Theos-Talk Archives (March 2004 Message tt00666)

March 27 2004



Dear Friends:





Re: Constitution of man and his faculties

Re DIVINE, SPIRITUAL, WILL -- can it be
detected ?





In ancient Hindu (and Buddhist) philosophy the human entity was always
considered to be a spiritual Being living in a limited physical body.
The limitations were logically produced by earlier choices freely made.
This invoked three considerations: The conscious entity was immortal;
the ultimate fragments of matter are intelligent and also immortal,
cooperation and law rule the UNIVERSE. 



The UNIVERSE is another word for NATURE and for GOD. 



Everything, Theosophy teaches, is, in the Universe, 7-fold: Man is
included in this gradation.



The 7 gradations are explained in both The SECRET DOCTRINE 

( I 157, II 596 ) and in the KEY TO THEOSOPHY (HPB), pp. 91-2,

135-6, 175-6. It takes a bit of study to secure an understanding

of them, as our early education rarely gives us these gradations

as material for our thinking and consideration.



I think it would be a good idea to look these up and

assure yourself of the reason for their existence. They have

already been detailed a number of times These can be accessed

in the actual books or, "on-line" at BLAVATSKY NET.



Briefly:



Always present: timeless, universal, is the always awake. It is: THE
ONE 

CONSCIOUSNESS -- the ABSOLUTE (it cannot be defined by any

finite mind) [ S D I 27 ] It IS and serves as the SOURCE of

EVERYTHING.. Time, Space, Motion, Law (Karma) and Cause are all 

Emanations from it, but it cannot be penetrated or described. IT IS.



NOTE ALSO: 



IT IS positively NOT a limited, formed or form-bound

"PERSONAL GOD." One might hazard a guess that it is the CAUSELESS

CAUSE and ENDLESS EFFECT, etc.,.. (The whole of manifestation and
non-manifestation, in endless vibratory ripples of being / not-being.) 



Therefore, logically, it is the basis for a number of paradoxes:
UNITY, and DIVERSITY, ACTIVITY and REST, PURPOSE and WISDOM emanate or
radiate from IT.



But that is about as far as a logical matter-encrusted Mind can

guess. Of it, it has been said: " Man can approach the LIGHT, but

can never touch the FLAME."



Under universal KARMA, Manifestation begins again. [Karma is the

summation, in this case, of the "unfinished business" of all

manifested beings when the last Pralaya (Night-time) set in and

all "went to sleep." Now, they all wake up together at the point

where they had dropped off to "Pralaya-sleep."



These emanate (wake-up) from the non-activity on all planes (except the
highest spiritual one) of Pralayic sleep: This

"wake-up" is universally a change of awareness, condition and state,
from SLEEP and

unconsciousness, to: "awake" and the instantaneous and complete

restoration of individualized consciousness on the many planes of

substance, of a vast host of sleeping Units. 



Science visualizes this as the "BIG BANG." Theosophy states that it is
a universal and

simultaneous process. [ Example: If one switches on a light in a dark
room, all is simultaneously illuminated. ]





At first, in order of "descent" we have: The 3 foci of the SPIRITUAL
WORLD [ S D I 200 ] : --



1. Atma -- Buddhi -- Manas, or Universal Purity -- SATTVA ; 



2. Universal Law (Karma) and harmonious activity -- RAJAS, and



3. The three together are proof of an Universal Intelligence that
animates all forms. In the BHAGAVAD GITA, Sri Krishna refers to Himself
as the "Resident" [the EGO] seated in the "heart" of "all beings." "I
established this whole Universe with a portion of Myself, and remain
separate." 



4. All 'forms' found in manifestation drawn together and animated by
karmic attractions formed in previous relationships, in earlier
manifestations or incarnations. Krishna says: -- "The manifested
Universe is composed of the 3 Gunas (qualities - wisdom, activity and
inertia) -- they are in Me, but I am not in them."





