Theos-Talk Archives (July 2003 Message tt00265)

July 23 2003

Dear Friend,

Re: a Celestial Hierarchy

This is not an easy request because we tend to materialize such
things, and as they are "spiritual" in fact and essence, we are
really discussing the progress of the eternal SPIRITUAL MONAD on
its way to ULTIMATE PERFECTION.

Thus each MONAD at some point will assume a position of
responsibility in the guiding and assisting of the UNIVERSE ( all
Nature) to progress.

This is the ultimate purpose of brotherhood.

One may assume that before such a position of responsibility is
assumed, Nature will have tested the character of the
"Personality" (the permanent Skandhas) that surrounds the MONAD
it proposes to use.

Thus we have some inkling of this process from the scattered
references to "Initiation," and "spiritual cultivation" and
"development." It is the "Personality" that is being tested and
offered a chance to become truly immortal, because it volunteers
for the spiritual life. It exercises its power of "free-choice"
for "a future of infinite assistance to all that lives."

The names and degrees of such "celestial Hierarchies" are not
easily to be found. If made available, what purpose would they
serve? Would they inspire? Would they merely satisfy some
curiosity?

Theosophy in the past 125 years or so, has spoken openly of the
"occult" side of nature, of its great immutable LAWS, and of the
seven-fold nature of man and the Universe [S D I 157, II 593,
596].

It has said there were "esoteric" explanations to be had, and
"axioms" to be learned, tested and then applied unselfishly. The
great virtues have been repeatedly indicated in the VOICE OF THE
SILENCE , and that book serves as a guide text far those who
seriously desire to assist and help Nature and all their fellows.
Brotherhood has been repeatedly mentioned as the aim and
objective of the T S and other THEOSOPHY groups. It universality
and impersonality has been stressed. Those applied personally to
ones' self, are the only methods that give a chance of success.

Every Monad goes through this pilgrimage and at various points of
progress when it matures to a particular stage it assumes the
responsibilities of great guiding powers that harmonize and
enliven Nature and its so many departments.

