One evening I was looking through a microscope at the luminous hands of a watch; it was a remarkable sight. High speed particles emitted from the minute quantity of radium salt which was a part of the luminous paint bombarded other atoms of another constituent of the paint (probably barium platino-cyanide), and whenever an atom was struck by one of the flying particles it glowed momentarily, and the effect was as though I were looking into the depths of space with stars sparkling all about. Nothing was still; these sparkles of light appeared in all directions, visible evidence of the activity of particles too small to be seen.
The thought that struck me at the time, and on which I have often pondered, is that nothing is still. With an apparently motionless rock, for instance, there is intense activity going on at the atomic level, typical of similar activity to be found everywhere, even in the depths of interstellar space.
The picture of the atom as it had been conceived a hundred years ago has been discarded entirely. What was at one time held to be a tiny sphere of hard matter is now understood to be mostly space, and within the inconceivably small volume of that space, ultra-minute particles are moving at unbelievable speed in obedience to the enormous forces of which these particles exert upon one another. These forces are spoken of in terms of billions of electron volts of energy. Even these ultimate particles are no longer thought of as being matter but are considered bundles of energy. The best picture of an atom is now a mathematical equation.
Let us see if we can gain some conception of the sizes of some of these particles, relative to their distances from one another. In order to give meaning to the concept that matter is mostly space, it has been estimated that if it were possible to squeeze together all the matter of which the Earth is composed (and this must include the oceans and the atmosphere) and compress it so that all of the atoms are caused to collapse, leaving no space at all between each atom's particles; and if, furthermore, all of the atoms and molecules could be brought together, causing them to touch one another, with no space left between them, the this whole Earth could be made to fit within the volume of an average sized room! And since we have not eliminated any of the material itself, this mass would weight as much as the Earth now weighs! While such a fact could obviously not be accomplished with the earth, it is nevertheless believed that matter at the center of certain of the stars of a particular type is in just such a state of compression, and one cubic inch of such compressed material would weigh perhaps millions of tons!
Another way to visualize this would be to suppose that we could shrink our entire Galaxy and all the stars in it so that the size of the average star would be reduced to that of a basketball. But because we are maintaining their relative distances, it would follow that at the same time the spaces between the stars would be reduced in the same proportion. Even so, there would not be room for more than a dozen of such compressed stars within the limits of continental North America! So if you can imagine 12 basketballs spaced about within this land mass, you would have a rough idea of the distances between the stars relative to their size.
The stars vary greatly in size; some are very small, as stars go, perhaps only one hundredth the size of our Sun. Some are very large as is the case with Betelgeuse in the Constellation Orion, and it is estimated that our Sun, with Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars on their respective orbits could all be accommodated within its volume.
Now let us imagine, if we can, the amount of material that must exist in our Galaxy, which consists of over a hundred billions of suns. Great as that must be, it is believed that there is far more matter in the form of gases and clouds of dust which float about in the spaces between the stars. These great clouds of gas and cosmic dust are known as the Nebulae. Some of them glow by starlight reflected and diffused within the cloud itself, which gives us an idea of the immense size of the nebulae. Other clouds glow by reason of electronic excitation caused by the intense radiation emitted by some of the stars. The phenomenon is similar to the light emitted by the molecules of gas within the tubing which is used to make advertising signs. Some other nebulae glow because, when traveling at high speed (a hundred miles a second or more), sometimes one cloud will penetrate another, and the collision of the molecules forming these clouds will cause them to glow as a result of their impact. Then again, there are nebulae which do not glow at all. These are the Dark Nebulae which actually hide the light of the stars behind them. However, we must not imagine any of these nebulae to be dense like smoke. Actually the gases of which they are composed are exceedingly diffuse.
There is one important nebula, the Great Nebula in Orion, which is so diffuse in nature that it might be compared in density to that of the air that is left in an ordinary electric light bulb, which by our standards is a vacuum. Yet this nebula is so huge that it weights 22,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (twenty-two octillion) tons!
A great deal of this material which fills the spaces between the stars is debris, the remains of dead stars, comets and what not. When these particles are large they are known as meteorites, and so far as is known, these bits of cosmic dust will wander about at high speed for countless ages and a very small percentage of this material will become absorbed by the stars and the planets. Yet we do receive material from outer space all the time; it is estimated that hundreds of tons are collected every day, but this is infinitesimal as compared with the amount of material that there is in outer space.
