Theos-Talk Archives (June 2001 Message tt00056)

Wednesday, June 13, 2001


Dear Friends:

The subject is most interesting. May I offer some thoughts ?

If by a Zen moment you mean SATORI - "illumination," then I
believe you will have to consider the immortality (of the Mind or
the Spiritual Ego (Buddhi-Manas), and the purpose of the IMMORTAL
EGO incarnating innumerable times. If one does this than we
ought to ask how and why this process is made possible. What is
the Cause? What is the probable Conclusion?

The "sudden illumination" in any one life would then be the
culmination of efforts persistently pursued for a number of
lives. It would mark their flowering. To some who are
unacquainted with reincarnation as an eternal and necessary
process for the maturing of the Human Soul, it might appear
almost spontaneous, either as history or as a visible event.

But to understand it requires a knowledge and an ability to
relate the facts of occultism and esotericism which have been
widely scattered and almost disguised in legend, myth and
expectancy of "something for nothing." No one can BUY wisdom.
What we have in the literature of Theosophy - especially H.P.B.'s
is a condensation, a collection of those facts. Look at what she
writes on The SECRET DOCTRINE and Theosophical literature in the
last couple of pages of The SECRET DOCTRINE Vol. 2.

If we agree to consider that there are 2 Egos (2 Souls: the
HIGHER and the lower) in every HUMAN as also in every other
being: (See S.D. II 109-110 and II 79-80, also more specifically
on S.D. II 167.

A puzzle ? Not really. One has to consider that in every form,
in every case an embodied entity whether atom or star or merely
human, represents an eternally evolving and spiritualizing
entity. It is an immortal, and has recessive in potential, every
power and every potency of the whole Universe.

Since Theosophy holds that all our dealings are dealing with an
IMMORTAL MONAD, each advanced monad has a duty to its "brothers,"
the Monads of "lesser experience." It clothes itself with those
(just as we draw a circle of friends around us, no matter how far
away, physically, psychically and mentally).

One might consider that true WISDOM always incarnates in a "form"
as self-sacrifice, as a gift or a "duty" which it (the form) can
offer for the benefit of those who know less, and are, so to say,
"weaker" than it is. And here comes an important "breaking
point." All those who desire powers for selfish use, and who
desire to isolate themselves or to dominate over others, will
reject this single concept which is the ONLY way (say all the
Buddhas) to attain UNIVERSAL SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS - the power to be
WISE. For, true Wisdom always is, when materialized in or
through a vehicle of matter, a gift or gesture of beneficence to
and for others, AND NEVER FOR ONES' SELF.

The goal or purpose for all life, has been called SUPREME
PERFECTION. And one way of conveying this idea to those who may
aspire to it, by whatever name, is to draw a symbol or a picture:

The SUN BURSTS FORTH - not from behind the physical clouds in our
visible sky, but FROM WITHIN - as a process of self-purification
allows it to do so. Yes, we have an inner SUN - everything has
this. There is in this connection a most interesting article
written by Mr. Judge named: A COMMENTARY ON THE GAYATRI
[WQJ Articles, I, p 583; PATH, Jan 1893]

The ancient poem is most suggestive to the occultist, for it
reads:

"Unveil, O [Pushan] Thou who givest sustenance to the Universe,
from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, that face of the
True Sun now hidden by a vase of golden light, that we may seethe
truth and do our whole duty on our journey back to thy sacred
seat."
(Isha Upanishad - Oriental Papers, p. 99.)

This may be considered wisdom from pre-Vedic Bodhism - Wisdom.

It is perhaps significant that about 120 years after that was
written, the Hubble telescope, focusing on a very small segment
of the sky near the celestial pole, seemed to probe ever deeper
into the limiting but, ever more suggestive of vast distances
still to be probed, distances which the instrument gave, being
themselves limited by the form of the instrument. It revealed a
pavement of REMOTE galaxies and stars ever receding and (and
estimated at 40 to 50 billion light-years away from us) although
there were gaps with hints of still further distances, and the
fain, but discernable glow of stars and galaxies even more
remote, it led the minds of the observing astronomers, to the
speculative possibility that this appearance was as though the
whole firmament was ONE SUN and we were in or near the center of
it -- in effect, this is telling us that we LIVE INSIDE A
UNIVERSAL SUN.

It appears as though this might be a confirmation of something
that H.P.B. hints at in The SECRET DOCTRINE. Mr. Judge wrote a
valuable article on this titled: OUR SUN AND THE TRUE SUN.
[W.Q.J. Articles, Vol. II, p. 121; PATH Vol. 4, p.332, Feb.
1890.]

The more we study age-old THEOSOPHY (which is limited by no
religion or sectarianism) and probe it, comparing it with more
modern discoveries, the more we find confirmation of the ancient
wisdom that is described in so many details there. S.D. I 272-3
illustrates how ancient scientists restudied all aspects of still
more ancient THEOSOPHY with a view to transmitting only those
tenets which they could prove and demonstrate. From that point
of view THEOSOPHY presents the records of History - the history
of witnesses on the historical scene and of researchers who
investigated all aspects of the Universe, both visible and
invisible. All our present science and efforts are focused on
the rediscovery of ancient facts and laws noted by our ancient
predecessors, and preserved from the ignorance of vandals and
fanatics, or of incredulous iconoclasts by myths, legends and
fables, which, being deemed tales for children, have survived
till now in all parts of the world.

It is very probable that the road to SATORI or UNIVERSAL VISION
(wisdom) includes the slow, but ever advancing process of
discerning what TRUTH is - at least those truths we can prove to
ourselves by their universality and impersonality, and by the
inherent cooperative BROTHERHOOD implied in the law of KARMA -
universal life and justice - seeks ever to adjust and smooth out
its harmonious and universal processes on planes invisible to the
physical eye.\

There are three basic truths:

1. Every BEING regardless of its "form" is at SOURCE an
IMMORTAL. Every Being has a Soul either in potency or in active
existence at some level. Man's Soul is the MIND. The "Forms"
constantly change and are renewed as needed by rebirth and
reincarnation.

2. The Entire Universe has always been ruled by LAW -
KARMA - which is just, fair, harmonious, and adjusts the least
disturbance. Effects follow causes in just measure, everywhere.

3. The UNIVERSE exists for the purpose of the Soul's
evolution and eventual emancipation as it becomes ALL-KNOWING and
WISE With COMPASSION. [ S.D. I 14-19 ]

Accordingly man has three states or planes on which the immortal
Soul/Mind he is can operate:

1. the Spiritual World of Wisdom and Universal vision and
causality. TRUTH as FACT.

2. The Intellectual and psychic world consisting of the
eternal polarity of WISDOM ( Buddhi) and selfish desires and
passions ( Kama ). LEARNING. And,

3. The physical world of forms. [ S.D. I 181 ]

So teaches The SECRET DOCTRINE .


Best wishes,

Dal

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

-----Original Message-----

From: Jerry S
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 8:08 AM

Subject: RE: direct experience

M----,

This is very Zen-ish, and refreshing. Could you try to relate
these
Zen-moments with Theosophy for us? I understand that doing so
will deplete
the esoteric import and reduce experience to mentation, but even
mentation
has its uses sometimes. Just a suggestion (I have been trying to
relate
Tibetan Buddhism, with very mixed results, so you can jump in -
the water is
all warmed up, so to speak).

Jerry S.

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