Theos-Talk Archives (May 2001 Message tt00172)

Tuesday, May 22, 2001

Dear Friends:

Re	The 4 TRUTHS and THE PATH


The FOUR TRUTHS mentioned at the end of the 1st Fragment (THE
VOICE OF THE SILENCE, p. 22-23) might be correlated with the
experience of life on this our physical plane as relating to the
1st Truth -- suffering.

In THE LIGHT OF ASIA, Book 8, Sir Edwin Arnold gives a good
description of this as relates to the suffering that our Kamic
and Physical natures endure while embodied and clinging to the
psychic nature of the present personality where the MIND is
called the "embodied brain mind." It is the lowest "vehicle"
(of the 7 "Principles") through which the inner PERCEIVER (Spirit
or Atma) is able to perceive the events and their results (karma)
on this our very physical earth and in our physical bodies (S.D.
I 232, 234). H.P.B. gives a view of these in the S.D. Vol. I p
200, and further describes them and their necessity in Vol. 2, p
596-8. [ Also in S.D. I p. 206 - 210 she speaks of the 4 grades
of Initiation. -- see also S.D. I 270...]

The 2nd Truth deals with the cause of Sorrow and indicates that
the delusion of separateness, ignorance, fear, is caused by our
refusing to learn. The evidence of Law, of justice, of
universality, of fair dealing with all creatures by Great Nature
( the Universe) is obvious to those who focus their ATTENTION on
their surroundings in order to learn from them. Only KNOWLEDGE
and its right altruistic application will destroy the "Mara's
King." This is a deliberate change we make in our own approach
to life. It is a changing of the vices of excess and selfish
isolation into the generous warmth of true Brotherhood. It is
only by convincing ourselves of the validity of the ONE UNIVERSAL
SOURCE of all LIFE and BEING, that all beings will be understood
to be " "The same in SOURCE and KIND, but differ only in the
degree to which they have progressed."

The 3rd Truth is the purification in its entirety of the
Personality ( 1. Physical and, 2. Astral body, 3.
Pranic-vital principle, and 4. Kama the principle of selfish
passions and desires Any desire to harm any creature or to take
advantage of another's ignorance has to totally eliminated. All
Vices and Sins ( see LIGHT OF ASIA Chapter 6 the 10 chief
ERRORS (sins) are described ( p. 103 -107 )

The 4th Truth is TAU the symbol of the ONE PATH which leads
surely towards the wisdom of THE UNIVERSE -- OF TRUTH COMPLETE.
Makes of a Man a God, a Buddha, a Son of the Dhyanis (the
KNOWERS). It is not a gift from "outside" but a flowering of the
ATMA that resides in each being and in each human being - it the
personification of brotherhood, of good, of benevolence.
In the S.D. Vol. I, p. 237 a description of the immortal MAN is
given. Between (S.D. Vol. I) pp 243-246 we find a description of
the esoteric division of Man into the needed principles and their
"vehicles."

VOICE says (p. 23-4): "Thou art THYSELF the object of thy
search; the Voice unbroken, that resounds throughout eternities,
exempt from change, from sin exempt, the SEVEN SOUNDS IN ONE --
The Voice of the Silence -- OM TAT SAT."

Much is given to us in semi-allegorical ways, and we are invited
to learn the first lessons of Occultism from THE SECRET DOCTRINE
by familiarizing ourselves with the Occult, esoteric methods
employed by NATURE (our Universe) in securing a school and an
education for us.

We have to consider and find if it is reasonable to agree to the
fact that we are in our core essence SPIRIT. Spirit to manifest
and live and act need MATTER. These two alone emerging from the
indescribable BACKGROUND ( THE ABSOLUTENESS) require a direct
and changeless AGENT -- thus the UNIVERSAL MIND becomes the 3rd
immortal aspect of the tripartite MONAD in evolution. The PARENT
MONAD (to use a bad simile) serves as the UNIVERSAL source for
the life-energy and the individual being of all the billiards of
monads that swarm throughout illimitable SPACE. According tho
their experience and the individual development of their
Intelligence the INNER CONSCIOUSNESS acts on the 7 (or 10)
Universal planes.

