Theos-Talk Archives (January 2005 Message tt00228)

Jan 10 2005

Dear friend M,

I think the following will help: HPB wrote concerning the spiritual Man:


DUAL NATURE OF MAN

Never are the high censors of the Royal Society more perplexed than when
brought face to face with that insolvable mystery—man’s inner nature. The
key to it is— man’s dual being. It is that key that they refuse to use,well
aware that if once the door of the adytum be flung open they will be forced
to drop one by one their cherished theories and final conclusions— more than
once proved to have been no better than hobbies, starting from false or
incomplete premises. 

If we must remain satisfied with the half explanations of physiology as
regards meaningless dreams, how account in such case for the numerous facts
of verified dreams? To say that man is a dual being, that in man (to use the
words of Paul) "there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body"; and
that, therefore, he must of necessity have a double set of senses—is
tantamount in the opinion of the educated sceptic to uttering an
unpardonable and most unscientific fallacy. Yet it has to be uttered,
science notwithstanding.

Man is undeniably endowed with a double set of senses; with natural or
physical senses (these to be safely left to physiology to deal with); and
with sub-natural or spiritual senses (belonging entirely to the province of
psychological science). 

The word "sub," let it be well understood, is used here in a sense
diametrically opposite to that given to it—in chemistry, for example. In our
case it is a prefix, as in "subtonic" or "sub-bass" in music. 

Indeed, as the aggregate sound of nature is shown to be a single definite
tone, a key-note vibrating from and through eternity; having an undeniable
existence per se, yet possessing an appreciable pitch only for "the acutely
fine ear" *— [see The VOICE OF THE SILENCE, p. 55 fn] so the definite
harmony or disharmony of man’s external nature is seen by the observant to
depend wholly on the character of the key-note struck for the outer by the
inner man. 


SPIRITUAL EGO THE FUNDAMENTAL BASE

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, which 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, whether its tones are sweet or
harsh, harmonious or wild, legato or pizzicato.


A SPIRITUAL BRAIN

Therefore, we say, man, in addition to the physical, 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 (according 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 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 [MANAS] to awake the sleeping hemispheres, rouse into
activity the sensory ganglia and the cerebellum, and impress the former
(always in full inactivity and rest during the deep sleep of man) with the
vivid picture of the subject so transferred. 

In a sensual, unspiritual man, in one whose mode of life and animal
proclivities and passions have entirely disconnected his fifth principle
[MANAS] or animal, astral Ego [KAMA-MANAS] from its higher spiritual soul
[BUDDHI]; as also in him whose hard, physical labour has so worn out the
material body as to render him temporarily insensible to the voice and touch
of his astral soul—in both cases during sleep the brain remains in a
complete state of anæmia or full inactivity. 

Such persons rarely, if ever, have any dreams at all, least of all "visions
that come to pass." In the former, as the waking time approaches, and his
sleep becomes lighter, the mental changes as they begin to occur will
constitute dreams in which intelligence will play no part; his half-awakened
brain suggesting but pictures which are only the hazy grotesque
reproductions of his wild habits in life; while in the latter (unless
strongly preoccupied with some exceptional thought) his ever-present
instinct of active habits will not permit him to remain in that state of
semi-sleep during which, as consciousness begins to return, dreams of
various kinds are seen, but will arouse him at once without any interlude to
full wakefulness. 


SPIRITUAL VISIONS

On the other hand, the more spiritual a man, the more active his fancy, the
greater is the probability of his receiving in vision correctly the
impressions conveyed to him by his all-seeing, 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 [ATMA]. This principle (though per se a quasi-unconscious part of
the utterly unconscious, because utterly immaterial, Absolute ‡) having in
itself the inherent capabilities of omniscience, omnipresence, and
omnipotence, as soon as its pure essence comes in contact with pure
sublimated and (to us) imponderable matter, imparts these attributes in a
degree to the as pure astral Ego. 
Hence highly spiritual persons will see visions and dreams during sleep and
even in their hours of wakefulness. These are the sensitives, the
natural-born seers, now loosely termed "spiritual mediums," there being no
distinction made between a subjective seer, a "neurypnological" subject, and
even an Adept—one who has made himself independent of his physiological
idiosyncracies and has entirely subjected the outer to the inner man. Those
less spiritually endowed will see such dreams only at rare intervals; the
accuracy of the dreams depending on the intensity of the dreamer’s feeling
in regard to the perceived object.


