Theos-Talk Archives (October 1998 Message tt00152)

Oct 28th 1998

Jerry:

The puzzle tome, in reading your kind explanation is that the idea or the
employment of the term "WE" -- undefined, yet given to power to OBSERVE and
to CHOOSE implies that although the perceptions change ( are illusions ?)
and the choices are not always WISE or JUST does not obviate the factor of
continuity.

Theosophy starts with the PERCEIVER as a ETERNAL MONAD --
(Spirit-Experience, or Wisdom combined) and it progressively descends into
matter not for its own sake but to be of assistance to the evolving
consciousness in that monadic substance that we call "matter: and the BRAIN.
There it watches the struggles of the matter bound consciousness as it goes
through experience trying to find the right solution to things -- and it
assists when that earth-bound and earth-limited consciousness appeals to IT
for the light of experience in making decisions.  It continually offers
advice using the INTUITION and the VOICE OF CONSCIENCE.

The earth bound Monad -- an ego that is developing -- is free to choose and
it then receives the consequences from Karma in terms of its original
wants/desires and subsequent actions.  And that seems to be our learning
process.

So to my mind there are 2 Egos in each human -- one is Divine and the other
is a pupil.  You may not agree.  But how is it that we argue and consider
opposite points of view unless there is a triad:  1.    the Observer;  2.
the Wise and experienced Ego;  and, 3.    the pupil ego who is trying to
become wise and yet making many errors in this vale of "illusions."

Dal

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



              Dallas TenBroeck
              dalval@nwc,net

> From: Jerry Schueler
> Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 1998 6:19 AM
> Subject: Consciousness

    [DALLAS:]
    >Consciousness to me implies awareness of "other"
    >as well as awareness of "self."   Awareness implies
    >"difference."  It also implies a separation that is able
    >to see correspondence and allegory or similarity --
    >as well as differences.

    The awareness of self and other is called dualistic consciousness
    and this is what we experience in the cosmic planes of manifestation,
    which the Mahayana call maya. This dualism is especially noteable
    below the Abyss, which is to say on the four lower planes and 7 lower
    Globes. Its a characteristic of the human mind. But this kind of
    consciousness/awareness can be transcended. It disappears, for
    example, in non-dualistic consciousness where self and other merge
    into one.

    Awareness "of" something implies difference because the "of" is
    always either the self or I or the not-self or not-I.  But whatever we
    are aware "of" (and this constantly changes over time) awareness
    itself always remains. We are always aware. What we are aware
    "of" depends on what plane we are functioning on. While our
    sense of identity and our sense of world constantly changes,
    consciousness itself remains the same, unchanged, undiminished,
    eternal.

    In a Jungian sense, we are normally focusing consciousness
    through the lens of the ego (dualism) or other complex and only
    rarely do we focus it through the archetypal Self (non-dualism).
    But even Jung had trouble with pure consciousness itself. It is
    not brain-dependent or chemical-dependent although its
    contents are. Patanjali calls it the Seer. It has lots of names but
    modern psychology is still grappling with it.

    Jerry S.