During that time I was a good deal with G. and began to understand him better. One was struck by a great inner simplicity and naturalness in him which made one completely forget that he was, for us, the representative of the world of the miraculous and the unknown. Furthermore, one felt very strongly in him the entire absence of any kind of affectation or desire to produce an impression. And together with this one felt an absence of personal interest in anything he was doing, a complete indifference to ease and comfort and a capacity for not sparing himself in work whatever that work might be. Sometimes he liked to be in gay and lively company; he liked to arrange big dinners, buying a quantity of wine and FOOD of which however he often ate or drank practically nothing. Many people got the impression that he was a gourmand, a man fond of good living in general, and it seemed to us that he often wanted to create this impression, although all of us already saw that this was “acting.” Chapter Two

“For instance, the evolution of humanity beyond a certain point, or, to speak more correctly, above a certain percentage, would be fatal for the moon. The moon at present feeds on organic life, on humanity. Humanity is a part of organic life; this means that humanity is FOOD for the moon. If all men were to become too intelligent they would not want to be eaten by the moon. Chapter Three

“In our system the end of the ray of creation, the growing end, so to speak, of the branch, is the moon. The energy for the growth, that is, for the development of the moon and for the formation of new shoots, goes to the moon from the earth, where it is created by the joint action of the sun, of all the other planets of the solar system, and of the earth itself. This energy is collected and preserved in a huge accumulator situated on the earth’s surface. This accumulator is organic life on earth. Organic life on earth feeds the moon. Everything living on the earth, people, animals, plants, is FOOD for the moon. The moon is a huge living being feeding upon all that lives and grows on the earth. The moon could not exist without organic life on earth, any more than organic life on earth could exist without the moon. Moreover, in relation to organic life the moon is a huge electromagnet. If the action of the electromagnet were suddenly to stop, organic life would crumble to nothing. Chapter Five

“All the matter of the world that surrounds us, the FOOD that we eat, the water that we drink, the air that we breathe, the stones that our houses are built of, our own bodies — everything is permeated by all the matters that exist in the universe. There is no need to study or investigate the sun in order to discover the matter of the solar world: this matter exists in ourselves and is the result of the division of our atoms. In the same way we have in us the matter of all other worlds. Man is, in the full sense of the term, a ‘miniature universe’; in him are all the matters of which the universe consists; the same forces, the same laws that govern the life of the universe, operate in him; therefore in studying man we can study the whole world, just as in studying the world we can study man. Chapter Five

We at once felt that there was a great deal of meaning in this lateral octave. First of all it showed that organic life, represented in the diagram by three notes, had two higher notes, one on the level of the planets and one on the level of the sun, and that it began in the sun. This last was the most important point because once more, as with many other things in G.’s system, it contradicted the usual modern idea of life having originated so to speak from below. In his explanations life came from above. Then much talk arose about the notes mi, re, of the lateral octave. We could not, of course, define what re was. But it was clearly connected with the idea of FOOD for the moon. Some product of the disintegration of organic life went to the moon; this must be re. In regard to mi it was possible to speak quite definitely. Organic life undoubtedly disappeared in the earth. The role of organic life in the structure of the earth’s surface was indisputable. There was the growth of coral islands and limestone mountains, the formation of coal seams and accumulations of petroleum; the alteration of the soil under the influence of vegetation, the growth of vegetation in lakes, the “formation of rich arable lands by worms,” change of climate due to the draining of swamps and the destruction of forests, and many other things that we know of and do not know of. Chapter Seven

