“My ballet is not a ‘mystery,’” said G. “The object I had in view was to produce an interesting and beautiful spectacle. Of course there is a certain meaning hidden beneath the outward form, but I have not pursued the aim of exposing and emphasizing this meaning. An important place in the ballet is occupied by certain dances. I will explain this to you briefly. Imagine that in the study of the movements of the heavenly bodies, let us say the planets of the solar system, a special mechanism is constructed to give a visual representation of the LAWS of these movements and to remind us of them. In this mechanism each planet, which is represented by a sphere of appropriate size, is placed at a certain distance from a central sphere representing the sun. The mechanism is set in motion and all the spheres begin to rotate and to move along prescribed paths, reproducing in a visual form the LAWS which govern the movements of the planets. This mechanism reminds you of all you know about the solar system. There is something like this in the rhythm of certain dances. In the strictly defined movements and combinations of the dancers, certain LAWS are visually reproduced which arc intelligible to those who know them. Such dances are called ‘sacred dances.’ In the course of my travels in the East I have many times witnessed such dances being performed during sacred services in various ancient temples. Some of these dances are reproduced in The Struggle of the Magicians.’ More-over there are three ideas lying at the basis of “The Struggle of the Magi­cians.’ But if I produce the ballet on the ordinary stage the public will never understand these ideas.” Fragments: One

“But the whole thing is: how?” he said. “It is necessary to know a great deal in order to understand that. What is war? It is the result of planetary influences. Somewhere up there two or three planets have approached too near to each other; tension results. Have you noticed how, if a man passes quite close to you on a narrow pavement, you become all tense? The same tension takes place between planets. For them it lasts, perhaps, a second or two. But here, on the earth, people begin to slaughter one another, and they go on slaughtering maybe for several years. It seems to them at the time that they hate one another; or perhaps that they have to slaughter each other for some exalted purpose; or that they must defend somebody or something and that it is a very noble thing to do; or something else of the same kind. They fail to realize to what an extent they are mere pawns in the game. They think they signify something; they think they can move about as they like; they think they can decide to do this or that. But in reality all their movements, all their actions, are the result of planetary influences. And they themselves signify literally nothing. Then the moon plays a big part in this. But we will speak about the moon separately. Only it must be understood that neither Emperor Wilhelm, nor generals, nor ministers, nor parliaments, signify anything or can do anything. Everything that happens on a big scale is governed from outside, and governed either by accidental combinations of influences or by general cosmic LAWS.” Fragments: One

“Sacrifice is necessary,” said G. “If nothing is sacrificed nothing is obtained. And it is necessary to sacrifice something precious at the moment, to sacrifice for a long time and to sacrifice a great deal. But still, not forever. This must be understood because often it is not understood. Sacrifice is necessary only while the process of crystallization is going on. When crystallization is achieved, renunciations, privations, and sacrifices are no longer necessary. Then a man may have everything he wants. There are no longer any LAWS for him, he is a law unto himself.” Fragments: Two

His childhood was passed on the frontier of Asia Minor in strange, very remote, almost biblical circumstances of life. Flocks of innumerable sheep. Wanderings from place to place. Coming into contact with various strange people. His imagination was particularly struck by the Yezidis, the “Devil Worshipers,” who, from his earliest youth, had attracted his attention by their incomprehensible customs and strange dependence upon unknown LAWS. He told me, among other things, that when he was a child he had often observed how Yezidi boys were unable to step out of a circle traced round them on the ground. Fragments: Two

“In order to grasp the essence of this teaching it is necessary clearly to understand the idea that the ways are the only possible methods for the development of man’s hidden possibilities. This in turn shows how difficult and rare such development is. The development of these possibilities is not a law. The law for man is existence in the circle of mechanical influences, the state of ‘man-machine.’ The way of the development of hidden possibilities is a way against nature, against God. This explains the difficulties and the exclusiveness of the ways. The ways are narrow and strait. But at the same time only by them can anything be attained. In the general mass of everyday life, especially modern life, the ways are a small, quite imperceptible phenomenon which, from the point of view of life, need not exist at all. But this small phenomenon contains in itself all that man has for the development of his hidden possibilities. The ways are opposed to everyday life, based upon other principles and subject to other LAWS. In this consists their power and their significance. In everyday life, even in a life filled with scientific, philosophical, religious, or social interests, there is nothing, and there can be nothing, which could give the possibilities which are contained in the ways. The ways lead, or should lead, man to immortality. Everyday life, even at its best, leads man to death and can lead to nothing eke. The idea of the ways cannot be understood if the possibility of man’s evolution without their help is admitted. Fragments: Two

