Theos-Talk Archives (May 2005 Message tt00076)

May 2 2005

RE: Chapter III, The Occult Constitution of Cosmos and Man

Dear Estela:

Please excuse delay in answering this interesting segment:

Here are some notes I have accumulated for consideration:

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SEVEN-FOLD UNIVERSE---SEVEN-FOLD MAN

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



Septenary Universe



"...the teaching about the Septenary constitution of the sidereal bodies and
of the macrocosm--from which the septenary division of the microcosm, or
Man--has until now been among the most esoteric. In olden times if used to
be divulged only at the Initiation and along with the most sacred figures of
the cycles...the key to their teaching is furnished by Atma-Vidya...for
outside of metaphysics no occult philosophy, no esotericism is possible."
SD I 168-9



"...the number seven, as well as the doctrine of the septenary constitution
of man, was pre-eminent in all the secret systems. It plays as important a
part in Western Kabala as in Eastern Occultism."	SD I 241  



"The universe evolves from the unknown, into which no man or mind, however
high, can inquire, on seven planes or in seven ways or methods in all
worlds, and this seven-fold differentiation causes all the worlds of the
universe and the beings thereon to have a septenary constitution...the
little worlds and the great are copies of the whole, and the minutest insect
as well as the most highly developed being are replicas in little or in
great of the vast inclusive original.


The divisions of the sevenfold universe may be laid down roughly as:

The Absolute, [or Space--that which ever is and in which all manifestation
must take place...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.]

Spirit, Mind, Matter, Will, Akasa or AEther, [ Akasa is used in
place of AEther because English...has no word to properly designate that
tenuous state of matter], and Life.

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 is that the Absolute periodically differentiates itself,
and periodically withdraws the differentiation into itself.


The first differentiation--speaking metaphorically as to time--is Spirit,
with which appears Matter and Mind. 

Akasa is produced from Matter and Spirit.  

Will is the force of spirit in action and Life is a resultant of the action
of Akasa moved by spirit, upon Matter. But the Matter here spoken of is not
that which is vulgarly known as such. It is the real Matter which is always
invisible, and has sometimes been called Primordial Matter...Mulaprakriti
...we see or perceive only the phenomena but not the essential nature, body
or being of matter.

Mind is the intelligent part of the Cosmos, and in the collection of seven
differentiations above roughly sketched.


This plan was brought over from a prior period of manifestation which added
to its ever increasing perfectness, and no limit can be set to its
evolutionary possibilities in perfectness. Because there was never any
beginning to the periodical manifestations of the Absolute, there will never
be any end, but forever the going forth and withdrawing into the Unknown
will go on." Ocean, pp. 14-15



"Enquirer. But who is it that creates each time the Universe?

Theosophist.	No one creates it. Science would call the process
evolution...we, Occultists and Theosophists, see in it the only universal
and eternal reality casting a periodical reflection of itself on the
infinite Spatial depths. This reflection which you regard as the objective
material universe, we consider as a temporary illusion and nothing else.
That alone which is eternal is real...the universe passes out of its
homogeneous subjectivity on to the first pane of manifestation, of which
planes there are seven, we are taught. With each plane it becomes more
dense and material until it reaches this, our plane...our Solar system (like
every other such system in the millions of others in Cosmos) and even our
Earth, has its own programme of manifestations differing from the respective
programmes of all others."	
Key to Theosophy pp. 84-5



"Enquirer.	I understand you describe our earth as forming a part of a
chain or earths?


Theosophist.	We do. But the other six "earths" or "globes," are not on
the same plane of objectivity as our earth is; therefore we cannot see
them...It is only that their material density, weight, or fabric are
entirely different from those of our earth and the other known planets; but
they are (to us) on an entirely different layer of space, so to speak; a
layer not to be perceived or felt by our physical senses...by "layer" is
that plane of infinite space which by its nature cannot fall under our
ordinary waking perceptions, whether mental or physical; but which exists
in nature outside of our normal mentality or consciousness, outside of our
three dimensional space, and outside of our division of time. Each of the
seven fundamental planes (or layers) in space...has its own objectivity and
subjectivity, its own space and time, its own consciousness and set of
senses. [ Like a different set of sense used in our "dream-life."]...

