Theos-Talk Archives (May 2004 Message tt00016)

Saturday, May 01, 2004





Re: SPIRIT -- SOUL -- MIND





Dear Friends:



As the subject of Man's real self has come up in recent postings
I thought some of the references in THEOSOPHY that address this
subject might be of use to us all..



Best wishes,



Dallas

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



ATMA - In MAN is the sole PERCEIVER 



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



There is important axiom is one 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.



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 (as cause) 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. [Atma-Buddhi-Manas or Spirit
- Wisdom - Mind].



The Atma being the UNIVERSAL ALL, may be seen to overshadow,
rather than incarnate in any 

individual. It pervades the whole universe and is truly
illimitable, as it is, whether manifest or 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" 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 Theos. 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 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 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 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 to assist them
to elevate themselves to the level it 

has already achieved, perhaps many Manvantaras earlier.



Here is an important concept :



"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, pp. 47-8




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





"...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





"Atman" is no individual property of any man, but is the Divine
essence which has no body, no 

form, which is imponderable, invisible, and indivisible, that
which does not exist, and yet is.



...It only overshadows the mortal; that which enters into him
and pervades the whole body being 

only its omnipresent rays, or light, radiated through Buddhi ,
its vehicle and direct emanation. 

This is the secret meaning of the assertions of almost all the
ancient philosophers, when they said 

that "the rational part of "man's soul" never entered wholly
into the man, but only overshadowed 

him more or less through the irrational spiritual Soul or
Buddhi...the difference between that which 

is negatively, or passively, "irrational," because
undifferentiated, and that which is irrational 

because too active and positive. 



Man is a correlation of spiritual powers, as well as a
correlation of chemical and physical forces, 

brought into function by what we call "principles." ...the spirit
(Atma) never descends hypostatically 

into the living man, but only showers more or less its radiance
on the inner man (the psychic and 

spiritual compound of the astral principles)..." Key 101-2 





"...OUR EGO [MIND-SELF] IS A RAY OF THE UNIVERSAL MIND,
individualized for the space 

of a cosmic life-cycle, during which space of time it gets
experience in almost numberless reincarnations or rebirths, after
which it returns to its Parent-Source. The Occultist would call
the "Higher Ego" the immortal Entity, 

whose shadow and reflection is the human Manas, the mind limited
by its physical senses. The two 

may be well compared to the Master-artist and the
pupil-musician...In the course of natural 

evolution our "brain-mind" will be replaced by a finer organism,
and helped by the 6th [Buddhi] and 

the 7th [Atma] senses..." Theos. Articles & Notes,
(ULT) p. 208





"The student must not confuse this Spiritual Ego with the "Higher
Self" which is Atma, the God 

within us, and inseparable from the Universal Spirit." Key,
p. 130-1fn





"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 re-

appear 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



Considering that the "Atmic Beings" are those who became
"perfect" in previous Manvantaras, it can 

be understood that They volunteered to assist in this Manvantara
in the developing of further 

successful pupils in this eternal "School of Life". 



The "Secret Doctrine" says there is an "Undying Race" :



"Alone a handful of primitive men -- in whom the spark of divine
Wisdom burnt bright, and only 

strengthened in its intensity as it got dimmer and dimmer with
every age in those who turned it to 

bad purposes--remained the elect custodians of the Mysteries
revealed to mankind by the divine 

Teachers. There were those among them, who remained in their
Kumaric condition from the 

beginning; and tradition whispers, what the secret teachings
affirm, namely, that these Elect were 

the germs of a Hierarchy which never died since that period: --
"The inner man of the first * * * 

only changes his body from time to time; he is ever the same,
knowing neither rest nor Nirvana, 

spurning Devachan and remaining constantly on Earth for the
salvation of mankind ..." "Out of the 

seven virgin-men (Kumara) four sacrificed themselves for the sins
of the world and the instruction 

of the ignorant, to remain till the end of the present
Manvantara. Though unseen, they are ever 

present. When people say of one of them, "He is dead;" behold,
he is alive and under another 

form. These are the Head, the Heart, the Soul, and the Seed of
undying knowledge (Gnyana). 

Thou shalt never speak, O Lanoo, of these great ones (Maha...)
before a multitude, mentioning 

them by their names. The wise alone will understand. (Catechism
of the Inner Schools.)"

