Theos-Talk Archives (May 2005 Message tt00712)

May 27 2005

Dear Jerry and friends:

It occurs to me that if "exoteric" THEOSOPHY is not backed up by an
individual's attempt to live and practise "esoteric" THEOSOPHY it pretty
much fails.

How can we split the two without, in some way, being hypocritical? 

I don't think that the "Higher Mind" is ever, at any one time, unaware of
the thinking and choices of the "Lower Mind" is it ? Certainly, to my way
of seeing, the PERCEIVER within is always on the alert. 

Here is an interesting passage from "Echoes" I was just reading:


P 14 The records [History] . kept by the Adepts.relate.to the birth of
planets in this solar system.also to the evolution and development of man,
through the various kingdoms of nature, until he reaches the most perfect
condition 

The evolution of the human being includes.the genesis of his mortal frame,
[and] .the history of the inner man.the real one. 
 
.the Wisdom Religion,.throws light.on man's emotions and mental faculties,
also on his pre-natal and post-mortem states

P. 14	.having.postulated immortality for the soul - the real man -that
immortality could never have had a beginning, or else it would have an end. 

The Wisdom Religion.declares that MAN IS A SPIRITUAL BEING, and allows of no
break in the chain of anything once declared immortal. The Ego of each man
is immortal; "always was existent, always will be, and never can be
non-existent" .and reappearing.it only appears to be mortal; it always
remains the substratum and support for the personality 

.the pre-natal and post-mortem states - are of vital interest, because
knowledge or ignorance concerning them alters man's thought and action while
an actor on the stage, and it is necessary for him to know in order that he
may so live as to aid in the grand upward sweep of the evolutionary wave. 


Adept Science
 
.the Adepts have for ages pursued scientific experimentation and
investigation upon those lines. Seers themselves of the highest order, they
have recorded not only their own actual experiences beyond the veil of
matter.but have collected, compared, analyzed and preserved the records of
experiences of the same sort by hundreds of thousands of lesser seers, their
own disciples; and this process has been going on from time immemorial. 

P. 15	. nothing has been accepted except that which as been checked and
verified by millions of independent observations; and therefore the
Adepts.possess actual experimental knowledge of what precedes the birth of
the Ego.and what succeeds when the "mortal coil" is cast away.  
[ see S D I 272-3]

.the Adepts are the only true scientists, they take into account every
factor.whereas Science is limited by.a total inability to perceive anything
deeper than the phenomena [of] matter. This recording of experiences still
goes on.

Matter Phenomena change

As the earth sweeps around the sun, it. [is]dragged.by the sun [to] enter
upon new fields in space and unprecedented conditions. Hence the Adepts
state that.matter will in another million of years show different phenomena
still. 

P. 16	Nothing in the material world endures absolutely unchanged in itself
or its conditions, even for the smallest conceivable portion of time. All
that is, is forever in process of becoming something else. This is.an old
established doctrine called, in the East, "the doctrine of the constant,
eternal change of atoms from one state into another." 
  
The ancient doctrine of the constant, eternal change of every atom from
state to state. grows out of, another which postulates that there is no such
thing as dead matter. 

At every conceivable point in the universe there are lives...and each life
is forever hastening onward to higher evolution. [ see S D I 289]

.matter is never perceived by the eye or through any instrument. It is but
the phenomena of matter that we recognize with the senses, and hence, say
the Sages."matter".is an illusion. 

This first original matter is called by Paracelsus and others primordial
matter, the nearest approach to which is in.the word mulaprakriti.the root
of matter, invisible, not to be weighed, or measured, or tested with any
instrument.yet it is the only real matter underlying all the phenomena to
which we erroneously give its name. But even it is not dead, but full of the
lives [ see S D I 148 ]

.consider the.solar system.[and] the great sidereal year covered by the sun
in going through the twelve signs of the zodiac [which is] over 25,000
mortal years.this immense circuit being traversed, [as] the sun drags the
whole solar system with him around his own tremendous orbit.we may. [say
that] after millions of years.the sun must bring his train of planets to
stellar space where they have never been before; here [will be] other
conditions and combinations of matter.of which our scientists have never
[yet].recorded one single phenomenon; and the difference.will be so great
that no resemblance shall be observed. 
 
P. 17	This is a branch of cyclic law with which the Eastern sages are
perfectly familiar. They have inquired into it, recorded their observations,
and preserved them. Having watched the uncountable lives during cycles upon
cycles past, and seen their behavior under different conditions in other
stellar spaces long ago left behind, they have some basis upon which to draw
conclusions as to what will be the state of things in ages yet to come.
 
