Chapter IV.

THE PERMANENT ATOM.
§ I. The Attaching of thk Atoms.
Let us consider the spiritual Triad, the tri - atomic Atm& - Buddhi - Manas, the jivStma, the seed of consciousness, within which the warmth of the stream of Logic life, which surrounds it, is causing faint thrillings of responsive life. These are internal thrillings, preparatory to external activities. After long prepara- tion, a tinv thread, like a minute rootlet. ap})ears, proceeding from the tri-atomic molecule cnsheathing consciousness, a golden-coloured thread of life sheathed in buddhic matter ; countless such threads appear from the countless JivAtm&s. waving vaguely at first in the seven great streams of life, and then becoming anchored — if the expression may be
»5
86
pennitted — by attachment to a single mcdecule or unit, on the fourth mental 5ub-[dane. This anchoring — like the previous one to the three higher atoms, and like the later ones to the astral and physical atoms — is brought about by the action of the Shining Ones. Round this attached unit gather temporary aggrega- tions of elemental essence of the Second Kingdom, scattering and regathering, over and over ^;aJn, ever with die attached unit as centre. This stable centre, serving for an endless succession of changing complex forms, is gradually awakened by the vibrations of these forms into faint responses, these again thrilling feebly upwards to the seed of Consciousness, and producing therein vaguest internal movements. It cannot be said that each centre has always round it a form of its own ; for one aggregation of elemental essence may have several, or very many, of these centres within it, or, again, may have only one, or none. Thus, with inconceivable slowness, these attached units become possessors of certain quali- ties ; that is, acquire the power of
THE PERMANENT ATOM.
87
«ing in
certain ways,
which .
ng and will hereafter make thoughts possible. The Shining Ones of the Second Elemental Kingdom work upon them also, directing upon them the vibrations to which they gradually begin to respond, and surrounding them with the elemental essence thrown oft" from their own bodies.' Moreover, each of ihe seven typical groups is separated firom the others by a deUcate wall of monadic essence (atomic matter ensouled by the life of the Second Logos), the beginning of the wall of the future Group- Soul
This whole process is repeated, when the Third Elemental Kingdom has been fanned. The tiny thread of buddhic ensheathed life, with its attached mental unit, now pushes outwards 10 the desire- plane, and attaches itself to a single astral atom, adding this to itself, as its stable centre on the desire-plane. Round this now gather temporary aggregations of elemental essence of the Third Kingdom, scanering and regathering as before.
' Sec Ev^tion
65 A STUDY IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
Similar results follow, as the countless ■ succession of forms ensheathes this stable centre, awaking it to similarly faint responses, which in their turn thrill feebly upwards to the seed of consciousness, producing therein, once more, vaguest internal movements. Thus, again, these attached atoms become slowly possessed of certain qualities ; that is, acquire the power of vibrating in certain ways, which are connected with sensation, and will hereafter make sensations possible. Here also the Shining Ones of the Third Elemental Kingdom co-operate in the work, using their more highly developed powers of vibration to produce sympa- thetically in these undeveloped atoms the power of response, and, as before, giving them of their own substance. The separating wall of each of the seven groups acquires a second layer, formed of the monadic essence of the desire-plane, thus approaching a stage nearer to the wall of the future Group-Soul.
Once more is the process repeated, when the great wave has travelled onwards into the physical plane. The tiny thread of
i
THE PERMANENT ATOM. 89
buddhic-ensheathed life, with its attached menuJ and desire units, pushes outwards Qoce more, and annexes a physical atom. adding this to itself as its stable centre on the physical plane. Round this (gather ethereal molecules, but the heavier physical matter is more coherent than the subtler maner of the higher planes, and a much longer term of life may be observed. Then — as are formed the ethereal types of the proto-metals, and later proto-mctaLs. metals. oon-metallic elements, and minerals — the Shinin}; Ones of the Ethereal Physical Kingdom submerge these attached atoms in their iiheaths of ether into the one of ibe seven ethereal types to which they R^wctively belong, and they begin their long physical evolution. Before we can loUow this further we must consider Croup-Souls, which on the atomic sub- plane receive their third enveloping layer. But it wilt be well to pause for a while on the nature and the function of these permanent atoms, the tri-units. or triads, which are as a reHexion on the lower pboes of the spiritual Triads on the Uglier, and each of which U atuched to
A fpuiniai Xmd, its JftAunt. Emsi ttnd ooostits oi a phyiKU atm^ sn sMrd ■Mni, and a nmtal unit; pennmenof aliacliBd by a thread of buddbic matter to a ifiMtnal Triad. That duead has —iwiiiii** been called the SfttrfttoiA, the Thread-StilC because the pennaiieiit yaiikiei -tltt direaded on it a* "beads on a striiig-.^ We m^ ^am nsort to a ^St^Hm, sbomng the relation.
