Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00523)

Wednesday, December 26, 2001

Dear Friends:

Since there has been a good deal of discussion in the lists about
mediumship, psychism, psychical phenomena, the precipitation of
letters, apportation, etc. I thought it might be a good idea to
post some quotations drawn from Theosophical literature -- which
throw light on these subjects and offer principles to be studied
and used in evaluating them.

All comments and questions will be welcome.

Best wishes at this time of change os seasons,

Dallas

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





MEDIUMSHIP & PSYCHISM



MEDIUMSHIP

Mediumship -- is described by HPB in her article PSYCHIC AND
NOETIC ACTION published in LUCIFER, October and November 1890.
(see 2nd part).


"The term medium...is supposed to be a person through whom the
action of another person or being is either manifested or
transmitted. [... by either consciously or unconsciously active
will of that other person. (HPB Art, I, 295) ]

Spiritualists, believing in communications with disembodied
spirits, and that these can manifest through, or impress
sensitives to transmit "messages" from them, regard mediumship
as a great privilege.

We Theosophists, on the other hand, who do not believe in the
"communion of spirits" as Spiritualists do, regard the gift as
one of the most dangerous of abnormal nervous diseases.

A medium is simply one in whose personal Ego, or terrestrial
mind, (psuche), the percentage of "astral" light so
preponderates as to impregnate with it their whole physical
constitution. Every organ and cell thereby is attuned, so to
speak, and subjected to an enormous and abnormal tension. The
mind is ever on the plane of, and quite immersed in, that
deceptive light whose soul is divine, but whose body--the light
waves on the lower planes, infernal; for they are but the black
and disfigured reflections of the earth's memories.

The untrained eye of the poor sensitive cannot pierce the dark
mist, the dense fog of the terrestrial emanations, to see beyond
in the radiant field of the eternal truths.

His vision is out of focus, His senses accustomed from
birth...to the unnatural distortions of sights and images tossed
on the kaleidoscopic waves of the astral plane--are unable to
discern the true from the false. And thus the pale soulless
corpses moving in the trackless fields of "Kama loka," appear to
him the living images of the "dear departed" ones; the broken
echoes of once human voices, passing through his mind, suggest
to him well coordinated phrases, which he repeats in ignorance
that their final form and polish were received in the innermost
depths of his own brain-fancy.

And hence the sight and hearing of that which if seen in its
true nature would have struck the medium's heart cold with
horror, now fills him with a sense of beatitude and confidence.
He really believes that the immeasurable vistas displayed before
him are the real spiritual world, the abode of the blessed
disembodied angels. ...on the whole mediumship is most
dangerous; and psychic experiences when accepted
indiscriminately lead only to honestly deceiving others, because
the medium is the first self-deceived victim. Moreover, a too
close association...is infectious. The odic and magnetic
currents of the Astral Light often incite to murder,
drunkenness, immorality...the not altogether pure natures "can
be driven headlong by the blind forces set in motion in the
Light" [ --E. Levi ]--by the errors and sins imposed on its
waves."
HPB - PSYCHIC AND NOETIC ACTION
(ULT Edition Articles, H.P.Blavatsky, Vol. II, p. 25-26)


"The dreamer of an entity in Kama Loka [an after-death state of
personal desire and passion] would probably bring upon himself a
nightmare, or would run the risk of becoming "possessed" by the
"spook," so attracted, if he happened to be a medium, or one who
had made himself so passive during his waking hours that even
his Higher Self is now unable to protect him. This is why the
mediumistic state of passivity is so dangerous, and in time
renders the Higher Self entirely helpless to aid or even warn
the sleeping or entranced person. Passivity paralyzes the
CONNECTION between the lower and the higher principles. It is
very rare to find instances of mediums who, while remaining
passive at will, for the purpose of communicating with some
higher intelligence, some extraneous spirit (not disembodied),
will yet preserve sufficiently their personal will so as not to
break off all communication with the Higher Self."
--HPB TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE, p. 77
(ULT Edition), or B C W Vol. 10.


HPB in editorial "Notes" answered some questions posed by
correspondents. This is extracted from THEOSOPHIST, June 1882
(ULT Edn. HPB Articles, Vol. I, p. 489)

[ referring to ISIS UNVEILED, Vol. I, p. 67] "...the word
"controlling" must not be understood in the SENSE of a "spirit"
possessing himself of the organism of a medium; nor that, in
each case, it is a "spirit;" for often it is but a "shell"
[astral shell in Kama Loka] in its preliminary stages of
dissolution, when most of the physical intelligence and
faculties are yet fresh and have not begun to disintegrate, or
fade out.

