Theos-Talk Archives (May 2001 Message tt00166)

Jerry

Yes, De Purucker does write about Atman changing and growing. But then, he
also talks about "My Atman" and "your Atman" and he means this in all
seriousness.

G de Purucker completely contradicts your ideas about "individuality", does
he not? He is someone who really does "rah rah" about Individuality. He
agrees with the 3rd Fundamental Proposition of the SD with regards the
importance of 'acquiring' Individuality, and its development up to the stage
of Dhyani Buddha and beyond. According to dePurucker, the more we manifest
the Individuality within, the more we are partaking in the evolution of the
Individual Monad.

Jerry, you seem to disagree with both dePurucker and the Secret Doctrine on
this issue, which is fine as long as you don't say that what you believe is
what they say. With regards the 3rd Fundamental Proposition, you wrote:

> Acquiring individuality is exactly like acquiring
> ignorance of the Truth, and in fact the one
> naturally follows from the other.

Jerry, since you feel many theosophists would benefit from reading de
Purucker I have included a number of statements on INDIVIDUALITY from his
works. I could have included *many many* more, that's how important he
thought this subject was. To make them easier to copy and paste here I have
taken them from:

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena

Anyone who does not have the books can do a search them and verify for
themselves.

"There seems to be little doubt that the whole purpose of Nature, or in
other words the entire running of evolutional unfolding, is the bringing
forth into manifestation of characteristics lying latent in the invisible,
as well as in the visible, fabric of living beings. In other words, it is
the unquestioned 'tendency' in the living things of Nature to advance
towards individuality."
(Fundamentals of Esoteric Philosophy, Chapeter 31, Section V)

"Collating the ideas set forth in the few paragraphs immediately preceding,
and deducing therefrom one or two of the salient features of the picture
before the mind's eye, most important of these salient characteristics is
the growth or rather progressive unfolding of individuality or
individualized beings, as we ascend rung after rung or degree after degree
of the Ladder of Life, that is perceptible even here on our Mother Earth. .
. "
(Fundamentals of Esoteric Philosophy, Chapeter 31, Section V)

"A monad in the ancient teachings now called theosophy...means a spiritual
atom..and a spiritual atom is equivalent to saying pure individuality, the
selfness of the self, the essential nature or characteristic or swabhavic
core of every spiritual being, the self of itself."
(Fundamentals of Esoteric Philosphy, Chapter 10)

"the Spiritual Essential Self, which is the indivisible and ineffable
essence of the human being -- the divine-spiritual Individuality; it is pure
monadic consciousness."
(The Esoteric Tradition, Ch 18)

"Now every monad has its own individuality, which is its essential
swabhava,... the dhyani-chohans show forth individuality (in far vaster
degree than men do), . . . It is this intrinsic marvel of characteristic
individuality which distinguishes not only kingdom from kingdom, but
likewise monad from monad."
(Fountain Source of Occultism, Chapter 12)

"The more this truth becomes a self-conscious realization, the wider becomes
the man's vision and the larger becomes his self-conscious identification of
himself with the Universal; and with the practice of this, in future ages of
time he will blossom forth as a relatively fully self-conscious imbodiment
of the divinity within him, in its turn a Ray of the Universal
Consciousness; and he will then retain for ever in a spiritual form his own
now relatively fully-blown spiritual egohood. This statement imbodies one of
the most wonderful and consoling mysteries of the Cosmos -- to wit, how
developed human Spiritual egoity can self-consciously recognise its oneness
with the universality of the Cosmic Spirit and yet retain its own
individuality. Individuality emphatically does not mean 'individualism.'
Individualism is usually sheer egoism; whereas individuality is one of the
names given to the undying Spiritual Center within us, the essential
Selfhood of the Monad which is the source of a man's whole being."
(The Esoteric Tradition Chapter 34)


...Peter