“In pronouncing the word ‘man’ everyone will involuntarily connect with this word the point of view from which he is generally accustomed to regard man, or from which, for some reason or other, he regards him at the moment. One man at the moment may be occupied with the question of the relation between the sexes. Then the word ‘man’ will have no general meaning for him and on hearing this word he will first of all ask himself — Which? man or woman? Another man may be religious and his first question will be — A Christian or not a Christian? The third man may be a doctor and the concept ‘man’ will mean for him a ‘sick man’ or a ‘healthy man,’ and, of course from the point of view of his speciality. A spiritualist will think of ‘man’ from the point of view of his ‘astral body,’ of ‘life on the other side,’ and so on, and he may say, if he is asked, that men are divided into mediums and non-mediums. A naturalist speaking of man will place the center of gravity of his thoughts in the idea of man as a zoological type, that is to say, in speaking of man he will think of the structure of his teeth, his fingers, his facial angle, the distance between the eyes. A lawyer will see in ‘man’ a statistical unit, or a subject for the application of LAWS, or a potential criminal, or a possible client. Fragments: Four

“It is impossible to study a system of the universe without studying man. At the same time it is impossible to study man without studying the universe. Man is an image of the world. He was created by the same LAWS which created the whole of the world. By knowing and understanding himself he will know and understand the whole world, all the LAWS that create and govern the world. And at the same time by studying the world and the LAWS that govern the world he will learn and understand the LAWS that govern him. In this connection some LAWS are understood and assimilated more easily by studying the objective world, while man can only understand other LAWS by studying himself. The study of the world and the study of man must therefore run parallel, one helping the other. Fragments: Four

“Before examining these influences,” began G., “and the LAWS of transformation of Unity into Plurality, we must examine the fundamental law that creates all phenomena in all the diversity or unity of all universes. Fragments: Four

“The three divided forces in the worlds of the second order, meeting together in each of these worlds, create new worlds of the third order. Let us take one of these worlds. The worlds of the third order, created by the three forces which act semi­mechanically, no longer depend upon the single will of the Absolute but upon three mechanical LAWS. These worlds are created by the three forces. And having been created they manifest three new forces of their own. Thus the number of forces acting in the worlds of the third order will be six. In the diagram the circle of the third order is designated by the number 6 (3 plus 3). In these worlds are created worlds of a new order, the fourth order. In the worlds of the fourth order there act three forces of the world of the second order, six forces of the world of the third order, and three of their own, twelve forces altogether. Let us take one of these worlds and designate it by the number 12 (3 plus 6 plus 3). Being subject to a greater number of LAWS these worlds stand still further away from the single will of the Absolute and are still more mechanical. The worlds created within these worlds will be governed by twenty-four forces (3 plus 6 plus 12 plus 3). The worlds created within these worlds will be governed by forty-eight forces, the number 48 being made up as follows: three forces of the world immediately following the Absolute, six of the next one, twelve of the next, twenty-four of the one after, and three of its own (3 plus 6 plus 12 plus 24 plus 3), forty-eight in all. Worlds created within worlds 48 will be governed by ninety-six forces (3 plus 6 plus 12 plus 24 plus 48 plus 3). The worlds of the next order, if there are any, will be governed by 192 forces, and so on. Fragments: Four

“The number of forces in each world, 1, 3, 6, 12, and so on, indicates the number of LAWS to which the given world is subject. Fragments: Four

“The fewer LAWS there are in a given world, the nearer it is to the will of the Absolute; the more LAWS there are in a given world, the greater the mechanicalness, the further it is from the will of the Absolute. We live in a world subject to forty-eight orders of LAWS, that is to say, very far from the will of the Absolute and in a very remote and dark comer of the universe. Fragments: Four

“Summing up all that has been said before about the ray of creation, from world 1 down to world 96, it must be added that the figures by which worlds are designated indicate the number of forces, or orders of LAWS, which govern the worlds in question. In the Absolute there is only one force and only one law — the single and independent will of the Absolute. In the next world there are three forces or three orders of LAWS. In the next there are six orders of LAWS; in the following one, twelve; and so on. In our world, that is, the earth, forty-eight orders of LAWS are operating to which we are subject and by which our whole life is governed. If we lived on the moon we should be subject to ninety-six orders of LAWS, that is, our life and activity would be still more mechanical and we should not have the possibilities of escape from mechanicalness that we now have. “As has been said already, the will of the Absolute is only manifested in the immediate world created by it within itself, that is, in world 3; the immediate will of the Absolute does not reach world 6 and is mani-fested in it only in the form of mechanical LAWS. Further on, in worlds 12, 24, 48, and 96, the will of the Absolute has less and less possibility of manifesting itself. This means that in world 3 the Absolute creates, as it were, a general plan of all the rest of the universe, which is then further developed mechanically. The will of the Absolute cannot manifest itself in subsequent worlds apart from this plan, and, in manifesting itself in accordance with this plan, it takes the form of mechanical LAWS. This means that if the Absolute wanted to manifest its will, say, in our world, in opposition to the mechanical LAWS in operation there, it would then have to destroy all the worlds intermediate between itself and our world. Fragments: Five