VERIFIED DREAMS

Thus, in this question of verified dreams, as in so many others, modern
science stands before an unsolved problem, the insolvable nature of which
has been created by her own materialistic stubbornness, and her
time-cherished routine-policy. 


HIGHER AND LOWER MANASIC EGOS

For, either man is a dual being, with an inner Ego §—this Ego being the
"real" man, distinct from, and independent of, the outer man proportionally
to the prevalency or weakness of the material body; an Ego [MANAS], the
scope of whose senses stretches far beyond the limit granted to the physical
senses of man; an Ego which survives the decay of its external covering, at
least for a time, even when an evil course of life has made it fail to
achieve a perfect union with its spiritual higher Self, i.e., to blend its
individuality with it (the personality gradually fading out in each case)—or
the testimony of millions of men embracing several thousands of years—the
evidence furnished in our own century by hundreds of the most educated men,
often by the greatest lights of science—all this evidence, we say, goes for
naught. 

With the exception of a handful of scientific authorities—surrounded by an
eager crowd of sceptics and sciolists, who, having never seen anything,
claim, therefore, the right of denying everything—the world stands condemned
as a gigantic lunatic asylum! It has, however, a special department in it.
It is reserved for those who, having proved the soundness of their minds,
must of necessity be regarded as impostors and liars.

Has then the phenomenon of dreams been so thoroughly studied by
materialistic science, that she has nothing more to learn, since she speaks
in such authoritative tones upon the subject? Not in the least. 

BRAIN CHANNELS SENSATIONS AND VISIONS

The phenomena of sensation and volition, of intellect and instinct, are, of
course, all manifested through the channels of the nervous centres, the most
important of which is the brain. 

The peculiar substance through which these actions take place has two forms,
the vesicular and the fibrous, of which the latter is held to be simply the
propagator of the impressions sent to or from the vesicular matter. Yet
while this physiological office is distinguished, or divided by science into
three kinds—the motor, sensitive and connecting—the mysterious agency of
intellect remains as mysterious and as perplexing to the great modern
physiologists as it was in the days of Hippocrates. 

The scientific suggestion that there may be a fourth series associated with
the operations of thought has not helped towards solving the problem; it has
failed to shed even the slightest ray of light on the unfathomable mystery.
Nor will they ever fathom it unless our men of science accept the hypothesis
of Dual Man.
-- H P B 
 
* This tone is held by the specialists to be the middle F of the piano.

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

"Hast thou attuned thy heart and mind to the great mind and heart of all
mankind? For as the sacred River's roaring voice whereby all Nature-sounds
are echoed back, (2) 
	
(2) The Northern Buddhists, and all Chinamen, in fact, find in the deep roar
of some of the great and sacred rivers the key-note of Nature. Hence the
simile. It is a well-known fact in Physical Science, as well as in
Occultism, that the aggregate sound of Nature-such as heard in the roar of
great rivers, the noise produced by the waving tops of trees in large
forests, or that of a city heard at a distance—is a definite single tone of
quite an appreciable pitch. This is shown by physicists and musicians. Thus
Prof. Rice (Chinese Music) shows that the Chinese recognized the fact
thousands of years ago by saying that "the waters of the Hoang-ho rushing
by, intoned the kung" called "the great tone" in Chinese music; and he shows
this tone corresponding with the F, "considered by modern physicists to be
the actual tonic of Nature." Professor B. Silliman mentions it, too, in his
Principles of Physics, saying that "this tone is held to be the middle F of
the piano; which may, therefore, be considered the key-note of Nature."
Voice, p. 55fn

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

† The sixth principle, or spiritual soul [BUDDHI], and the seventh—the
purely spiritual principle [ATMA], the Spirit or Parabrahman, the emanation
from the unconscious ABSOLUTE. (See "Fragments of Occult Truth,"
Theosophist, October, 1881.)

‡ To this teaching every kind of exception will be taken by the theists and
various objections raised by the spiritualists. It is evident that we cannot
be expected to give, within the narrow limits of a short article, a full
explanation of this highly abstruse and esoteric doctrine. 

