“Further, passing to philosophical conclusions, we may say that ‘all worlds’ must form some, for us, incomprehensible and unknown Whole or One (as an apple is one). This Whole, or One, or All, which may be called the ‘ABSOLUTE,’ or the ‘Independent’ because, including everything within itself, it is not dependent upon anything, is ‘world’ for ‘all worlds.’ Logically it is quite possible to think of a state of things where All forms one single Whole. Such a whole will certainly be the ABSOLUTE, which means the Independent, because it, that is, the All, is infinite and indivisible. Fragments: Four

“The ABSOLUTE, that is, the state of things when the All constitutes one Whole, is, as it were, the primordial state of things, out of which, by division and differentiation, arises the diversity of the phenomena observed by us. Fragments: Four

“This means that he is first of all influenced by the nearest world, the one immediate to him, of which he forms a part. Worlds further away also influence man, directly as well as through other intermediate worlds, but their action is diminished in proportion to their remoteness or to the increase in the difference between them and man. As will be seen later, the direct influence of the ABSOLUTE does not reach man. But the influence of the next world and the influence of the star world are already perfectly clear in the life of man, although they are certainly unknown to science.” With this G. ended the lecture. Fragments: Four

On the next occasion we had very many questions chiefly about the influences of the various worlds and why the influence of the ABSOLUTE does not reach us. Fragments: Four

“Returning to the world in which we live we may now say that in the ABSOLUTE, as well as in everything else, three forces are active: the active, the passive, and the neutralizing. But since by its very nature everything in the ABSOLUTE constitutes one whole the three forces also constitute one whole. Moreover in forming one independent whole the three forces possess a full and independent will, full consciousness, full understanding of themselves and of everything they do. Fragments: Four

“The idea of the unity of the three forces in the ABSOLUTE forms the basis of many ancient teachings — consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, Trimurti — Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, and so on. Fragments: Four

“The three forces of the ABSOLUTE, constituting one whole, separate and unite by their own will and by their own decision, and at the points of junction they create phenomena, or ‘worlds.’ These worlds, created by the will of the ABSOLUTE, depend entirely upon this will in everything that concerns their own existence. In each of these worlds the three forces again act. Since, however, each of these worlds is now not the whole, but only a part, then the three forces in them do not form a single whole. It is now a case of three wills, three consciousnesses, three unities. Each of the three forces contains within it the possibility of all three forces, but at the meeting point of the three forces each of them manifests only one principle — the active, the passive, or the neutralizing. The three forces together form a trinity which produces new phenomena. But this trinity is different, it is not that which was in the ABSOLUTE, where the three forces formed an indivisible whole and possessed one single will and one single consciousness. In the worlds of the second order the three forces are now divided and their meeting points are now of a different nature. In the ABSOLUTE the moment and the point of their meeting is determined by their single will. In the worlds of the second order, where there is no longer a single will but three wills, the points of issue are each determined by a separate will, independent of the others, and therefore the meeting point becomes accidental or mechanical. The will of the ABSOLUTE creates the worlds of the second order and governs them, but it does not govern their creative work, in which a mechanical element makes its appearance. Fragments: Four

“Let us imagine the ABSOLUTE as a circle and in it a number of other circles, worlds of the second order. Let us take one of these circles. The ABSOLUTE is designated by the number 1, because the three forces constitute one whole in the ABSOLUTE, and the small circles we will designate by the number 3, because in a world of the second order the three forces are already divided. 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

“If we take one of the many worlds created in the ABSOLUTE, that is, world 3, it will be the world representing the total number of starry worlds similar to our Milky Way. If we take world 6, it will be one of the worlds created within this world, namely the accumulation of stars which we call the Milky Way. World 12 will be one of the suns that compose the Milky Way, our sun. World 24 will be the planetary world, that is to say, all the planets of the solar system. World 48 will be the earth. World 96 will be the moon. If the moon had a satellite it would be world 192, and so on. Fragments: Four