“The idea of a miracle in the sense of a violation of LAWS by the will which made them is not only contrary to common sense but to the very idea of will itself. A ‘miracle’ can only be a manifestation of LAWS which are unknown to men or rarely met with. A ‘miracle’ is the manifestation in this world of the LAWS of another world. Fragments: Five

“On the earth we are very far removed from the will of the Absolute; we are separated from it by forty-eight orders of mechanical LAWS. If we could free ourselves from one half of these LAWS, we should find ourselves subject to only twenty­four orders of LAWS, that is, to the LAWS of the planetary world, and then we should be one stage nearer to the Absolute and its will. If we could then free ourselves from one half of these LAWS, we should be subject to the LAWS of the sun (twelve LAWS) and con­sequently one stage nearer still to the Absolute. If, again, we could free ourselves from half of these LAWS, we should be subject to the LAWS of the starry world and separated by only one stage from the immediate will of the Absolute. Fragments: Five

“And the possibility for man thus gradually to free himself from mechanical LAWS exists. Fragments: Five

“The study of the forty-eight orders of LAWS to which man is subject cannot be abstract like the study of astronomy; they can be studied only by observing them in oneself and by getting free from them. At the beginning a man must simply understand that he is quite needlessly subject to a thousand petty but irksome LAWS which have been created for him by other people and by himself. When he attempts to get free from them he will see that he cannot. Long and persistent attempts to gain freedom from them will convince him of his slavery. The LAWS to which man is subject can only be studied by struggling with them, by trying to get free from them. But a great deal of knowledge is needed in order to become free from one law without creating for oneself another in its place. Fragments: Five

“The orders of LAWS and their forms vary according to the point of view from which we consider the ray of creation. Fragments: Five

“The souls that go to the moon, possessing perhaps even a certain amount of consciousness and memory, find themselves there under ninety-six LAWS, in the conditions of mineral life, or to put it differently, in conditions from which there is no escape apart from a general evolution in immeasurably long planetary cycles. The moon is ‘at the extremity,’ at the end of the world; it is the ‘outer darkness’ of the Christian doctrine ‘where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Fragments: 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. Fragments: Five

“As has been said already, the study of oneself must go side by side with the study of the fundamental LAWS of the universe. The LAWS are the same everywhere and on all planes. But the very same LAWS manifesting themselves in different worlds, that is, under different conditions, produce different phenomena. The study of the relation of LAWS to the planes upon which they are manifested brings us to the study of relativity. Fragments: Five

“We are on the earth and we depend entirely upon the LAWS that are operating on the earth. The earth is a very bad place from the cosmic point of view — it is like the most remote part of northern Siberia, very far from everywhere, it is cold, life is very hard. Everything that in another place either comes by itself or is easily obtained, is here acquired only by hard labor; everything must be fought for both in life and in the work. In life it still happens sometimes that a man gets a legacy and afterwards lives without doing anything. But such a thing does not happen in the work. All are equal and all are equally beggars. Fragments: Five

When G. went to Moscow our permanent group met without him. There remain in my memory several talks in our group which were connected with what we had recently heard from G. We had many talks about the idea of miracles, and about the fact that the Absolute cannot manifest its will in our world and that this will manifests itself only in the form of mechanical LAWS and cannot manifest itself by violating these LAWS. Fragments: Five

There was more sense in this silly story than in a thousand theological treatises. The LAWS of a game make the essence of the game. A violation of these LAWS would destroy the entire game. The Absolute can as little interfere in our life and substitute other results in the place of the natural results of causes created by us, or created accidentally, as he can beat the ace of trumps with the deuce. Turgenev wrote somewhere that all ordinary prayers can be reduced to one: “Lord, make it so that twice two be not four.” This is the same thing as the ace of trumps of the seminarist. Fragments: Five

“To understand what took place at the Last Supper it is first of all necessary to know certain LAWS. Fragments: Five

“For this it is necessary ‘to be’ If a man is changing every minute, if there is nothing in him that can withstand external influences, it means that there is nothing in him that can withstand death. But if he becomes independent of external influences, if there appears in him something that can live by itself, this something may not die. In ordinary circumstances we die every moment. External influences change and we change with them, that is, many of our I’s die. If a man develops in himself a per­manent I that can survive a change in external conditions, it can survive the death of the physical body. The whole secret is that one cannot work for a future life without working for this one. In working for life a man works for death, or rather, for immortality. Therefore work for immortality, if one may so call it, cannot be separated from general work. In attaining the one, a man attains the other. A man may strive to be simply for the sake of his own life’s interests. Through this alone he may become immortal. We do not speak specially of a future life and we do not study whether it exists or not, because the LAWS are everywhere the same. In studying his own life as he knows it, and the lives of other men, from birth to death, a man is studying all the LAWS which govern life and death and immortality. If he becomes the master of his life, he may become the master of his death. Fragments: Six

