1. Life interludes, or those periods wherein the spiritual man is out of incarnation and has withdrawn into the egoic consciousness. These, for the little evolved, are practically non-existent; they cycle in and out of incarnation with amazing rapidity. The physical plane analogy of this rapidity of activity is to be found in the intense rushing to and fro of the ordinary man as he meets the exigencies of existence and also in the difficulty he evidences in patience and in waiting and in achieving the meditative poise. As growth takes place, the periods of withdrawal from incarnation steadily lengthen, until the point is reached when the periods out of physical manifestation greatly exceed those spent in outer expression. Then the interlude dominates. The periods of outgoing (exhalation) and of inbreathing (inhalation) are relatively brief and - the point to be emphasized - these two periods are colored and controlled by the purposes of the soul, formulated and recorded on the mind during the interlude between the two more active stages of [514] experience. The inner life, slowly developed during the cyclic interludes, becomes the dominating factor. The man gradually becomes subjective in his attitude and the physical plane expression is primarily then the result of the inner thought life and not so much the result of reaction to physical plane occurrences and the restlessness of the desire nature.

2. The ebb and flow of daily life during a particular incarnation will also demonstrate its interludes, and these the aspirant has to learn to recognize and to utilize. He has to register the distinction between intense outgoing activity, periods of withdrawal, and interludes wherein the outer life seems static and free from active interest. This he must do if he is to avail himself fully of the opportunity which life experience is intended to furnish. The whole of life is not concentrated in one furious continuous stretch of rushing forth to work, nor is it comprehended in one eternal siesta. It has normally its own rhythmic beat and vibration and its own peculiar pulsation. Some lives change their rhythm and mode of activity every seven years; others alter every nine or eleven years. Still others work under shorter cycles and have months of strenuous endeavor followed by months of apparent non-effort. Some people again are so sensitively organized that, in the midst of work, events and circumstances are so staged that they are forced into a temporary retirement wherein they assimilate the lessons learnt during the preceding period of work.