Here are some further suggestive explanations: --

"A. Mind, in the act of ideation, is a manifestation; but
Universal Mind is not the same thing, 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.
Q. To what cosmic plane do the Ah-hi, here spoken of, belong?
A. They 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.
Q. Does this mean that the three Logoi emanated from the
primordial Radiation in Macrocosm correspond to Atma, Buddhi, and
Manas, in the Microcosm?
A. Just so; they correspond, but must not be confounded with
them. We are now speaking of the Macrocosm at the first flutter
of Manvantaric dawn, when evolution begins, and not of Microcosm
or Man.
Q. Are the three planes to which the three Logoi belong
simultaneous emanations, or do they evolve one from another?
A. 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.
Q. Have the Ah-hi been men in previous Manvantaras, or will they
become so?
A. Every living creature, of whatever description, was, is, or
will become a human being in one or another Manvantara.
Q. But do they in this Manvantara remain permanently on the same
very exalted plane during the whole period of the life-cycle?
A. If you mean by "life cycle" a duration of time which extends
over fifteen figures, then my answer is most decidedly-no. The
"Ah-hi" pass through all the planes, beginning to manifest on the
third. Like all 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 became Manasa-putras, those who became
incarnated in men. With every plane they reach they are called by
different names-there is a continual differentiation of their
original homogeneous substance; we call it substance, although in
reality it is no substance of which we can conceive. Later, they
become Rupa-ethereal forms.
Q. Then the Ah-hi of this Manvantara . . . ?
A. Exist no longer; they have long ago become Planetary, Solar,
Lunar, and lastly, incarnating Egos, for, as said, "they are the
collective hosts of spiritual beings."
Q. But it was stated above that the Ah-hi did not become men in
this Manvantara.
A. Nor do they as the formless "Ah-hi." But they do as their own
transformations. The Manvantaras should not be confounded. The
fifteen-figure Manvantaric cycle applies to the solar system; but
there is a Manvantara which relates to the whole of the objective
universe, the Mother-Father, and many minor Manvantaras. The
slokas relating to the former have been generally selected, and
only two or three relating to the latter given. Many slokas,
therefore, have been omitted because of their difficult nature.
Q. Then, on reawakening, will the men of one Manvantara have to
pass through a stage corresponding to the Ah-hi stage in the next
Manvantara?
A. In some of the Manvantaras, the tail is in the mouth of the
serpent. Think over this Symbolism.
Q. A man can choose what he will think about; can the analogy be
applied to the Ah-hi?
A. No; because a man has free will and the Ah-hi have none. They
are obliged to act simultaneously, for the law under which they
must act gives them the impulse. 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. The "Ah-hi" are
Forces, not human Beings.
Q. But are they not conscious agents in the work?
A. Conscious in as far as they act within the universal
consciousness. But the consciousness of the Manasa-putra on the
third plane is quite different. It is only then that they become
Thinkers. Besides, Occultism, unlike modern Science, maintains
that every atom of matter, when once differentiated, becomes
endowed with its own kind of Consciousness. Every cell in the
human body (as in every animal) is endowed with its own peculiar
discrimination, instinct, and, speaking relatively, with
intelligence.
Q. Can the Ah-hi be said to be enjoying bliss?
A. How can they be subject to bliss or non-bliss? Bliss can only
be appreciated, and becomes such when suffering is known.
Q. But there is a distinction between happiness and bliss.
A. Granting that there may be, still there can be neither
happiness nor bliss without a contrasting experience of suffering
and pain.
Q. But we understand that bliss, as the state of the Absolute,
was intended to be referred to.
A. This is still more illogical. How can the ABSOLUTE be said to
feel? The Absolute can have no condition nor attribute. It is
only that which is finite and differentiated which can have any
feeling or attitude predicated of it.
Q. Then the Ah-hi cannot be said to be conscious intelligences,
when intelligence is so complex?
A. Perhaps the term is erroneous, but owing to the poverty of
European languages there seems to be no other choice.
Q. But perhaps a phrase would represent the idea more correctly?
The term seems to mean a force which is a unity, not a complex
action and reaction of several forces, which would be implied by
the word "intelligence." The noumenal aspect of phenomenal force
would perhaps better express the idea.
A. Or perhaps we may represent to ourselves the idea as a flame,
a unity; the rays from this flame will be complex, each acting in
its own straight line.
Q. But they only become complex when they find receptacles in
lower forms.
A. Just so; still the Ah-hi are the flame from which the rays
stream forth, becoming more and more differentiated as they fall
deeper into matter, until they finally reach this world of ours,
with its teeming millions of inhabitants and sensuous beings, and
then they become truly complex.
Q. The Ah-hi, then, considered as a primary essence, would be
unity? Can we regard them as such?
A. You may; but the strict truth is that they only proceed from
unity, and are the first of its seven rays.
Q. Then can we call them the reflection of unity?
A. 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.
TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE pp 22-26


"First come the SELF-EXISTENT on this Earth. They are the
'Spiritual Lives' projected by the absolute WILL and LAW, at the
dawn of every rebirth of the worlds. These LIVES are the divine
'Sishta,' (the seed-Manus, or the Prajapati and the Pitris)."
SD II 164


"Fohat is closely related to the "one life." From the Unknown
One, the Infinite TOTALITY, the manifested ONE, or the periodical
Manvantaric Deity, emanates; and this is the Universal Mind,
which, separated from its Fountain-Source, is the Demiurgos or
the creative Logos...In its totality, viewed from the standpoint
of manifested Divine Thought in the esoteric doctrine, it
represents the Hosts of the higher creative Dhyan-Chohans.
Simultaneously with the evolution of the Universal Mind, the
concealed Wisdom of Adi-Buddha--the One Supreme and
eternal--manifests itself as Avalokiteshwara (or manifested
Ishwara)...Heavenly Man...Logos...Atman. By the action of the
manifested Wisdom, or Mahat, represented by these innumerable
centers of spiritual Energy in the Kosmos, the reflection of the
Universal Mind, which is Cosmic Ideation and the intellectual
Force accompanying such ideation, becomes objectively the Fohat
of the Buddhist esoteric philosopher. Fohat, running along the
seven principles of Akasa, acts upon manifested substance or the
One Element...and by differentiating it into various centers of
Energy, sets in motion the law of Cosmic Evolution, which, in
obedience to the Ideation of the Universal Mind, brings into
existence all the various states of being in the manifested Solar
System.

