Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00289)

Oct 17 2004

Dear R.

The following may convey to you some of the views and teachings of THEOSOPHY
on the subject of the "mind."

I hope it may prove helpful.

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


MIND: ILLUSIONS AND REALITIES 


Thoughts and Intuitions


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

	
"Man, made of thought, occupant of many bodies from time to time, is
eternally thinking. His chains are through thought, his release due
to nothing else." GITA NOTES, p. 141


[Note: The following embodies suggestions concerning the developing of the
"higher thought." Intuition is our common heritage. It is the next "step"
on all our "Paths." Here are hints to be found scattered in Theosophical
Literature that lead to this perception and can reinforce it, when their
inherent logic is grasped. ]


INTUITION


"...the eye of the heart is intuition--the mystery of the diastole and
systole of the spiritual heart, which in expanding, remembers, and in
contracting forgets the Truth of Truths--its own impersonal ever-existing
state. This forgetfulness is left behind, the robe of memory is donned when
that heart through "self-induced and self-devised efforts" (S.D., I, 17)
acts altruistically for the whole of which it is but a part...When a student
follows his aspirations, endeavoring to practice esoteric doctrines, he
fancies that a will resolve is a simple expression of his good desires. We
need to recall the four words HPB inserts in the third Proposition "(checked
by its Karma)"--all our self-induced and self-devised efforts are checked by
the Karma of our long past. Free Will, and binding (or limiting) Fate
function together like Spirit and Matter, two aspects of the One Reality."
STUDIES IN THE S.D., p. 64


"Listen to the song of life." (p. 10)...At the very base of your nature you
will find faith, hope and love...underneath all life is the strong current
that cannot be checked; the great waters are there in reality...All those
beings among whom you struggle on are fragments of the Divine."
LIGHT ON THE PATH, p. 23


"...true devotion may bring him back the knowledge, that knowledge which
was his in former births." VOICE, p. 41




TRUE NATURE OF MAN-MIND


"These three things we have to know: Each one is the Self in his innermost
nature; every power that he has arises in that Self; every being of every
kind is conscious, with the power of the extension of its range of
perception and action, while every instrument is due to the limitation of
the conception of the individual's real nature...The Self perceives what may
be perceived according to its own ideals, according to its own faith, but
that which is perceived is never the Self...It is only by realizing It
within ourselves that we realize its existence in every other being and
strive to aid that being to see for himself the true path by which he can
realize his true nature!"	F.P., p. 356


"It is the spiritual evolution of the inner, immortal man, that forms the
fundamental tenet of the Occult Sciences." S.D. I p.634


" It is the spiritual Ego or Self that serves as the fundamental base,
determining the tone of the whole life of man--that most capricious,
uncertain and variable of all instruments, and which is more than any other
needs constant tuning; it is its voice alone, which like the sub-bass of an
organ underlies the melody of his whole life...in addition to the physical
[he] has also a spiritual brain. If the former is wholly dependent for the
degree of its receptivity on its own physical structure and development, it
is, on the other hand, entirely subordinate to the latter, inasmuch as it is
the spiritual Ego alone, and accordingly as it leans more towards its two
highest principles, or towards its physical shell that can impress more or
less vividly the outer brain with the perception of things purely spiritual
or immaterial. Hence it depends on the (p.298) acuteness of the mental
feelings of the inner Ego, on the degree of spirituality of its faculties,
to transfer the impression of the scenes its semi-spiritual brain perceives,
the words it hears and what it feels, to the sleeping physical brain of the
outer man. The stronger the spirituality of the faculties of the latter,
the easier it will be for the Ego to awake the sleeping hemispheres, arouse
into activity the sensory ganglia and the cerebellum and to impress the
former...the vivid picture of the subject so transferred...the more
spiritual a man, the more active his fancy, and the greater probability of
his receiving in vision the correct impressions conveyed to him by his
all-seeing, his ever-wakeful Ego. The spiritual senses of the latter,
unimpeded as they are by the interference of the physical senses, are in
direct intimacy with his highest spiritual principle; and the latter though
per se quasi-unconscious part of the utterly unconscious, because utterly
immaterial Absolute ..."                 
HPB ARTICLES, II, p. 297-8


"The whole individuality is centered in the three middle or 3rd., 4th and
5th principles. During earthly life it is all in the fourth (p. 78) the
center of energy, volition--will...[ the individuality ] to run successfully
its seven-fold and upward course has to assimilate to itself the
eternal-life power, residing but in the seventh and then blend the three
(fourth, fifth, and seventh) into one--the sixth. Those who succeed in
doing so become Buddhas, Dhyan Chohans, etc.  

