In one of the scriptures of our race it is pointed out that at the very beginning of the universe the pairs of opposites appeared. "The pairs of opposites" may be taken as a general name for the light and dark sides of Nature, and a word on this general meaning of the pairs of opposites and on what they imply in Nature may fitly be said in opening.
First, it is impossible to think at all without pairs of opposites; we can only think, that is, by and through duality. If there were but a single thing undifferentiated, always the same, always everywhere, no thinking could arise in that thing. There must be at least two--the thinker and the thing thought of, distinguishable from himself, before what we call "thought" can exist at all. Not only so, but in thinking we find ourselves continually distinguishing one thing from another, we perceive the presence of these opposites: light and not-light, dark and not-dark--put in the most general form, A and not-A. To recognize identity--A = A, and to perceive difference, A is not not-A--is the condition of thinking, the law of the mind. Without this no mind, no thought can be. It is because this fact is recognized that in philosophic religious books the phrase which strikes many western thinkers as not only strange but nihilistic is used: Brahman is "without mind." So long as only the One exists nothing that the incarnate intellect can call "thought" or "mind" can be present. There is something deeper than "thought," something which is the form of "thought"; but thought as known by the brain must always imply duality, for without this we are unable to perceive, perception depending on distinctions.
While this formal statement may be unfamiliar it must at once be seen to be accurate when it is understood. For the very moment anyone thinks of anything he distinguishes it from other things by its differences, and assigns it relations by its identities; he distinguishes it from everything which is not itself, and he recognizes in it identities with things previously perceived, things to which it is akin. We only know things as we separate them by differences from the things they are not, and classify them with the things they resemble.
The pair of opposites that we are now taking for our consideration is the fundamental pair of opposites, one therefore of vast importance. This pair has long been called "the light and dark sides of Nature." It is the primary pair of opposites arising from the One, the fundamental duality, known to all students as being the nature of the second or manifested Logos. The second Logos in Christian phrase is the "Word made flesh," and in philosophic phrase apart from any special religion, is spirit-matter, male-female, life-form, positive-negative, the two aspects of the One between which the whole universe revolves. "Father-mother spin a web," the web of the universe. In this Logos, the manifested Word, the manifested God, the two poles of existence appear, and between these poles the universe is builded. They exist always together; they are co-eternal, one cannot be without the other. They are never known separated in nature. Without the one the other could not be, could not even be thought. Fundamentally the same in their essence, they differ only in their manifestation. The whole of evolution is the progress of these two side by side, and evolution consists in the differences of proportion between the two. One is more manifest and the other less manifest; one is predominant and the other subservient; always, however, together in whatever part of the universe we may be. In the highest spiritual region life is not alone, but there form is so subtle that it lends itself to the slightest change of the informing life. In the densest region of the universe life is present; but there form is predominant, is rigid, unplastic, and the life is concealed beneath the rigidity of the form. Life implies consciousness, and form is that in which consciousness becomes manifest, and necessarily implies limitation. The two best words for this fundamental duality are really life and form, sometimes called in eastern books name and form. For name has in it the moulding potency and shapes the form it inhabits, therefore has name always been secret and sacred, and all potency lies in the "word." If "name-form" has become restricted to the lower plane it is because occult knowledge has been lost. Truly is it written that "Life is concealed beneath name-form," and these are the manifested universe.
