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and from that second body to the Jiva encircled by it-we have the chain of vibrations whereby one knows another. The second knows the first because he reproduces the first in himself, and thus experiences as he experiences. And yet with a difference. For our second Jîva is already in a vibratory condition, and his state of motion after receiving the impulse from the first is not a simple repetition of that impulse, but a combination of his own original motion with that imposed on him from without, and hence is not a perfect reproduction. Similarities are obtained, ever closer and closer, but identity ever eludes us, so long as the garments remain.

This sequence of vibratory actions is often seen in nature. A flame is a centre of vibratory activity in ether, named by us heat; these vibrations, or heat-waves, throw the surrounding ether into waves like unto themselves, and these throw the ether in a piece of iron lying near into similar waves, and its particles vibrate under their impulse, and so the iron becomes hot and a source of heat in its turn. So does a series of vibrations pass from one Jîva to another, and all beings are interlinked by this network of consciousness.

So again in physical nature we mark off different ranges of vibrations by different names, calling one

set light, another heat, another electricity, another sound, and so on; yet all are of the same nature, all are modes of motion in ether,* though they differ in rates of velocity and in the character of the waves. Thoughts, Desires, and Actions, the active manifestations in matter of Knowledge, Will, and Energy, are all of the same nature, that is, are all made up of vibrations, but differ in their phenomena, because of the different character of the vibrations. There is a series of vibrations in a particular kind of matter and with a certain character, and these we call thoughtvibrations. Another series is spoken of as desirevibrations, another series as action vibrations. These names are descriptive of certain facts in nature. There is a certain kind of ether thrown into vibration, and its vibrations affect our eyes; we call the motion light. There is another far subtler ether thrown into vibrations which are perceived, i.e., are responded to, by the mind, and we call that motion thought. We are surrounded by matter of different densities and we name the motions in it as they affect ourselves, are answered to by different organs of our gross or subtle bodies. We name "light" certain motions affecting the

* Sound is also primarily an etheric vibration.

eye; we name "thought" certain motions affecting another organ, the mind. "Seeing" occurs when the light-ether is thrown into waves from an object to our eye; "thinking" occurs when the thoughtether is thrown into waves between an object and our mind. The one is not more-nor lessmysterious than the other.

In dealing with the mind we shall see that modifications in the arrangement of its materials are caused by the impact of thought-waves, and that in concrete thinking we experience over again the original impacts from without. The Knower finds his activity in these vibrations, and all to which they can answer, that is, all that they can reproduce, is Knowledge. The thought is a reproduction within the mind of the Knower of that which is not the Knower, is not the Self; it is a picture, caused by a combination of wave-motions, an image, quite literally. A part of the Not-Self vibrates, and as the Knower vibrates in answer that part becomes the known; the matter quivering between them makes knowing possible by putting them into touch with each other. Thus is the chain of Knower, Known, and Knowing established and maintained.

CHAPTER II.

THE CREATOR OF ILLUSION.

"HAVING become indifferent to objects of perception, the pupil must seek out the Râja of the Senses, the Thought-Producer, he who awakes illusion.

"The Mind is the great slayer of the Real."

Thus is it written in one of the fragments translated by H. P. B. from The Book of the Golden Precepts, that exquisite prose-poem which is one of her choicest gifts to the world. And there is no more significant title of the mind than this: the "creator of illusion."

The mind is not the Knower, and should ever be carefully distinguished from him. Many of the confusions and the difficulties that perplex the student arise because he does not remember the distinction between him who knows and the mind which is his instrument for obtaining knowledge. It is as though the sculptor were identified with his chisel.

The mind is fundamentally dual and material, being made up of an envelope of fine matter, called the causal body and manas, the abstract mind, and of an envelope of coarser matter, called the mental body and manas, the concrete mind-manas itself being a reflection in atomic matter of that aspect of the Self which is Knowledge. This mind limits the Jîva, which, as self-consciousness increases, finds himself hampered by it on every side. As a man, to effect a certain purpose, might put on thick gloves, and find that his hands in them had lost much of their power of feeling, their delicacy of touch, their ability to pick up small objects, and were only capable of grasping large objects and of feeling heavy impacts, so is it with the Knower when he puts on the mind. The hand is there as well as the glove, but its capacities are greatly lessened; the Knower is there as well as the mind, but his powers are much limited in their expression.

We shall confine the term mind in the following paragraphs to the concrete mind-the mental body and manas.

The mind is the result of past thinking, and is constantly being modified by present thinking; it is a thing, precise and definite, with certain powers and incapacities, strength and weakness, which are

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