SD II 281-2



"As the synthesis of the 7 Dhyani-Buddhas, Avalokiteshwara was
the first Buddha (the Logos), so 

Amitabha is the inner "god" of Gautama, who, in China, is called
Amita (-Buddha)...the glorious 

counterparts of every earthly mortal Buddha--the liberated
Manushi-Buddhas appointed to govern 

the Earth in this Round. They are the "Buddhas of
Contemplation," and are all Anupadaka 

(parentless), i.e., self-born of divine essence...rests on the
fact that owing to the highest initiation 

performed by one overshadowed by the "Spirit of Buddha"--...a
candidate becomes virtually a 

Bodhisattva, created such by the High Initiator." SD I
109





"The hosts of these Sons of Light and "Mind-born Sons" of the
first manifested Ray of the 

Unknown All , are the very root of spiritual man." SD I
106





"The 7 Beings in the Sun are the 7 Holy Ones, Self-born from the
inherent power in the matrix of 

Mother substance. it is they who send the 7 Principal Forces,
called rays, which at the beginning 

of Pralaya will center into 7 new Suns for the next Manvantara.
The energy from which they spring 

into conscious existence in every Sun, is what some people call
Vishnu (fn) which is the Breath of 

Absoluteness . (Fn) In the same manner as a man approaches a
mirror placed upon a stand, 

beholds in it his own image, so the energy or reflection of
Vishnu (the Sun) is never disjointed but 

remains in the Sun as in a mirror that is there stationed."
(Vishnu Purana) SD I 290





"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.
[Example]...often the reasoning faculty of the 

higher mind may be asleep, and the instinctual mind be fully
awake."

TRANSACTIONS, p. 26-7





"...the true esoteric meaning is that most of them (the
Agnishwatta Pitris) were DESTINED TO 

INCARNATE AS THE EGOS OF THE FORTHCOMING CROP OF MANKIND. The
human Ego is neither Atman nor Buddhi, but THE HIGHER MANAS; the
intellectual fruition and the efflorescence of the intellectual
self-conscious Egotism--in the higher spiritual sense. The
ancient works refer to it as Karana Sarira on 

the plane of the Sutratma, which is the golden thread on which,
like beads, the various personalities 

of this higher Ego are strung...these beings were returning
Nirvanees, from preceding Maha-

Manvantaras...." SD II 79





The information given would not have much use for us, unless some
practical applications could be 

drawn from it. It is suggested in a number of places that we can
be:





ATTUNING OURSELVES TO THE ATMA WITHIN



"...Buddhi and Atma...These higher principles are entirely
inactive on our plane, and the higher 

Ego (Manas) itself is more or less dormant during the waking of
the physical man...So dormant are 

the Spiritual faculties, because the Ego is so trammeled by
matter, that IT can hardly give all its 

attention to man's actions, even should the latter commit sins
for which that Ego--when reunited 

with its lower Manas--will have to suffer conjointly in the
future. It is...the impressions projected into 

the physical man by this Ego which constitute what we call
"conscience;" and in proportion as the 

personality, the lower Soul (or Manas), unites itself to its
higher consciousness, or EGO, does the 

action of the latter upon the life of mortal man become more
marked." TRANS 62-3





"...Whenever you are able to attune your consciousness to
any of the seven chords of 

'Universal Consciousness," those chords that run along the
sounding-board of Kosmos, vibrating 

from one Eternity to another; when you have studied thoroughly
'the music of the Spheres [the 7 

principles of Nature and of man and their correlations]," then
only will you become quite free to 

share your knowledge with those with whom it is safe to do
so...Do not give out the great Truths that 

are the inheritance of the future Races, to our present
generation. Do not attempt to unveil the 

secret of being and non-being to those unable to see the hidden
meaning of Apollo's 

HEPTACHORD--the lyre of the radiant god, in each of the seven
strings of which dwelleth the 

Spirit, Soul and Astral body of the Kosmos, whose shell only has
now fallen into the hands of 

