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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Div. B - Manas as a Cosmic, Systemic and Human Factor
Three points must now be considered in this connection:
  • Conscious manipulation of the fires.
  • Devas and transmutation.
  • Sound and color in transmutation.

It is necessary here to point out, as I have done in other matters under consideration, that only certain facts can be imparted, whilst the detailed work concerning process may not be dealt with owing to the inability of the race as yet to act altruistically. Much misapprehension crept in, owing to this very thing, in the early days of hierarchical effort to give out some of the Wisdom fundamentals in book form, and this is bravely dealt [481] with by H. P. B.58, 59 The danger still persists, and greatly handicaps the efforts of Those, Who - working on the inner side - feel that the thoughts of men should be lifted from the study of the ways of physical existence to broader concepts, wider vision, and synthetic comprehension. Indication only is possible; it is not permissible here to give out the transmutative formulas, or the mantrams that manipulate the matter of space. Only the way can be pointed to those who are ready, or who are [482] recovering old knowledge (gained through approach to the Path, or latent through experience undergone in Atlantean days) and the landmarks indicated hold sufficient guidance to enable them to penetrate deeper into the arcana of knowledge. The danger consists in the very fact that the whole matter of transmutation concerns the material form, and deva substance. Man, being not yet master even of the substance of his own sheaths, nor in vibratory control of his third aspect, incurs risk when he concentrates his attention on the Not-Self. It can only be safely done when the magician knows five things.

  1. The nature of the atom.
  2. The keynote of the planes.
  3. The method of working from the egoic level through conscious control, knowledge of the protective sounds and formulas, and pure altruistic endeavor.
  4. The interaction of the three fires, the lunar words, the solar words, and later a cosmic word.
  5. The secret of electrical vibration, which is only realized in an elementary way when a man knows the keynote of his own planetary Logos.

All this knowledge as it concerns the three worlds is in the hands of the Masters of the Wisdom, and enables Them to work along the lines of energy or force, and not with what is usually understood when the word 'substance' is used. They work with electrical energy, concerning Themselves with positive electricity, or with the energy of the positive nucleus of force within the atom, whether it is the atom of chemistry, for instance, or the human atom. They deal with the soul of things. The black magician works with the negative aspect, with the electrons, if I might so term it, with the sheath, and not with the soul. This distinction must be clearly borne in mind. It holds the clue to the non-interference of the [483] whole Brotherhood in material matters and affairs, and Their concentration upon the force aspect, upon the centers of energy. They reach the whole through the agency of the few centers in a form.


58 The difficulty of giving one the Wisdom Religion is dealt with by H. P. B. in the Secret Doctrine as follows:

  1. Opinion must be reserved because:
    1. Complete explanation for initiates only.
    2. Only a fragmentary portion of the esoteric meaning given.
    3. Only adepts can speak with authority. - S. D., I, 188, 190. II, 55, 90.
    4. The teachings are offered as a hypothesis. - II, 469.
  2. We must lose sight entirely of:
    1. Personalities.
    2. Dogmatic beliefs.
    3. Special religions. - S. D., I, 3, 4.
  3. We must be free from prejudice. - S. D., III, 1. We must also:
    1. Be free from conceit.
    2. Free from selfishness.
    3. Ready to accept demonstrated truth.
  4. We must find the highest meaning possible. S. D., III, 487.
  5. We must be also non-sectarian. - S. D., III, 110.
  6. We must remember the handicap of language. - S. D., I, 197, 290, 293.
  7. We must aim to become a disciple. - S. D., I, 188. II, 246. III, 129.
  8. We must eventually develop powers. - S. D., I, 518. II, 85.
  9. We must lead the life of Brotherhood. S. D., I, 190.
  10. We must remember that H. P. B . makes no claim to infallibility. S. D., II, 25 note, 273. I, 293.

H. P. B. says:

"I speak with 'absolute certainty' only so far as my own personal belief is concerned. Those who have not the same warrant for their belief as I have would be very credulous and foolish to accept it on blind faith... What I do believe in is:

  1. The unbroken oral tradition revealed by living divine men during the infancy of mankind to the elect among men.
  2. That it has reached us unaltered.
  3. That the Masters are thoroughly versed in the science based on such uninterrupted teaching." - Lucifer, Vol. V, p. 157.

"The Secret Doctrine is no 'authority' per se; but being full of quotations and texts from the Sacred Scriptures and philosophies of almost every great religion and school, those who belong to any of these axe sure to find support for their arguments on some page or another. There are, however, Theosophists, and of the best and most devoted, who do suffer from such weakness for authority." - Lucifer, Vol. III, p. 157.

59 See Preface and Introduction, Secret Doctrine, Vol. I.

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