Now the light side, the side of spirit, life or the positive, is the constructive and motive side; the dark side is the side of matter, form, or the negative, and is always subject to destructive transmutation, for only by destruction of forms can a fuller manifestation of life be made. Light and dark in nature then are the constructive and the destructive forces, both of which are necessary for the evolution of the universe, equally necessary, strange perhaps as that at first may sound. The light and the dark are equally manifestations of the One. The light and the dark are equally necessary for the manifestation of the One. For without
the light there would be no construction, and therefore no universe, no manifestation; without the dark there would be no destruction and therefore no evolution. For as each form is constructed it becomes a mould in which the life is held; and there could be no evolution, no progress in the universe unless that form can be destroyed and give place to a form which is higher and nobler. Within that form the life has been accumulating experience which has caused internal growth and differentiation. The form which expressed the life ere that experience was gathered now cramps its further growth and hinders its further expansion. If the life is to evolve, the form that imprisons it must be broken, and a new form must be constructed which will express the new powers of the life. Life is continuous, while forms are transitory and are shaped to successive stages of the life. The form that prisons is broken to set the life free to enter the form that expresses it. That also will become a prison in its turn to be broken, and so on stage after stage. Thus all evolution depends on the presence of this destructive side of the One Divine Existence, breaking down every form, not for the mere purpose of destruction, but because death is only the dark side of birth, and there is no death in one region of the universe which looked at from another region is not birth. Death and birth in fact are only two correlative names, and they are used in relation to the standpoint of the speaker. The passing of a life out of the region in which it is, is death to its form in that region; but as it passes out of that region by death it appears in the next region by birth. Therefore birth and death are rightly called the wheel of existence--both equally necessary, both equally fundamental; construction and destruction continually succeeding each other, both stages in evolution, and stages which are equally necessary. The manifested Logos, call Him by what name men will, is spoken of in all religions as creator, the unmanifested as destroyer; sometimes He is styled the regenerator, a name which includes both--creation and destruction being thus seen as the two poles of the one life, and in all manifestation these two are present.
The next stage in our study is an understanding of the three great regions to which the general evolution of ordinary humanity is at present confined, and it is necessary that it should be clearly understood that the question of good and evil does not come into play with regard to these regions in themselves. I want to get rid of the idea which is lurking in many minds that "spiritual" means "good" and "material" means evil. Spirit and matter, life and form, are never separated, and in themselves are neither good nor evil.
But spiritual is a name often used to define a particular region in Nature where form is dominated by life, just as much as material is used to indicate another region in Nature where life is dominated by form. Neither life nor form, spirit nor matter is good or bad in itself; both these poles are present in every plane, in every entity, and the entity is good or bad according to the end to which its activity is directed. There is good and evil spirituality just as there is good and evil materiality. The words good and evil have nothing to do with the fundamental constituents and forces of Nature, and people are constantly getting into a confused condition of mind because they take "spiritual" as meaning good; and then try to deal with the "dark spiritual side" of Nature, finding themselves face to face with what they recognize as evil, and yet find existing in the "spiritual" region. The forces of any region are non-moral, though both constructive and destructive entities are good or evil as they use these forces for or against the Divine Will. We shall avoid confusion, if we consider the planes of Nature as they really exist, and then define each clearly so far as it concerns us.
The word spiritual being used so loosely is apt to be misleading; the third and fourth planes (counting from above downwards) form a region beyond the reach of moral evil, and if these alone are termed spiritual, evil would be excluded from the conception of spirituality. But the word is often applied to the manasic, or intellectual plane, by Theosophical writers, and as the "Brothers of the Shadow" function thereon, its forces can be turned to evil purposes and are often thus turned.
The two highest planes of the septenary do not concern us, as human evolution in this manvantara does not touch them. We have thus left five: the atmic or nirvanic; the buddhic or turiyic; the manasic or mental; the kamic or astral; and the physical. The atmic and buddhic planes will only be touched by ordinary humanity in future rounds, so that for practical purposes we are confined to the three lower planes, the mental, astral and physical. In these man spends each of his life-periods, repeating the cycle over and over again.
Further, the word spiritual is not inappropriate, as in that region of the universe the spirit or life side is predominant, while the matter or form side is completely subordinate. Matter is very rare, very subtle, very ductile, very plastic, and it changes its form with almost inconceivable rapidity. Sometimes the higher region of this plane is even spoken of as formless. It is formless to everything which is below it, because the senses of the lower cannot appreciate the forms of the higher. But to those who are upon it form exists, for without form--which is fundamentally extension, that is, matter--manifested existence cannot be. The lower part of this plane is the region of the lower mind, but matter still remains quite subordinate to spirit form to life.
In the next, or psychic plane, form is denser though still plastic, and life is more veiled. Both are active, but they are more balanced. Above, life is predominant; in the middle, life and form are balanced; in the lowest plane, or the physical, form is predominant and life is hidden. That is perhaps one of the simplest and clearest ways in which we may recognize the characteristics of these planes. In the first life or spirit predominates; in the second life and form are balanced--it is the battle ground of Nature; in the third, form triumphs.
