ion they may not realise the
fact in its fulness and beauty.

We are with those whom we have lost in material form, and
far, far nearer to them now than when they were alive. And it
is not only in the fancy of the Devachani, as some may
imagine, but in reality. For pure divine love is not merely
the blossom of a human heart, but has its roots in eternity.
Spiritual holy love is immortal, and Karma brings sooner or
later all those who loved each other with such a spiritual
affection to incarnate once more in the same family
group.[38]

Love "has its roots in eternity", and those to whom on earth we are
strongly drawn are the Egos we have loved in past earth-lives and
dwelt with in Devachan; coming back to earth these enduring bonds of
love draw us together yet again, and add to the strength and beauty of
the tie, and so on and on till all illusions are lived down, and the
strong and perfected Egos stand side by side, sharing the experience
of their well-nigh illimitable past.

THE RETURN TO EARTH.

At length the causes that carried the Ego into Devachan are exhausted,
the experiences gathered have been wholly assimilated, and the Soul
begins to feel again the thirst for sentient material life that can be
gratified only on the physical plane. The greater the degree of
spirituality reached, the purer and loftier the preceding earth-life,
the longer the stay in Devachan, the world of spiritual, pure, and
lofty effects. [I am here ignoring the special conditions surrounding
one who is forcing his own evolution, and has entered on the Path
that leads to Adeptship within a very limited number of lives.] The
"average time [in Devachan] is from ten to fifteen centuries", H.P.
Blavatsky tells us, and the fifteen centuries cycle is the one most
plainly marked in history.[39] But in modern life this period has much
shortened, in consequence of the greater attraction exercised by
physical objects over the heart of man. Further, it must be remembered
that the "average time" is not the time spent in Devachan by any
person. If one person spends there 1000 years, and another fifty, the
"average" is 525. The devachanic period is longer or shorter according
to the type of life which preceded it; the more there was of
spiritual, intellectual, and emotional activity of a lofty kind, the
longer will be the gathering in of the harvest; the more there was of
activity directed to selfish gain on earth