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'''The Law of Cycles''' postulates a model of the universe where processes, events, or phenomena repeat themselves in a recurring way at fixed periods of time. [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:


<blockquote>The ancients divided time into endless cycles, wheels within wheels, all such periods being of various durations, and each marking the beginning or the end of some event either cosmic, mundane, physical or metaphysical. There were cycles of only a few years, and cycles of immense duration.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 91.</ref></blockquote>


== General description==


This process of evolution does not proceed in a straight line (as modern science proposes) but in cycles:
In her ''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|Secret Doctrine]]'', [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] establishes [[Three Fundamental Propositions]], of which the second one makes reference to the law of cycles. She wrote:  


<blockquote>As the Theosophist has no desire to play at being a squirrel upon its revolving wheel, he must refuse to follow the lead of the materialists. He, at any rate, knows that the revolutions of the physical world are, according to the ancient doctrine, attended by like revolutions in the world of intellect, for the spiritual evolution in the universe proceeds in cycles, like the physical one. Do we not see in history a regular alternation of ebb and flow in the tide of human progress? Do we not see in history, and even find this within our own experience, that the great kingdoms of the world, after reaching the culmination of their greatness, descend again, in accordance with the same law by which they ascended? till, having reached the lowest point, humanity reasserts itself and mounts up once more, the height of its attainment being, by this law of ascending progression by cycles, somewhat higher than the point from which it had before descended. Kingdoms and empires are under the same cyclic laws as planets, races, and everything else in Kosmos.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. 13, (?????), 264-265</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane; periodically “the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing,” called “the manifesting stars,” and the “sparks of Eternity.” “The Eternity of the Pilgrim”† is like a wink of the Eye of Self-Existence (Book of Dzyan.) “The appearance and disappearance of Worlds is like a regular tidal ebb of flux and reflux.” (See Part II., “Days and Nights of Brahma.”)
This second assertion of the Secret Doctrine is the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed and recorded in all departments of nature. An alternation such as that of Day and Night, Life and Death, Sleeping and Waking, is a fact so common, so perfectly universal and without exception, that it is easy to comprehend that in it we see one of the absolutely fundamental laws of the universe.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 16-17.</ref></blockquote>


Cycles take place at all levels--cosmic, planetary, racial, national, etc.:


In fact, the whole universe undergoes a cyclic process of creation and dissolution which in Hindu thought is called [[manvantara]] and [[pralaya]]:
<blockquote>Even exoteric philosophy explains that these perpetual circles of time are ever returning on themselves, periodically, and intelligently in Space and Eternity. There are “Cycles of matter” and there are “Cycles of Spiritual evolution.” Racial, national, and individual cycles.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 637-638.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>As the sun arises every morning on our objective horizon out of its (to us) subjective and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of objectivity, issuing from that of subjectivity—the antipodes of the former. This is the "Cycle of Life." And as the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the Universe disappear at regular periods, when the "Universal night" sets in. The Hindoos call such alternations the "Days and Nights of Brahma," or the time of Manvantara and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal Days and Nights if they prefer.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'' (?????), ????</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>There are cycles of 7, 11, 21, 77, 107, 700, 11,000, 21,000 [years] etc.; so many cycles will make a major and so on.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 48 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 164.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>The [terrestrial] periods which bring around ever-recurring events, begin from the infinitesimally small—say of ten years—rotation and reach to cycles which require 250, 500 700, and 1000 years, to effect their revolution around themselves, and within one another. All are contained within the Mahâ-Yuga, the “Great Age”, which itself revolves between two eternities—the “Pralayas” or Nights of Brahmâ.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. II (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1954), 420.</ref></blockquote>


== Manvantara ==
The larger cycles affect the whole universe, which undergoes a recurring process of creation and dissolution that in Hindu thought are called [[manvantara]] and [[pralaya]]:


'''Manvantara''' or '''Manuantara''' is a Sanskrit term which literally means "between Manus." [[H. P. Blavatsky]] defines it as "a period of manifestation, as opposed to [[Pralaya]] (dissolution or rest); the term is applied to various cycles, especially to a Day of Brahma--4,320,000,000 Solar years--and to the reign of one Manu--308,448,000--.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary (?????), ???</ref>
<blockquote>As the sun arises every morning on our objective horizon out of its (to us) subjective and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of objectivity, issuing from that of subjectivity—the antipodes of the former. This is the "Cycle of Life." And as the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the Universe disappear at regular periods, when the "Universal night" sets in. The Hindoos call such alternations the "Days and Nights of Brahma," or the time of Manvantara and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal Days and Nights if they prefer.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 84.</ref></blockquote>


However, there are bigger and smaller manvantaras and pralayas, the former affecting the whole universe and the latter the [[Planetary Chain]].