S
' This term is used to denote various things, but always in the same sense, as the thread connecting separate particles. It is applied to the re-incarnating Ego, as the thread on which many separate lives are strung ; to the Second Logos, as the Thread on which the bangs in His universe are strung ; and so on. It denotes a function, rather than a spedal enti^, or class or entities,
THB rBKHAHENT ATOM.
§1. The Web of Life,.
It has been said that the connexion wkh the spiritual Triad is through buddhic muter, and this is indicated in the diagram by the dotted line which connects the alDms coming down from the line in the buddhic plane, and nut from the manasic atom. It is of buddhic matter that is spun the marvellous web of life which supports and vivifies all our bodies. If the bodies be looked at with buddhic vision, they all disappear, and in their places is seen a shimmering golden web of inconceivable fineness and delicate beauty, a tracery of aU their parts, in a network with minute mesbes. This is formed of buddhic matter. and within these meshes the coarser atoms arc built together. Closer inspection shows that the whole network is formed of a tingle thread, which is a prolongation of the Suir^tmi. During the antenatal life of the babe, this thread grows out from the permanent physical atom and branches out in every direction, this growth continuing until the physical body is full grown ; durit^ physical life the pr&pa, the life-
A STUDV TN CONSCIOUSNESS.
breath, plays ever along it, following all its branches and meshes ; at death it is with- drawn, leaving the particles of the body to scatter ; it may be watched, slowly dis- entangling itself from the dense physical matter, the life- breath accompanying it, and drawing itself together in the heart round the permanent atom ; as it with- draws, the deserted limbs grow cold — its absence makes the "'death-chill"; the golden- violet flame of the Ijfe-breaih is seen shining around it in the heart, and the flame, and the golden life-web, and the permanent atom rise along the secondary Sushumna-nadi' to the head, into the third ventricle of the brain ; the eyes glaze, as the life-web draws itself away, and the whole of it is collected round the per- manent atom in the third ventricle : then the whole rises slowly to the point of junction of the parietal and occipital sutures, and leaves the physical body —
' There is no English name for this pass^e ; it is a vessel, or canal, rur»ning from the heart to the third ventricle, and will be familiar under the above name to all students of yoga. The primary Sushumij* is the spinal canal.
THE PERMANENT ATOM.
dead, ll thus surrounds the permanent atom like a golden shell — recalling the closely woven cocoon of the silk-worm— to remain enshrouding it till the building of a new physical body again demands its unfolding. The same procedure is followed with the astral and mental jKirticles. so that, when these bodies have disintegrated, the lower triad may be seen as a brilliantly scintillating nucleus within the causal body, an appearance which had been noted, long closer observation revealed its signifi-
^^JTB cl
w
I ti T
I
Ij. Th» Choosing or the Permanent Atoms.
Let us return to the original appropria- tion by the Monad of the permanent atoms of the three higher planes, and seek ID understand someihinjj of their use, of the object of their appropriation ; the same principles apply to the permanent atoms of each plane.
In the first place, it will be remembered that the matter of each plane shows out seven main types, varying according to the dominance of one or other of the
i
94
> STUDY IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
three great attributes of matter: inertia, mobility, and rhythm. Hence the perma- nent atoms may be chosen out of any one of these types, but it appears that, by a single Monad, they are all chosen out of the same type. It appears, further, that while the actual attachment of the perma- nent atoms to the life-thread on the three higher planes is the work of the Hierarchies before spoken of, the choice which directs the appropriation is made by the Monad himself. He himself belongs to one or other of the seven groups of Life already spoken of; at the head of each of these groups stands a Planetary Logos, who "colours" the whole, and the Monads are grouped by these colourings, each " being coloured by his ' Father- Star.' "' This is the first great deter- mining characteristic of each of us, our fundamental "colour," or " key-note," or "temperament." The Monad may choose to use his new pilgrimage for the strength- ening and increasing of this special characteristic ; if so, the Hierarchies will attach to his life-thread atoms belonging ■ Sec The Pedigrte of Man. P. 14.