To say that the Absolute Consciousness is "unconscious" of its consciousness
(hence to the limited intellect of man must be "Absolute Unconsciousness")
seems like speaking of a square triangle. We hope to develop the proposition
more fully in one of the forthcoming numbers of "Fragments of Occult Truth,"
of which we may publish a series. We will then prove, perhaps, to the
satisfaction of the non-prejudiced that the Absolute, or the Unconditioned,
and (especially) the Unrelated, is a mere fanciful abstraction, a fiction,
unless we view it from the standpoint, and in the light of, the more
educated pantheist. 

To do so, we will have to regard the Absolute merely as the aggregate of all
intelligences, the totality of all existences, incapable of manifesting
itself except through the interrelationship of its parts, as it is
absolutely incognizable and non-existent outside its phenomena. and depends
entirely on its ever-correlating forces, dependent in their turn on the One
Great Law. 

§ Whether with one solitary Ego, or Soul, as the spiritualists affirm, or
with several—i.e., composed of seven principles, as eastern esotericism
teaches—is not the question at issue for the present. Let us first prove by
bringing our joint experience to bear, that there is in man something beyond
Büchner’s force and matter.
 
---------------------------------

One really ought to become fully familiar with the "SIX PRINCIPLES in Man;
ATMA synthesizes them all and is the 7th, the highest. 

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



Here are some good statements made by Theosophy:

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


SEVEN-FOLD NATURE AND MAN -- " 7 PRINCIPLES"


The universe evolves from the unknown, on seven planes, and in
seven ways in all worlds. And this sevenfold differentiation
causes all the worlds of the universe, and the beings thereon, to
have a septenary constitution.

The divisions of the sevenfold universe may be laid down roughly
as: The Absolute, Spirit, Mind, Matter, Will, Akasa or AEther,
and Life. In place of "the Absolute" we can use the word "Space."
For "Space" is that which ever is, and in which all manifestation
must take place.

Our knowledge begins with differentiation, and all manifested
objects, beings, or powers are only differentiations of the Great
Unknown.

The most that can be said of the Absolute" is that IT
periodically differentiates itself, and periodically withdraws
the differentiated into itself. As to "the Absolute," we can do
no more than say IT IS. None of the Great Teachers of the School
ascribe qualities to "the Absolute," although all qualities exist
in It.

The first differentiation -- speaking metaphysically as to
time -- is Spirit, with which appears Matter and Mind. This is a
Unit, and, called the "Monad." [ In manifestation, it is a
triune Unity, consisting of: ATMA-BUDDHI-MANAS, or, Spirit -
Wisdom - Mind] The Monad is held to be immortal throughout the
great life-cycle, whether Manvantara or Kalpa. It is the basis
for human Individuality.

The term "Akasa," taken from the Sanskrit, is used in place of
AEther, to properly designate that tenuous state of matter which
is now sometimes called "Ether" by modern science. Akasa is
produced from Matter and Spirit.

Will is the force of Spirit in action. And Life (Jiva) is a
resultant of the action of Akasa, moved by Spirit, upon Matter.

But the Matter here spoken of, is not that which is commonly
known as such. It is the Real Matter which is always invisible,
and has sometimes been called Primordial Matter. In the
Brahmanical system it is called "Mulaprakriti" (or "Root
Matter"). And it is sometimes referred to as "Maha-Buddhi." [In
considering this, one may think of an "atom" as essentially an
eternal, individualized field of electro-magnetic Force.
Physical material is condensed in and around it by attraction.
The formation of worlds, and the reincarnation of human Souls,
may be thought of in similar terms, and follow a similar
pattern.]

The ancient teaching always held, as is now admitted by Science,
that we see or perceive only the phenomena but not the essential
nature, cause or being of Matter.

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

2
SOUL -- EGO -- MIND


Nearly everyone says he has a soul and a body, and there it ends.
What the soul is, and whether it is the real person or whether it
has any powers of its own, are not inquired into, the preachers
usually confining themselves to its salvation or damnation. And
by thus talking of it as something different from oneself, the
people have acquired an underlying notion that they are not souls
because the soul may be lost by them. From this has come about a
tendency to materialism causing men to pay more attention to the
body than to the soul, the latter being left to the tender
mercies of the priest of the Roman Catholics, and among
dissenters the care of it is most frequently put off to the dying
day. But when the true teaching is known it will be seen that the
care of the soul, which is the Self, is a vital matter requiring
attention every day, and not to be deferred without grievous
injury resulting to the whole man, both soul and body....