This concept is based on a cyclic model of the universe of alternating phases of creation and dissolution:
== Planetary cycles ==


<blockquote>As the sun arises every morning on our objective horizon out of its (to us) subjective and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of objectivity, issuing from that of subjectivity—the antipodes of the former. This is the "Cycle of Life." And as the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the Universe disappear at regular periods, when the "Universal night" sets in. The Hindoos call such alternations the "Days and Nights of Brahma," or the time of Manvantara and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal Days and Nights if they prefer.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'' (?????), ????</ref></blockquote>
The planet Earth is part of a chain of seven globes (known as "[[Planetary Chain]]") along which an [[evolution]]ary cycle takes place. This general cycle is composed of seven sub-cycles known as [[Round]]s. In its turn, each Round is composed of seven different cycles known as "[[Globe]]s"


Between each "Round" or even "Globe" the life impulse goes into a [[pralaya]] that lasts as long as that particular period of activity did. At the end of this, the life impulse re-awakens and a new cycle begins.


There are different manvantaras according to the [[Cyclic Evolution|cycle of evolution]] in course:
In short, the evolutionary cycle of a Planetary Chain involves seven Rounds, each Round involving a cycle of evolution on seven Globes.


<blockquote>There were several "Great Ages" mentioned by the ancients. In India it embraced the whole Maha-Manvantara, the "Age of Brahma," each "Day" of which represents the Life Cycle of a chain, i. e., it embraces a period of Seven Rounds (vide "Esoteric Buddhism," by A. P. Sinnett). Thus while a "Day" and a "Night" represent, as Manvantara and Pralaya, 8,640,000,000 years, an "age" lasts through a period of 311,040,000,000,000; after which the Pralaya or dissolution of the universe becomes universal. With the Egyptian and Greeks the "Great Age" referred only to the Tropical, or Sidereal year, the duration of which is 25,868 solar years. Of the complete age--that of the Gods--they said nothing, as it was a matter to be discussed and divulged only at the Mysteries, and during the Initiation Ceremonies. The "Great Age" of the Chaldees was the same in figures as that of the Hindus.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary (?????), ???</ref></blockquote>
==Racial and national cycles==


== Pralaya ==
<blockquote>As every sub-race and nation have their cycles and stages of developmental evolution repeated on a smaller scale, it must be the more so in the case of a Root-Race. Our race then has, as a Root-race, crossed the equatorial line and is cycling onward on the Spiritual side; but some of our sub-races still find themselves on the shadowy descending arc of their respective national cycles; while others again—the oldest—having crossed their crucial point, which alone decides whether a race, a nation, or a tribe will live or perish, are at the apex of spiritual development as sub-races.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 301.</ref></blockquote>


'''Pralaya''' is a Sanskrit word that means "dissolution" or "melting away" (from ''laya'': "to dissolve" and ''pra'' "away"). In [[Hinduism]] it refers to a period where the universe is in a state of non-existence, which happens when the three [[gunas]] or qualities of matter are in perfect balance.  
<blockquote>Thus we see in history a regular alternation of ebb and flow in the tide of human progress. The great kingdoms and empires of the world, after reaching the culmination of their greatness, descend again, in accordance with the same law by which they ascended; till, having reached the lowest point, humanity reasserts itself and mounts up once more, the height of its attainment being, by this law of ascending progression by cycles, somewhat higher than the point from which it had before descended. They are called in the Eastern esotericism the Karmic cycles.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 641-642.</ref></blockquote>


=== In Hinduism ===
This law of cycles affords the [[Adept]] the opportunity to predict events such as the shift of continents when a new [[Root-Race]] makes its appearance on [[Globe#Globe D|Earth]]. As [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] wrote:


