Theos-Talk Archives (April 2002 Message tt00208)

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Dear Mic:

If you were a drop of water how would you identify yourself in an
Ocean ? If you are a thinking MIND, then where can you locate
the center from which you THINK ? I do not mean vaguely the
"brain." I mean WHERE IS THE THINKER ho uses the brain and the
body ?

How can one atom distinguish itself (if it had consciousness)
from another? Indeterminacy indicates some mind of individuality
evening those extremely small items of substance?

A puff of wind is made up of millions of molecules all moved by
some common force. What identifies one puff from ay other ?
Perhaps the wind knows.

Tell me, how does anyone of us direct and control his present
physical body? I known the details that physiology give. I am
familiar with chemistry and physics. But none of these tells me
why there is a difference between a living man and a dead one.

So it comes down to defining vitality or life. What stand behind
them and gives them direction and meaning? When our lives come
to an end what happens? when at night we "fall" asleep, what
happens? where does our consciousness go? And why does it not
wake up in someone else's body?

Unity is in a spiritual presence -- it gives meaning to the
contrast of matter -- but have you looked into the 7-fold nature
(or the "principles") of man?

Let me offer you some quotes from theosophical sources -- there
might be an answer

Dallas


---------------------------------------------

Although these are abstractions there is inherent in them a UNITY
that makes them cohere.




T H E A B S O L U T E


U N I T Y


"...there is one absolute Reality which antecedes all manifested,
conditioned, being. This Infinite and Eternal Cause--dimly
formulated in the "Unconscious" and "Unknowable"...is the
rootless root of "all that was, is, or ever shall be." It is of
course devoid of all attributes and is essentially without any
relation to manifested, finite Being. It is "Be-ness" rather
than Being (in Sanskrit, Sat), and is beyond all thought or
speculation...Thus, then, the first fundamental axiom of the
Secret Doctrine is this metaphysical ONE
ABSOLUTE--BE-NESS--symbolized by finite intelligence as the
theological trinity." Secret Doctrine I p. 14


"Parabrahm (the One Reality, the Absolute) is the field of
Absolute Consciousness, i.e., that Essence which is out of all
relation to conditioned existence, and of which conscious
existence is a conditioned symbol. But once that we pass in
thought from this (to us) Absolute Negation, duality supervenes
in the contrast of Spirit (or consciousness) and Matter, Subject
and Object.

Spirit (or Consciousness) and Matter are, however, to be
regarded, not as independent realities, but as the two facets or
aspects of the Absolute (Parabrahm), which constitute the basis
of conditioned Being whether subjective or objective...precosmic
root-substance (Mulaprakriti) is that aspect of the Absolute
which underlies all the objective planes of Nature.

Just as pre-Cosmic Ideation is the root of all individual
consciousness, so pre-Cosmic Substance is the substratum of
matter in the various grades of its differentiation.

Hence is will be apparent that the contrast of these two aspects
of the Absolute is essential to the existence of the "Manifested
Universe."	Secret Doctrine I p. 15


"...although the root of every atom individually and of every
form collectively, is that 7th principle or the one Reality,
still, in its manifested phenomenal and temporary appearance, it
is no better than an evanescent illusion of our senses.

In its absoluteness, the One Principle under its two aspects (of
Parabrahm and Mulaprakriti) is sexless, unconditioned and
eternal. Its periodical (manvantaric) emanation--or primal
radiation--is also One, androgynous and phenomenally finite."
S D I p. 18


"...the Arhat secret doctrine on cosmogony, admits but of one
absolute, indestructible, eternal, and uncreated
UNCONSCIOUSNESS...of an "element"...absolutely independent of
everything else in the universe; a something ever present or
ubiquitous, a Presence which ever was, is, and will be, whether
there is a God, gods, or none; whether there is a universe or no
universe; existing during the eternal cycles of the Maha Yugs,
during the Pralayas as during the periods of Manvantara: and
this is SPACE, the field for the operation of the eternal Forces
and natural Law, the basis...upon which take place the eternal
intercorrelations of Akasa-Prakriti, guided by the unconscious
regular pulsations of Sakti...the eternal energy of an eternal
unconscious Law, say the Buddhists. Space then...the "Emptiness"
is the nature of the Buddhist Absolute." HPB III 335



