Theos-Talk Archives (April 2000 Message tt00069)

April 18 2000


WHAT EVOLVES ?

	Who are the Monads ?



The theory of nature and of life which Theosophy offers is not
one that was at first speculatively laid down and then proved by
adjusting facts or conclusions to fit it.

But, rather, it is an explanation of existence, cosmic and
individual, derived from knowledge reached by those who have
acquired the power to see behind the curtain that hides the
operations of Nature from the ordinary mind.

Such Beings are called Sages, using the term in its highest
sense. They have been called Mahatmas and Adepts. In ancient
times they were known as the Rishis and Maharishis -- Great
Teachers .

There are many grades among the students of this Wisdom-Religion,
so,  it stands to reason that those belonging to the lower
degrees are able to give out only so much of the knowledge as is
the measure of the grade they have reached, and, to some extent,
we all depend for further information upon students who are
higher yet.  It is these higher students for whom the claim is
asserted that their knowledge is not mere inference.  (see SD I
272-3)

The power to see and absolutely know such laws is surrounded by
natural inherent regulations which must be complied with as
conditions precedent; and it is, therefore, not possible to
respond to the demand of the worldly man for an immediate
statement of this wisdom, insomuch as he could not comprehend it
until those conditions are fulfilled.

As this knowledge deals with laws and states of matter, and of
consciousness undreamed of by the "practical" Western world, it
can only be grasped, piece by piece, as the student pushes
forward the demolition of his preconceived notions, that are due
either to inadequate or to erroneous theories.

It is claimed by these higher students that, in the Occident
especially, a false method of reasoning has for many centuries
prevailed, resulting in a universal habit of mind which causes
men to look upon many effects as causes, and to regard that which
is real as the unreal, putting meanwhile the unreal in the place
of the real.

As an example, we can mention the phenomena of mesmerism and
clairvoyance, which until lately, have been denied or looked on
with suspicion by Western Science. Yet, there have always been
numerous persons who know for themselves, by incontrovertible
introspective experience and evidence, the truth of these
phenomena, and, in some instances, understand their cause and
laws of operating.

The following are a few fundamental propositions of Theosophy:

The SPIRIT in man is the only real and permanent part of his
being; the rest of his nature being  compounded  of 7 aspects
called "principles. These include wisdom, the Mind, the Emotions,
vitality, a model body (called the Astral Body) and finally the
physical form we all know.

Since change and decay is incident to all composite things,
everything in man but his Spirit is impermanent. This Unit has
been named the "Monad" in THE SECRET DOCTRINE.  In terms of the
"Principles" of man it is:  Atma-Buddhi (Spirit--Discernment --
or Wisdom).  with it as a link to the 'personality' is the Mind.

Further, the universe being is actually ONE thing and not
diverse, and everything within it being connected with the whole,
and with every other thing therein, of which upon the upper plane
(below referred to ) there is a perfect knowledge, the whole
Universe is made up of an infinity of Monad each at its own stage
of evolution.  These are immortal, eternal Units of Life.  The
evolutionary process in our Universe includes every one of these.
Cooperation is the rule of Law,  and this makes up the "field" of
circumstance and experience that we call the Law of Kama.

No act or thought occurs without each portion of the great whole
perceiving and noting it. Hence all are inseparably bound
together by the tie of Brotherhood.  The "Monads" all around us
are immediately impressed with our feelings, actions, thoughts
and words.  Being so "impressed" they become the conveyors of our
personal "Karma."

This first fundamental proposition of Theosophy postulates that
the universe is not an aggregation of diverse unities but that it
is ONE LIVING WHOLE/

This whole is what is denominated "Deity" by Western
Philosophers, and "Parabrahm" by the Hindu Vedantins.

It may be called the Unmanifested, or, The ABSOLUTE.  And, it
contains within itself the potency of every form of
manifestation, together with the laws governing those
manifestations.
(see SD I pp. 14-17)

Further, it is taught that there is no creation of worlds in the
theological sense; but that their appearance is due strictly to
evolution. (SD I 154 onwards)

When the time comes for the Unmanifested to manifest as an
objective Universe, which it does periodically, it emanates a
Power or "The First Cause"-- so called,  because it itself is the
rootless root of that Cause, and called in the East the
"Causeless Cause."

The first Cause we may call "God," Brahma, Ormazd, or Osiris, or
by any name we please. The projection into time of the influence
or so-called "breath of Brahma" causes all the worlds and the
beings upon them to gradually appear.

They remain in manifestation just as long as that influence
continues to proceed forth in evolution.

After long aeons the outbreathing, evolutionary influence
slackens, and the universe begins to go into obscuration, or
pralaya, until, the "breath" being fully indrawn, no objects
remain, because nothing is but "Brahma." Care must be taken by
the student to make a distinction between Brahm  (the impersonal
Parabrahm) and Brahma the manifested Logos.