Modern Science..." SD I 167 





"...HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS" is but a Ray of the Divine. Our Manas,
or Ego, proceeds from, and is 

the Son (figuratively) of Mahat. Vaivaswatta Manu (the Manu of
our fifth race and Humanity in 

general) is the chief personified representative of the thinking
Humanity of the fifth Root-race; and 

therefore he is represented as the eldest Son of the Sun and an
Agnishwatta Ancestor...Thought in 

its action on human brains is endless. Thus Manu is, and
contains the potentiality of all the thinking 

forms which will be developed on earth from this particular
source. In the esoteric teaching he is 

the beginning of this earth , and from him and his daughter Ila
humanity is born; he is a unity 

which contains all the pluralities and their modifications.
Every manvantara has its own Manu, and 

from this Manu the various Manus or rather all the Manasa of the
Kalpas will proceed...he may be 

compared to the white light which contains all the other rays,
giving birth to them by passing 

through the prism of differentiation and evolution."
TRANSACTIONS, p. . 99







"It is the Spiritual evolution of the inner, immortal man that
forms the fundamental tenet in the Occult 

Sciences...the ONE Universal Life, independent of
matter...and...the individual intelligences that 

animate the various manifestations of this Principle...The ONE
Life is closely related to the one law 

which governs the World of Being--KARMA. SD I 634 





"Every man has a god within, a direct ray from the Absolute, the
celestial ray from the One.

TRANSACTIONS, p. 53



"To meditate on the Higher Self is difficult. Seek then, the
bridge--the Masters. Fix your thoughts 

again on Those Elder Brothers, work for Them, serve Them, and
They will help through the right 

appropriate means..." W.Q.J. LETTERS THAT HAVE
HELPED ME, p. 112



"...think, think, think on the truth that you are not body,
brain, or astral man, but that you are THAT, 

and "THAT" is the Supreme Soul [Atma]." W.Q.J. LETTERS p.
116 





"...remember that the greatest and truest friend is the Higher
Self. He who has the Higher Self as 

his friend possesses all things and lacks nothing, and the Higher
Self is your friend if you will but 

receive that friendship. Take courage and be patient; the light
is shining in your heart, and, if you 

will but go on, you will find it there, and it will be brighter
far than you can now imagine."

W.Q.J. LETTERS, pp. 174-5 





"...a full reliance upon the Spirit within and upon the law that
the hands that smite us are our own, 

will relieve the pressure of some events that seem
mysteries...The great struggle must be to open 

up my outer self, that my higher being may shine through, for I
know that in my heart the God sits 

patient, and that his pure rays are merely veiled from me by the
many strivings and illusions that I 

bring on outwardly." W.Q.J. LETTERS, p. 85





"But let me again insist upon your trying to realize in
yourselves that you are a part of the All. That 

is the constant subject of meditation, and will bring you the
best and most rapid progress...too 

much must not be expected of the Mahatmas. They cannot interfere
with Karma'; and so, if a man 

starts out to them, they say: "Try"...It does not follow that
they are always helping him because he has made 

himself a chela. Of course, there are those whose Karma is such
that they are helped...Of course 

if the Master sends one, then he will protect...We say we are all
part of the All. Well, we must 

intensely mediate upon that until we begin to realize it, and
from then we will receive instruction." 

W.Q.J. LETTERS, p. 200





"He must first get rid of the idea that he himself really does
anything, knowing that the actions all 

take place in these three natural qualities [Gunas], and not in
the soul at all. The word "qualities" 

must be considered in a larger sense than the word is generally
given. Then he must place all his 

actions on devotion. That is, sacrifice all his actions to the
Supreme and not to himself. He must 

either (leaving out indifference) set himself us as the God to
whom he sacrifices, or the other real 

God--Krishna, and all his acts and aspirations are done either
for himself or for the All. Her comes 

in the importance of motive. For if he performs great deeds of
valor, or of benefit to man, or 

acquires knowledge so as to assist man, and is moved to that
merely because he thinks he will 

attain salvation, he is acting only for his own benefit and is
therefore sacrificing to himself. 



Therefore he must be devoted inwardly to the All; that is, he
places all his actions on the Supreme 

[Atman], knowing that he is not the doer of the actions, but is
the mere witness of them...All doubts 

come from the lower nature, and never in any case from the higher
nature. Therefore, as he 

becomes more and more devoted, he is able to know more and more
clearly the knowledge 

residing in his Satwa part... 



The three qualities are lower than a state called Turya, which is
a high 

state capable of being enjoyed even while in this body.
Therefore, in that state, there exists none 

of the three qualities , but the soul sees the three qualities
moving in the ocean of Being beneath. 

This experience is met with not only after death, but, as I said,
it may be enjoyed in the present life, 

though of course consciously very seldom. 



