140 THE NATURE OF NATURE 



unrecognised way conditions on this Earth may 

 be influenced in their general outlines by what is 

 taking place in the Universe at large, in the same 

 way as conditions in a village in India are affected 

 by public opinion in England as epitomised in the 

 decisions of the Cabinet. The remote Indian village 

 is unaware that men in England have decided to 

 grant responsible government to India in due 

 course. And even if the villagers were told of this 

 they would not realise the significance of the decision 

 and how it would affect the fortunes of their village 

 for good or ill during the next century or two. 

 Conditions on this Earth may be similarly being 

 affected by decisions made in other parts of the 

 Universe — decisions the significance of which we 

 would be as totally unable to recognise as the 

 Indian villagers are to recognise the significance of 

 the steps towards self-government which have just 

 been made. 



The Universe is so interconnected, and there 

 is so much interaction between the parts and the 

 whole, that the Earth may be more affected 

 than we think by what goes on in the Universe at 

 large. If there are higher levels of being among 

 the stars, it may well be that the successive rises 

 to higher levels on this Earth — ^from inorganic to 

 organic, from organic to mental, and from the 

 mental to the spiritual — have come about through 

 this interaction between the parts and the whole. 

 Conditions on this Earth may be more affected than 

 we are aware of by the Universe in its ensemble, and 

 by the actions of higher beings in other Earths. 



In this very matter of Beauty, for example, it 



