Theos-Talk Archives (September 2001 Message tt00025)

Wednesday, September 05, 2001


Dear Reed

Regardless of TZELEM (see TZOOL-MAH (just below it on The
THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY,
p. 348 you have the 7-fold division.

But the ASTRAL BODY precedes the physical. [ KEY TO THEOSOPHY
(HPB) pp. 91-2, 135-6, 175-6.]

It provides the lattice-work of force centers on which the
MOLECULES of the physical accrete (see H P B PSYCHIC AND NOETIC
ACTION, H.P.Blavatsky Articles II pp 7...)

The atoms are apparently on the astral side whereas the molecules
are on the physical.

[ "vital and prototypal body...it is born before and dies or
fades out with the disappearance of the last atom of the body."
"Linga-Sarira" T. Glos p. 189-90; Raja-Yoga, pp 34-5; S D I
157, S D II 149 ]

H P B also explains the "Astral Soul" (H P B Art II, pp 18-20)

In PSYCHIC AND NOETIC ACTION, H P B Art II 13-14, 17, 18-25, )
the Lower brain mind is explained in several places and
contrasted with the Higher Manas and the Universal Mind.

Hope this is of help


Dal

======

-----Original Message-----
From: Reed Carson [mailto:carson@blavatsky.net]
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 5:56 PM
To: study@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-study] Tselem - the astral body in ancient Hebrew
esoteric philosophy

Folks,

Let me just start at the basics on this. In the Western culture
there are
two predominant views. One is that we are made of blind matter
and nothing
more. This is the view of materialism.

The second view is that somehow embedded or connected with the
lump of
"clay," is a "soul". The religious view.

Of course there are other views. St. Paul of Christianity holds
to a human
being as a tripart entity. Exactly what that triple is supposed
to be, you
will not find out properly by reading the English of the Bible.
It has
been smoothed over! It will be necessary to look at the Greek to
ferret it
out, and then the result will look much more like the
Theosophical view.

Other shades of viewpoint will recognize the separation of mind
and brain
and open a pandora's box of possibilities. Perhaps even a
limited few
physicists will note the very significant role of consciousness
in quantum
physics and postulate a larger consciousness of which reflects
the
universe. This opens up models of reality that have some
relationship to
Theosophy and I suppose we should later discuss them.

In this letter I want to discuss the astral body from the
viewpoint of
Judaism. This will start the filling in of the matrix and show
that there
were ancient views that recognized more complexity to man than
the above
views concede.

First the Theosophical Glossary by HPB: Tselem: (Heb.) An image,
a
shadow. the shadow of the physical body of a man, also the
astral body -
Linga Sharira. (See "Tzool-ma".)

This shows us a clear and direct definition of Tselem as the
astral body
from the viewpoint of Theosophy..

If we follow her and check out the entry for Tzoolma it is very
informative. It says: (Kab.). Lit., "shadow". It is stated in
the Zohar
(I., 218 a. I. fol. 117 a, col 466.), that during the last seven
nights of
a man's life, the Neshamah, his spirit, leaves him and the
shadow,
tzool-mah, acts no longer, his body casting no shadow; and when
the
tzool-mah disappears entirely, then Ruach and Nephesh - the soul
and life -
go with it. It has been often urged that in Kabbalistic
philosophy there
were but three, and with the Body, Guff, four "principles". It
can be
easily shown there are seven, and several subdivisions more, for
there are
the "upper" and the "lower" Neshamah (the dual Manas); Ruach,
Spirit or
Buddhi; Nephesh (Kama) which "has no light from her own
substance", but is
associated with the Guff, Body; Tzelem, "Phantom of the Image";
and
D''yooknah, Shadow of the Phantom Image, or Mayavi Rupa. Then
come the
Zurath, Prototypes, and Tab-nooth, Form; and finally, Tzurah,
"the hightest
Principle (Atman) which remains above", etc. etc. (See Myer's
Qabbalah, pp.
400 et. seq.)


The Pasadena Glossary says:

Tselem (Hebrew) A form, image, likeness; a shadowy image, a
shadow. Hence
also the astral "shadow" of the human physical body -- the
model-body or
linga-sarira. It corresponds to the Sanskrit chhayas: in the
tselem of
'elohim was made 'Adam (Zohar iii, 76, Crem ed.), i.e., in the
image of the
pitris was fashioned mankind (cf Genesis 1:27); but not only "in
the image"
but likewise of the substance of the shadow itself humanity was
formed; in
other words, the pitris projected their astral shadows which
became the
lower principles of the individuals of the human race. See also
TSULMA'

And following up:

Tsulma' (Chaldean) A shadow, image; used in the Qabbalah in
connection with
the neshamah and ruah: during the last seven days of man's life,
it is
said, every night the neshamah goes up from a person and the
tsulma' is no
more shown; when the tsulma' goes away the ruah goes with it
(Zohar i 117a,
Crem ed). The Hebrew equivalent is tselem (shade or shadow, hence
a
likeness or image of a being or thing), corresponding more or
less both to
the human model-body or linga-sarira, and to the mayavi-rupa or
higher
image of a human being, sent forth at will.

______

I will be using "Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible". A
concordance to the Bible lists every work that occurs in the
Bible and
where. This book I like because it gives a little more
information. In
particular this book says the word "Tselem" occurs 16 times
translated into
English as "image", 1 time translated as "form" and one time it
is
translated as "vain shew" (perhaps because a vain woman was
conceived as
caring only about her image).

By looking up where the word "image" is used, it is possible to
tell with
Young's concondance, (p. 509) most of the occurrences of the word
Tselem
mean "image" in a most normal sense. Four occurrences may
possibly seem
special and they are all in Gensis. They are

1) 1.26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

2) 1.27 "So God created man in his own image in the image of God
created
he him; male and female created he them."

3) 5.3 "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a
son in his
own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth."

4) and 9.6. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be
shed: for in the image of God made he man."

________

In themselves these candidate passages are not to me strongly
suggestive as
references to an astral body. But they might have a special
meaning to the
interpreters of those passages.

But what about the point raised by the Pasadena Glossary when in
invokes
the Theosophical idea "The pitris projected their astral
shadows"? Do we
have here a phraseology in Hebrew that reflects this rather
esoteric
assertion of Theosophy? Can anyone explain this Theosophical
idea?

It seems that to pursue any further the Hebrew meanings of Tselem
and
confirm these things for ourselves, we will have to explore the
Zohar and
explore the interpretation generally put upon the term Tselem by
the
Kabbalist view.

Reed



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