Apart from all of this debris, which we may regard as useless, there are two very important types of nebulae which should command our attention. Some of the most recent theories about these nebulae are coming very close indeed to the theosophical concept concerning the formation of the suns and planets, and it is worth our while to explain some of these modern ideas at this time.
Some of the nebulae, such as the Great Nebula in Orion just referred to, are thought to be the birthplace of stars. In fact, there is birth and death going on all the time in the depths of space, just as there is here on Earth. Only details vary. It is believed that some of the clusters of stars, such as the Pleiades and the Hyades originated from a nebula of this type. The stars forming these clusters are all of the same type and apparently of the same age, and they are moving together as a group. Most of the constellations which we see are groups of stars by appearance only, without any real connection between them cosmologically speaking. However, there are a few real constellations, and it is interesting in this connection that at the present time our Solar System is passing through just such a real constellation, part of which is already known to us as the Great Bear (Ursa Major), also known as the Big Dipper. Although the stars of this constellation appear to be very far away and all seem to be located in one part of the sky, these stars that are identified as belonging to this Ursa Major are only a portion of a large group. One important star belonging to this group is Sirius, the Dog Star, and there are others far less conspicuous. The reason they are apparently in so widely separated parts of the sky is that our Sun is carrying its family of planets right through this group. The Sun does not belong to this constellation; not only is it traveling in quite a different direction from the main group and at a different speed, but also it is not of the same type as the stars of this particular group.
Modern research has determined that the stars are composed of hydrogen for the most part, although of course other chemical elements are present. It is estimated that over ninety percent of the matter in the universe is hydrogen, which is really the primary stuff of which the other chemical elements are made. So these vast nebulae which are destined to resolve themselves into stars are composed chiefly of hydrogen.
Where, then, do the other chemical elements come from? How are they made? That is another story, and we shall tell it according to the theories of some of the modern scientists. A fine book that should be studied in this regard is Fred Hoyle's Frontiers of Astronomy. There are of course many other writers whose work is reliable.
In brief, the theory of the origin of matter states that the many chemical elements are formed at the heart of a star which is in the act of exploding. Such chemical formation requires intense heat and pressure, which can be achieved only at the heart of an exploding star, known as a Supernova. The nebula or cloud of matter which results from such a mighty explosion is composed not chiefly of hydrogen, as are most of the other nebulae, but of quantities of heavier atoms which were formed during the explosion, so it will be rich in many chemical elements. Such is the Crab Nebula in the Constellation Taurus. This was seen to explode about 5,000 years ago, and at that time the light was plainly visible in broad daylight. It has been estimated that it was equal in brilliance to that given off by several millions of suns! Actually the explosion had taken place thousands of years before, but light takes time to travel in space, and that is why we do not see these cosmic events when they actually happen.
A second type of nebula may be formed in the following manner: Many of the stars travel in pairs. As such they are called Binaries or double stars. It is believed that when one star of such a pair becomes a Supernova, the resulting cloud of gas completely envelopes the other star, and the materials of which this cloud is formed are held by the gravitational pull of this companion star. Much of the material will become absorbed by the star, but much of it will remain for a time in the form of an immense atmosphere surrounding the star destined to become a sun to its own solar system. As this atmosphere rotates and condenses, it will tend to form concentric rings, which will become separated from one another something like the rings of Saturn. It is thought that the matter which composes these rings will gradually begin to coalesce and form nuclei which will sweep up the material of the rings and thus form a family of planets following nearly circular orbits around the star, which now becomes the sun for these newly formed satellites. Thus the planets will be rich in chemical elements newly formed in the stellar explosion that was the Supernova.
When this idea was first presented by modern science, it was the cause of rejoicing among many theosophical students, for while much was lacking in the theory, it was nevertheless a giant step in the direction of the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom. Though it deals with one aspect only, and for that reason is necessarily incomplete, it is nevertheless a great advance over some theories which had been widely taught even as recently as twenty years ago.