The next lecture began precisely with the words: “Know thyself.” “These words,” said G., “which are generally ascribed to Socrates, actually lie at the basis of many systems and schools far more ancient than the Socratic. But although modem thought is aware of the existence of this principle it has only a very vague idea of its meaning and significance. The ordinary man of our times, even a man with philosophic or scientific interests, does not realize that the principle ‘know thyself speaks of the necessity of knowing one’s machine, the ‘human machine.’ Machines are made more or less the same way in all men; therefore, before anything else man must study the structure, the functions, and the LAWS of his organism. In the human machine everything is so interconnected, one thing is so dependent upon another, that it is quite impossible to study any one function without studying all the others. In order to know one thing, one must know everything. To know everything in man is possible, but it requires much time and labor, and above all, the application of the right method and, what is equally necessary, right guidance. Fragments: Six

“Self-observation, especially in the beginning, must on no account become analysis or attempts at analysis. Analysis will only become possible much later when a man knows all the functions of his machine and all the LAWS which govern it. Fragments: Six

“But even apart from this, attempts to analyze separate phenomena without a knowledge of general LAWS are a completely useless waste of time. Before it is possible to analyze even the most elementary phenomena, a man must accumulate a sufficient quantity of material by means of ‘recording.’ ‘Recording,’ that is, the result of a direct observation of what is taking place at a given moment, is the most important material in the work of self-study. When a certain number of ‘records’ have been accumulated and when, at the same time, LAWS to a certain extent have been studied and understood, analysis becomes possible. Fragments: Six

“In right knowledge the study of man must proceed on parallel lines with the study of the world, and the study of the world must run parallel with the study of man. Laws are everywhere the same, in the world as well as in man. Having mastered the principles of any one law we must look for its manifestation in the world and in man simultaneously. Moreover, some LAWS are more easily observed in the world, others are more easily observed in man. Therefore in certain cases it is better to begin with the world and then to pass on to man, and in other cases it is better to begin with man and then to pass on to the world. Fragments: Seven

“The number of fundamental LAWS which govern all processes both in the world and in man is very small. Different numerical combinations of a few elementary forces create all the seeming variety of phenomena. Fragments: Seven

“The LAWS which govern the retardation or the deflection of vibrations from their primary direction were known to ancient science. These LAWS were duly incorporated into a particular formula or diagram which has been preserved up to our times. In this formula the period in which vibrations are doubled was divided into eight unequal steps corresponding to the rate of increase in the vibrations. The eighth step repeats the first step with double the number of vibrations. This period of the doubling of the vibrations, or the line of the development of vibrations, between a given number of vibrations and double that number, is called an octave, that is to say, composed of eight. Fragments: Seven

“The seven-tone scale is the formula of a cosmic law which was worked out by ancient schools and applied to music. At the same time, however, if we study the manifestations of the law of octaves in vibrations of other kinds we shall see that the LAWS are everywhere the same, and that light, heat, chemical, magnetic, and other vibrations are subject to the same LAWS as sound vibrations. For instance, the light scale is known to physics; in chemistry the periodic system of the elements is without doubt closely connected with the principle of octaves although this connection is still not fully clear to science. Fragments: Seven

“It has been said before that self-study and self-observation, if rightly conducted, bring man to the realization of the fact that something is wrong with his machine and with his functions in their ordinary state. A man realizes that it is precisely because he is asleep that he lives and works in a small part of himself. It is precisely for this reason that the vast majority of his possibilities remain unrealized, the vast majority of his powers are left unused. A man feels that he does not get out of life all that it can give him, that he fails to do so owing to definite functional defects in his machine, in his receiving apparatus. The idea of self-study acquires in his eyes a new meaning. He feels that possibly it may not even be worth while studying himself as he is now. He sees every function as it is now and as it could be or ought to be. Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity for self-change. And in observing him-self a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self­change, a means of awakening. By observing himself he throws, as it were, a ray of light onto his inner processes which have hitherto worked in complete darkness. And under the influence of this light the processes themselves begin to change. There are a great many chemical processes that can take place only in the absence of light. Exactly in the same way many psychic processes can take place only in the dark. Even a feeble light of consciousness is enough to change completely the character of a process, while it makes many of them altogether impossible. Our inner psychic processes (our inner alchemy) have much in common with those chemical processes in which light changes the character of the process and they are subject to analogous LAWS. Fragments: Eight