The chief object of our struggle and initiations is to achieve this union
while yet on earth. Those who will be successful have nothing to fear of
during the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds..."	MAHAT. LET., p. 77-8


"...if this is believed and the reality of the Higher Self admitted, it
follows from what is called the mysterious power of meditation that a
sincerely devoted man who earnestly calls upon the Higher Self for aid in
right conduct will receive in the dream state that succeeds the condition of
Sushupti the aid asked for...But the questions asked and impressions desired
must be high and altruistic, because the Higher Self has no concern with
material things nor with any temporal affairs..."   
WQJ THEOS. FORUM, p. 8


"Before the Soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto the Silent
Speaker be united, just as the form to which the clay is modeled is first
united with the potter's mind." VOICE, p. 3



SPIRIT AS DISTINGUISHED FROM SOUL-MIND


"...we may designate the spirit as the centrifugal, and the soul as the
centripetal, spiritual energies. When in perfect harmony, both forces
produce one result; break or damage the centripetal motion of the earthly
soul tending toward the center which attracts it; arrest its progress by
clogging it with a heavier weight of matter than it can bear, and the
harmony of the whole, which was its life, is (p.146) destroyed. Individual
life can only be sustained by this two-fold force. The least deviation from
harmony damages it; when it is destroyed beyond redemption, the forces
separate and the form is gradually annihilated..."
HPB ART. II, p. 145-6


"...there is That which causes change to succeed change, and That is the
indwelling spirit, which continually impels the instruments It has evolved
towards further perfection. So progress and evolution mean an unfolding
from within outward..."    
GITA NOTES, p. 191 


"Buddhi becomes conscious by the accretions it gets from Manas..."	S.D.
I, p. 244



ORDEAL OF MANY INCARNATIONS DEVELOPS THE MIND-SOUL


"...the spirit has to pass through the ordeal of incarnation and life, and
be baptized with matter before it can reach experience and knowledge. After
which only it receives the baptism of the soul, or self-consciousness, and
may return to its original condition of a god, plus experience, ending with
omniscience...it can return to the original state of the homogeneity of
primordial essence only through the addition of the fruitage of Karma, which
alone is able to create an absolute conscious deity, removed but one degree
from the absolute ALL."	HPB ART. I, p. 130	(see also KEY, p. 183-4)



"Of the path of true Occultism it is said, "The first step is sacrifice."
F. P. p. 13


"...we must absorb and work into the practice and the theory laid down, for
they are not written merely for the intellect, but for the whole spiritual
nature. There must be within the man something which he already knows, that
leaps up and out when he scans the books of wisdom; a thing already
existing, which only takes an added life or confirmation from books..."
WQJ ART. II p. 462


"This devotion to an ideal is also founded upon another thing, which is that
a man is hardly ready to be a chela unless he is able to stand alone, and
uninfluenced by other men and events. For he must stand alone, and he might
as well know this at the beginning as at the end." WQJ LETTERS,
p. 41 


"One only inflexible rule has been ever binding upon the neophyte, as it is
binding now--the complete subjugation of the lower by the higher [nature].  
HPB ART., II, p. 110


"Getting back the memory of past lives is really the whole of the process."
WQJ Letters, p. 78


"Reliance and pressure upon our own inner nature, in moments of darkness,
are sure to be answered by the voice of Krishna, the inner guide."
GITA NOTES, p. 27


"The whole nature of man must be used wisely by the one who desires to enter
the way. Each man is to himself absolutely the way, the truth and the life.
But he is only so when he grasps his whole individuality firmly, and by the
force of his awakened spiritual will recognizes this individuality as not
himself, but that thing which (p.6) he has with pain constructed for his own
use, and by means of which he purposes, as his growth slowly develops his
intelligence, to reach to the life beyond individuality."   
LIGHT ON THE PATH, p. 5-6


"It is impossible for mortals to utterly abandon actions; but he who gives
up the results of action is the true renouncer." B. GITA, p. 123


