upon every reader the over-

210 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

whelming importance of realizing individual re-
sponsibility for the perfection of the physical
body, — the soul's medium of expression. It is in
our power to steadily improve and purify these
bodies of ours through the renewing materials we
supply them. It is a significant sign of the times
that Congress has at last passed a Pure Food bill.
For years, highly protected interests have defeated
all efforts to obtain legislation for this protection
of the people, but a few stout hearts have kept up
the fight till they roused such force of public opin-
ion to support them that legislators no longer
dared defy completely the will of the people. But
pure foods and drinks are not enough. The world
at large needs to recognize that pure air and pure
thoughts as well as pure environment — the peo-
ple and things forming our associations and mould-
ing our tastes — are even more important than
what we shall eat and drink.

To make these physical tenements receptive to
the subtle vibrations of higher planes of activity —
that is higher human development — we cannot be
too careful concerning the materials in all these
varied forms which they are constantly assimilat-
ing. Let not a day pass that you do not aspire for
the highest and best things in the mental and the
spiritual life, — for more " Light on the Path,"
and for steadfastness of purpose in pursuing it;

The Zodiac's Influence Within 211

remembering always that the Path is within! in
your choice of every thought and act.

The parts of the body through which the higher
Principles operate lie in juxtaposition to the spine
or are immediately connected therewith, and herein
lies the supreme importance of the special exer-
cises in Concentration by means of which we gain
the power to rouse the Kundalini, and raise the la-
tent, " coiled-up " energy through the Sushumna;
the opening of which even a little way marks a dis-
tinct advance in spiritual and mental power, and in
the overcoming of the physical.

Along the line of the Sushumna are ranged the
seven padmas, or " lotuses " of the Yogi, stations,
as it were, in the path of progress from the physi-
cal to the spiritual, which correspond with the prin-
cipal nerve-plexuses from the basic, or sacral, to
the pineal gland. In the head are seven " Master
Chakras " which are said to govern and rule these
nerve-plexuses in the body. Exactly in the propor-
tion that the Kundalini is raised in the Sushumna
the power of the current increases; for it stimulates
every plexus as it passes through it, and also gath-
ers to itself a tremendous increase from the essence
or energy of the successive plexuses.

This force of supernormally pure and subtle vi-
brations reacts upon the whole nervous system,
vastly increasing the power (through refining the

212 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

vibrations) of every ganglion and strengthening
and stimulating the zodiacal centers of the higher
Principles. In this practice for Concentration,
deep, slow rhythmic breathing should be so estab-
lished that it will take care of itself. A mental
image should be formed of the upward flow of the
vital current. You must endeavor to both feel
and see it rising in the Sushumnd in obedience to
your command, and gaining force as it ascends.

Leo, the zodiacal house of the sun, corresponds
with and is the influence which develops life, — the
vital force which we know as Prdna. But the form
which that life-principle shall mould depends upon
the character of our thoughts. The thought-prin-
ciple, as you have learned, develops under the in-
fluence of Sagittarius. In the circle of the Zodiac,
Sagittarius is on the same plane with Leo (life),
but it is its opposite and complement, marking the
immense evolution from mere animal life to the
development of conscious mentality; and it stands,
as explained in the last chapter, at the parting of the
ways. If brought under a soul-governed Will, it
leads the life, through the development of individ-
uality to the upward arc of evolution, the divine
quarternary, — to the release of the soul from its
physical chains forged by sense-perceptions.

Individuality has its physical seat in the spine
back of the heart, and is under the influence of
Capricornus, always recognized as possessing a

The Zodiac's Influence Within 213

mysterious organizing power. Capricornus is
on the boundary line of the manifested, or visible
universe. On this gross plane of the physical man
the constellation rules the knees. When you say of
a man, " He is weak-kneed," you are unconsciously ,
recognizing his lack of development in the Occult
center of Capricornus, where, as individuality in-
creases, courage keeps pace with it in the high coun-
cil-chamber of the heart.

The correspondence of Leo with the body is
through the solar plexus and the heart. The solar
plexus (also called epigastric plexus) is to the nerv-
ous system what the heart is to the vascular system ;
therefore, it claims pre-eminence as the most vital
center in the body. It is the largest of the great
sympathetic plexuses, and is situated in the upper
part of the abdomen, back of the stomach and in
front of the aorta. Its dominating influence has
won for it the titles of " abdominal brain " and
" king brain." In this life-center, the three Tatt-
•uas which predominate in our terrestrial lives min-
gle most closely, and exercise the one upon the other
that restraint which secures their harmonious co-
operation in physical activities. Prithivi here
unites with Tejas, and both come under the temper-
ing, welding influence of Apas, resolving them into
a higher power. Remember the solvent and con-
tracting properties of Apas. These act with bene-
ficent restraint upon the two others ; therefore, con-

214 The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

centration upon the solar plexus has an immediate
effect in calming and purifying the nerves and re-
storing the equilibrium. It is the most important
center upon which to concentrate for relief from any
disturbance of the digestive function, whether gas-
tric or intestinal.

Next above Capricornus in the circle of the Zo-
diac, is the zodiacal influence of the soul, Aquarius.
The physical correspondence of this constellation
is with that part of the spinal cord situated between
the shoulders. Reference has already been made
to the mystic relations between Apas (water) and
the soul, and this makes still clearer the bond be-
tween the two. Soul is that Principle in all things
which relates the visible to the invisible; and in
humanity it is the real, immortal Self, — the gar-
ment of the Spirit. It is that principle of univer-
sal love which makes the whole world kin. All
self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness in devotion to
high principle is a manifestation of the soul. Only
by such exercise does the soul come into conscious
government of its own individual kingdom, — a
conquest which must precede all realization of its
oneness with infinite life and with power.

You must now have learned past forgetting that
our bodies are the fields of marvellously subtle ac-
tivities which, by reflection and transmutation from
one plane to another lower one, are gradually pre-
cipitated into the visible form that constitutes the

The Zodiac's Influence Within 215

physical self. But never is there any separation.
These activities are wheels within wheels; spheres
within spheres. Also, you know that these Tattvic
vibrations can be evil as well as beneficent; and
that thought is the dynamic power which controls
the vibrations, and can make them whatever you
choose!

The relations of mind and body as you must cer-
tainly recognize by this time, are so intimate that
the control of one is indispensable for the control
of the other; for the mind really moulds the body
from moment to moment through the instant effect
of its every emotion upon the vibratory currents
active therein, which are beneficent or evil accord-
ing to the direction given them by habitual
thoughts.

When you are told that the speed of the spirillae
within the atoms is " several hundred trillion " vi-
brations per second, the fact may help you to un-
derstand why intense emotion thrills the body so in-
stantaneously and is capable of killing or curing
according to its nature.

The ordinary every-day life which is absorbed
with purely utilitarian occupations, — the life
which is allowed to drift, and honestly believes it
has no time to think purposefully, — wastes an in-
calculable force daily and hourly in ungoverned
thinking and idle talking, and is fortunate when it
does not suffer physical weakness and discord as a

2 1 6 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

direct and speedy consequence. Many headaches,
attacks of indigestion, and even colds (following
mental depression) have no other origin than talk
which, waxing Into controversy, develops irritation,
heated excitement and unhappiness.

You are now at a stage in this study of Self and
its forces where you can readily understand that
exercises in Concentration should always conclude
with concentration upon the higher centers, and
with an upward direction of currents, as these are
psychical and spiritual, while downward-flowing
currents are physical.

Never allow the body to become tense and
strained during concentration; and avoid gazing
fixedly at any object as a help in centering the mind.
The practice (frequently commended) strains and
injures the optic nerves, impairing their power of
focal adjustment. As directed in an early chapter,
it is much better to close the eyes when concentrat-
ing; and when the immediate purpose of the exer-
cise is to restore physical harmony, confine con-
sciousness — the inward gaze — as far as possible
unwaveringly to the chosen center.

I think it must be clearly understood now that
these exercises in Concentration are not to be con-
sidered from a purely utilitarian standpoint, the
gain in physical well-being. No ; the reward is far
greater than that. It is a development, a remould-
ing on a higher plane, of the whole character,

The Zodiac's Influence Within 217

strengthening and giving firmness to every good
quality, and disclosing talents and abilities before
unsuspected. Harmony and serenity become the
habitual mental state, and a source of unvarying
courage and confidence in every perplexity and
emergency. Thus we are moulding the Self to
loftier purpose, to greater usefulness, to activities
subliminal as well as conscious that affect for great
good ourselves and all who come within our en-
vironment.

CHAPTER XX

THE CROWN OF CONCENTRATION

SO far all the explanations concerning exer-
cises and discipline for concentration have
necessarily given prominence to the physical
plane, because we must know our mediums of ac-
tivity in order to use them correctly and bene-
ficially; and because the physical is the lowest and
grossest medium in the scale of human develop-
ment, but also the vehicle of expression for all ac-
tivities, and therefore the one which we must first
learn to control.

No method of purifying and energizing the
nerves is known to Western science that in any re-
spect approaches the efficacy of the exercises for
Prdndydma; and from their effect upon the vibra-
tions, they prepare the physical conditions most fa-
vorable for success in higher concentration.

In the Sushumnd man bridges the abyss between
the physical and spiritual over the psychic realm.
It is only through the complete mastery of our
thoughts and their conscious direction to the high-
est and best that we are able to open this gate-
way to the inner senses ; for the process refines the

218

The Crown of Concentration 219

vibrations of normal consciousness so that they are
attuned to those of the supernormal state, — va-
riously described as " subliminal," ' The Uncon-
scious Mind," and " The Subconscious." As it is
a vastly higher condition, not lower, supernormal
seems to identify it most clearly and aptly. Con-
sciousness really embraces all space, which is to it
non-existent; want of affinity in vibrations is the
only bar. Therefore there are no limitations to
the consciousness of the " knower." Ignorance
or choice forge their own limitations of condition
or state. Thus this normal self which we know
best is commonly a person of many limitations be-
cause failing to utilize its latent powers. As long
as we permit our desires to dwell upon lower phy-
sical pleasures this gateway remains closed, the
thought-power needed to open it being wasted and
dissipated in the world of externality. Passing
downward and outward it brings deterioration of
character, and effectually blocks the development
of higher Principles.

I would entreat you to keep this basic fact ever
before you as both a warning and a guide: The
law of growth and development is based upon ac-
tivity, and the form of the activity upon the use
to which we devote it. No growth is possible
without use; and just as every unused muscle or
tightly bound organ in the body deteriorates
through the stagnation thus induced, so also do un-

22O The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

used faculties of the human mind deteriorate;
while some powers remain ever latent from utter
failure to exercise them.

Activity in a center quickens the sensitiveness
of that center to receive impressions and to de-
velop its latent powers. The spiritual nature
within all is striving for unfoldment, and thus it is
with every latent quality or power. It waits only
the unlocking of its secret chamber through com-
mand of desire and searching intelligence. The
weak-willed are governed by their desires excited
by external objects; the strong-willed govern their
desires through Internal choice, — the ethical exer-
cise of a discriminating will.

In the heart-silence to which concentration leads,
sources of power undreamed-of are opened to us.
The clear realization by the conscious self of con-
ditions — fields of activity — usually veiled by sub-
consciousness, is developed through the increased
activity of the soul when thus freed, and of
a will-power which becomes in its every exercise a
manifestation of soul-force. Not till we thus unite
our wills with our real selves can we have any con-
ception of the might of the invisible into whose
realms we are gradually and gently led through
this concentration of psychic power and consequent
development of psychic senses. The keenness of
these on the subtle planes where alone they act is
another incontestable proof of the building power

The Crown of Concentration 221

of the imaging faculty. Never idle, always
moulding something, through its wise direction
we can consciously enter the higher planes.

One of the earliest signs of progress in over-
coming — in refining and purifying the vibrations
— and in the unfoldment of the higher Principles,
is the development of the sense of touch to a mar-
velously delicate rapport with the mind. It thus
imparts to all abstract concepts whatsoever, of
things as of persons, so intense reality that you
discriminate textures and substances as if in actual
contact with them; and can feel the presence of an
absent friend — the really vital, throbbing life;
the cordial handclasp or loving touch upon the
hair — as vividly as if you stood face to face.
The sense of smell also, always mysteriously linked
with memory and subtly uniting us with the in-
visible, increases in sensitiveness to the stimulant of
suggestion, promptly responding by presenting to
consciousness the spiritual aroma of any favorite
flower. The emotional effect of the sense of smell
and the marvelous reactionary power of memory
to stimulate it may be accounted for by its
anatomical seat in close association with the pineal
gland.

Not surprsing is it, therefore, that the first of
the psychic senses to develop is the enjoyment of
the spiritual aromas of Nature, — sweet flower-
odors and aromatic pines and balsams which pen-

222 The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

etrate consciousness unpreparedly and in places
where the physical vehicle of the odor is entirely
absent. Its corresponding physical sense is stim-
ulated, you will remember, by the last and densest
Tattva, Prithivi, the earth vibration. It was the
last sense to be evolved. Thus psychic evolution
is exactly the reverse of physical evolution. It is
the ascension of the spiral and reflects its opposite.

Corresponding with taste is the psychic power
to absorb and enjoy the finer essences of Prdna;
and to recall with the vividness of physical pleas-
ure any delicious food flavors. These subtle es-
sences are the nectar and ambrosia of the gods.

It is in the exercise of holding consciousness to
the fixed contemplation of the force circulating in
the Sushumnd till it rises to the pineal gland and
rouses it to activity, that the Yogi, in Swami
Vivekananda's words : " Becomes en rapport
with the astral light and the universal mind and
thus is able to see the whole Kosmos." All that is
known of the invisible universe has been learned in
this way. Physiological facts are these: When
we succeed in rousing the Kundalinl, and the vital-
current rises in the Sushumnd, we have released
Prdna from its bondage to matter — that is, the
nervous system, over which its currents normally
flow — and in doing this have refined the vibra-
tions to a higher plane to which it carries Con-
sciousness with it. Thus we release the mind from

The Crown of Concentration 223

its physical chains, the nerve-wires, and from the
restrictions of the physical senses. The same prin-
cipal is employed in wireless telegraphy I

The pineal gland is the " Divine Eye," and it
is now recognized by scientists as " a vestigial
structure representing an unpaired eye " ; that is,
the "third eye." Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes
described this mysterious organ as a small mineral
deposit of grape-like masses of crystalline matter
in the core of the brain, " in the part where Des
Cartes placed the soul." Quantities of nerve fiber
pass through the organ, and it is of interest to the
student of the Tattvas to learn that of its two sorts
of cells, those of sharp, irregular form contain
granules of yellow or orange pigment. The mac-
rocosmic correspondence of this gland is with
Aries, and consciousness is there enthroned.

The structure of the pituitary body is almost
identical with that of the pineal gland, yet no slight-
est connection can be traced between the two cen-
ters by anatomists. Mme. Blavatsky is my auth-
ority, however, for stating that the connection be-
tween them is physiological as well as spiritual.
Her assertions concerning their importance were
corroborated in 1903 by the discoveries of Dr.
Sajous, of Philadelphia, who announced the
" startling theory that one of the least studied
glands [the pituitary body] is the most important
of the millions in the human body." After four-

224 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

teen years of research devoted especially to the
study of the office or function of the least under-
stood glands in the body, Dr. Sajous believed he
could demonstrate that the anterior lobe of the pit-
uitary body [of course, the difference between the
lobes is that one is positive and the other negative]
is vitally concerned in the preservation of health,
because the glands are agents for the absorption of
oxygen and its transmission in another form to the
lungs. When you study the sheaths of the body,
this discovery will strike you with greater signifi-
cance.

Concerning the connection between the pituitary
body and the pineal gland, Mme. Blavatsky states
that an Adept can see a golden aura pulsating in
both centers when the subject is in a normal condi-
tion. It is as regular as the heart beat. Under
abnormal conditions of concentration or exaltation,
the arc of pulsation from the pituitary body mounts
upward more and more until, just as when an elec-
tric current strikes some solid object, the vibra-
tions strike the pineal gland, and awakening that
dormant center set all glowing with pure Akdshic
energy.

" This is the psycho-physiological illustration of
two organs on the physical plane, which are respec-
tively, the concrete symbols of the metaphysical
concepts called Manas [mind] and Buddhi [Soul].
[To become conscious on this plane, Buddhi needs

The Crown of Concentration 225

the differentiated fire of Manas; but once the sixth
sense has awakened the seventh the light which
radiates from this seventh sense illuminates the
fields of infinitude. For a brief space of time,
man becomes omniscient, the Past and the Future,
Space and Time, disappear and become for him the
Present."

Thus experience, as tangible and definite as any
scientific experiments, has established the fact that
the pineal gland is the chief organ of spirituality,
and the seat of genius. It is the " concrete sym-
bol " because latent within this crystalline center
are the potencies of Buddhi. To the faithful earn-
est student, it becomes the magical Sesame which
under the stimulus of his purified will opens to him
the secrets of the macrocosm. This supreme
achievement, however, is not the reward of all, nor
can it be gained by any without unfaltering pur-
pose.

Any selfish aim defeats the realization of higher
states of consciousness. But all faithful and reg-
ular practice brings its immediate return in serenity,
mental power, and physical harmony; with a steady
gain in these day by day, and increasing strength,
insight, and confidence. Always, the purer the
thoughts, the finer, the more rapid the vibrations
of the mind-stuff whose reflection is mirrored upon
the physical plane.

Know, too, that spiritual consciousness cannot

226 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

be taken by assault. It can be won only by per-
severing, patient devotion to the lofty purpose of
union with the highest. It requires effort and con-
tinuous effort, and especially the self-discipline of
restraining all irritation or depression. Boundless
faith, cheerfulness and happiness create those har-
monious vibrations that prepare the lower sheaths
to reflect the higher, and release subtle forces to
pass freely from one medium to another. No
other investment of time or labor returns so soul-
satisfying, enduring rewards.

To see the vision, and without striving and hop-
ing for it none can succeed, one must " think in-
wardly; desire intensely; and imagine centrally;"
resolved that nothing shall bar one's penetrating
to the innermost radiant center of being — the Liv-
ing Temple — and ascending to the highest, most
subtle plane. By concentration, the diffused, la-
tent soul-power is made manifest and definite, —
comprehensible. Meditation is the crown of con-
centration. It is only in meditation that we reach
the heart of anything. We cannot meditate till
through concentration we have brought the med-
ium, the mind, to the steadfast state of submission
to our will and purpose. Thus concentration is
the moulding of the organ; meditation is its ex-
ercise to great ends.

The first successful stage is to be able to hold
the mind to a single point; and next to sweep the

The Crown of Concentration 227

surface clean of any object; literally to fix the at-
tention upon nothing. This is the " waveless
lake " of Swami Vivekananda, — a clean tablet
upon which, having brought the mind-stuff into a
state of perfect quiescence, we can pursue a single
train of thought; each link in the chain, by the law
of causation which is also a law of rhythm, ris-
ing into consciousness and taking its place with the
precision of well-trained soldiers.

Do not confound concentration with a state of
passivity. In order to reach the plane of pure
meditation which opens the channels for an influx
of divine power, — where, as Annie Besant says :
" Peace and strength and force flow into the
soul," — it is necessary to quell all the distractions
of irrelevant ideas with which the senses and un-
trained minds commonly make havoc of lives.
These most certainly must be reduced to a state of
passivity, hence the confusion; but if consciousness
be permitted to dwell upon this plane, the result is
not concentration but stupor! This is the mis-
take, the stumbling-block in many paths.

Consciousness must ascend; through aspiration it
must be alert yet not anxious. It must concentrate
all effort to a single point. Thus it is a state of
highest activity. The master on duty cannot sleep !
The only danger incurred in the exercise is from
excessive zeal. The subtle vibrations called into
activity work through the germs of the powers you

228; The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

seek to develop; and, like all life in its incipiency,
these germs — atomic spirillse — are extremely
delicate. Practice should always stop short of
brain-fatigue.

The earnest student needs no admonition; but
the curious investigator who experiments with this
system of unfoldment and evolution is cautioned
that the mental attitude with which the study is
pursued affects most profoundly the results. The
poison of doubt, or any lack of confidence acts ef-
fectively to inhibit the realization of the bene-
fits sought. Trust and hopefulness open the chan-
nels for their fulfillment. Be not too keen for re-
sults. That attitude easily passes into anxiety and
disappointment. It is to the cheerfully expectant
that all great boons come. Let your greatest in-
terest be in the method; in the difficulties you en-
counter, and the ingenuity, the expedients, you
evolve in overcoming them. Remember that you
are investigating your own kingdom of conscious-
ness; a mysterious realm that will open out grad-
ually, disclosing resources, possibilities, and talents
wholly unsuspected.

Do not dwell upon things external. It is
within you must endeavor to center all your con-
sciousness. Give no recognition to insistent sense-
perceptions; ignore everything external. Not by
denial of what obtrudes persistently, for that im-
plies recognition, but by steadfast affirmation of

The Crown of Concentration 229

what you seek will you reach the goal of en-
deavor — complete abstraction from the material,
visible plane. The forces that ingather 'during
such concentration are commonly wasted in prodi-
gal outward radiation; for there is more spend-
thrift thinking than there is spendthrift waste of
money. Not till the psychic force which is com-
monly squandered so thoughtlessly and lavishly is
gathered in and concentrated in various centers
does the normal consciousness realize the extent to
which the power can be controlled, or the energy
which can be thus generated.

Above all, during the exercise of concentration,
the mind should not be permitted to dwell for an
instant upon the anxieties, vicissitudes, or annoy-
ances of the day. It should be lifted to the con-
sciousness of eternal peace, — the law of the per-
fectly adjusted life. The first stage of the sub-
jective, interior self which we reach in the Silence,
is that most closely connected with normal con-
sciousness where the effects of habitual thoughts
and acts are garnered and reproach or comfort us
according to their nature; and in the degree that
we are able to make this self-examination with ab-
solute candor and freedom from bias or prejudice,
is it helpful to us. Do not tarry here; waste no
time in regret; give only such recognition as arms
you against repetition of that which harms. Har-
monious thoughts alone can mould a harmonious

230 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

body, and desire for things spiritual can alone give
the real self opportunity to grow and to evolve its
inherent power.

It is a deeply significant truth that the regular
observance of periods for Concentration produces
physical and mental conditions that favor such de-
velopment beyond any other known discipline or
training. Only during introspection, after com-
plete withdrawal from the world of the senses, has
the soul-life an opportunity to strengthen itself
through association with things spiritual and sub-
jective, instead of material and objective. Every
such exercise of the soul-life refines and purifies
the vibrations and reflects its increasing strength
and purity upon the physical tabernacle.

