Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00093)

December 7, 2001

Re: where shall we begin ?

Dal offers:

If we are MONADS -- ATMA-BUDHI -- spiritual beings, then there
is thing too difficult to "chew on." If we think of ourselves as
mere intelligences only a little more advanced than the instinct
of an animal, the we raise the barriers that delay and divert us.

This is the danger of assuming we are somethig which we can prove
any time we are not. We are NOT ascended from animal
intelligence. We are descended from spiritual WISDOM that is
stooping to assist the "animal mind" to become HUMAN, and then to
become the DIVINE MIND: BUDDHI-MANAS. Our task at hand is to
learn to THINK. We need to assemble the tools we already have to
hand and to mind, then sharpen and urge them improve themselves.

We circumscribe our own spiritual power with assumed ignorance
and base selfishness [[ the result is that we make monsters of
ourselves. We trap ourselves in ignorance and then rebel at our
own ineptitude. How to find a way to escape is the real problem.
How to we spiritualize ourselves -- how do we do this soon ? ]]

Let inquire fearlessly into the causes of things and identify our
powers and potencies.

Best wishes,

Dallas

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Here are a few further Quotes of Note that might be considered


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MIND: ILLUSIONS AND REALITIES


Thoughts and Intuitions


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


"Man, made of thought, occupant of many bodies from time to
time, is eternally thinking. His chains are through thought,
his release due to nothing else."
GITA NOTES, p. 141


[Note: The following embodies suggestions concerning the
developing of the "higher thought." Intuition is our common
heritage. It is the next "step" on all our "Paths." Here are
hints to be found scattered in Theosophical Literature that lead
to this perception and can reinforce it, when their inherent
logic is grasped. ]


INTUITION


"...the eye of the heart is intuition--the mystery of the
diastole and systole of the spiritual heart, which in expanding,
remembers, and in contracting forgets the Truth of Truths--its
own impersonal ever-existing state. This forgetfulness is left
behind, the robe of memory is donned when that heart through
"self-induced and self-devised efforts" (S.D., I, 17) acts
altruistically for the whole of which it is but a part...When a
student follows his aspirations, endeavoring to practice esoteric
doctrines, he fancies that a will resolve is a simple expression
of his good desires. We need to recall the four words HPB
inserts in the third Proposition "(checked by its Karma)"--all
our self-induced and self-devised efforts are checked by the
Karma of our long past. Free Will, and binding (or limiting)
Fate function together like Spirit and Matter, two aspects of the
One Reality."
STUDIES IN THE S.D., p. 64


"Listen to the song of life." (p. 10)...At the very base of your
nature you will find faith, hope and love...underneath all life
is the strong current that cannot be checked; the great waters
are there in reality...All those beings among whom you struggle
on are fragments of the Divine." LIGHT ON THE PATH, p. 23


"...true devotion may bring him back the knowledge, that
knowledge which was his in former births." VOICE, p. 41




TRUE NATURE OF MAN-MIND


"These three things we have to know: Each one is the Self in
his innermost nature; every power that he has arises in that
Self; every being of every kind is conscious, with the power of
the extension of its range of perception and action, while every
instrument is due to the limitation of the conception of the
individual's real nature...The Self perceives what may be
perceived according to its own ideals, according to its own
faith, but that which is perceived is never the Self...It is only
by realizing It within ourselves that we realize its existence in
every other being and strive to aid that being to see for himself
the true path by which he can realize his true nature!"	F.P., p.
356


"It is the spiritual evolution of the inner, immortal man, that
forms the fundamental tenet of the Occult Sciences." S.D. I
p.634