In the lowest stages very many western people do not recognize life at all; they regard it as one of the Theosophical follies to say that there is life in the lowest forms of material existence. But amongst some of our more advanced and younger chemists the phrase "evolution of metals" is being used, and "the life-history of metals" was lately spoken of in a lecture given at the Royal Institution. So that it looks as though science would soon no longer oppose the reasonable view, would begin to understand that life is everywhere in a universe which proceeds from life.
To pass now to good and evil. Everything which is in accord with the Divine Will--and in a moment I will define what I mean by that phrase--and which therefore works for progress and for happiness, is good; everything which works against progress and happiness is evil, no matter whether it be on the highest, on the middle, or on the lowest plane. It is not the forces which are good or evil in themselves, but the use that is made of them; not whether they are spiritual, psychical or physical, but whether spiritually they are used for good or evil, whether psychically they are used for good or evil, whether physically they are used for good or evil. The good or the evil depends on whether they work for progress or against it, whether they work towards the happiness and the perfecting of the universe or against it. On each plane there are forces which can be thus used. The forces in themselves are not good or evil, they are merely spiritual, psychical or physical. They become good or evil according to the purpose for which they are used, and the end which they bring about. Electricity, for instance, is neither moral nor immoral in itself. It is used immorally if it be employed to kill; it is used morally if it be turned to help and to comfort. And so in other regions of the universe. A spiritual force is evil if it be used against progress, for the causing of misery and of destruction; it is good if it be used for progress, for the bringing about of the happiness and the perfection of the universe. On each plane you may find good and evil, the distinction being in the use of the forces and not in the nature of the plane.
Let us now examine the meaning of the phrase "Divine Will." The one existence emanating a universe may be described as causing a great circle of existence, a vast cycle. It is said that "spirit descends into matter." That is a phrase consecrated by long usage and one to which there is no objection if its meaning be understood. But it is apt to be exceedingly misleading if people think of spirit as being somewhere up aloft, and matter separated from it somewhere down below, and spirit falling from above into matter. That is the conception which a good many people really have, though they might not put it quite so plainly. And as they think spirit climbs up again out of matter to where it was before, they not unnaturally ask, what is the use of the whole proceeding, why should it start if it is only going to return? Sometimes the Theosophist who is not quite instructed is apt to be a little irritated with his questioner, but the enquirer is really quite justified in his challenge, for where we Theosophists have expressed ourselves badly, it is quite right that a question put to us should point out the clumsy way in which we are saying what is yet fundamentally true.
There is a vast cycle of manifestation which may be regarded for convenience sake as a circle; at every point of the descent spirit and matter are side by side, but there is the change of proportion before mentioned, the spirit becoming more hidden and the matter more evident; the change in the ascending line is that the matter becomes more subtle and the spirit becomes more predominant. The Divine Will is the law of progress. This existence, manifesting itself, wills to bring a universe into existence, and to conduct that universe by evolution to perfection. It may of course be asked, why should it will to emanate? That is a question which we cannot answer fully, but we find in existence at the end of a universe a number of self-conscious individuals who were not in existence at its beginning, and who are capable of perfect life, perfect knowledge, perfect bliss. Even from our limited standpoint it must be admitted that this is a reasonable and sufficient purpose for the existence of the universe; it brings into conscious being these blissful all-knowing intelligences who share with the Divine Life that gave them birth its own existence, its own knowledge, its own joy. What a universe is to the manifesting life no words of limited mind may tell. What it gives to those who gain self-consciousness, bliss and knowledge by the process is sufficiently evident to any one who thinks at all. It is the difference between knowing nothing and knowing everything--a difference far more than between a stone and the highest archangel; for there is evolution behind the stone as well as in front of it, an evolution that prepares its existence as well as an evolution that carries it on into the highest ranges of self-conscious being.