THE ABSOLUTE -- SPACE -- BE-NESS


"Space exists where there is nothing else, and must so exist
whether the Universe is one absolute vacuum or a full
Plenum...Space is what the ancients called the One invisible and
unknown (now unknowable) Deity. "	Trans. 12

"The absoluteness of the all-containing One essence, has to
manifest itself equally in rest and activity."
Trans 11

The Absolute is "the eternal divine Consciousness." Trans. 16


"...the Absolute, which is to us, at our present stage of mental
development, merely a logical speculation, though dating back to
thousands and thousands of years."	Trans. 21


"The Absolute cannot be said to have a consciousness...such as we
have here. It has neither consciousness, nor desire, nor wish,
nor thought, because it is absolute thought, absolute desire,
absolute consciousness, absolute "all." Trans. 17


"Be-ness"...Sat. It is not existence, for existence can only
apply to phenomena, never to noumena... Existence...implies
something having a beginning and an end. [ ex-istence
cannot]...be applied to that which ever was, and of which it
cannot be predicated that it ever issued from something else."
Trans 17


"Be-ness" is not being, for it is equally non-being. We cannot
conceive of it, for our intellects are finite and our language
far more limited and conditioned even than our minds. How...can
we express that which we can only conceive of by a series of
negatives?"	Trans. 17


["ever invisible robes"]...invisible to finite
consciousness...Even for the Logos, Mulaprakriti is a veil, the
Robes in which the Absolute is enveloped. Even the Logos cannot
perceive the Absolute, say the Vedantins."	Trans. 5


TIME AND DURATION -- CAUSE


"Duration is; it has neither beginning nor end. How can you
call that which has neither beginning nor end, Time? Duration is
beginningless and endless; Time is finite...Time can be divided;
for as to Duration, it is impossible to divide it or set up
landmarks therein. Duration with us is the one eternity, not
relative, but absolute."	Trans 11


"The causes of existence...refers to the last Manvantara, or age
of Brahmâ, but the cause which makes the Wheel of Time and Space
run into Eternity, which is out of Space and Time, has nothing to
do with the finite causes or what we call the Nidanas...This one
eternal causeless and therefore "causeless cause" is immutable
and has nothing to do with the causes on any of the planes which
are concerned with finite and conditioned being. The cause can
therefore by no means be a finite consciousness or desire. It is
an absurdity to postulate desire or necessity of the Absolute;
the striking of a clock does not suggest the desire of the clock
to strike...the Absolute containing both clock and Winder, once
it is the Absolute; the only difference is that the former is
would up in Space and Time and the latter out of Space and Time,
that is to say, in Eternity...Parabrahm is not a cause, neither
is there any cause that can compel it to emanate or create.
Strictly speaking, Parabrahm is not even the Absolute, but
Absoluteness. Parabrahm is not a cause, but causality, or the
propelling but not volitional power, in every manifesting Cause.
We may have some hazy idea that there is such a thing as this
eternal Causeless Cause or Causality. But to define it is
impossible..."	Trans. 40-1


LIGHT AND DARKNESS


"Darkness has...to be read in a metaphorical sense. It is
Darkness most unquestionably to our intellect, inasmuch as we can
know nothing of it...neither Darkness or Light are to be used in
the sense of opposites, as in the differentiated world. Darkness
is the term which will give rise to least misconceptions...light
is the first potentiality awakening from its laya condition to
become a potency; it is the first flutter in undifferentiated
matter which throws it into objectivity and into a plane from
which it will start manifestation."	Trans. 42


"Darkness,"...in this instance, is that of which no attributes
can be postulated; it is the Unknown Principle filling Cosmic
Space...[darkness] is used in the sense of the Unmanifested and
the Unknown as the opposite pole to manifestation, and that which
falls under the possibility of speculation...The "Darkness" here
meant can be opposed to neither Light nor Differentiation, as
both are the legitimate effects of the Manvantaric evolution--the
cycle of Activity. It is the "Darkness upon the face of the
Deep," in Genesis: Deep being here "the bright son of the Dark
Father"--Space."	Trans. 35

