Douglas Keene – USA
As we plunge into the darkness and the cold of winter (now in the northern hemisphere) and then begin to climb out again we can’t help but think of the cycles we experience in life. The annual verdant explosion of spring, the gentle breezes of summer and in the involution and withdrawal of autumn touch most of us. The annual trip around the sun causes reflection on past seasons, but begets questions about the future. Day and night, birth and death, and other natural revolutions are constant reminders of the impermanence of all life, including our own. Theosophy teaches that cycles are even more extensive, including root races, rounds, and chains. Planets are born and stars die.
H. P. Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine states:
Thus we see in history a regular alternation of ebb and flow in the tide of human progress. The great kingdoms and empires of the world, after reaching the culmination of their greatness, descend again, in accordance with the same law by which they ascended; till, having reached the lowest point, humanity reasserts itself and mounts up once more, the height of its attainment being, by this law of ascending progression by cycles, somewhat higher than the point from which it had before descended. They are called in the Eastern esotericism the Karmic cycles.”
The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 641-642
History, too, has cycles, if we can look with a sufficient perspective. Sentiments can change, vanish, and then become round again. Battles are won and lost and political borders shift. But like minnow in an eddy, it can be difficult to see a broader perspective. Mark Twain has quipped “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” to note that the specifics will vary but the essence returns.
Each situation is new and requires insight, judgment, and creative action, but often feels familiar, having occurred similarly in this life or a previous incarnation.
This repetition can be frustrating when obstacles are involved. “Haven’t I dealt with this already?” we may be asking ourselves. “Why am I being tested again?”. But there is also comfort, knowing that we are part of a process, circular, but overall progressing, as the spiral does, reminiscent of the past and yet to a slightly new destination. Can this be thought of progress, particularly in the shorter term? This is largely up to us. Will we make the choices that help us advance, both as individuals and as a global community?
Many believe that karma is part of the equation. We will be born again to gain the experiences of incarnation on this planet, or perhaps elsewhere, but we will not be the same person. We will have a new set of physical, astral, and lower mental bodies with which to manage. In addition, we will gain the karma of our previous life cycle. Whether this is an asset or burden will depend on its nature and how we apply it.
The Skandhas, 5 in number in Buddhism, relate to the physical form and personality. In theosophy, they are described as bundles or groups of attributes; everything finite, inapplicable to the eternal and the absolute” (Theosophical Glossary, HPB). The Skandhas, because they are imperfect, cannot follow the monad to Devachan, but do attach to the new personality, once it is descending into matter. Mahatma K.H. wrote: "The Buddhist calls this his Skandha, the Hindu gives it the name of Karma.
So, by contributing to our personality, this has a great influence on our destiny. It will help define our capacities, our challenges, our interests and desires. Dora Kunz wrote “The concept of Skandhas comes closer, I believe, than any other to identifying the causal connection between our past in its entirety and what we now are.” .
We live in a universe of cycles, but we can find our way by close attention to the divinity in the periodicity, and in ourselves.