This breathing-forth is known as a Manvantara, or the

Manifestation of the world, and the completion of the
inbreathing, brings with it Pralaya, or destruction. It is not
actually "destruction" but it is the re-centering of all the
living forces of the whole Universe into a condition of
"sleep" -- a vast period of "rest," during which there is
assimilation of all the many experiences of the last great period
of LIFE.  Then, when the great Law of Karma begins to act again,
all these are put forth in a regulated sequence into
Manvantara -- manifestation -- again.  There is a close analogy
between this process and the law of reincarnation for us, whereby
we live in successive bodies, learning all the time.

It is from these actual events in Nature that the doctrines of
"creation" and the "last judgment" have sprung. Such Manvantaras
and Pralayas have eternally occurred, and will continue to take
place periodically and forever.

For the purpose of a Manvantara, two so-called eternal principles
are postulated, that is, Purusha and Prakriti (or Spirit and
Matter), because both are ever present and conjoined in each
manifestation. Each "Monad" is Spirit/Matter as a Unit of Life.
It is also CONSCIOUSNESS and PERCEPTION.  As an example we say "I
am I" -- this is us, as Consciousness speaking.

This brings us to the doctrine of Universal Evolution as
expounded by the Sages, the Masters of the Wisdom-Religion.  The
Spirit, or Purusha, they say, proceeds to work through the
various forms of matter evolved at the same time, beginning in
the world of the spiritual from the highest and in the material
world from the lowest form. The lowest form is one unknown as yet
to modern science.  Therefore it is, that the mineral, vegetable
and animal, and finally, the human forms appear.  Each of such
forms imprisons a spark of the Divine, a portion of the
indivisible Purusha -- a Monad.

This is the source of the teaching and the First Object of the
Theosophical Movement:  UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.  It is a fact and
a reality in Nature.  It needs to be put into practice, actually,
here where we all live together.

These innumerable Monads -- all sparks of the ONE -- struggle to
"return to the Father," or in other words, to secure
self-consciousness and at last come into the highest form, on
Earth, that of MAN, where alone self-consciousness is possible to
them.

The period, calculated in human time, during which this evolution
goes on embraces millions of ages. Each spark of divinity has,
therefore, millions of ages in which to accomplish its
mission-that of obtaining complete self-consciousness while in
the form of man. But by this is not meant that the mere act of
coming into human form of itself confers self-consciousness upon
this divine spark. That great work may be accomplished during the
Manvantara in which a Divine spark reaches the human form, or it
may not;  all depends upon the individual's own will and efforts.
Man's progress is always self-chosen.

The condition of the mind-being (the Human) is one of free-will.
It can only be the free-will that is embodied in a human being
that chooses for itself to accelerate or retard the process of
its own self-evolution.  Theosophy is thus a record made
available to us of the efforts and successes of the humanity that
has preceded us, and of which a large number assist us all by
information, and advice.

Each particular spirit thus goes through the Manvantara, enters
into manifestation for its own enrichment and for that of the
Whole. Interaction and cooperation as said above, are the rules
of all progress in nature.  It is the work of a vast group of
volunteers, who live and work together and for the benefit of
each-other.  Such a concept changes the whole out-look on life.

The great Sages mentioned before:  Mahatmas and Rishis are thus
gradually evolved during a Manvantara, and become, after its
expiration, planetary spirits, who guide the evolutions of the
future incarnations of our planet, or fulfil some other necessary
function in the grand evolutionary scheme of the Universe. The
planetary spirits of our globe are those who in previous
Manvantaras -- or "days of Brahma" -- made the efforts, and
became in the course of that long period Adepts, and then Great
Souls: Mahatmas.

Each Manvantara is for the same end and purpose, so that the
Mahatmas who have now attained those heights, or those who may
become such in the succeeding years of the present Manvantara,
will probably be the "Planetary Spirits" of the next Manvantara
for this or other planets. This system is thus seen to be based
upon the identity of Spiritual Being, and, under the name of
"Universal Brotherhood," it constitutes the fundamental idea of
the Theosophical Movement, whose object is the realization of
that Brotherhood among men.

The Adept Sages say that this Purusha/SPIRIT is the basis of all
manifested objects. Without it nothing could exist or cohere. It
interpenetrates everything everywhere. It is the reality of
which, or upon which, those things called real by us are mere
images.

As Purusha (Spirit) reaches to and embraces all beings, they are
all connected together; and in or on the plane where that Purusha
is, there is a perfect consciousness of every act, thought,
object, and circumstance, whether supposed to occur there, on
this plane, or any other. For below the spirit and above the
intellect is a plane of consciousness in which experiences are
noted, commonly called man's "spiritual nature;" this is
frequently said to be as susceptible of culture as is, also, his
body or his mind and intellect.

There is a great deal more that could be added to this and I will
be glad to do so if any would like to see it.

Best wishes,

Dallas


Dallas


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