“Let us begin with ‘hydrogen’ 768. This ‘hydrogen’ is defined as FOOD, in other words, ‘hydrogen’ 768 includes all substances which can serve as ‘FOOD’ for man. Substances which cannot serve as ‘FOOD,’ such as a piece of wood, refer to ‘hydrogen’ 1536; a piece of iron to ‘hydrogen’ 3072. On the other hand, a ‘thin’ matter, with poor nutritive properties, will be nearer to ‘hydrogen’ 384. ” ‘Hydrogen’ 384 will be defined as water. ” ‘Hydrogen’ 192 is the air of our atmosphere which we breathe. “‘Hydrogen’ 96 is represented by rarefied gases which man cannot breathe, but which play a very important part in his life; and further, this is the matter of animal magnetism, of emanations from the human body, of ‘n-rays,’ hormones, vitamins, and so on; in other words, with ‘hydrogen’ 96 ends what is called matter or what is regarded as matter by our physics and chemistry. ‘Hydrogen’ 96 also includes matters that are almost imperceptible to our chemistry or perceptible only by their traces or results, often merely presumed by some and denied by others. ” ‘Hydrogens’ 48, 24, 12, and 6 are matters unknown to physics and chemistry, matters of our psychic and spiritual life on different levels. Chapter Nine

” ‘Learn to separate the fine from the coarse’ — this principle from the ‘Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus’ refers to the work of the human factory, and if a man learns to ‘separate the fine from the coarse,’ that is, if he brings the production of the fine ‘hydrogens’ to its possible maximum, he will by this very fact create for himself the possibility of an inner growth which can be brought about by no other means. Inner growth, the growth of the inner bodies of man, the astral, the mental, and so on, is a material process completely analogous to the growth of the physical body. In order to grow, a child must have good FOOD, his organism must be in a healthy condition to prepare from this FOOD the material necessary for the growth of the tissues. The same thing is necessary for the growth of the ‘astral body’; out of the various kinds of FOOD entering it, the organism must produce the substances necessary for the growth of the ‘astral body.’ Moreover, the ‘astral body’ requires for its growth the same substances as those necessary to maintain the physical body, only in much greater quantities. If the physical organism begins to produce a sufficient quantity of these fine substances and the ‘astral body’ within it becomes formed, this astral organism will require for its maintenance less of these substances than it required during its growth. The surplus from these substances can then be used for the formation and growth of the ‘mental body’ which will grow with the help of the same substances that feed the ‘astral body,’ but of course the growth of the ‘mental body’ will require more of these substances than the growth and feeding of the ‘astral body.’ The surplus of the substances left over from the feeding of the ‘mental body’ will go to the growth of the fourth body. But in all cases the surplus will have to be very large. All the fine substances necessary for the growth and feeding of the higher bodies must be produced within the physical organism, and the physical organism is able to produce them provided the human factory is working properly and economically. Chapter Nine

“All the substances necessary for the maintenance of the life of the organism, for psychic work, for the higher functions of consciousness and the growth of the higher bodies, are produced by the organism from the FOOD which enters it from outside Chapter Nine

“The human organism receives three kinds of FOOD Chapter Nine

1. The ordinary FOOD we eat Chapter Nine

“It is not difficult to agree that air is a kind of FOOD for the organism But in what way impressions can be FOOD may appear at first difficult to understand We must however remember that, with every external im pression, whether it takes the form of sound, or vision, or smell, we receive from outside a certain amount of energy, a certain number of vibrations, this energy which enters the organism from outside is FOOD Moreover, as has been said before, energy cannot be transmitted without matter If an external impression brings external energy with it into the organism it means that external matter also enters which feeds the organism in the full meaning of the term Chapter Nine

“For its normal existence the organism must receive all three kinds of FOOD, that is, physical FOOD, air, and impressions The organism cannot exist on one or even on two kinds of FOOD, all three are required But the relation of these FOODs to one another and their significance for the organism is not the same The organism can exist for a comparatively long time without a supply of fresh physical FOOD Cases of starvation are known lasting for over sixty days, when the organism lost none of its vitality and recovered very quickly as soon as it began to take FOOD Of course starvation of this kind cannot be considered as complete, since in all cases of such artificial starvation people have taken water Nevertheless, even without water a man can live without FOOD for several days Without air he can exist only for a few minutes, not more than two or three, as a rule a man dies after being four minutes without air Without impressions a man cannot live a single moment If the flow of impressions were to be stopped in some way or if the organism were deprived of its capacity for receiving impressions, it would immediately die. The flow of impressions coming to us from outside is like a driving belt communicating motion to us. The principal motor for us is nature, the surrounding world. Nature transmits to us through our impressions the energy by which we live and move and have our being If the inflow of this energy is arrested, our machine will immediately stop working Thus, of the three kinds of FOOD the most important for us is impressions, although it stands to reason that a man cannot exist for long on impressions alone Impressions and air enable a man to exist a little longer Impressions, air, and physical FOOD enable the organism to live to the end of its normal term of life and to produce the substances necessary not only for the maintenance of life, but also for the creation and growth of higher bodies. Chapter Nine

