Does the capacity to enter into a state of suspended animation already exist within us? In nature, several organisms display the capacity to reversibly arrest their life processes—at times, for several years. For instance, embryos of a species of brine shrimp, popularly known as sea monkeys, can live for more than five years without any food, water or oxygen by entering into a seedlike state called quiescence, in which cellular activity is almost at a standstill. Many adult animals can radically reduce their need for food and air during long periods of hibernation, when their heart rate and breathing become almost imperceptible; their body temperature drops to near freezing, and cellular activity is considerably slowed down. Quiescence, hibernation, torpor, etc., represent different degrees of suspended animation, displaying drastic reduction in both metabolism (energy production) and cellular activity (energy comsumption). It has been observed that "organisms in this state enjoy extraordinary resistance to environmental stress, such as temperature extremes, oxygen deprivation and even physical injury," write Mark B. Roth and Todd Nystul. (Scientific American, June 2005)

In human beings, when tissues are deprived of blood and therefore, oxygen, it leads to tissue damage and death, caused by blood loss, heart attacks, stokes, etc. It has also been observed that organs removed from the donor's body, before being transplanted into the receiver's body stand a chance of tissue damage, in the absence of blood and oxygen supply, even for a very short period. Scientists believe that "an ability to put the human body on hold could safeguard the critically injured or preserve the donor organs for transplant." Research on mice has shown that hydrogen sulfide, a chemical produced naturally by human bodies, blocks cells from using oxygen and triggers suspended animation in mice. Can it do the same in humans? Are humans capable of entering into suspended animation? Several cases bear witness to the fact that human beings are capable of resuscitation, even after several hours of oxygen deprivation and even when core body temperature dips to as low as 14 degrees centigrade and the person is pronounced clinically dead.

In Isis Unveiled H.P.B. cites several examples of suspended animation in human beings, as also of revival and resuscitation from that state. According to many modern witnesses, fakirs, by a long course of preparation, have been able to bring their bodies into a condition that enabled them to be buried six feet under ground for an indefinite period. In such cases, after six weeks, the body showed no heat or pulsation in the heart, the temples, or the arm. There was, however, a heat about the region of the brain. The process of resuscitation involved bathing with hot water, friction, rubbing of the eyelids with ghee and clarified butter, and applying hot wheaten cake, about an inch thick, "to the top of the head" (I, 477-478). She also cites cases of apparent death and revival. She writes:

What they [medical men] call "suspended animation," is that state from which the patient spontaneously recovers...In these cases, the astral body has not parted from the physical body; its external functions are simply suspended; the subject is in a state of torpor.

Man is not dead when he is cold, stiff, pulseless, breathless, and even showing signs of decomposition; he is not dead when buried, nor afterward, until a certain point is reached. That point is, when the vital organs have become so decomposed, that if reanimated, they could not perform their customary functions....Until that point is reached, the astral body may be caused, without miracle, to reenter its former tabernacle, either by an effort of its own will, or under the resistless impulse of the will of one who knows the potencies of nature and how to direct them. (Ibid., I, 483-84)

How does nature build a planet? Various theories and models notwithstanding, scientists have been unable to explain the process of planet-formation. One of the simplest theories suggests that planets are formed from the leftover material in the process of star formation. The theory posits a moving cloud of cold gas and dust that collapses under its own weight. As a result, the bulk of the material falls to the centre, giving rise to a proto-star. Due to condensation, the cloud spins faster, forming a round disk of gas and dust around the star, which spirals inward towards the natal star. The planets begin to form in the plane of the disk from the leftover scraps. The process of planet formation may be quick, when the disk of gas and dust is cold and dense, or when the disk becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses on itself. It can be slow and may take tens of millions of years, when bits of dust collide and become pebbles, which collide to become boulders, which collide to become asteroids, and so on, until a rocky planetary core develops, which attracts gases, etc. A new NASA space telescope, Spitzer, is being used to provide details of the dusty disks surrounding the stars that can help in understanding the process of planet formation. However, "Spitzer results did not fit well with any existing theory of how planets form. The new data and our new calculations were forcing us to rethink our assumptions....Spitzer is exposing how much astronomers don't yet know about the new worlds forming out there—and about the old worlds, possibly even habitable ones, that are still undetected," writes Adam Frank (Discover, July 2005)

The Secret Doctrine explains that the worlds and planets are formed from the most ethereal, radiant and homogeneous, primordial matter called Mulaprakriti. At the first reawakening of the cosmic motion, or at the first differentiation, this matter is scattered through space, in clusters and lumps, like curds in thin milk. It is this cosmic matter which is the origin of the "Milky Way," which in turn is the storehouse of the materials from which the stars, planets and other celestial bodies are produced. We are also told that this matter undergoes many stages of differentiation—from its Milky Way condition—before reaching the planets (Transactions, pp. 113-14). The matter in the Milky Way forms "knots" and passes through sun-stage, the cometary and planetary stages (Ibid., pp. 122-23). "The matter, for instance, within the Solar system is in an entirely different state from that which is outside or beyond the system." Moreover, regarding scientific observations, a Master of Wisdom points out that since the light by which all the objects are seen is a reflected light, and taking into account the optical illusion caused by the atmosphere, etc., "it entirely alters the observations of the matter of which the celestial bodies are composed, as it is liable to impose upon us a constitution similar to that of the earth." (Ibid., p. 114)

