Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00680)

Monday, April 26, 2004





RE: Blavatsky & Philosophy -- SPIRIT - SOUL - MIND





Dear Friends: and G.:







As far as I am able to understand, there is in each of us a stable center of
thought - call it the "rabbit" or the "Real Man" - the name matters little.
It is a spiritual being, permanent and reincarnates (according to THEOSOPHY
).



The interesting thing is that there is in us THAT which watches the "Real
Man" (or the thinker) and / or the "rabbit" that is duly cautious.



The "need to know" is apparent in both. Caution is a necessity always, 



What have we here to consider together? How shall we approach the subject?



As I see it: we have 



1 A Thinker and an "emotional" capacity to "feel" the tenor of
meanings.



2 Memories, since everything we consider has antecedents, and those
are linked to the "selected thing" - on review, as a series of interlinked
observations extending back in time to the area when they first attracted
our attention. Those are either logical or illogical and fanciful.



3 The capacity to reason from premises to conclusions and from
present observations back to our earlier considerations and conclusions, as
well as fancy, whereby we seek to establish a reasonable (or a frivolous)
basis for our thinking on selected specifics.



4 This implies the potential and actual power to choose, or to
refuse to choose (which, paradoxically is also choice) - producing the
"thirst for knowledge," or a rejection that keeps us in "ignorance". (we
know, but reject that knowledge , perhaps for the reason that it does not
please us emotionally).



5 It is interesting to note that we live between these two "poles."
TO DO or NOT TO DO. LIKES and DISLIKES. But always these are mutable and
changeable. 



6. The "changeless" and "Permanent" in us -- as the "stable" --
sees and observes "changes." Where? : as a contrast between current
objects, and views, and our memory pictures, made in the past, and more or
less distorted by time and desire. [ I find my mind is not always accurate
or able to call up (as memory in hypnotism demonstrates) that secondary,
underlying total memory of all that has occurred.]



7. If we desire to learn and distinguish this tumbled mess, we need
to establish for ourselves a discipline that provides for accurate thought
sequence as distinguished form what we may "like or dislike." So the real
question as I see it here, is do we want to KNOW or do we want to drift
from fancy to fancy?



May I offer this?



Have you ever read PATANJALI ON THE MIND ? He was an ancient sage that
tried to organize thinking. Let me offer a few words from him that will
give you an introduction:



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



The book has been of use only to those who had enough acquaintance with the
Indian system of philosophy to enable them to grasp the real meaning of the
Aphorisms.



It is offered as an interpretation, as the thought of Patanjali clothed in
our language. No liberties have been taken with the system of the great
Sage, but the endeavor has been faithfully to interpret it to Western minds
unfamiliar with the Hindu modes of expression, and equally unaccustomed to
their philosophy and logic. 





Patanjali is an ancient sage and philosopher of him all that we have is the
philosophy. 



In regard to the systems of Yoga, Col. Olcott, President of the
Theosophical Society, in the Bombay edition of these Aphorisms, in August,
1885 said: 



"The Yoga system is divided into two principal parts - Hatha and Raja Yoga.
There are many minor divisions which can be brought under either of these
heads. Hatha Yoga .deals principally with the physiological part of man with
a view to establish his health and train his will. The processes prescribed
to arrive at this end are so difficult that only a few resolute souls go
through all the stages of its practice, while many have failed and died in
the attempt. It is therefore strongly denounced by all the philosophers. The
most illustrious Sankaracharya has remarked .that 'the system of Hatha Yoga
was intended for those whose worldly desires are not pacified or uprooted.' 



"On the other hand, the Raja Yogis try to control the mind itself by
following the rules laid down by the greatest of adepts." 



Patanjali's rules (if adopted) would compel the student not only to acquire
a right knowledge of what is and what is not real, but also to practice all
virtues, and while results in the way of psychic development are not so
immediately seen as in the case of the successful practitioner of Hatha
Yoga, it is infinitely safer and is certainly spiritual, which Hatha Yoga is
not. 