" It is the spiritual Ego or Self that serves as the fundamental
base, determining the tone of the whole life of man--that most
capricious, uncertain and variable of all instruments, and which
is more than any other needs constant tuning; it is its voice
alone, which like the sub-bass of an organ underlies the melody
of his whole life...in addition to the physical [he] has also a
spiritual brain. If the former is wholly dependent for the
degree of its receptivity on its own physical structure and
development, it is, on the other hand, entirely subordinate to
the latter, inasmuch as it is the spiritual Ego alone, and
accordingly as it leans more towards its two highest principles,
or towards its physical shell that can impress more or less
vividly the outer brain with the perception of things purely
spiritual or immaterial. Hence it depends on the (p.298)
acuteness of the mental feelings of the inner Ego, on the degree
of spirituality of its faculties, to transfer the impression of
the scenes its semi-spiritual brain perceives, the words it hears
and what it feels, to the sleeping physical brain of the outer
man. The stronger the spirituality of the faculties of the
latter, the easier it will be for the Ego to awake the sleeping
hemispheres, arouse into activity the sensory ganglia and the
cerebellum and to impress the former...the vivid picture of the
subject so transferred...the more spiritual a man, the more
active his fancy, and the greater probability of his receiving in
vision the correct impressions conveyed to him by his all-seeing,
his ever-wakeful Ego. The spiritual senses of the latter,
unimpeded as they are by the interference of the physical senses,
are in direct intimacy with his highest spiritual principle; and
the latter though per se quasi-unconscious part of the utterly
unconscious, because utterly immaterial Absolute ..."
HPB ARTICLES, II, p. 297-8


"The whole individuality is centered in the three middle or 3rd.,
4th and 5th principles. During earthly life it is all in the
fourth (p. 78) the center of energy, volition--will...[ the
individuality ] to run successfully its seven-fold and upward
course has to assimilate to itself the eternal-life power,
residing but in the seventh and then blend the three (fourth,
fifth, and seventh) into one--the sixth. Those who succeed in
doing so become Buddhas, Dhyan Chohans, etc.

The chief object of our struggle and initiations is to achieve
this union while yet on earth. Those who will be successful have
nothing to fear of during the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds..."
MAHAT. LET., p. 77-8


"...if this is believed and the reality of the Higher Self
admitted, it follows from what is called the mysterious power of
meditation that a sincerely devoted man who earnestly calls upon
the Higher Self for aid in right conduct will receive in the
dream state that succeeds the condition of Sushupti the aid asked
for...But the questions asked and impressions desired must be
high and altruistic, because the Higher Self has no concern with
material things nor with any temporal affairs..." WQJ THEOS.
FORUM, p. 8


"Before the Soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto
the Silent Speaker be united, just as the form to which the clay
is modeled is first united with the potter's mind." VOICE, p.
3



SPIRIT AS DISTINGUISHED FROM SOUL-MIND


"...we may designate the spirit as the centrifugal, and the soul
as the centripetal, spiritual energies. When in perfect harmony,
both forces produce one result; break or damage the centripetal
motion of the earthly soul tending toward the center which
attracts it; arrest its progress by clogging it with a heavier
weight of matter than it can bear, and the harmony of the whole,
which was its life, is (p.146) destroyed. Individual life can
only be sustained by this two-fold force. The least deviation
from harmony damages it; when it is destroyed beyond redemption,
the forces separate and the form is gradually annihilated..."
HPB ART. II, p. 145-6


"...there is That which causes change to succeed change, and
That is the indwelling spirit, which continually impels the
instruments It has evolved towards further perfection. So
progress and evolution mean an unfolding from within outward..."
GITA NOTES, p. 191


"Buddhi becomes conscious by the accretions it gets from
Manas..."	S.D. I, p. 244



ORDEAL OF MANY INCARNATIONS DEVELOPS THE MIND-SOUL


"...the spirit has to pass through the ordeal of incarnation and
life, and be baptized with matter before it can reach experience
and knowledge. After which only it receives the baptism of the
soul, or self-consciousness, and may return to its original
condition of a god, plus experience, ending with omniscience...it
can return to the original state of the homogeneity of primordial
essence only through the addition of the fruitage of Karma, which
alone is able to create an absolute conscious deity, removed but
one degree from the absolute ALL."	HPB ART. I, p. 130	(see
also KEY, p. 183-4)


"Of the path of true Occultism it is said, "The first step is
sacrifice." F. P. p. 13


"...we must absorb and work into the practice and the theory laid
down, for they are not written merely for the intellect, but for
the whole spiritual nature. There must be within the man
something which he already knows, that leaps up and out when he
scans the books of wisdom; a thing already existing, which only
takes an added life or confirmation from books..."
WQJ ART. II p. 462


"This devotion to an ideal is also founded upon another thing,
which is that a man is hardly ready to be a chela unless he is
able to stand alone, and uninfluenced by other men and events.
For he must stand alone, and he might as well know this at the
beginning as at the end." WQJ LETTERS, p. 41


"One only inflexible rule has been ever binding upon the
neophyte, as it is binding now--the complete subjugation of the
lower by the higher [nature]. HPB ART., II, p. 110