For, mystery of mysteries ! it is into the realm of
creation that meditation carries us, where we feel
the dawning of a creative spirit in ourselves; and
realize beyond question or faintest doubt that we,
too, can share in that higher life, — that we are a
part of it and can manifest our individual part
here.

CHAPTER XXI

THE SEQUENCE OF NUMBERS

>

ONE of the most significant and deepest
truths of life, of Nature, of the Universe,
is, that there is correspondence — funda-
mental correspondence — everywhere. The stum-
bling-block of science has been its separation of
man, the observer, from the objects of his study
and research; for he, the crowning work of crea-
tion, is an epitome of it, bearing to its component
parts the same relations that the atoms of his body
bear to one another.

It is impossible for us to separate ourselves
from the life about us, for we are a part of it, and
bear the closest relationship to its manifold forms
and manifestations. The soul, the connecting link
between the body and its Creator, is the medium
through which all consciousness of that Divinity
and our close connection with the unchanging
source of life is manifested. Now, the question
arises: How is it manifested?

You have been told that everything, all activity,
every visible thing, is the result of Tattvic vibra-
tions; and that our physical bodies are gross —

231

232 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

that is, visible — effects of their ceaseless permu«
tations and comminglings. The distinction
" gross " is used in this connection always with
the sense of being the antipodes, or direct opposite
of the most sublimated or subtle, — a visible effect,
through a succession of ever coarsening vibrations
forming denser matter, of invisible forces; forces
of so tremendous energy that the average mind is
as yet incapable, wanting any standard of compar-
ison, of realizing their power and effect. What
you have already learned concerning the bonds of
sympathy established by the Tattvas has prepared
you for the consideration now of all the links in
the chain of causation, the analysis of which will
enable you to answer in fullest detail and incontro-
vertibly the question: What is this relationship
and correspondence? in answering which the first
question is answered also.

All this is made clear through study of the Self,
— a septenary compound of Principles which link
the microcosm to the macrocosm by the same sep-
tenary chain through and by which all phenomena
issue from the noumenon. The human body con-
sists of seven vehicles of expression, — sheaths,
bodies, or Principles, as they are variously desig-
nated. The lowest of these in degree of density
is the physical body, an aggregation of cells com-
pounded by the grossest vibrations of the Tattvas;
but cells could not exist without molecules, nor

The Sequence of Numbers 233

molecules without atoms; and just as every process
from the exterior to the interior of the cell is a
gradation of refining motion, to forms and vibra-
tions too subtle for the comprehension of man, so
also is the structure of the human body.

The sequence of numbers forges the links in this
life-chain, — numbers ever repeating, ever reiterat-
ing, ever reproducing and recombining — con-
strained by the Rhythmic Law — the primary
Logoi emanating from the First Cause. As from
this First Cause, which is Unity (the Creator,
Brahman) , everything in the manifested world pro-
ceeds, the basic Truth is that the Law of Unity
is the keystone of the arch supporting, defining,
and limiting all other laws and their activities.
But since manifestation implies change, how does
this Law of Unity act? Every act proceeds from
an impelling influence, — the power of thought,
which is Spirit in action. God thought, and in-
stantly the vibrations of that thought — for us the
first manifestation of Force — began working in its
affinity, or opposite, the Mother Principle of the
Universe, Mula-prakriti; or Pradhdna; homo-
geneous, undiscrete substance for which there
are many names. It suffices for clearest under-
standing, however, to recognize it as the negative
phase of Spirit, and the root of matter, which is al-
ways negative to Spirit.

Thus even Unity in action must have two phases

234 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

— activity and existence being unthinkable, other-
wise — and these two aspects of the First Cause
are necessarily of different character, opposite poles
the one to the other, hence give rise to diversity
in Unity; whence arises the law of affinity, or sym-
pathy, in opposites. Therefore, " pairs of oppo-
sites " are to be held in mind as the basis of all
activities, all change, all progress, and the beginning
of numbers, — the duad, without which the Holy
Trinity were impossible. Affinity is the Love
Principle which builds all worlds, while its oppo-
site, hate, destroys. The opposite of unity is di-
versity, and the product of their interaction is a
unit which differs from them, — the Trinity, the
three in one, or three aspects of the Primary Cause.
The very beginning of Kosmic manifestation was
an unfolding of this three-fold power, the Trinity,
which was latent in Unity. To put this in simple
terms of every day life which should speak to
every human heart in a voice that will forever echo
the truth: Father, mother, and child are forever
reiterating, reproducing the Primary activity of
the Holy Trinity.

/ These aspects are defined in Principles as Will,
Wisdom, and Activity, — the Will to do, the Wis-
dom to conceive, the Power to act. The ideas of
all created things are inherent in this first utterance
of Supreme Unity, which we recognize as the First
Logos, — the expression or Voice of God, who

The Sequence of Numbers 235

spoke the Universe into existence; for the result-
ing vibrations are the Holy Spirit or creative me-
dium. This First Logos was seven- fold, and dif-
ferentiated into the seven Logoi, or creative poten-
cies, (the Seven Spirits, or gods, below the Trin-
ity), corresponding to the vowels of speech, and
acting through the septenary of vowel-sounds.
Thus sound and color and form correspond
throughout Nature.

In the " Book of Dzyan " (see Secret Doctrine,
Vol. I.), it is said: " This was the army of the
Voice — The Divine Septenary. . . . These
are called spheres, triangles, cubes, lines, and mod-
ellers." You will recognize these forms as identi-
cal with the Tattvas, and it shows you that from
the beginning of manifestation God geometrized.
The Harmony of the Spheres, Pythagoras' " Voice
of Nature," is composed of these voices of the
Logoi, which correspond with the seven tones of
the musical scale. They are the seven heavens,
or angels, who " sounded each one vowel, which,
all combined together, formed a complete doxol-
ogy; " the Sound whereof, being carried down to
earth, " became the creator and parent of all things
that be on earth." The forces thus set in mo-
tion are the Seven Hierarchs of conscious divine
powers, active manifestations of one Supreme
Energy. In Hindu mythology, this stage of evolu-
tion is known as " the creation of the gods," the

236 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

sons of Fohat, or Force. These personified forces
are the positive aspects of the Tattvas, the nega-
tive phases being the Shaktis of the Hindu Sacred
Books.

Now, the Logoi must be recognized also as " the
Seven Great Rays " from, the Holy Spirit, or
Primal Light. It is these seven Forces, symbo-
lized as the " Elohim or Seven Spirits of God " —
the lower Sephiroth of the Kabala — which define
the limits to the links in the chain of causation,
establishing seven planes of manifestation, corre-
sponding each with its primal Ray and its vowel
sound, and differentiated the one from the others
by the character of its vibrations; that is, their
form and rate, or number per unit of time — their
velocity.

The Western mind has little idea of the latent
power in sound and consequently in words, num-
bers, and musical tones. But number underlies
all form and guides sound. All life is manifes-
ted in numerical proportions and rhythmical mo-
tion. Motion, ceaseless motion is a condition of
all existence, and form determines its effect; but
sound with its rhythm and accent, of which num-
ber is the expression, moulds the form. Thus, the
Voice of God — sound — shaped the vibrations of
the First Logos which contained in itself the germs
of the succeeding seven Logoi.

It is, perhaps, fortunate that we are forced to

The Sequence of Numbers 237

employ the Sanskrit nomenclature for the Tattvas;
because Sanskrit being a pure, primitive tongue, is
rich in onomatopoetic words like our cool, fiery,
rustling, brilliant, scurry. There is great probabil-
ity that the names of the Tattvas bear a metrical re-
lation to their signification, quality, and action on
the gross plane of matter. Hence it is very impor-
tant that they be correctly pronounced. To facilitate
this, the accepted phonetic spelling (that adopted
by the Sanskrit scholars who appreciate the need)
has been strictly followed; and to give further aid
a glossary of all the Sanskrit words it has been
necessary to use is appended to this book.

The marvellous building and formative power
in sound has always been recognized in Hindu re-
ligion and philosophy, and it has led the East In-
dian people to have an unshakable faith in the
potency of their most sacred Word. They believe
the manifestating Word of God is Om (Aum},
and, being " double in its pronunciation and triple
in its essence," that it expresses every power of
generation, preservation, and destruction; that is,
correspondence with their Trimurti (Trinity) —
Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and
Shiva, the destroyer; " all one in different aspects."

Although there are hundreds of words in differ-
ent languages signifying God, there must be some
root thought, generalization, or common ground
from which all the symbols spring; and that root

238 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

thought, " the primitive idea," reasons the Hindu,
" should be the common symbol." He, therefore,
seeks his fundamental in a root sound, asking him-
iself first, how sounds are uttered by the human
'voice, and then, " What must have been the first
sound? "

What organs are called into action? The
larynx, and the palate as a sounding board. Now,
is there any word which contains in itself the basis
of all sounds ? Yes, A um (Om — pronounced
like o in on, not like o in home, prolonging the
consonant and holding the voice to one key) is
such a word, and the only one. Analyzing its
" triple essence," the first letter, A, is the root
sound, or key. In all tongues, it is the natural ex-
clamation of emotion, whether of pain or joy
(ah!), and the first word the infant utters; and
it is pronounced without touching any part of the
tongue or palate. U rolls from the very root of
the tongue to the end of the mouth's sounding-
board; and M brings teeth and lips together and
closes mouth and sound. The three letters also
symbolize the three worlds, physical, astral (or
luminous), and heavenly; the latter embracing the
other two (see Glossary).

Thus, Om is a fundamental word covering the
whole phenomena of vocal utterance. As such,
Swami Vivekananda pronounces it " the natural
symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds," be-

The Sequence of Numbers 239

lieving that " It denotes the whole range and pos-
sibility of all the words that can be made." All
the religious ideas of India have been and are
centered around this sacred Word; so hallowed in
many cults that its public utterance has been con-
demned when not forbidden. And this ban you
will now understand arises from no mere supersti-
tion but is based upon Occult knowledge of the
tremendous power invested in certain rhythmic
sounds. I would caution you never to utter the
word or discuss its profound significance in hostile
or flippant company; "because," says Annie
Besant, " the sound that, working in the harmo-
nious builds, working in the inharmonious destroys;
and every thing that is evil is tumultuous, while
everything which is pure is harmonious " (Building
of the Kosmos, p. 23).

A Sanskrit Mantra embodies in its words an es-
sential virtue attributed to the rhythmic force of
sound ; and Mrs. Besant, addressing the Theosoph-
ical Society, in India, explained that she used the
" teaching " of the Upanishad (Mundako) but
not the " Sanskrit tongue in the definite order of
'its syllables which gives them the force of Man-
trams." She would not assume the responsibility
" of repeating the Mantram-form " of Vedic
Shlokas in a mixed assembly where conflicting mag-
netisms were gathered.

I have dwelt thus upon the importance of the

240 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

spoken word as a caution to those thoughtless per-
sons who frequently hold up to ridicule sacred
words and subjects concerning the significance of
which they are profoundly ignorant; and doing
which they make for themselves very unhappy
Karma, — that unerring law which adjusts effect to
cause on every plane, — which their companions
and all those whom they influence share to a lesser
degree. It is impossible to speak with too great
emphasis here, for idle talk does more harm than
the average mind can conceive; and hasty speech,
the word that hurts, has ever to be atoned for.
Forces that are uncontrolled, control you; and out
of this mystery emanates all the suffering and un-
happiness in the world. Choose ye harmonious
forces.

Pythagorean philosophy taught that the sub-
stances of all things were represented by abstract
numbers, which in a certain sense were the ele-
ments of the Universe and explained it. Every
number, therefore, had its specific value and in-
fluence; and the Pythagoreans considered seven,
or the heptagon, a religious and perfect number.
It is called Telesphorus " because by it all in the
Universe and mankind is led to its end " ; and also,
" because within the decade it has neither factors
nor product." Plutarch says that Pythagoras
maintained " the earth was the product of the cube;
fire, of the pyramid (triangle?) ; air, of the octa-

The Sequence of Numbers 241

hedron; and the sphere of the Universe, of the
dodecahedron." When you recognize the agree-
ment between this theory and the Tattvic Law (in
the form of elemental vibrations) you will, per-
haps, think with me that the moderns would bet-
ter cease to scoff at the " fantastic metaphysics "
of Pythagoras, and with humble spirit and open
minds study his tenets.

The number system of Pythagoras was based on
the theory of opposites (by which alone Creation
and the activities of the Kosmos can be explained).
Numbers were divided into odd and even, and from
their combination other numbers (and therefore all
things) resulted. He believed number was the
basis of order and harmony in the Kosmos, identi-
fied it with form; and endowed different numbers
with their special virtues and powers.

The Pythagorean categories, or fundamental
opposites are:

1. Limited and unlimited.

2. Odd and even.

3. One and many.

4. Right and left.

5. Masculine and feminine.

6. Rest and motion.

7. Straight and crooked.

8. Light and darkness.

9. Good and evil.

10. Square and oblong.

242 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

The first four numbers corresponded respectively
with a point, a line, a surface, and a cube. The
point ( i ) signified unity and harmony, or order,
having position, and being analogous to the monad
(Spirit, or Ego), was positive and bi-sexual, the
number of origin and of reason; the line (2) was
analogous to the duad, an even number, unlimited,
because it could be perpetually halved, negative and
feminine; and represented matter — therefore the
possibility of evil — and brute force ; a surface (3 )
was analogous to the triad, or triangle, positive
and masculine; and a cube (4) to the tetrad, or
Tetraktys; considered the symbol of the Kosmos,
because containing within itself the point, the line,
the superficies, and the solid — all essentials of
form. Its mystical representation is the point
within the triangle. Four was also significant as
the first square number, and as being the potential
decade ( i-|-2-}-3-|-4=io), or perfect number.
Pythagoras compared four to " a world that is
self-moving; it contains in itself, and is, the quar-
ternary." It was the number of justice, as was
three of mediation.

Great honor was shown to three by all ancient
peoples, as, corresponding with the triangle, it was
the first absolutely perfect figure; endowed with
sacred significance as symbolizing the Eternal, the
first Perfection, and the three kingdoms. Al-
though the science of good and evil began with two,

The Sequence of Numbers 243

which expresses all the contrasts in Nature — day
and night, health and sickness, heat and cold,
light and darkness, etc. — it yet was recognized as
intimately connected with harmonic sound, " be-
cause by doubling the number of string vibrations
in a given unit of time another tone is produced
which sounds like the first, but differs in pitch —
the octave higher."

Five was called " the nourisher," — the generat-
ing and fostering sound ; for it was believed that a
fifth was the first of all intervals which could be
sounded; and also it contained the first feminine
or even number (2), and the first masculine or odd
(3) . Pythagoras discovered that the fifth and the
octave of a tone could be produced on the same
string by stopping at two-thirds and one-half of
its length respectively. This gave the law that
harmony depends upon numerical proportion, and
the discovery is believed to have led to his whole
philosophy of number.

The Ogdoad or eight symbolizes the eternal
and spiral motion of all things from the atom to
cycles, and is symbolized in its turn by the cadu-
ceus. It manifests the regular in-and-out-breath-
ing of the Kosmos under the direction of the
" eight great gods " — that is, the seven Builders
or Kosmic Dhyan Chohans (identified with the
" Seven Spirits," the " Voices," and the " Seven
Angels of the Stars ") , and the Holy Spirit, whence

244 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

they emanated. Nine is the triple ternary, a num-
ber reproducing itself incessantly under all shapes
and figures in multiplication. It is the sign of
every circumference. It leads to a new dispensa-
tion and to revelation and symbolizes the point
of union with the Higher Self. Under certain
conditions, by the law of opposites, it may be very
unlucky.

Ten, or the Decade, brings the digits back to
unity and completes the Pythagorean table.
Hence the figure i. enclosed in a cipher — unity
within zero — was a symbol of Deity, of the visi-
ble Universe and of infinite vastness, and of man,
the only creature who stood erect; as also of the
primal activity of the positive and negative forces.
In the Books of Hermes, which Mme. Blavatsky
quotes (Secret Doctrine, Vol. III.), ten is "the
Mother of the Soul, Life and Light being therein
united," for one, man, is born of the Spirit, and
ten, of matter, and from their unity — again the
Trinity — comes forth the Soul.

There is a famous Chinese arithmetical dia-
gram called the Loh-Shu, or the scroll of the river
Loh; the invention of which is attributed to Fuh-
Hi who lived 2858-2738 B. C. It is a mathe-
matical square from 1-9, so written that all the
odd numbers are expressed in yang symbols, —
white dots, emblems of heaven; while the even
numbers are expressed in yin symbols, — black dots,

The Sequence of Numbers 24$

the emblems of earth. Confucius, who was a con-
temporary of Pythagoras, used these same yang
and yin symbols, with the already age-honored sig-
nification above given ; and he taught that the trans-
mutations and comminglings of these odd and even
numbers — corresponding, of course, with forces
— kept " the spirit-like agencies " of the Kosmic
world in movement.

Thus the theory of opposites and of the funda-
mental relations of odd and even numbers was not
confined to a brotherhood of " fantastic metaphysi-
cians " in Greece, and is perhaps worthy of the
serious consideration of modern scientists. The
twentieth century has not improved upon the Con-
fucian Code of Ethics, and ancient wisdom is a
vast storehouse of treasures for us.

The seven-fold permutations of the Tattvas was
explained early in these lessons (Chapter VI), but
you are now to understand that everything in Na-
ture responds to this number seven, — a compound
of three and four, and the factor element in every
ancient religion, because it is the factor element in
Nature. The most tremendous and baffling force
in Nature is the mysterious synthesizing power of
the triad, the " three in one." It is the Unity
which in all the apparent confusion maintains har-
mony and order. This synthetic power is shared
in only lesser degree by five and seven, and these
three are most significant numbers for humanity.

246 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Seven is " the master of the moon " for she is
constrained to change her phase every seven days.
Thus she herself is without the seven, being acted
upon by them.

Mme. Blavatsky says : " The seven planets are
not limited to this number because the ancients
knew no others, but simply because they were the
primordial or primitive houses of the seven Logoi.
There may be nine and ninety-nine other planets
discovered — this does not alter the fact of these
seven alone being sacred." What you know of
planetary influences will enable you to recognize the
" houses " as centers respectively of the separate
creative forces, or Logoi.

Though invisible and inaudible to us in detail,
the creative forces, in the form of rates of vibra-
tion which compound and dissociate the atoms and
molecules, become in the synthesis of the whole
audible to us on the material plane. The Chinese
call it the " Great Tone," or Kung. It is the ac-
tual tonic of Nature, recognized by musicians as
middle Fa on the piano.

Among the moderns, the great French genius,
Balzac (recently classed with Napoleon and other
history-makers of the nineteenth century among
the demi-fous, or half-insane) was gifted with a
Pythagorean insight into the mysteries of the Kos-
mos. He wrote : " There is a Number beyond

The Sequence of Numbers 247

which the impure cannot pass; the Number which
is the limit of creation.

" The Unit was [is ?] the starting-point of every
product. . . . The Universe is the Unit in
variety. Motion is the means; Number is the re-
sult. The end is the return of all things to the
Unit, which is God."

CHAPTER XXII

THE SEVEN-FOLD CONSTITUTION OF HUMANITY

WE have seen that proceeding from Unity
through its first uttered thought, — the
Voice of God striking upon the waters
of Life, — Kosmic vibrations varied by sound, mo-
tion, and number, and restrained by unison and
harmony, are the base and order of the Universe.

Never lose sight of the basic law that Unity in
action is dual, — that in this fact lies the axial point
of creation, as also the endurance of the Universe;
that right here, the ultimate of manifestation that
man's intelligence can reach or comprehend, is the
Fohat feeding the Great Dynamo which maintains
the absolute rhythm of the Great Breath of all
Life. On every hand we have proof of these two
opposed but complementary forces in Nature.

The attraction and repulsion of these two phases
of one substance — that is, the reciprocal activities
of the positive and the negative, or the active and
the passive — are the source of perpetual motion.
While each phase is in its purest state, sympathy
draws them together; when they are completely
blended, antipathy results and they fly apart.

248

The Seven-fold Constitution of Humanity 249

Thus satiety follows rapture and prepares the way
for further rapture; the two phases ever building
and disintegrating, mingling and separating.

This duality exists in every differentiality from
the First Cause, and therefore in every atom.
This is the first bond of union and sympathy, the
phase of motion; it is this that maintains the con-
servation of energy; and the next is the form, like
seeking like, fire feeding fire, water blending with
water, oil with oil; and from every duad is de-
rived a third, which is the synthesis of the triad.

As the seven sounds, the tones, or voices of the
Logoi — emanations from the Holy Spirit of the
Primal Trinity — define through their differentia-
tions, the limits of causation and, therefore, the
links in the chain; through their activities, they es-
tablished corresponding planes of existence, or man-
ifestation, which are called the sheaths of Brah-
man. It is Brahman, — the Creator who is unde-
finable, — " The one Breath of the whole Uni-
verse," who set these limits to creation; without
whom there could be no life; and not till the souls
of men realize this can they attain immortality.

Now, wherever God is — and He is everywhere
— the possibility, the germ of development, of
evolution, is present; and it is in this sense that it
can be truly said, from the Truti to man, every
atom is an epitome of the Universe, having its cor-
respondence with the sheaths or planes. Con-

250 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

sciousness is inherent in substance, therefore em-
bodied in the atom which is the soul of the mole-
cule, so that " every molecule in the Universe is
able to feel and to obey after its kind, — the inor-
ganic as well as the organic " (Perfect Way, p.

122).

Sir William Crooke's " protyle," the withinness
of his dual atom, is a Prithivic Vdyu sheath of this
synthesizing spiritual ray — the soul of every atom,
of every created thing. It is for this reason that
to sensitive souls, the souls awakened to the pres-
ence of the Spirit, the immanence of the God-pres-
ence becomes in all the secret haunts of nature an
abiding fact ever present to their consciousness.
Therefore, these enlightened ones see more, hear
more, feel more, and receive more from intimate
association with nature than those average folk
whose chief characteristics are their gregariousness,
their obtuseness to blatant noise, and their love of
excitement — often indeed, their acute horror of
being alone. They are afraid of the mystery of
life which in silence knocks on the door of con-
sciousness,— afraid because it has been clothed in
terror when it should be radiant with beauty.