“No, it does not mean this at all,” G. answered him. “Fate is better than accident only in the sense that it is possible to take it into account, it is possible to know it beforehand; it is possible to prepare for what is ahead. In regard to accident one can know nothing. But fate can be also unpleasant or difficult. In this event, however, there are means for isolating oneself from one’s fate. The first step towards this consists in getting away from general LAWS. Just as there is individual accident, so is there general or collective accident. And in the same way as there is individual fate, there is a general or collective fate. Collective accident and collective fate are governed by general LAWS. If a man wishes to create individuality of his own he must first free himself from general LAWS. General LAWS are by no means all obligatory for man; he can free himself from many of them if he frees himself from ‘buffers’ and from imagination. All this is connected with liberation from personality. Personality feeds on imagination and falsehood. If the falsehood in which man lives is decreased and imagination is decreased, personality very soon weakens and a man begins to be controlled either by fate or by a line of work which is in its turn controlled by another man’s will; this will lead him until a will of his own has been formed, capable of withstanding both accident and, when necessary, fate.” Fragments: Eight

“The three-story factory represents the universe in miniature and is constructed according to the same LAWS and on the same plan as the whole universe. Fragments: 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. Fragments: Nine

“The first kind are influences created in life itself or by life itself. Influences of race, nation, country, climate, family, education, society, profession, manners and customs, wealth, poverty, current ideas, and so on. The second kind are influences created outside this life, influences of the inner circle, or esoteric influences — influences, that is, created under different LAWS, although also on the earth. These influences differ from the former, first of all in being conscious in their origin. This means that they have been created consciously by conscious men for a definite purpose. Influences of this kind are usually embodied in the form of religious systems and teachings, philosophical doctrines, works of art, and so on. Fragments: Ten

At one of the following meetings, in the presence of G., when he made me repeat what he had said about the way and about magnetic center, I embodied his idea in the following diagram: V …life; H … an individual man; A … influences created in life, that is, in life itself — the first kind of influences; B … influences created outside life but thrown into the general vortex of life — the second kind of influences Hi … a man, connected by means of succession with the esoteric center or pretending to it E … esoteric center, standing outside the general LAWS of life M … magnetic center in man C … influence of man h1 on man h; in the event of his actually being connected with the esoteric center, directly or by succession, this is the third kind of influences. This influence is conscious, and under its action at the point m, that is, in the magnetic center, a man becomes free from the law of accident H2 … a man, deceiving himself or deceiving others and having no connection, either directly or by succession, with the esoteric center. Fragments: Ten

“All cosmoses result from the action of the same forces and the same LAWS. Laws are the same everywhere. But they manifest themselves in a different, or at least, in not quite the same way on different planes of the universe, that is, on different levels. Consequently cosmoses are not quite analogous one to another. If the law of octaves did not exist, the analogy between them would have been complete, but owing to the law of octaves there is no complete analogy between them, just as there is no complete analogy between the different notes of the octave. It is only three cosmoses, taken together, that are similar and analogous to any other three. Fragments: Ten

“The conditions of the action of LAWS on each plane, that is, in each cosmos, are determined by the two adjoining cosmoses, the one above and the one below. Three cosmoses standing next to one another give a complete picture of the manifestation of the LAWS of the universe. One cosmos cannot give a complete picture. Thus in order to know one cosmos, it is necessary to know the two adjoining cosmoses, the one above and the one below the first, that is, one larger and one smaller. Taken together, these two cosmoses determine the one that lies between them. Thus the Mesocosmos and the Microcosmos, taken together, determine the Tritocosmos. The Deuterocosmos and the Tritocosmos determine the Mesocosmos, and so on. Fragments: Ten

“3. in its relation to a lower, or a smaller cosmos, “The manifestation of the LAWS of one cosmos in another cosmos constitutes what we call a miracle. There can be no other kind of miracle. A miracle is not a breaking of LAWS, nor is it a phenomenon outside LAWS. Fragments: Ten

It is a phenomenon which takes place according to the LAWS of another cosmos. These LAWS are incomprehensible and unknown to us, and are therefore miraculous. Fragments: Ten

“In order to understand the LAWS of relativity, it is very useful to examine the life and phenomena of one cosmos as though looking at them from another cosmos, that is, to examine them from the point of view of the LAWS of another cosmos. All the phenomena of the life of a given cosmos, examined from another cosmos, assume a completely different aspect and have a completely different meaning. Many new phenomena appear and many other phenomena disappear. This in general completely changes the picture of the world and of things. Fragments: Ten

“As has been said before, the idea of cosmoses alone can provide a firm basis for the establishment of the LAWS of relativity. Real science and real philosophy ought to be founded on the understanding of the LAWS of relativity. Consequently it is possible to say that science and philosophy, in the true meaning of these terms, begin with the idea of cosmoses.” Fragments: Ten

Now you have some idea of the LAWS governing the life of the Macrocosmos and have returned to the Earth. Recall to yourself: “As above, so below.” I think that already, without any further explanation, you will not dispute the statement that the life of individual man — the Microcosmos — is governed by the same LAWS. Fragments: Ten