Life Energy

This brings us to an interesting theory.respecting life itself as exhibited
by man, his death and sleep. It relates.to what is.called "fatigue."
.Theosophy, [says] instead of having suffered a loss of vitality, the body,
at the conclusion of the day, has more life in it than when it waked.

During the waking state the life-waves rush into the body with greater
intensity every hour, and, we being unable to resist them any longer.they
overpower us and we fall asleep. While sleeping, the life waves adjust
themselves to the molecules of the body; and when the equilibrium is
complete we again wake to continue the contest with life. If this periodical
adjustment did not occur, the life current would destroy us. 

.death of the body is due to the inequality of the contest with the life
force; it at last overcomes us, and we are compelled to sink into the grave.


Disease.reduces the power of the body to adjust and resist. [the life force]


p. 18	As it is beginning to be thought that electricity is all-pervading,
so.it will be agreed that life is universal.it is plain.that there seems to
be.intelligence in the operations of this life energy. [ see S D I 143-4]
 
The great Immanuel Kant said; "I confess I am much disposed to assert the
existence of immaterial natures in the world, and to place my own soul in
the class of these beings. It will hereafter.yet be proved that the human
soul stands, even in this life, in indissoluble connection with all
immaterial natures in the Spirit world, that it reciprocally acts upon
these, and receives impressions from them." 
 

Hierarchies of "Governors"

That there are hierarchies ruling in the universe is not a new idea.The four
archangels who guard the four cardinal points represent the groups of rulers
in the ancient system..named Dhyan Chohans.[who] aid her, and are constantly
occupied in directing the all-pervading life in its evolutionary movement.
[20] "An army of the Sons of Light stands at each angle, the Lipika in the
middle wheel." [ S D I pp. 31-2, 119 ]

.the Theosophical philosophy does not postulate a personal God, whether
extra- or intra-cosmic	[ see S D I 2fn, 6fn, 139, 332, 635-6 ]

.the "middle wheel" is the center of space; and that center is everywhere,
because as space is illimitable, the center of it must be wherever the
cognizing consciousness is. 

.the Disciple's Catechism, 	 

"What is it that ever is? Space, the Anupadaka. What is it that ever
was? The germ in the Root. What is it that is ever coming and going? The
Great Breath. Then there are three eternals? No, the three are one. That
which ever is, is one; that which ever was is one; that which is ever being
and becoming is also one; and this is space." [S D I p 11]

P. 20	In this parentless and eternal space is the wheel in the center
where the Lipika are [and].at the four angles are the Dhyan Chohans, and
doing their will among men on this earth are the Adepts - the Mahatmas. 

P. 20	The harmony of the spheres is the voice of the Law, and that voice
is obeyed alike by the Dhyan Chohan and the Mahatma - on their part with
willingness, because they are the law; on the part of men and creatures
because they are bound by the adamantine chains of the law which they do not
understand. 
 
.of the Dhyan Chohans and the Adepts we.are often given, tangible proof of
their existence. For the Adepts are living men, using bodies similar to
ours; they are scattered all over the earth in all nations; they know each
other. They have times when they meet together and are presided over by some
among their number who are more advanced in knowledge and power 

Adepts.have their communications, at which that One who presides is the
highest; from these latter begins the communication with the Dhyan Chohans.
All in their several degrees do that work which pertains to their degree,
and although only to the Highest can be ascribed any governance or guidance
of nature and mankind, yet the very least occupies an important place in the
whole scheme.

.implacability in the operations of nature.storms [and earthquakes] will
rage and overwhelm good and bad together.and wherever a natural law has to
act it will do so regardless of human pain or despair. [these are signs that
an impartial] intelligence. pervades nature

.the Dhyan Chohans can only follow the immutable laws eternally traced in
the Universal Mind, and this they do intelligently, because they are in fact
men become gods. 

.these eternal laws are far-reaching, and as Nature herself is blind, the
hierarchies.have to guide the evolutionary progress of matter. 

.take one period of manifestation.[which[ began millions of millions of
years ago, succeeding a vast period of .hibernation.called Chaos.Preceding
that period of sleep, there were eternally, other periods of activity or
manifestation. [during which] the same evolutionary progress went on.from
and out of which came great beings -- Men Perfected.who had aided in
countless evolutions in the eternal past.the Dhyan Chohans.[who] took part
in all succeeding evolutions. Such is the great goal for a human soul to
strive after. 