“Let us take the human organism in the form of a three-story factory. The upper floor of this factory consists of a man’s head; the middle floor, of the chest; and the lower, of the stomach, back, and the lower part of the body. “Physical FOOD is H768, or la, sol, fa of the third cosmic octave of radiations. This ‘hydrogen’ enters the lower story of the organism as ‘oxygen’ do 768. “‘Oxygen’ 768 meets with ‘carbon’ 192 which is present in the organism. From the union of O768 and C192 is obtained N384. N384 is the next note re. ‘Re 384 which becomes ‘oxygen’ in the next triad meets with ‘carbon’ 96 in the organism and together with it produces a new ‘nitrogen’ 192 which is the note mi 192. “As it is known from the law of octaves mi cannot pass independently into fa in an ascending octave; an ‘additional shock’ is necessary. If an ‘additional shock’ is not received the substance mi 192 cannot by itself pass into the full note fa. “At the given place in the organism “where mi 192 ought, apparently, to come to a stop there enters the ‘second FOOD’ — air, in the form of do 192, that is, mi, re, do of the second cosmic octave of radiations. The note do possesses all the necessary semitones, that is, all the energy necessary for the transition to the next note, and it gives as it were a part of its energy to the note mi which has the same density as itself. The energy of do gives mi 192 force enough, while uniting with ‘carbon’ 48 already in the organism, to pass into ‘nitrogen’ 96. ‘Nitrogen’ 96 will be the note fa. “Fa 96 by uniting with ‘carbon’ 24 present in the organism passes into ‘nitrogen’ 48 — the note sol. “The note sol 48 by uniting with ‘carbon’ 12 present in the organism passes into ‘nitrogen’ 24 — la 24. “La 24 unites with ‘carbon’ 6 present in the organism and is transformed into ‘nitrogen’ 12, or si 12. Si 12 is the highest substance produced in the organism from physical FOOD with the help of the ‘additional shock’ obtained from the air. “Do 192 (air) entering the middle story of the factory in the character of ‘oxygen’ and giving part of its energy to mi 192 unites in its turn at a certain place with ‘carbon’ 48 present in the organism and passes into re 96. “Re 96 passes into mi 48 with the help of ‘carbon’ 24 and with this the development of the second octave comes to a stop. For the transition of mi into fa, an ‘additional shock’ is necessary, but at this point nature has not prepared any ‘additional shock’ and the second octave, that is, the air octave, cannot develop further and in the ordinary conditions of life it does not develop further. “The third octave begins with do 48. “Impressions enter the organism in the form of ‘oxygen’ 48, that is, la, sol, fa of the second cosmic octaoctave Sun-Earth. “Do 48 has sufficient energy to pass into the following note but at that place in the organism where do 48 enters, the ‘carbon’ 12 necessary for this is not present. At the same time do 48 does not come into contact with mi 48 so that it can neither itself pass into the next note nor give part of its energy to mi 48. “Under normal conditions, that is, the conditions of normal existence, the production of the fine matters by the factory at this point comes to a stop and the third octave sounds as do only. The highest substance produced by the factory is si 12 and for all its higher functions the factory is able to use only this higher matter. “There is, however, a possibility of increasing the output, that is, of enabling the air octave and the impression octave to develop further. For this purpose it is necessary to create a special kind of ‘artificial shock’ at the point where the beginning of the third octave is arrested. This means that the ‘artificial shock’ must be applied to the note dodo 48. “But what is meant by an ‘artificial shock’? It is connected with the moment of the reception of an impression. The note dodo 48 designates the moment when an impression enters our consciousness. An ‘artificial shock’ at this point means a certain kind of effort made at the moment of receiving an impression. “It has been explained before that in ordinary conditions of life we do not remember ourselves; we do not remember, that is, we do not feel ourselves, are not aware of ourselves at the moment of a perception, of an emotion, of a thought or of an action. If a man understands this and tries to remember himself, every impression he receives while remembering himself will, so to speak, be doubled. In an ordinary psychic state I simply look at a street. But if I remember myself, I do not simply look at the street; I feel that I am looking, as though saying to myself: ‘I am looking.’ Instead of one impression of the street there are two impressions, one of the street and another of myself looking at it. This second impression, produced by the fact of my remembering myself, is the ‘additional shock.’ Moreover, it very often happens that the additional sensation connected with self-remembering brings with it an element of emotion, that is, the work of the machine attracts a certain amount of ‘carbon’ 12 to the place in question. Efforts to remember oneself, observation of oneself at the moment of receiving an impression, observation of one’s impressions at the moment of receiving them, registering, so to speak, the reception of impressions and the simultaneous defining of the impressions received, all this taken together doubles the intensity of the impressions and carries do 48 to re 24. At the same time the effort connected with the transition of one note to another and the passage of 48 itself to 24 enables do 48 of the third octave to come into contact with mi 48 of the second octave and to give this note the requisite amount of energy necessary for the transition of mi to fa. In this way the ‘shock’ given to do 48 extends also to mi 48 and enables the second octave to develop. “Mi 48 passes to fa 24; fa 24 passes to sol 12; sol 12 passes to la 6. La 6 is the highest matter produced by the organism from air, that is, from the second kind of FOOD. This however is obtained only by making a conscious effort at the moment an impression is received. (See Fig. 37.) “It is necessary to understand what this means. We all breathe the same air. Apart from the elements known to our science the air contains a great number of substances unknown to science, indefinable for it and inaccessible to its observation. But exact analysis is possible both of the air inhaled and of the air exhaled. This exact analysis shows that although the air inhaled by different people is exactly the same, the air exhaled is quite different. Let us suppose that the air we breathe is composed of twenty different elements unknown to our science. A certain number of these elements are absorbed by every man when he breathes. Let us suppose that five of these elements are always absorbed. Consequently the air exhaled by every man is composed of fifteen elements; five of them have gone to feeding the organism. But some people exhale not fifteen but only ten elements, that is to say, they absorb five elements more. These five elements are higher ‘hydrogens.’ These higher ‘hydrogens’ are present in every small particle of air ‘we inhale. By inhaling air we introduce these higher ‘hydrogens’ into ourselves, but if our organism does not know how to extract them out of the particles of air, and retain them, they are exhaled back into the air. If the organism is able to extract and retain them, they remain in it. In this way we all breathe the same air but we extract different substances from it. Some extract more, others less. Chapter Nine

