Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00362)

Aug 20 2004



Re Some Theosophical basics



Here are a few:







"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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