I Willi
m
THE PERMANENT ATOM. 95
to the group in matter corresponding to his life-group. This choice would result in the secondary "coiour," or "key- note," or " temperament." emphasising and strengthen in;f the first, and. in the later evolution, the powers and ihti weak- nesses of that doubled temperament would show themselves with great force. Or. the Monad may choose to use his new pilgrimage for the unfolding of another aspect of his nature ; then the Hierarchies will attach to his life-thread atoms belong- to the material group corresponding another life-group, that in which the ret he wills to develop is predominant. This choice would result in the secondar)' ■' colour," or " key-note," or " tempera- ment," modifying the first, with corre- sponding results in the later evolution. This latter choice is obviously by far the more frequent, and it tends to a greater complexity of character, especially in the final stages of human evolution, when the influence of the Monad makes itself felt more st;-ongty.
As said above, it appears that all the permanent atoms are taken from the same
96 A STUDY IN
material group, so that those of die kiwer triad correspond wtdi those of die h^rfaer ; but on the loirar planes the influence of these atoms in detennining the type of materials used in the bodies of wludi diey are the generating centres — the question to which we must now turn our attentkm — is very much limited and inte rfe red with by other causes. On the hij^ier (Janes the bodies are relatively permanent, yrben once found, and reproduce definitely the keynote of their permanent atoms, how- ever enriched that note may be by overtones, ever increasing in subtlety of harmony. But on the lower planes, while the keynote of the permanent atoms will be the same, various other causes come in to determine the choice of materials for the bodies, as will be better seen presently.
§4. The Use of the Permanent Atoms.
To put this use into a phrase : The use of the permanent atoms is to preserve within themselves, as vibratory powers, the results of all the experiences through
i
THE PERMANENT ATOH. 97
which they have [>assed. It will f>erhaps be hcst to take the physical atom as an illustration, since this is susceptible of caster cxplanaiion than those on higher planes.
A physical impact of any kind will cause vtlirations corresponding to its own in (he physical body it contacts ; these may be local or general, according to the nature and force of the impact. But whether local or general, they will reach the pennaneni physical atom, transmitted by the web of life in all cases, and in violent impacts by mere concussion also. This vibration, forced on the atom from outside, becomes a vibrator)' power in the atom — a tendency therein to repeat the vibration. Through the whole life of the body, innumerable impacts strike it ; not one bui leaves its mark, on the permanent atom ; not one but leaves it with a new possibility of vibration. All the results of physical experiences remain stored up in this permanent atom, as powers of vibrating. At the end of a physical life. this permanent atom has thus stored up innumerable vibratory powers ; that is, has
A STUDY IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
98
learned to respond in countless ways to the external world, to reproduce in itself the vibrations imposed upon it by rounding objects. The physical bi disintegrates at death ; its particles scattt all carrying with them the result of experiences through which they have passed — as indeed all particles of our bodies are ever doing day by day. in their ceaseless dyings out of one body and ceaseless birthings into another. But the physical permanent atom remains ; it is the only atom thiit has passed through all the experiences of the ever-changing conglomerations we call our body, and it has acquired all the results of all thoj experiences. Wrapped in its goli cocoon, it sleeps through the long y during which the JivatmS that own: living through other experiences in other worlds. By these it remains unaffected, being incapable of responding to th( and it sleeps through its long night undisturbed repose.
When the time for reincarnation comi
' H. P. BUvatsky throws out a hint as (o thd "sleeping atoms." See T/u Secitt Dottriite. ii, ■
tself I
sui^^^
>od^^H tte^^H th^^
id It hos^^^J
THE PERMANENT ATOM.
