Band 2 Anthropogenesis - H.P. Blavatsky

VI R. R.
6 1/2
VII ROOT RACE
therefore devoid of the Spiritual element, which is now replaced by the intellectual. For, remember well, as we are in the
manasa period of our cycle of races, or in the Fifth, we have, therefore, crossed the meridian point of the perfect
adjustment of Spirit and Matter -- or that equilibrium between brain intellect and Spiritual perception. One important point
has, however, to be borne in mind.
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[[Vol. 2, Page]] 301 THE ODD EYE IS NOW A GLAND.
We are only in the Fourth Round, and it is in the Fifth that the full development of Manas, as a direct ray from the
Universal MAHAT -- a ray unimpeded by matter -- will be finally reached. Nevertheless, as every sub-race and nation
have their cycles and stages of developmental evolution repeated on a smaller scale, it must be the more so in the case
of a Root-Race. Our race then has, as a Root-race, crossed the equatorial line and is cycling onward on the Spiritual side;
but some of our sub-races still find themselves on the shadowy descending arc of their respective national cycles; while
others again -- the oldest -- having crossed their crucial point, which alone decides whether a race, a nation, or a tribe will
live or perish, are at the apex of spiritual development as sub-races.
It becomes comprehensible now why the "odd eye" has been gradually transformed into a simple gland, after the physical
Fall of those we have agreed to call the "Lemurians."
It is a curious fact that it is especially in human beings that the cerebral hemispheres and the lateral ventricles have been
developed, and that the optic thalami, corpora quadrigemina, and corpora striata are the principal parts which are
developed in the mammalian brain. Moreover it is asserted that the intellect of any man may to some extent be gauged
by the development of the central convolutions and the fore part of the cerebral hemispheres. It would seem a natural
corollary that if the development and increased size of the pineal gland may be considered to be an index of the astral
capacities and spiritual proclivities of any man, there will be a corresponding development of that part of the cranium, or
an increase in the size of the pineal gland at the expense of the hinder part of the cerebral hemispheres. It is a curious
speculation which would receive a confirmation in this case. We should see, below and behind, the cerebellum which has
been held to be the seat of all the animal proclivities of a human being, and which is allowed by science to be the great
centre for all the physiologically co-ordinated movements of the body, such as walking, eating, etc., etc.; in front, the forepart
of the brain -- the cerebral hemispheres -- the part especially connected with the development of the intellectual
powers in man; and in the middle, dominating them both, and especially the animal functions, the developed pineal gland,
in connection with the more highly evolved, or spiritual man.
It must be remembered that these are only physical correspondences; just as the ordinary human brain is the registering
organ of memory, but not memory itself.
This is, then, the organ which gave rise to so many legends and traditions, among others to that of man with one head
but two faces. These may be found in several Chinese works, besides being referred to in the
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[[Vol. 2, Page]] 302 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
Chaldean fragments. Apart from the work already cited -- the Shan Hai King, compiled by King Chia from engravings on
nine urns made 2,255 B.C., by the Emperor Yu, they may be found in another work, called the "Bamboo Books," and in a
third one, the "Rh Ya" -- "initiated according to tradition by Chow Kung, uncle of Wu Wang, the first Emperor of the Chow
Dynasty, B.C., 1,122":-- says Mr. Ch. Gould in his "Mythical Monsters." The Bamboo Books contain the ancient annals of
China, found A.D. 279 at the opening of the grave of King Seang of Wai, who died B.C. 295. Both these works mention
men with two faces on one head -- one in front and one behind (p. 27).
Now that which the students of Occultism ought to know is that THE "THIRD EYE" IS INDISSOLUBLY CONNECTED
WITH KARMA. The tenet is so mysterious that very few have heard of it.
The "eye of Siva" did not become entirely atrophied before the close of the Fourth Race. When spirituality and all the
divine powers and attributes of the deva-man of the Third had been made the hand-maidens of the newly-awakened
physiological and psychic passions of the physical man, instead of the reverse, the eye lost its powers. But such was the
law of Evolution, and it was, in strict accuracy, no FALL. The sin was not in using those newly-developed powers, but in
misusing them; in making of the tabernacle, designed to contain a god, the fane of every spiritual iniquity. And if we say
"sin" it is merely that everyone should understand our meaning; as the term Karma* would be the right one to use in this
case; while the reader who would feel perplexed at the use of the term "spiritual" instead of "physical" iniquity, is
reminded of the fact that there can be no physical iniquity. The body is simply the irresponsible organ, the tool of the
psychic, if not of the "Spiritual man." While in the case of the Atlanteans, it was precisely the Spiritual being which sinned,
the Spirit element being still the "Master" principle in man, in those days. Thus it is in those days that the heaviest Karma
of the Fifth Race was generated by our Monads.
As this sentence may again be found puzzling, it is better that it should be explained for the benefit of those who are
ignorant of the theosophical teachings.
Questions with regard to Karma and re-births are constantly offered, and a great confusion seems to exist upon this
subject. Those who are born and bred in the Christian faith, and have been trained in the idea
[[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------------------------
* Karma is a word of many meanings, and has a special term for almost every one of its aspects. It means, as a synonym
of sin, the performance of some action for the attainment of an object of worldly, hence selfish, desire, which cannot fail to