“In order to understand the analogy between man, the human organism, and the universe, let us take the world as we did before in the form of three octaves from the Absolute to the sun, from the sun to the earth, and from the earth to the moon. Each of these three octaves lacks a semitone between fa and mi and in each octave the place of this missing semitone is taken by a certain kind of ‘shock’ which is created artificially at the given point. If we now begin to look for an analogy between the three-story factory and the three octaves of the universe, we ought to realize that the three ‘additional shocks’ in the three octaves of the universe correspond to the three kinds of FOOD entering the human organism. The ‘shock’ in the lower octave corresponds to physical FOOD; this ‘shock’ is do 768 of the cosmic three-story factory. The ‘shock’ in the middle octave corresponds to air. It is do 192 of the cosmic factory. The ‘shock’ in the upper octave corresponds to impressions; it is do 48 of the cosmic factory. In the inner work of this cosmic three-story factory all three kinds of FOOD undergo the same transformation as in the human factory, on the same plan and in accordance with the same laws. A further study of the analogy between man and the universe is possible only after an exact study of the human machine and after the respective ‘places’ of each of the ‘hydrogens’ in our organism has been established exactly. This means that to proceed with any further study we must find the exact purpose of each ‘hydrogen,’ that is to say, each ‘hydrogen’ must be defined chemically, psychologically, physiologically, and anatomically, in other words, its functions, its place in the human organism, and, if possible, the peculiar sensations connected with it must be defined. Chapter Nine

