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348 understood that my views are not at all compulsory on any Fellow of the Theosophical Society, in this conntry or abroad; my object being simply to offer food for reflection, and to lead our Brother-members to more active and independent investigation.

The Dhyan Chohans are referred to by a variety of names in the Hindu sacred writings. The Dhyan Chohan when incarnating himself as a man, at the first appearance of humanity on our planet, is referred to as Manu Swayambhu (the self-existent) who begets the seven Rishis uncorporeally, they being known as his manasaputras—the children of manas or mind—and who, therefore, represent the 5th principle of the planet. These are referred to as 7 × 7 in Occult treatises; and it is they again, who are appointed, we are taught, to hold in trust for the nascent human race the sacred Wisdom-Religion. These Rishis beget, i. e., take under their charge, the seven Pitris, the first evolved men on this planet, and ancestors of all the human family. This is one aspect of the thing. As the offspring of Aditi or the "Measureless," the Infinite (Prakriti) the Dhyan Chohans are known as the Adityas, who are said to be twelve in number, with reference to the different grades among them. These Dhyan Chohans, as the guardian spirits of this world, are known also as Dikpalas (the keepers of the different points of the compass), a name under which, it will be found, they are constantly referred to in the earlier Buddhist writings. As agents of destruction of our system, when it comes to its proper termination, they are the twelve Rudras ("burning with anger,"* erroneously translated as "Howlers" by Max Müller), who reduce everything back to its undifferentiated