Theos-Talk Archives (October 2002 Message tt00195)

Oct 25 2002

Dear Friends:

Mr Judge wrote the OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY which is a condensed version as
well as an introduction to The SECRET DOCTRINE

The 2nd chapter deals with GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

Here are some valuable answers made at an informal study class

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CHAPTER II OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Summary

A view of the general laws governing the Cosmos.
The sevenfold division in the system.
Real Matter not visible and this always known to the Lodge.
Mind the intelligent portion of the Cosmos.
In the universal Mind the sevenfold plan of the Cosmos is contained.
Evolution proceeds upon the plan in the Universal Mind.
Periods of Evolution come to an end; this is the Night of Brahma.
The Mosaic account of cosmogenesis has dwarfed modern conceptions.
The Jews had merely one part of the doctrine taken from the ancient
Egyptians.
The doctrine accords with the inner meaning of Genesis.
The general length of periods of Evolution. Same doctrine as Herbert
Spencer's.
The old Hindu chronology gives the details.
The story of Solomon's Temple is that of the evolution of man.
The doctrine far older than the Christian one.
The real age of the world. Man is over 18,000,000 years old.
Evolution is accomplished solely by the Egos with in that at last
become the users of human forms.
Each of the seven principles of man is derived from one of the seven
great divisions of the Universe.

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Chapter II	GENERAL PRINCIPLES Questions


Q. What does it mean on page 14 when it says " until all the units of
the race which are ready are perfected"?

A. If we have understood that "all is soul and spirit ever evolving",
every form that exists is the embodiment of an acquired intelligence.
Before our earth began there were present all the beings of every
grade who had reached their various stages of development on the
previous "earth." Among those beings would be some who had reached a
stage of spiritual development and perfection of knowledge of the
evolutionary stream from which they had emerged; such beings would
pass out of the system to higher planes or worlds perhaps; whereas
those who had not reached that stage would have to continue with
beings like themselves and all others below them (who in their
totality constitute the earth-or field of experience) until they in
their turn had reached the highest point. Evidently those who had so
far progressed as to reach the highest stage "were ready."

One would not expect the incipient human units which emerged from the
animal kingdom when the period of the preceding planet had closed to
have had the same experience as those who were self-conscious when
that preceding earth began. There are always those who pass out of any
system through advancement in knowledge and wisdom, and those who
remain to perfect their experience, while still others come up from
the kingdoms below.


Q. Do not all the Egos of this Manvantara have to be ready before we
leave this earth?

A. As before said, there are beings at the end of every pralaya and
before re-manifestation who have progressed far enough to pass out of
that system; this implies that they have performed their whole duty
towards the particular evolution from which they emerge. It would be
natural to suppose that when there are others in any system who arise
to the place held by the highest units, the latter should move on to
wider fields in a higher system. The conclusion would be that all the
Egos do not "have to be" perfected. An Ego is self-conscious, and must
progress by self-induced and self-devised efforts; the period of earth
manifestation might close before perfection was reached, and likely
will for most.


Q. Then this earth will last until there is no one here to use it?

A. It will last as long as there is a Man to need it. The period of
the earth's duration is greater than that of any entity or race upon
it. The Moon still exists although decaying, while Man, whose
habitation it was, has now the present earth as his field.


Q. "The universe evolves from the unknown, into which no man or mind,
however high, can inquire, on seven planes or in seven ways or
methods." Will you state the meaning of the "seven ways"?

A. Theosophy shows that all evolution is septenary in its nature and
processes; it is the under standing of this septenary nature that
gives us the key to a comprehension of the evolutionary processes, the
nature of Man, and of all beings and forms. All planets, as well as
all solar systems, have a beginning and an ending, and all of them are
the products of progressive intelligences of innumerable degrees of
development.

Our earth is the resultant of a previous earth and its beings, whereon
the course of septenary evolution had reached the limit of its
possibility. Each septenary evolution has as a, starting point all the
knowledge and experience gained in previous evolutions, and of
necessity in the succeeding evolution proceeds in a septenary manner,
method, or way. As examples we have the seven "globes" of the earth;
seven principles; seven great races of men; seven sub-races of each;
seven sounds; seven colors, etc. (See S. D. Vol. I, pp. 289- 292,
Original Edition.)


