The Seven Races

Wisdom Teachings
Eternal Wisdom

When we are contemplating cosmic contexts, our minds open up and break the boundaries of our thought patterns. We are lifted up to something unlimited and grand and we bring something from that greatness into routine life. That’s how the problems of everyday life seem to be pettier and more insignificant. However, before we can become receptive to cosmic wisdom, long years of preparation are necessary, and we have to grow without prejudice beyond the civilised opinions. Though we all are humans of one humanity, there are graduations in comprehension. For better comprehension there has to be a training, which we call the path of discipleship or of yoga.

The ancient wisdom deals with the creation of cosmos and of man. It displays our own history as souls: how our bodies were developed, how we lost our original identity and how to regain it. The exploration of the subjective history of the world goes far beyond the physical and reveals a panorama, which is far greater than modern science knows and acknowledges. Modern consciousness, which has become excessively oriented to the material, closes itself to the subjective consciousness. It doesn’t allow itself to express inner feelings or perceptions. Those who do it are regarded with suspicion. The notion of people and of race is approached only sceptically, also because of the misuse of the words by politicians. Here the word race simply denotes a certain kind of evolutionary development of humanity.

Modern people don’t express their subjective perceptions, but every country has its spiritual content, which every person carries in his psyche. Each of us has a big history, which relates to the race and the nation. The real chronology is veiled and only little is known about it, except in the cave temples of the Masters of Wisdom. Few people were given access to these places, among them H.P. Blavatsky. Her master put her through an intense training, and thus she gained the levels of intuition. This way she could bring out in the “Secret Doctrine” the knowledge from higher circles about the past and future development of earth and of man. She opened a window on a great ocean; with our limited knowledge we shouldn’t pass a sentence on these things.

At the beginning of a creation an impulse comes forth from the eternity of existence. It divides into the three qualities of Will, Love and Activity, which further subdivide into 7 qualities. 7 sounds, 7 colours and 7 planes of existence come forth, which also exist in us in the 7 centres: We are made in the image and likeness of God. Like the week with its 7 days our lives progress in cycles of 7 years, which each should lead us to higher rings. On its evolutionary path through the eons our earth also goes through a chain of 7 incarnations or globes. We are on the 4th, the dense physical globe. We are travellers who have stepped down by 3 steps to the 4th and who will ascend again by 3 further steps.

We didn’t start our journey only on this planet, but have already passed through the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms. In an inconceivable space of time we have changed our clothes many times, but as souls we have our identities. In our innermost being we are an immortal monad, a unit, a spark from the boundless ocean of being. On this planet we pass through 7 waves of life called root races, and each race again has 7 subraces with ramifications. These many subdivisions can confuse us very much. However, we understand the evolution of man and of the universe if we study the phases of human pregnancy, which all of us have passed through unconsciously. For the embryo repeats in short all phases of the development.

Just like the embryo has a jelly-like form at the beginning, the first race was not yet dense physical and without an inner framework of bones. The second race, the “sweat-born”, slowly lead to a gradual condensation of the gigantic, changing forms, which went on during the third race, today called Lemuria. The bodies became smaller and the forms were totally different from those of today. Up to the middle of the 3rd race man was without a mind and the two sexes weren’t yet separated. In the 3rd month the soul enters for 7 months into the womb and envelops itself with the sheaths of personality.

We need a personality in order to be able to make experiences. In order that humanity can consciously make experiences, a group of beings called Manasa Putras (Sons of Cosmic Mind) or Agnishvattas (Lords of the Flame) decided to awaken mind (manas) in man. They are regarded as cosmic rebels and by some also as the fallen angels. There was a lot of discussion in the higher circles whether with free will man would act in accordance with the Plan or not. The conservative forces didn’t want to give him mind. The rebels decided to do it nevertheless: The human beings should get self-awareness and learn through experience, that freedom means responsibility. This happened 18 million years ago.

The Greek legend tells that Prometheus stole the fire of mind from the Gods and gave it to the humans. Thus Pandora’s box was opened and war, pain and suffering came out. The box however didn’t only contain evil, but also hope. It is the hope that mankind will learn to take to the path back to the source of Light in order to develop faster than on the unconscious way and thus will reach the goal and will co-operate in the salvation of humanity.

Since the second half of the 3rd race there were two paths: A small group took to the spiritual path of ascent; they connected through yoga the mind (manas) with buddhi and atma and terminated the cycle of their terrestrial experiences. They associated themselves with the Spiritual Hierarchy founded by the Agnishvattas, with the White Island, Shamballa, as its centre. This path of higher training always stood open for mankind.

The majority however took to the lower mind and to the physical, they evolved intellectually on the cost of spirituality. The Manasa Putras had given the knowledge of good and evil to the human beings, many misused it and followed willingly the left path. With the appearance of the continent of Atlantis, the home of the 4th race, Lemuria went down and thus the traces of its grand civilisation located in the Pacific area.

In Atlantis the growth of personality consciousness assumed enormous forms. The Atlanteans had gigantic psychic powers, which they used for selfish, unholy purposes. They committed many sexual perversions and in their pride of power considered themselves to be Gods. Thus the magicians of the Western lodge with the centre in the area of Peru opened the door to evil.

The initiates of the White Lodge in the Himalayas however believed in simplicity and humbleness. Before Atlantis sank in several steps into the depths of the ocean hundred thousands of years ago, they gathered the seeds of the 5th race and brought them to Central Asia. The people of this new wave of life lead a simple and modest life and devoted themselves to the exploration of the inner.

Gradually the people who sank with the Flood reappeared in new bodies. Even though they carried in them the essence of the experience of suffering, which enabled a certain progress, striving for power and age-old pride increased again. About 15 per cent of humanity today work purposefully with good will, 15 per cent still live the Atlantean urge for greatness and power. They have a strong influence on the remaining 70 per cent, who are easily tempted to the path of comfort, money and power. But through our determination towards good will we strengthen the Forces of Light. We stand at the threshold of the 6th subrace of the 5th race, confronted with the task to break through the crystallisation of the material thought and to lift ourselves up with a purer mind to intuition. The pioneers of the 6th subrace gather particularly in America, where since 300 years people from all nations are intermixed to become a new seed. Once the separative Atlantean attitudes of power, economic manipulation and militant religious thought are overcome, their aspiration for excellence and free thinking will clear the path for the new. Through a bridge to the East it will lead in a still remote future to the 6th and 7th race, to a spiritual civilisation with peaceful co-existence.

Sources used: K. P. Kumar: Seminar notes. The World Teacher Trust. – H.P. Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine. The Theosophical Publishing House (www.theosociety.org ).