Our philosophy teaches us that, as there are seven fundamental forces in
nature, and seven planes of being, so there are seven states of
consciousness in which man can live, think, remember and have his being...in
waking and dreaming [we have good proof of the fact]."	Key to
Theosophy, pp. 88-90


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

Table from Secret Doctrine Vol. II, p. 596  

[Please go to that -- does not reproduce well]

Correspondence of the 7 Cosmic and 7 Human "principles."


================================================================
Human aspects or	Cosmic aspects or
Principles	Principles
================================================================


TRIPLE ASPECT OF THE DEITY


1.	Universal Spirit (Atma)	The Unmanifested Logos

2.	Spiritual Soul (Buddhi)	Universal (latent) Ideation
(see Fnote p. 597)

3.	Human Soul, Mind (Manas)	Universal (or Cosmic) active
Intelligence



SPIRIT OF THE EARTH


4.	Animal Soul (Kama-Rupa)	Cosmic Chaotic energy

5.	Astral Body (Linga-Sarira)	Astral Ideation, reflecting 
terrestrial things.

6.	Life Essence (Prana)	Life Essence or Energy

7.	Body (Sthula Sarira)	The Earth.

[ from: SD II 596]

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SEVENFOLD MAN


"We find...two distinct beings in man; the spiritual and the physical, the
man who thinks, and the man who records as much of these thoughts as he is
able to assimilate.

Therefore we divide him into two distinct natures: the upper or the
spiritual being, composed of three "principles" or aspects; and the lower
or the physical quaternary, composed of four--in all seven."	Key,
p. 90


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Table From: Secret Doctrine I p. 157

Seven-fold Man and His Vehicles in States of Consciousness

[Please go to that -- does not reproduce well]


================================================================
Classification in	Vedantic
Classification in
"Esoteric Buddhism"	Classification	Taraka Raja Yoga
================================================================
[ From: SD I p 157]

[Please go to that -- does not reproduce well]

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


References:

CLASSIFICATION OF PRINCIPLES - HPB Theosophist, April 1887

RECLASSIFICATION OF PRINCIPLES	Theosophist, August 1887
(HPB Articles Vol. II p 233-248)

ISIS U. & THE THEOSOPHIST ON REINCARNATION Th'st. Aug. 1882
(HPB Articles Vol. I p 491 see table on p. 494)

THEOSOPHICAL THEORIES OF THE MICROCOSM --W. Q. Judge
Theosophist, August 1887 (WQJ Art. Vol. II p. 346)

Tables in Secret Doctrine: Vol II pp 593, 596, 632-3. 


"...Atma-Bodha or "Knowledge of Soul,"[a treatise by
Shankaracharya]...speaks distinctly of seven principles in man (see verse
14). They are called therein the five sheaths (Panchakosha) in which is
enclosed the divine monad--the Atman and Buddhi, the seventh and sixth
principles, or the individual soul when made distinct...from the supreme
soul--Parabrahman. The first sheath, called Ananda-maya--the sheath of
"supreme bliss"--is the Manas of fifth principle of the Occultists, when
united with Buddhi; the second sheath is Vijnana-maya Kosha, the case or
envelope of "self-delusion," the Manas when self-deluded into the belief of
the personal "I" or Ego, with its vehicle. The third is Mano-maya sheath,
composed of illusionary "mind" associated with the organs of action and
will, is the Kama Rupa and the Linga Sharira combined, producing an illusive
"I" or Mayavi Rupa. The fourth sheath is called Prana-maya, illusionary
"life," our second life principle or Jiva, wherein resides life, the
"breathing" sheath. The fifth Kosha is called Anna-maya, or the sheath
supported by food--our gross material body. All these sheaths produce other
smaller sheaths, or six attributes or qualities each, the seventh being
always the root-sheath; and the Atman or spirit passing through all these
subtle ethereal bodies like a thread, is called the "thread-soul" or
Sutratman." - HPB	Five Years of Theosophy p. 126