"Getting back the memory of past lives is really the whole of the
process."	WQJ Letters, p. 78


"Reliance and pressure upon our own inner nature, in moments of
darkness, are sure to be answered by the voice of Krishna, the
inner guide." GITA NOTES, p. 27


"The whole nature of man must be used wisely by the one who
desires to enter the way. Each man is to himself absolutely the
way, the truth and the life. But he is only so when he grasps
his whole individuality firmly, and by the force of his awakened
spiritual will recognizes this individuality as not himself, but
that thing which (p.6) he has with pain constructed for his own
use, and by means of which he purposes, as his growth slowly
develops his intelligence, to reach to the life beyond
individuality." LIGHT ON THE PATH, p. 5-6


"It is impossible for mortals to utterly abandon actions; but he
who gives up the results of action is the true renouncer." B.
GITA, p. 123


"...as yet it is not teachers that are wanted, but the
preparation found in study, work, and self-discipline...The first
steps in true occultism are Self-discipline, self-knowledge, and
devotion to the interests of others--i.e.: unselfishness...Your
own heart will tell you how much you are prepared for chelaship."
PRACT, OCC., p. 148


"...to become a genuine spiritual entity...man must first create
himself anew...thoroughly eliminate from his mind and spirit, not
only the dominating influence of selfishness and other impurity,
but also the infection of superstition and prejudice." ISIS
I, p. 39


"...the practice of moral and physical purity, and of certain
austerities, develops the vital soul power of self-illumination.
Affording to man the control over his own immortal spirit..."
ISIS I p. 18


"Who is bold enough to say that the divine Egos of our
mankind--at least the elect out of the multitudes passing on to
other spheres--will not become in their turn the "divine"
instructors of a new mankind generated by them on a new globe,
called to life and activity by the disembodied "principles" of
our Earth?" S.D. I, p. 309


"...he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal mind has
to reach it through he whole of Humanity." HPB ART., II, p.
107


"Raise the [lower] self by the [higher] Self. LETTERS, P.
35


"We are...in this incarnation...to be just as much as we can...if
we can in the midst of suffering hold ourselves calm and away
from it...we make our own storms. The power of any and all
circumstances is a fixed, unvarying quality, but as we vary in
our reception of these, it appears to us that our difficulties
vary in intensity. They do not at all. We are the variants."
LETTERS, P. 36


"If we admit that we are in this stream of evolution, then each
circumstance must be to us quite right...learn
calmness...Ignorance of the law cannot be pleaded among men, but
ignorance of fact may...The Law ...has regard for no man...If you
can succeed in looking at it all as just what you in fact desired
then it will act not only as a strengthener of your good
thoughts, but will act reflexly on your body and make it stronger
keep up the aspiration and the search." LETTERS, P. 36
[ As we are always in contact with our Higher Self we know what
is true and right always.]


"Is not the Self pure, bright bodiless, and free,--and art thou
not That? The daily waking life is but a penance and the trial
of the body, so that it, too, may thereby acquire the right
condition..." WQJ LETTERS. P. 37


"...the influences of this present age are powerful for producing
these feelings. What despair and agony of doubt exist to-day in
all places!...the wise man waits...We both are that soundless OM;
we rest together upon the bosom of Master...the wise man learns
to assume in the body an attitude of carelessness that is more
careful really than any other...if the eye is fixed where the
light shines, we shall presently know what to do." LETTERS,
p.37


"...a fierce determined effort to plant myself nearer the altar
of sacrifice..."Do what you can, if you ever expect to see
Them."...if we have an immense devotion and do our best, the
result will be right for Them and for us..."that which was done
in Master's name was right and came out right." LETTERS, P.
38


"Each one would see the Self differently and yet would never see
it, for to see it is to be it...and then there is the lower self,
great in its way, and which must first be known...The mystery of
ages is man--each one of us..." LETTERS, P. 39


"Violent control is not so good as gentle control, continuous and
firmly unrelaxed...Gentleness is better because an opposition
current is always provoked...this gives the unaccustomed student
more time and gradual strength." LETTERS, P. 39


"Every situation ought to be used as a means...it enables us to
know philosophy...You have the key to self and that is all; Take
it and drag our the lurker inside...Generosity and love are the
abandonment of self...increase your confidence, not in your
abilities, but in the great All being thyself."
LETTERS, P. 39



BATTLE OF MANAS AND KAMA [ MIND TO CONTROL DESIRE ]


