Evolution of Life and Form: Four lectures delivered at the twenty-third anniversary meeting of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras, 1898Besant, Annie
Religion
Evolution of Life and Form: Four lectures delivered at the twenty-third anniversary meeting of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras, 1898
Besant, Annie
Evolution; Life -- Origin; Theosophy
Now let us look how, in the downward arc that we spoke of, Íshvara is
imparting qualities. According to the nature of the vibrations that He
sends and of the matter that answers to them will be the quality imparted.
As to the idea that difference of vibrations implies a difference of
manifestation, let me buttress myself on the great reputation of Sir
William Crookes. He issued, two or three years ago, I don't remember the
exact date, in 1896 I think, a table of vibrations, confined of course to
the physical world; a very interesting table, giving a series of
classified vibrations and pointing out which were known to science, and
gave rise to what we call sound, light, electricity, and so on, the
difference of vibratory frequency, and the subtlety of the matter in which
the vibration was set up, giving rise to a particular impression, received
and answered by a sensation in us.
That is the principle which I am now applying to our system as a whole.
According to the density of the matter will be the rapidity of the
vibrations which that matter is capable of expressing; Íshvara sends out
vibrations, and the mânasic matter, we will say, is thrown into
corresponding vibrations or waves of a frequency identical with those of
the life-impulse sent out from Him, so far as it is capable of
responding, a limit being set by its fineness on the one side and by its
density on the other. Its limit of fineness is the atom of the plane.
Its limit of density is the coarsest aggregation of these atoms in the
densest solid of the plane. If we take the physical plane for a moment,
we have solid, liquid, gas, ether, finer ether, finest ether, and atoms.
The lower five are related to the five senses in man as they are at
present developed on the physical plane. These five correspond to the
sense-organs and the senses that work through them, as is suggested in
the names of the tanmâtras. The Solid is related to the sense of Smell;
Liquid to the sense of Taste; Fire to the sense of Sight; Air to the
sense of Touch; and A'kâsha to the sense of Sound. Nov these are not
stated in the order given by the western scientist, but I have no time
to go into the reason for the difference and to show you where his outer
observation fails, because he is not able to trace beyond the limits of
his senses into a finer working; in dealing with our Vâyu and A'kâsha,
he classes them together, and his air is our Agni. These senses and
their evolution belong to the upward arc. Coming downwards, Íshvara
only gives the power to matter to respond to these particular vibrations,
and these vibrations are connected on the physical plane with the
sub-divisions that I have just mentioned, the different sub-divisions of
matter, solid, liquid, gas, and so on, corresponding in the sense-organs
to the senses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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