In Patanjali's Aphorisms.he distinctly says that mortification and other
practices are either for the purpose of extenuating certain mental
afflictions or for the more easy attainment of concentration of mind. 



In Hatha Yoga practice, on the contrary, the result is psychic development
at the delay or expense of the spiritual nature. These last named practices
and results may allure the Western student.



This book is meant for sincere students, and especially for those who have
some glimmering of what Krishna meant, when in Bhagavad-Gita he said, that
after a while "spiritual knowledge grows up within and illuminates with its
rays all subjects and objects." 



It should be ever borne in mind that Patanjali had no need to assert or
enforce the doctrine of reincarnation. That is assumed all through the
Aphorisms. That it could be doubted, or need any restatement, never occurred
to him, and by us it is alluded to, not because we have the smallest doubt
of its truth, but only because we see about us those who never heard of such
a doctrine, who, educated under the dogmas of Christian priestcraft, imagine
that upon quitting this life they will enjoy heaven. or be damned eternally,
and who not once pause to ask where was their soul before it came into the
present body. 



Without reincarnation, Patanjali's Aphorisms are worthless. .The
manifestation, in any incarnation, of the effects of mental deposits made in
previous lives, is declared to ensue upon the obtaining of just the kind of
bodily and mental frame, constitution and environment as will bring them
out. Where were these deposits received if not in preceding lives on earth.
And so on all through the Aphorisms this law is tacitly admitted.



In order to understand the system expounded in this book it is also
necessary to admit the existence of soul, and the comparative unimportance
of the body in which it dwells. 



For Patanjali holds that NATURE EXISTS FOR THE SOUL'S SAKE, taking it for
granted that the student believes in the existence of Soul. Hence he does
not go into proof of that which in his day was admitted on every hand. 



And, as he lays down that the real experiencer and knower is the Soul and
not the mind, it follows that the Mind, designated either as "internal
organ," or "thinking principle," while higher and more subtle than the body,
is yet only an instrument used by the Soul in gaining experience, just in
the same way as an astronomer uses his telescope for acquiring information
respecting the heavens. 



But the Mind is a most important factor in the pursuit of concentration; one
indeed without which concentration cannot be obtained, and therefore we see
in the first book that to this subject Patanjali devotes attention. He shows
that the mind is, as he terms it, "modified" by any object or subject
brought before it, or to which it is directed. This may be well illustrated
by quoting a passage from the commentator, who says: "The internal organ is
there compared to water in respect of its readiness to adapt itself to the
form of whatever mold it may enter. 



'As the waters of a reservoir, having issued from an aperture, having
entered by a channel the basins, become four-cornered or otherwise shaped,
just like them; so the manifesting internal organ having gone through the
sight, or other channel, to where there is one object, for instance a jar,
becomes modified by the form of the jar or other object. It is this altered
state of the internal organ - or mind - that is called its modification.' 



While the internal organ (MIND) thus molds itself upon the object it at the
same time reflects it and its properties to the soul. The channels by which
the mind is held to go out to an object or subject, are the organs of sight,
touch, taste, hearing, and so on. Hence by means of hearing it shapes itself
into the form of the idea which may be given in speech, or by means of the
eye in reading, it is molded into the form of that which is read; again,
sensations such as heat and cold modify it directly and indirectly by
association and by recollection, and similarly in the ease of all senses and
sensations. 



It is further held that this internal organ, while having an innate
disposition to assume some modification or other depending upon constantly
recurring objects- whether directly present or only such as arise from the
power of reproducing thoughts, whether by association or otherwise, may be
controlled and stilled into a state of absolute calmness. This is what he
means by "hindering the modifications." 



And just here it is seen that the theory of the soul's being the real
experiencer and knower is necessary. 



For if we are but mind, or slaves of mind, we never can attain real
knowledge because the incessant panorama of objects eternally modifies that
mind which is uncontrolled by the soul, always preventing real knowledge
from being acquired. 



But as the Soul is held to be superior to Mind, it has the power to grasp
and hold the latter if we but use the will to aid it in the work, and then
only the real end and purpose of mind is brought about. 