A "spirit," or the spiritual Ego, cannot descend to the
medium... the "spirits" being benevolent or wicked in quality
largely depends upon the medium's private morality...a pure
medium's Ego can be drawn to and made, for an instant, to unite
in a magnetic (?) relation with a real disembodied spirit,
whereas the soul of an impure medium can only confabulate with
the astral soul, or "shell" of the deceased...We should say that
the personal morality of the medium would be a fair test of the
genuineness of the manifestations..."
HPB -- SEEMING DISCREPANCIES
-- THEOSOPHIST, June 1882 (ULT: HPB Articles, Vol. I 489-90)


CHANNELER / CHANNELING

"Channeler" -- appears to be the modern designation given to
those who, in the last century, were called "mediums."



MEDIUMSHIP AND OBSESSION


"...magic was the highest knowledge of natural philosophy..."
Isis I 366

"Physical phenomena are the result of the manipulation of forces
through the physical system of the medium, by the unseen
intelligences, of whatever class...physical mediumship depends on
a peculiar organization of the physical system; spiritual
mediumship, which is accompanied by a display of subjective,
intellectual phenomena, depends upon a like peculiar organization
of the spiritual nature of the medium...among physical mediums,
the plastic astral spirit of one may be prepared for a certain
class of objective phenomena, and that of another for a different
one...As a rule, mediums who have been developed for one class of
phenomena rarely change to another, but repeat the same
performance ad infinitum."	Isis I 367


"Psychography, or the direct writing of messages by spirits,
partakes of both forms of mediumship. The writing itself is an
objective physical fact, while the sentiments it contains may be
of the very noblest character. The latter depends entirely on
the moral state of the medium. It does...require that the soul
be pure enough to serve as a channel for spirits who are capable
of giving utterance to such lofty sentiments."	Isis I 367



PSYCHISM



"[Bhagavad Gita] embodies "the psychological system of the
Hindus--which really underlies every word of this poem..." GN 2



MORAL STATES CLASSIFIED


"The following classification and discussion of the three
qualities ( B. Gita, Ch. 14) illustrates the vital difference
between the ancient, true psychology of the East, and what is
termed Western psychology. Both abound in classifications;
those of the East are much more numerous...and cover a wider
field; Western psychology in its classifications refers solely
to mental states. The psychology of the Gita and the ancient
sages classify the moral states, treating the mental states as
mere effects produced by moral conditions. Herein lies the
secret of the hold the Gita has had all down the ages, and
continues to have increasingly. It lays bare the unsuspected
bases of error; it discloses the most subtle forms of
self-delusion; it marks out the true course so painstakingly
that the dullest mind cannot fail to grasp a clear perception of
the path to true knowledge."
GITA. NOTES, p. 197


"...the word Kama...means "desire,"...the 4th principle was the
"body or mass of desires and passions." (GITA NOTES, p. 197) --

"Western psychology in classifications refers solely to mental
states...[Eastern] and the ancient sages classifies the moral
states, treating the mental states as mere effects produced by
moral conditions...It lays bare unsuspected bases of error; it
discloses the most subtle forms of self-delusion; it marks out
the true course so painstakingly that the dullest mind cannot
fail to grasp a clear perception of the path to true
knowledge."]...The West divides man into intellect, will and
feeling, but it is not understood whether the passions and
desires constitute a principle in themselves or are due entirely
to the body..."desires of the flesh,...fleshly appetites."
OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY, p. 45



WESTERN SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY STYMIED


"The lack of an adequate system of Psychology is a natural
consequence of the materialistic bias of Science and the
paralyzing influence of dogmatic religion; the one ridiculing
effort and blocking the way, the other forbidding
investigation...Real psychology is an Oriental product
today...the system was known in the West when a very ancient
civilization flourished in America, and in certain parts of
Europe anterior to the Christian era, but for the present day,
psychology in its true sense belongs to the Orient...

"In man are the same powers and forces which are to be found
anywhere in Nature. He is held by the Masters of Wisdom to be
the highest product of the whole system of evolution, and mirrors
in himself every power, however wonderful or terrible, of Nature;
by the very fact of being such a mirror he is man." OCEAN OF
THEOSOPHY, p. 135-6


"Some day proofs as conclusive [as that of the theory of
Evolution in the Rig Veda or the Books of Hermes] will be
discovered of the reliability of the ancient writers as their
evidence on psychological matters...There can be no real
enfranchisement of human thought nor expansion of scientific
discovery until the existence of spirit is recognized."	-
H.P.Blavatsky,
MODERN PANARION, p. 93


PASSIONS AND DESIRES


"The passions and desires are not produced by the body...on the
contrary, the body is caused by the former. it is desire and
passion which caused us to be born, and will bring us to birth
again and again in some body on this earth...[it] is the balance
principle of the whole 7. It stands in the middle, and from it
the ways go up or down. It is the basis of action, and the mover
of the will..."Behind will stands desire." OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY ,
p. 46


"[Low desires] the constant placing of the consciousness
entirely below in the body or astral body... [High desires] the
influence of and aspiration to the trinity above, of Mind, Buddhi
and Spirit...