Q. When a being is perfected on this earth, does he begin at the
bottom on a higher sphere ?

A. When a being is perfected he is at the top. It should be borne in
mind that evolution does not begin at the bottom, but at the top
always. The process is one of the action of intelligence gradually
working downwards in more and more concrete productions and
expressions. When the lowest point has been reached all that has been
gained there in experience and knowledge is raised up one step of the
"stairway of descent," is then fully assimilated there, then raised to
the next highest step, and so on up to the "top" which forms the basis
for the next evolutionary effort.


Q. The chapter speaks of the seven-fold divisions of the Universe as
being "The Absolute, Spirit, Mind, Matter, Will, Akasa or AEther, and
Life"; can their relation to each other be defined?

A. The Absolute is the Causeless Cause, the Root and Sustainer of All.
Spirit represents consciousness or intelligence arising from and
within the Absolute. Mind is the intelligence of all beings in
action-the creative or constructive power. Matter is substance, from
the most ethereal to the most concrete: products of the interaction
and inter-relation of the various classes of beings involved.

Will is the force of any and all degrees of intelligence; it is
inherent in consciousness as "the power to act"; determination to act
makes it operative. Akasa is an element, a form of substance, a
production of the creative intelligences.

Life is the power to perceive, and give expression of any degree of
intelligence, upon any plane of substance.


Q. Why is it impossible for the mind of man to understand the
Absolute? That does not mean that we can never understand it, does it?

A. The Ocean says, "The universe evolves from the unknown, into which
no man, or mind, however high, can inquire." The statement stands as
one made by a Teacher and should have full consideration.
Nevertheless, we should be able to understand why it is correct. The
Absolute is the opposite of the Relative; the Absolute includes all
things and all beings, and being the substratum of all, past, present
or future, cannot be inquired into by any being who exists in It, not
from It.

The word Absolute denotes that which is without qualities or
attributes of any kind, therefore how can any being understand That
which has no form and exhibits no qualities whatever?

We are familiar with the word Life, and can understand that it is
expressed in all forms whether visible or invisible to us; we use the
term "the One Life" to indicate Its presence in all things and
everywhere. As beings, we cannot inquire into that power of infinite
expression which each one is; each can only express It according to
his range and quality of expression. No being can express Life,
without being in essence Life Itself.

We can say of the Absolute only that "It is", as we can say of
ourselves only, "I am". How can we inquire into That which does not
depend upon any expressions great or small, but upon the fact of Its
Universal Presence?

We should also be able to perceive and understand that each one of us
is both Being and Non-Being; our power to perceive is Non-Being; our
assimilated and embodied perceptions constitute Being.

The Absolute is a name for the One Reality, the In finite, Unchanging
basis of All. All the rest is "Maya"-that is, the ever-changing modes,
expressions, degrees of intelligence and their forms, ever approaching
the Light, but never touching the Flame; for the Real in each being is
the Flame itself.


Q. "The first differentiation-speaking metaphysically as to time-is
Spirit". What does "metaphysically as to time" mean?

A. Time can only be reckoned by action and reaction, and until there
is action there is no time. Before there can be action there must be
those beings who are in pralaya awaiting the dawn of the new Day of
manifestation. Spirit is the emergence from inactivity into activity
of the intelligences; from the first "action" Time begins.
(See Stanza I, S.D. Vol. I, p. 27.)


Q. What is meant by "real matter"?

A. The Wisdom-Religion teaches that Spirit and Matter are without
beginning; in other words, there exists together with Spirit or
Consciousness, homogeneous substance-primordial matter. It is from
this primordial substance that all subsequent states of matter are
produced by the action of the mass of beings involved. This
homogeneous primordial sub stance is what is called "real matter."


Q. Why is our terrestrial plane of matter of so much importance?

A. Because we are at the bottom of the arc of descent, and at that
point where Spirit, or Consciousness, and concrete Matter meet. It is
the turning point where all past efforts and adjustments of the
downward cycle from homogeneity to heterogeneity meet and have their
field of rectification and co-ordination.