“I was expecting this question,” said G. “There has never been an occasion when I have spoken of types when some clever person has not asked this question. How is it you do not understand that if it could be explained it would have been explained long ago. But the whole thing is that types and their differences cannot be defined in ordinary language, and the language in which they could be defined you do not as yet know and will not know for a long time. It is exactly the same as with the ‘forty-eight LAWS.’ Someone invariably asks whether he may not know these forty-eight LAWS. As if it were possible. Understand that you are being given everything that can be given. With the help of what is given to you, you must find the rest. But I know that I am wasting time now in saying this. You still do not understand me and will not understand for a long time yet. Think of the difference between knowledge and being. There are things for the understanding of which a different being is necessary.” Fragments: Twelve

“This idea of repetition,” said G., “is not the full and absolute truth, but it is the nearest possible approximation of the truth. In this case truth cannot be expressed in words. But what you say is very near to it. And if you understand why I do not speak of this, you will be still nearer to it. What is the use of a man knowing about recurrence if he is not conscious of it and if he himself does not change? One can say even that if a man does not change, repetition does not exist for him. If you tell him about repetition, it will only increase his sleep. Why should he make any efforts today when there is so much time and so many possibilities ahead — the whole of eternity? Why should he bother today? This is exactly why the system does not say anything about repetition and takes only this one life which we know. The system has neither meaning nor sense without striving for self-change. And work on self-change must begin today, immediately. All LAWS can be seen in one life. Knowledge about the repetition of lives will add nothing for a man if he does not see how everything repeats itself in one life, that is, in this life, and if he does not strive to change himself in order to escape this repetition. But if he changes something essential in himself, that is, if he attains something, this cannot be lost” Fragments: Twelve

“That is something people always ask,” he said. “Whatever they may be speaking about, they ask: Ought it to be like that and how can it be changed, that is, what ought to be done in such a case? As though it were possible to change anything, as though it were possible to do anything. You at least ought to have realized by now how naive such questions are. Cosmic forces have created this state of affairs and cosmic forces control this state of affairs. And you ask: Can it be left like that or should it be changed! God himself could change nothing. Do you remember what was said about the forty-eight LAWS? They cannot be changed, but liberation from a considerable portion of them is possible, that is to say, there is a possibility of changing the state of affairs for oneself, it is possible to escape from the general law. You should understand that in this case as well as in all others the general law cannot be changed. But one can change one’s own position in relation to this law; one can escape from the general law. The more so since in this law about which I speak, that is, in the power of sex over people, are included many different possibilities. It includes the chief form of slavery and it is also the chief possibility of liberation. This is what you must understand. Fragments: Twelve

During the period of my stay in Moscow G.’s pupils had explained to me various LAWS relating to man and the world; among others they showed me again the “table of hydrogens,” as we called it in St. Petersburg, but in a considerably expanded form. Namely, besides the three scales of “hydrogens” which G. had worked out for us before, they had taken the reduction further and had made in all twelve scales. (See Table 4.) Fragments: Thirteen

Trying to draw out as much as possible the beginning of the “diagrams,” as we called a part of G.’s system, dealing with general questions and LAWS, I began to convey the general impressions of my journey. And all the time I was saying one thing, in my head another thing was running: How shall I begin — what does the transition 1, 2, 3 into 1, 3, 2 mean? Can an example of such a transition be found in the phenomena we know? I felt that I must find something now, immediately, because unless I found something myself first I could say nothing to the others. Fragments: Thirteen

“But objective knowledge, the idea of unity included, belongs to objective consciousness. The forms which express this knowledge when perceived by subjective consciousness are inevitably distorted and, instead of truth, they create more and more delusions. With objective consciousness it is possible to see and feel the unity of everything. But for subjective consciousness the world is split up into millions of separate and unconnected phenomena. Attempts to connect these phenomena into some sort of system in a scientific or a philosophical way lead to nothing because man cannot reconstruct the idea of the whole starting from separate facts and they cannot divine the principles of the division of the whole without knowing the LAWS upon which this division is based. Fragments: Fourteen

“The symbols that were used to transmit ideas belonging to objective knowledge included diagrams of the fundamental LAWS of the universe and they not only transmitted the knowledge itself but showed also the way to it. The study of symbols, their construction and meaning, formed a very important part of the preparation for receiving objective knowledge and it was in itself a test because a literal or formal understanding of symbols at once made it impossible to receive any further knowledge. Fragments: Fourteen

“Among the formulas giving a summary of the content of many symbols there was one which had a particular significance, namely the formula ‘As above, so below,’ from the ‘Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus.’ This formula stated that all the LAWS of the cosmos could be found in the atom or in any other phenomenon which exists as something completed according to certain LAWS. This same meaning was contained in the analogy drawn between the microcosm — man, and the macrocosm — the universe. The fundamental LAWS of triads and octaves penetrate everything and should be studied simultaneously both in the world and in man. But in relation to himself man is a nearer and a more accessible object of study and knowledge than the world of phenomena outside him. Therefore, in striving towards a knowledge of the universe, man should begin with the study of himself and with the realization of the fundamental LAWS within him. Fragments: Fourteen