"As the prime declaration of theosophy is that all these so-called bodies
and appearances are for the purpose of enabling the ONE--the Atma--to fully
comprehend nature and "bring about the aim of the soul," why not denominate
all that it uses for that purpose vehicles?...Or if greater clearness is
desired, let us say that there is one principle which acts through six
vehicles. The scheme will then stand thus:

Atma (spirit), one principle, indivisible

Its vehicles are

Buddhi	.	.	.	.	Spiritual Soul
Manas	.	.	.	.	Human Soul
Kama Rupa	.	.	.	Animal Soul
Linga Sarira	.	.	.	Astral Body
Prana or Jiva	.	.	.	Vitality
Rupa	.	.	.	.	The Physical Body 

WQJ Articles I 299




TABLE FROM: Key to Theosophy, pp 91-92
================================================================
Sanskrit	Exoteric	Explanatory
Terms	Meaning
================================================================

LOWER QUATERNARY

a) Rupa or Physical	Is the vehicle of all the other
Sthula-Sarira	body	"principles" during life.


b) Prana	Life or Necessary only to a) c) d), and 
Vital	the functions of the lower Manas,
principle	which embrace all those limited to
the (physical) brain.


c) Linga-	Astral body	The Double, the phantom body.
Sharira


d) Kama rupa	The seat of	This is the center of the animal
animal des-	man, where lies the line of 
ires and	demarcation which separates the
passions.	mortal man from the immortal
entity.

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

THE UPPER IMPERISHABLE TRIAD


e) Manas --a	Mind. In-	The future state and the Karmic 
dual prin- telligence:	destiny of man depend on whether
ciple in which is the	Manas gravitates more downward to
function	higher human	Kama-rupa, the seat of animal 
mind, whose	passions, or upwards to Buddhi,

light, or rad-	the Spiritual Ego. In the latter
iation links	case, the higher consciousness of

the MONAD the individual spiritual aspir-

for the lifetime ations of mind (Manas), assimil-

to the mortal ating Buddhi, are absorbed by it

man.	and form the Ego, which goes into
Devachanic bliss.

f) Buddhi	The The vehicle of pure universal
Spiritual	Spirit.
Soul

g) Atma	Spirit	One with the Absolute as its 
radiation.

[From: Key to Theosophy pp 91-2]

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SD I pp. 242-5 gives the following analysis of seven-fold man:


1.	The Upper Triad
1.	Atma - pure Spirit	- Neschamah
2.	Buddhi - Spiritual Soul	- Ruach
3.	Manas -	Mind, Plastic Mediator - Nephesch

2.	The Lower Quaternary
4.	Kama -	Passion & Animal Desire
5.	Prana -	Life - Mikael, Sun Principle
6.	Linga Sarira - Astral Body - Image of Man
7.	Sthula Sarira Physical Body - 

[Explanatory footnote: "Nephesh is the breath of (animal) life...Without
Manas, "the reasoning Soul," or mind, Atma-Buddhi are irrational on this
plane and cannot act. It is Buddhi which is the plastic mediator, not
Manas, "the intelligent medium between the upper Triad and the lower
Quaternary."...]  
SD I 241-2


"...SOUL (OR EGO)...IS ATMA-BUDDHI-MANAS...(collectively as the upper Triad)
lives on three planes, besides its
fourth, the terrestrial sphere; and it exists eternally on the highest of
the three...

MANAS is immortal, because after every new incarnation it adds to
Atma-Buddhi something of itself, and thus assimilating itself to the Monad,
shares its immortality...

BUDDHI becomes conscious by the accretions it gets from Manas after every
new incarnation...Buddhi is the mould of Atma, because Atma is no body, or
shape, or anything, and because Buddhi is its vehicle only 
figuratively...

ATMA neither progresses, forgets, nor remembers. It does not belong to this
plane; it is but the ray of light
eternal which shines upon and through the darkness of matter--when the
latter is willing...