These propositions imply that the will is not wholly dependent on the mind,
but is separable from it; and, further, that knowledge exists as an
abstraction. The will and mind are only servants for the soul's use, but so
long as we are wrapped up in material life and do not admit that the real
knower and only experiencer is the soul, just so long do these servants
remain usurpers of the soul's sovereignty. Hence it is stated in old Hindu
works, that "the Soul is the friend of Self and also its enemy; and, that a
man should raise the self by the self." 



In other words there is a constant struggle between the lower and the Higher
Self, in which the illusions of matter always wage war against the Soul,
tending ever to draw downward the inner principles which, lying midway
between the upper and the lower, are capable of reaching either salvation or
damnation.



There is no reference in the Aphorisms to the will. It seems to be inferred,
either as well understood and admitted, or as being one of the powers of
soul itself and not to be discussed. Many old Hindu writers hold, and we
incline to the same view, that Will is a spiritual power, function or
attribute constantly present in every portion of the Universe. 



It is a colorless power, to which no quality of goodness or badness is to be
assigned, but which may be used in whatever way man pleases. When considered
as that which in ordinary life is called "will," we see its operation only
in connection with the material body and mind guided by desire; looked at in
respect to the hold by man upon life it is more recondite, because its
operation is beyond the ken of the mind; analyzed as connected with
reincarnation of man or with the persistence of the manifested universe
throughout a Manvantara, it is found to be still more removed from our
comprehension and vast in its scope. 



In ordinary life it is not man's servant, but, being then guided solely by
desire, it makes man a slave to his desires. Hence the old cabalistic maxim,
"BEHIND WILL STANDS DESIRE." 



The desires always drawing the man hither and thither, cause him to commit
such actions and have such thoughts as form the cause and mold for numerous
reincarnations, enslaving him to a destiny against which he rebels, and that
constantly destroys and re-creates his mortal body. 



It is an error to say of those who are known as strong-willed men, that
their wills are wholly their servants, for they are so bound in desire that
it, being strong, moves the will into action for the consummation of wished
for ends. Every day we see good and evil men prevailing in their several
spheres. To say that in one there is good, and in the other evil will is
manifestly erroneous and due to mistaking will, the instrument or force, for
desire that sets it in motion toward a good or bad purpose. 



But Patanjali and his school well knew that the secret of directing the will
with ten times the ordinary force might be discovered if they outlined the
method, and then bad men whose desires were strong and conscience wanting,
would use it with impunity against their fellows; or that even sincere
students might be carried away from spirituality when dazzled by the
wonderful results flowing from a training of the will alone. Patanjali is
silent upon the subject for this reason among others. 



The system postulates that "Ishwara," the 'Spirit in man,' is "untouched by
any troubles, works, fruit of works, or desires, and when a firm position is
assumed with the end in view of reaching union with spirit through
concentration," He (the Higher Self, or Spirit) comes to the aid of the
lower self and raises it gradually to higher planes. In this process the
Will by degrees is given a stronger and stronger tendency to act upon a
different line from that indicated by passion and desire. Thus it is freed
from the domination of desire and at last subdues the mind itself. 



But before the perfection of the practice is arrived at the will still acts
according to desire, only that the desire is for higher things and away from
those of the material life. Book III is for the purpose of defining the
nature of the perfected state, which is therein denominated 'Isolation.'



Isolation of the Soul in this philosophy does not mean that a man is
isolated from his fellows, becoming cold and dead, but only that THE SOUL IS
ISOLATED OR FREED FROM THE BONDAGE OF MATTER AND DESIRE, being thereby able
to act for the accomplishing of the aim of Nature and Soul, including all
souls of all men. 



Such, in the Aphorisms, is clearly stated to be the purpose. 



It has become the habit of many superficial readers and thinkers, to say
nothing of those who oppose the Hindu philosophy, to assert that .Adepts
remove themselves from all life of men, from all activity, and any
participation in human affairs, isolating themselves on inaccessible
mountains where no human cry can reach their ears. Such a charge is directly
contrary to the tenets of the philosophy which prescribes the method and
means for reaching such a state. 