"Ever-Darkness means...the ever-unknowable mystery, behind the
veil--in fact Parabrahm. Even the Logos can see only
Mulaprakriti, it cannot see that which is beyond the veil. It is
that which is the "Ever-unknowable Darkness."..."Ever- Darkness"
is eternal, the Ray periodical. Having flashed out from this
central point and thrilled through the Germ, the Ray is withdrawn
again within this point and the Germ develops into the Second
Logos, the triangle within the Mundane Egg."	Trans. 84



GREAT BREATH -- PULSATION


"8. Alone the one form of existence stretched boundless
infinite, causeless, in dreamless sleep; and life pulsated
unconscious in universal space, throughout that all-presence
which is sensed by the opened eye of the Dangma."	SD I 27

"...to the follower of the true Eastern archaic Wisdom, to him
who worships in spirit nought outside the absolute Unity, that
ever pulsating great "Heart" that beats throughout, as in every
atom of nature, each such atom contains a germ from which he may
raise the Tree of Knowledge, whose fruits give life eternal and
not physical life alone...the Force which directs its [the
seeds'] growth, the ever mysterious, as the ever unknown...this
is the only force that has a reality for him, as it is the
never-dying breath of life." SD II 588-9


ABSOLUTE DIVINE MIND -- CONSCIOUSNESS


"...during Pralayas...there is nothing to receive and reflect the
ideation of the Absolute Mind; therefore it is not. Everything
outside the Absolute and immutable Sat (Be-ness), is necessarily
finite and conditioned, since it has beginning and end...A
distinction had to be made between the Absolute Mind, which is
ever present, and its reflection and manifestation in the Ah-hi
[Dhyan Chohans], who being on the highest plane, reflect the
universal mind collectively at the first flutter of Manvantara.
After which they begin the work of evolution of all the lower
forces throughout the seven planes, down to the lowest--our own.
The Ah-hi are the primordial seven rays, or Logoi, emanated from
the first Logos, triple, yet one in essence."	Trans. 19-20



"Universal or Absolute Mind always is during Pralaya as well as
Manvantara; it is immutable. The Ah-hi are the highest Dhyanis,
the Logoi...During Pralaya there are no Ah-hi, because they come
into being only with the first radiation of the Universal Mind,
which, per se, cannot be differentiated, and the radiation from
which is the first dawn of Manvantara. The Absolute is dormant,
latent mind, and cannot be otherwise in true metaphysical
perception; it is only Its shadow which becomes differentiated
in the collectivity of these Dhyanis...It is absolute
consciousness eternally, which consciousness becomes relative
consciousness periodically, at every "Manvantaric dawn." Trans.
20


"The Divine Mind is, and must be, before differentiation takes
place. It is called the divine Ideation, which is eternal in its
Potentiality and periodical in its Potency, when it becomes
Mahat, Anima Mundi or Universal Soul."	Trans. p. 4


"Apart from Cosmic Substance, Cosmic Ideation could not manifest
as individual consciousness, since it is only through a vehicle
of matter that consciousness wells up as "I am I," a physical
basis being necessary to focus a ray of the Universal Mind at a
certain stage of complexity. Again, apart from Cosmic Ideation,
Cosmic Substance would remain an empty abstraction, and no
emergence of consciousness could ensue. The "manifested
Universe," therefore is pervaded by duality, which is, as it
were, the very essence of its ex-istence as
"manifestation."...subject and object, spirit and matter, are but
aspects of the One Unity in which they are synthesized	so, in the
manifested Universe, there is "that" which links spirit to
matter, subject to object...Fohat...is thus the dynamic energy of
Cosmic Ideation...the intelligent medium, the guiding power of
all manifestation, the "Thought Divine" transmitted and made
manifest through the Dhyan Chohans, the Architects of the visible
World. Thus from Spirit, or Cosmic Ideation, comes our
consciousness; from Cosmic Substance the several vehicles in
which that consciousness is individualized and attains to
self--or reflective--consciousness; while Fohat, in its various
manifestations, is the mysterious link between Mind and Matter,
the animating principle electrifying every atom to life."	S D
I 15-16



