The herald., 1896-05-25
Thcosophy

Thcosophy
DR.. Allen Griffiths Of San Francisco
lectured to a large audience Sunday
evening at Odd Fellows hall, his sub
ject being Mental and Physical Hered-
ity.
The lecturer said in part: The meth
DDS of modern thought are superficial.
resulting In the natural error Of mistak-
Ing effects for causes. This Is true as
to the theory of heredity. which as COM
monty understood is misleading. Viewed
specifically, 1t is inviting and seeming
~ satisfactory; but when analysed, it
is discovered to be inadequate to ra-
tionally and justly account for mans
presence and condition on this earth.
The heredity theory may be stated il;
a few words, viz: A given child is what
because it has been so endowed by its
parents and ancestors. Thus, one child
may be born in the lap Of luxury and
lead happy and successful life, while
another Is born in the slums of low, be-
sotted parents, consigned from its birth
to life of misery and misfortune. Botn
are creatures of the whim and caprice
OF q bin and sightless fate. In one case
kind and beneficent; in the other cruel
and malevolent. The child, the one most
concerned. has by this fallacious theory
no voice in its fate, no choice in its des-
lily. ItcdSOn anu JUSTICE cut ITO liz uTc5
as factors in it's life, while chance and
accident run rampant and dash athwart
the domain Of law like unbridled steeds
bent upon escape from pursuing furies.
But the Esoteric philosophy the old
wisdom religion, sheds light upon this
problem. as it does upon all others, and
enables the student to demonstrate
for himself the truth or falsity Of all its
teachings. And that " its supremacy,
coupled with the other fact of its uni.
vereal application to every department
Of knowledge and human endeavor.
Three propositions are submitted to
students for thoughtful consideration.
First. the existence, Immortality. I'm
finite capacity and evolution Of the soul.
the thinker in man, which has its ORR
gin and goal in Deity. the supreme.
Second, repeating and successive
earth lives Of each individual thinker
as the natural order Of it's existence and
evolution on this planet
Third, Karma. the law of the conservn-
ton Of energy, Of cause and effect, which
connects all the many earth lives OF
each thinker in an unbroken series.
In this connection and to better I'M
derstand reincarnation, theosophy
teaches that the thinker utilizes three
distinct bodies in the process. First, the
thought body. which is the permanent
vehicle Of the thinker during the great
evolutionary period. This is the base
of the other two bodies. Second. the
astral body. which is one degree finer
than the body we know most about.
The astral is the ethereal counterpart
of the physical body. and in 1t are To-
Gated the seat of consciousness AMI the
centers Of generation. 1t is fitted into
and fills every part of the physical body.
though It Is possible to separate the as
trail from the physical body and, when
consciously done, the former contains
and ia the vehicle of the mind and will.
1t may travel to any distance and pen
citrate any form Of crude matter. PER
form certain functions and coNnluri-
cate with other minds. This body comes
into existence and continues only during
a personality as our earth life iS called.
The physical body is merely the smell
containing the thought and asst, al bodies
and relates them to the physical plano.
The astral and physical bodies are IN
themselves mere automatuns appear
Ing and disappearing at the behest or
the thinker residing in its permanent
thought body during it's term OF iiicar-
nation on earth.
When an ego, or thinker is ready for
incarnation, 1t is drawn by the law OF
affiinity and it's thought and action OF
past earth lives. to that locality, nation.
community and couple which cores
ponds to it's own status.
The child's body will usually resemble
those Of parents simply because the ego
of the child mentally resembles them.
chronological and physiognomical ia
dications are not determining factors in
the constitutions of man. but only ex-
ternal expressions of, and dependent up
on, internal states OF development.
Physiology demonstrates that mans
physical organism underSoes COM
plete change every seven years. Hence
It follows that at seven years Of age