“From this point of view another formula. Know thyself, is full of particularly deep meaning and is one of the symbols leading to the knowledge of truth. The study of the world and the study of man will assist one another. In studying the world and its LAWS a man studies himself, and in studying himself he studies the world. In this sense every symbol teaches us something about ourselves. Fragments: Fourteen

“The understanding of symbols can be approached in the following way: In studying the world of phenomena a man first of all sees in everything the manifestation of two principles, one opposed to the other, which, in conjunction or in opposition, give one result or another, that is, reflect the essential nature of the principles which have created them. This manifestation of the great LAWS of duality and trinity man sees simultaneously in the cosmos and in himself. But in relation to the cosmos he is merely a spectator and moreover one who sees only the surface of phenomena which are moving in various directions though seeming to him to move in one direction. But in relation to himself his understanding of the LAWS of duality and trinity can express itself in a practical form, namely, having understood these LAWS in himself, he can, so to speak, confine the manifestation of the LAWS of duality and trinity to the permanent line of struggle with himself on the way to self-knowledge. In this way he will introduce the line of will first into the circle of time and afterwards into the cycle of eternity, the accomplishing of which will create in him the great symbol known by the name of the Seal of Solomon. Fragments: Fourteen

“When self-deceit is destroyed and a man begins to see the difference between the mechanical and the conscious in himself, there begins a struggle for the realization of consciousness in life and for the subordination of the mechanical to the conscious. For this purpose a man begins with endeavors to set a definite decision, coming from conscious motives, against mechanical processes proceeding according to the LAWS of duality. The creation of a permanent third principle is for man the transformation of the duality into the trinity. Fragments: Fourteen

“In Western systems of occultism there is a method known by the name of ‘theosophical addition,’ that is, the definition of numbers consisting of two or more digits by the sum of those digits. To people who do not understand the symbolism of numbers this method of synthesizing numbers seems to be absolutely arbitrary and to lead nowhere. But for a man who understands the unity of everything existing and who has the key to this unity the method of theosophical addition has a profound meaning, for it resolves all diversity into the fundamental LAWS which govern it and which are expressed in the numbers 1 to 10. Fragments: Fourteen

“Each one of these systems can serve as a means for transmitting the idea of unity. But in the hands of the incompetent and the ignorant, however full of good intentions, the same symbol becomes an ‘instrument of delusion.’ The reason for this consists in the fact that a symbol can never be taken in a final and definite meaning. In expressing the LAWS of the unity of endless diversity a symbol itself possesses an endless number of aspects from which it can be examined and it demands from a man approaching it the ability to see it simultaneously from different points of view. Symbols which are transposed into the words of ordinary language become rigid in them, they grow dim and very easily become ‘their own opposites,’ confining the meaning within narrow dogmatic frames, without giving it even the very relative freedom of a logical examination of a subject. The cause of this is in the literal understanding of symbols, in attributing to a symbol a single meaning. The truth is again veiled by an outer covering of lies and to discover it requires immense efforts of negation in which the idea of the symbol itself is lost. It is well known what delusions have arisen from the symbols of religion, of alchemy, and par­ticularly of magic, in those who have taken them literally and only in one meaning. Fragments: Fourteen

“We have spoken earlier of the law of octaves, of the fact that every process, no matter upon what scale it takes place, is completely determined in its gradual development by the law of the structure of the seven-tone scale. In connection with this it has been pointed out that every note, every tone, if taken on another scale is again a whole octave. The ‘intervals’ between mi and fa and between si and do which cannot be filled by the intensity of the energy of the process in operation, and which require an outside ‘shock,’ outside help so to speak, connect by this very fact one process with other processes. From this it follows that the law of octaves connects all processes of the universe and, to one who knows the scales of the passage and the LAWS of the structure of the octave, it presents the possibility of an exact cognition of everything and every phenomenon in its essential nature and of all its interrelations with phenomena and things connected with it. Fragments: Fourteen

“The complete construction of this symbol which connects it with a complete expression of the law of octaves is more complicated than the construction shown. But even this construction shows the inner LAWS of one octave and it points out a method of cognizing the essential nature of a thing examined in itself. Fragments: Fourteen

“Passing on to the examination of the complicated figure inside the circle we should understand the LAWS of its construction. The LAWS of unity are reflected in all phenomena. The decimal system is constructed on the basis of the same LAWS. Taking a unit as one note containing within itself a whole octave we must divide this unit into seven unequal parts in order to arrive at the seven notes of this octave. But in the graphic representation the inequality of the parts is not taken into account and for the construction of the diagram there is taken first a seventh part, then two-sevenths, then three-sevenths, four-sevenths, five-sevenths, six-sevenths, and seven-sevenths. Calculating these parts in decimals we get: 1/7=0.142857 . . . 2/7=0.285714 . . . 3/7=0.428571 . . . 4/7=0.571428 . . . 5/7=0.714285 . . . 6/7=0.857142 . . . 7/7=0.999999 . . . Fragments: Fourteen