These Beings are certainly removed from human observation, but, as the
philosophy clearly states, they have the whole of nature for their object,
and this will include all living men. They may not appear to take any
interest in transitory improvements or ameliorations, but they work behind
the scenes of true enlightenment until such times as men shall be able to
endure their appearance in mortal guise. 



The term "knowledge" as used here has a greater meaning than we are
accustomed to giving it. It implies full identification of the mind, for any
length of time, with whatever object or subject it is directed to. 



Modern science and metaphysics do not admit that the mind can cognize
outside of certain given methods and distances, and in most quarters the
existence of soul is denied or ignored. It is held, for instance, that one
cannot know the constituents and properties of a piece of stone without
mechanical or chemical aids applied directly to the object; and that nothing
can be known of the thoughts or feelings of another person unless they are
expressed in words or acts. Where metaphysicians deal with soul they are
vague and appear to be afraid of science, because it is not possible to
analyse it and weigh its parts in a balance. Soul and Mind are reduced to
the condition of limited instruments which take note of certain physical
facts spread before them through mechanical aids. Or, in ethnological
investigation, it is held that we can know such and such things about
classes of men from observations made through sight, touch, sense of smell
and hearing, in which case mind and soul are still mere recorders. 



But this system declares that the practitioner who has reached certain
stages, can direct his mind to a piece of stone, whether at a distance or
near by, or to a man or class of men, and by means of concentration, cognize
all the inherent qualities of the objects as well as accidental
peculiarities, and know all about the subject... In the ease of the Yoga
practitioner he becomes, through the power of concentration, completely
identified with the thing considered, and so in fact experiences in himself
all the phenomena exhibited by the object as well as all its qualities. 



To make it possible to admit all this, it is first required that the
existence, use and function of an ethereal medium penetrating everywhere,
called ASTRAL LIGHT or Akasa by the Hindus, should be admitted. 



The Universal distribution of this as a fact in nature is metaphysically
expressed in the terms "Universal Brotherhood" and "Spiritual Identity." 



In it, through its aid, and by its use, the qualities and motions of all
objects are universally cognizable. It is the surface, so to say, upon which
all human actions and all things, thoughts and circumstances are fixed..The
ascetic in concentration fixes his attention upon this, and then reads the
record lost to Science. Every thought .is fastened in the Astral Light
together with the respective systems of Philosophy formulated by anyone.
And all that the ascetic has to do is to obtain a single point of departure
connected with any object, and then to read in the Astral Light all that
they have thought out. By Patanjali and his school, such feats as these
relate to matter and not to spirit, although to Western ears they will sound
either absurd, or if believed in, as relating to spirit. 



In the things of the spirit and of the mind, the modern schools seem, to the
sincere student of this Philosophy, to be woefully ignorant. What spirit may
be is absolutely unknown, and indeed, it cannot yet be stated what it is
not. 



Equally so with mental phenomena. As to the latter there is nothing but a
medley of systems. No one knows what mind is. One says it is brain and
another denies it; another declares it to be a function, which a fourth
refuses to admit. As to memory, its place, nature and essential property,
there is nothing offered but empiric deductions. To explain the simple fact
of a man remembering a circumstance of his early youth, all that is said is,
that it made an impression on his mind or brain, with no reasonable
statement of what is the mind nor how or where the brain retains such vast
quantities of impressions. 



With such a chaos in modern psychological systems, the student of Patanjali
feels justified in adopting something which will, at least, explain and
embrace the greater number of facts, and it is to be found in the doctrines
again brought forward by the Theosophical Philosophy, relating to man as a
Spirit; to a Spirit in nature: to the identity of all spiritual beings, and
to all phenomena presented for our consideration. 