Western science is to-day ably corroborating all
that the ancient religions and wisdom have affirmed
concerning this septenary chain of creation, of in-
volution and evolution. The telescope has re-
vealed that the great globe of Jupiter is divided

The Seven-fold Constitution of Humanity 251

into a series of concentric shells showing variations
of motion and character. The eye is able to look
through these varying planes, or spheres within
spheres; and an ideal picture of the spectacle,
drawn by Garrett Serviss, curiously enough shows
exactly six concentric rings surrounding the lumin-
ous central sphere. Now this central sphere is the
" home " of the ruling Logoi, — the soul of the
planet, which rules its function and emanations
and sounds its key. Our own earth has its envelop-
ing sheaths in like manner, and its radiant center,
the Higher Ego (this is " The Glory clothing the
Hidden Spirit"), which is positive to all its
sheaths but negative to its Creator, Life Eternal 1
Our sun holds in synthesis all the planetary rays
sending to every one its own.

The astronomical symbol of the earth is a disc
with a cross stretched from center to circumfer-
ence. Has the deep significance of this ever oc-
curred to you? It symbolizes the earth-life of
humanity; the soul crucified upon and within the
four elements of the physical plane; earth, water,
fire, and air, — the stimulators of the senses and,
through them, of desire. The ancient Hindu sym-
bol called the Svastika (really a world symbol, as
it has been found everywhere) is a modification
of the earth sign; and, explained exoterically, sig-
nifies manifested life coming out of the unmani-
fested; that is, the arms of the Greek cross bent

252 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

at right angles symbolize the human soul on the
wheel of life, held to its orbit by the circle (under-
stood) of the Spirit, — the one and only source of
all life. There is, however, a profounder symbol-
ogy: The bent arms mark the soul's recognition
of its oneness with spirit, and its determination to
evolve out of the physical sheaths into synchronous
vibration with the spiritual plane; hence into the
state of spiritual consciousness. That is, to trans-
form its cross into a crown ! In all the oldest rec-
ords, the cross was always within the circle, which
symbolizes Divine Unity, time unending, and the
omnipresence of the unrecognizable.

You are familiar already with the fact that there
are seven descriptions of life-currents corresponding
with the planets, and it will not be difficult for you
to understand that these seven fundamental forces
in Nature are also seven planes of being, which,
as Mme. Blavatsky explains very clearly, " are
seven states of consciousness in which man can live,
think, remember, and have his being."

These different Principles, sheaths, or bodies
have received many names in the different religions
and philosophies of both the ancient world and the
modern; and have been variously classified as to
order. Any attempt to enumerate all these and to
reconcile them would make a book in itself. The
significant fact is that these different states have
been recognized in all religions and every philoso-

The Seven- fold Constitution of Humanity 253

phy worthy of the name. The Christian Triad of
body, soul, and spirit includes the whole septenary
chain ; but it has given currency to the common be-
lief that man is only a triadic creature; so we speak
of physical, mental, and spiritual selves.

The analysis here given does not change the fa-
miliar classification, but goes further — closer to
the heart and truth of things, distinguishing other
divisions; and showing how every Principle or
sheath influences and interpenetrates the others.
The septenary constitution of humanity is symbol-
ized by a triangle surmounting a cube or square.
In the cube, we have the ultimate of manifestation,
containing as it does the possibilities of all va-
riety, of every form, of all expression; all the ele-
ments in one, being the actual form of Prithivi,
the earth vibration.

The cube represents the four different sheaths
which make up the " natural body " of earth life.
The two outer are the Sthula-Sharira, or gross
body; and the Sukshma-Sharira, or subtle body
— the Etheric-double, which is the prototype
and shadow of the Sthula, being the form round
which the physical body is built; and in some of
its appearances it is called the astral body. The
Sukshma-Sharira is the vehicle of Prdna, which is
transmuted through the astral spleen, and thus the
life-current unites the two bodies. The nceuds-
vital in the throat and " the pit of the stomach,"

254 Thg Law of the Rhythmic Breath

so-called (the great vagus nerve and the solar
plexus), are the points of closest connection be-
tween these Shariras, which explains the sensitive-
ness of these physical centers. The restoration of
those who have been shocked by electricity or
smothered by drowning is effected through such
stimulation of these centers as restores connection
between these bodies and thus recalls the Ego to
consciousness. This is the secret of the wonder-
working Kat-zu (resuscitation from apparent
death) of the Japanese. The remaining sheaths
of the quarternary are the desire-body, or Kdma-
rupa, the principle which uncontrolled gives physi-
cal man the most trouble; and the animal soul, or
mind, Lower Manas. Mme. Blavatsky describes
the latter as " The reflection or shadow of the
Buddhi-Manas [Higher Manas'], but often con-
quered by Kdmic elements." She states farther:
' There are enormous mysteries connected with
Lower Manas. With regard to some intellec-
tual giants, they are in somewhat the same con-
dition as smaller men, for their Higher Ego is
paralyzed; that is to say, their spiritual nature is
atrophied" (Secret Doctrine, Vol. Ill, p. 592).

These sheaths of the quarternary, correspond
as enumerated with the Tattvas from Prithvvi to
Vayu.

The upper triad ascends through Higher Manas,
Higher Ego, Causal Body, or Karana-Sharira —

The Seven-fold Constitution of Humanity 255

various names for one sheath or principle ; to Bud-
dhi, the soul, or spiritual sheath; and terminates
with the Auric Egg, or Atma, — the Divine Spirit.
The seventh holds all the other sheaths in synthe-
sis; but the lower member of the triad, as in all
trinities, holds the two highest Principles in syn-
thesis and also, as the fifth from the lowest Sharira,
holds the lower quartenary in synthesis, and unites
them to the higher. You have doubtless recog-
nized this as the all-pervading Akdsha.

The two higher Principles, the duad of the
upper triad (6-7), pervade everything in nature
from the mineral upwards, but only in man is the
fifth Principle found in an active state. It is the
Causal Body, the beginning of individuality and
consciousness, and marks the passage of the life
from the beast to the human.

The four lower Principles are those in which,
during earth life, the Spirit is involved; and the
three higher, those through which by ascent the
soul accomplishes its evolution — earns its immor-
tality. Do not think of these sheaths or planes as
one above another, either in the Universe or in
man. All seven may be said to permeate all space.
Their difference is a variation in form of manifes-
tation of one and the same substance — Eternal
Spirit; and this change in form is a change of ve-
locity as well as change in combination of the pri-
mary simple Tattvas* The change is best and

2$6 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

most simply described as increasing density and de-
crease of velocity from the highest to the lowest,
which must be understood also as from inner to
outer; or counting upwards from the lower and
outer — that is, the physical body — the sheaths
grow more subtle and the vibrations increase tre-
mendously in velocity as they proceed from lowest
to highest, from without to the radiant center of
life. All these bodies change, deteriorate or im-
prove, according to the materials we draw into
them through our thoughts and emotions.

The rays of the Spirit radiate in every direction
from the center to circumference, but the atoms
of the separate sheaths are conditioned to the plane
of their manifestation by the rates of their vibra-
tions. These definite planes, or spheres, reflect
one another as in a mirror; reflection proceeding
downward and outward, every sheath being recep-
tive to the next higher, and attracted to the next
lower; but the Spirit radiates outward throughout
the sheaths. Thus the Spirit is never in bondage
to nature, even when working in and manipulating
it; and the soul, the vehicle of the Spirit, has but
to recognize its power in order to utilize it and
manifest its freedom. The light is always within;
but whether we reveal or obscure it depends upon
the density of our outer spheres, — upon the char-
acter we are building for ourselves through our
activities, tastes, and aims.

The Seven- fold Constitution of Humanity 257

Thus man must master these forces or be mas-
tered by them; and his whole task in life is the
transmutation of lower forces into higher, whereby
he may develop the spiritual forces within and
come into conscious recognition of his soul, — his
Higher Ego.

What chiefly concerns us, then, is to gain con-
sciousness on the spiritual plane. It is only a
question of seeking the highest, and compelling
obedience from the horde of trivialities on the
lower plane which commonly occupy our entire
field of consciousness, holding us there with their
insistent demands.

CHAPTER XXIII

COLOR IN THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLD

PART I.

ALL that exists, the whole visible Universe,
is a manifestation of Force, of vibratory
energy differentiated not by velocity alone
but by form; and every form has its color, as also
its tone, or sound.

Thus certain colors are inseparably associated
with certain forms of vibration, and, consequently,
with conditions of substance. The color is in the
substance, whether there be light by which to see it
or all is darkness. For example: The potency
of a drug or herb may be recognized by its color,
and it will have exactly the same effect if adminis-
tered in the dark as if taken in broadest daylight.
Moreover, the form in which it is prepared may en-
tirely conceal its normal color, for the great sol-
vent A-pas (water) has the power to hold the color
latently, but therein lies its power. In therapeu-
tic color-treatment — chromopathy — the patient
continues through the darkness of the night to re-
ceive the restorative harmonizing vibrations of the

258

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 259

color by which he is surrounded; and the effect of
that color is from its explicit action upon the hu-
man sheaths.

In chemical research, the hints which color gives
are but half-understood, and throughout the scien-
tific world its power and mystery are greatly de-
preciated. In the chemical changes of atoms, all
variations of colors indicate fundamental differ-
ences in either their constitution or their phase, —
whether positive or negative. Dr. Babbitt's inves-
tigations led him to conclude that the positive, or
active, color was always within the atom, and the
negative, or passive, without. But to my under-
standing this is only a half-truth, describing one
atomic phase ; and it is not corroborated by Occult
study (clairvoyant), which distinguishes " ultimate
physical atoms " by their direction of motion, the
ever-spiral force moving from right to left in the
positive, and from left to right in the negative; the
former pouring out force and the latter receiving
it (see Bibliography).

There are as many grades, shades, and hues, of
color as of musical tones and combinations of geo-
metrical forms; so the further we go from the so-
called primaries of red, yellow, and blue, the more
intricate, baffling and mysterious are these color re-
lations.

Blue has been called the negative in nature
which holds all things. Now, replacing " blue "

260 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

with indigo we have an Occult truth. From the
earliest ages Eastern philosophers have associated
indigo with the spiritual, or higher mind of man
(the Causal Body) ; but the curious properties of
indigo have always been as well known to the prac-
tical dyer as to the Occultist. It is lighter than
any known liquid and as long as it retains its color
and nature it is insoluble even in ether. There-
fore, the dyer must extract the blue by means of
deoxidation.

In this process, called " setting the blue-vat,"
indigo gives us a perfect object lesson of the trans-
formation in a substance according to its negative
or positive conditions. When being made soluble
indigo loses its apparent color in proportion as the
oxygen departs, becoming perfectly white in solu-
tion. Goods dipped in the white liquid are then
hung in the air, when they swiftly turn blue as the
indigo in them is oxidized. Repeated immersion in
the blue-vat gives every shade of blue from " sky "
to " navy." As long as dyeing remained an art
(until commercialized by the introduction of ana-
line dyes) , indigo was considered the only real blue
dye (the woad of Gaul and Britain was a northern
indigo and acted similarly) ; and with red, yellow,
and brown, furnished the dyer with the natural
substances from which he could make all the
shades, tints, and hues his art required.

As you know that the earth vibration, Prithivi,

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 261

t

is yellow, it is of interest in this study of the Tatt-
vas to add one bit more of dyer's lore. Herbs
which yield yellow dyes are the commonest ones in
forest and field. They were called by our fore-
fathers, " greening weeds," because green was ob-
tained by dyeing the stuff first in the indigo-vat, '
and then greening it to the desired shade in yellow
dye. Now, just as Akdsha is the omnipresent
Tattva, synthesizing all others, so indigo corre-
sponds with Akdsha not merely symbolically, but
because it is Akdshic — a Prithivic form of
Akdsha — and holds other colors in synthesis.

You understand that the seven colors of the
solar spectrum — so-called prismatic colors — dis-
tinguish the seven Logo} one from another; hence
they are emanations from and manifest the char-
acteristics of the Seven Hierarchies of Being,
" each of which," says Mme. Blavatsky, " has a
direct bearing upon and relation to one of the hu-
man Principles, since each of these Hierarchies is,
in fact, the creator and source of the corresponding
Principle." This statement confirms all the plane-
tary correspondences and influences explained in
earlier chapters.

As every Hierarchy is itself septenary, contain-
ing the seven colors of the spectrum, the permuta-
tions in colors are myriad, but the ruling or distin-
guishing color of a Hierarchy gives the hue to that
septenary, for its influence is paramount. This is

262 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

the primary source of all the Tattvic permutations
and comminglings. To this infinite gamut of
color in the realm of Nature the solar spectrum it-
self bears witness, for long ago, Sir David Brew-
ster succeeded in counting not seven only but 2,000
Frauenhoefer lines which registered as many dis-
tinct tints and hues of color. Only the Tattvic
Law can explain these as visualizing the varied geo-
metrical forms of etheric vibrations. The seven
prismatic colors correspond to simple, or primary
forms ; and their infinite variations to permutations
of these.

As of everything throughout the Kosmos, there
is septenary division and progression of races; and,
as Is quite generally understood, we are the Fifth
Sub-race of the Fifth Root-race. We are in the
Fourth round of this evolutionary cycle; that is,
our globe is at the lowest arc of the planetary
chain, the deepest involution of spirit in matter,
and the period of the fullest development of pure
intellect ; a conbination that has produced the gross
materialist, — • the intellectual giant sans soul. But
it is of profound significance that we are far past
the middle of the round. Thus all is preparing
for the Fifth round in which matter will lose its
density. Why? Because faculties will be devel-
oped that enable man to perceive the withinness
of all things. In Occultism, ' There is no
1 above ' as no * below,' but an eternal * within,'

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 263

within two other withins, or planes of subjectivity
merging gradually into that of terrestrial objectiv-
ity,— this being for man the last one, his own
plane."

Just as every thought has form and consequently
color, so sounds which, you know, are differentiated
one from another by form, have their distinguish-
ing colors, hues, and tints. Speech, which is
sound in this physical world, echoes as color in the
astral sphere around us and has its influence. All
the wonderful harmony of color that delights our
eyes has its correspondence with an inaudible har-
mony of sounds. The entrancing colors of na-
ture,— the blue dome of the sky, the violet and
purple of distant mountain heights, the green ca-
dences of forest and meadow, the gold of the sun-
lit fields of ripening grain, the red of the igneous
rocks and the fresh-turned earth, — all these are
the visible tones of the "Harmony of the Sphere."

" The totality of the Seven Rays," says Mme.
Blavatsky, " spread through the Solar system, con-
stitute, so to say, the physical Upadhi [basis] of
the Ether of Science." To the seventh sense
these inaudible sounds will be as perceptible as are
the colors of musical tones to the clairvoyant now.
The rudiments of the sense of sound exist in the
minutest fragments of the Universe. The subtle
space-granules — Sukshma-Akdsha — are every-
where, sound is inherent in them, not to be disso-

264 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

elated from them; but the sound varies, as you
know, according to the form of the vibrations
moving through this all-pervading space. It en-
wraps and penetrates even the minutest conceiva-
ble atom in the proportion of being greatly in ex-
cess of that atom; and color attends and irradiates
this marvellous world of activity.

The perfected man who has evolved these
higher senses — and woe to him if he misuse them;
his fall will be abysmal — comes into possession
of seven soul-senses3 so to speak, corresponding
with the physical senses but as much finer and
more subtle in their vibratory force as the soul is
higher than the body. It is these spiritual senses
that will carry us beyond gross matter. The soul-
senses corresponding with the sixth and seventh are
the ability to recognize true inspiration, and the
capacity to know the truth of being; that is, to
communicate with spiritual intelligences in the
wordless spaces of Chit-Akasha, or spirit-space,
which is the " knowledge-space " of Swami Vive-
kananda.

Not words but color and thoughts communicate
ideas on this plane, and their vibrations are of.
varying degrees of subtilty ; for every plane follows'
the fundamental law of septenary unfoldment. It
is a region of marvellous color; etheralized, lum-
inous colors of exquisite rainbow hues, ripple and
flow with inconceivable velocity, not to be com-

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 265

pared to anything upon the physical plane. Here
is the light that never was on sea or land. The
invisible world is radiant with it.

Dr. Babbitt calls it: "Psychic light, the di-
rect messenger and servant of the spirit in its re-
lations to the outward world." He further affirms
that these psychic colors " reveal the primary laws
of force " ; and it was upon these that he based his
wonderful and successful system of color therapeu-
tics (Principles of Light and Color} . There are
from eight to ten octaves of color in sunlight of
which not quite one is visible to ordinary human
eyes. But culture improves the range of even
physical vision, as artistic training constantly gives
proof.

Realize now, that man is compounded of all
these forces, being an aggregation of atoms
through varied combinations and permutations,
forming a center of the highest activity, through
and upon which these myriad forces play contin-
ually. These forces are therein further trans-
formed and pass out as evil or beneficent influ-
ences, according to the use man has made of them,
to find their affinity in other centers. Up to this
point, though you have studied only the five-fold
nature of the Tattvas, every opportunity has been
seized to impress upon you that they are vehicles
for a higher, directing and overruling force, — that
they are differentiated forms of that one dual

266 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

force. We have found correspondence of the
Tattvas from Prithivi to Akdsha with five of the
human sheaths, but there are seven sheaths. The
logical mind at once demands : Are there not then
seven Tattvas?

Yes, or no, according to the definition we give
the word. If we restrict it to " an elemental con-
dition of matter," there are but five; if we adhere
to our higher signification, " a form of motion,"
that is, force within substance, there are seven. In
the Upanishads, emphasis is everywhere given to
the " five elements," and when a sixth principle is
mentioned, it is consciousness or understanding.
If seven are enumerated, both of these faculties are
included. Thus power of choosing and directing
is always implied. In the Dharma Shastra this
explicit statement is made: " With the minute par-
ticles of the five perishable elements, every exist-
ing thing has been formed in its sequence and or-
der." Who or what is the Former? The high-
est Principle. This is a very clear distinction
which should be kept in mind.

Intuitionally we know there must be seven forces
corresponding with the seven sheaths; so we seek
to identify the two upper sheaths with what the
fine inner sense has foreseen, — the Omnipresent
Spirit, Atma, and its individualized ray, the human
soul, — the forces behind all force, and penetrat-
ing all. Thus, the sixth and seventh Tattvas cor-

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 267

respond to Buddhi and Atma — soul and Spirit.
The latter is described by Mme. Blavatsky as " the
Auric Envelope impregnated with the light of
Atma."

Naturally, these two higher Tattvas are as con-
cealed from the average mortal as are the sixth
and seventh senses from the materialistic mind ; for
just as Akdsha — the all-pervading ether of space
— has become cognizable only to comparatively
recent science, and is yet but half-understood, a
baffling paradox, so men generally cannot yet
grasp the power and significance of the higher
Principles and the planes of consciousness to which
they will lead.

Until shortly before she was taken from her
work here, Mme. Blavatsky was not permitted
to reveal any information concerning the Tattvas.
The embargo was, however, removed in time for
her to state some facts in the appendix to the
third volume of the Secret Doctrine, where she
gives the names and powers of the higher Tattvas.
She explains: "The doctrine of the seven Tatt-
vas (the principles of the Universe and also of
man) was held in great sacredness and, therefore,
secrecy in days of old,' by the Brahmans, who have
now almost forgotten the teachings. Yet it is
taught to this day in the schools beyond the Him-
alayan Range."

The sixth Tattva is Anupddaka, described as

268 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

" The first differentiation on the plane of being,
or that which is born by transformation from some-
thing higher than itself." It is the first garment,
or sheath, of the spirit, and the color is said to be
yellow. This I believe is its positive phase, and
that negatively it is violet, which identifies it with
Mercury whose phases correspond. The seventh
Tattva is Adi, the primordial universal Force. It
is the vehicle containing potentially all things —
Spirit-substance, Force and Matter.

" In Esoteric Cosmogony," says Mme. Blavat-
sky, " it is the Force which we refer to as proceed-
ing from the First or Unman ifested Logos — Spir-
itual substance." The Sanskrit meaning of the
word is " first," and in the Upanishads, Adi is
described as " The first, i. e., Om." .

As nearly as we can comprehend in our present
stage of evolution, this highest Principle is a ray,
a spark from God's self, which permeates the en-
tire being, radiating from center to circumference.
This makes perfectly clear and realizable St. Paul's
affirmation that " He be not far from every one
of us: For in Him, we live and move and have
our being."

This one out-going energy is differentiated in
the sheath but not in Itself. It is the Will of God ;
and man's will, when controlled by wisdom and
understanding, shares in this spiritual power.
This is the conquest of the Argus of fate.

.Color in the Visible and Invisible World 269

If you comprehend what this implies, you will
be convinced beyond the possibility of forgetting,
that Higher Manas — well named the Causal
Body — has power to mould every cell, molecule,
'and atom in the lower sheaths to whatever meas-
ure of purity and harmony the soul may dictate.
Manas is spiritual self-consciousness in itself, and
Divine consciousness when united with Buddhi.
But only through a spirit of aspiration and self-
consecration to the highest can this union of Atma-
Buddhi-Manas be attained, and realize for us the
full activity of the spirit.

You already realize that the physical self which
you know best is a sensitive harp played upon by
myriads of vibrating waves. The Principles, or
sheaths, are the tones in the human octave; and the
individual keynote is the tone and has the color of
the Principle most highly developed. The self
clearly proclaims itself, its stage of progress or
evolution through the colors which permeate it
through and through, and radiate in its enveloping

aura.

\

CHAPTER XXIV

COLOR IN THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLD

PART II

IT is important to understand very clearly what
is the personal responsibility for the key to
which the Self responds. When this is com-
prehended and kept in mind, the frequent objec-
tions to the public teaching of these Truths of Be-
ing— which hastens the evolution of the Soul as
nothing else can — and the periodical alarm cries
concerning the dangers attending the practice of
Yoga breathing exercises will entirely cease, for
they will be recognized as baseless, the utterance
either of ignorance or misdirected caution; both
of which retard the advancement of the race.

In a very learned work, Phenomena In Spiritual
Being, translated from the Tamil by Sri Rama-
nathan, it is stated : " Not until ' the day of the
flesh ' — the days during which love of sensuous
enjoyment prevails — has completely passed will
Tirodhdna Shakti [veiling power] manifest Itself
as Para Shakti" [all-illumining power]. But it
depends upon ourselves — upon our desires and tfc*s

270

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 27 1

•*

thoughts we permit to cherish and nourish these —
how long " the day of the flesh " shall endure!

