Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00656)

Thursday, April 22, 2004




SPIRIT

Here are some ideas:

The central SPIRITUAL SOUL (or SELF) is the TRUE IMMORTAL MAN. 

The Man of flesh here in this world, is a reflection, a "shadow," of
that spiritual being. 

The reason for the incarnation of the "shadow" of the Divine into the
man of flesh is for the benefit of the man of flesh. He is also made up
of potentially divine living materials. It is for their benefit (and
because they are also potentially men-to-be that the Spirit always
incarnates, life after life. 

Our living in this world is always for the benefit of the "Lower self"
the incarnated "brain-mind." The Higher Mind (or Wise-Mind) in each of
us, never dies, it reincarnates.

Every life-time, the man of flesh is always invited to learn how to
become a man of Spirit - impersonal, just, fearless, generous, wise and
truthful in all his dealings with his fellows. 

Since we are all immortals we are also Brothers in the Spirit. 

As such we cannot afford to permit ideas of revenge or retaliation to
enter our minds. 

If we are able to be virtuous the whole life long and always try to be
just, we transform the body of flesh into a "Tree of Knowledge." The
"Cedars of Lebanon" of the old myths and fables, were used as
illustrations of the Great Sages who once lived in that area. Jesus the
Christ was one of these.

If we agree that in our essence we are celestial beings. If, in fact we
are eternal beings and cannot be destroyed, no God nor any man can do
that. The ONE SPIRIT (of DEITY or GOD pervades all and hence we have a
"ray" of that divinity in us. So do all other humans and in fact, all
beings do also.

Each of us, on incarnation, has been entrusted with the duty to assist
our "younger brothers" who do not have as much experience as we do.
They are the many kinds of materials all around us and do not
necessarily belong to the same physical family in which we are born.

If we suffer now, it is because we have failed in our protective and
educative duty to them. They are the imperishable molecules and cells of
Living Matter. Hey now form our bodies. If in the past we misused and
abused them that tendency is impacted in them and now they have to
release it to us. That is only justice. It is up to us to make direct
reparation to them, by our right use now.

We have to learn to separate our lower consciousness (in the body) from
our higher consciousness in the Spiritual Soul. Let our Spiritual Soul
be our guide in all things. Do good to all. That is the only way to
pray. We cannot ask for favors. From whom can we ask? In justice, why
should we be favored? 

If "God" [or the DEITY] is omniscient and not only IS ALL, but, knows
all, our most secret thoughts are known to IT [Him]. We cannot pretend
or hide anything. We have to be absolutely honest.

Our "lower nature" is made of our mistakes. As we undo them one by one
we set our future into pleasure and happiness. We have to do the work
ourselves. Just think of our present advantage: we know we cannot hide
evil as it always returns to plague us. We are then to do good only.

We can then share the beauty and glory of work well done with all the
rest of our brothers.


There is a most important axiom on which the whole of Theosophical
philosophy rests:

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


"Every Buddha meets at his last initiation all the great adepts who
reached Buddhahood during the Preceding ages...every class of adepts has
its own bond of spiritual communion which knits them together...The only
possible and effectual way of entering into such brotherhood...is by
bringing oneself within the influence of the Spiritual light which
radiates from one's own Logos [ATMAN]...such communion is only possible
between persons whose souls derive their life and sustenance from the
same divine RAY, and that, as seven distinct rays radiate from the
'CENTRAL SPIRITUAL SUN,' all adepts and Dhyan Chohans are divisible into
7 classes, each of which is guided, controlled, and overshadowed by one
of the 7 forms or manifestations of the divine wisdom."	S. Rao quoted -
THEOSOPHIST, AUG. 1886. SD I 574


A study of the statements made in the Theosophical philosophy concerning
the universal principle Atma show that it pervades everything. 

It can be understood as "Space." 

The purpose for manifestation is that every Monad, an individualized
"ray" of the Atma, may reach to a complete knowledge and understanding
of the nature and reach of the Universe in all its vast complexity.