Now this process at first and all through must be regarded as double--the light and the dark sides. One of the streams of divine energy is constructive, the other destructive; one of them is life, building forms; the other is death, breaking them up. Both are equally necessary, for destructive energy is going to destroy every form when it has served its purpose, in order that the materials used in the form whose purpose is over may be taken up by the constructive energy and built into a higher form. This process is what we call evolution. At every stage of the downward curve in which form becomes more prominent and life more veiled, forms will be brought into existence by this descending energy. Against it there will be working a destructive energy, which breaks up these forms as soon as their purpose is served, and they become outworn. There are thus two opposing streams of energy, by one of which forms come into existence and by the other of which they are constantly broken up, in order that higher forms may be built from their materials. There is no increase of matter it must be remembered, constant change, constant transmutation, but no increase and no diminution. Evolution consists on the form side of this process of destroying the lower forms that the higher forms may come into existence.
The next point is at first a little difficult to conceive, even a little startling. Growth is at first from the one to the many, from one existence to a universe of countless forms. "It willed, 'I will multiply.' " Then this descending line must be a process of separation, of making differences in order that an ever-increasing multiplicity of forms may be brought into existence. The key-note of evolution will be separation. As far down as the lowest or most outward point of evolution the key-note of progress is separation. The perfection of a universe is in the multiplicity of its forms, in the variety of the existences that are found in it. The universe exists in order to bring all these separated forms into manifestation, and all through this early process evolution will work for separation. Using the phrase the "Divine Will"--that will which is "I will multiply"--the Divine Will will work for separation, will work to make forms which are more and more separated and diverse from each other, in which the fundamental unity of life is more and more hidden. The whole of this growth will be a process of increasing separation. It is said to be a coming down into matter, and we may venture to use the phrase now that we have guarded ourselves against mistake; as things become more and more material they obviously become more and more separated. We may see that in the very density of matter as we know it. A piece of sulphur, for instance, is more separated from a piece of iodine than if both are sublimed to gas. The analogy is clumsy, for the gases remain separate molecularly though mingling in mass, so that there is no real union. But as we pass from the subtle to the dense this separateness of form is the thing that strikes us, whereas when we are dealing with very subtle things their unity is more prominently characteristic. If we understand this "descent into matter" we shall see that under the circumstances of the descending arc the opposition to progress would be the desire to remain one, would be the refusal to take form, would be the unit setting itself to maintain unity instead of accepting separateness. Hence setting itself against the Divine Will--wrong because it is against evolution, against progress, against the perfecting of the universe at this stage--would be, strange as it may sound, the refusal to take form in more and more material shapes.
Theosophists who have really studied may here see a gleam of light on what otherwise may have seemed to them strange; in the wonderful Stanzas of Dzyan it is said that the sin of the mindless is preceded by the refusal of the Sons of Mind to incarnate. That is, that the refusal of spirit, as we will call it for the moment, to take to itself separate form goes before the great sin which was wrought by the mindless men, and has left its traces in some of the higher animal forms. Intelligences awaiting incarnation set themselves against the law of progress. They looked on it as degradation to clothe themselves in the available bodies, as lowering their position to take forms in this lower world, and they refused to come down. Thence came the great primary transgression, known to students as "the sin of the mindless." To remain out of gross matter was against the law of progress, against evolution and the perfecting of the universe.
What at first seems so strange is that everything that now is right, the seeking of unity, the getting rid of separateness, the dominating of the material--at that stage of progress was wrong; the duty of these intelligences was to descend from the psychical to the physical, in order that a universe might come into existence in multiplicity of forms, in order that this building process might go on in which they were necessary helpers, co-workers with the Divine Will. Opposition to that Will, as ever, brought evil, but the nature of the opposition in this case was the refusal of spirit to enter physical forms, to veil its light in dense matter.
As the evolutionary process went on the spiritual was veiled in the psychical, and then the psychical was veiled in the material and the most material race of men appeared. Yet it was really a rising, descent though it seemed, for it was part of evolution, it was the way to the swifter bringing into existence of self-conscious individuals of our humanity. Without this the perfected manifestation would have been long delayed, without it self-conscious spiritual intelligences could not have developed so rapidly as the harvest of the universe, as the justification of this emanation of the Divine. Thus in this downward sweep of evolution what we now rightly call evil was then really good. To become separate, to become material was good in those far-off eons. For separation was necessary in order that a more perfect unity might finally be gained. Intellect could not evolve without spirit working through the lower forms of matter. The coming thus into the closest connection with matter of the physical plane brought into existence the human brain, the physical basis of all the faculties of the lower mind, and made possible the acquiring of the knowledge without which the individual could not expand into the divine.
