Theos-Talk Archives (November 2001 Message tt00426)

Steve,

Thanks for you post. I liked the part where HPB says the eternal essence of
things may be apprehended by the mind of those "who are not WILFULLY
obtuse." (my caps)

In the SD she says she believes Kant was the greatest philosopher of
European birth and makes a number of references to his views throughout.
She felt some of his views were distorted echoes of Adwaiti doctrines. But
she clearly thought well of him.

regards,

...Peter


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Stubbs [mailto:stevestubbs@yahoo.com]
> Sent: 22 November 2001 18:36
> To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Theos-World Is maya the same thing as phenomenal?
>
>
> Someone recently offered the opimion that Blavatsky
> was not a Kantian, and that her concept of maya could
> therefore not be understood in Kantian terms. Fair
> enough, although Kant's influence is so pervasive that
> it is doubtful whether any learned person can be said
> to be altogether uninfluenced by him. Nonetheless, I
> had lingering doubts, and purely by accident (are
> there amy accidents?) came across the following
> statements in ISIS UNVEILED. I offer it merely for
> what it is worth. First she says with regard to
> Ultimate Reality:
>
> "Though this eternal essence of things may not be
> perceptible by our physical senses, it may be
> apprehended by the mind of those who are not wilfully
> obtuse." (Isis vol 1, p. xii)
>
> The statement that something is not "perceptible by
> our physical senses," and yet that "it may be
> apprehended by the mind of those who are not wilfully
> obtuse" is the definition of a noumenon. Noumena are
> not perceived directly, but are inferred from
> phenomenal experience.
>
> Now read this, which comes a little later:
>
> "In the allegory of the chariot and winged steeds,
> given in the Phaedrus, [Plato] represents the
> psychical nature as composite and twofold; the
> thumos, or epithumetic part, formed from the
> substances of the world of phenomena; and the
> thumoeides, the essence of which is linked to the
> eternal world. The present earthlife is a fall
> and punishment. The soul dwells in 'the grave which we
> call the body,' and ... the noetic or spiritual
> element is 'asleep.' Life is thus a dream, rather than
> a reality. Like the captives in the subterranean cave,
> described in The Republic, the back is turned to the
> light, we perceive only the shadows of objects, and
> think them the actual realities."
>
> This is clearly a reference to our natural tendency to
> accept phenomena as realities, when in truth they are
> representations of reality and not the things in
> themselves. Colors, sounds, etc., exist only in
> consciousness and not in nature. She then immediately
> asks:
>
> "Is not this the idea of Maya, or the illusion of the
> senses in physical life, which is so marked a feature
> in Buddhistical philosophy?" (Isis vol. 1, pp. xiii,
> xiv)
>
> Kant rules!
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
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