Further, 'tis said: 'The Giver of all know-
ledge, the great Teacher of the Universe, there-
fore withholds knowledge till the time of maturity
arrives " — Yes; but we hasten or retard that time
by every thought and act I To know the respon-
sibility is to know the penalty for disregarding it.
Evasion is utterly impossible. Here is the safe-
guard against misuse of power.

In the Upanishads we read that the human body
made by the gods (Sephiroth) is the divine lute;
that made by man himself is an imitation of it.
The fingers of the divine lute correspond with the
strings of the man-made; and we tighten or loosen
them, we tune them to harmony or leave them to
jangle ourselves. Discords are self-made.

Remember that the individual key and color de-
pend upon the predominant sheaths, or Principles.
While the strongest influence upon this is the com-
position of the Prdnic currents at the hour of birth
(that is, the exact hue or tint of the Hierarchy rul-
ing the moment; the Tattvic state of the currents
in the Hierarchy and flowing thence determining
this), you have learned that the dominant thoughts
of the mind and the consequent activities of the
life have an overwhelming influence in modifying
and changing these. There is no evil which has
not its opposite good, and every key can be trans-

272 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

muted into good. Misuse and ignorance create
all evil.

Irritability in the temperament makes a scarlet
cloud in the Kama rupa (frequently alluded to as
'the astral body) which is the plane of vivid emo-
tions and passions; and every outburst of temper
suffuses the whole sheath. When the tempest of
passion dies away, the color fades out, but ever
leaves a little more, a larger cloud of the passion-
taint; and all the atoms of that Principle are more
susceptible to greater heat and excitement upon the
next occasion of loss of self-control. All actions,
both good and bad, are thus received by the va-
rious vehicles and reflected in them, changing the
hue of the color from moment to moment; and
thus man forms his habits and from them builds
his character; live, sentient atoms, pulsing with
his thought, being the bricks and mortar of his
structure.

Very fortunately the Causal body rejects all evil,
which stamps itself only upon the lower and less
permanent sheaths, the matter of which has greater
affinity for evil. All good and uplifting influences
are steadily stored up in the Causal body, making
it stronger and more powerful to overcome, and
thus the evolution of the soul goes on in spite of
man's waywardness.

So the tones and consequently the colors of the
human lute are irrefutable manifestations of what

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 273

the Self is making and moulding out of the oppor-
tunities of this life, for they indicate his varied
states, physical, mental, and spiritual. Thus the
tone- and color-body of man reflects the man him-
self as in a mirror. This is the unvarying law of
color, which ever and always betrays the media
through which it flows, and the substance whence
it emanates. And according to the prevalent color
of the individual is that individual played upon
and affected by the color in the external world;
for color produces sound and sound produces color,
the interaction of the two being invariable.*

The quality of a Principle is, of course, condi-
tioned by the elements which compose it, and these
give it a distinguishing color. But the shade or
hue — and character and disposition depend much
upon this — is determined by the number of its
atoms, not considered in multiple or quantity, but
in grade from one to seven, — degrees of subtlety
or density; for every Principle has its septenary
divisions of Tattvic permutations, and this varies
the order of the colors. The physiological effect
of the excess or deficiency of the normal color of a
Principle is profound, and every disturbance of a
Tatt-va causes exactly such disorder.

The difference in the effect of such disturbance
upon different persons brings out in strong relief

* For interesting physical experiments proving this law, see
Mrs. Besant's Building of the Kosmos.

274 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

the planetary influences which determine tempera-
ment and characteristics; for every Principle,
simply reflecting the power of its ruling Hierarchy
and Tattva, which works always in the matter of
that sheath, has its special seat of influence in the
human body, and exactly according to the so-called
" accidents of birth " (there is no " chance," all
is the effect of a given cause), primarily is a man
prone to disorders of the head or feet, the heart or
lungs, the stomach or liver, etc. But all these so-
called " heriditary " weaknesses can be overcome
by healthful living and more healthful thinking;
thought being preeminently the moulding power
of evolution, as it was in the beginning of involu-
tion. Voltaire said, as the sum of forty years'
searching for truth : " Chance is a word void of
sense. The world is arranged according to mathe-
matical laws."

Every organ in the body is the center of a certain
power, and it is upon the perfection of its function
and the harmonious co-operation of all these
powers, that the well-being and usefulness of the in-
dividual, his growth and development to high pur-
pose, depends. We are held " Under the Law "
(Karma) by evil, not by good. In the life of the
spirit we are freed and make laws for ourselves.
The purity of soul-vibrations — soul-power ap-
plied to the regeneration of the body — has power
to expel many seemingly malignant disorders.

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 275

t.

Two facts must ever be kept in mind: The

duality in all existence, — manifested and unman-
ifested, — it is the coexistence of spirit-matter; and
that all development proceeds primarily by the
triadic process. According to the stage of the pro-
cess, from the creation of a universe to the birth
of a human being and the thoughts of his mind
(upon which his evolution depends), the color
corresponds with and indicates the period, in vary-
ing grades marking the " critical " state, — or
merging together of positive and negative phases
which produce secondary colors, — from red
through yellow to blue. But, never forget, above
these and penetrating and modifying all is a spirit-
ual force, without which they could not exist, which
emanates as violet and indigo, for these are its gar-
ments. This spirit-force, the lowest form of spirit,
manifests on the material plane as electricity and
magnetism, and is to be identified as a ray from
" The Light of the Logos." Akasha, limiting
its form, " introducing the principle of division
into the one," says Mrs. Besant, " veils the Light,
and by limiting the ray, makes separation, where,
essentially, separation there is none."

It is these varying phases and Tattvic combina-
tions in every Hierarchy, planet, element, and cor-
responding human principle, that account for the
discrepancies in the many schemes of correspon-
dences between planets, Tattvas, elements, and

276 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Principles. The so-called " secondary " colors,
which are " critical " states and triadic, are some-
times called " neutral points " in progression, but
they also have their dual phases; thus violet which
comes forth from the mingling of positive red with
negative blue, is the negative " neutral," and
yellow, which occupies the middle ground between
red and blue, is the positive " neutral." These
two colors represent the corresponding phases of
Mercury, and they are preeminent in the aura of an
Adept during the state of Samadhl when the Kun-
dal'ini has risen in the Sushumna. Violet really
veils the heat and light of the spiritual flame, and
derives its potency and delicacy from the exquisitely
subtle refinement of this electric fire, which is be-
yond the comprehension of our finite senses.

It is ultra-violet, of course, to which this refers;
but all violet is intrinsically the same in nature and
in influence, though lowered in degree of power as
it is coarsened in descent through lower octaves to
visibility.

Mme. Blavatsky declares numbers in connection
with Principles " are purely arbitrary, changing
with every school. Some count three, some four,
some six, and some seven." She further explains
that they do not follow in regular sequence, and
that every student is left by his Guru " to work
out for himself the number appropriate to each of
his Principles." In a certain sense this is true; yet

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 277

there are correspondences of tone, color, and Prin-
ciple which, however they may vary individually,
are best comprehended by assuming a normal or-
der.

If we hold in mind the fact that all evolu-
tion, all progression, is cyclic, or spiral, it will
help to a clearer comprehension of some puzzling
statements; for degree and number must depend
upon the grade — the height on the spiral — of
the color and key.

CHAPTER XXV

COLOR IN THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLD
CONCLUSION

AS we have found order, law, and system
throughout the Kosmos, there must be
order, underlying Mme. Blavatsky's seem-
ing denial of it, in the numbering of the human
principles. Her statement is true in the sense that
the vehicle most highly developed is the most prom-
inent one in the individual, and its color overshad-
ows all other.

Now, if we think of the predominant sheaths
as representing the tonics of a scale, the septenary
beginning with the Tonic, the C-scale man would
number from his Tonic, C, and the F sharp man
from F sharp, and color and Principle would vary
correspondingly.

Among the repeated references to this variability
of type changing the order of Principles, Mme.
Blavatsky says : " The human principles elude
enumeration because each man differs from every
other, just as no two blades of grass on the earth

278,

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 279

are alike." She also says: "Every man being
born under a certain planet, there will always be
a predominance of that planet's color in him, be-
cause that principle will rule in him which has its
origin in the Hierarchy in question."

The speech of man preserves the record of time-
honored recognition of this fact. We say: " He
has a martial bearing." " His is a fiery tempera-
ment." " She was always a little luny " — mean-
ing not crazy at all, but fanciful, imaginative. The
very word lunatic, however, expresses the bale-
ful effects of the moon's excessive and malign
influence. " Even as a child he had a lordly way."
That is, Jupiterian, commanding. " A Saturnine
disposition " has its happy contrast in a " sunny "
one. And thus, " A man of iron," " She is as good
as gold," " He has no sand," — these all are sig-
nificant of elemental constitution. Pages could be
filled with examples of this graphic symbology
which has enriched all languages; and remember
that all symbology is the expression of facts and
truths. In losing sight of this, the moderns have
suffered much.

At first the mind refuses to accept this mere pre-
eminence of a sheath as changing its relations in
kind or quality to the other Principles; but it be-
comes possible when we realize, to use Mrs. Be-
sant's words, that " the sheaths are not divisible
one from another," and that " there are but three

280 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Upddhis in which these different principles work; "
that is, considered as planes of consciousness corre-
lating man with the astral and physical, the psychic
and mental, and the upper triadic or spiritual
realms. Thus the physical body and its Etheric
double are connected with the right eye, the posi-
tive center of vision dominating the senses. The
Kdma-nipa and Lower Manas, with the brain ; and
the higher triad, with the heart. The Occult
signification of this is, that the Spirit — Atma —
establishes centers of union for these closely allied
sheaths in these organs, and the development of
consciousness in the various sheaths proceeds from
these centers. But this must not be considered as
contradicting the fact that there are seven states of
consciousness. There is neither sameness nor mo-
notony, but varying degrees everywhere.

Lack of order exists also in the sense that none
of the sheaths are above or below one another, for
they interpenetrate and intermingle. Thus there is
really no higher nor lower, but an eternal within-
ness. An example from physics will explain this
most clearly. A cubic-inch of water expands into
a cubic-foot of steam. In a glass globe of a cubic-
foot's capacity filed with steam, not only can boil-
ing water be added but also alcohol which will ex-
pand into just as much vapor as if no steam were
present. After this, as much ether may be poured
into the globe as if the space were not already oc-

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 281

cupied by steam and alcohol-vapor. A familiar
experiment with solids is to fill a bowl with peas,
scatter over it mustard-seed or other fine grain to
fill the vacant spaces, then add salt and sugar.
Just in this manner the atoms of the various human
sheaths, varied by conditions of vibrating form and
color, mingle together.

Annie Besant says: "Every sphere is around
us, the astral, the mental, the buddhic, the nir-
vanic, and worlds higher yet, the life of the su-
preme God; we need not stir to find them for they
are here; but our dull unreceptivity shuts them out
more effectively than millions of miles of mere
space" (Ancient Wisdom}. But granted all
these irregularities and blendings one with another,
there yet must be a standard correspondence of
Principles with Tattvas, colors, tones, and numbers.
To ignore it, is to lose sight of the profound in-
fluence and significance of number, — to forget that
it was and is — through the rhythm of vibrations
— an unchangeable factor, with unchanging re-
lations to the Hierarchies and the Principles eman-
ating therefrom, because numerical relation is in-
herent in form.

In the sense of progression from the coarse vi-
brations of the physical plane to the inconceivably
subtle ones of the spiritual plane, we have a men-
tal concept in which the numbers of the sheaths
must be unvarying. When we deal with involu-

282 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

tion, we may begin with Atma as one and count
down to seven. But our immediate concern is with
the evolution of the soul in its conquest of the
realm of matter. We are seeking to develop its
freedom and power, seeking to free our real selves
from the tyranny of uncontrolled sheaths of mat-
ter, and necessarily we must begin with the lower
or coarsest vehicles. Therefore, we should logi-
cally count from one upward to seven, and the low-
est sheath should be the most completely dominant
or perfected of the physical principles.

The " Path " now is a spiral progression upward
and outward; involution was a descent downward
and inward. Our task is to release this inward
power, not from, but through its gross material ve-
hicles, that it may be active in all; and we must
seek it within. To do this we must understand the
sheaths in which the power is involved. There-
fore the important point is to know them by asso-
ciation with their corresponding centers of physi-
cal activity, which are invariable, and with their
normal colors and their tones or sounds. We must
learn the separate tones first before we can combine
them into harmonious chords and evolve melodies.

Remember that the sounds are seen, not heard
on the physical plane. Mme. Blavatsky cites Ex-
odus, xx. 1 8., in support of this, and says, when
correctly translated the passage would read:
" And the people saw the Voices, and these Voices,

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 283

or Sounds, are the Sephiroth." Spiritual man cor-
responds with the higher circles, " the Divine
Prism which emanates from the One Infinite White
Circle; the ultra-octaves of color and tone; while
physical man, " emanating from the Sephiroth,"
corresponds with the lower octave of visible color
with " the objective sounds that are seen, not
heard."

Want of agreement exists wherever many minds
have attempted to formulate a part of this law of
correspondences without bringing all into harmony.
But this very failure is evidence of the infinite va-
riety in the permutations of the Tattvas and their
alternating phases — omnipresent duality — and of
the varying hues that every thought imparts to the
atoms transmitting that thought or created by it;
as also of different stages of development of the
clairvoyant who describes the colors of these
thought-and-sound forms. A clairvoyant may be
able to see lower sheaths in an aura and not the
higher ones. The lesson to us is to ignore unim-
portant differences — differences which are yet
mere matters of intellectual guessing — and con-
fine our attention to the facts which affect life and
happiness.

The scheme of correspondences I have prepared
is offered tentatively, because no authority can be
quoted for it as a whole, but after much study and
thought and comparing all authorities, it is the only

284 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

one evolved from the tangle of discrepancies which
appeals to me as logical and rational. The funda-
mental correspondence must be that of vibrations,
and upon the coarseness or fineness of these all as-
sociations must be based.

When we speak of coarseness in this connection,
and especially in reference to color, it must be un-
derstood in a comparative sense. Thus, red vi-
brations, the largest waves of visible light, are so
small that 39,000 of them grouped side by side
cover only one inch of space. The agreement of
red with the fundamental tone in music was early
recognized, each being the coarsest vibration of its
kind; and in the procession of octaves of both color
and sound, it was found that the closest ratio of
like progression existed between the Tonic chord,
or first, third, and fifth, and the triad of colors,
red, yellow, and blue. The earnest student of the
Tattvas must already have perceived that this triad,
predominating in the solar plexus, exercises a pre-
eminent influence upon the functions of life.

Now, Nature has taken such care to prove the
agreement between tone and color that she has not
left us to depend solely upon the psychic vision of
the clairvoyant who sees the colors of tones and
voices, but through remarkable cases of sense ab-
normalities has furnished us with indisputable cor-
roboration of these relations.

In Berlin an operation was performed upon a

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 285;

man's brain which required the severing of both
the auditory and the visual nerves. When the
nerves were reunited they were mismated, the up-
per portions of the optic nerves being joined to
the under sections of the auditory nerves, and vice
versa. The result of this distressing blunder is
that the man sees sounds and hears colors. Look-
ing at a red object he heard a deep base tone, and
when blue was shown, the sound was like the tinkle
of electric bells. But the ringing of an electric
call-bell produced the sensation of blue light, and
listening to Beethoven's " Pastoral Symphony "
caused a vision of green meadows and waving corn.

The celebrated Italian scientist, Professor Lorn-
broso, had an " hysterical " patient who lost her
eyesight completely, but was able to read with the
tip of her ear. As a test, the rays of the sun were
focused upon her ear through a lens, and they daz-
zled her as if turned upon normal eyes, causing a
sensation of being blinded by unbearable light.

Still more puzzling to Professor Lombroso was
the fact that her sense of taste was transferred to
her knees, and that of smell to her toes. This ab-
normality is very simple to the knower of the Tatt-
vas, who recognizes these locations as centers of
great activity for the Tattvas corresponding with
these senses; that is, Apas in the knees, and Prith-
ivi in the feet.

Corresponding with the above-mentioned triads

286 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

of color and of tone, there is a triad of form, the
triangle, cube, and sphere, or circle ; and the chemi-
cal elements recognized as most closely related to
these triads are respectively hydrogen, carbon, and
'oxygen. But they are none of them simple Tatt-
vic forms; that is, hydrogen, recognized by Babbitt
as " the champion heat atom of the world," is a
Prithivic form of Tejas; carbon, a Prithivic-Prith-
wi; and oxygen, a Prithwlc-Fdyu. Mrs. Besant
says the scientist has as yet discovered no atoms
that are not of this physical or terrestrial form, —
all are Prithivic states of matter. He has as yet
no conception of the six "higher atoms that stretch
beyond." But the scientific view of the atom is
rapidly changing as we have before this had occa-
sion to notice. Already it is recognized that the
atom is a complex not simple unit. A single atom
of radium contains 160,000 electrons or corpuscles !
Science is fast taking down the walls between the
visible and invisible, and ere another decade is
marked off on the spiral of Time the materialist
will be recognized as the true degenerate. All
atoms of recognized chemical elements — so-called
— admit of four dissociations, or separations, to
simpler, more subtle states before the " ultimate
atom " is reached. Students, who are interested
to pursue the subject farther are advised to study
Annie Besant's Occult Chemistry; and the work of
Dr. Babbitt, previously mentioned.

Color in the Visible and Invisible World 287

With regard to the ether (Jfkdsha) which per-
vades all space, science has at last come to this
very rational conclusion, as Robert Kennedy Dun-
can puts it : " How much we ourselves are matter
and how much ether is, in these days, a very moot
question " ( The New Knowledge) . Science has
discovered also that absolute immobility — rest —
is non-existent; that every particle, every atom of
the most solid-seeming matter is in an incessant
quiver, and that the velocity of the motion is con-
stantly changing. Is not this corroboration of the
Tattvic Law, which alone can explain the phenom-
enon?

Think not that these details are a digression
from our subject. They are, on the contrary, in-
timately connected therewith; for it is most impor-
tant as a preparation for understanding the sub-
tle sheaths of the body that the reader's imagina-
tion be wonted to faring forth into this marvellous
world of the infinitesimally small, a clear conception
of which is so much more difficult to form than of
the vastness of the Universe.

PART I

NO problem of Occult knowledge has ex-
cited more controversy than the one we
must now consider, — the correspondence
of the Principles with color and tone, and therefore
with number. For myself, I think it not merely
unwise but impossible to surround it with hard and
fast lines. To suggest the reasonable scheme —
the one that imagination can accept, and in things
Occult it is of paramount importance to see with
the imagination — is the utmost I shall attempt.

There is deep insight as well as truth in the state-
ment that " those who receive the wisdom of the
past or the impressions of the present as something
to have and to hold, gain absolutely nothing."
That is, one must form original mental concepts
of everything; receive all light, all suggestions,
with open mind, but think, ever think, oneself, till
more light is thrown upon the subject. The Yery
nomenclature employed in this subject, the multi-
plicity of names for a single sheath, betrays the

288

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 289

difficulty experienced in defining and accurately lim-
iting the activities and influences of the separate
Principles.

To guard against the possible misunderstanding
that these correspondences can be defined with nar-
row dogmatism, I shall try to ensure a broad out-
look, inviting individual thought and opinion, by
giving the student first a glimpse through the men-
tal eyes of Mrs. Besant and of Rama Prasad.

The former says, "It is written in the Mundd-
kopanishad that from Brahman the One .
comes Life — Prana is the word used. I shall
show you presently that Prana is Atma in outgoing
activity; the mind, Manas, that is the second; then
the five elements as we know them — ether, air,
fire, water, and earth; seven in all. These are the
seven regions of the Universe, the seven sheaths of
Brahman, as the SELF of the All " ( The Self and
its Sheaths}.

As you already know, man's sheaths corres-
pond with these and put him in touch with the en-
tire Universe. Mrs. Besant's is a very simple
classification, and clearly indicates the specific Tatt-
vic action in the five lower sheaths, but she follows
them in descent from three to seven, instead of
ascent.

Rama Prasad looks at the subject differently but
is equally clear. He gives the human Principles
as First, Sthula Sharira (gross body) ; second, un-

290 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

happy Prana; third, unhappy mind; fourth, happy
Prdna; fifth, happy mind ; sixth, the Soul ; seventh,
the Spirit (Nature's Finer Forces).

Thus he places Kama — unhappy Prana — and
Lower Manas next the visible body over which
their uncontrolled desires have so unhappy influ-
ence. These sheaths are those builders of Karma
that have so potent influence in retarding evolution.
Happy Prana comes next Higher Manas, or the
Causal body, these being the sheaths through the
development of which the soul is released from
bondage to the lower Principles and attains the
power to bring them into sympathetic unison with
her own higher vibrations. Remember that the
Causal body is the chief agent in evolution, and is
so called because in it are gathered the effects of
experiences, which " act as causes, moulding fu-
ture lives." But all the sheaths have their use in
the economy of nature. Only their misuse renders
them " unhappy."

Notice here that the fundamental five-fold di-
vision of body, life (the subtle-sheath), mind,
soul, and spirit, corresponding with the five lower
Tattvas which you know best, is expanded into the
septenary by including the two phases of life — as
vitality exhibited in actions — and of mind, — the
thoughts prompting the actions and determining
whether they shall be evil or good.

The scheme is somewhat misleading, however,

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 291

for Prdna, per se, cannot be restricted to number
and sheath since it is the Life in every sheath.
Mme. Blavatsky gave emphasis to this fact, and
though she gave Prdna a number in some dia-
grams, she omitted it in others. In many classi-
fications it is included, generally as the third Prin-
ciple; but the lowest plane of Prdna is compounded
of the microbes of science. " Fiery lives " direct
the constructive work of the building microbes.
The co-ordinating power of all these sheaths lies
in Prdna. It is through Prdna, by means of the
nervous system that the " I," the personality of
the body, acts upon and through them all; and is
responsible for the development of individuality as
Desire yields to the direction of Will, and soul-
fofce becomes an active and determining principle
in the life.

In all schemes of correspondence there is one
unvarying agreement, — the relation of Mars to
the fire-element Tejas, and to red and the Kdmic
sheath, or desire body; but in number it is vari-
ously considered as first, third, and even fourth.
As the body of living fire within, the Tejas sheath
seems essentially the first, for without it life would
be impossible. The lowering of normal tempera-
ture is the first cause of most disease. The pre-
ponderating influence of desires in moulding the
physical form, emotions changing the expression
of the face even from moment to moment, and the

292 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

thoughts that prompt them building character hour
by hour, is sufficient reason for assigning to this
sheath the lowest place in the evolutionary spiral.
Of this sheath Mme. Blavatsky says, " It is the
grossest [that is the coarsest] of all our Principles."
The expansive character of Tejas vibrations and
their vapor-like nature, give them this marvellous
permeating and moulding power which enables
them to enwrap the solid, cohesive atoms of Frith-
ivi and become visible as red, and audible as Do, or
Middle C, the Tonic of the first major scale.

