The higher centers. Myths and symbols. Verbal formulas. "As above, so
below." "Know thyself." Duality. Transformation of duality into trinity. The line of will. Quaternity, Quinternity—the construction of the pentagram. The five
centers. The Seal of Solomon. The symbolism of numbers, geometrical
figures, letters, and words. Further symbologies. Right and wrong
understanding
of symbols. Level of development. The union of knowledge and being: Great
Doing. "No one can give a man what he did not possess before." Attainment
only through one's own efforts. Different known "lines" using symbology. This system and its place. One of the principal symbols of this teaching. The
enneagram. The law of seven in its union with the law of three. Examination of
the enneagram. "What a man cannot put into the enneagram, he does not
understand." A symbol in motion. Experiencing the enneagram by movement.
Exercises. Universal language. Objective and subjective art. Music. Objective
music is based on inner octaves. Mechanical humanity can have subjective art
only. Different levels of man's being.
CHAPTER XV
Religion a relative concept. Religions correspond to the level of a man's being.
"Can prayer help? " Learning to pray. General ignorance regarding
Christianity. The Christian Church a school. Egyptian "schools of repetition."
Significance of rites. The "techniques" of religion. Where does the word "I"
sound in one? The two parts of real religion and what each teaches. Kant and
the idea of scale. Organic life on earth. Growth of the ray of creation. The
moon. The evolving part of organic life is humanity. Humanity at a standstill.
Change possible only at "crossroads." The process of evolution always begins with the formation of a conscious nucleus. Is there a conscious force fighting
against evolution? Is mankind evolving? "Two hundred conscious people could
change the whole of life on earth." Three "inner circles of humanity." The
"outer circle." The four "ways" as four gates to the "exoteric circle." Schools of the fourth way. Pseudoesoteric systems and schools. "Truth in the form of a
lie." Esoteric schools in the East. Initiation and the Mysteries. Only selfinitiation is possible.
CHAPTER XVI
Historical events of the winter 1916-17. G.'s system as a guide in a labyrinth of
contradictions, or as "Noah's Ark." Consciousness of matter. Its degrees of intelligence. Three-, two- and one-storied machines. Man composed of man,
sheep and worm. Classification of all creatures by three cosmic traits: what