Theos-Talk Archives (June 2001 Message tt00074)

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Dear Peter:

In consideration of: The SECRET DOCTRINE I 27, 46,
TRANSACTIONS p. 41-5, etc...

---- QUOTE -------

8. ALONE, THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS,
INFINITE,
CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP (a); AND LIFE PULSATED UNCONSCIOUS
IN
UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS SENSED BY
THE "OPENED
EYE"* OF THE DANGMA (b).**

(a) The tendency of modern thought is to recur to the archaic
idea of a
homogeneous basis for apparently widely different things --
heterogeneity
developed from homogeneity. Biologists are now searching for
their
homogeneous protoplasm and chemists for their protyle, while
science is
looking for the force of which electricity, magnetism, heat, and
so forth,
are the differentiations. The Secret Doctrine carries this idea
into the
region of metaphysics and postulates a "One Form of Existence" as
the basis
and source of all things. But perhaps the phrase, the "One Form
of
Existence," is not altogether correct. The Sanskrit word is
Prabhavapyaya,
"the place, or rather plane, whence emerges the origination, and
into which
is the resolution of all things," says a commentator. It is not
the "Mother
of the World," as translated by Wilson (see Book I., Vishnu
Purana); for
Jagad Yoni (as shown by FitzEdward Hall) is scarcely so much "the
Mother of
the World" or "the Womb of the World" as the "Material Cause of
the
Universe." The Puranic Commentators explain it by Karana --
"Cause" -- but
the Esoteric philosophy, by the ideal spirit of that cause. It
is, in its
secondary stage, the Svabhavat of the Buddhist philosopher, the
eternal
cause and effect, omnipresent yet abstract, the self-existent
plastic
Essence and the root of all things, viewed in the same dual light
as the
Vedantin views his Parabrahm and Mulaprakriti, the one under two
aspects. It
seems indeed extraordinary to find great scholars speculating on
the
possibility of the Vedanta, and the Uttara-Mimansa especially,
having been
"evoked by the teachings of the Buddhists,"
whereas, it is on the contrary Buddhism (of Gautama, the Buddha)
that was
"evoked" and entirely unprepared on the tenets of the Secret
Doctrine, of
which a partial sketch is here attempted, and on which, also, the
Upanishads
are made to rest.*** The above, according to the teachings of Sri
Sankaracharya,**** is undeniable.

(b) Dreamless sleep is one of the seven states of consciousness
known in
Oriental esotericism. In each of these states a different portion
of the
mind comes into action; or as a Vedantin would express it, the
individual is
conscious in a different plane of his being. The term "dreamless
sleep," in
this case is applied allegorically to the Universe to express a
condition
somewhat analogous to that state of consciousness in man, which,
not being
remembered in a waking state, seems a blank, just as the sleep of
the
mesmerised subject seems to him an unconscious blank when he
returns to his
normal condition, although he has been talking and acting as a
conscious
individual would.

[[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------------------------

* In India it is called "The Eye of Siva," but beyond the great
range it is
known as "Dangma's opened eye" in esoteric phraseology.

** Dangma means a purified soul, one who has become a Jivanmukta,
the
highest adept, or rather a Mahatma so-called. His "opened eye" is
the inner
spiritual eye of the seer, and the faculty which manifests
through it is not
clairvoyance as ordinarily understood, i.e., the power of seeing
at a
distance, but rather the faculty of spiritual intuition, through
which
direct and certain knowledge is obtainable. This faculty is
intimately
connected with the "third eye," which mythological tradition
ascribes to
certain races of men. Fuller explanations will be found in Book
II

*** And yet, one, claiming authority, namely, Sir Monier
Williams, Boden
Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, has just denied this fact. This
is what he
taught his audience, on June the 4th, 1888, in his annual address
before the
Victoria Institute of Great Britain: "Originally, Buddhism set
its face
against all solitary asceticism . . . to attain sublime heights
of
knowledge. It had no occult, no esoteric system of doctrine . . .
withheld
from ordinary men" (!!) And, again: " . . . When Gautama Buddha
began his
career, the later and lower form of Yoga seems to have been
little known."
And then, contradicting himself, the learned lecturer forthwith
informs his
audience that "We learn from Lalita-Vistara that various forms of
bodily
torture, self-maceration, and austerity were common in Gautama's
time." (!!)
But the lecturer seems quite unaware that this kind of torture
and
self-maceration is precisely the lower form of Yoga, Hatha Yoga,
which was
"little known" and yet so "common" in Gautama's time.