Pralaya is of four kinds: a) Naimittaka or occasional, b) Prakrittika or elemental, c) Atyantika or absolute, and d) Nitya or perpetual.
<blockquote>Everything comes in its appointed time and place in the [[evolution]] of [[Rounds]], otherwise it would be impossible for the best [[Clairvoyance|seer]] to calculate the exact hour and year when such cataclysms great and small have to occur. All an [[adept]] could do would be to predict an approximate time; whereas now events that result in great geological changes may be predicted with as mathematical a certainty as eclipses and other revolutions in space.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 312.</ref></blockquote>


The [[Vishnu Purana]] describes three kinds of pralaya:
== Yugas ==


a) Naimittika is described as the intervals of Brahma's days, when the sovereign of the world rests in sleep. This involves the destruction of creatures, though not of the substance of the world, occurring during his night.  
[[Hinduism|Hindu]] philosophy mentions four ages or "yugas" of varying duration repeating themselves in a cyclic way. They are called Satya or Krita Yuga (1,728,000 years), Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years), Dvapara Yuga (864,000 years), and Kali Yuga (432,000 years).


b) Prakrittika or elemental is when the [[mundane egg]] resolves into the primary element from whence it was derived. It occurs at the end of Brahma's life.
See also: [[Yuga]].


c) Atyantika is individual annihilation or Moksha. Moksha is the exclusion forever from future existence. It is described as the absolute non-existence of the world, is the absorption of the sage through knowledge, into the supreme spirit.
==Centennial cycle==


The [[Bhagavad Gita]] describes a fourth kind of pralaya:
==Yearly cycle==


d) Nitya or the constant dissolution of all that is born. This is the imperceptible change that all things suffer, in the various stages of growth and decay, life and death. The various conditions of beings subject to change are occasioned by that constant dissolution of life, which is rapidly produced by the resistless stream of time, taking everything perpetually away.
<blockquote>Let no one imagine that it is a mere fancy, the attaching of importance to the birth of the year. The earth passes through its definite phases and man with it; and as a day can be coloured so can a year. The astral life of the earth is young and strong between Christmas and Easter. Those who form their wishes now will have added strength to fulfil them consistently.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 5.</ref></blockquote>


The idea of pralaya is part of a [[Cyclic Evolution|cyclic model]] of the universe (present in several Eastern philosophies as well as in Theosophy) where the cosmos is said to appear and disappear regularly within the [[Absolute Reality]]:
== Current cycle ==


<blockquote>As the sun arises every morning on our objective horizon out of its (to us) subjective and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of objectivity, issuing from that of subjectivity—the antipodes of the former. This is the "Cycle of Life." And as the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the Universe disappear at regular periods, when the "Universal night" sets in. The Hindoos call such alternations the "Days and Nights of Brahma," or the time of [[Manvantara]] and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal Days and Nights if they prefer.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'' (?????), ????</ref></blockquote>
According to the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] teachings our Planetary Chain is in the middle of its [[Round#Fourth_Round|fourth Round]], on [[Globe#Globe_D|Globe D]]. Humanity is currently in its [[Root-Race#Fifth_Root-Race|fifth Root-Race]], which has developed [[Root-Race#Sub-races|five subraces]] so far. This means have just passed the middle of the [[Septenary Principle|seven-fold]] evolutionary journey. Besides, we are right now in what is known as the [[Yuga#Kali_Yuga|Kali Yuga]] or dark age.


In [[Mahatma_Letter_No._112#Page 3|one of his letters]] to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|A. P. Sinnett]], [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] talks about "the selfish baseness of human nature", which, he adds, is "the concomitant, always, of the passage of humanity through our stage of the evolutionary circuit".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 112 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 382.</ref></blockquote>


=== In Theosophy ===
== See also ==
*[[Evolution]]


The [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view of ''pralaya'' is similar in many aspects to that of [[Hinduism]], although there are some other pralayas not mentioned in the Hindu literature. [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] explains:
== Additional resources ==
 
===Articles===
<blockquote>There are many kinds of Pralaya, but three chief ones are specially mentioned in old Hindu books. The first is called NAIMITTIKA "occasional" or "incidental", caused by the intervals of "Brahmâ’s Days"; it is the destruction of creatures, of all that lives and has a form, but not of the substance which remains in statu quo till the new DAWN in that "Night". The other is called PRAKRITIKA, and occurs at the end of the Age or Life of Brahma, when everything that exists is resolved into the primal element, to be remodelled at the end of that longer night. But the third, ATYANTIKA, does not concern the Worlds or the Universe, but only the individualities of some people; it is thus individual pralaya or NIRVANA; after having reached which, there is no more future existence possible, no rebirth till after the Maha Pralaya.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine vol. I'', (Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 370-71.</ref></blockquote>
*[https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/viewpoint-wild-bells Wild Bells] by John Algeo
 