“The first stage refers to the work of the human organism as it has been created by nature, that is to say, to the life and functions of man number one, number two, and number three. The first octave, that is, the octave of FOOD, develops in a normal way to mi 192. At this point it automatically receives a ‘shock’ from the beginning of the second octave, and its development goes on consecutively to si 12. The second octave, that is, the air octave, begins with do 192 and develops to mi 48 where it stops. The third octave, that is, the octave of impressions, begins with do 48 and stops there. Thus seven notes of the first octave, three notes of the second, and one note of the third octave represent a complete picture of the work of the ‘human factory’ in its first or natural stage. Nature has provided only one ‘shock,’ that is, the ‘shock’ received from the entrance of the second octave which helps mi of the first octave to pass to fa. But nature did not foresee and did not provide for the second ‘shock,’ that is, the ‘shock’ that would help the development of the third octave and thereby enable mi of the second octave to pass to fa. A man must create this ‘shock’ by his own personal efforts if he desires to increase the output of the fine hydrogens in his organism. Chapter Nine

“This means that the center has become connected directly to the large accumulator. The large accumulator contains an enormous amount of energy. Connected with the large accumulator a man is literally able to perform miracles. But of course, if the ‘rolls’ continue to turn and energy which is made from air, FOOD, and impressions continues to pour out of the large accumulator faster than it pours in, then there comes a moment when the large accumulator is drained of all energy and the organism dies. But this happens very seldom. Usually the organism automatically stops working long before this. Special conditions are necessary to cause the organism to die exhausted of all its energy. In ordinary conditions a man will fall asleep or he will faint or he will develop some internal complication which will stop the work a long time before the real danger. Chapter Eleven

“‘Hydrogen’ si 12 is the ‘hydrogen’ which represents the final product of the transformation of FOOD in the human organism. This is the matter with which sex works and which sex manufactures. It is ‘seed’ or ‘fruit.’ Chapter Twelve

“But this is only one aspect of it. Another aspect consists in the fact that, when the energy of the sex center is plundered by the other centers and spent on useless work, it has nothing left for itself and has to steal the energy of other centers which is much lower and coarser than its own. And yet the sex center is very .important for the general activity, and particularly for the inner growth of the organism, because, working with ‘hydrogen’ 12, it can receive a very fine FOOD of impressions, such as none of the ordinary centers can receive. The fine FOOD of impressions is very important for the manufacture of the higher ‘hydrogens.’ But when the sex center works with energy that is not its own, that is, with the comparatively low ‘hydrogens’ Chapter Twelve

“As we pointed out before, man takes in three kinds of FOOD. Each one of them is the beginning of a new octave. The second octave, that is, the air octave, joins up with the first, that is, the octave of FOOD and drink, at the point where the first octave comes to a stop in its development at the note mi. And the third octave joins up with the second at the point where the second octave comes to a stop in its development at the note mi. Chapter Fourteen

“The final substance in the process of the FOOD octave is the substance si Chapter Fourteen

(‘hydrogen’ 12 in the third scale), which needs an ‘additional shock* in order to pass into a new do. But as three octaves have taken part in the production of this substance their influence is also reflected in the final result by determining its quality. The quality and quantity can be regulated by regulating the three kinds of FOOD received by the organism. Only in the presence of a full and harmonious conformity between all three kinds of FOOD, by a strengthening or weakening of the different parts of the process, is the required result obtained. Chapter Fourteen