“The chain of worlds, the links of which are the ABSOLUTE, all worlds, all suns, our sun, the planets, the earth, and the moon, forms the ‘ray of creation’ in which we find ourselves. The ray of creation is for us the ‘world’ in the widest sense of the term. Of course, the ray of creation does not include the ‘world’ in the full sense of the term, since the ABSOLUTE gives birth to a number, perhaps to an infinite number, of different worlds, each of which begins a new and separate ray of creation. Furthermore, each of these worlds contains a number of worlds representing a further breaking up of the ray and again of these worlds we select only one — our Milky Way; the Milky Way consists of a number of suns, but of this number we select one sun which is nearest to us, upon which we immediately depend, and in which we live and move and have our being. Each of the other suns means a new breaking up of the ray, but we cannot study these rays in the same way as our ray, that is, the ray in which we are situated. Further, within the solar system the planetary world is nearer to us than the sun itself, and within the planetary world the nearest of all to us is the earth, the planet on which we live. We have no need to study other planets in the same way as we study the earth, it is sufficient for us to take them all together, that is to say, on a considerably smaller scale than we take the earth. 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

WE TAKE the three-dimensional universe and consider the world as a world of matter and force in the simplest and most elementary meaning of these terms. Higher dimensions and new theories of matter, space, and time, as well as other categories of knowledge of the world which are unknown to science, we will discuss later. At present it is necessary to represent the universe in the diagrammatic form of the ‘ray of creation,’ from the ABSOLUTE to the moon. Fragments: Five

“It must be observed that the idea of the ray of creation and its growth from the ABSOLUTE contradicts some of the modem views, although not really scientific views. Take, for instance, the stage — sun, earth, moon. According to the usual understanding the moon is a cold, dead celestial body which was once like the earth, that is to say, it possessed internal heat and at a still earlier period was a molten mass like the sun. The earth, according to the usual views, was once like the sun, and is also gradually cooling down and, sooner or later, will become a frozen mass like the moon. It is usually supposed that the sun is also cooling down and that it will become, in time, similar to the earth and later on, to the moon. Fragments: Five

“The idea of the ray of creation and its growth from the ABSOLUTE contradicts these general views of our day. Fragments: Five

“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

“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

“The next idea which it is necessary to master is the materiality of the universe which is taken in the form of the ray of creation. Everything in this universe can be weighed and measured. The ABSOLUTE is as material, as weighable and measurable, as the moon, or as man. If the ABSOLUTE is Cod it means that God can be weighed and measured, resolved into component elements, ‘calculated,’ and expressed in the form of a definite formula. Fragments: Five

“But the concept ‘materiality’ is as relative as everything else. It we recall how the concept ‘man’ and all that refers to him — good, evil, truth, falsehood, and so on — is divided into different categories (‘man number one,’ ‘man number two,’ and so on, it will be easy for us to understand that the concept ‘world,’ and everything that refers to the world, is also divided into different categories. The ray of creation establishes seven planes in the world, seven worlds one within another. Everything that refers to the world is also divided into seven categories, one category within another. The materiality of the ABSOLUTE is a materiality of an order different from that of ‘all worlds.’ The materiality of ‘all worlds’ is of an order different from the materiality of ‘all suns.’ The materiality of ‘all suns’ is of an order different from the materiality of our sun. The materiality of our sun is of an order different from the materiality of ‘all planets.’ The materiality of ‘all planets’ is of an order different from the materiality of the earth, and the materiality of the earth is of an order different from the materiality of the moon. This idea is at first difficult to grasp. People are accustomed to think that matter is everywhere the same. The whole of physics, of astrophysics, of chemistry, such methods as spectroanalysis, and so on, are based upon this assumption. And it is true that matter is the same, but materiality is different. And different degrees of materiality depend directly upon the qualities and properties of the energy manifested at a given point. Fragments: Five

“Matter or substance necessarily presupposes the existence of force or energy. This does not mean that a dualistic conception of the world is necessary. The concepts of matter and force are as relative as everything else. In the ABSOLUTE, where all is one, matter and force are also one. But in this connection matter and force are not taken as real principles of the world in itself, but as properties or characteristics of the phenomenal world observed by us. To begin the study of the universe it is sufficient to have an elementary idea of matter and energy, such as we get by immediate observation through our organs of sense. The ‘constant’ is taken as material, as matter, and ‘changes’ in the state of the ‘constant,’ or of matter, are called manifestations of force or energy. All these changes can be regarded as the result of vibrations or undulatory motions which begin in the center, that is, in the ABSOLUTE, and go in all directions, crossing one another, colliding, and merging together, until they stop altogether at the end of the ray of creation. Fragments: Five

“In the ABSOLUTE vibrations are the most rapid and matter is the least dense. In the next world vibrations are slower and matter denser; and further on matter is still more dense and vibrations correspondingly slower. Fragments: Five