But there are those high Yogees who can and do rise 

up to Nirvana, or Spirit, even consciously, while on earth. This
state is the fourth state, called 

Turya...In that state the body is alive even though in deep
catalepsy. (Self-induced by the Adept.] 

When the Adept returns from it be brings whatever he can of the
vast experiences of that Turya 

state. Of course they are far beyond any expression, and their
possibilities can only be dimly 

perceived by us." WQJ - Letters, p. 28-9 





"I am glad that you have such faith in the Great Workers who are
behind us. They are behind 

us, to my personal knowledge, and not behind me only, but behind
all sincere workers. I know that 

their desire is that each should listen to the voice of his inner
self [Atma] and not depend too much 

on outside people, whether they be Masters, Eastern disciples, or
what not. By a dependence of 

that kind you become at last thoroughly independent, and then the
unseen helpers are able to help 

all the more." WQJ Letters, pp. 112-113





"Seek the truth by strong search," by doing service, and by
enquiry, and Those who know the 

Truth will teach it. Let the warrior fight, the gentle yet
fierce Krishna, who, when he finds thee as 

his disciple and friend, will tell thee the truth and lighten up
the darkness with the lamp of spiritual 

knowledge." W.Q.J. Letters, p. 112





"The best and most important teacher is one's seventh (Atma)
principle centered in the sixth 

[Buddhi]. " W.Q.J. Letters, p. 96





"A student of occultism...gets into...a vortex of occultism...he
passes into the whirl caused by the 

mighty effort of his Higher Self [Atma], to make him remember
his past lives. Then those lives 

affect him..." W.Q.J. LETTERS, p. 150





"Getting back the memory of past lives is the whole of the
process."

W.Q.J. LETTERS , p. 78 

[ see also WQJ ARTICLES, Vol. I, p. 571 bottom, II
462 middle ]





VERIFICATION AND PROVING OF ALL DOCTRINES



The process of self-perfection is always directed by our
free-choice. It is significant that in the 

Occult and Esoteric process each student-pupil is left entirely
free to make his own choices, his 

own "path," and to either accelerate or retard his progress. At
all stages he receives information 

and suggestions for his consideration and use if he desires to
employ them. It is always 

recommended that he fully investigate and probe all information,
so as to verify its accuracy for 

himself. Nothing is to be taken on "blind faith." To do so,
would give no actual benefit to the 

student, because, in effect he remains ignorant of some vital
link. He is expected, by the laws 

inherent in Nature, to learn the whole process from its base on
up. It is for this reason that no 

impartation of esoteric knowledge by the payment of money or the
exchange of personal benefits 

works.





"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





"The "Absolute Consciousness"..."behind" phenomena...is only
termed unconsciousness in the 

absence of any element of personality...transcends human
conception... Only the liberated Spirit 

is able to faintly realize the nature of the source whence it
sprung and whither it must eventually 

return...we can but bow in ignorance before the awful mystery of
Absolute Being...the Finite cannot 

conceive the Infinite..." S D I 51





"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." "Consciousness
is a condition of the monad as a 

result of embodiment in matter and the dwelling in a physical
form." 

WQJ ARTICLES, Vol. I, p. 29





Then 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.





The individual MONAD -- the "Eternal Pilgrim" is defined::





"MONAD (Gr.) The Unity, the one; but in Occultism it often
means the unified triad, Atma-Buddhi-

Manas, or the duad, "Atma-Buddhi," that immortal part of man
which reincarnates in the lower 

kingdoms, and gradually progresses through them to Man and then
to the final goal--Nirvana."

T. Glossary, .p. 216 [see SD I , pp. 173-4
footnotes]





"The universal force cannot be regarded as a conscious force as
we understand the word 

consciousness, because it would immediately become a personal
god. It is only that which is 

enclosed in a form, a limitation of matter, which is conscious of
itself on this plane. This Free 

Force or Will, which is limitless and absolute, cannot be said to
act understandingly, but it is the 

one and sole immutable Law of Life and Being. Fohat, therefore,
is spoken of as the synthetic 

motor power of all imprisoned life-forces and the medium between
the absolute and conditioned 

Force It is a link, just as Manas is the connecting link between
the gross matter of the physical 

body and the divine Monad which animates it, but is powerless to
act upon the former directly."

TRANSACTIONS, p. 134

(see also "Psychic and Noetic Action" - HPB Articles,
Vol. II, pp. 7-23





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