"Arjuna's name is Parantapa "harasser of foes". Arjuna is the
human soul whose foes are of his own household, the senses and
all that emanates from them. When the human begins to harass his
foes,[control and subdue them] then only be begins to tread the
Inner Path, and subduing the outer, he unfolds the inner eye to
see what is revealed...the AUM..."	Gita Notes,


"He who is brave and persevering enough, ready to crush the
animal in himself, and forgetting the human self, sacrifices it
to his Higher Ego, can always find his way to become initiated
into these [esoteric] mysteries." HPB ARTICLES, III, p.
44


"...to have conquered desire is to have learned how to use and
control the [lower] self; to have attained to self-knowledge is
to have retreated to the inner fortress from whence the personal
man can be viewed with impartiality...to recognize is to achieve
the great task of gazing upon the blazing light without dropping
the eyes and not falling back in terror, as though before some
ghastly phantom...to hear the voice of the silence is to
understand that from within comes the only true guidance...For
when the disciple is ready, the Master is ready also." LIGHT
ON THE PATH, p. 22



SELF-KNOWLEDGE


" Para-Vidya, the knowledge of the Self, stands guard over all
arts, sciences, philosophies and religions, but the hazardous
journey to Self-Realization is only accomplished by the daring
soul who wills to seek the Hidden Light, and having sought, knows
the Secret Heart."
STUDIES IN THE S.D., p. 35


" The way to final freedom is within thy Self. That way begins
and ends outside of Self." VOICE, p. 42


"The kingly mystery is devotion to the light that comes from
within." LETTERS, p. 110


"Knowledge of the Supreme Self comes from identifying with It;
realization comes from dwelling upon the thing to be realized.
The "power to perceive" is the very essence of our being..."	GITA
NOTES, p. 204



RESPONSIBILITY


"Our responsibility lies in our fidelity to our own higher
nature." Q & A, p. 242


"Each soul is a self-evolved being who is responsible only to
his own Higher Self." Q & A, p. 241


"Our work is with ourselves...and we can do only what we can for
others, giving them such opportunities as are beyond us to take;
then they must choose. WQJ said there are two things needed--to
hold on firmly, and to have perfect confidence...(He used the
words "hold on grimly"...) The very sacrifices made to relieve
the trials of others, are also tests for ourselves, and means of
growth, growth coming from the sacrifice of the lower to the
higher in every way, as well as on every plane of being. It is
spiritual fire that burns out all the dross. At no time is the
way easy, but it is sure, and the refining goes on...Too often we
think all depends upon our effort and continuance; yet we must
know that all these things are provided for...All the trial and
training tend to pull us out of one place in order that we may
lay hold of another and better one, when we determine to "suffer
or enjoy whatever the Higher Self has in store for one by way of
discipline and experience." It is the Higher Self that pulls us
into places and conditions that the personality would run in
afright (p. 140) from, if it alone were acting...In this work
natures are intensified; good and bad come to the surface, but
the cleansing process is gradual. Each must do his own work of
elimination where such is seen to be needed; it is a process of
purpose and discrimination, and events bring us opportunities.
Wise are those who take advantage of opportunities and examine
motives in the handling of events. The Law works in strange ways
at times; it is never idle and it makes no mistakes. Let us
rely on It, for there is nothing else on which we may."	F.P.,
p. 139-40


"Forms and conditions do change, but not of themselves; there
is That which causes change to succeed change, and That is the
indwelling spirit, which continually impels the instruments It
has evolved towards further perfection. So progress and
evolution mean an unfurling from within outward, a constant
impulsion toward a better and better instrument for the use of
the Spirit--the Self within." BHAGAVAD GITA. NOTES, p.
191


"To carefully note things and not allow the notation to affect
our proper course of conduct--that is, to note impersonally--is
studying the hearts of men who make up the world in which we
live; is studying man as a whole, in fact, for the whole is made
up of the parts. Such an attitude neither judges nor condemns,
but notes, in order to help understandingly...When we can read
the thoughts of others, such knowledge is never used to the
detriment of others but ever for their benefit and with
wisdom..."Kill in thyself all memory of past experiences." If we
do not do this we live in them and rejuvenate them...Reliance on
the Self--"That Thou Art"--is the way out. "As we admit the
reality of the (p. 142) Higher Self, we should embrace the idea,
dwell on it day in and day out until the will and desire
naturally incline to it and have it as the subtone or aim of
thought. This process will make the line of influence brighter
and better with every thought. When the influence grows strong
it pervades the entire nature and strengthens as well as
improves. It will give knowledge and also energy. This is the
real and only road to the Masters, the Adepts, the Mahatmas."
F.P., p. 141-42



