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God, who brings into existence beings from the realms of absolute nothingness by an act of his volition. The Dhyan Chohans, as has been already shown, are no more creatures or creators, than we are ourselves. With us, all will is free, because there is no overruling Power to interfere with its exercise. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that there is a law which every will has to obey, because the nature of the One and only Substance in the Universe is the embodiment of that Law. I have stated the doctrine quite plainly, I believe, and will now leave it to the reader to find out if it agrees with his notions of free-will and predestination, or not. The objection under notice seems to have arisen from a mistaken apprehension of the nature of the Dhyan Chohans; and, when once explained, the doctrine contained in "Esoteric Buddhism" will be found more scientific than the objectors imagine. The two passages in that book which, according to Mr. Maitland, conflict with human "free-will," have thus been, again, very strangely misunderstood. It is said on page 189 that the Dhyan Chohans "reign in a divine way over the destinies of the world." Here, perhaps, the word "divine" has led Mr. Maitland to imagine that Mr. Sinnett has invested the Dhyan Chohans with all the attributes of the God of the hoi polloi. But to any ordinary reader it naturally appears that Mr. Sinnett's intention was simply to show what is the nearest approach, in truth, to the common idea about God. The other passage (p. 177) runs thus:—"[The Dhyan Chohans] exercise a guiding and modifying influence throughout the whole progress of evolution, all things being accounted for by law working on matter in its diverse forms, plus the guiding and modifying influence of... the Dhyan Chohans." No more in this, than in the previous passage, is there anything said which would support Mr. Maitland's position. All that Mr. Sinnett asserts here is, that a certain amount of the evolutionary energy of the universe operates through the endeavours of a host of exalted beings, the conscious agents of the Immutable Law, inherent in the One Life, which is non-conscious, only because consciousness is limited and conditioned.