All progress is ruled by Karma. Karma is the emanation that
results from free-willed choice. Karma universally is the Law
that protects the evolution and the rights of all individual
Monads (life-units, skandhas, etc...) Nature is infinitely
sensitive physically and on all other "invisible planes." [ on
p. 145 (Book 8 of the LIGHT OF ASIA) you will find how the Buddha
describes Karma and its great and constant work. It is really
worth reading. ]

The panorama of our and UNIVERSAL freedom becomes apparent to us
as we survey the area we live in, and the many, many monads we
deal with. [ Take the example of our physical body -- the innate
intelligence of sub-atomic life-units, then those form the atoms,
and these in their turn ensoul the molecules. Many molecules
join together to form Cells. And the joint intelligence then
places the cell in a location where it benefits the whole
ody. --

INTELLIGENCE is everywhere. The concept of sacrifice for the
good of others (or the body corporate) can be seen acting every
day in our bodies as one set of cells sacrifices its life for
others which replace it and all together they provide the
SPIRIT/SOUL ( Atma-Buddhi) with its vehicles -- whereby it an
perform greater services. One can then imagine how a band of
disciples, each working for their own purification and
enlightenment, may join together and band together to perform
some specific act of benevolence in the community of man on our
earth. And so on up and down the chain of Intelligence you will
find all Monads of whatever degree cooperating. In fact, the
cooperation of Nature as a whole permits us to exist and live.
In the S.D., H.P.B. gives us a view of the culmination of such a
self-sacrificial life in S.D. I pp 207-8.
It was for this reason that the THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT was
launched and the Theosophical Society was established in 1875
with its 3 "Objects.".

But, as always, the student needs to move himself into the
"stream of inquiry." Then take from the texts and the
commentaries the necessary facts that are CHANGELESS and around
which the whole symmetry of living (including our own) is twined.
(S.D. I 181-2) gives us a brief view of this, and S.D. I 157-8,
242-6 shows how the 7 PRINCIPLES may be recognized in ancient
systems of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.

Hope this will be of some help.

DTB

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


-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Larson [mailto:plason@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 10:53 AM
To: sd@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-sd] Re: Continuing the study: Stanza I, sloka 6.

Dear Friends,

One of the facets of Cosmic Evolution is that at the
end of each Round the majority of humanity will enter
the bliss of Nirvana en masse. To accomplish this
objective a specific path particular to each Round is
set up by the Dhyan Chohan who presides over that
Round.

Gautama was not only the 4th Buddha of the 4th Round
but also the 4th Buddha of the closing 4th Race. It is
only natural that the 4th Truth revealed is his Arhat
doctrine which is now in the custody of the Tibetan
Brotherhood. The path that leads to Nirvana is the
Noble Eightfold Path. Arahatship is reached when the
aspirant has conquered the ten fetters (Samyojana). In
essence, the Arhat doctrine is not different from
Advaita Vedanta.

In one of the meetings of the Inner Group, HPB taught
her students: "This withdrawal of the Lower Manas from
the Lower Quaternary, and the formation of the
Tetraktys, is the Turiya state: it is entered on the
Fourth Path." (IG 193)

This system of regulation and concentration of thought
that result in union with one's Higher Self is Raja
Yoga of the Vedantin.

Master KH also affirmed that "The aspirant is now
assailed entirely on the psychological side of his
nature. His course of testing -- in Europe and India
-- is that of Raj-yog." (ML 65)

Chaldean system also originated from the same source.

"There is reason to call the Trans-Himalayan esoteric
doctrine Chaldeo-Tibetan. And, when we remember that
the Vedas came, -agreeably to all traditions- from the
Manasarovar Lake in Tibet, and the Brahmins themselves
from the far North, we are justified in looking on the
esoteric doctrines of every people who once had or
still has it- as having proceeded from one and the
same source; and, to thus call it the
"Aryan-Chaldeo-Tibetan" doctrine. (CW III,419)

It may be of interest that Gurdjieff also called his
system"the fourth way".

The fifth Truth is not revealed yet although some
fifth Rounders among us have already accessed to it.
Its nature, however, may be surmised considering that
Higher Manas is our fifth principle and Lower Manas,
the fourth principle, is our center of consciousness
in this Round.

"The degrees of an Adept's initiation mark the seven
stages at which he discovers the secret of the
sevenfold principles in nature and man and awakens his
dormant powers." (ML 15)

"It will only be in the next, or fifth, Round that the
fifth Element, Ether -- the gross body of Akasa, if it
can be called even that --will, by becoming a familiar
fact of Nature to all men, as air is familiar to us
now, cease to be as at present hypothetical, and also
an "agent" for so many things." (SD I, 257)

"On their fifth round after a partial Nirvana when the
zenith of the grand cycle is reached, they will be
held responsible henceforth in their descents from
sphere to sphere" (ML 13)

P.S. The Four Modes of Truth in VOS page 33 is the
Four Noble Truths: Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, Magga.

-Philip

--- Buz Buz <buzzmiao@hotmail.com> wrote:
> My questions for this sloka are similar to Peter's -
>
> 1. What are the four truths that have been revealed
> to us? Do we know the
> fifth yet?
>
> 2. What is the relationship between the seven paths
> to bliss and the seven
> truths?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Barbara


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