The lower the race, the more visible is the
color of this sheath, but more of this when we
study the aura. Kamic atoms are diffused
throughout the blood, but are specially active in
pelvis, liver, heart, and lungs. The whole trunk
of the body, including the shoulders and arms,
is greatly influenced by Tejas, and there are also
subtle connections of this sheath with the left ear
and the little finger of the right hand. The liver
is the general and the spleen is the aide-de-camp.
All the work which the liver shirks falls upon the
spleen. This accounts for the fact that when a
man's liver misbehaves, he is very apt to be
"spleeny"; a most trying condition due to the
fact that his spleen (that supposedly superfluous
organ!) is overworked.

During the life of the physical body, Kama is
pronounced " a shapeless thing," but after death

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 293

its astral atoms form a separate and distinct entity,
which strives to attach itself to the Higher Ego.
Mrs. Besant, (The Seven Principles of Man, p.
20), makes the nice distinction of confining the
use of the term rupa (Sanskrit for " form") to
this after-death " vesture of animal nature," which
exists in the astral sphere for a length of time
proportioned to the tenacity of the physical desires
which created it.* Being devoid of ethical sense,
possessing only the lower animal consciousness,
its rapid disintegration is the greatest blessing.
Thus Kama is the most material Principle in the
human septenary group, hence the sheath whose
composite links of desires for material pleasures
and experiences bind us fastest to the physical
plane and retard the Soul's progress.

The second Principle is the Sthula-sharira
(gross body), corresponding to Prithivi (earth)1,
through its state of matter, solid; but in color and
tone, because so permeated by Tejas, with orange
and Re. It influences the nose, lower posterior
lobes of cerebrum, the liver, and the lower limbs
from knees downward. Orange has always been
recognized as synonymous with physical force;
and it is, perhaps, for this reason and also as

* It is possible that Mrs. Besant does not hold this opinion
now ; for in a later work, Ancient Wisdom, she distinctly says
that as the astral body [Kamic sheath] develops, " it assumes
the likeness of its owner * * : ' a body fit and ready to
function and able to maintain itself apart from the physical."
(Pp. 98-9.)

294 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

being the color of the gross body, that Occultists
assign this color to vital-force, or Prdna. This,
however, is not the teaching of the Shivdgama.
Rama Prasad, who follows the Sanskrit work,
describes the positive current of Prdna as " red-
dish-white," and the negative, as "pure white;
both being modified and tinged by the flow of the
Tattva at the time prevailing. This teaching is
corroborated by known physiological distinctions
between the sensory and motor nerves; the former

— the receptive and negative — being bluish-
white ; and the latter — the outgoing, positive
agents — reddish gray. The Tantrists always re-
fer to the negative, or Rayi as " the cooler state
of life-matter, which is only a shade of Prdna,
the original state." Rayi receives the impressions
from " the motion-imparting phase of life-matter,"

— that is, the positive phase of Prdna.

Yellow is the color of the purest state of Prlthwi,
the spiritual element in the earth, its ensouled
force, and predominating in the solar-terrestrial cur-
rents flowing round it; therefore, it is uncommon
in the crust of the earth, which is composed of the
grossest of its manifold permutations, but shines
forth in its perfected things — the most precious
metal, the citron fruits, ripened grains, and flowers.
The fragrance of flowers is a spiritual essence
stimulating to the nerves and conveying direct nu-
triment to the soul. Yellow is a very precious

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 295

color, deemed the culmination of light. I think
it could be proved that the foods most valuable
to mankind are yellow. The liver is most favor-
ably affected by oranges and by herbs of a yellow
or orange hue, which are also cerebral and nerve
stimulants; vitalizing, therefore, to the whole sys-
tem, and laxative. The more harmonious the hu-
man body becomes and the purer and higher the
aims of its indwelling Soul, the stronger, more
electric and magnetic is the flow of the Prithivic
currents through the Nddis.

The Sukshma-sharira, or Etheric-double, third
Principle, is under the rule of Venus; for it
corresponds with Apas (water), and in color and
tone with yellow and Mi. But, being composed
of four grades of subtle ethers, the red and the
blue Principles are present to form its negative
violet. The absorbent, solvent, and reflecting
powers (as in a mirror!) of this Tattva, and there-
fore of the sheath, whose substance has like qual-
ities, make it inadvisable to attempt to establish
hard and fast color-rules in their connection.
Holding the septenary of colors latent, receiving
colors from every source, and reflecting every-
thing above and below, who can say positively
that Apas is this or that? In its primary state we
know it as white and colorless. But we can ven-
ture to assign it an orderly place in the scale of
progression as the normal state after permutations

296 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

fitting1 it for physical activities. The moon is
sometimes designated as the ruling planet of this
sheath; but are not all negative conditions influ-
enced by the moon? I believe it will eventually
be proved that they are. Violet is the color some-
times attributed to the moon — a marvellously
translucent silvery violet, the hue that silver as-
sumes in certain conditions — and her mysterious
power over water has always baffled the scientist.
There are no doubt very subtle and strong rela-
tions between the moon and Venus.

The spleens are the vital links between the gross
and etheric bodies, for through them Prana is
brought forth upon the physical plane. The sub-
tle spleen absorbs the vital currents and transmutes
and changes them into the coarser particles that
become in the gross body its " elemental lives,"
animating the molecules and cells. The positive
connection of these shariras, through motor nerves,
is within the medulla oblongata; and the negative
union, through the nerves of sensation, is in the
solar plexus. Brown-Sequard says, " When a vio-
lent sudden emotion causes death, it is by the action
on the medulla oblongata." The explanation is
that the shock ruptures the union of the physical
body with its double and thereby severs connection
with the vital force (see Chapter XXII). The
thoughtful reader will recall in this connection the

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 297

A

prevalence of A pas — stimulator of taste — in the
throat.

Besides these profoundly important centers, the
little finger of the left hand is influenced by the
Etheric-double (through the spleen, as is the right
through the liver; the little fingers corresponding
with these organs), and it is this sheath which
transmits all sense perceptions to the Kama-rupa,
the sheath of feeling and sensation; hence, in the
Etheric-double lies the mysterious power to re-
ceive them in abnormal ways, as seeing through
the ears and smelling with the toes. By so much
as one sense is weakened or dulled is the connec-
tion between the Etheric body and its counterpart
impaired.

One immediate benefit derived from practicing
the breathing exercise for Prandydma, or control
of Prdna — the exercise distinguished as the
" Held Breath " — is that it invigorates and har-
monizes all these immensely important connections,
restoring them when disordered to their normal
balance and union, and by so much as they are
strengthened, strengthens the hold upon life itself.

The psychic breath is the breath of the spirit,
and we cannot limit it to the thought-power setting
into vibration the molecules of the nerve-cells. It
is also rhe subtle breath of the Etheric body
through the pores of the skin and it is something

298 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

altogether finer than oxygen and nitrogen that it
inhales in this psychic breath. The purity and
healthful activity of the skin thus yields in impor-
tance to no other function of life.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE NORMAL COLORS OF MAN'S PRINCIPLES
CONCLUSION

SINCE Prdna is the unifying and vitalizing
force between all the Principles, its special
vehicle, the Etheric body, is subtly related
to all, though most closely permeating, in the form
of vapor, visible to psychic sight as a perfect
shadow, the physical body of which it is both pro-
totype and counterpart; for not only does it fore-
shadow coming disorders, but also it preserves in
its etherealized copy the mark of every wound or
blemish even after they are effaced from the physi-
cal body. No surgeon's knife can sever the limbs
of the Etheric body, and it is this sheath that pre-
serves the sensations of an amputated leg or arm.
lamblichas defined this Principle as " an unchange-
able body of light which does not need anything
for its sustenance." It is the evestrum of Paracel-
sus. Every life has such a body.

The healthful, normal activity of this Principle
is of immense importance, for it is the medium
through which the higher Principles of the human

299

300 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

constitution penetrate the lower ones, and are
ever trying to elevate them. This effort, arising
in Buddhi, is man's conscience.

All anaesthetics, narcotics, and nerve tonics dis-
turb the connections and the flow of the Prdnic
currents between these two shariras, affecting first
the brain connections which become partially par-
alyzed. The resulting low vitality of the visible
body is due to this separation from its prototype;
the double, half-withdrawing from the left side,
where psychic vision sees it as a violet-gray
shadow.

Lower Manas is the fourth Principle and Fdyu
sheath, under the rule of Jupiter; and it corre-
sponds with two colors and tones according to the
influence to which it yields. It is so prone to be
ruled by desires that it is often called Kama-Manas,
and in this positive state it takes the complemen-
tary color of Kama, green, with the tone Fa.
When aspiring, and therefore receptive to vibra-
tions from Higher Manas, it reflects blue with the
tone Sol. This Principle is the thinking power
of the physical man (the objective mind), func-
tioning in the brain and nervous system. Through
opportunity or ambition, a man may acquire
marked intellectual ability without possessing even
a dawning sense of the powers of Higher Manas.
This is the condition of materialists, who may be
strong personalities without gaining individuality,

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 301

being complacently satisfied with the tremendous
development of the lower self.

This sheath influences the corpora-quadrigemina,
another mark of its pronounced duality, the right
'•ear, and "throat or navel," says Mme. Blavat-
sky; that is, blue vibrations above and green be-
low.

Manas Antakarana — which corresponds with
the pituitary body — is the imaginary line of com-
munication between Higher and Lower Manas, —
between personality and individuality; that is, it is
the base of the triangle or the upper line of the
square forming the lower quarternary according
as we view it. The battlefield of life is in this
Lower Manaslc sheath, where desires wrestle with
Thought for empire over the Self. You know
how the elevation of this thought power develops
Will, and uniting with it wins the victory for good.
No fact is truer or of more vital significance than
that " everywhere man is what he thinks."

Higher Manas, the fifth Principle, is the Akdsha
sheath, ruled by Saturn; and corresponds with in-
digo and the tone La. Its physical seats of influ-
ence are the pituitary body, pineal gland, and the
head as a whole. Activity in the pineal gland
leads to the union of Euddhi-Manas. Psychic
vision is stimulated in the pituitary body, which
is the organ of the psychic plane. By the exer-
cise of free will, and all development of Will is a

3O2' The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

development of Higher Manas, it has a spiritual
influence in the heart. When Lower Manas is
completely under the sway of Kama, or is absorbed
in materialism, Higher Manas has little opportu-
nity to betray the fact that it is the vehicle of im-
mortal Truth and Wisdom. It is this Higher
Ego whose development Yoga practices encourage.
All flashes of intuition, all inspirational concep-
tions which father inventions, manifestations of
pure genius, — these come from Higher Manas,
which as " part of the Essence of Universal
Mind," has access to all planes of knowledge and
power, and knows independently of the brain's
reasoning.

Buddhi, the Soul, vehicle of Spirit, is the sixth
Principle. Its Tattva is Anupddaki; planet, Mer-
cury; tone Si; colors, violet in positive phase and
yellow in negative. Its physical seats of influence
are the pineal gland, right eye, a plexus between
the shoulders, and the heart ; and its spiritual influ-
ence is in the Sushtimnd. The spiritual earth-
force is closely related to Buddhi, and its connec-
tion with the subtle body is recognized by the col-
ors of the latter which are a lower octave and re-
versed in activities as are all things reflected upon
the physical plane of illusion.

You know the seventh Principle as Atma, or
Spirit, and also as the Auric Envelope, or Egg.
Its subtle Tattva, Adi, forming the Auric En-

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 303

velope, not merely envelopes but penetrates the
whole body, and its source is a " Spiritual Sun "
of which our sun is a physical reflection, or more
probably the vehicle. It manifests as white, or
blue of such transcendent delicacy and illumina-
tion as only those who have seen the play of inner
colors can conceive. Of course this Principle syn-
thesizes all colors as it does all tones, and there-
fore all the other sheaths.

The rationality of this classification will be best
understood, if the student draw a square beneath
a triangle and place the sheaths on the lines in the
following order: At the base of the square,
Kama, Tejas (write color and tone also) ; left
side, Sthula-sharira, Prithivi; right side Sukshma-
sharira, Apas; upper line (and base of triangle),
Lower Manas, Fayu, with green below line and
blue above; left side of triangle, Higher Manas,
'Akdsha; opposite side, Buddhi, Anupddaki; apex,
Atma, Adi.

Notice particularly that this succession preserves
perfectly the interrelations and paramount influ-
ence of sheath upon sheath as reflections, shadows,
or rays one from another; and therefore does no
violence to our previous conceptions of Tattvlc
activities, being reconciled to them.

With the yellow sheath above moulding its per-
manent form, and the red below thrilling it with
its incitements to activity and emotion, it is most

304 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

clearly demonstrable that the gross body corre-
sponds with orange. The " states of matter " of
these seven Principles from one upward correspond
closely with fluid or vapor, solid, liquid, gas, ether,
'Psychic Force, or magnetism; and Spirit, or elec-
tricity.

Bear in mind that a fundamental difference in
these sheaths is the character of the vibrations
which, proceeding from the lowest to the highest
are increasingly subtle and ethereal in the nature
of their atomic particles. The highest cannot act
directly upon the lowest. The medium of grad-
ually increasing density is indispensable; and only
as we purify and refine the lower physical sheaths
do we fit them, through making them responsive,
for manifestation of the real individuality — the
Higher Ego and the spiritually alive soul.

The objective form is the only thing that is per-
ishable; the ideal form lives forever. May we
not draw the right and hopeful lesson from this
fact? We have it in our power to work con-
stantly for betterment to improve our ideal forms ;
and, by so much as we succeed, to externalize that
betterment in our objective physical forms, which
are the models of future ideal forms. This is the
law of evolution, the law by which the atom is
evolved to purer states and to higher power, de-
veloping the latent and potential energies, the wis-

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 305

dom and understanding to which our race is march-
ing onward.

Every thought vibrates on the subtle mental
plane first, then passes through the astral to the
etheric before it rouses vibrations upon the physi-
cal plane, in the gray matter of the brain.
Thoughts are things, entities, because the fivefold
powers of the mind as already developed in our
race, are all Tattvic powers of exactly the potency
represented by the senses they respectively stimu-
late; and thus they unitedly impart sound, feeling,
form, color, taste, and odor to the thoughts born
of their activity (form and color are properties
of vision, hence Tejas activities).

It is psychic force working through the mental
plane which acts in all overcoming of physical dis-
order or weakness. It has power when properly
directed to build up and invigorate the lower
sheaths, restoring all to harmonious co-operation
in the complicated functions of the perfect human
being. Keep this in mind, too: In this so won-
derful structure, when we speak of superiority or
subordination — of one sheath to another — the
statement is merely relative. Every sheath is so
important in the perfection of its office that it
yields nothing to another. They are all mediums
of activity putting the Soul in touch with the ex-
periences through which it evolves to the conscious-
ness of its vast inheritance. Trials and sorrows

306 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

are often necessary experiences to rouse the Soul
from inertia, selfishness, weakness, or other wrong
doing. None of the sheaths are independent.
All are different. Harmony is incomplete with-
out every note in the scale.

The Soul atom is mingled with other lower
atoms but never combined. To understand this
clearly, fixing upon your mind a clear picture of
the law, let me explain a fact the chemist knows
well: Oxygen in pure air is mixed, not combined
with nitrogen. When these two gases are com-
bined, according to the proportions used, the re-
sult is one of five deadly poisons. Now, this is
exactly the internal process; that is, within the
human entity. When the atoms of the various
sheaths are mingled harmoniously, the result is
physical well-being; when discord ruptures the
rhythm of their vibrations and their harmonious
(that is, normal) balance, disintegration sets in;
the molecules are broken up, the atoms are va-
riously combined, and disease results. It is the
use or abuse of everything which makes for good
or evil.

The substance of all Souls is the negative phase
of Spirit; very literally, indeed, the garment which
clothes it. Faith and aspiration are needed for
the growth of the Soul, and we must bring the
mind up to unison with the Soul. By the regular
practice of meditation and concentration, that con-

The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 307

trol of the mind !s gained which inclines it habit-
ually to those Kosmic influences which are antag-
onistic to all evil tendencies in the lower sheaths
that check our evolutionary progress. " Faith,"
says Rama Prasad, " is nothing more than a men-
tal lucidity in which the yet unknown truths of
Nature begin to throw their shadows forward.
The mind begins, as it were, to feel truth in any
and every place; and, drawn by the taste of bliss
(Ananda), proceeds with greater zeal to work out
the process of its evolution."

The macrocosmic psychic center which is the
prototype of man's sixth Principle — Buddhi —
" is the great reservoir of every actual force In
the Universe." Therefore, " by contemplation
of the sixth Principle of the Universe, a sympathy
is naturally established between it and the human
soul. Only that sympathy is necessary for the
universal Tattvic law to work with greater effect.
The human soul begins to be cleansed of the dust
of the world, and in its turn affects the mind in a
similar way; and therein the Yogi becomes con-
scious of this influence by the slackening of the
fetters forged by Prakriti [matter], and a daily,
hourly strengthening of heavenward aspirations.

" The human soul then begins to become a cen-
ter of power for its own little universe, just as
Ishvara [the macrocosmic Soul] is the center of
power in His Universe. . . . When perfec-

308 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

tion is attained, all the mental and physiological
Tattvas of the microcosm, and to a certain extent
of the surrounding world, become the slaves of the
soul" (Nature's Finer Forces).

Thus it is that when we cease to fear her, Na-
ture becomes even more than our friend and ally.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE AURIC ENVELOPE. ITS CONSTITUTION

WHEN we talk about the Auric Envelope,
which encloses the physical body in " al
luminous ovoid mist," within and upon
which the colors of the aura play, we are not de-
scribing something which is conjectured as possible
or probable, but something which has been seen
by many eyes. Although to the large majority
of people it is invisible, except under extraordinary
and exceptional circumstances, all persons of re-
fined and sensitive perceptions are conscious of a
distinction in the atmosphere surrounding different
persons. The presence of one is always calming;
of another, often exciting when not irritating;
the cheerful person radiates happiness and cour-
age upon all; while others are more chilling than
a wet blanket, and the impressions received are as
varying as the persons receiving them.

This marked something which differentiates our
fellows one from another is their personal atmo-
sphere which forms the Auric Envelope extending
from some inches to several feet around every hu-

309

310 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

man being. That the silent invisible world about
us is luminous with the refined colors of the subtle
ethers whose vibrations are streaming through and
surrounding us, playing upon us ceaselessly, is a
fact the proofs of which accumulate daily. When
our sixth sense is developed, we shall all see these,
and the color-sensitives, here and there — psy-
chically developed persons who are phenomenal
now and who see these colors — are merely avant
coureurs of the evolution to which our race Is
marching onwards. In growing more spiritual —
and evolution must lead to this, it is the immutable
Law — humanity will see through everything,
making clairvoyance normal. The X- and N-rays
foreshadow this condition when dense matter will
be, so to say, non-existent, because man will per-
ceive the withinness of all things.

It is a familiar fact to many now that the colors
vibrating in this invisible human aura betray be-
yond all question to psychic vision the nature of
the life lived; for the aura is formed by subtle
emanations from the Principles most active in the
body, the vibrations of which radiate from its sur-
face. When clairvoyance is universal, every man
will stand unveiled in character before his fellows;
for every thought, passion, and emotion is regis-
tered in his aura in unmistakable colors, and the
seeing eye even now knows the man for what he
is. There will then be no need for courts and

The Auric Envelope: Its Constitution 311

judge and jury. Guilt will proclaim itself and
stand confessed before those it has wronged.

Science is anticipating this era when Truth shall
stand unveiled (and incidentally preparing the
minds of men to receive that Truth graciously in-
stead of doubting the testimony of their own eyes)
through the invention of instruments of wondrous
delicacy that ingeniously enact the role of Grand
Inquisitor, but without putting any screws on defy
man to conceal the nature of his thoughts, whether
he be guilty or innocent, angry or calm, melan-
choly or gay, studious or idle. And all this, note
well, is achieved through registering the vibrat-
ing currents of the unspoken thought as well as of
the speech of the subject.

Moreover, that these thoughts take body and
form as they arc sent forth, is proved by Dr. Bara-
duc's clever use of the camera. He has seized
upon the photographic plate the exact form of
these invisible emanations radiating from the hu-
man being. Dr. Baraduc calls his photographs,
" Portraits of the Soul " ; but it were better to rec-
ognize them as indisputable, permanent pictures of
all the activities of the human subject, whether
they be on the lowest physical plane or aspirations
of the soul. It is a most important service that
these photographs fully establish by material proof
the fact that every thought has its distinctive form.

That the rays from the human being are further

,312 The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

endowed with the mysterious power of radio-ac-
tivity was proved nearly five years ago when Pro-
fessor Goodspeed, of Philadelphia, made photo-
graphs in an absolutely dark room by rays from
his own hands. You will remember that the dis-
covery of radio-activity is the factor which within
a decade has swept from under the scientist's feet
most of the firm ground, the " fixed facts," o£
nineteenth-century science.

So, little by little, science is penetrating this in-
visible world of force; and every discovery but
corroborates the Occultist's statements concerning
these varying planes of consciousness whence every
force emanates. The scientist is coming nearer
and nearer to the Tattvic Law which underlies
all phenomena. But it is most difficult for him to
recognize that the external forces which act upon
man — as the " waves " of light and of sound
which stimulate sense perceptions — are them-
selves in turn acted upon, — that the thoughts,
emotions, and passions of man are so many vibra-
tory " waves " of physical or mental force going
out from him to afect something somewhere! For
every thought arranges astral matter in definite
forms, the soul of the form being the thought.

It is inevitable that we all are limited in what
we see by the media (our own auras) through
which we must ever look out. Our judgment,
our opinions, must ever be tinged by these media,

The Auric Envelope: Its Constitution 3131

transparent films of vari-colored vibrations, oscil-
lating with inconceivable velocity; thus the vision
of many people is very literally a " seeing through
the glass darkly." Let us have confidence always
in happy eyes, since their vision must ever be the
clearest, looking out as they do through pure, har-
monious, and refined emanations.