” ‘Matter’ may be regarded as consisting of ‘atoms.’ Atoms in this connection are taken also as the result of the final division of matter. In every order of matter they are simply certain small particles of the given matter which are indivisible only on the given plane. The atoms of the ABSOLUTE alone are really indivisible, the atom of the next plane, that is, of world 3, consists of three atoms of the ABSOLUTE or, in other words, it is three times bigger and three times heavier, and its movements are correspondingly slower. The atom of world 6 consists of six atoms of the ABSOLUTE merged together, as it were, and forming one atom. Its movements are correspondingly slower. The atom of the next world consists of twelve primordial particles, and of the next worlds, of twenty-four, forty-eight, and ninety-six. The atom of world 96 is of an enormous size compared with the atom of world 1; its movements are correspondingly slower, and the matter which is made up of such atoms is correspondingly denser. 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

“In the big cosmic octave, which reaches us in the form of the ray of creation, we can see the first complete example of the law of octaves. The ray of creation begins with the ABSOLUTE. The ABSOLUTE is the All. The All, possessing full unity, full will, and full consciousness, creates worlds within itself, in this way beginning the descending world octave. The ABSOLUTE is the do of this octave. The worlds which the ABSOLUTE creates in itself are si. The ‘interval’ between do and si in this case is filled by the will of the ABSOLUTE. The process of creation is developed further by the force of the original impulse and an ‘additional shock.’ Si passes into la which for us is our star world, the Milky Way. La passes into sol — our sun, the solar system. Sol passes into fa — the planetary world. And here between the planetary world as a whole and our earth occurs an ‘interval.’ This means that the planetary radiations carrying various influences to the earth are not able to reach it, or, to speak more correctly, they are not received, the earth reflects them. In order to fill the ‘interval’ at this point of the ray of creation a special apparatus is created for receiving and transmitting the influences coming from the planets. This apparatus is organic life on earth. Organic life transmits to the earth all the influences intended for it and makes possible the further development and growth of the earth, mi of the cosmic octave, and then of the moon or re, after which follows another do — Nothing. Between All and Nothing passes the ray of creation. Fragments: Seven

“You know the prayer ‘Holy God, Holy the Firm, Holy the Immortal’? This prayer comes from ancient knowledge. Holy God means the ABSOLUTE or All. Holy the Firm also means the ABSOLUTE or Nothing. Holy the Immortal signifies that which is between them, that is, the six notes of the ray of creation, with organic life. All three taken together make one. This is the coexistent and indivisible Trinity. Fragments: Seven

“The ABSOLUTE or All (world 1) will be do; all worlds (world 3) — si; all suns (world 6) — la; our sun (world 12) — sol; all planets (world 24) — fa; the earth (world 48) — mi; the moon (world 96) — re. The ray of creation begins with the ABSOLUTE. The ABSOLUTE is All. It is — do. Fragments: Seven

“The ray of creation ends in the moon. Beyond the moon there is nothing. This also is the ABSOLUTE — do. Fragments: Seven

“In examining the ray of creation or cosmic octave we see that ‘intervals’ should come in the development of this octave: the first between do and si, that is between world 1 and world 3, between the ABSOLUTE and ‘all worlds,’ and the second between fa and mi, that is, between world 24 and world 48, between ‘all planets’ and the earth. But the first ‘interval’ is filled by the will of the ABSOLUTE. One of the manifestations of the will of the ABSOLUTE consists precisely in the filling of this ‘interval’ by means of a conscious manifestation of neu­tralizing force which fills up the ‘interval’ between the active and the passive forces. With the second ‘interval’ the situation is more complicated. Something is missing between the planets and the earth. Planetary influences cannot pass to the earth consecutively and fully. An ‘additional shock’ is indispensable; the creation of some new conditions to insure a proper passage of forces is indispensable. Fragments: Seven

AT ONE lecture G. began to draw the diagram of the universe in an entirely new way. “So far we have spoken of the forces that create worlds,” he said, “of the process of creation proceeding from the ABSOLUTE. We will now speak of the processes which take place in the already created and existing world. But you must remember that the process of creation never stops, although, on a planetary scale, growth proceeds so slowly that if we reckon it in our time planetary conditions can be regarded as per­manent for us. Fragments: Nine

“The action of the ABSOLUTE upon the world, or upon the worlds created by it or within it, continues. The action of each of these worlds upon subsequent worlds continues in exactly the same way. ‘All suns’ of the Milky Way influence our sun. The sun influences the planets. ‘All planets’ influence our earth and the earth influences the moon. These influences are transmitted by means of radiations passing through starry and interplanetary space. Fragments: Nine

