Theos-Talk Archives (June 2004 Message tt00056)

June 11 2003

Dear Friends:


"IDEAS RULE THE WORLD"

Let then discover true ones together.


I have looked at a umber of comments on the value of THEOSOPHY -- or
rather, the way in which various people think about it, or were
touched by it.

It seems to me there are two intertwined approaches.

One is the ideal -- as an expression of a universal and impersonal law
of evolution in which all beings get an equal chance at developing
what might be called "conscious immortality."

The Second, the "other," are the many expressions of formal and
formative opinions of those ideals.

Those who are in resonance with the first, the IDEALS, have little
difficulty in grasping their capacity for drawing all things together.
To them the ideal of a practical Brotherhood appeals. Call it the
"Heart Doctrine."  

Those who balk at various aspects of theosophical doctrine, or who are
in disagreement with earlier conclusions concerning the history and
narration of events and applications of THEOSOPHY -- as presented
through certain persons, and events -- form the body of those to whom
Theosophy appears faulty and may therefore (in their opinion) be
discarded. Those seem to be snagged in the meshes of diverging "Eye
Doctrine" approaches. 

Let us look at what THEOSOPHY is claimed to be, And let us use the
words of those who were the pioneers in advancing those ideas.


THE THREE FUNDAMENTALS 


The 3 Fundamentals of the SECRET DOCTRINE are spoken of so as to
evoke the imagination
It asserts:

1. THE UNIVERSE IS A UNITY. THE ABSOLUTE. or DEITY is: 

An Omnipresent, Eternal, and as Boundless as SPACE -- an immutable
"Principle" -- which is beyond the range and reach of the physical
brain thought. It is called: ' the unthinkable and unspeakable.' It
is "Be-ness" rather than Being (in Sanskrit SAT ), and is beyond all
the limits of ordinary thought or speculation. This Infinite and
Eternal Cause is the 'rootless root' of "all that was, is, or ever
shall be." It is devoid of all attributes and is essentially without
relation to manifested, finite Being.  

This "Be-ness" is symbolized under two aspects. ABSOLUTE ABSTRACT
"SPACE and ABSOLUTE ABSTRACT "MOTION," representing "unconditioned
consciousness." This aspect of the one Reality, is also symbolized by
the term "The Great Breath" indicating the coming and going of
Universes as a form of reincarnation of the many spirits' that animate
all forms.

The first fundamental axiom of the Secret Doctrine is this
metaphysical "One Absolute"-or "Be-ness"--symbolized by the endless
Circle or, infinite SPACE filled with infinitesimal units of life,
each imbued in potential with the attributes of the ONE, called the
MONADS, or 'atoms of Life.'.


UNIVERSAL LAW (in Sanskrit KARMA). Is explained as :

2. "The Eternity of the Universe "in toto," as a boundless plane;
periodically "the playground of numberless Universes incessantly
manifesting and disappearing," called "the manifesting stars," and the
"sparks of Eternity." "The Eternity of the Pilgrim"(the MONAD) is
like a wink of the Eye of Self-Existence. [The "Monad" is the "two in
one" or, "Atma-Buddhi," the "Eternal Pilgrim;" It is the only
immortal and eternal principle in us, being an indivisible part of the
integral whole--the Universal Spirit, from which it emanates and into
which it is absorbed at the end of the cycle. "The appearance and
disappearance of Worlds is like a regular tidal ebb of flux and
reflux."


REINCARNATION FOR ALL BEINGS

It is "the absolute universality of that law of periodicity," of flux
and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed and
recorded in all departments of nature. The alternation of Day and
Night, Life and Death, Sleeping and Waking, are facts so common, so
perfectly universal and without exception, that it is easy to
comprehend that it is one of the absolutely fundamental laws of the
universe.



3. EVOLUTION OF ALL BEINGS is the third proposition.

It declares: the fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal
Over Soul, the latter being itself an aspect of the Unknown Root; and
the obligatory pilgrimage for every Soul--a spark of the
former--through the Cycle of Incarnation (or "Necessity") in
accordance with Cyclic and karmic law, during the whole term.  

In other words, no purely spiritual Buddhi (divine Soul) can have an
independent (conscious) existence before the spark which issued from
the pure Essence of the Universal Sixth Principle ["Maha-Buddhi"]--or
the "Over-Soul,"--has A) passed through every elemental form of the
phenomenal world of that Manvantara, and B) acquired individuality,
first by natural impulse, and then by self-induced and self-devised
efforts (checked by its Karma), thus ascending through all the degrees
of intelligence, from the lowest to the highest Manas, from mineral
and plant, up to the holiest archangel ( a Dhyani-Buddha).

The "pivotal doctrine of the Esoteric Philosophy" admits no privileges
or special gifts in man, save those won by his own Ego through
personal effort and merit throughout a long series of metempsychoses
and reincarnations." 

___________________________

In summary:

>From the "Absolute," manifestations emanate periodically.  

There is a continuous unceasing and universal "motion."

Duality in manifestation is the universal contrast of Spirit / Matter.


These, Spirit and matter are co-equal and co-eternal. 'Spirit is
called the ultimate sublimation of matter, and matter the
crystallization of spirit.'  

Mind is the proof of the One Consciousness which remains unaffected
through all experiences and states.

Man is a unit of Mind. All beings are intelligent. They are all
potential men, from the "life-atom" up.

Evolution of forms, and increment in Intelligence is universal.  

Reincarnation is a fact in Nature. No being ever "dies."   

Every MONAD is an Eternal Pilgrim.


"The practical theosophist will do well if he follows the advice of
the Masters now many years in print, to spread, explain, and
illustrate the laws of KARMA and REINCARNATION so that they may enter
into the lives of the people. Technical occultism and all the
allurements of the Astral Light may be left for other times. Men's
thoughts must be affected, and this can only be done now by giving
them these two great laws. They not only explain many things, but they
have also an inherent power due to their truth and their intimate
connection with man, to compel attention. " -- W Q J --
"Practical Theosophy"


Best wishes


Dallas

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