“What you say,” I said, “reminds me of something I heard about a school in southern India. A Brahmin, an exceptional man in many respects, told a young Englishman in Travancore of a school which studied the chemistry of the human body, and by means of introducing or removing various SUBSTANCES, could change a man’s moral and psychological nature. This is very much like what you are saying.” Fragments: One

“There is another question that interests me very much,” I said. “There are SUBSTANCES which yogis take to induce certain states. Might these not be, in certain cases, narcotics? I have myself carried out a number of experiments in this direction and everything I have read about magic proves to me quite clearly that all schools at all times and in all countries have made a very wide use of narcotics for the creation of those states which make ‘magic’ possible.” Fragments: One

“Yes,” said G. “In many cases these SUBSTANCES are those which you call ‘narcotics’ But they can be used in entirely different ways. There are schools which make use of narcotics in the right way. People in these schools take them for self-study; in order to take a look ahead, to know their possibilities better, to see beforehand, ‘in advance,’ what can be attained later on as the result of prolonged work. When a man sees this and is convinced that what he has learned theoretically really exists, he then works consciously, he knows where he is going. Sometimes this is the easiest way of being convinced of the real existence of those possibilities which man often suspects in himself. There is a special chemistry relating to this. There are particular SUBSTANCES for each function. Each function can either be strengthened or weakened, awakened or put to sleep. But to do this a greatknowledge of the human machine and of this special chemistry is necessary. In all those schools which make use of this method experiments are carried out only when they are really necessary and only under the direction of experienced and competent men who can foresee all results and adopt measures against possible undesirable consequences. The SUBSTANCES used in these schools are not merely ‘narcotics’ as you call them, although many of them are prepared from such drugs as opium, hashish, and so on. Besides schools in which such experiments are carried out, there are other schools which use these or similar SUBSTANCES, not for experiment or study but to attain definite desired results, if only for a short time. Through a skillful use of such SUBSTANCES a man can be made very clever or very strong, for a certain time. Afterwards, of course, he dies or goes mad, but this is not taken into consideration. Such schools also exist. So you see that we must speak very cautiously about schools. They may do practically the same things but the results will be totally different.” Fragments: One

“According to an ancient teaching, traces of which may be found in many systems, old and new, a man who has attained the full development possible for man, a man in the full sense of the word, consists of four bodies. These four bodies are composed of SUBSTANCES which gradually become finer and finer, mutually interpenetrate one another, and form four independent organisms, standing in a definite relationship to one another but capable of independent action. Fragments: Two

“This applies still more, of course, to the ‘mental body’ and the fourth body. Ordinary man does not possess these bodies or their corresponding functions. But he often thinks, and makes others think, that he does. The reasons for this are, first, the fact that the physical body works with the same SUBSTANCES of which the higher bodies are composed, only these SUBSTANCES are not crystallized in him, do not belong to him; and secondly, it has all the functions analogous to those of the higher bodies, though of course they differ from them considerably. The chief difference between the functions of a man possessing the physical body only and the functions of the four bodies, is that, in the first case, the functions of the physical body govern all the other functions, in other words, everything is governed by the body which, in its turn, is governed by external influences. In the second case, the command or control emanates from the higher body. Fragments: Two

“But on the fourth way knowledge is still more exact and perfect. A man who follows the fourth way knows quite definitely what SUBSTANCES he needs for his aims and he knows that these SUBSTANCES can be produced within the body by a month of physical suffering, by a week of emotional strain, or by a day of mental exercises — and also, that they can be introduced into the organism from without if it is known how to do it. And so, instead of spending a whole day in exercises like the yogi, a week in prayer like the monk, or a month in self-torture like the fakir, he simply prepares and swallows a little pill which contains all the SUBSTANCES he wants and, in this way, without loss of time, he obtains the required results. Fragments: Two

“Returning to the law of three, one must learn to find the manifestations of this law in everything we do and in everything we study. The application of this law in any sphere at once reveals much that is new, much that we did not see before. Take chemistry, for instance. Ordinary science does not know of the law of three and it studies matter without taking into consideration its cosmic properties. But besides ordinary chemistry there exists another, a special chemistry, or alchemy if you like, which studies matter taking into consideration its cosmic properties. As has been said before, the cosmic properties of each substance are determined first by its place, and secondly by the force which is acting through it at the given moment. Even in the same place the nature of a given substance undergoes a great change dependent upon the force which is being manifested through it. Each substance can be the conductor of any one of the three forces and, in accordance with this, it can be active, passive, or neutralizing. And it can be neither the first, nor the second, nor the third, if no force is manifesting through it at the given moment or if it is taken without relation to the manifestation of forces. In this way every substance appears, as it were, in four different aspects or states. In this connection it must be noted that when we speak of matter we do not speak of chemical elements. The special chemistry of which I speak looks upon every substance having a separate function, even the most complex, as an element. In this way only is it possible to study the cosmic properties of matter, because all complex compounds have their own cosmic purpose and significance. From this point of view an atom of a given substance is the smallest amount of the given substance which retains all its chemical, physical, and cosmic properties. Consequently the size of the ‘atom’ of different SUBSTANCES is not the same. And in some cases an ‘atom’ may be a particle even visible to the naked eye. Fragments: Five