the
presence
of the
fenders possible the ferti from which the
permanent atom lisaiion of the
body
ovum
grow," its keynote sounds out, and is one of the forces which guide the ethereal builder, the elemental charged with the building of the physical body, to choose the materials suitable for his work, for he can use none that cannot be to some extent attuned to the permanent atom. But it is only one of the forces ; the karma of past lives, mental, emotional, and in relation to others, demands materials capable of the most varied expressions ; out of that karma, the Lords of Karma have chosen such as is congruous, i.e., such as can be expressed through a body of a particular material group : this congruous mass of kanna determines the material group, over-riding the permanent atom. and out of that group are chosen by the elemental such materials as can vibrate in
' H. P. Blavatsky calls the petmaneni nucleus of the Iowa »J planes "the life-atoms;" she says; "The lifc-aiomx of oui (pr^pa) life-principle arc never entirely lost when a man dies ;" they are " transmitted from bthn to son." TTfc Stcnrt Doctrine. \>. 709,
^_ lllct
A STUDY IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
harmony with the permanent atom, or in discords not disruptive in their violence. Hence, as said, the permanent atom is only one of the forces in determining the third "colour," or "keynote," or "tem- perament." which characterises each of us. According to this temperament will be the lime of the birth of the body ; it tnust be born into the world at a time when the physical planetary influences are suitable to its third temperament, and it thus is born " under lis " astrological " Star." Needless to say. it is not the Star that imposes the temperament, but the tempera- ment that fixes the epoch of birth under that Star. But herein lies the explanation of the correspondences between Stars- Star- Angels, that is to say — ^and characters. and the usefulness for educational purposes of a skilfully and carefully drawn horoscope, as a guide to the personal temperament of a child.
That such complicated results, capable of impressing their peculiarities on sur- rounding matter, can exist in such minute space as an atom may. indeed, appear inconceivable — yet so it is. And it
THE PERMANENT ATOM.
ithy notice that ordinary science ■"countenances a similar idea, since the infinilesima! biophors in the germinal cell of Weismann are supposed to thus carry on to tht offspring the characteristics of his Unc of progenitors. While the one brings to the body its physical peculiarities from its ancestors, the other supplies those which have been acquired by the evolving man during his own evolution. H. P. Blavatsky has put this very clearly :
■' The German embryologist-philosopher --stepping over the heads of the Greek Hippocrates and Aristotle, right back into the teachings of the old Aryans — shows one infinitesimal cell, out of millions of others at work in the formation of an organism, alone and unaided determining, by means of constant segmentation and multiplication, the correct image of the future man, or animal, in its physical, mental, and psychic characteristics. Complete the physical plasm, mentioned above, the 'germinal cell' of man with all its material potentialities, with the ' spiritual plasm ' so Co say, or the fluid that contains the 6ve lower principles of
!02 A STUDY IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
the six-principled Dhyani — and you have the secret, if you are spiritual enough to understand it."'
A little study of physical heredity in the light of Weismann's teachings will be sufficient to convince the student of the possibilities of such a body as the per- manent atom. A man reproduces the features of a long-past ancestor, shows out a physical peculiarity that characterised a forbear several centuries ago. We can trace the Stuart nose through a long series of portraits, and innumerable cases of such resemblances can be found. Why then should there be anything extraordinary in the idea that an atom should gather within itself not biophors. as in the germinal cell, but tendencies to repeat innumerable vibrations already practised. No spatial difficulty arises, any more than in the case of a string, from which numerous notes can be drawn by bowing it at different points, each note containing numerous overtones. We must not think of the minute space of an atom as crowded with innumerable vibrating bodies, but of a ' Tke Secret Doctrine. \
^^^J
THE PERMANENT ATOM. IO3
Itmiied number of bodies, each capable of setting up innumenible vibrations.
Truly, however, even the spatial diffi- culty is illusory, for there are no limits to ihc minute any more than to llie j«reat. Modern science now sets in the atom a system of revolving worlds, each world in iu own orbit, the whole resembling a solar system. The master of illusion. Space. like his brother master. Time, cannot here daunt us. There is no limit of the possi- bilities of sub-division in thou^^ht, and hence none in the thought-expression we call matter.