COSMIC MIND [ IN MANIFESTATION ]


"...cosmic mind appears at the third stage, or degree, and is
confined or limited to the manifested universe...Cosmic Mind is
Mahat, or divine ideation in active (creative) operation, and
thus only the periodical manifestation in time and in actu, of
the Eternal Universal Mind--in potentia. In strict truth,
Universal Mind, being only another name for the Absolute, out of
time and space, this Cosmic Ideation, or Mind, is not an
evolution at all (least of all a :creation"), but simply one of
the aspects of the former [ABSOLUTE], which knows no change,
which ever was, which is, and will be...Universal Mind is not the
same thing [as Cosmic Mind], as no conditioned and relative act
can be predicted of that which is Absolute. Universal ideation
was as soon as the Ah-hi appeared, and continues throughout the
Manvantara." [The Ah-hi] belong to the first, second, and third
planes--the last plane being really the starting point of the
primordial manifestation--the objective reflection of the
unmanifested. Like the Pythagorean Monas, the first Logos,
having emanated the first triad, disappears into silence and
darkness."	Trans. 23


"It is most misleading to apply mechanical laws to the higher
metaphysics of cosmogony, or to space and time, as we know them,
for neither existed then. The reflection of the triad in space
and time, or the objective universe, comes later."	Trans. 23


"...Mahat--the great Manvantaric Principle of Intelligence--acts
as a Brain through which the Universal and Eternal Mind radiates
the Ah-hi, representing the resultant Consciousness or ideation.
As the shadow of this primordial triangle falls lower and lower
through the descending planes, it becomes with every stage more
material."	Trans. 28



MAN -- HUMANITY


"Every living creature, of whatever description, was, is, or will
become a human being in one or another Manvantara." Trans. 23


"Free will can only exist in a Man who has both mind and
consciousness, which act and make him perceive things both within
and without himself."	Trans. 25


"...our Ego is a ray of the Universal Mind, individualized for
the space of a cosmic life-cycle, during which space of time it
gets experience in almost numberless reincarnations or rebirths,
after which it returns to its Parent-Source. The Occultist would
call the "Higher Ego" the immortal Entity, whose shadow and
reflection is the human Manas, the mind limited by its physical
senses. The two may be well compared to the Master-artist and
the pupil-musician...In the course of natural evolution our
"brain-mind" will be replaced by a finer organism, and helped by
the 6th [Buddhi] and the 7th [Atma] senses..."	Theos. Articles &
Notes, p. 208


"The "Ah-hi" pass through all the planes, beginning to manifest
on the third. Like other Hierarchies, on the highest plane they
are arupa, i.e., formless, bodiless, without any substance, mere
breaths. On the second plane, they first approach to Rupa, or
form. On the third, they become Manasa-putras, those who become
incarnated in man. With every plane they reach they are called
by different names--there is a continual differentiation of their
original homogeneous substance; we call it a substance, although
in reality it is no substance of which we can conceive. Later
they become Rupa--ethereal forms."	Trans. 24



MANIFESTATION -- RADIATION -- EMANATION


"Are not the prismatic rays fundamentally one single white ray?
>From the one they become three; from the three, seven; from
which seven primaries they fall into infinitude. Referring back
to the so-called "consciousness" of the Ah-hi, that consciousness
cannot be judged by the standard of human perceptions. It is on
quite another plane. [Example]...often the reasoning faculty of
the higher mind may be asleep, and the instinctual mind be fully
awake." Trans. 26-7


"...Maya is the Cause, and at the same time an aspect, of
differentiation...the Absolute can never be differentiated. Maya
is a manifestation; the Absolute can have no manifestation, but
only a reflection, a shadow which is radiated periodically from
it--not by it."	Trans. 30


