1 8 Evolution oj Life and Form. 



or whether, instead of using philosophical, abstract 

 terms, you say He is manifest as Ishvara in the 

 Trimurti as Mahadeva, Vishnu and Brahma, it 

 matters not. You may take the concrete form or 

 the abstract, the fundamental idea is the same : that 

 the Divine Self in manifestation is triple, and there- 

 fore in every great religion God is spoken of as a 

 Trinity. If this were not so, the relationship 

 between God and man would remain for ever un- 

 intelligible, for man shows a triplicity as he evolves. 

 The human reflection of that triple Divine Self is 

 the triple Self in man. 



One by one are the Divine aspects unfolded as 

 manifestation proceeds. The lowest, if I may dare 

 to use such a term, is the aspect which is first 

 brought into activity for the building of the universe. 

 So also in man the intelligence awakens and becomes 

 active, the lowest aspect of the human Self. That 

 is the reflection of Brahma, of the Universal Mind, 

 the creative energy from which all comes forth ; 

 and you may find in yourselves, as you evolve, that 

 creative faculty of imagination which, working at 

 present in subtle matter, will, when man is per- 

 fect, work in grosser matter as well; for the 

 imaginative power in man is the reflection of the 

 power that in God created the universe. Brahma 

 meditated, and all forms came forth ; and in the 