THE 7-FOLD CLASSIFICATION

H. P. Blavatsky directly from the Great Lodge of
Initiates...places...the old doctrine [of seven-fold Man] before
western civilization. The classification is:

1. The Body, or Rupa. (physical form, molecules, cells)
2. Vitality, or Prana-Jiva. (Life principle)
3. Astral Body, or Linga-Sarira. (electro-magnetic form, atoms and
energies)
4. Animal Soul, or Kama-Rupa (Lower Manas & desires)
5. Human Soul, or Manas. (logic and ratiocination - (Higher manas)
6. Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi. (discrimination, intuition, wisdom)
7. Spirit, or Atma, (HIGHER SELF overshadows the other
6)

The Sanskrit language has a wider sense than the English terms.
This classification stands to this day for all practical
purposes, but it is capable of modification and extension. For
instance, a later arrangement which places ASTRAL BODY second
instead of third in the category does not substantially alter it.
It at once gives an idea of what man is, very different from the
vague description by the words "body and soul," and also boldly
challenges the materialistic conception that mind is the product
of brain, a portion of the body.

No claim is made that these principles were hitherto unknown, for
they were all understood in various ways not only by the Hindus
but by many Europeans. Yet the compact presentation of the
sevenfold constitution of man in intimate connection with the
septenary constitution of a chain of Globes through which the
being evolves, had not been given out...

Considering these constituents in another manner, we would say
that the lower man is a composite being, but in his real nature
is a unity, or immortal being, comprising a trinity of Spirit,
Discernment, and Mind which requires four lower mortal
instruments or vehicles through which to work in matter and
obtain experience from Nature.

This trinity is that called Atma-Buddhi-Manas in Sanskrit,
difficult terms to render in English. Atma is Spirit, Buddhi is
the highest power of intellection, that which discerns and
judges, and Manas is Mind. This threefold collection is the real
man; and beyond doubt the doctrine is the origin of the
theological one of the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The four lower instruments or vehicles are shown in this table:

REAL MAN is Triune (3) -- :

Atma,	Purity, Spirit, Law, IDEAL NATURE AND MAN
Buddhi,	Wisdom earned through experience over many lives
Manas,	Thinker, Perceiver, Observer, Chooser


Lower Vehicles are 4 -- :

* The Passions and Desires,	Feelings, Emotions,
* Life Principle,	Energy, strength
* Astral Body,	Model Body within the physical
* Physical Body.


These four lower material constituents are transitory and subject
to disintegration in themselves as well as to separation from
each other. When the hour arrives for their separation to begin,
the combination can no longer be kept up, the physical body dies,
the atoms of which each of the four is composed begin to separate
from each other, and the whole collection being disjointed is no
longer fit for one as an instrument for the real man.


DEATH of the PHYSICAL

This is what is called "death" among us mortals, but it is not
death for the real man because he is deathless, persistent,
immortal. He is therefore called the Triad, or indestructible
trinity, while they are known as the Quaternary or mortal four.

This quaternary or lower man is a product of cosmic or physical
laws and substance. It has been evolved during a lapse of ages,
like any other physical thing, from cosmic substance, and is
therefore subject to physical, physiological, and psychical laws
which govern the race of man as a whole.

Hence its period of possible continuance can be calculated just
as the limit of tensile strain among the metals used in bridge
building can be deduced by the engineer. Any one collection in
the form of man made up of these constituents is therefore
limited in duration by the laws of the evolutionary period in
which it exists. Just now, that is generally seventy to one
hundred years, but its possible duration is longer. Thus there
are in history instances where ordinary persons have lived to be
two hundred years of age; and by a knowledge of the occult laws
of nature the possible limit of duration may be extended nearly
to four hundred years.


* THE VISIBLE PHYSICAL MAN IS:
*
*	Brain, Nerves, Blood, Bones, Lymph, Muscles, Organs of
Sensation and Action, and Skin.

*
* THE UNSEEN PHYSICAL MAN IS:
*
* Astral Body, Passions and Desires, Life Principle (called
prana or jiva).
*

It will be seen that the physical part of our nature is thus
extended to a second department which, though invisible to the
physical eye, is nevertheless material and subject to decay.