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






BOOK I. CONCENTRATION (a portion)








1. Assuredly, the exposition of Yoga, or Concentration, is now to be made. 



2. Concentration, or Yoga, is the hindering of the modifications of the
thinking principle. 



In other words, the want of concentration of thought is due to the fact that
the mind- here called "the thinking principle"- is subject to constant
modifications by reason of its being diffused over a multiplicity of
subjects. So "concentration" is equivalent to the correction of a tendency
to, diffuseness, and to the obtaining of what the Hindus call
"one-pointedness," or the power to apply the mind, at any moment, to the
consideration of a single point of thought, to the exclusion of all else. 



Upon this Aphorism the method of the system hinges. 



The reason for the absence of concentration at any time is, that the mind is
modified by every subject and object that comes before it; it is, as it
were, transformed into that subject or object. The mind, therefore, is not
the supreme or highest power; it is only a function, an instrument with
which the soul works, feels sublunary things, and experiences.



The brain, however, must not be confounded with the mind, for the brain is
in its turn but an instrument for the mind. It therefore follows that the
mind has a plane of its own, distinct from the soul and the brain, and what
is to be learned is, to use the will, which is also a distinct power from
the mind and brain, in such a way that instead of permitting the mind to
turn from one subject or object to another just as they may move it, we
shall apply it as a servant at any time and for as long a period as we wish,
to the consideration of whatever we have decided upon. 



3. At the time of concentration the Soul abides in the state of a spectator
without a spectacle. 



This has reference to the perfection of concentration, and is that condition
in which, by the hindering of the modifications referred to in Aphorism 2,
the soul is brought to a state of being wholly devoid of taint of, or
impression by, any subject. The "soul" here referred to is not Atma, which
is Spirit. 



4. At other times than that of concentration, the Soul is in the same form
as the modification of the mind. 



This has reference to the condition of the soul in ordinary life, when
concentration is not practised, and means that, when the internal organ, the
mind, is through the senses affected or modified by the form of some object,
the soul also- viewing the object through its organ, the mind- is, as it
were, altered into that form; as a marble statue of snowy whiteness, if seen
under a crimson light will seem to the beholder crimson and so is, to the
visual organs, so long as that colored light shines upon it. 



5. The modifications of the mind are of five kinds, and they are either
painful or not painful; 



6. They are, Correct Cognition, Misconception, Fancy, Sleep, and Memory. 



7. Correct Cognition results from Perception, Inference, and Testimony. 



8. Misconception is Erroneous Notion arising from lack of Correct Cognition.




9. Fancy is a notion devoid of any real basis and following upon knowledge
conveyed by words. 

For instance, the terms "a hare's horns" and "the head of Rahu," neither of
which has anything in nature corresponding to the notion. although the
expression "a hare's horns" is frequently used, it is well known that there
is no such thing in nature. Much in the same way people continue to speak of
the sun's "rising" and "setting," although they hold to the opposite theory.




10. Sleep is that modification of the mind which ensues upon the quitting of
all objects by the mind, by reason of all the waking senses and faculties
sinking into abeyance. 



11. Memory is the not letting go of an object that one has been aware of. 



12. The hindering of the modifications of the mind already referred to, is
to be effected by means of Exercise and Dispassion. 



13. Exercise is the uninterrupted, or repeated, effort that the mind shall
remain in its unmoved state. 



This is to say that in order to acquire concentration we must, again and
again, make efforts to obtain such control over the mind that we can, at any
time when it seems necessary, so reduce it to an unmoved condition or apply
it to any one point to the exclusion of all others. 



14. This exercise is a firm position observed out of regard for the end in
view, and perseveringly adhered to for a long time without intermission. 



The student must not conclude from this that he can never acquire
concentration unless he devotes every moment of his life to it, for the
words "without intermission" apply but to the length of time that has been
set apart for the practice. 



15. Dispassion is the having overcome one's desires. 



That is- the attainment of a state of being in which the consciousness is
unaffected by passions, desires, and ambitions, which aid in causing
modifications of the mind. 



16. Dispassion, carried to the utmost, is indifference regarding all else
than soul, and this indifference arises from a knowledge of soul as
distinguished from all else. 



17. There is a meditation of the kind called "that in which there is
distinct cognition," and which is of a four-fold character because of
Argumentation, Deliberation, Beatitude, Egoism. 