“In order to study these radiations let us take the ‘ray of creation’ in an abridged form: ABSOLUTE-sun-earth-moon, or in other words let us imagine the ‘ray of creation’ in the form of three octaves of radiations: the first octave between the ABSOLUTE and the sun, the second octave between the sun and the earth, and the third octave between the earth and the moon; and let us examine the passage of radiations between these four fundamental points of the universe. Fragments: Nine

“In the first octave the ABSOLUTE will include two notes, do and si, with the ‘interval’ between them. Fragments: Nine

“It must be observed that, although there are six ‘intervals’ in these three octaves, only three of them actually require to be supplemented from outside. The first ‘interval’ between do and si is filled by the will of the ABSOLUTE. The second ‘interval’ do-si is filled by the influence of the sun’s mass upon radiations passing through it. And the third ‘interval’ do-si is filled by the action of the earth’s mass upon radiations passing through it. Only the ‘intervals’ between fa and mi have to be filled by ‘additional shocks.’ These ‘additional shocks’ can come either from other octaves which pass across the given point or from parallel octaves which start from higher points. We know nothing about the nature of the ‘shock’ between mi-fa in the first octaoctave ABSOLUTE-Sun. But the ‘shock’ in the octave Sun-Earth is organic life on earth, that is, the three notes la, sol, fa of the octave which starts in the sun. The nature of the ‘shock’ between mi and fa in the octave Earth-Moon is unknown to us. Fragments: Nine

“If we now examine the first of these three octaves of radiations, that is, the octave ABSOLUTE-Sun, from the point of view of the law of three, we shall see that the note do will be the conductor of the active force, designated by the number 1, while the matter in which this force acts will be ‘carbon’ (C). The ‘active’ force which creates the note do in the ABSOLUTE represents the maximum frequency of vibrations or the greatest density of vibrations. Fragments: Nine

“The active force in the ABSOLUTE represents the maximum ‘density of vibrations,’ while the matter in which these vibrations proceed, that is, the first ‘carbon,’ represents the minimum density of matter. Fragments: Nine

“The note si in the ABSOLUTE will be the conductor of the passive force designated by the number 2. And the matter in which this passive force acts or in which sounds the note si will be ‘oxygen’ (0). Fragments: Nine

“These twelve ‘hydrogens’ represent twelve categories of matter contained in the universe from the ABSOLUTE to the moon, and if it were possible to establish exactly which of these matters constitute man’s organism and act in it, this alone would determine what place man occupies in the world. 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

“Seven cosmoses, taken together in their relation to one another, alone represent a complete picture of the universe. The idea of two analogous cosmoses, accidentally preserved from a great and complete teaching, is so incomplete that it can give no idea whatever of the analogy between man and the world. “The teaching on cosmoses examines seven cosmoses: “The first cosmos is the Protocosmos — the first cosmos. “The second cosmos is the Ayocosmos, the holy cosmos, or the Megalocosmos, the ‘great cosmos.’ “The third cosmos is the Macrocosmos — the ‘large cosmos.’ “The fourth cosmos is the Deuterocosmos — the ‘second cosmos.’ “The fifth cosmos is the Mesocosmos — the ‘middle cosmos.’ “The sixth cosmos is the Tritocosmos — the ‘third cosmos.’ “The seventh cosmos is the Microcosmos — the ‘small cosmos.’ “The Protocosmos is the ABSOLUTE in the ray of creation, or world 1. The Ayocosmos is world 3 (‘all worlds’ in the ray of creation). The Macro-cosmos is our starry world or the Milky Way (world 6 in the ray of creation). The Deuterocosmos is the sun, the solar system (world 12). The Mesocosmos is ‘all planets’ (world 24), or the earth as the representative of the planetary world. The Tritocosmos is man. The Microcosmos is the ‘atom.’ Fragments: Ten

“If we adopt this point of view, we shall have to admit that the relation of one cosmos to another is the relation of two bodies of different dimensions. If one cosmos is three-dimensional then the next cosmos, that is, the one above it, must be four­dimensional, the next — five-dimensional, and so on. If we take the ‘atom’ or ‘microbe,’ as you say, that is, the Microcosmos as a point, then relative to this point man will be a line, that is, a figure of one dimension. The next cosmos, the earth, will be a plane relative to man, that is, it will have two dimensions, as is actually the case for direct perception. The sun, the solar system, will be three-dimensional for the earth. The starry world will be four-dimensional for the sun. ‘All worlds’ are five-dimensional, and the ABSOLUTE or Protocosmos is six-dimensional. Fragments: Ten