Next, In the planes of denser material substance we find the 7-fold
characteristics of material Evolution:





1 ATMA -- SPIRIT : -- immortal, universal, pure, source
of all limits in substance and manifestations.





2 BUDDHI -- WISDOM Accumulated wisdom of experience
over aeons. source of Everything, Theosophy teaches that this, in the
manifested Universe, is 7-fold: (S D I 570-575 MAHATMA LETTERS pp.
341-343)



The gradations are explained in both The SECRET DOCTRINE ( I 157, II
596 ) and in the KEY TO THEOSOPHY (HPB), pp. 91-2, 135-6, 175-6. It
takes a strong desire to learn to enforce the discipline of study, and
thus to secure an understanding of them, as our early education rarely
gives us these gradations as material for our thinking and
consideration.



I think it would be a good idea to look these up, each of us for
ourselves, and secure independent assurance of the reason for their
existence. They have already been detailed a number of times These
can be accessed in the actual books and articles of the "original
teachings of Theosophy" or, "on-line" at BLAVATSKY NET.



Briefly:



Our "Present": timelessly, universally, is the always awakened
CONSCIOUSNESS -- the ABSOLUTE (it cannot be defined by any finite
mind) [ S D I 27 ] It IS, and IT serves as the SOURCE of
EVERYTHING.. Time, Space, Motion Law and Cause are all emanations from
it, but it cannot be penetrated or described. IT IS the eternal and
unchangeable, unmodifiable BACKGROUND. It is a "logical necessity." It
is in continual contrast to everything that "changes." It is UNIVERSAL
as each being (monad) in manifestation has its own individual
consciousness derived from it and that individual consciousness linked
to the ONE CONSCIOUSNESS affords the individual its INDEPENDENCE. This
gives each human mind the power to choose independently at all times.



NOTE: IT IS positively NOT a limited, formed or form-bound "PERSONAL
GOD." On might hazard a guess that it is the CAUSELESS CAUSE, UNITY,
ACTIVITY and WISDOM emanate or radiate from IT.

But that is about as far as a logical matter-encrusted Mind can guess.
Of it, it has been said: " Man can enter the LIGHT, but can never touch
the FLAME."



Under universal KARMA, Manifestation begins again (wakes up). [Karma is
the summation, in this case of the unfinished business of all manifested
beings when the last Pralaya (Night-time) set in and all "went to
sleep." It is the law of eternity, that a cause once set into motion
will continue until the original force is exhausted.]



These emanate (wake-up) from the Pralayic sleep: [ This "wake-up" is
universally a change of state, from SLEEP and unconsciousness, to:
"awake" and the instantaneous and complete restoration of individualized
consciousness on the many planes of substance, of a vast host of
sleeping Units. 



Science visualizes this as the "BIG BANG." ] Actually it is the change
from "One pointedness" ( or no-contrast, and introspection ) to
"Duality" or the field of all contrasts, to external sensations, and all
gradations of contrast and experience.



At first, in order of "descent" we have: The 3 foci of the SPIRITUAL
WORLD [ S D I 200 ]





The Jain philosophy expresses it as the ATMA and the many kind of
"Karmas" -- all attached to their respective monads which act as the
"samskaras." In Theosophy it is expressed as the "Dual Monad" or
ATMA-BUDDHI, as the basic UNIT (monad) the form all the building blocks
of Nature. It is a study in contrasts -- the contrasts of "the pairs of
opposites" as Sri Krishna calls it in the BHAGAVAD GITA.



Vedic philosophy expressed the CAUSE ( better still, the "Causeless
Cause") in this way: (in translation):



"Desire first arose in IT which was the primal germ of Mind, and which
Sages seeking with their Intellect, discovered in their hearts to be the
bond between BEING and non-being." [ S D II 176 top ] 



It ought to be made clear that "desire" here, is the spiritual, highest
kind of desire: KAMADEVA (love and compassion for all beings) and not
the ordinary desires of embodied existence, usually focussed on one's
personal self.. 





Next, In the planes of substance, we find the 7-fold characteristics of
Evolutionary experience: (see S D I 200-2)





1 ATMA -- SPIRIT immortal, universal, pure,
source of all manifestations.





2 BUDDHI -- WISDOM Accumulated wisdom of experience
over aeons. source of Intuition and of the Voice of Conscience. It is
also, Universal Brotherhood idealism. Altruism, nobility,
impartiality,

unselfishness, charity, concern for others, generosity, (also called the
HEART-DOCTRINE). IT recognizes its Immortality and seeks to employ its
knowledge to assist others. Storage place through Akasic records of all
memories. Is in constant contact with all other BUDDHIS everywhere.
[see: "Suddha Sattva" T. Glos, 311] It is also called Mulaprakriti
(root-matter), and Maha-Buddhi or universal experience accumulated
through eternity and therefore infallible WISDOM.