"...as yet it is not teachers that are wanted, but the preparation found in
study, work, and self-discipline...The first steps in true occultism are
Self-discipline, self-knowledge, and devotion to the interests of
others--i.e.: unselfishness...Your own heart will tell you how much you are
prepared for chelaship."	PRACT, OCC., p. 148


"...to become a genuine spiritual entity...man must first create himself
anew...thoroughly eliminate from his mind and spirit, not only the
dominating influence of selfishness and other impurity, but also the
infection of superstition and prejudice." ISIS I, p. 39 


"...the practice of moral and physical purity, and of certain austerities,
develops the vital soul power of self-illumination. Affording to man the
control over his own immortal spirit..." ISIS I p. 18


"Who is bold enough to say that the divine Egos of our mankind--at least the
elect out of the multitudes passing on to other spheres--will not become in
their turn the "divine" instructors of a new mankind generated by them on a
new globe, called to life and activity by the disembodied "principles" of
our Earth?" S.D. I, p. 309 


"...he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal mind has to reach it
through he whole of Humanity." 
HPB ART., II, p. 107


"Raise the [lower] self by the [higher] Self. LETTERS, P. 35 


"We are...in this incarnation...to be just as much as we can...if we can in
the midst of suffering hold ourselves calm and away from it...we make our
own storms. The power of any and all circumstances is a fixed, unvarying
quality, but as we vary in our reception of these, it appears to us that our
difficulties vary in intensity. They do not at all. We are the variants."
LETTERS, P. 36 


"If we admit that we are in this stream of evolution, then each
circumstance must be to us quite right...learn calmness...Ignorance of the
law cannot be pleaded among men, but ignorance of fact may...The Law ...has
regard for no man...If you can succeed in looking at it all as just what you
in fact desired then it will act not only as a strengthener of your good
thoughts, but will act reflexly on your body and make it stronger keep up
the aspiration and the search." W Q J LETTERS, P. 36
[ As we are always in contact with our Higher Self we know what is
true and right always.]


"Is not the Self pure, bright bodiless, and free,--and art thou not That?
The daily waking life is but a penance and the trial of the body, so that
it, too, may thereby acquire the right condition..." WQJ LETTERS. P. 37
 

"...the influences of this present age are powerful for producing these
feelings. What despair and agony of doubt exist to-day in all places!...the
wise man waits...We both are that soundless OM; we rest together upon the
bosom of Master...the wise man learns to assume in the body an attitude of
carelessness that is more careful really than any other...if the eye is
fixed where the light shines, we shall presently know what to do."
LETTERS, p.37


"...a fierce determined effort to plant myself nearer the altar of
sacrifice..."Do what you can, if you ever expect to see Them."...if we have
an immense devotion and do our best, the result will be right for Them and
for us..."that which was done in Master's name was right and came out
right." LETTERS, P. 38


"Each one would see the Self differently and yet would never see it, for to
see it is to be it...and then there is the lower self, great in its way, and
which must first be known...The mystery of ages is man--each one of us..."
LETTERS, P. 39


"Violent control is not so good as gentle control, continuous and firmly
unrelaxed...Gentleness is better because an opposition current is always
provoked...this gives the unaccustomed student more time and gradual
strength." LETTERS, P. 39


"Every situation ought to be used as a means...it enables us to know
philosophy...You have the key to self and that is all; Take it and drag our
the lurker inside...Generosity and love are the abandonment of
self...increase your confidence, not in your abilities, but in the great All
being thyself." LETTERS, P. 39



BATTLE OF MANAS AND KAMA [ MIND TO CONTROL DESIRE ]


"Arjuna's name is Parantapa "harasser of foes". Arjuna is the human soul
whose foes are of his own household, the senses and all that emanates from
them. When the human begins to harass his foes,[control and subdue them]
then only be begins to tread the Inner Path, and subduing the outer, he
unfolds the inner eye to see what is revealed... the AUM..."	Gita Notes,


"He who is brave and persevering enough, ready to crush the animal in
himself, and forgetting the human self, sacrifices it to his Higher Ego, can
always find his way to become initiated into these [esoteric] mysteries."
HPB ART. III, p. 44 