“Therefore parallel with this, all the possibilities of the Mesocosmos are realized in the Ayocosmos and all the possibilities of the Deuterocosmos, or the sun, are realized in the Protocosmos or the ABSOLUTE. Fragments: Ten

“Let us take for instance the seventh scale,” said P. “The ABSOLUTE here is ‘hydrogen’ Fragments: Thirteen

96. Fire can serve as an example of ‘hydrogen’ 96. Fire then is the ABSOLUTE for a piece of wood. Let us take the ninth scale. Here the ABSOLUTE is ‘hydrogen’ 384 or water. Water will be the ABSOLUTE for a piece of sugar.” Fragments: Thirteen

I began to draw the diagram on the board. It was the diagram of radiations in three octaves: ABSOLUTE-sun-earth-moon. We were already accustomed to this terminology and to G.’s form of exposition. But I did not know at all what I would say beyond what they knew already. Fragments: Thirteen

that is, in one case x between mi and fa, and in the other between sol and la, where it is not necessary. “The apparent placing of the interval in its wrong place itself shows to those who are able to read the symbol what kind of ‘shock’ is required for the passage of si to do. “In order to understand this, it is essential to recollect what was said about the role of ‘shocks’ in the processes proceeding in man and in the universe. “When we examined the application of the law of octaves to the cosmos then the step ‘sun-earth’ was represented in this way: “In relation to the three octaves of radiation it was pointed out that the passage of do to si, the filling of the interval, takes place within the organism of the sun. It was pointed out in the cosmic octave in relation to the ‘interval’ do-si that this passage is accomplished by the will of the ABSOLUTE. The passage fa-mi in the cosmic octave is accomplished mechanically with the help of a special machine which makes it possible for fa, which enters it, to acquire by a series of inner processes the characteristics of sol standing above it, without changing its note, that is, to accumulate, as it were, the inner energy for passing independently into the next note, into mi. Fragments: Fourteen

“The cosmic octave ‘ABSOLUTE-moon’ has, according to the law of three, been broken into three subordinate octaves. In these three octaves the cosmos is like man; the same ‘three stories,’ the same three shocks. Fragments: Fourteen

“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. Fragments: Fifteen

“It would take a long time to explain,” said G., “and it cannot have a practical significance for us at the present moment. There are two processes which are sometimes called ‘involutionary’ and ‘evolutionary.’ The difference between them is the following: An involutionary process begins consciously in the ABSOLUTE but at the next step it already becomes mechanical — and it becomes more and more mechanical as it develops; an evolutionary process begins half-consciously but it becomes more and more conscious as its develops. But consciousness and conscious opposition to the evolutionary process can also appear at certain moments in the, involutionary process. From where does this consciousness come? From the evolutionary process of course. The evolutionary process must proceed without interruption. Any stop causes a separation from the fundamental process. Such separate fragments of consciousnesses which have been stopped in their development can also unite and at any rate for a certain time can live by struggling against the evolutionary process. After all it merely makes the evolutionary process more interesting. Instead of struggling against mechanical forces there may, at certain moments, be a struggle against the intentional opposition of fairly powerful forces though they are not of course comparable with those which direct the evolutionary process. These opposing forces may sometimes even conquer. The reason for this consists in the fact that the forces guiding evolution have a more limited choice of means; in other words, they can only make use of certain means and certain methods. The opposing forces are not limited in their choice of means and they are able to make use of every means, even those which only give rise to a temporary success, and in the final result they destroy both evolution and involution at the point in question. Fragments: Fifteen

‘The square next below is — plants. The next — minerals, the next -metals, which constitute a separate cosmic group among minerals; and the following square has no name in our language because we never meet with matter in this state on the earth’s surface. This square comes into contact with the ABSOLUTE. You remember we spoke before about ‘Holy the Firm.’ This is ‘Holy the Firm.’” Fragments: Sixteen

In the following square he put figures 3 and 12 and two circles, each with a point at their centers, and called it the “Eternal Unchanging,” and in the next square he put the figures 1 and 6; he put a circle in the middle and in this circle a triangle containing another circle with a point at its center and called it the “ABSOLUTE.” Fragments: Sixteen