...The Solar system brought into existence by these agencies,
consists of Seven Principles, like everything else within these
centers...Fohat, then, is the personified electric vital power,
the transcendent binding Unity of all Cosmic energies, on the
unseen as on the manifested planes, the action of which
resembles--on an immense scale--that of a living Force created by
will, in those phenomena where the seemingly subjective acts on
the seemingly objective and propels it to action. Fohat is not
only the living Symbol and Container of that Force, but is looked
upon by the Occultists as an Entity--the forces he acts upon
being cosmic, human and terrestrial, and exercising their
influence on all those planes respectively...He is
metaphysically, the objectivized thought of the gods; the "Word
made flesh," on a lower scale, and the messenger of Cosmic and
human ideations: the active force in Universal Life."	SD I
111-12
.Solar Energy, the electric vital fluid and the preserving 4th
prin	(See also SD I 292-3 II 173 - Saktis)
In man: "Will is the energy of Consciousness expressed in
action, on any plane of manifestation...the Spiritual Will
(is)...developed by true unselfishness, a sincere and full desire
to be guided, ruled and assisted by the Higher Self, and to do
that which...the Higher Self has in store for one by way of
discipline or experience." Q & A p. 109


"...the metaphysics of Occult physiology and psychology postulate
within mortal man an immortal entity, "divine Mind," or Nous,
whose pale and too often distorted reflection is that which we
call "Mind" and intellect in man--virtually an entity apart from
the former during the period of every incarnation--we say that
the two sources of "memory" are in these two "principles."

"Man is the one free agent in nature. His intelligence makes him
free.

Will is not directly free elsewhere in nature; the law of Karma
adjusts the encroachments of matter on the flow of the Will,
which is the Power of Spirit. Only in the human kingdom, with
the birth of intelligence, Will becomes free; and, thus, at
last, Karma finds the aid of an agent independent of itself,
instead of a passive instrument for its compensating operations.
Thus, even the "Law of Laws" offers itself to become the servant
of man."	STUDIES IN THE S D, p. 129


"This raising of himself [Lower Manas] into an individual power
does in reality identify him with the nobler forces of life and
make him one with them. For they stand beyond the powers of this
earth and the laws of this universe. Here lies man's only hope
of success in the great effort; to leap right away from his
present standpoint to his next and at once become an intrinsic
part of the divine power as he has been an intrinsic part of the
intellectual power, of the great nature to which he belongs. He
stands always in advance of himself...It is the men who adhere to
this position, who believe in their power of progress, and that
of the whole race, who are the elder brothers, the pioneers."	L
on P. p. 55


"...the disciple is expected to deal with the snake, his lower
self, unaided; to suppress his human passions and emotions by
the force of his own will."

"He can only demand assistance of a Master when this is
accomplished, or...partially so. Otherwise the gates and windows
of his soul are blurred and blinded, and darkened, and no
knowledge can come to him."	L on P. p. 63


"The ever unknowable and incognizable Karana alone, the Causeless
Cause of all causes, should have its shrine and altar on the holy
and ever untrodden ground of our heart--invisible, intangible,
unmentioned, save through "the still small voice" of our
spiritual consciousness. Those who worship before it, ought to
do so in the silence and the sanctified solitude of their Souls;
making their spirit the sole mediator between them and the
Universal spirit, their good actions the only priests, and their
sinful intentions the only visible and objective sacrificial
victims to the Presence."	SD I 280

if you desire additional information it is best to use the
THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY
available through http://www.blavatsky.net

and AA-ULT-Phoenix, E-mail Address:
phxultlodge@hotmail.com



I hope these are helpful,

Best wishes,

Dallas

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



-----Original Message-----
From: bta10
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 1:23 PM
To: Blavatsky
Subject: Celestial Hierarchy

Hello,

Can someone explain the relationships between the planetary
spirits,
rays, kumaras, Agnishwattas and the human monads? I get them
confused and am not sure they are actually different entities.

Thank you,

BTA