In the process of evolution this lowest point was thus reached, and then there was a change The utmost separation having been achieved; the utmost multiplicity of forms having been achieved, the utmost multiplicity of forms having been brought into being, then what we call the upward curve began. Life, having made this infinite variety of forms for its own manifestation began to work upon the forms to render them plastic. First the process of differentiation to get the forms, then the working in the forms to make them ductile as the expression of the life. These are the two great stages. The form must be brought into existence, and that means separation; then there must be work from within to make the form the plastic expression of the life. The whole of the upward curve is used for that second half of the work. Life constantly toiling within these separated forms to make them more plastic, more transparent, working towards unity. Unity must be regained or immortality could not be achieved, for that which is composite cannot last for ever. But it is a unity into which has been absorbed the very essence of all the differences that have been passed through during the circle of evolution. The subtle life-form clothes itself in varied garments, subdividing and becoming more and more separate as it comes downwards, then a life-form separated from all other life-forms by this clothing of denser matter beginning the upward path in which it will work on its material garments, making them more transparent, more subtle, more a mere delicate film, and yet that film containing in itself the essence of every separated form through which it has passed. When at length it arrives on high, having passed into the intellectual sphere, it has in high and spiritualized forms the faculties which were latent in it at the beginning and has become self-conscious and not only conscious. Then it becomes one with others, but has the memory of its separateness behind it, reaching a stage which words must fail to describe, but which--borrowing a phrase from Madame Blavatsky--I may perhaps call "a conscious entity becoming consciousness." It keeps the memory which has made it an individual, and yet shakes off from itself everything which separates it from other individuals. It shares their experience and knows their knowledge, and yet is itself. It reaches the state which is spoken as of Nirvana, which is the very antithesis of annihilation, which extinguishes separateness but keeps everything which by separateness has been gained; it is the All, and yet in it is preserved the subtle essence of memory which was gained when each knew itself as one of many.
In this upward sweep, therefore, it is separateness which is to be gotten rid of, and therefore separateness is called "the great heresy," therefore it is called "the great sin," therefore it is the fundamental evil, therefore it has become the mark of what is called the Black Magician, the brother of the dark side. To keep the self separated from other selves, to seek everything for the separated self, and not for the common self of all, is now the worst sin. The Black Magician seeks for strength in order that he may be strong, whereas the White Magician seeks it in order that all may be strong. The Black seeks knowledge that he may be learned; the White that all may be wise. When the White Brother reaches the spiritual plane, everything that he has gained in upward climbing becomes part of the general store, everything that he has gathered in his passing through the world becomes a common light which radiates in every direction. It is his own truly, but he has shaken off everything that separated him from others, he is able to shed all he has over the whole world of living things; everything that he has gained as a separated self radiates out from him as an unseparate self to the universe of unmanifested existence. For where he stands there is no separation; there is love and love knows no separation; there is perfect wisdom, and perfect wisdom knows no separation. It is by ignorance that separation exists, and perfect wisdom clears away the veils that divide, and makes man realize that he has only become separate in order that he may gather, and has re-become one in order that he may give. In that region everything is common property. There is no longer "mine" and "thine," for all selves are one.