NOTE: (ATMA-BUDDHI when conjoined in manifestation, are called the
MONAD, the Eternal Pilgrim.) In periods of Pralaya (or
non-manifestation they are in a laya (resting) condition, awaiting the
cycle of the re-birth of the period of manifestation called Manvantara.)





3 MANAS -- MIND Thinking principle, Free,
independent, able to act and choose, and to look into both the
"spiritual" and the "Physical or material." Seeks causes, motives,
seeks to know and understand LAWS and their operation. Reason,
Intellectual, dispassionate, or passionate. Stores Memory and also
"forgets."



It (manas) is therefore divided into 3:



1. Spiritual-Mind (Buddhi-Manas) -- source of "virtue"
and seeks WISDOM (commonly called the (INDIVIDUALITY)



2. pure Mental action ( as in Mathematics or logical
pursuit of LAWS ) Intellectual, "cold" and passionless.



3. Desire-Mind or (passional / desire-mind) -- source
of all "vices." seeks to justify its selfish existence, even though
short-lived. Commonly called the "PERSONALITY" (or the "mask").





4 KAMA -- Passions and Desires -- the source of wild
follies and personal selfishness, isolationist and ignorant -- unable to
think and reason. It is the field in which "Tanha" the "thirst for
life" is to be seen; it seeks to bind Mind to it, and thus plan its
follies regardless of their final outcome. Known of as "Kama-Manas" or
"Lower Manas." With our "detached, and impartial" mental faculty, we
can observe how our "embodied mind" is wrapped in "desires, vices,
passions, etc. " And it is again our detached and altruistic mind that
can see these are follies and selfishness and if pursued, lead only to
disappointment, disease and ultimately to the death of the form.





5. PRANA (Breath of life) -- a principle that is closely
related to the physical longevity of any personality. Prana may be said
to be an aspect of Atma as well as of Buddhi. It responds to the Karmic
burden and the "balance-sheet" of a life's activities of feelings,
thoughts, words and actions



6. ASTRAL BODY (or LINGA-SARIRA) The electro-magnetic
lattice, defined by the force of the "Prana" of one life-time. It is
the work of forces that bind the physical atoms and molecules into

place to form the physical structures of our bodies, and, finally:





7. PHYSICAL BODY -- as said above, it consists of living
atoms, -- of "monads" -- or, elemental beings on the astral plane who
form the necessary foci for the laying down of the opaque (yet
constantly changing) physical structure we all know of as "my body."
Every particle of food, of water, of air we use has a living vital
counterpart and it is the affinity between us and those which enables
them to find a place in our bodies, or causes them to be rejected and
expelled.





The physical body is the starting point for all independent "material"
individual development Yes, the Buddha Gautama is the latest of a long
line of Buddhas. But there have been others before him, and he refers
to that. It has been called the Guruparampara chain. Its beginnings
are lost in the "night of time." It was instituted ever since "Man"
became a thinker. And that commencement cannot be traced to this
Manvantara only, but is a continuing of the process foe many earlier
Manvantaras.





The NIRMANAKAYA and the MAHATMA are "bodies" used by Great SOULS to
manifest and support the WISDOM of Nature. It is acquired by Those who
master all their principles and center their consciousness in the 7th.
ATMAN. As a Nirmanakaya they are living consciously a we are told in
all the 6 principles except the physical body. When a Nirmanakaya
incarnates then the 7-bodied DHYANI (or Mahatma) is manifest.





If one lays these out on a square with 7 spaces going horizontally and
vertically (total 49) one can see how the various qualities associated
with those "principles" also form a part of every other main category of
principles. This is left to each student to do, since in each case the
mix is determined by the equation

of mind and desire in him/her.



Much more is to be said about this, but each student has to seek and
verify the accuracy of thee propositions for themselves.



But these are only the opening steps to a grasp of the whole intricate
cooperative -- the marvelous and harmonious operations that associate
and dissociate all forms in Nature - and, which ever tends to develop a
full awareness and consciousness of LAW - - KARMA -- 



Best wishes,



Dallas



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