The normal number of spirilla at work in the permanent atoms in this Round is (our. as in the ordinary unattached atoms of matter in i»eneral at this stage of evolution. Hut let us take the permanent atom in the body of a very highly evolved man. a man far in advance of his fellows. In such a case we may lind the permanent atom showing five spirillie at work, and may seek to learn the bearing of this fact on the general materials of his body. In ante-natal life, the presence of this five •spirilla - permanent - atom would have
104 A STLIDV IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
caused the building elemental to select among his materials any simitar atoms that were available. For the most part. he would be reduced to the use of any he could find, which had been in tempo- rary connexion with any body the centre of which was a five-spirills-permanent- atom. Its presence would have tended to arouse in them a corresponding activity, especially — perhaps only — if they had formed part of the brain or nerves of the highly developed tenant of the body. The fifth spirilla would have become more or less active in them, and although it would have dropped back into inactivity after leaving such a body, its temporary activity would have predisposed it to respond more readily in the future to the current of monadic life. Such atoms, then, would be secured by the elemental for his work, as far as possible. He would also, should opportunity serve, appropriate from the paternal or maternal bodies, if they were of a high order, any such atoms as he could secure, and build them into his charge. After birth, and throughout life, such a body would attract to itself any
UnTMANENf ATdli.
■ atoms which came within its mag- netic field. Such a body, in the company of hij»hly evolved persons, would profit lo an exceptional degree by the pro- pinquity, appropriating any five-spirillae- atonvs which were present in the shower of partides Hung off from their bodies. and thus gaining physically, as well as menially and morally, from their company. The ijermanenl astral atom bears exactl) ihc *amt; relation to the astra! body as that borne by the physical permanent atom to the physical body. At the end of the life in k^matoka- purgatory— the golden life- fcithdraws from the astral body. ar!ng it to disintegrate, as its physical nrade had previously done, and enwraps Ac astral permanent atom for its long sleep. A similar relation is borne to the nta] body by the permanent mental rticic during physical, astral, and mental during ihe early stages of human IVolution little improvement is made in the menial permanent unit by the brief devachonic lives, not only on account of their brevity, but because the feeble thoi^ht - forms produced by the un-
io6
A STUDY IK CONSCIOUSNESS.
developed intelligence affect very slightly the permanent unit. But when thought- power is more highly evolved, the devachanic life is a time of great improve- mt-'iu, and innumerable vibratory energies are stored up. and show their value when the time arrives for the building of a new mental body for the next cycle of re-incar- nation. At the close of the mental life in devachan, the golden web withdraws from the mental body, leaving it also to dis- integrate, while it enwraps the mental particle ; and the lower triad of permanent atoms alone remains as the representative of the three lower bodies. These are stored up, as before said, as a radiant nucleus-like particle within the causal body. They are thus all that remains to the Ego of his bodies in the lower worlds, when thai cycle of experience is completed, as they were his means of communication with the lower planes during the life of those bodies.
When comes the period for re-birth, a thrill of life from the Ego arouses the mental unit; the life-web begins to unfold again, and the vibrating unit acts as a
THE PBRUANENT ATOM.
107
•t, drawing towards itself materials
vibratory powers resembling, or
accordant with, its own. The Shining
Ones of the Second Elemental Kingdom
bnng such materials within its reach ; in
the earlier stages of evolution they shape
the matter into a loose cloud around the
permanent unit, but as evolution goes on
the Ego exercises over the shaping an
ever - increasing influence. When the
mental body is partially formed, the life-
l^^^pl awakens the astral atom, and the
^^^be procedure is followed. Finally the
^^^HtDuch reaches the physical atom, and
^T^Wts in the way already described on
pp. 98-ioa
A questioner sometimes asks : How can these permanent atoms be stored up within the causal body, without losing their physical, astral, and mental natures, ancc the causal body e-KJsts on a higher fjanc, where the physical, as physical, cannot be ? Such a querent is forgetting, tor a moment, that all the planes are inter- penetrating, and that it is no more difficult I for the causal body to encircle the triad of the lower planes, than for it to encircle the
io8
STUDY IN CONSCIOt'SNESS.
hundreds of millions of atoms that form the mental, astral, and physical bodies belonging to it during a period of earlh- life. The triad forms a minute particle within the causal body ; each constituent part of it belongs to its own plane, but, as the planes have meeting points every- where, no difficulty arises in the necessary' juxtaposition. We are all on all planes at all times.
;. Monadic Action on
Ato.ms.