“But it is essential to remember that no arbitrary attempts to regulate FOOD, in the literal sense of the word, or breathing can lead to the desired end unless one knows exactly what one is doing and why, and what kind of result it will give. Chapter Fourteen

“And furthermore, even if a man were to succeed in regulating two components of the process, FOOD and breathing, again this would not be enough, because it is still more important to know how to regulate the FOOD of the third story — ‘impressions.’ Chapter Fourteen

“The process of the transition fa-mi can be represented in the most schematic way thus: the cosmic fa enters this machine like the FOOD of the lower story and begins its cycle of changes. Therefore in the beginning it sounds in the machine as do. The substance sol of the cosmic octave serves as the substance which enters the middle story like the air in breathing, which helps the note fa inside the machine to pass into the note mi. This sol on entering the machine also sounds as do. The matter which has now been obtained is joined in the upper story by the substance of the cosmic la, which enters the upper story of the machine, also as do. Chapter Fourteen

“As we see from this the following notes la, sol, fa serve as FOOD for the machine. In the order of their succession, according to the law of three, la will be the active element, sol the neutralizing, and fa the passive. The active principle reacting with the passive (that is, becoming connected with it by the help of the neutralizing principle) gives a certain definite result. This is represented symbolically thus: “This symbol points out that the substance fa in being mixed with the substance la gives as a result the substance sol. And as this process proceeds in the octave, developing as it were inside the note fa, it is therefore possible to say that fa without changing its pitch acquires the properties of sol. Chapter Fourteen

“All that has been said about the octaves of radiation and about the FOOD octaves in the human organism has a direct connection with the symbol consisting of a circle divided into nine parts. This symbol, as the expression of a perfect synthesis, contains within itself all the elements of the laws it represents, and from it can be extracted, and by its help trans mitted, everything that is connected with these octaves and much else besides.” Chapter Fourteen

“To ordinary knowledge,” he said, “organic life is a kind of accidental appendage violating the integrity of a mechanical system. Ordinary knowledge does not connect it with anything and draws no conclusions from the fact of its existence. But you should already understand that there is nothing accidental or unnecessary in nature and that there can be nothing; everything has a definite function; everything serves a definite purpose. Thus organic life is an indispensable link in the chain of the worlds which cannot exist without it just as it cannot exist without them. It has been said before that organic life transmits planetary influences of various kinds to the earth and that it serves to feed the moon and to enable it to grow and strengthen. But the earth also is growing; not in the sense of size but in the sense of greater consciousness, greater receptivity. The planetary influences which were sufficient for her at one period of her existence become insufficient, she needs the reception of finer influences. To receive finer influences a finer, more sensitive receptive apparatus is necessary. Organic life, therefore, has to evolve, to adapt itself to the needs of the planets and the earth. Likewise also the moon can be satisfied at one period with the FOOD which is given her by organic life of a certain quality, but afterwards the time comes when she ceases to be satisfied with this FOOD, cannot grow on it, and begins to get hungry. Organic life must be able to satisfy this hunger, otherwise it does not fulfill its function, does not answer its purpose. This means that in order to answer its purpose organic life must evolve and stand on the level of the needs of the planets, the earth, and the moon. Chapter Fifteen