The process of reincarnation for the Atma (spirit) in humans is only a
continuation of the pilgrimage of the immortal Monad. 

The Atma being the UNIVERSAL ALL, may be seen to overshadow, rather than
incarnate in any individuality. It pervades the whole universe and
beyond, as it is when non-manifest considered as the ABSOLUTE for which
there are no limits or conditions.

It is only for the purpose of our understanding that we call ATMA a
human "Principle." 

In all truth the principle "BUDDHI" [wisdom acquired as fact] is the
primary "human principle." Higher Manas BUDDHI-MANAS) is a portion of
the UNIVERSAL MIND (Mahat). [It is Mulaprakriti, or divine primordial
substance -- see "Suddha Sattva" in the THEOSOPHICAL. GLOSSARY.]

So the word Atma, as used in The SECRET DOCTRINE, may be considered a
"blind" designed to indicate the INDIVIDUALITY or the ETERNAL PILGRIM
[Atma-Buddhi-Manas] and all the powers that it has of penetrating in and
through all the levels and planes of being. 

And finally, it is said to be "overshadowing " the gross human physical
frame we all use when we are awake and acting on this plane we call the
Earth. This "frame of physical matter" is the final and lowest of the 4
principles [Kama-Prana- Astral body - physical body] that we group under
the term "personality." It changes with each incarnation because of the
so many choices we make. And to its choices, good or bad, lawful or
unlawful, all aspects of karmic responsibility are attributed.

The basic concept is that the INDIVIDUALITY overshadows the skandhaic
attributes (or bundles of "monads of lesser experience") of the
Personality [ the lower 4] to assist them to elevate themselves to the
level it has already achieved, perhaps many Manvantaras earlier.

The quotations offered below are only a fraction selected by one student
who found them useful in his own study in the pursuit of the
understanding and applications that seemed implicit in Theosophy. 

Here is an important concept offered:

"As to the "we," there is but one "we," or perceiver [Atma], who
perceives on any plane through the sheaths evolved by him on each plane.
His perceptions on any plane will depend on the "quality" of the sheath
or vehicle. 

"Atma" (spirit) or consciousness alone, is what remains after the
subtraction of all the sheaths. It is the ONLY witness--a synthesizing
unity. 

On this plane"--and this means during waking consciousness or its dream
effects--the perceiver knows "only what it knows on this plane"
(generally speaking), and through ignorance of the Real, involves itself
in the cause and effect of physical nature, identifying itself with body
and sensations, and looking at other human beings in the same light.
This is a wrong attitude of mind. The "we," at this end, is the
identification of the perceiver with this plane's perceptions--a
misconception of the perceiver, a dream--a play--in which the perceiver
is so involved as to have lost sight and memory of his real life.

The mind is both "carrier" and "translator" of both lower and higher
self; the attitude determines the quality and kind of action, for one
will act according to the attitude of mind firmly held. The great and
incalculable value of acting for and as the Supreme is that there is
nothing higher in the way of attitude, and this endeavor "must," by its
very nature bring about the best results.

What moves the "mind" this way or that is usually desire for the
attractions of matter, and self-interest in them; these then move and
control the mind through the brain. "We," the Perceiver, do not
perceive anything but the "ideas" which the senses and organs present.
He is not fully awake on this plane; sometimes he gets partly wakened,
but drops off to sleep again, lulled by the sounds and memories of his
dream; sometimes "bad dreams" awake him; sometimes he is awakened by
the voices of those who are awake.

The "Real" and the "unreal," the "fleeting" and the "ever-lasting" are
terms which will be more fully understood if looked at from the point of
view of the Perceiver. This is the attitude of mind we should hold."
F P 48-9


"...Atman is the Universal All, and becomes the Higher Self of man only
in conjunctions with Buddhi, its vehicle, which links It to the
individuality (or divine man). For it is the Buddhi-Manas which is
called the Causal Body, (the united 5th and 6th Principles) and which is
consciousness, that connects it with every personality it inhabits on
earth."	
Key, p. 121


In another place HPB seems to equate the idea of the Masters of Wisdom
with the Higher Self, the Atma within. This ought to be carefully
considered, since the implication is that the Master is already "in
place" in each of us, and the embodied "brain-mind" needs to consider
this as a vital fact for its own advance. 