REAL AND UNREAL

Because people in general have been in the habit of admitting to
be real only what they can see with the physical eye, they have
at last come to suppose that the unseen is neither real nor
material. But they forgot that even on the earth plane noxious
gases are invisible though real and powerfully material, and that
water may exist in the air held suspended and invisible until
conditions alter and cause its precipitation.


Let us recapitulate before going into details. The Real Man is
the trinity of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, or Spirit and Mind, and he uses
certain agents and instruments to get in touch with nature in
order to know himself.

These instruments and agents are found in the lower Four -- or
the Quaternary -- each principle in which category is of itself
an instrument for the particular experience belonging to its own
field, the body being the lowest, least important, and most
transitory of the whole series.

For when we arrive at the body on the way down from the Higher
Mind, it can be shown that all of its organs are in themselves
senseless and useless when deprived of the man within.

Sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smelling do not pertain to the
body but to the second unseen physical man, the real organs for
the exercise of those powers being in the ASTRAL BODY, and those
in the physical body being but the mechanical outer instruments
for making the coordination between nature and the real organs
inside.

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

Best wishes,

Dallas
=============================

-----Original Message-----
From: Munise 
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 9:49 AM
To: 
Subject: [bn-study] Re: UNCERTAINTY

Dear Dallas,

This quote explains to me that, physical evolution is a term for spiritual 
evolution to be within and around.

"Spiritual evolution...is dual and the path of spirituality turns,
corkscrew-like within and around physical, semi-physical, and
supra-physical evolution." -- H.P.B

Time and space must be keeping us in a sort of linear-like.

To be in a corkscrew-like state seems to be more of sort probabilistic than

deterministic. Is it?

Best regards

Munise




>From: "W.Dallas TenBroeck" <dalval14@earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: study@blavatsky.net
>To: study@blavatsky.net
>Subject: [bn-study] Re: UNCERTAINTY
>Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 04:10:17 -0800
>
>Jan 1 2005
>
>Friends:
>
>My great problem is in distinguishing these and making a progressive as 
>well
>as a retrospective analysis of information versus facts that are immutable.
>{Are there any such?]
>
>The certainty of immutability is important, or else we are indeed in a sea
>of continually wavering indecision -- thinking all is "maya" and therefore
>useless because unintelligible.
>
>Since we, the Universe and our relations exist, the intangibility vanishes.
>
>Now the one question remains: plausibility.
>
>Why this mess we all call life and living?
>
>Why are we here -- and having to deal with it.
>
>How should any confusions be resolved?
>
>Are there any who have advanced or transcended -- and can offer us sure and
>reasoned ways of unpuzzling things?
>
>Help is needed from all on this.
>
>What are the steps every one could use and also be reasonably certain of?
>
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Dal
>
>=============
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: sensaru
>Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 7:12 AM
>To:
>Subject: Re: UNCERTAINTY
>
>isn't possible that all is and could be, exists now and it is our unfolding
>awareness, that reveals process.
> >
> > From: "W.Dallas TenBroeck" <dalval14@earthlink.net>
> > Date: 2004/12/28 Tue AM 09:09:08 EST
> > To: study@blavatsky.net
> > Subject: [bn-study] Re: UNCERTAINTY
> >
> >
> > Dec 29 2004
> >
> > Dear Friends:
> >
> > CERTAINTY AND UNCERTAINTY
> >
> >
> > Of three things everyone can be quite certain:
> >
> >
> > 1	We know we exist.
> >
> > 2	We know that a host of beings are all around us, and we can say with
> > certainty: We know the Universe (ALL--INCLUSIVE) exists.
> >
> > 3	The 3rd item of certainty is that there is an on-going relationship
> > between us and the rest of the Universe (or call it Nature). It 
>supports
> > and gives us life, and in turn we either help it in its creative work, 
>or
>we
> > try to impair or destroy it. It is forever a give and take situation.
> >
> > The Universe has been here a far longer time than we have. It nurtures
>more
> > than anything else. It arranges the laws of co-existence, from the
>sub-atom,
> > to the grandest and furtherest aspects we can probe of its illimitable
> > boundaries. Science declares we owe our life to its regularity,
> > impersonality and exactitude. Nothing is left out of its purview.
> >
> > Our so-called scientific discoveries merely uncover successive 
>preexisting
> > layers of living interaction everywhere. If that is not evidence of
> > intelligence and consciousness, then I don't know what those words mean.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> >
> > Dallas
> >
> > =========================
> >
>
>
>---
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