“We must remember that the ray of creation, as we have taken it, from the Absolute to the moon, is like a branch of a tree — a growing branch. The end of this branch, the end out of which come new shoots, is the moon. If the moon does not grow, if it neither gives nor promises to give new shoots, it means that either the growth of the whole ray of creation will stop or that it must find another path for its growth, give out some kind of lateral branch. At the same time from what has been said before we see that the growth of the moon depends on organic life on earth. It follows that the growth of the ray of creation depends on organic life on earth. If this organic life disappears or dies the whole branch will immediately wither, in any case all that part of the branch which lies beyond organic life. The same thing must happen, only more slowly, if organic life is arrested in its development, in its evolution, and fails to respond to the demands made upon it. The branch may wither. This must be remembered. To the ray of creation, or let us say to its part earth-moon, exactly the same possibility of development and growth has been given as is given to each separate branch of a big tree. But the accomplishment of this growth is not at all guaranteed, it depends upon the harmonious and right action of its own tissues. The development of one tissue stops and all the others stop. Everything that can be said of the ray of creation or of its part earth-moon equally refers to organic life on earth. Organic life on earth is a complex phenomenon in which the separate parts depend upon one another. General growth is possible only on the condition that the ‘end of the branch’ grows. Or, speaking more precisely, there are in organic life tissues which are evolving, and there are tissues which serve as FOOD and medium for those which are evolving. Then there are evolving cells within the evolving tissues, and cells which serve as FOOD and medium for those which are evolving. In each separate evolving cell there are evolving parts and there are parts which serve as FOOD for those which are evolving. But always and in everything it must be remembered that evolution is never guaranteed, it is possible only and it can stop at any moment and in any place. Chapter Fifteen

“But such pseudo-esoteric systems also play their part in the work and activities of esoteric circles. Namely, they are the intermediaries between humanity which is entirely immersed in the materialistic life and schools which are interested in the education of a certain number of people, as much for the purposes of their own existences as for the purposes of the work of a cosmic character which they may be carrying out. The very idea of esotericism, the idea of initiation, reaches people in most cases through pseudo-esoteric systems and schools; and if there were not these pseudo-esoteric schools the vast majority of humanity would have no possibility whatever of hearing and learning of the existence of anything greater than life because the truth in its pure form would be inaccessible for them. By reason of the many characteristics of man’s being, particularly of the contemporary being, truth can only come to people in the form of a lie — only in this form are they able to accept it; only in this form are they able to digest and assimilate it. Truth undefiled would be, for them, indigestible FOOD. Chapter Fifteen

‘Take for instance man. He feeds on ‘hydrogen’ 768, breathes ‘hydrogen’ 192, and lives in ‘hydrogen’ 192. There is no other being like him on our planet. Although there are beings higher than he is. Animals such as the dog can feed on ‘hydrogen’ 768 but they can also feed on a lower ‘hydrogen’ not 768 but approaching 1536, FOOD of a kind impossible for man. A bee feeds on a ‘hydrogen’ much higher than 768, even higher than 384, but it lives in a hive in an atmosphere where man could not live. From an outward point of view man is an animal. But he is an animal of a different order from all other animals. Chapter Sixteen

“If you try to continue these definitions you will see that this plan, so simple at the first glance, makes it possible to determine the most subtle distinctions between classes of living beings, especially if you bear in mind that ‘hydrogens,’ taking them as we have by octaves, are very broad concepts. For example, we took it that a dog, a fish, and a flour worm alike feed on ‘hydrogen’ 1536, implying by this ‘hydrogen’ substances of organic origin which are not good for human FOOD. Now, if we realize that these substances in their turn can be divided into definite classes, we shall see the possibility of very exact definitions. It is exactly the same with air and exactly the same with the medium. Chapter Sixteen

“The intelligence of a matter is determined by the creature for whom it can serve as FOOD. For example, which is more intelligent from this point of view, a raw potato or a baked potato? A raw potato can serve as FOOD for pigs and a baked potato as FOOD for man. A baked potato is more intelligent than a raw potato. Chapter Sixteen

“If these principles of classification and definition are understood in the right way, many things become clear and comprehensible. No living being can change its FOOD at will, or the air it breathes, or the medium in which it lives. The cosmic order of each being determines its FOOD as well as the air it breathes and the medium in which it lives. Chapter Sixteen

