Formed structure is considered as
material which has already passed out of the realms of life; what lives
in it is the protoplasm. So far the esoteric conception fully agrees
with the result of the latest investigations of modern science.
But when we are told by the Esoteric Doctrine that the vital principle
is indestructible, we feel we move on occult, incomprehensible ground,
for we know that protoplasm is, after all, as destructible as the body
itself. It lives as long as life lasts, and, it may be said, it is the
only material in the body that does live as long as life lasts. But it
dies with the cessation of life. It is true it is capable of a sort of
resuscitation. For that very dead protoplasm, be it animal or
vegetable, serves again as our food, and as the food of all the animal
world, and thus helps to repair our constantly wasting economy. But for
all that it could hardly be said to be indestructible; it is
assimilable--that is to say, capable of re-entering the domain of life,
through its being taken up by a living body.
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