.these great evolutionary periods and the beings spoken of, [are not
confined] to our.earth.There are other systems, other spaces, where energy,
knowledge and power are exercised. 

In the.Milky Way there are spots vast in size and incomprehensibly distant,
where there is room for many such systems as ours; and even [now].there is
some spot.where the vast night of death is spreading.over a once fair
system. 

.these beings [Dhyan Chohans], under the sway of the law as they are,
seem.to be sometimes implacable.But if such a fate is the natural result of
actions performed or a necessary step in the cyclic sweep, it cannot be
averted. 

P. 22-3 [A Master wrote:]
"We never pretended to be able to draw nations in the mass to this
or that crisis in spite of the general drift of the world's cosmic
relations. The cycles must run their rounds. Periods of mental and moral
light and darkness succeed each other as day does night. The major and minor
yugas must be accomplished according to the established order of things. And
we, borne along on the mighty tide, can only modify and direct some of its
minor currents. If we had the powers of the imaginary personal God, and the
immutable laws were but toys to play with, then, indeed, might we have
created conditions that would have turned this earth into an Arcadia for
lofty souls." 

.the law cannot be infringed. [If] Karma demands that.such a thing should
happen to the individual.the greatest God or the smallest Adept cannot lift
a finger to prevent it. 

.ancient Egypt.had her period of growth, when mighty Adepts sat upon the
throne and guided the people.and then [they, the people].grew material; the
Adepts retired; pretended Adepts took their place, and gradually her glory
waned until at last the light of Egypt became darkness. 

.[that] a grand development of civilization is beginning here again is one
of the operations of the just and perfect law of Karma .The development of
the American nation has a mysterious but potent connection with the
wonderful past of the Atlanteans.
 
Adepts.hold that there is an indissoluble connection between man and every
event that takes place on this globe, in.the changes in politics and social
life, [and in].the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. The changes.[are]
all due to man. 

This doctrine is incomprehensible.hidden from observation, opposed to
tradition, and contradicted by education.the Adept, standing on the
immeasurable height where centuries lie under his glance, sees the great
cycles and the lesser ones rolling onward, influenced by man and working out
their changes for his punishment, reward, experience and development. 

.the thoughts and deeds of men effect any changes in material things 

.the cycles.are bringing.to the surface now, in.America generally, a great
glory of civilization which was forgotten eleven thousand or more years
ago.also, the .monads -- the egos.who were concerned .

In fact, we [are].the same individuals who inhabited bodies among
the.Atlanteans.The Europeans are also Atlantean monads; but the flower, so
to speak, of this revival or resurrection, is.to be on the American
continent. I will not say the United States

. this theory [requires] .that one should believe in the twin Theosophical
doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation. 


ATLANTIS AND AMERICA

.when we were in Atlantean bodies, we did.high deeds of evil.We degraded
spiritual things and turned mighty powers over nature to base uses.This has
now its compensation in our present inability to attain what we want.It is a
preparatory cycle with much of necessary destruction in it.for, before
construction, we must have some disintegration. [ S D II 221-3, 445-6,
448, 483 ]

We are preparing here in America a new race which will exhibit the
perfection of the glories that I said were being slowly brought to the
surface from the long forgotten past.It is the seething and bubbling of the
older races in the refining-pot, and the slow coming up of the material for
the new race.This process will go on until in.many generations there will be
produced on the American continents an entirely new race; new bodies; new
orders of intellect; new powers of the mind; curious and unheard-of psychic
powers, as well as extraordinary physical ones; with new senses and
extensions of present senses now unforeseen. When this new sort of body and
mind are generated -- then other monads, or our own again, will animate them
and paint upon the screen of time the pictures of 100,000 years ago. 

The word "race" .in the Theosophical scheme, as given out by the sages of
the East, seven great races are spoken of. Each.includes all the different
so-called races of our modern ethnology.The root-race sends off sub-races,
and these divide into family groups; all, however, being included in the
great root-race then undergoing development. 

.these great root-races [are] always just when the world's development
permits. .the first root-race was.ethereal.The cosmic environment became
more dense and the second race appeared.Then the third came on the scene.At
the.fourth root-race. the present human form was evolved, although gigantic
and in some respects different from our own.from this point.the Theosophical
system begins to speak of [physical] man as such. [S D I 150fn]

"Thus two by two on the seven zones the third race gave birth to the
fourth"; The first race on every zone was moon-colored; the second, yellow,
like gold; the third, red; the fourth, brown, which became black with sin." 
[S D II 227]

The evolution of these seven great races covers many millions of years.when
the new race is fully evolved the preceding race disappears, as the monads
in it have been gradually reincarnated in the bodies of the new race. The
present root-race to which we belong.is the fifth.a separate, distinct and
completely-defined race about one million years ago, [ S D II 395-7,
620-1]. This fifth race includes also all the nations in Europe.