A very delicate, trained psychic sight is required
in order to distinguish accurately — hence with au-
thority— the various emanations in the human
aura; but it is no uncommon thing now to be able
to see the coarser vibrations of the lower sheaths
and the five ribbon-like bands of Tattvic colors
(from Akasha to Prith'wi) forming a layer next
the skin, in which the geometrical forms of the vi-
brations flowing at the moment can be distin-
guished. These are beautifully and clearly de-
scribed by Dr. Marques in his Human Aura.

Only as the clairvoyant develops personally the
Lower Manasic and Causal principles, is the psychic
power gained to see the auras of these higher
sheaths, for they are increasingly subtle and are
alone visible to like refinement of consciousness.
As psychic vision penetrates plane after plane, it
is as if veil after veil were removed.

It is the desire aura, or emanations from the
'Kamic sheath, which extends from ten to twelve
inches outside the physical body, with which the
lowest grade of psychic sight is most familiar.

314 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

This is referred to as the " Astral Body " by Mr.
Leadbeater (Man Visible and Invisible), and as
it is composed of astral matter it is an astral body.
But the intangible self that travels far from the
body during life is the Mdydvi-rupa, or " illusion
form."

According to Mme. Blavatsky, " The Mdydvl
Rupa is composed of the astral body as Upddhi
[base], the guiding intelligence of the heart, and
the attributes and qualities from the Auric En-
velope " (Secret Doctrine, Vol. Ill, p. 560). It
is created by the intense thought of the person,
and on occasions has been done unconsciously.
Only Adepts have the power to project this form
at will, and they can endow it with strength and
impart to it every appearance of tangibility.

Unfortunately, the term astral body has been
used very loosely. But instead of any disagree-
ment or controversy as to which, the Etheric
double or the Kdmic sheath should be thus named,
it were better far to understand that there are
different astral bodies, — that the term is not spe-
cific. Mrs. Besant says : " Any body formed of
astral matter is an astral body, but its properties
will vary with the principles with which it is in-
formed." The astral body is said to be molecu-
lar, however etherealized it may be.

The astral world is the next one in refinement
of matter to the physical world which normal sight

The Auric Envelope: Its Constitution

cognizes. The separation, like the different
sheaths of our bodies, is one of condition not of
place.

The septenary law holds good on every plane,
and astral matter is of varying grades of density.
There are, so to speak, astral solids, liquids, gases,
and ethers as on the physical plane we know best,
but all are finer. There is practically no limit to
the subdivisions of matter by ever-increasing refine-
ment of its atoms; and life is more highly vital-
ized, and form is ever more and more plastic as
decreasing density presents less resistance to the
thought-forces which continually change and re-
mould it.

Ethereal matter is astral, and the latter name
was given because of the luminous or starlike bril-
liancy of its most refined states. The matter of
the lowest subdivision of the astral world, corre-
sponding to our physical, scarce deserves the name,
but wanting a better distinction we must use it. To
astral sight the astral world is visible; but to den-
izens of that plane there exist the same limits of
condition as here, self-created through the mental
activities which in selecting the materials used
erect the wall of separation.

The fineness or coarseness of the Kdmlc astral
body depends upon the emotions and thoughts
that play through it during this physical life. In
low states of development, desire, stimulated from

316 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

without, — living entirely in external things, —
rules both body and mind. Such persons are
weak-willed, and are at the beck and call of every
suggestion and impulse. They build strong
Kdmic sheaths which furnish the plasma for en-
during Kdma-rupas of the grossest astral matter,
— the most permanent astral body.

As the person increases in intelligence, if the
ethical keeps pace with the mental development,
self-control is gained and the activities of the life
are prompted from within; thus finer materials are
attracted, and the Kdmic sheath increases in size,
becoming purer and more distinct and stable. The
vibrations oT all Principles gain in refinement and
purity when the mind governs desires instead of
responding to the outward stimuli of the senses,
and only then can evolution proceed apace. It
is the difference in the state of matter which raises
all bars of incomprehension and misunderstanding.
As we refine the vibrations of our different Prin-
ciples we refine their constituent matter, and open
to ourselves plane after plane of consciousness.

Remember, always, that the separation between
these worlds, or planes of consciousness, is one of
constitution, not of place. Encircling spheres are
constantly alluded to, but they are " concentric,
interpenetrating spheres." There is really no sepa-
ration except of condition, — a fact constantly
proved in concentration, when consciousness passes

The Auric Envelope: Its Constitution

successively through these sheaths, withdrawing,
as the state of Samadhi approaches, more and more
remotely from the purely physical to the highest
spiritual.

The Psychic, or Lower Manasic, sheath grows
exactly in proportion as the mind develops. With
the growth of the higher capacities of the mind,
the aura becomes a very beautiful, irradiating one,
penetrating and extending beyond the Kamic
sheath. The all-pervading Akdsha is the medium,
or atmosphere, in which the emanations of the
several sheaths flow and intermingle; while Atma
is both within and without, the force behind force
in every vibration. Enveloping all, though lim-
ited by the self-development of the individual,
even Atma is constrained by the medium, its den-
sity or rarity, through which it manifests.

Thus the aura is an absolute revelation of the
divinity within. When it emanates from a radiant
center nourished by a spiritually alive soul, it pro-
claims the purity and light within by the greater
size of the separate auras, and by the transcendent
radiance of the colors.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE AURIC ENVELOPE: HOW AFFECTED

ALTHOUGH personal character determines
certain prevalent and more or less perma-
nent colors, the human aura expands and
varies in colors and hues according to the nature
and the intensity of man's thoughts and emotions,
every thought having its effect. Thus the aura
reflects absolutely what is transpiring within. In-
deed, Occultists say, " The astral man, whose
color is determined by his evolutionary progress,
is the real man." The clearness of the thought-
form depends upon the thinking; if one is vivid,
so will the other be ; and the purity and beauty of
the colors depends upon the purity and virtue of
the thought. Indefinite thoughts make forms as
cloudy and vague as the forces whence they eman-
ate. In such cases, the colors blend indistinctly.
The dreamer to " dream true " must picture
clearly. No effect is greater than its cause.

Of all psychic conditions no other is so infec-
tious as depression, which grays all colors till in-
digo absorbs them. Worry, anxiety, and irrita-

The Auric Envelope: How Affected 319

tion also degrade the colors; vicious passions and
vices pollute them. All degradation of colors
by graying and browning changes and lowers their
signification and coarsens their atomic structure.
In every color this change is the seal of intense
egoism, and usually of absorption in things ma-
terial, in sordid and selfish interests.

Remember that Nature works the same on all
her planes. God placed in her hands the imple-
ment of vibratory Force, and through the varied
character of these vibrations she chisels all forms,
making fine forces visible through their color
which proclaims their character and effect. We
have the reflection of all the " Forty-nine Fires "
within us. It is a comforting thought that the
possibility of every color, every hue, every tone —
therefore of all perfection — Is within. Verily a
bewilderingly complex creature is man.

It is this variety of color which makes possible
such a range of vocal power — especially influ-
enced by Apas, the water vibration — for every
modulation of tone is the effect of a distinctive
modification of .form through Tattvic permuta-
tions; and hence has its special shade, tint, or hue
of color. Different tints are produced by ming-
ling a color with white; shades, by darkening or
deepening with indigo or black; and hues, by the
blending of color with color, which gives us green-
blues, yellow-greens, and reddish-blues. Rama

j$2O fThe Law of the Rhythmic Breath

IPrasad says, " Various diseases may be cured, and
good and bad tendencies imprinted on the Prana
by the power of sound;" because sound imparts
to the vital force its own colors, modified only
in degree by the individual Prana upon which sus-
ceptibility depends. Do you realize when listen-
ing to music that every tone has its distinguishing
color and throws the ether and the air into vibra-
tions of exquisite form, and thereby affects for
good or ill the hearer?

Thus, a Tejas-coloTed song rouses heat and ex-
citement (as witness the effect of all patriotic
songs), and may provoke intense emotion. The
W kasha-colored song deepens melancholy and may
cause fear and f orgetfulness ; and as every emotion
of the human heart has its color, the sound of that
color tends to rouse its corresponding emotion.
The important science of color therapeutics, or
chromopathy is based upon this fact, as also all
musical therapeutics, or " medical music " as the
cult was called when first revived a hundred years
ago.

The part that sound plays in our lives is so de-
preciated, so profoundly misunderstood, that too
great emphasis cannot be given to these particu-
lars; and repetition must be pardoned, for some
minds can be reached only by such reiteration.

Here is a good maxim to be given a prominent
place in the home :

The Auric Envelope: How Affected 321

Sound is ever creating something. Shall it be
evil or good?

A few years ago, when the National Society of
Musical Therapeutics was formed in New York,
the newspapers took the usual lively interest in de-
veloping a " sensation," and interviewed many
prominent physicians to obtain " views " on the
subject. The ignorance developed was amazing.
One of the most noted nerve-specialists ( ?) in
town said : " I have found music attractive to
idiots, degenerates, and persons of abnormal tem-
peraments; but I do not regard it as a therapeutic
agent. ... A sonata of Beethoven's may
benefit a lunatic, but in that case so would the
rattle of elevated railroad trains." Thus this
so learned specialist is unable to distinguish be-
tween building and disintegrating sounds — be-
tween harmony and disrupturing discord — and
is absolutely deaf and blind to their corresponding
effects upon the nerves, — man's sound-register 1

Every tone of the human voice, whether in
speech or song, shares with the thought it expresses
in the effect upon the vital currents and their eman-
ations in the auras. It affects instantly the aura of
the speaker, then influences those of his hearers.
Therefore is the training of the speaking voice of
highest importance in the perfecting of the indi-
vidual. "If the words we utter bear the color
of the Agni Tattva [ Tejas~\ — anger, love, lust —

322 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

our Prana is colored red, and this redness turns
upon ourselves. It may burn up our substance,
we may look lean and lank, we may have ten
thousand other diseases. Terrible retribution of
angry words! If our words are full of divine
love and adoration, kindness and morality, words
which give pleasure and satisfaction to whosoever

hears them — the colors of the Prithivi and the

•A

Apas — we become loving and beloved, adoring
and adored, kind and moral, pleasing and pleased,
satisfying and ever satisfied " (Nature's Finer
Forces) . (

As I quote the above, there is brought to my at-
tention a most interesting result from experiments
in chick-breeding in a great hennery which is con-
ducted strictly upon psychological principles.
From the hour the eggs (over 400) are placed in
the incubator, the same attendant cares for them,
turning and cooling them; and as he handles the
eggs, he talks to them, telling them the germ of
life is there, they must be good little chicks, and
will come out of their shells in so many days, what-
ever it be. Like clock-work, on the twenty-first
day, every chick peeps forth from its shell; and
here is the point that bears upon our study: If
the attendant be changed and a strange voice greet
these just-hatched babies, they are panic-stricken
and flee about wildly for refuge; but the voice that
has talked to them through the shell for twenty-

The Auric Envelope: How Affected 323

one days, has power to reassure them and restore
confidence. Hearing it, every baby-chick turns
toward the voice, begins to " cheep " happily, and
to pick up food.

The hens in this model hennery are played to
— violin music — on wet and gloomy days to
keep up their spirits; and the record of egg-laying
proves that it is an effective stimulant. It is well-
known that hens are greatly frightened by disturb-
ing noises, the barking of dogs, thunder, fire-
works, and other explosives. Is not want of care
in this respect a fruitful source of the many fail-
ures in chicken-raising?

When told that the color of a tone affects the
nerves, hold in mind the fact that color and sound
are the visible and audible effects of particular
energies. It is the vibration which produces the
given effect, whether it be our eyes or our ears
which receive it and transmit it over our nerves;
and the varied effects produced upon human beings
by the same color or music are due to the modifi-
cations of individual idiosyncrasies, — the peculiar
colors active within and hence pulsating through-
out every person's aura. Nature's seal, determin-
ing the key, modifies the response to external stim-
ulants.

While the ability to distinguish the varied colors
in the auras of our fellows is still an exceptional
gift, it is at the option of all to test the power of

324 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

visible color to affect, favorably or unfavorably,
the whole complex human being; that is, to act
upon him physically as a stimulant or sedative of
organic functions; and to affect him mentally and
spiritually as well.

The benefit derived from surrounding yourself
with a certain color or wearing it is, that the ob-
jective presence of the color aids greatly in visu-
alizing it internally, and by thinking the color till
it is vividly present to your mental consciousness,
you connect yourself with the Tattvic currents of
that color and draw them to you to furnish the
right substance for subconscious activity, which
you by this means consciously direct. Thus you
actively accelerate the beneficent work of the
needed Tattvas; and in this way, rightly applied,
color becomes a powerful aid in mental therapeu-
tics.

The colors most commonly seen in the so-called
Tattvic aura (really a misnomer, because all is
Tattvic) are, from the skin outward, luminous
pearl-white, blue, violet, yellow, red ; or in reversed
order from the luminous band. But there are
many variations, as, orange-yellow, bright line,
blue, orange-yellow, and red; or dark line (in-
digo?), red, yellow, blue, and lavender-violet,
and these changes in order and in colors are of
course indicative of characteristic activities. With
every change of Tattvic and Prdnlc currents the

The Auric Envelope: How Affected 3255

intensity of the colors varies; the physical condition
of vitality or fatigue is also plainly marked, and
this whole chromatic band pulsates in rhythm with
the breathing; broadening with expiration, and de-
creasing with inspiration. I think myself, though
I have neither seen nor heard the fact conjectured,
that this one phenomenon proves the " Tattvic
aura " to be the psychic breath between the dense
and subtle bodies (the Sthula-znd. Sukshma-shar-
iras).

The Tattvic currents split at the pulse and run
up the fingers separately in the regular order,
from thumb to little finger, of A kasha, Fayu,
Tejas, Apas and PrithivL The air (Fayu)]
Tattva dominates the whole hand as the index-
finger does its mates, and gives to it its remarkable
tactile delicacy, its suppleness and dexterity. By
examination of the pulse-vibrations and the finger
auras, the Hindu physican discovers which Tattva
is disordered and diagnoses the consequent disease
accordingly. His index-finger is sensitive to any
preponderance of "wind" in the body; his mid-
dle-finger (Tcjas), to an excess of bile, and his
ring-finger, to the condition of the phlegm.

Musical sounds affect the Tattvic aura, intensi-
fying not so much the existing colors as their lines
of conjunction, — the neutral point — and espe-
cially, the luminous band lying next the skin, which
is mainly Akashic. This effect is not emotional,

326 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

but indicates the inevitable mechanical, rhythmic
connection of sound vibrations. I believe all crash-
ing, tumultuous, warring noise causes a similar
but greater disturbance, and that the irritating ef-
fect upon the nerves begins right here, the shock
tangling the vibrations and even loosening the con-
nection between the gross and subtle bodies.
Emotional influences from music are much more
powerful than these mere rhythmic disturbances
in the color-changes induced throughout the aura.
The lower auras, Tattvic, Etheric double, and
Ramie, extend farther out in the order named, and
follow in shape all the outlines of the dense body.
The three highest auras have the ovoid outlines
of the Auric Envelope; and the aura of Lower
Manas — " intermediate in form as in Nature " —
while ovoid follows the sinuosities of the visible
body, especially the movements of the head and
shoulders. The Etheric double has its own Tatt-
vic aura reflecting faintly the colors and geomet-
rical figures of that playing upon the surface of
the dense body. Any physical disturbance which
is immanent can be seen in this form-body, which
is literally a shadow of the future. Thus, a lady,
having a fair complexion, sat for her photograph
and was amazed to see that her face in the nega-
tive was covered with specks. The next day she
fell 511 with small-pox! The camera had caught
the Etheric-body.

The Auric Envelope: How Affected 327

It is in the Kamic and the two Manasic auras
that color plays most vividly and proclaims un-
mistakably the man within; for these are the de-
sire and thought vehicles wherein the influences
dominating and swaying the man set their seal
of energy. The color is the outward indication
of the force either used within, drawn by desire,
or generated in that mightiest engine for good or
ill — a man's brain!

Dr. Marques says: 'Through the two Ma-
nasic auras expert observers can clearly see the
fleeting impressions produced by the general
thought-currents [universal prevalent opinions] ;
impressions which vary according to the receptiv-
ity of man's corresponding Principle." It is in
the Lower Manasic aura that the psychic reads
the past events in the life of the subject, for the
negatives are all imprinted here.

I think it is a mistake to speak of these auras as
emanations from the different sheaths; for I be-
lieve they are the sheaths themselves, all together
making up the aura, and filling the Auric Enve-
lope. Thus instead of many auras, we have sim-
ply the sheaths of the Principles composing the
septenary man, showing in the aura exactly how
they interblend; which Principle is most active,
and how through increasing refinement of the com-
ponent elements, the sheaths extend farther out,
manifesting the same increasing subtlety of struo

32S The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

ture from within outward that we see in the physi-
cal body from Prithivi, in the bones, to Fdyu in
the skin. If we hold this picture in mind, we
have an exact correspondence in form and activities
between man within his Auric Egg and the minut-
est atom. The earth, from its core to its outer
atmosphere, furnishes a like correspondence.

The Kdmic sheath of the undeveloped man is a
cloudy mass of dense coarse atoms, " fit to re-
spond to all the stimuli connected with passions
and appetites." Brickish-browns, hot inflaming
reds, and murky greens are the predominant hues,
with a trace of dingy yellow about the head. Mrs.
Besant says (Ancient Wisdom) : " There is no
play of light or quickly changing flashes of colors
through this astral body; but the various passions
show themselves as heavy surges, or, when vio-
lent as flashes ; thus sexual passion will send a wave
of muddy crimson, rage a flash of lurid red.
. The centers of the organs of sense are
definitely marked, and are active when worked on
from without, but in quiescence the life-streams are
sluggish." At this stage, growth must come from
outward stimuli, and often suffering, either physi-
cal or mental, is needed to rouse from a life of
stupid inertia.

All good and unselfish emotions are steps in
ethical and mental progress that improve this sheath
by refining its constituent particles. Its outlines

The Auric Envelope: How Affected 329

grow clearer and finer; characteristic colors be-
gin to assert themselves as fixed factors; though
changing, ebbing and rippling, under the impulse
of consciously directed thoughts and activities.
Sudden ecstasies of pure exalted affection fill the
whole Kamic sheath with whirling thought-forms
of purest, luminous crimson, while a flush of
translucent rose-color veils all the throbbing, puls-
ating hues beneath.

CHAPTER XXX

THE AURIC ENVELOPE : ITS COLORS

OF all the colors radiating throughout the
aura, red and green have the most widely
varying significations according to their
purity or degradation. When these forces are un-
controlled they become " the red and green mon-
sters within us."

Red being the lowest material vesture of the
involved spirit was visible in the skin of the first
of the seven races on our planet (we are the fifth) .
Though evolution has paled the ruddy tint from
the exterior, it remains the color of pure flesh and
blood; its vibrations furnish the heat which
maintains the normal temperature of life; and it
is the happy sign of health when it flushes cheeks
and lips.

Under the present conditions of life — the av-
erage of racial development — exposure to sun-
light is believed to be the principal factor affecting
the complexion of people; black, brown, olive, and
copper-hued races originating in tropic zones; and
Occultists do not consider the color of the skin any
criterion of the mental or spiritual state of the man

330

The Auric Envelope: Its Colors 331

within. Though he were white-skinned, the aura
of a very vicious man will be a brown-red, or a
hot black; the extreme antithesis of the dazzlingly
luminous one surrounding an Adept, which " shines
with a sun-like splendor far beyond all imagina-
tion in its glorious loveliness."

The Adept's Causal body is not only much
larger than that of the less developed but its col-
ors are differently arranged. Mr. Leadbeater
says, " These no longer move in whirling clouds,
but are in great concentric shells, yet penetrated
everywhere by radiations of living light always
pouring forth from him as a center. The order
of the colors differs according to the type to which!
the Adept belongs, so that there are several well-
marked varieties amid their glory."

Throughout the Auric Envelope of the perfected
man, playing upon its luminous mist, can be seen
" millions of tiny living geometrical figures of
every conceivable shape, throbbing in incessant
pulsations; and in the center of it can be distin-
guished in glowing ethereal colors the mysterious
five-pointed double star, characteristic of Adept-
ship " (Human Aura, Marques). These geomet-
rical figures, circles, crescents, stars, spheres, and
triangles, are, of course, the Tattvic vibrations,
and are a part of every aura, playing through every
sheath; but are not so distinct in the aura of an
ordinary person, becoming more and more visible

332 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

as intelligence and especially spirituality develop.

All the gamut from the basest passion of su-
premely gross and selfish love to the most exalted
affection can be traced in red. Absolutely unsel-
fish love expresses itself in a lovely rose-color, and
when it is exceptionally brilliant and tinged with
violet, it indicates spiritual love of humanity and
exalted maternal affection. Pure crimson denotes
less elevated love; jealousy tinges it with brown,
and selfishness mingles clouds of dull grayed green
which sink below, while pride degrades it with
orange. All heat and passion flush the aura with
outbursts of red from the brilliant scarlet of right-
eous indignation to the lurid flame-color which
cuts acutest triangular flashes through black hate-
forms. Dark, dull red is passionate and earthy
when not malevolent. After outbursts of intense
anger, Mr. Leadbeater says, " Terrible thought-
forms of hate may be seen floating like coils of
heavy poisonous snakes in a man's aura."

The variety of green in the visible world is ex-
actly typical of the versatile human characteristics
which this color manifests. Its prevalence in the
aura indicates strong personality, adaptability,
and too often selfishness. But these traits may be
high or low according to the shade and hue.
Grayed and browned hues signify that shifting in-
decision which is all things to all men; really a
selfish cowardice ever seeking its own ends, hav-

The Auric Envelope: Its Colors '333

ing evolved no principles beyond desiring the ob-
vious advantage of the moment. This green
abounds in the auras of those who permit others
to do their thinking for them. Selfishness varies
from brown-gray to bottle-green, and is, alas I very
common in the desire sheath.

Green is preeminently a material color, and
" greenbacks " are aptly tinted and named, for the
financial currents of the earth are deep, bright
grass green. Purely material phases of intellect-
uality, the brains that are absorbed in things ex-
ternal, cram with book-knowledge of the day, with
statistics and crude facts, send forth vibrations of
bright green.

Strong self-consciousness, the sense of person-
ality, is vivid, clear green; and according to the
striving for growth, the hope and aspiration felt,
may shade from apple to emerald. Where soul-
consciousness and individuality — as distinct from
personality — develop, the green changes through
peacock-blue to deep, luminous sapphire. Higher
mental qualities which bring distinction in the arts
and are nourished from springs of intuition vibrate
in this exquisite azure.