The sort of meditation referred to is a pondering wherein the nature of that
which is to be pondered upon is well known, without doubt or error, and it
is a distinct cognition which excludes every other modification of the mind
than that which is to be pondered upon. 



1. The Argumentative division of this meditation is a pondering upon a
subject with argument as to its nature in comparison with something else;
as, for instance, the question whether mind is the product of matter or
precedes matter. 



2. The Deliberative division is a pondering in regard to whence have come,
and where is the field of action, of the subtler senses and the mind. 



3. The Beatific condition is that in which the higher powers of the mind,
together with truth in the abstract, are pondered upon. 



4. The Egoistic division is one in which the meditation has proceeded to
such a height that all lower subjects and objects are lost sight of, and
nothing remains but the cognition of the self, which then becomes a
stepping-stone to higher degrees of meditation. 



The result of reaching the fourth degree, called Egoism, is that a distinct
recognition of the object or subject with which the meditation began is
lost, and self-consciousness alone results; but this self-consciousness does
not include the consciousness of the Absolute or Supreme Soul. 



18. The meditation just described is preceded by the exercise of thought
without argumentation. Another sort of meditation is in the shape of the
self-reproduction of thought after the departure of all objects from the
field of the mind. 



19. The meditative state attained by those whose discrimination does not
extend to pure spirit, depends upon the phenomenal world. 



20. In the practice of those who are, or may be, able to discriminate as to
pure spirit, their meditation is preceded by Faith, Energy, Intentness (upon
a single point), and Discernment, or thorough discrimination of that which
is to be known. 



It is remarked here by the commentator, that "in him who has Faith there
arises Energy, or perseverance in meditation, and, thus persevering, the
memory of past subjects springs up, and his mind becomes absorbed in
Intentness, in consequence of the recollection of the subject, and he whose
mind is absorbed in meditation

arrives at a thorough discernment of the "matter pondered upon." 





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



All good wishes as always, and thanks for writing





Dallas



-----Original Message-----
From: Negrita [mailto:mail@negrita.com.au] 
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 12:30 AM
To: Dallas TenBroeck
Subject: Blavatski & Philosophy



Life is consciousness in motion, ever growing - evolving, in constant flux.
It is a chameleons magic act with the real twist being that there is no
magic at all. The all that is creates and destroys itself over and over
again; our minds in action. Blavatski knew this and much more that I will
leave untouched.



Reality is, as you know it to be. Humanity is, as you know it to be and
cunning is as it always has been not just a tool but a part of ourselves. 



We must agree that in truth there is only one thing, no separation
whatsoever. It is the reason that death or suffering of a close relation or
companion is so hurtful. It is equally true also that life is unfair. The
distribution of health wealth fame and fortune is done unevenly. We all
know that the sun shines for everyone but in reality the degree of that
shine varies as widely as infinity itself. For some its just right for
others far too hot or way too cool. This contrast must exist for there to
be anything meaningful, and meaning is what it's all about and what we are
all searching for.



My contact with you has been meaningful and if there is one thing that I've
learnt its that I'm still learning, just as we all are. I have also learnt
to recognise who I am and to distinguish between the positives and negatives
as fed. You know just as I that the truth of reality is as sweet as honey
but laced with poison. When one understands this then one need not fear
anymore for what is, is, always was and always will be. 



Situations like thought though do chop and change and this situation
certainly has had its fair share of this. You should know, my respect for
you is deep and my aims were never committed in malice or through greed.
But I will always protect myself and what I consider worthwhile and worthy.
Your actions though are questionable and your aim even more so. Given this
I still hold no animosity towards you but cannot accept your William Tell
approach as either noble or acceptable. It matters not for as long as you
can forgive yourself, all is well. Having made that last statement though,
I realise your way past this ideal and forgiveness doesn't enter the
equation, or does it? 



I personally refuse to approach this point and for to me that is never an
option or a point I wish to reach. One should know how to forgive others as
well as themselves. 



George 



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