"...to have conquered desire is to have learned how to use and
control the [lower] self; to have attained to self-knowledge is to have
retreated to the inner fortress from whence the personal man can be viewed
with impartiality...to recognize is to achieve the great task of gazing upon
the blazing light without dropping the eyes and not falling back in terror,
as though before some ghastly phantom...to hear the voice of the silence is
to understand that from within comes the only true guidance...For when the
disciple is ready, the Master is ready also." LIGHT ON THE PATH,
p. 22



SELF-KNOWLEDGE


" Para-Vidya, the knowledge of the Self, stands guard over all arts,
sciences, philosophies and religions, but the hazardous journey to
Self-Realization is only accomplished by the daring soul who wills to seek
the Hidden Light, and having sought, knows the Secret Heart."	ST.
IN THE S.D., p. 35 


" The way to final freedom is within thy Self. That way begins and ends
outside of Self." VOICE, p. 42


"The kingly mystery is devotion to the light that comes from within."
LETTERS, p. 110


"Knowledge of the Supreme Self comes from identifying with It; realization
comes from dwelling upon the thing to be realized. The "power to perceive"
is the very essence of our being..."	GITA NOTES, p. 204


RESPONSIBILITY


"Our responsibility lies in our fidelity to our own higher nature."
Q & A, p. 242


"Each soul is a self-evolved being who is responsible only to his own
Higher Self." Q & A, p. 241


"Our work is with ourselves...and we can do only what we can for others,
giving them such opportunities as are beyond us to take; then they must
choose. WQJ said there are two things needed--to hold on firmly, and to
have perfect confidence...(He used the words "hold on grimly"...) The very
sacrifices made to relieve the trials of others, are also tests for
ourselves, and means of growth, growth coming from the sacrifice of the
lower to the higher in every way, as well as on every plane of being. It is
spiritual fire that burns out all the dross. At no time is the way easy,
but it is sure, and the refining goes on...Too often we think all depends
upon our effort and continuance; yet we must know that all these things are
provided for...All the trial and training tend to pull us out of one place
in order that we may lay hold of another and better one, when we determine
to "suffer or enjoy whatever the Higher Self has in store for one by way of
discipline and experience." It is the Higher Self that pulls us into places
and conditions that the personality would run in affright (p. 140) from, if
it alone were acting...In this work natures are intensified; good and bad
come to the surface, but the cleansing process is gradual. Each must do his
own work of elimination where such is seen to be needed; it is a process of
purpose and discrimination, and events bring us opportunities. Wise are
those who take advantage of opportunities and examine motives in the
handling of events. The Law works in strange ways at times; it is never
idle and it makes no mistakes. Let us rely on It, for there is nothing
else on which we may."	F.P., p. 139-40


"Forms and conditions do change, but not of themselves; there is That
which causes change to succeed change, and That is the indwelling spirit,
which continually impels the instruments It has evolved towards further
perfection. So progress and evolution mean an unfurling from within
outward, a constant impulsion toward a better and better instrument for the
use of the Spirit--the Self within." BHAGAVAD GITA. NOTES, p. 191


"To carefully note things and not allow the notation to affect our proper
course of conduct--that is, to note impersonally--is studying the hearts of
men who make up the world in which we live; is studying man as a whole, in
fact, for the whole is made up of the parts. Such an attitude neither
judges nor condemns, but notes, in order to help understandingly...When we
can read the thoughts of others, such knowledge is never used to the
detriment of others but ever for their benefit and with wisdom..."Kill in
thyself all memory of past experiences." If we do not do this we live in
them and rejuvenate them...Reliance on the Self--"That Thou Art"--is the way
out. "As we admit the reality of the (p. 142) Higher Self, we should
embrace the idea, dwell on it day in and day out until the will and desire
naturally incline to it and have it as the subtone or aim of thought. This
process will make the line of influence brighter and better with every
thought. When the influence grows strong it pervades the entire nature and
strengthens as well as improves. It will give knowledge and also energy.
This is the real and only road to the Masters, the Adepts, the Mahatmas."
F.P., p. 141-42