All the music of the spheres vibrates in the in-
digo-blue of Akdsha, in which are all colors and
out of which they flow. With respect to music
and other arts, Mme. Blavatsky says they are the
children of either the Higher Manasic or Kama-

334 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Manasic principle proportionately as Soul or tech-
nicality predominates. Thus there will be more
red and green in the aura of the technique devotee
than blue. She further says: " Metaphysics are
the domain of the Higher Manas; whereas Phy-
sics are that of Kama-Manas, which does the think-
ing in Physical Science and on material things.
. . . The Mathematician without spiritual-
ity, however great he may be, will not reach Me-
taphysics; but the Metaphysician will master the
highest conceptions of Mathematics, and will ap-
ply them, without learning the latter."

Pure deep blue indicates devotion; pale sap-
phire, spiritual perception; and the light hues, as
turquoise, cobalt, and robin's egg, exalted ideals
and emotions. Yet blue, too, may be degraded.
If grayed or muddied, the religious devotion is
mere bigotry or selfish fear. Sudden fright casts
a ghastly livid-gray veil over all.

It is almost superfluous to remind the student of
the lofty character of yellow, or of its beneficial
effects when prevalent in the aura. It spreads the
joyous contagion of its own vitality, calming and
stimulating at one and the same time as effectually
as the gloomy, pernicious gray of depression ex-
hausts and disturbs. So if you would benefit your
fellows, see to it first of all that you radiate health-
giving colors from your aura, which, you know,
you cannot do unless you encourage the thoughts

The Auric Envelope: Its Colors 335

that create them. Not until the Causal body is
developed sufficiently to control Lower Manas and
Kama, does this beneficent and forceful current
find a favorable medium through which to act.
The prevalence of clear, deep yellow and good
pure green in the aura indicate a happy, generous,
sympathetic, and hopeful character evolving to
higher states.

Yellow manifests the highest and noblest in-
tellectual effort, true wisdom and aspiration, freed
from objective, material striving; and therefore
represents the highest power and loftiest aspect of
spirituality which our race is capable of grasping
and understanding. The positive power of this
Principle is proved by its dominance over all other
colors with which it is blended. Pride vibrates as
orange, but in the degree that the red is shaken
out of it, is it raised to pure aspiration. Because
of its penetrating power, yellow is the color most
easily perceived by normal sight; and it has been
visible as a veritable halo round the heads of speak-
ers engaged in some supreme effort of enthusiasm
I which freed the soul to its fullest expression. In
such cases the vigor of the astral vibrations rouses
" a sympathetic vibration even in the coarse and
heavy matter of the physical plane." Exalted
spiritual vibrations cause a violet cloud to rise
from the crown of the head in the midst of sur-
rounding yellow of a luminous tint, and the violet

33 6 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

sparkles through and through with golden specks.

It is in the aura of the pineal gland that per-
ception is located. " This aura answers in vibra-
tions to any impressions, but it can only be sensed,
not perceived, in the living man. During the pro-
cess of thought manifesting in consciousness, a
constant vibration occurs in the light of this aura,
and a clairvoyant looking at the brain of a living
man may almost count, see with the spiritual eye,
the seven scales, the seven shades of light, pass-
ing from the dullest to the brightest. You touch
your hand; before you touch it the vibration is al-
ready in the aura of the pineal gland, and has its
own shade of color. It is this aura which causes
the wear and tear of the organ by the vibrations
it sets up. . . .

' There are seven cavities in the brain which
are quite empty during life. . . . These
centers are, in Occultism, called the seven harmon-
ies, the scale of the divine harmonies. They are
filled with Akdsha, each with its own color, accord-
ing to the state of consciousness in which you are.
The fourth is the pituitary body; the fifth is the
third ventricle ; the sixth is the pineal gland, which
is hollow and empty during life; and the seventh
is the whole. When Manas is united to Atma-
'Buddhi, or when Atma-Buddhi is centered in
Manas, it acts in the three higher cavities, radiat-
ing, sending forth a halo of light, and this is visi-

The Auric Envelope: Its Colors 337

ble in the case of a very holy person " (Secret
Doctrine, Vol. Ill, pp. 577 and 583).

The front brain has a higher grade of colors
than the back brain. The countless magnetic and
electric curves which radiate from the head and
surround it with a play of exquisite colors corres-
pond vividly with the " Thousand-petalled Lotus "
of the Yogi. The colors thus seen by psychic vis-
ion to emanate from different parts of the brain
corroborate all that phrenology claims as to spe-
cial seats of " faculties," or emotions and activi-
ties, and all that Occultists teach; and this state-
ment holds also with regard to the whole body.

The heart is the center of spiritual conscious-
ness as is the brain of intellectual; and all the play
of light in the aura of the pineal gland is reflected
in the heart's aura, " which vibrates and illumines
the seven brains of the heart, just as does the aura
round the pineal gland." Corroboratory of these
statements is that of Dr. Babbitt that " The brain
has been seen to have five great leading poles, or
centers of luminous radiation, the greater of which
is in the center, besides which it has minor poles
in all the organs which connect with the center
pole." Clairvoyants can see explosive flashes of
light from all nerve ganglia, and wanting Occult
training might fail to distinguish the septenary.

Although the colors of all these auras are as
constantly shifting and changing as the waters in

338 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

the seething whirlpool at Niagara, the particles
pulsating with inconceivable velocity, yet yellow,
rose, blue, and violet if present, are always found
in the upper part of the aura about the head and
shoulders ; while red, from pure crimson to its hot,
lurid hues, radiates midway, from shoulders to
thighs; and the debased colors of debasing quali-
ties are below. The purer the color the higher;
thus most greens and deep orange are about the
feet and lower limbs; but the pure green of ver-
satility and sympathy is seen above the shoulders.

The all-penetrating, all-permeating force, bind-
ing all together, the aural light, is the manifesta-
tion of the Spirit within, which forms the " Enve-
lope " or " Egg," and appears as a faintly lumin-
ous silver-blue-violet shadow, irradiated with the
hue which gives the key to the individual. The
more highly developed the person, the more dis-
tinct is this hue, the unmistakable mark of the rul-
ing Hierarchy, and the evidence of the presence
of the Special Ray connecting every individual
soul with its Hierarchy.

Even a slight understanding of the nature of the
influences with which men people the contiguous
astral realm, influences which are constantly af-
fecting man for good or ill, according to the
nature of the thoughts and desires which he per-
mits to dwell in his consciousness, would inevitably
increase the sense of responsibility as to the purity

The Auric Envelope: Its Colors 339

and elevation of his habitual thoughts and aims.

Ignoble thoughts, selfish, jealous, or passionate
thoughts, or the stings of deadly hatred, enter
only the centers where like thoughts hold sway.
So he who indulges such polluting, discordant
thoughts draws added incentive to his own evil
thinking, while heaping on fuel to that of his fel-
lows. It is through the medium of astral matter
that all our thoughts vibrate. They take form
there instantly and change with the utmost rapid-
ity, seeking always their affinity or pursuing the
direction in which they are consciously sent.
Every unselfish emotion purifies all the vibrations
as pure air clears a smoky atmosphere. Loving
thoughts help all the region through which they
pass.

You see there are thought-forms just as there
are tone- and voice-forms. Mrs. Besant puts this
very strongly, and says thoughts may be angels
or devils, and man is held responsible [not by a
vengeful God but by Law] for their creation.
And she gives this comforting thought: " Many
a mother's loving prayers go to hover round her
son as angel-forms, turning aside from him evil in-
fluences that perchance his own thoughts are at-
tracting " (Ancient Wisdom, pp. 77-81).

Not only does all our real and lasting happiness
here depend upon the use we make of our thought-
power; but exactly in the proportion that we de-

340 The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

velop and gain control of the " mind-stuff " will
be the perfection of that Heaven we all hope to
attain after this earth-life. For Devachan, the
heaven-plane, or world, is in substance mind-stuff,
and it yields to us exactly what we have power to
mould, to think into a reality; because every men-
tal act takes immediate form there. Hence
Heaven is as beautiful and perfect as we have the
ability to make it.

The outflow of spiritual or psychic energy from
the auras of those who through ceaseless aspira-
tion are advancing rapidly on the Path is of mar-
vellous potency. There is scarce a limit to be
placed upon the beneficence of such characters, of
the effect of their work and influence; their mere
presence is felt as an inspiration, as a healing bless-
ing. Aspiration is the exercise of the Soul,
through which it grows to heights invisible. Who
can doubt that the present awakening of the pub-
lic conscience, the great moral wave sweeping round
the world, is due to the pure vibrations emanating
from the ever-increasing army of those who have
come under the great Light through the wide-
spread teaching of the Power of Thought to man-
ipulate Life's Forces? It is the real "Life
Science," explaining God's purpose and his Laws..

CHAPTER XXXI

HOW TO ACQUIRE RHYTHMIC BREATHING

THE whole Law of the Rhythmic Breath
is now unfolded to you ; you know its im-
portance; you know that the vibrations
surrounding every human being (as also all thing
things from plants upward) are exactly sympto-
matic of internal conditions, being outward mani-
festations of those conditions; and you must real-
ize the importance of the character and purity of
the invisible color-forces which compose the hu-
man aura. Therefore, there remains but to con-
sider some details of the constant effect of the Law.
If we would hold ourselves receptive to the finer,
purer Tattvic currents flowing about us, it is im-
perative that the irregular fleeting waves of color
which commonly sweep rapidly as before gusts of
wind through the aura, be reduced to regular rhyth-
mic vibrations, otherwise they present a repellant
wall. Given an earnest desire to improve, with
control of those emotions generally recognized as
evil, nothing else so degrades and lowers the col-
ors as the all-too-common habit of depression;
nothing else so purifies and refines them, and en-

341

342 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

larges the aura, as the regular habit of deep, rhyth-
mic breathing.

We must give a glance at some of the reasons
for our having to learn carefully and slowly, what
should be perfectly natural to every human being.
The first function of life which is aborted and per-
verted is that of correct breathing, and no other
function is so little understood or so ignored and
abused. It is this perversion and abuse that sow
the first seeds of weakness and disorder in the
human frame, because preventing any possibility
of the harmonically balanced rhythmic flow of
vital-force.

The babe, before he has submitted to discipline's
unnatural methods of development, breathes
deeply, moving his abdomen more than his chest;
because the diaphragm is superintending the normal
function, and, when lowered, thrusts the viscera
downward which distends the elastic muscles of the
abdominal walls, and leaves the thorax above much
enlarged for the full expansion of the lungs.
Only thus can the lower lung-cells be filled or have
their stagnant residue of air changed and renewed.
Everything stagnant is impure and invites germs
of disease. <

The moment discipline treats the child as some-
thing that must be bent to civilization's standards
instead of growing up naturally like a flower, con-
straint and fear begin their deadly work of tension

How to Acquire Rhythmic Breathing 343)

and cramping, and nerves and muscles respond in-
stantly to the iniquitous maldirection. Discord
has set in and there is no more normal freedom.
Fear clamps the lungs in a vice more harmful even
than the external strictures of senseless clothing.

The long-suffering body, restored to its rights,
and relegated to its true position in the septenary
chain of human principles, becomes a totally dif-
ferent thing from the incubus which generations
of men have dragged through life in the belief that
ills of the flesh were the natural and unavoidable
evils of living. Only the gross ignorance of the
primest necessities of healthful living has created
and fostered most of these ills, — an ignorance
which in spite of a decade and a half of the most
active propaganda to spread the cult of health and
prevention of disease through healthful living, still
blinds the majority of mankind; and to the neg-
lect of no one prime need is so much suffering due
as to deprivation of fresh pure air! The purer the
air the purer are the Tattvic vibrations and the
higher their potencies.

As life exists only from breath to breath, he who
but half-breaths only half-lives; and reduces his
tenure upon life to but a slender thread. The vi-
tal forces which are the source of all life and which
maintain and renew it, enter our bodies with every
breath; are rhythmic in the degree of its regular-
ity, and their harmony and normal balance depend

#44 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

frst upon the freshness and purity of the air in*
haled. Every exhalation expels from the body
noxious principles, wastes generated in the physi-
ological chemistry of combustion processes, which
are virulent poisons to all living creatures. Do-
mestic animals and pet birds are even more sus-
ceptible to their deadly influence than is man him-
self, in whom unfortunately, the effects are slower
and more subtle; else would mankind have awak-
ened long ago to the loathsomeness of re-breathing
these foul exhalations.

The cult of deep-breathing broke the first link
in these self-forged shackles that mankind has
dragged for so many weary centuries. But, un-
happily, the cult was no sooner launched than it
was split by theorists into many " schools " ; and
according to the teacher the student was drilled
in diaphragmatic, intercostal, or clavicular breath-
ing; systems which divide the thorax into lower,
middle, and upper registers respectively, and in-
hibit more than slight, imperfect movements of
air through the practically unemployed cells of
the lungs. It seems never to have occurred to
I these experimenters to ask (much less could they
answer the query!) why so much space was taken
up in the chest by masses of spongy substance that
was of no use in the human economy, yet was so
alarmingly susceptible to painful disorders!

It was never intended that only a part of the

How to Acquire Rhythmic Breathing 345

lungs should be used, but men and women have
each adopted their special method of defeating
Nature; the former, from neglect of clavicular
(upper chest) breathing, furnishing the more vic-
tims of tuberculosis; and the latter, from their
constriction of the waist-line, inhibiting all the
lower muscles from activity, thus often causing
atrophy of the lower lobes of the lungs, and ren-
dering practically immovable the vital organs just
beneath the diaphragm; which encourages a long
train of suffering. Semi-invalidism and early de-
cay are inevitable under such conditions. Yet a
New York authority upon voice-culture says that
with correct deep-breathing, " no voice need lose
its beauty till one, two, or even three, decades
after the fortieth birthday is passed."

Now, deep, rhythmic breathing uses no one of
these restricted " registers," but does employ all
three in one. Habitual inhalations should be pro-
longed till every respiratory muscle has been called
into action and every lung cell is distended. This
cannot be accomplished without a perfectly free
and strong elastic diaphragm. It is profoundly
important that one learn not only how to make it so
— faithful practice will do it — but also its exact
office in this life function.

The diaphragm is nearly the shape of an in-
verted basin, — an irregular arch or crescent in
every dimension. Acting like a bellows, when

340 The taw of the Rhythmic BreatK

thrust out and downward, it expands the thorax,
creating a vacuum into which the air is drawn, and
it presses downward and outward all that is be-
neath it. Normal, deep breathing, which is rhyth-
mic and harmonious, is thus an internal massage of
all the vital organs. Every breath moves them
gently in position, and consequently increases the
circulation of the blood, and stimulates their secre-
tions and excretions. The movements in both di-
rections are partly contraction and partly expan-
sion.

If you are not certain that your habitual breath-
ing thus lowers and raises the diaphragm so the
whole lungs are alternately filled and emptied,
practice deep breathing while lying prone upon
your back upon an unyielding surface. You will
thus both see and feel the downward and outward
stretching movement of the diaphragm as it flat-
tens out when you inhale; for the abdomen is dis-
tended by the lowering of the viscera ; and you will
distinctly feel the pressure upon the small of the
back where the diaphragm is connected with the
spine just below the lowest rib. Its great anchor-
ing muscles, there contracting, pull it down forci-
bly. This part should be distended as much as
the abdomen, but at the beginning of practice is
apt to be found inactive.

It is in the filling of these lower lung-cells that
the favorable Tattvas, Prithivi and Apas, put in

How to Acquire Rhythmic Breathing 347

their finest work of upbuilding and renewing.
With every inhalation the abdomen should rise
gently, falling with the exhalation, when the dia-
phragm is arched upward pressing upon and emp-
tying the lower lung-cells.

When you have mastered the method, resume
a sitting or standing posture for practice. In ha-
bitual breathing, the exhalations should be in
rhythm with the inhalations, counting from six to
eight during a movement according to lung-power,
which will increase amazingly as the chest-walls
and all muscles gain elasticity through regular
practice.

The pulse — heart-beat — should be the unit of
count, for the two functions are most closely asso-
ciated. Thus: inhale during six pulse-throbs;
hold breath during three; exhale during six counts;
hold lungs empty during three counts. Repeat a
dozen times or more; lengthen the breath as
power is gained; and practice according to con-
venience several times a day. In normal, rhyth-
mic breathing, the solar current flows in and out
through the right nostril, and the lunar current
through the left. When it is desired to make
one or the other current flow, close the nostril or
press the fifth rib on the side you wish to make
inactive, and inhale and exhale through the other
nostril. Inhale slowly and always through the
nostrils, in which passages there is provision to

348 The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

arrest impurities which, if carried to the lungs,
would irritate their delicate structure. Contag-
ious diseases can be contracted by the unlovely as
well as unclean habit of mouth-breathing.

Do nothing automatically. In all your prac-
tice, make your thoughts follow and direct the vi-
tal currents. For example: Think as well as
feel the pressure and distention in the small of
the back. You will thus greatly facilitate the
forming of the habit of doing involuntarily what
you must now practice. Moreover, indulgence in
automatisms is dangerously apt to encourage ab-
sent-mindedness, a fault which leads to grave mis-
takes, the results of which are seldom confined to
the immediate offenders. All the accidents due
to the " Didn't-think " folk can be traced to the
encouragement of automatisms.

The habit should be acquired of holding the
breath perceptibly before the exhalation, for only
thus do we take from the inhaled air all its vital
elements. It is possible through faithful practice
to wont ourselves to deep, rhythmic breathing as
the rule; and with the help of the corrective exer-
cises — Alternate Breathing and Held Breath —
to develop a dynamic energy which we can divert
at need to any organ or nerve of the body and
hold there long enough to stimulate a revitalizing
process.

When we gain control of Prana — for which

How to Acquire Rhythmic Breathing 349

purpose the Held-Breath exercises are practiced —
we are able to feel its subtle activity all over the
body, and can concentrate it wherever an exhausted
nerve needs renewing energy. It is only in these
corrective exercises, or when the need is felt to
change the currents, that the nostrils are closed and
the breath arbitrarily directed to left or right.
When the balance of the alternating current is
restored, we leave Nature to take care of their
regular alternation.

Human beings are electric batteries; and when
either current of vital force — the negative or pos-
itive — flows too long, the vehicle of life becomes
the engine of destruction. That is all; it is just
a simple problem of electro-chemical action; and
the Tattvic Law is the only thing that explains
the mystery by which human life hangs on so
slight a thread, and indicates to you the remedy
for time of need. The knowledge thus put in
your hands is a treasure beyond price.

In all practice, the promptness of the body's re-
sponse to the revivifying influence will be exactly
according to the clearness with which you realize
the thought and the fixity with which you can hold
it. Directed consciously with your soul-force vi-
talizing your mental vibrations, the current of
Prana increases in strength and electrical power,
so that all the atoms are drawn into synchronous
action, which means enormously increased power
and activity.

CHAPTER XXXII

ITHE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THESE LAWS

THE first application of the Tattvic Law
is to realize that you are yourself respon-
sible for the character of the forces active
within. There is not an act of life nor a thought
to which the Law does not apply; it expresses it-
self in the form of like vibrations everywhere and
in everything. The forces of the Universe are
playing upon and around you, and what you think
and feel determines what sort shall find affinity
within. But knowledge alone of the Law does
not enable us to apply it, — does not give us the
power to use the master key. That is gained only
by steadfast determination and faithful practice of
all means to the end. If one thing has been em-
phasized more than another in these lessons upon
the Evolution of the Self through Health to Free-
dom and Power, it is the need of harmony from
the foundation upward.

The perfect life — which can be made the com-
mon life not the exceptional one — permitting the
unfolding of undreamed of powers of mind and
soul, requires for its foundation a strong body

350

Practical Application of These Laws 351

whose equilibrium is maintained by the rhythmic
functioning of all its complex organs, under the
control of a sane, wholesome mind. Rid your-
self right here and now of any belief you may have
in the body itself being sinful. " Matter is not
in itself evil. On the contrary, it comes forth
from God, and consists of that whereof God's
Self consists, Spirit. It is Spirit by the force of
the Divine will subjected to conditions and limita-
tions, and made externally cognizable " (Perfect
Way, p. 41)-

The whole end and aim of humanity's trials
and experiences is to educate souls to overcome,
to gain the Will-power " to escape the limitations
of matter and return to the condition of pure
Spirit." Remember the distinction I pointed out
to you between the will at the beck and call of
desire, and a Will which is the handmaid of Soul-
consciousness and holds every thought under con-
trol. In the latter case only is the Will strong
and really free.

To ignore the body and affirm that " mind is
all," is both unscientific and a grave mistake; for
while mind is ensheathed in the body all the ve-
hicles through which consciousness manifests are
efficient in proportion as their activities work to-
gether in rhythmic harmony for the good of all.
Each must sound its own perfect note, just as the
various organs of the body should; all together

35.2 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

forming a harmonious chord. Only perfect
health, with subordination of every organ to its
legitimate function — as well-trained soldiers
work together — permits the freedom and enjoy-
ment of this condition.

" The aim of all endeavor," says Anna Kings-
ford, " should be to bring the body into subjec-
tion to, and harmony with the Spirit, by refining
and subliming it; and so heightening its powers
as to make it sensitive and responsive to all the
motior." of the Spirit." The Law of the Rhyth-
mic Breath is the only explanation of Kosmic
Forces which teaches how to " sublime " the body,
and " make it sensitive and responsive " to the
Spirit. A sound mind in a perfectly controlled
body is indispensable for progress in the refinement
and development of all the sheaths which leads to
consciousness on all planes and to soul-knowledge.

As Annie Besant says : " All that is needed to
be in Heaven [now] is to become conscious of
those vibrations " ; — that is, vibrations of soul-
consciousness, higher states latent in all ; but which
require for their forth-coming conditions of peace,
confidence, serenity, and poise. These are im-
possible in a pain-racked body, or in one heavy
with the impurities of gross living and discordant
thinking.

When the Spirit is deeply involved in matter
[(lower vibrations), inertia is manifested. We

Practical Application of These Laws 353

speak of being " heavy-hearted," " depressed in
spirits," " sleepy," yet prolonged sleep brings no
rest ; under such influences, we are literally weighted
down by the gross, heavy states of the physical
atoms. As the Spirit, through the purification of
matter, evolves out of it, the vibrations increase
in refinement; and lightness, exhilaration, and elas-
ticity are increasingly apparent. In such states we
bring enthusiasm to bear upon all that we do, and
every activity is a joy; work ceases to be labor.
We have connected ourselves with higher and
purer sources of energy.