**** It is even argued that all the Six Darsanas (Schools of
philosophy)
show traces of Buddha's influence, being either taken from
Buddhism or due
to Greek teaching! (See Weber, Max Muller, etc.) We labour under
the
impression that Colebrooke, "the highest authority" in such
matters, had
long ago settled the question by showing, that "the Hindus were
in this
instance the teachers, not the learners."

-------------------------


The following are my thoughts on this: [ S D I 27, 46-7]	DTB


"Form" in the dictionary has several meanings, chiefly: shape,
structure, ideal intrinsic being, manner, method, regulation by
common agreement, rank, etc...

"Existence" (from Latin: emerge, appear) actual or real being,
fact, beginning, sentience, life, continuance, mode of being.

The stanza states this is ONE (singular). I assume we are
dealing with the metaphysical concept of PRIMORDIAL MATTER. [ As
will be seen later, "primordial MATTER" is a joint component and
an interactive agent with SPIRIT in the countless Monads which
throng all SPACE. ]

This PRIMORDIAL MATTER is one of the components of the UNIVERSAL
MONAD -- "Monas" in The SECRET DOCTRINE is called "a conscious
thinking unit" -- [S D I 619] -- from the Sanskrit 'man' -- to
think. It is part of a triple evolution -- [SD I 181[; but, the
emergence of primordial matter ought also to be a subject of
inquiry.

Mr. Judge in his NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA, dealing with chapter
7, on "Spiritual Discernment" [G N p., 132-3] says that in this
chapter, Krishna gives an account of the 8-fold division of his
inferior nature. Or, that aspect of Universal nature which "can
be known" by us as we now are.

Judge says there: "This inferior nature is only so relatively.
It is the phenomenal and transcient which disappears into the
superior at the end of a kalpa. [In the enlarged version of
CAVES AND JUNGLES by H.P.Blavatsky, which the TPH reprinted in
Adyar in 1975, one will find the following analogy offered by
her: Pure liquid Mercury, placed in a shallow bowl, when shaken
becomes many smaller globules which, immediately return and
coalesce effortlessly with the centre globule. If the Mercury
is coated with a little ash, oil and dust the central globule
when shaken resolves itself into many tiny globes which now,
because of the impurities on their surface, prevent them
coalescing again. If the Mercury is sublimated by heat in an
alembic and cooled and recovered in its purity the impurities
(personality) are left behind and then the purified liquid
coalesces in its entirety, as before. The analogy is applied
there to Nirvana, but can equally be applied to reincarnation in
the return to earth-life from Devachan; or, the reincarnation of
Universes, and the resurrection of ours, out of its many past
incarnations -- as previous Universes. [ see NOTES IN
THEOSOPHIST, Vol. II p. 253 by H. P. Blavatsky reprinted in
THEOSOPHICAL ARTICLES & NOTES (ULT) p. 87 ] All is under the
influence and direction of UNIVERSAL KARMA, which guides
unerringly the least of beings, the newest and smallest of
Monads, as well as the Greatest of Buddhas or Dhyanis to their
place of duty in the present. ]

In "GITA NOTES" (133) Mr. Judge continues: "It [the transient] is
that part of "God" or the SELF, which chose to assume the
phenomenal and transient position, but is, in essence, as great
as the superior nature. The inferiority is only relative; as
soon as objective material, and subjective spiritual, worlds
appear, the first-named has to be denominated inferior to the
other, because the spiritual being the permanent base, it is in
that sense superior: but as an absolute whole, all is equal."


"THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS, CAUSELESS, IN
DREAMLESS SLEEP..." This seems analogous to SUSHUPTI or "Deep
Sleep." And, also, to Devachan as the dreamless spiritual sleep
between incarnations, which is as H.P.Blavatsky describes it in
The KEY TO THEOSOPHY, [ p. 107-8, 129, 132-3, 147-8, 177-8, 184,
216-7 ] Some other good references for those who may desire to
study this little known "dream state of a SPIRITUAL KIND," will
be found in Mr. Judge's THREE PLANES OF HUMAN LIFE, PATH, Aug.
1888, Judge Articles (U.L.T. ) Vol. I, p. 294; TRANSACTIONS pp.
68-76; (BLAVATSKY: Collected Works (TPH), Vol. 10, pp.,
252-263)

The Monad is a most important concept. There would appear to be
1. the Universal Monad, and, 2. individual Monads. H P B says
that "The Monads (jivas) are the Souls of the Atoms." [S D I
619 ]; she adds "The Monads of the present dissertation are
treated from the standpoint of their individuality, as atomic
souls." And another basic statement made there is that ...the
Monadic Essence, passing through the mineral, vegetable and
animal kingdoms, becomes man." [S D I 619.]

