Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00283)

April 14th

Dear Bjorn:

"Egotism" -- I meant a selfish and acquisitive attitude. The
opposite of unselfishness, generosity and compassion.

Metaphysically, as I understand, when the ONE SPIRIT subdivides
into manifestation (under KARMA) there appear two polar
opposites, naked SPIRIT and MATTER.

But, as these have been in manifestation before, and have
interacted there, of necessity arose the intermediary principle
of consciousness -- a sense of "I"-ness or "Ahamkara"
(Sanskrit) -- In us, it seems to translate as: the "sense of
separateness." Hence I used the word "egotism" -- meaning the
selfish self or sense of "I" as different from "others." I am
sure you know this concept.

Manifestation beginning again, the third aspect which is
intermediary between SPIRIT and MATTER emerges with them, as
Universal Mind (or Mahat) , its "rays" are said to be our human
individual minds.
It is, simultaneously, a Unity and a diversity.

These are my considerations:

For any "Manifestation" to 'begin' there has to be Karma of some
kind.
Some have called it the First Cause (which would be derived from
the Causeless Cause the beginning of which is lost in the night
of time. This is on the metaphysical plane. Now looking at the
physical, and human:

Looking at the eternal proposition of reincarnation of the
Spirit/soul into a material body (flesh), it seems to me that for
"Spirit" to sacrifice its condition and position an act of
conscious benevolence is necessary.

On the Universal Plane this is the ONE SPIRIT working in and
through PRIMORDIAL MATTER. This results in Intelligence,
consciousness, mind, memory, anticipation, hope, fear, etc... on
a cosmic as well as an individual basis.

That is, as I see it, "at the beginning" of a particular
Manifestation
( which is the 'child' of a precedent Manifestation), and all the
beings that were then involved in and through it -- which are now
ourselves and the many atomic-lives of various minds as well as
beings of various levels of intelligence-- the mind-Principle of
the Universe also manifests.

To make it simple to my mind, I considered a period of
Manifestation
( Manvantara) as a "year" at School. After an intervening
vacation, the same pupil/minds return to the class-room and
resume their program of education.

While this is not an exact simile it may be a fairly good one to
explain the complexity of our environment, the sense of
individuality, the potential intelligence latent in every atom
and every being, as well as positing a possible goal for all to
attain given the time in which to do that.

It immortality and eternity are true, then this process is indeed
endless, but it would be punctuated by "graduations." Perhaps
the concept of "Initiation" has something to do with that, as a
process used in the past which drew attention to the vast amount
of knowledge that can be acquired (given the time in which to do
that).

These are a few of the ideas that strike me as being valuable.
Do let me know what you think. Best wishes, Dallas

====================================

>From: "Bjorn Roxendal" <roxendal@usa.net>
>Date: Sunday, April 12, 1998 12:11 PM
>Subject: Re:
>
>From: "Jerry Schueler" <gschueler@netgsi.com>
>Subject: Re:Re: The "Eternal Present: and KARMA
>Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 21:56:57 -0400
>
>Jerry Schueler <gschueler@netgsi.com> writes
>>Alan, I have no problem with the idea of this Earth being hell, and
>>the after-life being heaven.
>
>I said paradise, not heaven. In my theosophology (!) the term derives
>from a Hebrew word relating to a garden. The same sources have
>given us the word "heaven" although the original language uses the
>plural, "the heavens" together (apocryphally) with a "7 heavens"
>progressive mode - echoes of theosophical ideas there! (or vice versa?)
>

Even paradise has its opposite pole. You seem to be using
heaven as synonymous with plane, which is ok. I was using it
as an opposite pole to hell. Everything seems to have its
opposite pole somewhere.

>> Again, you just can't have one without
>>the other--thus the necessity of reincarnation or a need to cycle
>>back and forth between the two until both are transcended.
>
>Even if you can't have one without the other, the necessity of
>reincarnation does not follow. Try hell >> paradise >> next place.
>
>Alan :-)
>

Ah! So, how many next places are there? Is each a step "up" and
if so how high is "up?" And even more important--how did we get to
hell in the first place? The only answer to the latter that I have ever
found is in Theosophy (G de P, actually) which postulates an Arc
of Descent and Arc of Ascent making a full circle. Anything else
demands beginnings and endings, which are totally irrational
unless we postulate a God who works in "mysterious" ways.

Jerry S.