The incompleteness of all the scientific hypotheses lies in the fact that in every instance the explanation of certain cosmological processes is from a purely mechanistic viewpoint. One could not expect Science to do otherwise than present a mechanistic picture. Philosophical and religious concepts lie outside the province of modern science. However, if we were to be content with a scientific explanation alone, it would be like saying that the only explanation for a letter being written is that a man sat before his typewriter and moved his fingers in a certain predetermined manner (the only manner possible which would have resulted in the letter in question), and that this motion activated the mechanism of the typewriter. The explanation does cover one aspect of the writing of the letter, but it would be absurd to think that this was the whole explanation. Nor need we labor the point here, because the other factors are self-evident.
The case is somewhat similar in the presentation of modern scientific ideas as to the origin of the universe and its component parts. In the chapters which have gone before, we have attempted to present some of the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom concerning the origin and the building of the Earth Chain. These teachings do not run counter to the scientific teachings as to the origin of this physical globe. There is no religion higher than Truth, and a scientific truth must fit into the general picture — provided it actually is a statement of truth.
Thus, insofar as the explanation of the appearance of the planets around a star is concerned, the modern scientific hypothesis has some very remarkable features. One of the most interesting is the concept that the materials of which the planets were formed are the result of the mighty nuclear processes which were a part of the explosion of the supernova. It is quite an idea to consider that the very materials of which our bodies are formed were once at the heart of a star!
Let us then give a brief statement of but one aspect of the relationship that exists between the Sun and his family of planets, as explained in the deeper teachings of the Ancient Wisdom.
There is a constant give and take between the Sun and the Planets, not only in the sense of the transfer of particles emanated from the Sun, which phenomenon results in the appearance of the Northern and Southern Lights, but also in electrical storms, and in the many growth processes which maintain life on the earth itself.
There is another instance of give and take between the Sun and the Planets which might be expressed in this manner: The materials of which the sun is now composed are destined to become the materials of which planets of a future solar system will be formed, which planets will revolve around a star not yet known.
The planets as we know them will eventually become absorbed into the Sun.1 However, this absorption by the Sun will not occur before another five billions of years shall have passed. Such absorption need not necessarily imply that the orbits of the planets are becoming smaller so that the planets will eventually be so close to the sun that they will fall into it. It could mean that the Sun will expand so that in time it will engulf some of the planets. This idea does not run counter to modern scientific thinking; the reader is referred again to Frontiers in Astronomy, p. 140 et seq.
A step further into the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom will lead to the understanding that, since the planets are the outer manifestations of cosmic entities, these “planetary spirits,” as H. P. Blavatsky calls them, themselves partake of the Solar Essence and they too will be absorbed into the living vital essence of the Solar Hierarch in due course of time. Entities which are now a portion of the Sun's own constitution, not yet evolved to the point where they can undertake individualized cosmic existence, will in the far distant future themselves be Planetary Spirits in their own right and will manifest as Planetary Chains of the far distant future.
It is because some of the more recent concepts held and explained by modern Science point in a remote way to these exceedingly recondite teachings of the Ancient Wisdom, that it is a source of real joy to the earnest student when he reads of the continual advancement in modern research and thinking. This cannot be a scientific discussion, however; we must confine ourselves to the purpose in hand, but it would be tempting to take the time to discuss the far-reaching discoveries which are being made almost daily.
Another scientific book which would be well worth the time to study is titled Toward a Unified Cosmology, by Reginald O. Kapp. The author gives some exceedingly well conceived ideas on the nature of the universe and the origin and extinction of matter. He maintains that if one were able to create a complete vacuum, atoms of hydrogen would appear in the course of time because matter is continually appearing. He relates this appearance of matter to the effect of gravitation in a fascinating manner. Here again a modern author presents ideas which point to the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom.
In brief, the teachings state that atoms are continually entering this physical plane through what are termed Laya Centers. The word laya is from the Sanskrit verb-root li — to dissolve. Thus Laya Centers are dissolving points through which matter can and does leave this physical universe to manifest on other planes of consciousness; and vice versa: they are the gateways through which matter enters this physical plane from other planes of consciousness. This ties in with the teachings about the Lokas and Talas previously explained.
Thus we see that not only are the atoms extremely active in the sense in which science explains their activity, but there is activity of another kind, which involves the transfer of atoms from one planes of consciousness to another — in and out of this physical universe.
What, then, are these atoms?
1 It might be stated that from the stadpoint of the Rounds and Races, the older planets are closer to the Sun than are the younger ones.