.the process of forming the foundation.is so gradual as to seem almost
without progress. But this change and evolution go on nevertheless, and a
very careful observer can see evidences of it. 

.[in] the inventive faculty displayed by Americans.the occultist sees.
evidence that the brains of these inventors are more open to influences and
pictures from the astral world .children.[are] born with most abnormal
faculties of speech, or memory. There is more nervousness here .[showing]
the fundamental reason .that it is human evolution going on [here].in
accordance with cyclic laws. 

[It is] the gradual process of building the temple for the use of the
divine Ego, proceeding ceaselessly, and in silence, through ages upon ages,
winding in and out among all the forms in nature in every kingdom, from the
mineral up to the highest. 

In the early days of the Theosophical Society the name Mahatma was not in
use here, but the title then was "Brothers.".Indiscriminately with Mahatma,
the word Adept has been used.The word Adept signifies proficiency.I used
"Theosophical Adepts" in a previous paper. 

A Mahatma is not only an Adept, but much more.Great Soul.a perfected being,
one who has attained to the state.when time and space are no obstacles to
sight, to action, to knowledge or to consciousness. Hence they are said to
be able to perform extraordinary feats.and also to possess information of a
decidedly practical character concerning the laws of nature, including.the
meaning, operation and constitution of life itself -- and concerning the
genesis of this planet as well as of the races upon it. 

Adepts and Mahatmas are not a miraculous growth, nor the selfish successors
of some who, accidentally stumbling upon great truths, transmitted them to
adherents under patent rights. They are human beings trained, developed,
cultivated through a.long series of lives. under evolutionary laws.The
Mahatma-Adept is a natural growth, and not produced by any miracle; the
process by which he so becomes may be to us an unfamiliar one, but it is in
the strict order of nature. 

.a well-known Anglo-Indian, [Sinnett] writing to the Theosophical Adepts,
queried if they had ever made any mark upon the web of history.The reply was
that he had no bar at which to arraign them, and that they had written many
an important line upon the page of human life, not only as reigning in
visible shape, but down to the very latest dates when.they did their work
behind the scenes.these wonderful men have swayed the destiny of nations and
are shaping events today. Pillars of peace and makers of war such as
Bismarck, or saviors of nations such as Washington, Lincoln and Grant, owe
their elevation, their singular power, and their astonishing grasp.to these
very unseen Adepts, who crave no honors, seek no publicity and claim no
acknowledgment. Each one of these great human leaders whom I have mentioned
had in his obscure years what he called premonitions of future greatness.

A long array of instances.show that the Adepts have made "an ineffaceable
mark upon diverse eras." Even during the great uprising in India that
threatened the English rule there, they saw long in advance the influence
England and India would have in the affairs of the world through the very
psychic and metaphysical changes of today, and often hastened to
communicate, by their own occult and wonderful methods, the news of
successes for English arms.At other times, vague fears were spread instantly
over large masses of the Hindus, so that England at last remained master,
even though many a patriotic native desired another result. But the Adepts
do not work for the praise of men, for the ephemeral influence of a day, but
for the future races and man's best and highest good. 

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

Much to reflect on here,

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

-----Original Message-----
From: Gerald 
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 11:07 PM
To: 
Subject: Liberations and the Jivamukti

<<<I am seeking to share with you from the multiple perspective of one
immortal 
essence to another. Let us discuss together what freedom really means to 
each of us.
agape,
bill >>

Thanks Bill. 

Freedom, as I see it is a very important topic. Exoteric Theosophy would
define karma as causality where each and every act is the effect of some
past act(s) and in turn causes a new act(s). In fact Blavatsky mentions
that inaction also produces its own karm. I find such a terrible view to
be one meant to frieghten children, one meant as a goad to keep folks in
line, to keep students busy studying. This view does not allow for
Liberation, and as you certainly know, Joe Theosophist is totally ignorant
of any Path to Liberation. Blavasky mentions liberation several times but
reserves it for the jivmukti who she sees as a very high Adept, and
furthermore she never mentions a Path at all.

CUT