The First Principles of Theosophy

First Principles of Theosophy by C. Jinarajadasa
The First Principles of Theosophy by Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa First published in 1921 --------------------- CONTENTS First Page ..... ii Foreword ..... v Foreword to the Fifth Edition ..... ix Contents ..... xi Introduction ..... 1 CHAPTER I. The Evolution of Life and Form ..... 5 II. The Rise and Fall of Civilizations ..... 36 III. The Laws of Reincarnation ..... 62 IV. The Law of Karma ..... 93 V. The Invisible Worlds ..... 119 VI. Man in Life and in Death ..... 148 VII. The Evolution of Animals ..... 170 VIII. The Work of the Triple Logos ..... 192 IX. The Kingdoms of Life ..... 214 X. The Evolution of Matter and Force ..... 237 XI. The Evolution of Life ..... 273 XII. Nature's Message of Beauty ..... 287 XIII. The Evolution of Consciousness ..... 302 XIV. The Inner Government of the World ..... 322 XV. The Path of Discipleship ..... 335 XVI. God's Plan, which is Evolution ..... 360 Conclusion ..... 378 Acknowledgements ..... 385 Index ..... 386 ... - xi - INTRODUCTION Theosophy is the wisdom arising from the study of the evolution of life and form. This wisdom already exists, because the study has been pursued for long ages by properly equipped investigators into nature's mysteries. The investigators, who are called the Masters of the Wisdom, are those souls who in the evolutionary process have passed beyond the stage of man to the next higher, that of the "Adept". As man evolves to Adept, he gains knowledge by investigation and experiment. The knowledge so far gained by an unbroken line of Adepts is Theosophy, the Ancient Wisdom. As man becomes Adept, he ceases to be merely an item in the evolutionary process, and appears as a master and director of that process, under the supervision of a great Consciousness called in Theosophy the Logos. He is enabled, as a cooperator with the Logos, to see nature from His standpoint, and to some extent survey her, not as her helpless tool, but ... - 1 - with the vision of her Creator. Such a survey is Theosophy today. These Masters of the Wisdom, the agents of the Logos, direct the evolutionary process in all its phases, each supervising a particular department in the evolution of life and form. They form a body known as the Great Hierarchy or the Great White Brotherhood. They guide the building and unbuilding of forms on sea and land; they direct the rise and fall of nations, giving to each just so much of the Ancient Wisdom as is needed for its welfare, and can be assimilated by it. Sometimes that Wisdom is given indirectly, through workers in quest of knowledge, by inspiring them all unseen towards discoveries; sometimes it is given directly, as a revelation. Both these ways are observable now in the twentieth century. The Masters of the Wisdom, who are in charge of the evolution of all that lives, are giving the Wisdom — the science of facts — indirectly, through the invisible guidance and inspiration of scientific workers; directly, they have given it in a body of knowledge known by the term Theosophy. Theosophy is then, in a sense, a revelation, but it is the revelation of a knowledge by those who have discovered it, to those who have not ... - 2 - yet done so. It cannot but be a hypothesis at first to whomsoever it is offered; it can become one's own personal knowledge only by experiment and experience. In Theosophy today we have not the fullness of knowledge of all facts. Only a few main facts and laws have been told us, sufficient to spur us on to study and discovery; but innumerable gaps remain to be filled in. They are being filled in by individual workers in our midst, but what we have of knowledge is as a drop in the ocean to what lies undiscovered or unrevealed. Nevertheless, the little we have is of wonderful fascination, and it reveals new inspiration and beauty everywhere. Theosophy today, in the modern Theosophical literature, will be found to be concerned mostly with the evolution of life. But the knowledge concerning the evolution of form, now gathered in every department of modern science, is equally a part of the Ancient Wisdom. In both, there are gaps to be filled in; but when both are correctly viewed, each is seen to supplement the other. In this exposition of Theosophy, as in every manual of science, there are bound to be two elements. A writer will expound what has been accepted as fact by all, or by a majority ... - 3 - of scientific investigators, but at the same time he may include the result of the work of a few or of himself only, which may require corroboration or revision. As he proceeds, he may not separate, unconsciously or through lack of true scientific training, these two elements. Similarly, while the leading ideas of this work may be considered "Theosophical", and as a fairly correct exposition of the knowledge revealed by the Masters of the Wisdom, there will be parts that will not deserve that dignity. But as Truth is after all a matter of discovery by each for himself, what others can do is merely to point out the way. Scientifically established truths, and what may be but personal or erroneous views, must all be tested by the same standard. Though in its fundamental ideas Theosophy is a revelation, yet there is no authority in it to an individual, unless he himself assents to it. Nevertheless, as a man must be ready to stand or fall by the noblest hypothesis of life which his heart and mind can conceive, this work is written to show that such a hypothesis exists in Theosophy. - 4 -