Regarding the formation of the seven planets and the sun. The Secret Doctrine explains: Allegorically, from the body of Aditi (Mulaprakriti), eight sons are said to have been born. Cosmically and astronomically, (the seven Adityas) these are the seven planets, the eighth son being our sun (S.D., I, 99). The Occult Doctrine rejects the hypothesis that the seven great planets have evolved from the Sun's central mass, "the Sun and the planets are only co-uterine brothers, having had the same nebular origin, only in a different mode from that postulated by modern astronomy" (S.D., I, 589). Further:

Having evolved from Cosmic Space, and before the final formation of the primaries and the annulation of the planetary nebula, the Sun...drew into the depths of its mass all the Cosmic vitality he could, threatening to engulf his weaker "brothers" before the law of attraction and repulsion was finally adjusted; after which he began feeding on...those portions of Ether...of the existence and constitution of which science is as yet absolutely ignorant. (S.D., I, 102)

Is building a better human being the world's most dangerous idea? Asks Alyssa Ford (Utne Reader, May-June, 2005). With new drugs and medical advances making it possible to alter our bodies and minds—manipulating at cell and atom level—many are concerned as to where the modern mania for self-improvement will take us. Is it not better to cling to imperfections? The transhumanists speak of a "posthuman" era comprising transhumans, short for transitional humans, which refers to the day when our species will be a blend of biology and machine. It is believed that public demand for longer lives, prettier children, and better moods will override efforts to stop them and that now it is time to use powerful new technologies to transform the world along progressive lines. James Hughes, the executive director of World Transhumanist Association (WTA) argues that there is no objection when lives are radically transformed through yoga and organic gardening, then why oppose the use of technology to end disease, death, poverty, pain, etc.? "Ultimately we are working to create a world where people have control over their own bodies and minds," says Hughes. Others argue that to be human is to aspire to reach the unreachable. The counter arguement is:

What makes us unique is that we can restrain ourselves. We can decide not to do something that we are able to do. We can set limits on our desires. We can say "Enough."

Authors like Jeremy Rifkin strongly disagree and fear that under the guise of progress the public will be seduced by a new technology whose destructive power far exceeds its benefits. Francis Fukuyama, a conservative scholar, argues that if we do not learn to respect human nature, "we may unwittingly invite the transhumanists to deface humanity with their genetic bulldozers and psychotropic shopping malls." Rifkin, who opposes embryonic cloning in all forms, including "therapeutic" cloning that can be used to generate stem cells, says:

The new divide...falls between those who believe life has "intrinsic" value and those who see it in purely utilitarian terms as "reducible to material for manipulation."

What we can all agree on, whether we are pro-life or pro-choice, is that embryos are potential unique human beings at the early stages of development. To my mind, the idea that we would propose legislation in the U.S. Congress to clone embryos specifically for the purpose of experimentation, or as research models, or to harvest spare parts and then destroy them, opens the door to a commercial eugenics era.

Many questions arise. How do we balance individual desire and freedom against the needs of the others? Will we control our technologies, or will they control us?

Does human perfection consist in achieving technological advancement, and through it, acquiring healthy physical bodies? Can technology help us to acquire better control over our bodies and minds? With all good intentions, when we resort to cloning, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, etc., to improve human life, we are still dealing with the effectual side. To effect real cure for disease, death, pain, etc., we must be able to identify and deal with the causal side. Mr. Judge observes that sickness and disease tend to open up man's mental and moral nature. Sickness must be regarded as surfacing on the bodily plane, inner sickness of the inner being. The physical woes of humanity are only "skin deep." "The deep darkness of the soul and the mind of the race are more important than their outer miseries." (Letters That Have Helped Me)

What could "posthuman" era be like—with great technological power but without commensurate moral development? It could be a race of healthy, beautiful and perhaps, most intelligent, but morally irresponsible individuals. "The downfall of every civilization is caused by the weak morals of those who live in and by it. False knowledge or misuse of knowledge generally accompanies weakened morals. An unbalanced relation between knowledge and ethics brings about a critical stage which, if not promptly attended to, results in death." (Studies in "The Voice of the Silence," p. 1)

Material progress or scientific pursuits do not make for happiness. Individual and collective happiness rests on the realization of interdependence and a strong feeling of love and compassion for humanity in the heart of every individual. In caring for the body, we are forgetting the most important and permanent aspect of man, i.e., his soul. True progress and real perfection must take into account all aspects of the human being—physical, mental, psychic and spiritual.