“The active, the passive, and the neutralizing forces are designated by the figures 1, 2, 3, and the SUBSTANCES by the letters C, 0, N, and H. These designations must be understood.” Fragments: Five

“All matters from ‘hydrogen’ 6 to ‘hydrogen’ 3072 are to be found and play a part in the human organism. Each of these ‘hydrogens’ includes a very large group of chemical SUBSTANCES known to us, linked together by some function in connection with our organism. In other words, it must not be forgotten that the term ‘hydrogen’ has a very wide meaning. Any simple element is a ‘hydrogen’ of a certain density, but any combination of elements which possesses a definite function, either in the world or in the human organism, is also a ‘hydrogen.’ Fragments: Nine

“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. Fragments: Nine

“Altogether in examining the ‘table of hydrogens,’ it must always be remembered that each ‘hydrogen’ of this table includes an enormous number of different SUBSTANCES connected together by one and the same function in our organism and representing a definite ‘cosmic group.’ Fragments: Nine

“The ‘table of hydrogens’ makes it possible to examine all SUBSTANCES making up man’s organism from the point of view of their relation to different planes of the universe. And as every function of man is a result of the action of definite SUBSTANCES, and as each substance is connected with a definite plane in the universe, this fact enables us to establish the relation between man’s functions and the planes of the universe.” Fragments: 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. Fragments: 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 Fragments: 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. Fragments: Nine

“The process of transforming the SUBSTANCES which enter the organism into finer ones is governed by the law of octaves. Fragments: Nine

“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. “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 Fragments: Nine

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. Fragments: Nine

“In order to extract more, it is necessary to have in our organism a certain quantity of corresponding fine SUBSTANCES. Then the fine SUBSTANCES contained in the organism act like a magnet on the fine SUBSTANCES contained in the inhaled air. We come again to the old alchemical law: ‘In order to make gold, it is first of all necessary to have a certain quantity of real gold.’ ‘If no gold whatever is possessed, there is no means whatever of making it.’ Fragments: Nine

“The whole of alchemy is nothing but an allegorical description of the human factory and its work of transforming base metals (coarse SUBSTANCES) into precious ones (fine SUBSTANCES). Fragments: Nine

“If we now take the work of the human factory as a whole, we shall be able to see at the moments when the production of fine SUBSTANCES is arrested by what means we can increase the productivity of the factory. We see that, under ordinary conditions and working with one mechanical ‘shock’ the factory produces a very small quantity of the fine SUBSTANCES, in fact only si 12. Working with one mechanical and one conscious ‘shock’ the factory now produces a much greater quantity of the fine SUBSTANCES. Working with two conscious ‘shocks’ the factory will produce a quantity of the fine SUBSTANCES such as, in the course of time, will completely change the character of the factory itself. Fragments: Nine

“Thus we see that our organism has the different kinds of fuel necessary for the different centers. The centers can be compared to machines working on fuels of different qualities. One machine can be worked on oil residue or crude oil. Another requires kerosene; a third will not work with kerosene but requires gasoline. The fine SUBSTANCES of our organism can be characterized as SUBSTANCES of different flash-points, while the organism itself can be compared to a laboratory in which the combustibles of different strengths required by the different centers are prepared from various kinds of raw material. Unfortunately, however, there is something wrong with the laboratory. The forces controlling the distribution of combustibles among the different centers often make mistakes and the centers receive fuel that is either too weak or too easily inflammable. Moreover, a great quantity of all the combustibles produced is spent quite uselessly; it simply runs out; is lost. Besides, explosions often take place in the laboratory which at one stroke destroy all the fuel prepared for the next day and possibly for even a longer period, and are able to cause irreparable dam-age to the whole factory. Fragments: Nine

“It must be noted that the organism usually produces in the course of one day all the SUBSTANCES necessary for the following day. And it very often happens that all these SUBSTANCES are spent or consumed upon some unnecessary and, as a rule, unpleasant emotion. Bad moods, worry, the expectation of something unpleasant, doubt, fear, a feeling of injury, irritation, each of these emotions in reaching a certain degree of intensity may, in half an hour, or even half a minute, consume all the SUBSTANCES prepared for the next day; while a single flash of anger, or some other violent emotion, can at once explode all the SUBSTANCES prepared in the laboratory and leave a man quite empty inwardly for a long time or even forever. Fragments: Nine

“Exactly the same relationship is repeated in all completed processes. In examining the processes of nutrition in the human organism and the transformation of the SUBSTANCES taken into the organism, we find in these processes exactly the same ‘intervals’ and ‘shocks.’ Fragments: Fourteen

“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. 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

“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. Fragments: Sixteen

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. Fragments: 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.” Fragments: Seventeen