"In all cosmogonies the first differentiation was considered
feminine. It is mulaprakriti which conceals or veils Parabrahm;
Sephira the light that emanates first from Ain-Soph; and in
Hesiod it is Gaea who springs from chaos, preceding Eros...It is
the goddess and goddesses who come first. The first emanation
becomes the immaculate Mother from whom proceeds all the gods, or
the anthropomorphised creative forces...From IT, strictly
speaking, nothing can proceed, neither a radiation nor an
emanation...The IT is...Parabrahm...the "unknowable"...The space
of which we speak is the female aspect of Brahmâ, the male. At
the first flutter of differentiation, the Subjective proceeds to
emanate, or fall, like a shadow into the Objective, and becomes
what was called the Mother Goddess, from whom proceeds the Logos,
the Son and Father God at the same time, both manifested, one the
Potentiality, the other the Potency. But the former must not be
confounded with the manifested Logos, also called the "Son" in
all cosmogonies...Mulaprakriti means the Root of Nature or
Matter...Parabrahm cannot be called the "Root," for it is the
absolute Rootless Root of all."	Trans. 2-3


"On the first plane of differentiation there is no sex--to use
the term for convenience' sake--but both sexes exist potentially
in primordial matter. Matter is the root of the word "mother"
and therefore female; But there are two kinds of matter. The
undifferentiated, primordial matter is not fecundated by some act
in space and time, fertility and productiveness being inherent in
it. Therefore that which emanates or is born out of that
inherent virtue is not born from, but through it...that virtue or
quality is the sole cause that this something manifests through
its vehicle; whereas on the physical plane, Mother-matter is not
the active cause but the passive means and instrument of an
independent cause."	Trans. 87-8


"..."the seventh vibration" applies to both the First, and to the
manifested Logos--the first out of Space and Time, the second,
when Time has commenced. It is only when "the mother swells"
that differentiation sets in, for when the first Logos radiates
through primordial and undifferentiated matter there is as yet no
action in chaos...[it] is the first [vibration] which announces
the Dawn, and is a synonym for the First or unmanifested Logos.
There is no Time at this stage. There is neither Space nor Time
when beginning is made; but it is all in Space and Time, once
that differentiation sets in. At the time of the primordial
radiation, or when the Second Logos emanates, it is Father-Mother
potentially, but when the third or manifested Logos appears, it
becomes the Virgin-Mother."
Trans. 93-4


"Radiation" and "Emanation"...express two entirely different
ideas, and are at best apologies for the original terms that
could be found; but it the ordinary meanings are attached to
them the idea will be missed. Radiation is...the unconscious and
spontaneous shooting forth, the action of a something from which
this act takes place; but emanation is something from which
another thing issues in a constant efflux, and emanates
consciously...Radiation can come from the Absolute; Emanation
cannot. One difference exists in the idea that Radiation is
sure, sooner or later, to be withdrawn again, while Emanation
runs into other emanations and is thoroughly separated and
differentiated. Of course at the end of the cycle of time
emanation will also be withdrawn into the One Absolute, but
meanwhile, during the entire cycle of changes emanation will
persist. One thing emanates from the other, and, in fact, from
one point of view, emanation is equivalent to Evolution; while
"radiation" represents...--in the cosmic period...--an
instantaneous action like that of a piece of paper set on fire
under a burning glass, of which act the Sun knows nothing."
Trans. 94-5
[ see SD I 64; II 572; HPB Art III 334-5; Glos 113 ]



MAN AND CONSCIOUSNESS


"...while Consciousness is not a thing per se, Mind is
distinctly--in its Manvantaric functions at least--an
Entity...mind is a term perfectly synonymous with Soul..."	Trans.
p 29


"The instinctual mind finds expression through the cerebellum,
and is also that of the animals. With man during sleep the
functions of the cerebrum cease, and the cerebellum carries him
on to the Astral plane, a still more unreal state than even the
waking plane of illusion; for so we call this state...And the
Astral plane is still more deceptive, because it reflects
indiscriminately the good and the bad, and is so chaotic."	Trans.
27

"[the Lower Manas] is susceptible of hallucinations about space
and time; for instance, a man in the dreaming state may live in
a few seconds the events of a lifetime. For the perceptions and
apprehensions of the Higher Ego there is neither space not time."
Trans. 27