*[https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/the-golden-age-aquarius-and-the-ringed-planet The Golden Age, Aquarius, and the Ringed Planet] by Carlos Cardoso Aveline
In [[Theosophy]] the different pralayas are connected with the teachings about [[evolution|cyclic evolution]] through [[rounds and chains]]:
* [https://www.theosophy.world/encyclopedia/periodicity-law Periodicity, Law of] in Theosophy World
 
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/1888# 1888] by H. P. Blavatsky
<blockquote>Occultism divides the periods of Rest (Pralaya) into several kinds; there is the individual pralaya of each Globe, as humanity and life pass on to the next; seven minor Pralayas in each Round; the planetary Pralaya, when seven Rounds are completed; the Solar Pralaya, when the whole system is at an end; and finally the Universal Maha—or Brahmâ—Pralaya at the close of the "Age of Brahmâ." These are the three chief pralayas or “destruction periods.” There are many other minor ones, but with these we are not concerned at present.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine vol. I'', (Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 172.</ref></blockquote>
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/17-hpblavatsky/hpb-articles/165-on-the-new-years-morrow# 1890! On the New Year's Morrow] by H. P. Blavatsky
 
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/our-cycle-and-the-next# Our Cycle and the Next] by H. P. Blavatsky
== Duration of cycles ==
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/theory-of-cycles# The Theory of Cycles] by H. P. Blavatsky
 
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/tidal-wave# The Tidal Wave] by H. P. Blavatsky
<blockquote>When talking about chronology of evolutionary cycles, [[H. P. Blavatsky]] frequently used the Hindu one, claiming that it is the closest to the occult chronology. Thus, she explained that the Naimittika pralaya or Night of Brahmâ lasts approximately 4,320,000,000 years, while the Maha-pralaya at the end of an Age of Brahmâ lasts for about 311,040,000,000,000 years. <ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine vol. II'', (Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 69-70.</ref></blockquote>
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/year-is-dead-long-live-the-year# The Year is Dead, Long Live the Year!] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/cycles-and-cyclic-law# Cycles and Cyclic Law] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/cyclic-impression-return-our-evolution# Cyclic Impression and Return and Our Evolution] by William Q. Judge
* [https://www.theosophy.world/encyclopedia/cycles Cycles] in Theosophy World


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
<references/>


<references/>
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Ley de Periodicidad]]
[[it:Ciclo]]

Latest revision as of 15:26, 25 November 2023

The Law of Cycles postulates a model of the universe where processes, events, or phenomena repeat themselves in a recurring way at fixed periods of time. Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

The ancients divided time into endless cycles, wheels within wheels, all such periods being of various durations, and each marking the beginning or the end of some event either cosmic, mundane, physical or metaphysical. There were cycles of only a few years, and cycles of immense duration.[1]

General description

In her Secret Doctrine, Mme. Blavatsky establishes Three Fundamental Propositions, of which the second one makes reference to the law of cycles. She wrote:

The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane; periodically “the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing,” called “the manifesting stars,” and the “sparks of Eternity.” “The Eternity of the Pilgrim”† is like a wink of the Eye of Self-Existence (Book of Dzyan.) “The appearance and disappearance of Worlds is like a regular tidal ebb of flux and reflux.” (See Part II., “Days and Nights of Brahma.”) This second assertion of the Secret Doctrine is the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed and recorded in all departments of nature. An alternation such as that of Day and Night, Life and Death, Sleeping and Waking, is a fact so common, so perfectly universal and without exception, that it is easy to comprehend that in it we see one of the absolutely fundamental laws of the universe.[2]

Cycles take place at all levels--cosmic, planetary, racial, national, etc.:

Even exoteric philosophy explains that these perpetual circles of time are ever returning on themselves, periodically, and intelligently in Space and Eternity. There are “Cycles of matter” and there are “Cycles of Spiritual evolution.” Racial, national, and individual cycles.[3]

There are cycles of 7, 11, 21, 77, 107, 700, 11,000, 21,000 [years] etc.; so many cycles will make a major and so on.[4]