Epictetus reminds us : " Men are distracted
not by the things which happen but by their opin-
ions about things." To consistently apply the
Tattvic Law and reap the advantage from the
knowledge of it which is possible for every earn-
est and determined soul, there is in most cases an
imperative need to change the whole tenor of cus-
tomary thought, — often, indeed, the order of the
life; to purify the mind and body through whole-
some thinking and living, with faith, charity, love,
and truth, and effacement of all petty self-interests
as the basis of daily activities.

The cheerfulness and joy resulting promote a
state of harmony, for happiness, confidence, and
courage are upbuilding forces; fear, anxiety, petty
animosities, intolerance, resentment, and cowardice
are ^integrating and discordant, because they dis-

354 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

turb the balance of the Tattvas, and greatly in-
crease the preponderance of those which in excess
are disastrous. The physical and mental peril of
indulgence in these latter emotions and thoughts,
is not half-understood; but here, again, the Tatt-
iiic Law clearly explains cause and effect, warns of
the danger, and places responsibility. We must
learn to direct our activities and govern our lives
systematically, refusing longer to be the playthings
of chance. We must think clearly and plan our
days so they shall be filled with the things worth
the doing.

As a primary condition of peace, happiness, and
health, you must rule your own forces. If you
would attract harmonious conditions, your own
mood must be harmonious and confident. When
we recognize that^we live in a world of forces of
which we are a part, and that the soul-governed-
and-directed will can control these forces, we real-
ize our responsibility for the proper exercise of
that control, through the right use and direction of
the Power of Thought.

It seems the most stupendous blindness that men
have gone on for centuries delving into this world
of Effects — the earth and the life thereon —
and persistently denied that the world of Cause
could be anything outside of the unit under exam-
ination,— that they could dream of accurate re-
sults in studying one Unit of the macrocosm as

Practical Application of These Laws 355

an isolated world of Effect revolving upon itself.

Only the all-compelling Sun has forced man to
recognize something of its influence; but so little
does he comprehend it that he hesitates not to bar
out its beneficent rays entirely from his dwelling,
nor to build great factories and office-hives where
thousands of helpless human workers are immured,
delving by artificial light throughout the Long
Day! Oh, the pity of it!

Since you know that the nature of certain
thoughts must inevitably produce unfavorable vi-
brations, is it not as rank injustice to yourself and
those affected by your mental or physical condi-
tion to indulge in them as it would be to take
poison? As all vibrations can be controlled by
thought, you must think the vibrations which you
desire to be most active in your body. Not denial
of pain and weakness, but conscious thought-con-
struction of the conditions you would manifest in
your life — just as the artist bodies forth on his
canvas the picture his imagination has conceived
— is the sure method to hasten the fulfillment of
your strongest desires and aims. You must con-
trol your thoughts for they are always creating
something. " The imaginative power in man is
the reflection of the power that in God created the
Universe " (Evolution of Life and Form, Annie
Besant) .

Rama Prasad says: "As the balance of the

356 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Tattvas brings comfort and enjoyment of life, so
the sense of comfort and enjoyment which colors
our Prdna and mind when we put ourselves in sym-
pathy with the comfortable restores the balance of
the Tattvas. And when the balance of the Tatt-
vas is restored what remains? Disinclination to
work, doubt, laziness and other feelings of that
kind can no longer stand, and the result is the re-
storation of the mind to perfect calmness.
. . . But, for such a result to be achieved
there must be long and powerful application
[Nature's Finer Forces}.

See to it that you contribute no discord to your
environment; if so unfortunate as to come in con-
tact with it, be no party to it. By every act of
your life set the example of poise, serenity, and
happy confidence in ultimate good. Oppose pas-
sion and pessimism with silent thoughts of their
opposites. There is much comfort in the know-
ledge that through beneficent suggestion we may
often influence for good a nature which can hear
no arguments nor opposing opinions without be-
ing stirred to excited antagonism. A mental at-
mosphere of love and confidence, protects us from
all evil thought-waves.

It is necessary to give final emphasis to the fact
that the exercises in Yoga breathing are not meth-
ods of regular, still less of rhythmic, breathing, but,
as stated in the first chapter, are scientifically de-

Practical Application of These Laws 357

signed to restore the balance of the positive and
negative currents which in normal breathing flow
rhythmically and alternately, one after the other,
at regular periods down the right and left sides of
the spine; the right (positive) and left (negative)
lungs being correspondingly charged. The ex-
cess of one current, or the undue preponderance
of a Tattva causes border; then, if order be not
restored, disease. It is the inception of all disease,
organic as well as functional.

The normal order of God's vast Universe is
based upon rhythmic harmony, and the health-
ful functioning of all his creatures upon this terres-
trial globe is a reflection upon the gross, or visible,
plane of activity of that perfect, harmonious
rhythm. Mark well that I say healthful func-
tioning. We all know that this normal condition
is the blessing enjoyed by not more than one per-
son in five hundred, if so many.

The present age not only suffers from many;
weaknesses resulting from the ignorance and
wrong-doing of past generations, but has involved
itself deeper and deeper in materialism, separating
itself from the beneficent spiritual plane of its be-
ing, which has developed hitherto unknown dis-
eases encroaching upon and impairing, more and
more with the progress of this thing mis-called
civilization, the channels of vital force, the nerv-
ous system.

358 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

The corrective exercises are designed to restore
divine order, no function of life having been so
misunderstood and neglected during centuries as
the vital one of breathing. The difference be-
tween the two exercises is very great. They sup-
plement each other. Alternate breathing renews
and freshens the human battery, undoing the mis-
chief created through having employed one cur-
rent too long; it is nerve-calming and equalizing;
for it restores the atoms to harmonious activity,
when before they were all struggling for their in-
dividual " breath of life."

The Held-Breath describes itself, for though
the breaths are taken alternately as in the other
exercises, the holding is the important part. It
is nerve-energizing to a greater degree — and acts
more promptly — than any other remedy for
nerve-exhaustion yet devised; because the thought,
concentrating Prdna in different plexuses, polar-
izes the electro-chemical action, refines the Tattvic
vibrations, and raises them to inconceivably higher
power. This exercise for Pranayama (control of
Prdna} thus electrifies all the nerves of the body
and stimulates all the organic functions to their
highest activity. I have had many proofs of its
wonderfully purifying, renewing, and invigorating
power when practiced regularly and faithfully.

Since we are human electric batteries, there is
no slightest doubt in my mind that we can accom-

Practical Application of These Laws 359

plish more for the regeneration of our bodies in
this way — the force being infinitely finer — than
can be done by the application of high-power cur-
rents from electrical machines. D'Arsonval's
new apparatus (designed to destroy the " germs
of old age ") gives an alternating current of one
thousand million vibrations per second. But the
mind gains nothing by this treatment beyond hav-
ing its house put in order for it. Without belit-
tling that, I must remind you that the mind still
remains the mischief-maker, which, uncontrolled,
draws discordant vibrations that will quickly undo
the good. Where the will-power is lacking to
gain the necessary mental control, by all means
try the electric-battery. That is the next best
thing, but remember that it is only man's clever
device to replace Divine methods, therefore in-
complete.

This explanation amply refutes the charge that
an " unnatural method of breathing is taught by
Yoga exercises." Instead of " reversing the nat-
ural circulation of the blood, bringing abnormal
pressure upon psychic centers in the brain," as one
critic charges, the exercises, if directions for prac-
tice be followed, have none but the most beneficial
and stimulating effect upon both the blood circu-
lation and the circulation of Prana (vital force)
in the nerves.

Long experience has proved to me beyond the

360 The Law of the Rhythmic BreatK

shadow of a doubt that these corrective exercises
successfully effect a purification and regulation of
the Kosmic currents flowing over the nerves which,
through restoring the normal balance of the vital-
currents, restores harmony and consequently
strength where heretofore discord and disease
have held high carnival mainly because of the dis-
ordered and unnatural breathing which has become
the rule among mankind instead of the exception.

Instances of harm resulting from Yoga exercises
can always be traced to injudicious practice, be-
cause of ignorance of the forces used — the two
phases of the vital-current and the Tattvic vibra-
tions composing the currents. All wholesale con-
demnation and denunciation are based also upon
ignorance, but are due to observed results of mal-
practice. Unfortunately, this very practice has
been sanctioned and directed sometimes by those
who command confidence because supposedly hav-
ing been trained themselves in the oldest Eastern
systems.

But I would caution you that no one who under-
stands the Science of Breath would dream of in-
structing students to practice the Held-Breath
exercise for long periods of thirty to forty-five min-
utes. The conditions thus produced are " unnat-
ural " and destroy all normal activity. They are
exactly what is described in the picturesque phrase-
ology of the Shivagama as the state when " the

'Practical Application of These Laws 361

fires of death burn." The enthusiasts who thus at-
tempt to develop psychic powers by a tour de force,
to break into heaven, as they perhaps suppose, by
scaling its walls, are hopelessly defeating any spirit-
ual aspirations they may have. You cannot burst
through the sheaths without shattering them; each
must be refined in turn.

Again I say: Evolution is the reverse process
of involution. We must begin with the body and
its directing mind. Soul-consciousness is gained in
no other way; and psychic powers are but a source
of danger and tribulation, of weakness to the body
and mind, until both mental sheaths are developed,
the higher, sufficiently to recognize its power.

Here, again, Anna Kingsford indicates the Per-
fect Way: " It is vain to seek the inner chamber
without first passing through the outer."

Concentration is not a practice to be restricted to
the special periods devoted to it ; but as facility and
power are gained to hold the mind under control,
the law of effective thinking and doing should be
applied in all the affairs of life. It should become
the fixed habit to concentrate the mind upon the
affair of the moment no matter how trivial it may
be. Only thus can the pernicious trick of mind-
wandering be overcome; only thus can the mind
be trained to efficient service at all times. And as
it — the mind — is making you, hour by hour,
what you are, is it not really the most important

362 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

task in life to learn to direct its activities in ways
beneficent instead of ways pernicious?

It is only when we can attain inward calm, can
free ourselves from the tangle of the common daily
perplexities and avocations, that we gain a true
perspective of the things that so absorb us; realize
the pettiness of most of them, separate the wheat
from the tares; and cultivate a judgment that will
successfully guide us and bring order and peace.

There can be no final word on this vast subject.
Its profound importance has been made clear to all
who are sufficiently interested to think. To such
there will be no fruitless moments of thought and
endeavor. Ever, as they seek, will the Path be-
come more illuminated; and they and I must con-
tinue to learn as long as we strive for " More
Light."

ENVOI

May God's blessing bring to every reader of this
book enlightenment and ever-increasing under-
standing of Nature's Laws, which are inseparable
from the Truth of Being.

GLOSSARY

The very name Sanskrit — abbreviated from Sams-
krita — implies the elaboration and subtle nicety of its
structure, " the perfectly constructed speech dedicated to
literary and religious purposes, but also the spoken lan-
guage of cultured people " ; and thus distinguished from
the vernacular of the common people, Prakrita, or Prakrit,
of which there are many dialects.

Although the Sanskrit alphabet contains forty-eight let-
ters — thirteen vowels and thirty-five consonants —
these are augmented by so many compound letters ac-
cording as they are grouped in words, and to express
shades of meaning and pronunciation, that about five
hundred distinct types, or symbols, are necessary for the
complete equipment of a Sanskrit font. The reason for
this nice distinction is the conviction that number, form,
and color are inherent in every sound.

Diacritical marks, corresponding somewhat to the
Greek " breathings," under and over letters, both vow-
els and consonants, change their sound-value entirely; and
as these lack significance to English eyes, having no cor-
respondence with English usage, the best method to con-
vey the pronunciation of Sanskrit words has been to spell
them in English as nearly as possible phonetically. For
example: the spelling Sakti gives no hint of the pronun-
ciation of the word. In Sanskrit the S would have a

363

364 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

breathing mark over it by which the letter would be rec-
ognized as having very nearly the sound-value of sh in
shun, or ss in session. Therefore, the spelling for the
English reader should be Shakti; so also Sushumnd, not
Susumnd; Akasha, not Akasa; Shiva, not Siva.
I A is the most important vowel in Sanskrit, and its
two sounds, long like a in ah! and short like u in up,
are distinguished by a slight change in the letters. Short
or " medial " a is considered inherent in every consonant,
unless it is followed by another vowel. A typical word
to illustrate pronunciation and common usage is Pandit,
a learned Brahmin, which has become most familiar to
English eyes as well as ears in the spelling Pundit, which
preserves its pronunciation. In the English Theosophical
works of the best-known writers, long a in Sanskrit words
has the circumflex accent over it, and short a is without
mark.

E has the sound of a in may; long i, of i in machine;
short ij of i in kin; long u is like oo in moon, and short,
like u in push.

Adi — ah'dee ; primordial universal Force. " The ve-
hicle containing potentially everything."

Agni — ag'nee (a almost like a in as, g hard); fire,
sacrificial fire, god of fire; name sometimes given to
Tejas Tattva.

I Akasha — ah-kah'shuh; subtle ether, fifth Tattva, the
subtle sound-granules of space, without and within every
atom.

Anupadaka — on-oo-pah'du-ku ; the sixth Tattva.

Amrita — om-ree'tuh; the nectar of the gods; the
water of eternal life.

Glossary 365

Apana — up-ah'nuh; a manifestation of Prana, down-
breathing, eliminator of wastes.

Apas — ah'pus, a Tattva, water element, stimulator of
taste, gustiferous ether.

Atma — aht'muh; the Spirit of the Universe, highest
Principle in man.

Aum — ah-oo-mu (all blended together). The sacred
word ; its pronunciation needs to be heard ; it may be pro-
nounced as two, three, or seven syllables, setting up cor-
responding vibrations.

Avidyd — uh-veed'yah ; ignorance, darkness.

Buddhi — Bood'hi, understanding, wisdom, vehicle of
the Spirit, connecting Atma with Manas; " the deter-
minative faculty " ; sixth Principle in man.

Chakra — chuk'ruh; a wheel, disc, a circling motion;
a cycle of seasons or of years.

Chitta — chit-tuh ; " mind stuff."

Fohat — Fo-hut ; force in its highest, most subtle state.

Ghdri — gu-hah'ree (compound consonants like ph,
kht th, gh, and bh are aspirated separately as in ink-
horn, loghouse) ; a period of twenty-four minutes.

Ida — ee-dah; the negative Nadi down left side of
spine.

Ishvara — Eesh-wah-ru; the soul of the Universe, the
same as Brahma, also the god Shiva.

Kama — kah-muh ; desire, longing, emotion.

Karana-sharira — kah'ruh-nu-shuh-ree-ruh ; Causal
body.

Karma — kur-muh ; the moral law of compensation op-
erating to produce all conditions of life ; that force which
operates to connect cause and effect unvaryingly.

366 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

Manas — mon-us; mind, the third Principle of the
Universe from below.

Mantra — mun'truh, metrical word or verse having
an essential rhythmic virtue; hence spell, charm, incanta-
tion.

Mdydvi-rupa — mah-yah'vee— roo-puh (see text for full
definition) ; an astral body.

Mula-prakriti — moo'luh-pruh-kree'tee ; undifferenti-
ated matter, from mula, root, and prakriti, matter, source.

Nadi — nah'dee ; a tube or a line along which some-
thing flows, applied indiscriminately to nerves, arteries,
and veins.

Om, same as Aum, which see; "that undifferentiated
word that has produced all manifestations."

Padma — pud-muh ; the lotus, a center of nervous force.

Plngala — pin-guh-lah; the positive Nadi on right side
of spine.

Pradhdna — prud-hah'nuh ; unevolved matter, mani-
festation of Mula-prakriti; chief person or thing.

Prakrita — pruh-kree'tuh ; the derived speech, the va-
rious East Indian dialects of the common people.

Prakriti — pruh-kree'tee ; undifferentiated Kosmic mat-
ter. Nature.

Prdna — prah'nuh; breath of life, vital force, spirit,
electricity and magnetism in different phases of the most
subtle state.

Prithivi — prit-hi-vee' ; a Tattva, the earth element,
stimulator of smell, the odoriferous ether.

Purusha — poo'rus-huh; the personal life-giving prin-
ciple in all things, human soul, Supreme Soul, spirit, the
intelligence pervading Nature.

Glossary 367

Rajah Yoga — Rah'juh Yo-guh; literally, Royal yoga,
the conquering of the lower nature and uniting the soul
with divinity, or attainment of soul-consciousness and real-
izing that divinity within.

Rayi — ruh-yee ; negative phase of matter, lunar ray.

Samadhi — su-mahd'hee ; perfect concentration, a state
of super-consciousness that carries one beyond the limits
of reason ; meditation bringing one " face to face with
facts which no instinct or reason can ever know " ; highest
and last stage of yoga.

Samana — su-mah'nuh; a manifestation of Prana, on-
breathing, active in assimilation and renewing processes.

Shakti — shuk'tee ; the negative phase of any force ; the
seven shaktis correspond with the " sons of Fohat "; the
consort of a god, the god being the positive phase of a
force.

Shivagama — Shee-vah'guh-muh ; an ancient Sanskrit
work attributed to Shiva.

Shloka — sh-lo'kuh ; Vedic verses.

Sthula-sharira — st-hoo'luh— shu-ree-ruh ; gross body.

Sukshma-sharira — sook'shmuh; subtle or etheric body.

Svastika — swus-ti-kuh; a sacred symbol among an-
cient peoples of almost world-wide use; any lucky or aus-
picious object.

Tantra — tun-truh ; Sanskrit treatises on the science of
the human body and soul.

Tattva — tut-twuh ; " the substance out of which the
universe is formed," and " the power by which it is sus-
tained " ; the true elements ; the essence or substance of
anything; a form of vibration; truth, reality, opposed to
what is fallacious. In compounds with other words,

368 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

tattva always implies knowledge. In the original edition
of Nature's Finer Forces, Rama Prasad spelled the word
tatwa, which gives the correct pronunciation; for al-
though Sanskrit v has commonly the sound of v in every
it is softened to w when preceded by a consonant.

It was sadly misleading, and has contributed much to
the confusion concerning the pronunciation of this word,
that the English editor of the later edition of Rama
Prasad's book changed the spelling to the Sanskrit form
tattva without giving any explanation; and as all the
other changes in orthography were to the end of indicat-
ing the correct pronunciation, the natural inference was
that this came under the same rule. As a half-dozen dic-
tionaries and as many Sanskrit grammars might be con-
sulted without finding a hint of other pronunciation of v
than in English vine, the above omission has tended to
fasten this erroneous pronunciation upon the word.
Monier-Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary gives the rule I
have cited, and I have the further authority of a Hindu
Sanskrit scholar for the pronunciation given.

Tejas — tay-jus; a Tattva, the fire element, stimulator
of the sense of sight, the luminiferous ether.

Truti — troo-tee ; a division of time, a measure of
space; an atom; one hundred and fifty trutis equal one
second.

Udana — oo-da-nuh; a manifestation of Prdna, up-
breathing.

Upadhi — oo-pahd'hee ; a basis of consciousness, of
which there are three correlated to three regions of the
Universe, sensuous, intellectual, and spiritual.

Glossary 369

Upanishad — Oo-pun-ish-ud ; ancient mystical writings,
" secret knowledge."

Vayu — Vah'you ; a Tattva, air element, stimulator of
the sense of touch and feeling, the tangiferous ether.

Vyana — vy-ah'nuh ; that manifestation of Prana in
which Apas is prevalent, all over the body.

Yoga — yo'guh; a division of Sankhya philosophy
teaching methods by which complete union with Deity is
attained (yoga, to yoke). The adjective descriptive of
methods is also yoga.

Yogi — yo-gee (hard g) ; one trained in yoga meth-
ods; a contemplative saint.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

•Nature's Finer Forces. Rama Prasad, M.A., F.T.S.

(Theosophical Publishing Society, London and

Paris.)
Rajah Yoga. Swami Vikekananda.

(The Baker and Taylor Co., New York.)
Human Aura. A. Marques, S.D.

(Mercury Office, San Francisco.)
Perfect Way. Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland.

(Theosophical Publishing Company, 244 Lexington

Ave., New York.)
Principles of Light and Color. E. D. Babbitt.

(Published by the author, New York, 1878.)
Secret Doctrine (3 volumes). Mme. H. P. Blavatsky.

(Theosophical Pub. Society, 3 Langham Place,

London, W.)

Isis Unveiled. Mme. H. P. Blavatsky.
Key to Theosophy. Mme. H. P. Blavatsky.
The Voice of the Silence. Mme. H. P. Blavatsky.
Upanishads. Sacred Books of the East, Vols. I and
XV.

(Oxford, at the Clarendon Press.)
Bhagavadgita, Sacred Books. Vol. VIII.
Buddhist Mahayana Sutras. Vol. XLIX.
The Vedanta Sutras. Vol. XXXIV.
The Laws of Manu. Vol. XXV.

370

Bibliography 371

'Ancient Wisdom. Annie Besant.
Seven Principles of Man. Annie Besant.
Building of the Kosmos. Annie Besant.
Evolution of Life and Form. Annie Besant.
The Self and its Sheaths. Annie Besant.
Birth and Evolution of the Soul. Annie Besant.
Thought Power. Annie Besant.

(Theosophical Pub. Society, Benares and London.)
Man Visible and Invisible. C. W. Leadbeater.

(John Lane, London and New York.)
Human Aura. W. J. Colville.

(Frederick Cole, New York.)
Auras and Colors. J. C. F. Grumbine.

(The Order of the White Rose, Syracuse, N. Y.)
The Power of Silence. Horatio W. Dresser.
Education and the Philosophical Ideal. Horatio W.
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(G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.)
Phenomena of Spiritual Being. Translated from the
Tamil, by Sri Ramanathan.

(The Word, October, 1904, to February, 1906.)
The Zodiac. H. W. Percival.

( The Word, beginning in April, 1906.)
Influence of the Stars. Rosa Baughan.

(Published in London.)
The New Knowledge. Robert Kennedy Duncan.

(A. S. Barnes & Co., New York.)
Sound. Professor Tyndall.

(Longmans, Green & Co., London.)
Mind and Body. Alexander Bain, LL.D,

(D. Appleton & Co., New York.)

372 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath

The Brain and Spinal Cord. Sir Victor Horsley.

(Charles Griffin & Co., London.)
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(D. Appleton & Co., New York.)

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(Charles Griffin & Co., London.)
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(The Theosophist, beginning January, 1908.)

Us

0175-u

, generation, conservation, and contr