"The human brain is an exhaustless generator of the most refined
quality of cosmic force out of the low, brute energy of Nature;
and the complete adept has made himself a center from which
radiate potentialities that beget correlations upon correlations
through AEons of time to come.'	Theos. Art. & Notes, p. 291


"...we all regard ourselves as Units, although essentially we are
one indivisible Unit, drops in the ocean of Being, not to be
distinguished from other drops. Having then produced this cause,
the whole discord of life follows immediately as an effect; in
reality it is the endeavor of nature to restore harmony and
maintain equilibrium. It is the sense of separateness which is
the root of all evil."	Trans. 30



MEMORY


"Our "memory" is but a general agent, and its "tablets," with
their indelible impressions, but a figure of speech; the
"brain-tablets" serve only as a upadhi or a vahan (basis or
vehicle) for reflecting at a given moment the memory of one or
another thing. The record of past events, of every minutest
action, and of passing thoughts, in fact, are really impressed on
the imperishable waves of the Astral Light, around us, and
everywhere, not in the brain alone; and these mental pictures,
images, and sounds, pass from these waves in the consciousness of
the personal Ego or Mind (the lower Manas) whose grosser essence
is astral, into the "cerebral reflectors," so to say, of our
brain, whence they are delivered by the psychic to the sensuous
consciousness. This at every moment of the day, and even during
sleep."	Theos. Articles & Notes, p. 209



PANTHEISM


"The term "Pantheism" is again one of...many abused terms, whose
real and primitive meaning has been distorted by blind prejudice
and a one-sided view of it. If you accept the Christian
etymology of this compound word, and form it of pan, "all," and
theos, "god," and then imagine and teach that every stone and
every tree in Nature is a God or the ONE God, then...you
will...make of Pantheists fetish-worshipers, in addition to their
legitimate name. But you will hardly be as successful if you
etymologize the word Pantheism esoterically....When we speak of
the Deity and make it identical, and hence coeval, with Nature,
the eternal and uncreate nature is meant, and not your aggregate
of flitting shadows and finite unrealities...Our DEITY is neither
in a paradise, nor in a particular tree, building, or mountain:
it is every-where, in every atom of the visible as of the
invisible Cosmos, in, over, and around every invisible atom and
divisible molecule; for IT is the mysterious power of evolution
and involution, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and even omniscient
creative potentiality."
Key To Theosophy, pages 63-4


"Pantheism may be "physically rediscovered." It was known, seen,
and felt by the whole of antiquity. Pantheism manifests itself
in the vast expanse of the starry heavens, in the breathing of
the seas and oceans and the quiver of life of the smallest blade
of grass. Philosophy rejects the one finite and imperfect God in
the universe...It repudiates in its name of Philo-Theo-Sophia the
grotesque idea that infinite, Absolute Deity should, or rather
could, have any, whether direct or indirect, relation to finite
evolutions of matter, and therefore cannot imagine a universe
outside that Deity, or the latter absent from the smallest speck
of animate or inanimate substance."
Secret Doctrine I, 533




-----Original Message-----
From: Mic Forster [mailto:micforster@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2002 9:16 PM
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Theos-World universal unity

That we are all one is a much loved theosophical
teaching of mine and it is something I bring into
conversations around the dinner table or at the pub.
Invariably, though, you have opponents which disagree:
"how can I, as an individual entity, be a part of
everything when I know I am something quite
distinct?"; so they say. And these people are usually
scientists.

Much like you can't force a primate to communicate
with humans through language, rather it must be taught
sign language or how to press computer buttons, so too
you can't force a scientist to communicate through any
other means that is not scientific.

So how to explain the universal unity prinicple? One
method is to describe the interconnectedness of all
life on Earth: I eat a steak for dinner and that food
is converted into energy for bodily maintenance or
growth, hence I have some cow within me etc etc. Yet,
how is that distant galaxy, in any way, part of me?

If you accept the premise that matter is merely a
highly condensed form of energy, if all matter was
slowed or quickened as to reflect the same velocity,
wavelength, content, or however you would like to
describe it, everything in the universe would be
vibrating as one, defined as a single constant.
Everything is the same, homogenous, without form or
differentiation, of the same substance, density,
being. There is universal unity.