We cannot avoid these adjustments; the work must be done before we can
go forward. In the struggle there is but one place of calmness and
steadiness - the unmoved and un changing Self-the Higher Self of each
who is the real Warrior, and Who from his innermost seat of wisdom
must be free to conduct the battle, the lower self being but His
soldier in the field.


Q. What is meant by the words "The plan was laid down in Universal
Mind"?

A. "Universal Mind" includes all the various kinds of intelligence
that were evolved in a previous planet or solar system. When
manifestation ceased, each unit of intelligence had reached its own
particular degree and kind of development under the inter-relation and
inter-action of all the beings involved. From this general advance a
co-ordination is brought about which provides the succeeding lines
along which further evolution will proceed.


Q. What does it mean by "Great Being"? (page 16).

A. By "Great Being" is meant the sum of all beings, the totality of
all intelligences involved.


Q. How can there always be matter in the lowest grade to be evolved,
and where does it come from?

A. An understanding of the evolution of beings can only be had by
bearing in mind that Spirit, or Consciousness, with Its "power to
perceive," is the producer of all degrees of substance and the cause
of all changes. During manifestation evolution is going on all the
time and consequently from the first glimmerings of perception there
must he a corresponding substantial or material expression of it.
Substance, or Matter, is a product of Spirit, or Consciousness, and
this includes all the elements of Nature-so-called, known or yet to he
known or produced. [see NOTES ON THE "BHAGAVAD GITA", p 132-3]


Q. What becomes of the forms used by lower intelligences after these
intelligences have risen higher?

A. Every form, high or low, having been established, remains as a
matrix in the astral substance and can he availed of by such
intelligences as have arrived at a point which makes such use
possible.

The Unity of all beings and the economy of progress demands this; "no
effort is lost, no labor is in vain." Just as the line of physical
heredity reproduces itself from parents to children, and conditions of
various kinds are brought about and Egos incarnate under the
conditions provided according to their karma or "fitness," so with the
lower kingdoms in advancing to higher forms of expression, they assume
the established forms used by their predecessors.

The matrices of all forms that have ever been still exist in the
Astral Light.


Q. On page 17 we have mention of the British inch and Piazzi Smyth; to
what does that refer?

A. Piazzi Smyth was a F. R. A. S. who investigated, studied and
measured the Great Pyramid. Being a very patriotic Englishman, as well
as a very Orthodox Christian, he evolved and promulgated the theory
that the geometric measurements of the Great Pyramid proved that the
scientific basis of its construction was to demonstrate that the
British inch, and not the metric system, is the true standard of
linear measurement; and further, that the religious purpose in
building the Pyramid was to enforce the Orthodox idea of the Sabbath
and a warning against the Continental Sunday.


Q. Why is it said that "with the Orientals is the truth" about the age
of the world?

A. Because the conceptions of the West in regard to the age of the
world have been based upon theological deductions drawn from the
misunderstood and unrelated manuscripts which make up the Christian
Bible. The idea that the world is some few thousands of years old has
been generally accepted by Christendom, and geologists who are the
creatures of their generation have found themselves restricted in
their speculations as to actual age.

It is true that within the last century a greater freedom of
expression and speculation has been indulged in, for discoveries of
various kinds keep throwing farther and farther back such
speculations, so that from a hundred thousand to a million years have
been stated as the possible age of the earth. All those making such
statements consistently admit that they are but guesses and matters of
opinion.

Where Western Science fails by reason of the basis of its thinking,
Eastern Science, based upon the records of past ages and ascertained
laws of the evolution of the earth and Man, possesses not only the
ancient records, but a knowledge of the laws by which the records
themselves can be substantiated. In Theosophy, a knowledge of these
laws and their workings is attainable by every student who takes
advantage of the opportunity and pursues the necessary course. In
secret places among a living people these records are sacredly
preserved; Theosophy as given to the world is a portion of that
accumulated wisdom and knowledge.


Q. Why is it that we are so n behind spiritually what we were
thousands of years ago?

A. Because the consciousness of mankind be came so immersed in
external terrestrial pursuits that the intellect, the power of
reasoning from premises to conclusions, grew at the expense of the
spiritual perceptions. The desire for an accentuation of physical
sentient existence leads directly away from the consciousness of being
spirit. Unless we regain the consciousness of spiritual being-a
purposeful existence in spirit, not matter-we will remain bound by our
self-created conditions of physical existence. Intellect comes from
seeing differences and comparing them; once gained, it may be used to
perpetuate material existence with all its disadvantages, or as an
instrument of the spirit in guiding and controlling the lower lives
that constitute the kingdoms below Man.