[During life] the emplacement of the desires and passions
is...throughout the entire lower man...it may be added to or
diminished, made weak or increased in strength, debased or
purified.

[After death] it (Kama) informs the astral body, which then
becomes a mere shell; for when a man dies his astral body and
principle of passion and desire leave the physical in company and
coalesce, It is then that the term Kamarupa may be applied, as
Kamarupa is really made of astral body and Kama in conjunction,
and this joining of the two makes a shape or form which though
ordinarily invisible is material and may be brought into
visibility.

Although it is empty of mind and conscience, it has powers of
its own that can be exercised whenever the conditions permit.
These conditions are furnished by the medium of the
spiritualists, and in every seance room the astral shells of
deceased persons are always present to delude the sitters... For
the astral spook--or Kamarupa--is but the mass of the desires and
passions abandoned by the real person who has fled to "heaven and
has no concern with the people left behind, least of all with
seances and mediums.

Hence, being devoid of the nobler soul, these desires and
passions work only on the very lowest part of the medium's nature
and stir up no good elements, but always the lower leanings of
the being...

The Kamarupa spook is the enemy of our civilization, which
permits us to execute men for crimes committed and thus throws
out into the ether the mass of passion and desire free from the
weight of the body and liable at any moment to be attracted to
any sensitive person. Being thus attracted, the deplorable
images of crimes committed and also the picture of the execution
and all the accompanying curses and wishes for revenge are
implanted in living persons, who, not seeing the evil, are unable
to throw it off. Thus crimes and new ideas of crimes are
willfully propagated every day by those countries where capital
punishment prevails."
OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY, p. 47-48



DANGER OF EXERCISING PSYCHIC POWERS


"To attempt to acquire the use of the psychic powers for mere
curiosity or for selfish ends is also dangerous for the same
reasons as in the case of mediumship. As the...present day is
selfish to the last degree and built on the personal element, the
rules for these powers in the right way have not been given out,
but the Masters of Wisdom have said that philosophy and ethics
must first be learned and practiced before any development of the
other department [psychism] is indulged in...

Equally improper is the manner of the scientific schools
which...indulge in experiments in hypnotism in which the subjects
are injured for life...

"The Lodge of the Masters does not care for Science unless it
aims to better man's state morally as well as physically, and no
aid will be given to Science until she looks at man and life from
the moral and spiritual side. For this reason, those who know
all about the psychical world, its denizens and laws, are
proceeding with a reform in morals and philosophy before any
great attention will be accorded to the strange and seductive
phenomena possible for the inner powers of man."	OCEAN OF
THEOSOPHY , p. 152



WHAT ARE THE "MORAL STATES ?"


Some Notes derived from studying HPB

Metaphysics is the "mother-plant" of psychology. It is a science
of first principles.

The Esoteric Philosophy recognizes in the ultimate analysis that
there is only One Reality. This lies behind the illusions (Maya)
of our Universe of forms. It is called variously Sat or
Para-Brahm, the "Great Unknown."

There is a continual circuit of manifestation followed by rest
(pralaya, or non-manifestation - a supra-physical, "spiritual"
state). This compares with our cycle of sleeping and waking.

The duality, in manifestation of Spirit and Matter is a fact.
These emerge from the One Reality, and are found in ancient
philosophy designated as the Word (Logos)--Spirit; and, Matter
(Mula-prakriti) --Root Matter. They equilibrate each other
constantly. Together they are the eternal MONAD.

The great Law of cause and effect, measured, regular, constant
and consistent, ever merciful and totally just runs continuously
through all periods. It has been called variously: the One Life,
Karma, the "Great Breath." It works in and on everyone
impartially.

One of the chief differences between antique psychological
philosophical systems and the modern is that in antiquity, the
moral states were classified. States of Consciousness and
Perception were held to be the result of those moral conditions.

Morality is defined as those acts, thoughts and feeling which
harmonize with the Great Law of the Evolutionary progress of the
Universe. Of necessity this is universal in scope, considers the
value and necessity of every creature, every particle of
substance. Nothing is excluded or held to be unrelated to its
all-encompassing purview.

Immorality is held to be anything adverse, by definition it is
limited, selfish, acquisitive defensive of territory and
possessions.