“When we talked before about the octaves of FOOD in the three-story factory we saw that ‘all the finer ‘hydrogens’ needed for the working, the growth, and the evolution of the organism were prepared from three kinds of FOOD, that is, from FOOD in the strict meaning of the word — eatables and drink, from air which we breathe, and from impressions. Now let us suppose that we could improve the quality of FOOD and air, feed, let us say, on ‘hydrogen’ 384 instead of 768 and breathe ‘hydrogen’ 96 instead of 192. How much simpler and easier the preparation of fine matters in the organism would be then. But the whole point is that this is impossible. The organism is adapted to transform precisely these coarse matters into fine matters, and if you give it fine matters instead of coarse matters it will not be in a position to transform them and it will very soon die. Neither air nor FOOD can be changed. But impressions, that is, the quality of the impressions possible to man, are not subject to any cosmic law. Man cannot improve his FOOD, he cannot improve the air. Improvement in this case would be actually making things worse. For instance ‘hydrogen* 96 instead of 192 would be either very rarefied air or very hot incandescent gases which man cannot possibly breathe; fire is ‘hydrogen’ 96. It is exactly the same with FOOD. ‘Hydrogen’ 384 is water. If man could improve his FOOD, that is, make it finer, he would have to feed on water and breathe fire. It is clear that this is impossible. But while it is not possible for him to improve his FOOD and air he can improve his impressions to a very high degree and in this way introduce fine ‘hydrogens’ into the organism. It is precisely on this that the possibility of evolution is based. A man is not at all obliged to feed on the dull impressions of H48, he can have both H24, H12, and H6, and even H3. This changes the whole picture and a man who makes higher ‘hydrogens’ the FOOD for the upper story of his machine will certainly differ from one who feeds on the lower ‘hydrogens.’” Chapter Sixteen

“According to this diagram every kind of creature, every degree of being, is defined by what serves as FOOD for this kind of creature or being of a given level and for what they themselves serve as FOOD, because in the cosmic order each class of creature feeds on a definite class of lower creature and is FOOD for a definite class of higher creatures.” Chapter Sixteen

“The place of man is the seventh square from the bottom or the fifth square from the top. According to this diagram man is ‘hydrogen’ 24, he feeds on ‘hydrogen’ 96, and is himself FOOD for ‘hydrogen’ 6. The square next below man will be ‘vertebrates’; the next ‘invertebrates.’ Invertebrates are ‘hydrogen’ 96. Consequently man feeds on ‘invertebrates.’ Chapter Sixteen

“Do not for the moment look for contradictions but try to understand what this may mean. And equally do not compare this diagram with others. According to the diagram of FOOD man feeds on ‘hydrogen’ 768; according to this diagram on ‘hydrogen’ 96. Why? What does it mean? Both the one is right and the other is right. Later, when you grasp this you will piece everything together into one. Chapter Sixteen

“Well, now I clearly understand,” said one of our people, “what we live for and the place that FOOD occupies in our lives.” Chapter Seventeen

“Complete silence is simply a way out of life. A man should be in the desert or in a monastery. We speak of work in life. And a man can keep silence in such a way that no one will even notice it. The whole point is that we say a good deal too much. If we limited ourselves to what is actually necessary, this alone would be keeping silence. And it is the same with everything else, with FOOD, with pleasures, with sleep; with everything there is a limit to what is necessary. After this ‘sin’ begins. This is something that must be grasped, a ‘sin’ is something which is not necessary.” Chapter Seventeen

The short fast of which I spoke was also accompanied by special exercises. In the first place G. explained at the beginning of the fast that the difficulty in fasting consisted in not leaving unused the substances which are prepared in the organism for the digestion of FOOD. Chapter Seventeen

“These substances consist of very strong solutions,” he said. “And if they are left without attention they will poison the organism. They must be used up. But how can they be used up if the organism gets no FOOD? Only by an increase of work, an increase of perspiration. People make a tremendous mistake when they try to ‘save their strength,’ make fewer movements, and so on, when fasting. On the contrary it is necessary to expend as much energy as possible. Then fasting can be beneficial.” Chapter Seventeen

“But it must be understood that, just as in many chemical processes, only definite quantities of substances, exactly determined by nature, give compounds of the required quality, so in the human organism the ‘three kinds of FOOD’ must be mixed in definite proportions. Chapter Fourteen