Q. What were the "materials" that "had to be found, gathered together
and fashioned in other and distant places"?

A. At the end of a Great Period, like that of a planet, all coarser
forms of matter have been re solved back into the primordial substance
from and within which they were formed; the experiences of the many
classes of evolved beings are retained. At the next "going forth", new
combinations and correlations arise from the greater knowledge
acquired during the previous period of evolution, and a new
construction of evolution of forms begins, based upon the advance
already made. Necessarily the experience gained by the various classes
of beings in fashioning form remains, and as the "material" is in a
homogeneous state, formation begins in that state and is made more and
more concrete as the ages roll on.

All this in general. Theosophy teaches that our Moon was the planet
upon which our evolution had its immediately previous field, and that
as the Earth has been builded, the Moon has shrunk and disintegrated.
>From this we may imagine that "material" from the Moon has been and is
being used in the building of the Earth and Earth forms, and that this
will go on until our Seventh Round when the Moon will have
disappeared.

This may he taken as one of the "distant places"; and others may be
understood if we bear in mind that in this vast universe of which our
planet forms a small part, and under the law of Unity which pervades
the whole, our planet is related to and connected with all other
planets in our system. As the great purpose is the Evolution of Soul,
the great reservoir of ethereal substance must be avail able to those
Intelligences whose knowledge and power can select and guide.


Q. If we have seven planes of being, is Karma made on all of them?

A. Karma operates on all planes and upon every being. Consciousness
and Life on any plane imply perception and action, and these mean
Karma. There are three lines of Evolution: the Spiritual, Intellectual
and Physical, and these are inter-blended at every point. Progress on
all planes is possible only by action. It is incorrect to imagine that
Karma pertains only to the physical plane. (se S D I 181-2)


Q. Why is it said that Masters express Karma?

A. Because They know the ultimate results of all the actions They
institute, whether these be spiritual, psychical or physical, and
because all Their efforts are for the advancement of the whole mass of
beings.


Q. On page 19 it is slated that "When this day opens, cosmic
evolution, so far as relates. to this solar system, begins and
occupies between one and two billions of years in evolving the very
ethereal first matter before the astral kingdoms of mineral vegetable
animal and men. are possible. Can this be explained?

A There must be for each Manvantara a specific primordial substance
from and within which the subsequent differentiations are formed Each
beginning of a Manvantara must have as its basic substance what might
be called a differentiation within. the One Infinite Universal
Substance, as a result of the operation of Intelligence upon it; this
is brought about by the inter-action and inter-relation of all the
beings involved in the previous evolutionary stream, and as a
preliminary to further differentiation.

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SUMMARY	Chapter II OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY


The First Chapter treats of the Masters of Wisdom who are the results
of Evolutionary progress, and the custodians of accumulated wisdom of
the past.

The Second Chapter presents the general principles that govern the
cosmos. The seven-fold differentiation of the system is shown to be
universal in its operation, every atom as well as every being having
seven principles, either latent or expressed as the case may be. Mind,
or Intelligence, represents the acquired knowledge of the totality of
beings involved, the higher intelligences being the guides and
impellers of the lower.

Each great period of evolution has its specific beginning based upon
past achievements, and has its ending in order to co-ordinate the
general advance and form a new basis for another great period; these
periods are called the Days of Brahma, each such period being followed
by a Night of similar duration for assimilation and readjustment.

Evolution is accomplished solely by the self-conscious Egos within,
who guiding and impelling the lower lives-the builders of form-finally
occupy these forms when they are ready.

The story of the building of Solomon's Temple is that of the evolution
of Man "wherein no sound of hammer, nor voice of workman is heard."

Each of the seven principles of Man is derived from one of, the seven
great Divisions of the Universe; he therefore is directly connected
with and related to every state of substance and every plane of being
through these principles. Man is not his principles: they are his
instruments or embodiments.

"For the Soul's sake alone the Universe exists".


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