We have in regard to Pralaya and the conditions that reign there,
a grand description in The SECRET DOCTRINE from p. 371 to p 376,
Vol. I. On p. 373 we have a description of the (as above in the
analogy -- the separated globules of Mercury in Manvantara --
re-coalesce with the ALL . On p. 375 we are given the verbal
image of "...Chaos or Abyss of Space in which rested the
paradigmatic, or model universe in ideation of the OVER-SOUL,
brooding over it." [S D I 375]

A few extracts from one of H.P.Blavatsky's notes in THEOSOPHIST,
Vol. IV pp 244fn, and 128-9 seem helpful, at least they provide
some metaphysical definitions:

"...our mind, trained as it has by our great masters to think of
"Spirit" as of something formless and entirely beyond the ken of
our sensual perception, and, therefore, [it is] not to be
considered apart from, or independently of, corporeal existence.

UNIVERSAL INTELLIGENCE and the ONE LIFE as we call it, conceived
of, apart from any physical organization, becomes vital essence,
an energy or force; and none of these we believe can be
considered as a distinct entity, a substance, or, as having a
being or even a form separate from matter."...

[the Eastern Occultist}...would answer that "matter alone is a
substance, in which thinking, knowing, doubting, and a power of
moving, are inherent whether in a latent or active
potentiality--and whether that matter is differentiated, or an
undifferentiated state."

...the no-thing, called Spirit. Has by itself no form or forms in
either progressive or stationary "states of development;"...And
what is pure, absolute spirit but the "void" of the ancient Greek
philosophers?...

According to the doctrines of the Arhat philosophy there are
seven states of matter, the 7th state being the sum total, the
condition or aspect of Mulaprakriti (Fn.: Undifferentiated cosmic
matter.) ...Our assertion...means...undifferentiated cosmic
matter or Mulaprakriti, as it is called in Hindu books, is
uncreated and eternal....there is but change of cosmic matter
from one form to another.

There is not a single instance, or the remotest suspicion of the
annihilation of an atom of matter ever brought to light either by
Eastern adepts or Western scientists...we are justified , we
believe, in saying that matter is indestructible, though it may
change its forms and properties...

Every system of evolution commences with postulating the
existence of Mulaprakriti or Tamas (primeval darkness)....

Purusha [Spirit] is inconceivable, hence non-existent, save when
manifesting through Prakriti [Matter] ...latent spirit is always
referred to [in ancient Hindu books] as MAH-ISWARA," "Purusha"
and "Parampada..."...As to Parampada and Nirvana, both mean the
same thing...."
THEOSOPHIST Vol. IV, p. 128-29; THEOSOPHICAL ARTICLES & NOTES
(ULT) pp 83-86.

AND LIFE PULSATED UNCONSCIOUS IN UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT
ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS SENSED BY THE "OPENED EYE" OF THE DANGMA.'

H.P.Blavatsky's comment on p. 42 of TRANSACTIONS of the BLAVATSKY
LODGE (ULT) is:

"It is all one ...simply metaphysical expressions. Please notice
that the "Eye" is not said to "see;" it only "sensed" the
"All-Presence." ... one must have such an "Eye" before he can
see, or become a Dangma, or a Seer." It seems clear that if
there were Dangma present, those Men were of a nature far
superior in consciousness to what we know by our experience of
that term and condition of "seership."

>From this it appears there is One substance and One Existence --
a PRESENCE. H.P.Blavatsky explains this in a Note in THEOSOPHIST
Vol. IV p 146; reprinted in THEOSOPHICAL ARTICLES & NOTES (ULT)
pp. 89-92. "...there is no over-soul, or under-soul; but only
ONE--substance; the last word being used in the sense [of]
...the ONE Existence, we cannot limit its significance and dwarf
it to the qualification "over;" but we apply it to the universal,
ubiquitous Presence, rejecting the word "Being," and replacing it
with All-Being--neither thinks, nor creates, for it is
All-thought and All-creation....For Theosophists of our school
the Deity is a UNITY in which all other units in their infinite
variety merge and from which they are indistinguishable--except
in the prism of theistic Maya. [The Theosophist declares] "...the
One absolute is no Being--but becoming; the ever developing,
cyclic evolution, the Perpetual Motion of Nature visible and
invisible--moving, and breathing even during its long Pralayic
Sleep." THEOSOPHICAL ARTICLES & NOTES,
p. 89.

I hope this is of help,

Best wishes,

DTB

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


-----Original Message-----
From: Moderator [mailto:nous@btinternet.com]
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2001 1:47 PM
To: sd@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-sd] Stanza I, sloka 8 (page 46)

Friends,

We move on to the next sloka in this first stanza. Comments and
questions
welcome.

If you were asked to summarise the core ideas in this sloka, what
would you
put?