In the upward path then, the dark side will evolve by the desire to be separate, thus working for disintegration, and against progress. The Black Magician evolves by clinging to the separate form, by the desire to possess for the separate self. If that determination to be separate continues, if the desire to be apart from everything instead of being a part of everything persists as man rises upwards, then this one possibility remains: for a time by the tremendous strength that he has gathered, by the mighty knowledge that he has won, by the almost omniscience that he has gained in the long striving upwards, he can for a time, even in the spiritual region, hold his own against all others, for a time even in that world of unity can preserve a separated self. Not for ever, only for a while. He has won such tremendous force and energy and knowledge that he can hold his own for a time even against the Divine Will; he can keep himself apart even against everything which tends towards unity. Even in the arupa region of the mental plane there may be for a while separated existences which work for themselves, which are selfish, which refuse to hold for the common good and for the common enrichment, who are learned as separated selves, strong as separated selves, who use their strength to rule and to hold instead of to serve the world and lift it higher. Those are the great Black Magicians that are spoken of, the "Lords of the Dark Face," mighty in their power, mighty in their knowledge, mighty in the spiritual height that they have gained--very Gods in the manifested universe, but selfish Gods, anti-Gods, and therefore incapable of immortality. For only that can live which is one with the All, and they must break in time. The separated form built apart from its fellows and keeping itself separate whilst the universe is gradually becoming one, being against this upward trend, against the law of progress, against general evolution, is always striking itself against the law. It is deliberately dooming itself to disintegration, for the Divine Energy breaks up every form, and if it keeps separate form it also must be broken up. Though the dark spiritual powers--the God of the dark side of Nature, as they may have been called, the Deus inversus -may last for many an age, for many and many a millennium, yet as they have chosen form, and all form is perishable, they must at length perish. The forms that they have chosen must be disintegrated, and if they have identified themselves with the separated forms, then as forms they cease to exist. Having chosen the forms that perish, when those forms break, their consciousness goes back into the vast ocean of consciousness; they have failed to extract the essence, to transmute it into consciousness per se; they have chosen a self-conscious individuality which is separate, and when the separateness breaks, the consciousness goes back into the ocean and self-consciousness is lost.
Any, if he will, may choose that side. We all of us are choosing it from time to time. For every force that works for disintegration works for its own destruction; every force that at this period of the world's progress works for its separate self is throwing itself against that mighty stream of destructive energy which breaks and grinds everything to powder in order that it may be rebuilt anew of higher mould. Every agency which works against the whole, everyone who separates himself and works for himself against his brothers, every such force is a force that is working for self-destruction, destruction which is self-chosen and which Nature cannot refuse to give.
Now we can realize what evil means. Evil is everything which works against the Divine Will in evolution. It is everything which works against truth which is God, against unity which is God, against love which is God. Every such force is working against the whole, and if it comes into conflict with the general force which is working upwards, and with those who are the embodiments of that upward tending force, it must inevitably be broken into pieces. The Great White Lodge wars against none, but it goes its way, and that which wars against it is broken into pieces. It does not war with hatred, it passes upward; it does not use the weapon of wrath and of anger, but it passes upward. everything which flings itself against it is, by its own act, and not by the act of the White Brotherhood, broken into shivers; it breaks into fragments, while the great force goes on.
Some imagine that the force of the White Lodge is used for destruction, but it is not so. That Lodge is on the upward arc, and the White Brothers are ever on the side of unity; where there is conflict it is the disunity flinging itself against the unity, and as that is unchanging and ever going towards its end, those which fall against it are broken into pieces. Here is the occult meaning of a phrase which is familiar in the Christian Scriptures, that those who fall upon the stone which is the head of the corner are broken; not by the action of that mighty corner stone, but by their own action; not by its disruptive energy--for of disruptive energy it has none--but by virtue that it is changeless and cannot be broken, and that everything that works against it must shiver from the energy with which it flings itself against the law. The whole mighty sweep is the law which passes downwards and then upwards once again. Everything which is against it is broken, everything which separates itself from it must fall to pieces. Every separated existence must break; only in unity can life proceed, therefore when we study the light and dark sides of Nature in their bearing on our practical life we find that every force of hatred, of disruption that makes against unity, that works for separated fragments and not for one mighty whole--everything that works on that side is under the Black Lodge, is an agency of the Black Brotherhood. When we speak of the dark side of Nature and of those who incarnate the disruptive forces, as the White Brotherhood incarnates the law, the good law of the universe, we know that everyone of us must be on the one side or the other--working for brotherhood or working against it, working for construction or destruction, for building or for breaking, for unity or disuniting.
That is the practical outcome of this study; each of us in striving to lead a life which we would fain should lead us on the upward course and bring us at length into that unity wherefore the universe exists, will do well to scrutinise our own hearts and our own lives to see whether the forces in us are tending to Truth, to Love, to Unity. Everything that is of these is white. Everything that is against these is black. We must co-operate with the one side or with the other, and according to our final co-operation will be the final end of the individual soul.