ANTHROPOLOGY 97 



Death 



The word "Death" implies two meanings: i. Cessa- 

 tion of the activity of Life; 2. Annihilation of Form. 

 Form is an illusion, and has no existence independent of 

 Life ; it is only an expression of life, and not productive 

 of it. The form cannot cease to live, because it never 

 lived before, and the death of a form is only the cessation 

 of the eternal power of life in one form of manifestation 

 of its activity preceding its manifestation in some other 

 form. But Life itself cannot die or be annihilated, 

 because it is not born of a form. It is an eternal power, 

 that has always existed and always will exist. The 

 annihilation of a particle of life would be a loss to the 

 Universe that could not be replaced. Life is a function 

 of God,^ and will always exist as long as God is. 



Before we can expect to die, we must first come to 

 life. Life cannot cease to be active in a form as long as 

 it has not become active therein. There are two kinds 

 of life in man — the spiritual and the natural life. If the 

 natural life ceases to be active in a man, the man dies, and 

 he will then be conscious only of the life of his spirit ; 

 but if that life has not become active in him during 

 his natural life, it will not become so by means of his 

 death. No mortal man can become immortal by dying ; 

 he must have gained (become conscious of) eternal life 

 during his terrestrial existence before he can expect to 

 retain that life after the death of his body. " What is 

 death ? It is that which takes the life away from us. 

 It is the separation of the immortal from the mortal part. 

 It is also that which awakens us and returns to us that 

 which it has taken away " {Paramirum, ii.). 



" Each form is an embodiment of certain principles or 

 qualities. If there were, for instance, no heat, nothing 

 could become hot. If there were no wisdom, no man 



^ The seventh principle. 