The astral through Kama (desire) is ever drawing Manas down into the sphere
of material passions and desires. But if the better man or Manas tries to
escape the fatal attraction and turns its aspirations to Atma--Spirit--then
Buddhi (Ruach) conquers, and carries Manas with it to the realm of eternal
spirit...

The [physical] body follows the whims, good or bad, of Manas; Manas tries
to follow the light of Buddhi, but often fails.  

The Monad becomes a personal ego when it incarnates; and something remains
of that personality through Manas, when the latter is perfect enough to
assimilate Buddhi.
[Extracts from SD I 243-245 ]



"[There is a dual set of "principles": the spiritual, or those which belong
to the imperishable Ego; and the material, or those principles which make
up the ever-changing bodies or the series of personalities of that Ego.


Let us fix permanent names to those, and say that:--


1.	ATMA, the "Higher Self," is neither your Spirit nor mine, but like
sunlight shines on all. It is the universally diffused "divine principle,"
and is inseparable from its one and absolute Meta-Spirit, as the sunbeam is
inseparable from sunlight.

2.	BUDDHI (the spiritual soul) is only its vehicle. Neither each
separately, nor the two collectively, are of any more use to the body of
man, than sunlight and its beams are for a mass of granite buried in the
earth, unless the divine Duad is assimilated by, and reflected in, some
consciousness. Neither Atma nor Buddhi are ever reached by Karma, because
the former is the highest aspect of Karma, its universal working agent of
ITSELF in one aspect, and the other is unconscious on this plane. This
consciousness or mind is

3.	MANAS,(*) the derivation or product in a reflected form of Ahamkara,
"the conception of "I," or Ego-ship, and Taijasi (the radiant). This is the
real Individuality or the divine man. It is this Ego which--having
originally incarnated in the senseless human form animated by, but
unconscious (since it had no consciousness) of, the presence in itself of
the dual monad--made of that human-like form a real man. It is that Ego,
that "Causal Body," which overshadows every personality Karma forces it to
incarnate into; and this Ego which is held responsible for all the sins
committed through, and in, every new body or personality--the evanescent
masks which hide the true Individual through the long series of rebirths.

(*)	Mahat or the "Universal Mind" is the source of Manas. The latter is
Mahat, i.e., mind, in man. Manas is also called Kshetrajna, "embodied
spirit," because it is...the Manasa-putra, or "Sons of the Universal Mind,"
who created, or rather produced, the thinking man, "manu" by incarnating in
the third Race mankind [Lemurian] in our Round.	It is Manasa, therefore,
which is the real incarnating and permanent Spiritual Ego, the
Individuality, and our various and numberless personalities only its
external masks."
Key to Theosophy, pp. 135-6



"To avoid henceforth...misapprehensions, I propose to 

TRANSLATE LITERALLY FROM THE OCCULT EASTERN TERMS 

their equivalents in English, and offer these for future
use.


The HIGHER SELF is Atma, the inseparable ray of the Universal and ONE SELF.
It is the God above, more than within, us. Happy is the man who succeeds in
saturating his inner Ego with it!


The SPIRITUAL divine Ego is the Spiritual soul or Buddhi, in close union
with Manas, the mind-principle,
without which it is no Ego at all, but only the Atmic Vehicle.


The INNER, OR HIGHER "EGO" is Manas, the "Fifth" Principle,...independently
of Buddhi. The Mind-Principle is only the Spiritual Ego when merged into
one with Buddhi,--no materialist being supposed to have in him such an Ego,
however great his intellectual capacities. It is the permanent
Individuality or the 
"Reincarnating Ego."


The LOWER OR PERSONAL "EGO" is the physical man in conjunction with his
lower Self, i.e., animal instincts,
passions, desires, etc. It is called the "false personality," and consists
of the lower Manas combined with Kama-rupa, and operating through the
Physical body and its phantom or "double."