The [terrestrial] periods which bring around ever-recurring events, begin from the infinitesimally small—say of ten years—rotation and reach to cycles which require 250, 500 700, and 1000 years, to effect their revolution around themselves, and within one another. All are contained within the Mahâ-Yuga, the “Great Age”, which itself revolves between two eternities—the “Pralayas” or Nights of Brahmâ.[5]

The larger cycles affect the whole universe, which undergoes a recurring process of creation and dissolution that in Hindu thought are called manvantara and pralaya:

As the sun arises every morning on our objective horizon out of its (to us) subjective and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of objectivity, issuing from that of subjectivity—the antipodes of the former. This is the "Cycle of Life." And as the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the Universe disappear at regular periods, when the "Universal night" sets in. The Hindoos call such alternations the "Days and Nights of Brahma," or the time of Manvantara and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal Days and Nights if they prefer.[6]

However, there are bigger and smaller manvantaras and pralayas, the former affecting the whole universe and the latter the Planetary Chain.

Planetary cycles

The planet Earth is part of a chain of seven globes (known as "Planetary Chain") along which an evolutionary cycle takes place. This general cycle is composed of seven sub-cycles known as Rounds. In its turn, each Round is composed of seven different cycles known as "Globes"

Between each "Round" or even "Globe" the life impulse goes into a pralaya that lasts as long as that particular period of activity did. At the end of this, the life impulse re-awakens and a new cycle begins.

In short, the evolutionary cycle of a Planetary Chain involves seven Rounds, each Round involving a cycle of evolution on seven Globes.

Racial and national cycles

As every sub-race and nation have their cycles and stages of developmental evolution repeated on a smaller scale, it must be the more so in the case of a Root-Race. Our race then has, as a Root-race, crossed the equatorial line and is cycling onward on the Spiritual side; but some of our sub-races still find themselves on the shadowy descending arc of their respective national cycles; while others again—the oldest—having crossed their crucial point, which alone decides whether a race, a nation, or a tribe will live or perish, are at the apex of spiritual development as sub-races.[7]

Thus we see in history a regular alternation of ebb and flow in the tide of human progress. The great kingdoms and empires of the world, after reaching the culmination of their greatness, descend again, in accordance with the same law by which they ascended; till, having reached the lowest point, humanity reasserts itself and mounts up once more, the height of its attainment being, by this law of ascending progression by cycles, somewhat higher than the point from which it had before descended. They are called in the Eastern esotericism the Karmic cycles.[8]

This law of cycles affords the Adept the opportunity to predict events such as the shift of continents when a new Root-Race makes its appearance on Earth. As Master K.H. wrote:

Everything comes in its appointed time and place in the evolution of Rounds, otherwise it would be impossible for the best seer to calculate the exact hour and year when such cataclysms great and small have to occur. All an adept could do would be to predict an approximate time; whereas now events that result in great geological changes may be predicted with as mathematical a certainty as eclipses and other revolutions in space.[9]

Yugas

Hindu philosophy mentions four ages or "yugas" of varying duration repeating themselves in a cyclic way. They are called Satya or Krita Yuga (1,728,000 years), Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years), Dvapara Yuga (864,000 years), and Kali Yuga (432,000 years).

See also: Yuga.

Centennial cycle

Yearly cycle

Let no one imagine that it is a mere fancy, the attaching of importance to the birth of the year. The earth passes through its definite phases and man with it; and as a day can be coloured so can a year. The astral life of the earth is young and strong between Christmas and Easter. Those who form their wishes now will have added strength to fulfil them consistently.[10]

Current cycle

According to the Theosophical teachings our Planetary Chain is in the middle of its fourth Round, on Globe D. Humanity is currently in its fifth Root-Race, which has developed five subraces so far. This means have just passed the middle of the seven-fold evolutionary journey. Besides, we are right now in what is known as the Kali Yuga or dark age.

In one of his letters to A. P. Sinnett, Master K.H. talks about "the selfish baseness of human nature", which, he adds, is "the concomitant, always, of the passage of humanity through our stage of the evolutionary circuit".[11]

See also

Additional resources

Articles

Notes

  1. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 91.
  2. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 16-17.
  3. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 637-638.
  4. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 48 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 164.
  5. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. II (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1954), 420.
  6. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Key to Theosophy, (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 84.
  7. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 301.
  8. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 641-642.
  9. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 93b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 312.
  10. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 5.
  11. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 112 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 382.