PURPOSE OF DEVACHAN


"...the hours of his posthumous life, when unveiled he stands
face to face with truth and the short-lived mirages of his
terrestrial existences are far from him, compose or make up, in
our ideas, the only reality. Such breaks, in spite of the fact
that they are finite, do double service to the Sutratma, which,
perfecting itself constantly. follows without vacillation, though
very slowly, the road leading to its last transformation, when,
reaching its aim at last. it becomes a Divine Being...Sutratma is
the actor, and its numerous and different incarnations are the
actor's parts...Like an actor the soul is bound to play, during
the cycle of births up to the very threshold of Paranirvana, many
such parts, which often are disagreeable to it, but like a bee,
collecting its honey from every flower, and leaving the rest to
feed the works of the earth, our spiritual individuality, the
Sutratma, collecting only the nectar of moral qualities and
consciousness from every terrestrial personality in which it has
to clothe itself, forced by Karma, unites at last all these
qualities in one, having then become a perfect being, a Dhyan
Chohan..."
HPB ART., II, p. 271


"Life is better than death, for death again disappoints the Self.
Complete knowledge must be attained in the triune man ... By
living as long as one can, one gives the Self that longer
chance."	WQJ LETTERS, p. 35


"...the true monitor is within...we must live and die by
ourselves...running here and there to see anything or person does
not in itself give progress...this should not be dwelt on as an
end;..." LETTERS, p. 38


"Vibration is the key to it all. The different states are only
differences of vibration...But the important thing is to develop
the Self in the self, and then the possessions of wisdom
belonging to all wise men at once belong to us."
LETTERS, p. 39



THE IDEAL OF THE "MASTERS"


"Our true progress lies in fidelity to Masters as ideals and
facts." WQJ II p. 43


"Masters--They are Atman and therefore the very law of Karma
itself. They are in everything in life, and in every phase of
our changing days and years."	W Q J Letters, p. 68


"To meditate of the Higher Self is difficult. Seek then, the
bridge, the Masters."	WQJ Letters, p. 112


"The image of the Master is the best protection against lower
influences; think of the Master as a living man within you."
WQJ Letters, p. 164



INFLUENCE AND SUGGESTION


"A man dies of a contagious disease; months after his death...a
bit of clothing...may communicate the disease to a person more
physiologically sensitive...And why should not an idea, a thought
exercise the same influence?

Thought is no less material nor objective than the imponderable
any mysterious germs of various infectious diseases...Since the
mind of a living person can so influence another mind that the
former can force the latter to think and believe whatever it
will--in short, can psychologize that other mind, so can the
thought of a person already dead.

Once generated and sent out that thought will live upon its own
energy. It has become independent of the brain and mind which
gave it birth. So long as its concentrated energy remain
undissipated, it can act as a potential influence when brought
into contact with the living brain and nervous system of a person
susceptibly predisposed.

The unhealthy action thus provoked may lead the sensitive into a
temporary insanity of self-delusion, that clouds the sense of his
own individuality. The morbid action thus once set up, the whole
floating group of the dead man's thoughts rushes into the
sensitives brain, and he can give what seems test after test of
the presence of the deceased..." Mod. Panarion, p. 481


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-----Original Message-----
From: N---------
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 6:26 AM
To:
Subject: [bn-study] RE: memorable quotes

From: CeeKaye

Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 10:09 AM
To: Study
Subject: RE: [bn-study] memorable quotes

Without further ado; now its my turn to ask a question: We
should dare not
bite off more than we can chew in these spiritual endeavors.
Individually,
i am still awaiting first contact with my SELF, which i can reach
thru
concentration and meditation. My thoughts are that I am in no
hurry, and
must read for understanding more about successful meditation. Is
it
supposed to be this way?

Is it possible my thoughts are unconsciously avoidance or
lethargy rather
than new found-patience in starting out? Will we ever know
enough to begin?


0000000000000000000000000


YOU ALWAYS BEGIN AGAIN FROM WHERE YOU ARE. DTB

YOU ALWAYS ARE BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE PAST.

THAT PAST IS ALWAYS AN UNDIVIDED PART OF US.