Happy studying,

Peter

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

Stanza 1, continued

8. ALONE, THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS,
INFINITE,
CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP (a); AND LIFE PULSATED UNCONSCIOUS
IN
UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS SENSED BY
THE "OPENED
EYE"* OF THE DANGMA (b).**

(a) The tendency of modern thought is to recur to the archaic
idea of a
homogeneous basis for apparently widely different things --
heterogeneity
developed from homogeneity. Biologists are now searching for
their
homogeneous protoplasm and chemists for their protyle, while
science is
looking for the force of which electricity, magnetism, heat, and
so forth,
are the differentiations. The Secret Doctrine carries this idea
into the
region of metaphysics and postulates a "One Form of Existence" as
the basis
and source of all things. But perhaps the phrase, the "One Form
of
Existence," is not altogether correct. The Sanskrit word is
Prabhavapyaya,
"the place, or rather plane, whence emerges the origination, and
into which
is the resolution of all things," says a commentator. It is not
the "Mother
of the World," as translated by Wilson (see Book I., Vishnu
Purana); for
Jagad Yoni (as shown by FitzEdward Hall) is scarcely so much "the
Mother of
the World" or "the Womb of the World" as the "Material Cause of
the
Universe." The Puranic Commentators explain it by Karana --
"Cause" -- but
the Esoteric philosophy, by the ideal spirit of that cause. It
is, in its
secondary stage, the Svabhavat of the Buddhist philosopher, the
eternal
cause and effect, omnipresent yet abstract, the self-existent
plastic
Essence and the root of all things, viewed in the same dual light
as the
Vedantin views his Parabrahm and Mulaprakriti, the one under two
aspects. It
seems indeed extraordinary to find great scholars speculating on
the
possibility of the Vedanta, and the Uttara-Mimansa especially,
having been
"evoked by the teachings of the Buddhists,"
whereas, it is on the contrary Buddhism (of Gautama, the Buddha)
that was
"evoked" and entirely upreared on the tenets of the Secret
Doctrine, of
which a partial sketch is here attempted, and on which, also, the
Upanishads
are made to rest.*** The above, according to the teachings of Sri
Sankaracharya,**** is undeniable.

(b) Dreamless sleep is one of the seven states of consciousness
known in
Oriental esotericism. In each of these states a different portion
of the
mind comes into action; or as a Vedantin would express it, the
individual is
conscious in a different plane of his being. The term "dreamless
sleep," in
this case is applied allegorically to the Universe to express a
condition
somewhat analogous to that state of consciousness in man, which,
not being
remembered in a waking state, seems a blank, just as the sleep of
the
mesmerised subject seems to him an unconscious blank when he
returns to his
normal condition, although he has been talking and acting as a
conscious
individual would.

[[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------------------------

* In India it is called "The Eye of Siva," but beyond the great
range it is
known as "Dangma's opened eye" in esoteric phraseology.

** Dangma means a purified soul, one who has become a Jivanmukta,
the
highest adept, or rather a Mahatma so-called. His "opened eye" is
the inner
spiritual eye of the seer, and the faculty which manifests
through it is not
clairvoyance as ordinarily understood, i.e., the power of seeing
at a
distance, but rather the faculty of spiritual intuition, through
which
direct and certain knowledge is obtainable. This faculty is
intimately
connected with the "third eye," which mythological tradition
ascribes to
certain races of men. Fuller explanations will be found in Book
II

*** And yet, one, claiming authority, namely, Sir Monier
Williams, Boden
Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, has just denied this fact. This
is what he
taught his audience, on June the 4th, 1888, in his annual address
before the
Victoria Institute of Great Britain: "Originally, Buddhism set
its face
against all solitary asceticism . . . to attain sublime heights
of
knowledge. It had no occult, no esoteric system of doctrine . . .
withheld
from ordinary men" (!!) And, again: " . . . When Gautama Buddha
began his
career, the later and lower form of Yoga seems to have been
little known."
And then, contradicting himself, the learned lecturer forthwith
informs his
audience that "We learn from Lalita-Vistara that various forms of
bodily
torture, self-maceration, and austerity were common in Gautama's
time." (!!)
But the lecturer seems quite unaware that this kind of torture
and
self-maceration is precisely the lower form of Yoga, Hatha Yoga,
which was
"little known" and yet so "common" in Gautama's time.

**** It is even argued that all the Six Darsanas (Schools of
philosophy)
show traces of Buddha's influence, being either taken from
Buddhism or due
to Greek teaching! (See Weber, Max Muller, etc.) We labour under
the
impression that Colebrooke, "the highest authority" in such
matters, had
long ago settled the question by showing, that "the Hindus were
in this
instance the teachers, not the learners."
============================
=============================
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