Theos-Talk Archives (February 2002 Message tt00264)

Feb., 8th 2002,


Dear Friends:

As this subject MAN AND EVOLUTION has again come up I hope this
may help place the Theosophical view point forward.


Is the Monad Eternal ?


One of the fundamental ideas of Theosophy is: ALL IS CONSCIOUSLY
ALIVE.

Beings are made up of immortal "life-atoms" -- MONADS. Each is at
its own level of evolution, and every one of them cooperates with
every other. This is the basis of universal Brotherhood and the
ultimate perfectibility of every part or aspect of the Universe.
[ Monad = ATMA + BUDDHI or a "ray" of Spirit and its vehicle of
Primeval Matter ]

Man, Theosophy teaches, is a MONAD which has reached the
self-conscious stage. "I think, therefore I am. -- said
Descartes. Nan in essence, is a spiritual being, imperishable,
now embodied in "matter." The objective of this process is said
to be to improve and raise the consciousness of every particle
and aspect of the matter (made up of monads of lesser
experience, that it uses.

Man is able, using his independent and free mind -- a gift from
the Manasa Dhyanis {SD I 181-199) -- to reflect on his situation.
In other words, the "Gods of Mind" touched him, and in so doing
(like parents touching and evoking the mind of their children),
the human mind took fire and became an independent flame. A
self-conscious being was born and thereafter continues its
independent pilgrimage, always accompanied by its "tutor" the
Atma, or HIGHER SELF.

As a mind (Manas) man appears to be the span of personal
intelligence that bridges the gap between the One Spirit and the
material forms used by that essence in the process of educating,
through evolution, the whole mass of manifested matter.

The goal of this vast evolutionary process is to eventually
elevate that mass of "matter," and each individual within it, to
the nature, quality and stature of conscious "God-hood." The
"Manasa Dhyanis" are the members of a mankind that made itself
wise and independent of the bonds of Karma and "maya" in a
previous Manvantara (period of evolution.)

Because the mind of each human is generally focused and limited
during incarnation, to the physical man; and also, because it
is associated with the HIGHER SELF (ATMA-BUDDHI -- a Monad,
which has sacrificed its position of wisdom -- to act as a tutor
to it) [ SD II 167, 241, 246 SD I 570-575 ] -- man's embodied
mind, you and me, and, as we are able to think now -- we have the
power to see the wisdom of Universal Law (which gives us our
moral sense, and links us to the Buddhic Voice of Conscience) and
then, to independently CHOOSE whether he will follow that law, or
break it for personal reasons -- usually selfish and isolationist
("Me vs. the Universal weal of all Nature"). In other words,
each human stands midway between the evanescent forms of matter
that he uses as "coats of skin," and the permanent Power of its
individual SPIRIT (which is one with the ALL-SPIRIT)

Reincarnation is simply the process of necessary education and
learning, as looked at from the point of view of the "Eternal
Pilgrim" and the developing Immortal Mind within each of us. It
is the "personal mind" that makes the decision to alter itself
into an "Immortal Mind," into a universally self-conscious mind.

>From the Buddhist and the Jain point of view, they seem to adopt
the philosophical position that we, and all else, as forms, are
transitory, hence, everything on the physical plane made up of a
congeries of material molecules and atoms, is properly called
"maya" or illusion. They associate forms with the karma that
attaches to them, whether that be conscious or unconscious. In
terms of the Immortal Spirit innate to man they also seek to
restrict its independence to the time-limits of the present
Manvantara. What that Spiritual unit was before that, and what
it may be after that slice of time is left undefined. The
tendency with our limited perceptions is to include this past and
future concept, as a speculation, to the limits of some still
greater "maya."

In terms of the HIGHER SELF, and in terms of LAW it is indeed
mortal and ever-changing. But itself as an entity on the
invisible planes of Force, and to which Karma is attached by the
nature of the skandhas (the little lives it
has affected by its choices) it has to be continuous --
immortal -- until those choices and their effects are harmonized
with the WHOLE. As it appears the Buddha finally did. Thus he
made himself into a "universal Man."


Best wishes:


Dallas