"The "Master" in the Sanctuary of our souls is "the Higher Self"-- the
divine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived
solely...(during the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive)...
from the Mind, which we have agreed upon to call the Human Soul (the
"Spiritual Soul" being the vehicle of the Spirit [Atman]. In its turn
the former (the personal or human soul) is a compound in its highest
form of spiritual aspirations, volitions, and divine love; and in its
lower aspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it
by its association with its vehicle, the eat of all these. It thus
stands as a link and a medium between the animal nature of man which its
higher reason seeks to subdue, and his divine spiritual nature, with the
inner animal. The latter is the instinctual "animal Soul" and is the
hotbed of those passions..."
H.P.B. -- "OCCULTISM VS. THE OCCULT ARTS," HPB Articles (U.L.T. ),
Vol. II, p. 105


"...our Higher Self is leading us through all the experiences of life to
the end that we shall recognize the unity of all, then, instead of
continually acting contrary to that object of the Higher Self [Atma],
we try to acquire the right belief and aspiration." GITA NOTES, pp.
123-4[ see also H.P.B. -- TRANSACTIONS, pp. 65-77 ]


"Rely within yourself on your Higher Self always, and that gives
strength, as the Self uses whom it will. Persevere, and little by
little new ideals and thought-forms will drive out of you the old ones.
This is the eternal process." 
W.Q.J.-- LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME , p. 129 


"Apart for the Higher Self in each of us, there are in the World the
actual Masters of Wisdom, Adepts, Mahatmas or Perfected Men. Their
existence and continued work in both visible and invisible planes and it
has been described as: Knowers of Atma: "Atma-Gnyanis." Atma (our 7th
principle) being identical with the universal Spirit, and man being one
with it in essence, what is then the Monad proper ? 

It is that homogeneous spark which radiates in millions of rays from the
primeval "Seven;" ...It is the EMANATING spark from the UNCREATED RAY--A
MYSTERY...Adi-Buddha (Chogi dangpoi sangye), the One Unknown, without
beginning or end, identical with Parabrahm and Ain-Soph, emits a bright
ray from its darkness. This is the Logos (the first), or Vajradhara,
the Supreme Buddha (also called Dorjechang)...he cannot manifest, but
sends into the world of manifestation his heart--the "diamond heart,"
Vajrasattva (Dorjesempa). This is the second logos of creation, from
whom emanate the seven (in the exoteric blind the five) Dhyani Buddhas,
called the Anupadaka, "the parentless." 

These Buddhas are the primeval monads from the world of incorporeal
beings, the Arupa world, wherein the Intelligences (on that plane only)
have neither shape nor name, in the exoteric system, but have their
distinct seven names in the esoteric philosophy. These Dhyani Buddhas
emanate, or create from themselves, by virtue of Dhyana, celestial
Selves--the super-human Bodhisattvas. These incarnating in the
beginning of every human cycle as mortal men, become occasionally, 
owing to their personal merit, Bodhisattvas among the Sons of Humanity,
after which they may reappear as Manushi (human) Buddhas. The Anupadaka
(or Dhyani-Buddhas) are thus identical with the Brahmanical Manasaputra,
"mind-born sons"--whether of Brahma or either of the other two
Trimurthian Hypostases, hence identical with the Rishis and Prajapatis."
SD I 571


"The real Mahatma is then not his physical body but that higher "Manas"
which is inseparably linked to the "Atma" and its vehicle (6th
principle) -- a union effected by him in a comparatively very short
period by passing through the self-evolution laid down by the Occult
Philosophy."	HPB Articles (U.L.T. ) I, p. 293

Best wishes,


Dallas