The remaining "Principle" "PRANA," OR "LIFE, is strictly speaking, the
radiating force or energy of Atma-- as 
the Universal Life and the One Self,--Its lower or rather (in its effects)
more physical, because manifesting, aspect.  

Prana, Life permeates the whole being of the objective Universe; and is
called a "principle: only because it is an indispensable factor and the deus
ex machina of the living man."	
Key to Theosophy, pp. 175-6

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Best wishes,

Dallas

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-----Original Message-----
From: Estela Carson 
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 4:53 PM
To: study@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-study] Chapter III, The Occult Constitution of Cosmos and Man

Hello Folks, 

With this email we begin the study of the Chapter 3 of Deity, Cosmos and Man
by Geoffrey Farthing. In this email, I shall also introduce some comments
from The Ocean of Theosophy by William Q. Judge, one of the three original
founders of the present movement Theosophy. Many students like to read Judge
as they study the Secret Doctrine. He presents many of the important themes
and discusses the fundamental principles of Theosophy as HPB wrote them in a
clear and understandable manner. 

For the new comers to Theosophy and to this list, I highly recommend that
you visit seekerbooks.com and click on theosophy and go to the introduction
page. There Reed has put together a reading list of books that cover the
important tenets of Theosophy. He has chosen books that closely follow HPB
and that are of great help to the student. In my case I found that reading
these books before I tackled the BIG ONE, helped me a lot to unravel the
complicated sentences of HPB. 

Chapter 3, The Occult Constitution of the Cosmos and Man. 

In this chapter we take up the themes outlined in the third paragraph of
Chapter II, beginning with the Hermetic axiom, "as above, so below." Like
every science, Esoteric Science has its special terminology, and much of
this chapter will serve as an expanded glossary of the terms used in
Occultism in the study of man and the universe. 

Man is a microcosm reflecting in miniature the composition and processes of
the macrocosm, the total universe. What we find in the one is to be found in
the other, and consequently, by studying the one we may learn, by analogy,
the corresponding picture of the other. 

A familiar division of the human constitution describes man as threefold -
body, soul, and spirit. Esotericism makes use of the same division (found
also in Plato and Paul), but shows the complex nature of each of the three
parts. The body itself is regarded as threefold, consisting -in addition to
the gross physical part-of a subtle or ethereal counterpart-the astral
double of Linga-sharira-and of a vital principle or life-force, prana. Soul
is composed of two elements recognized in experience as the feeling and
thinking aspects of ourselves. Body and soul together constitute the human
personality. The spiritual nature of man is also threefold and is the true
individuality which, during incarnation, becomes associated with, or focused
in, the personality. English has no precise term for the three aspects of
Spirit, hence the use in theosophical literature of the Sanskrit terms atma,
buddhi, and manas, which are explained in the paragraphs that follow. The
distinction between personality, the ordinary man, and individuality, the
spiritual man, should be particularly noted. 

__________

>From The Ocean of Theosophy by William Q. Judge, page 32 (Theosophy Company
Edition)

"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 in 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 intellections, 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: [Estela- not able to reproduce exactly but
on one side are the lower vehicles] The Passions and Desires, Life
Principle, Astral Body, Physical Body. [and on the other side is the trinity
of the Real Man] Atma, Buddhi, Manas. 


_________________________

"As above, so below" Geoffrey states that "Man is a microcosm reflecting in
miniature, the composition and processes of the macrocosm" What does this
really mean? Are we to deduce that the universe has a stomach, kidneys,
blood circulating, a heart? What function does a black hole have? Does it
not eat galaxies and then spews out the seeds for future galaxies? Is not
our Sun the heart of our solar system, and can we say that the light is
pours out is the very life blood of our earth? 

The distinction between personality and individuality? How do we go from
personality to individuality? 

"Spirit, Discernment and Mind" - Discernment? "Buddhi is the highest power
of intellections, that which discerns and judges" - Are we to infer that
there is an absolute right versus wrong, which we are required to learn in
order to evolve spiritually? 

We will continue next week with the rest of the chapter. 

Best regards, 
Estela Carson