“Making use of ‘theosophical addition’ and taking the sum of the numbers of the period, we obtain nine, that is, a whole octave. Again in each separate note there will be included a whole octave subject to the same LAWS as the first. The positions of the notes will correspond to the numbers of the period and the drawing of an octave will look like the following: Fragments: Fourteen

“Therefore before even thinking of influencing practically the inner processes it is essential to understand the exact mutual relationship of the substances entering the organism, the nature of the possible ‘shocks,’ and the LAWS governing the transition of notes. These LAWS are everywhere the same. In studying man we study the cosmos, in studying the cosmos we study man. Fragments: 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 trans­mitted, everything that is connected with these octaves and much else besides.” Fragments: Fourteen

“Speaking in general it must be understood that the enneagram is a universal symbol. All knowledge can be included in the enneagram and with the help of the enneagram it can be interpreted. And in this connection only what a man is able to put into the enneagram does he actually know, that is, understand. What he cannot put into the enneagram he does not understand. For the man who is able to make use of it, the enneagram makes books and libraries entirely unnecessary. Everything can be included and read in the enneagram. A man may be quite alone in the desert and he can trace the enneagram in the sand and in it read the eternal LAWS of the universe. And every time he can learn something new, something he did not know before. Fragments: Fourteen

“Now if we recall the law of octaves we shall see that a balanced process proceeding in a certain way cannot be changed at any moment it is desired. It can be changed and set on a new path only at certain ‘cross-roads.’ In between the ‘crossroads’ nothing can be done. At the same time if a process passes by a ‘crossroad’ and nothing happens, nothing is done, then nothing can be done afterwards and the process will continue and develop according to mechanical LAWS; and even if people taking part in this process foresee the inevitable destruction of everything, they will be unable to do anything. I repeat that something can be done only at certain moments which I have just called ‘crossroads’ and which in octaves we have called the ‘intervals’ mi-fa and si­do. Fragments: Fifteen

“The fourth way differs from the old and the new ways by the fact that it is never a permanent way. It has no definite forms and there are no institutions connected with it. It appears and disappears governed by some particular LAWS of its own. Fragments: Fifteen

“And besides there is deception in the very words ‘moral’ and ‘spiritual’ themselves. I have often enough explained before that in speaking of machines one cannot begin with their ‘morality’ or their ‘spirituality,’ but that one must begin with their mechanicalness and the LAWS governing this mechanicalness. The being of man number one, number two, and number three is the being of machines which are able to cease being machines but which have not ceased being machines.” Fragments: Seventeen

“But is it not possible for man to be at once transposed to another stage of being by a wave of emotion?” someone asked. “I do not know,” said G., “we are again talking in different languages. A wave of emotion is indispensable, but it cannot change moving habits; it cannot of itself make centers work rightly which all their lives have been working wrongly. To change and repair this demands separate, special, and lengthy work. Then you say; transpose a man to another level of being. But from this point of view a man does not exist for me. There is a complex mechanism consisting of a whole series of complex parts. ‘A wave of emotion’ ‘takes place in one part but the other parts may not be affected by it at all. No miracles are possible in a machine. It is miracle enough that a machine is able to change. But you want all LAWS to be violated.” Fragments: Seventeen

“Again you speak in your own way,” said G. “I was not talking of people at all. They are going nowhere and for them there are no sins. Sins are what keep a man on one spot if he has decided to move and if he is able to move. Sins exist only for people who are on the way or approaching the way. And then sin is what stops a man, helps him to deceive himself and to think that he is working when he is simply asleep. Sin is what puts a man to sleep when he has already decided to awaken. And what puts a man to sleep? Again everything that is unnecessary, everything that is not indispensable. The indispensable is always permitted. But beyond this hypnosis begins at once. But you must remember that this refers only to people in the work or to those who consider themselves in the work. And work consists in subjecting oneself volun­tarily to temporary suffering in order to be free from eternal suffering. But people are afraid of suffering. They want pleasure now, at once and forever. They do not want to understand that pleasure is an attribute of paradise and that it must be earned. And this is necessary not by reason of any arbitrary or inner moral LAWS but because if man gets pleasure before he has earned it he will not be able to keep it and pleasure will be turned into suffering. But the whole point is to be able to get pleasure and be able to keep it. Whoever can do this has nothing to learn. But the way to it lies through suffering. Whoever thinks that as he is he can avail himself of pleasure is much mistaken, and if he is capable of being sincere with himself, then the moment will come when he will see this.” Fragments: Seventeen