PURPOSE OF DEVACHAN


"...the hours of his posthumous life, when unveiled he stands face to face
with truth and the short-lived mirages of his terrestrial existences are far
from him, compose or make up, in our ideas, the only reality. Such breaks,
in spite of the fact that they are finite, do double service to the
Sutratma, which, perfecting itself constantly. follows without vacillation,
though very slowly, the road leading to its last transformation, when,
reaching its aim at last. it becomes a Divine Being...Sutratma is the actor,
and its numerous and different incarnations are the actor's parts...Like an
actor the soul is bound to play, during the cycle of births up to the very
threshold of Paranirvana, many such parts, which often are disagreeable to
it, but like a bee, collecting its honey from every flower, and leaving the
rest to feed the works of the earth, our spiritual individuality, the
Sutratma, collecting only the nectar of moral qualities and consciousness
from every terrestrial personality in which it has to clothe itself, forced
by Karma, unites at last all these qualities in one, having then become a
perfect being, a Dhyan Chohan..."	HPB ART., II, p. 271


"Life is better than death, for death again disappoints the Self. Complete
knowledge must be attained in the triune man ... By living as long as one
can, one gives the Self that longer chance."	WQJ LETTERS, p. 35


"...the true monitor is within...we must live and die by ourselves...running
here and there to see anything or person does not in itself give
progress...this should not be dwelt on as an end;..." LETTERS,
p. 38


"Vibration is the key to it all. The different states are only differences
of vibration...But the important thing is to develop the Self in the self,
and then the possessions of wisdom belonging to all wise men at once belong
to us." LETTERS, p. 39



THE IDEAL OF THE "MASTERS"


"Our true progress lies in fidelity to Masters as ideals and facts."
WQJ II p. 43

	
"Masters--They are Atman and therefore the very law of Karma itself. They
are in everything in life, and in every phase of our changing days and
years."	W Q J Letters, p. 68


"To meditate of the Higher Self is difficult. Seek then, the bridge, the
Masters."	WQJ Letters, p. 112


"The image of the Master is the best protection against lower influences;
think of the Master as a living man within you."	WQJ Letters, p. 164




INFLUENCE AND SUGGESTION


"A man dies of a contagious disease; months after his death...a bit of
clothing...may communicate the disease to a person more physiologically
sensitive...And why should not an idea, a thought exercise the same
influence?

Thought is no less material nor objective than the imponderable any
mysterious germs of various infectious diseases...Since the mind of a living
person can so influence another mind that the former can force the latter to
think and believe whatever it will--in short, can psychologize that other
mind, so can the thought of a person already dead.  

Once generated and sent out that thought will live upon its own energy. It
has become independent of the brain and mind which gave it birth. So long
as its concentrated energy remain undissipated, it can act as a potential
influence when brought into contact with the living brain and nervous system
of a person susceptibly predisposed.

The unhealthy action thus provoked may lead the sensitive into a temporary
insanity of self-delusion, that clouds the sense of his own individuality.
The morbid action thus once set up, the whole floating group of the dead
man's thoughts rushes into the sensitives brain, and he can give what seems
test after test of the presence of the deceased..." 
Mod. Panarion, p. 481

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

Best wishes, 

Dallas

==================================
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Rosalie 
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2004 8:38 AM
To: 
Subject: [bn-study] RE: re mind/brain, karma

This is an interesting slant, to consider the connection between karma
and mind. We ought to define karma first, as I and friends have recently
had a long discussion, after realizing that our definitions of karma
differed in substance. I'm sure someone will want to go for that definition
of acting principle.  

One definition of spirit is "information riding on energy." It has
been said that spirit and mind are equivalent. 

So let's say that one has an energy disturbance on some level of his
being (sort of one definition of karma). Looks like one would need to clear
out that energy problem. How? Now I realize I'm asking myself whether one
can "just be." It could mean to not worry and think about being, but just
be. Or it could mean to "detach", to "be the observer". What did you mean
by it, Mauri?  

It seems like if we have an energy disturbance, then some level of
self is holding it there, and that noticing it, and being the watcher,
allows it to clear out. 

I like that "speculatively", Mauri.

Rosalie

-----Original Message-----
From: Mauri [mailto:mhart@i...]
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2004 12:04 AM
To: study@b...
Subject: [bn-study] re mind/brain, karma


Esteral wrote, in part: <<A question 
has been raised regarding what is Mind? 
That is the key to what is currently 
being discussed on the list. Mind. What 
do we, meaning Theosophists, mean by 
Mind. >>

Seems to me that karma and mind/brain 
might have a close relationship, while 
what might be called "spirit" might be 
seen to represent a way out of that 
relationhip, as by way of "just being."

Speculatively,
Mauri



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