We may here enquire : Is there any- thing that can be properly termed monadic action — the action of the Monad on the anupddaka plane — on the permanent atom. Of direct action there is none, nor can there be until the germinal spiritual Triad has reached a high stage of evolu- tion ; indirect action, that is action on the spiritual Triad, which in turn acts on the lower, there is continually. But for all practical purposes we may consider it as the action of the spiritual Triad, which, as we have seen, is the Monad veiled J
THE PERMANENT ATOM. IO9
denser than that of his native
' bathe 1 cvolu
ic spiritual Triad is drawing most of
_ enct^'. and all the directive capacity
of that energy, from the Second Logos,
bathed as he is in tliat stream of Life.
may be called his 'ivn special
ity does nut cuncern Itselt with all
shaping and building activity of the
md Life-Wave, but is directed to the
evolution of the atom itself, in association
with the Third Logos. This energy from
the spiritual Triad confines itself to the
atomic sub-planes, and, until the fourth
I, appears to spend itself chiefly on
permanent atoms. It is directed first
the shaping and then to the vivifying
ibe spirilla: which form the wall of the
The vortex, which is the atom, is
life of the Third Logos , but the wall
the spirilla: is gradually formed on the
l1 surface of this vortex during the
:ni of the Second Logus. not vivified
by Him, but faintly traced uut over the
surface of this revolving voriex of life.
They remain — so far as the Second
Logos is concerned — merely as these
NO A STUDY IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
filmy unused channels, but presently, as the life of the Monad flows down, it plays into the first of these channels, vivifying that channel and turning it into a working fiart of the atom. This goes on through the successive Rounds, and by the time we reach the fourth Round we have four distinct streams of life from each Monad, circulating through four sets of spirilla in his own permanent atoms. Now as the Monad works in the per- manent atom, and it is put forward as the nucleus of a body, he begins to work similarly in the atoms that are drawn round that permanent atom, and vivifies in turn their spirilla ; but thai is tem- porary vivification, and not continuous as in the case of the permanent atom. He thus brings into activity these faint shadowy films, formed by the Second Life- Wave, and. when the life of the body is broken up, the atoms thus stimu- lated return to the great mass o) atomic matter, improved and worked upon by the life which, during their connexion with the permanent atom, has been vivi- fying them. The channels, being thus
THB ITRMANENT ATOM.
developed, are more capable of easily receiving another such life-slream, as they enter another body, .md therein come into relation with a permanent atom belonging lo some other Monad. Thus this work continually goes on. on the physical and astral planes, and in the particle of mental mailer on the mental plane, improving the materials with which the Monads are permanently or temjxirarily connected. and this evolution of atoms is constantly going on under the influence of the Monads. The permanent atoms evolve more rapidly, because of their continuit)' of connexion with the Monad, while the others profit by their repeated temporary association with the permanent atoms.
During the first Round of the terrene Chain, the first set of spirillie of the physical plane atoms becomes thus vivified by the life of the Monad flowing through the itpiritual Triad. This is the set of spirilla; used by the prAijic. or life- breath, currents affecting the dense part of the physical body. Similarly in the second Round the second set of spirillae becomes active, and herein play
I
112 A STtlDV IN COMSCIOUSNESS.
the prAnic currents connected with the etheric double. During these two Rounds nothini; can be found, in connexion with any form, that can be called sensations of pleasure and pain. During the third Round, the third set of spirilla: becomes vivified, and here first appears what is called sensibility ; for, through these spirillae, kamic or desire energy can affect the physical body, the kSniic pr^na can play in them, and thus bring the physical into direct communication with the astral. During the fourth Round, the fourth set of spirillae becomes vivified, and the kSma-mSnasic prSna plays in them, and makes them fit to be used for the building of a brain which is to act as the instrument for thought.
When a person passes out of the normal, and takes up the abnormal human evolution involved in preparing for and entering the Path which lies beyond normal evolution, he has then, in connexion with his permanent atoms, a task of exceeding difficulty. He must vivify more sets of spirillae than are vivified in the humanity of his time.
THE PERNfANENT ATOM. II3
Four sets are already at his service, as a fourth Round man. He begins to vivify a fifth, and thus to bring into manifestation the fifth Round atom while still working in a fourth Round body. It is to this that allusion is made in some early theosophical books, in which '• Fifth Rounders " and ** Sixth Rounders *' arc spoken of as appearing in our present humanity. Those thus designated have evolved the fifth and sixth set of spirilke in their permanent atoms, thus obtaining a better instrument for the use of their highly developed consciousness. The change is brought about by certain yoga practices in the use of which great caution is required, lest injury should be inflicted on the brain in which this work is being carried on, and further progress along that particular line stopped during the present incarnation.
N