Theosophy recognizes in Man's conscious constitution several
distinct and active principles:

1.	The Emotions: feelings, desires, needs and wants, all
centered around the personality the "I"-self in waking
consciousness. It is very "territorial." These are seen to come
and go and change constantly. It rarely considers consequences,
is rash and wayward.

2.	The Mind: thoughts, imagination, fancy, ability to study and
analyze, memory, extrapolation, etc... This is called the True
Self and the Individual. This sense of Individuality persists
throughout the life in spite of many changes. It is "superior"
to the "emotional, the selfish self, as it can control and direct
it. It tends to be deliberate and considers results that may
accrue to actions.

3.	In Waking Consciousness these two are combined to form two
operative points of dialog: There is an alliance between one
aspect of the mind and the emotions. This makes up the "Lower
Mind" - selfish, territorial, vicious, amatory, etc... The
second unit is that aspect of the mind which coalesces with
experience, with the memory of results and considers both those
which are beneficial to itself or dangerous in potential. It has
been called "The Higher Mind." One of its faculties is to access
to the common and universal plane (BUDDHI) of Mentality in the
Universe where results of all past events and actions are
recorded. ["Actions" include: desires, thoughts, and physical
acts.]

4.	Mind (Soul) is that which persists. In Eastern psychology
(Theosophy) it is held that it constitutes an unbreakable thread
of consciousness between the life experiences of this personality
and that of previous personalities ensouled by it through the
process of reincarnation.

5.	Mind is allied, in it higher, nobler aspect, to a principle
of Universal Wisdom--the source of Law, Karma, Justice and
Progress. It has been named Wisdom, Buddhi. This the Higher
Mind is called Buddhi-Manas to use terms that philosophers employ
in Sanskrit. The "Lower Mind" is denoted Kama-Manas, or the
desire-mind. This last informs the personality and gives it its
awareness. It transfers constantly its impressions to the Higher
Mind, and at the death of the body it makes a final transfer to
the Higher Mind. This becomes the conveyor of the life of the
Entity through a review and resting period to its eventual return
on Earth in a new body.

6.	Intuition and the "Voice of Conscience" are evidence of the
communications between the Higher and the Lower Mind during life.
The Higher, having access to past experience in full, warns the
lower, when necessary at the time when it makes decisions or
choices. These may or may not be heeded by the embodied Lower
Mind. The principal part of its educative experience as it
reincarnates is to learn to voluntarily direct its freedom and to
conform to the general Laws of nature and the Universe. Since it
has this freedom, consequences ensue, and this is called "Karma,"
the ledger balance of all our activities, visible and invisible,
physical or immaterial.

7.	We are part of a vast host of intelligences. Men-minds like
ourselves, and levels of consciousness represented by the
animals, plants, minerals and other elements of the Universe. It
is also reasonable to consider that there are our predecessors on
the Ladder of Evolution. Those, once men like ourselves, who
have progressed to a wiser and wider view of things. Like our
teachers, instructors and professors they remain as assistants,
whose advise is available to those of us who care to seek for and
ask for it. They may be our own "Higher Minds."

8.	The subject of the "will." or the executive power which
transfers an "idea" into an action is also to be considered. It
is volitional, directive, and serves as a bridge between the mind
and the hands that work in the world of physical matter. It is
"colorless." It can be employed by either the Lower or the
Higher Mind.

9.	The Buddha was the greatest of psychologists. He showed the
inquirer how to understand Suffering as part of a pair.
Happiness was the alternative. There is something in Man which
sees both sides. This sensitivity evokes compassion. To refrain
from hurting others while gently but firmly insisting on equity
is the study of the ages. The personal application leads to
Adeptship through true non-violence.

10.	The Higher Self is common to all it being a "ray" of
universal Spirit, named Atma, and That is universal. As a drop
resides in the Ocean, so the Higher Self of each individual
resides in the Universal Spirit. It is at once a part of THAT,
and yet, it is individualized. We therefore share in all the
sufferings and the pleasures of others. We are their brothers
and sisters in Spirit.

11.	Each individual has to come to the realization that he alone
will save or damn himself.

12.	Each one is morally obliged to assist all others when able
to do so. The motive for such assistance has to be
disinterested, to be true.


STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS BY HPB

"Psychism, with all its allurements and all its dangers, is
necessarily developing among you, and you might beware lest the
Psychic outruns the Manasic and Spiritual development. Psychic
capacities held perfectly under control, checked and directed by
the manasic principle, are valuable aids in development. But
these capacities running riot controlling instead of controlled,
using instead of being used, lead the Student into the most
dangerous delusions and the certainty of moral destruction.
Watch therefore carefully this development, inevitable in your
race and evolution-period so that it may finally work for good
and not for evil..."	HPB -- 5 Messages, p. 29


DTB