Theos-Talk Archives (July 2005 Message tt00223)

July 30 2005

Re: Part 1 RE: :THOUGHT, MIND and NEW MATTER DISCOVERED

Dear Friends:



Mark Hamilton Jr. wrote:

Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 6:41 AM
To: 
Subject: Re: NEW MATTER DISCOVERED

They have a different theory for people who rejected the Big Bang, like
myself. 

This is my favorite so far. 

Scientists discovered a black hole towards the originating point of the
universe. They believe it is constantly sucking in and spitting out matter
that eventually forms into galaxies when it becomes too dense. Blavatsky
knew that everything was cyclical, and seems to suggest the same theory. I
don't have my copy of SD nearby right now or else I'd quote from her.
-Mark H.

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Considering this, it might be a good idea to read though the very cogent and
interesting aphorisms that old Patanjali offered, some of which are
reprinted below:

What emerges (to me) is a process whereby such questions are answered by a
refined and acute mind. 

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THOUGHT WITH OR WITHOUT A "SEED"

[ From Intro. to PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS ]

"On the other hand, the Raja Yogis try to control the mind itself by
following the rules laid down by the greatest of adepts." 

Patanjali's rules compel the student not only to acquire a right knowledge
of what is and what is not real, but also to practice all virtues, and while
results in the way of psychic development are not so immediately seen as in
the case of the successful practitioner of Hatha Yoga, it is infinitely
safer and is certainly spiritual, which Hatha Yoga is not. In Patanjali's
Aphorisms there is some slight allusion to the practices of Hatha Yoga, such
as "postures," each of which is more difficult than those preceding, and
"retention of the breath," but he distinctly says that mortification and
other practices are either for the purpose of extenuating certain mental
afflictions or for the more easy attainment of concentration of mind. 

In Hatha Yoga practice, on the contrary, the result is psychic development
at the delay or expense of the spiritual nature. These last named practices
and results may allure the Western student, but from our knowledge of
inherent racial difficulties there is not much fear that many will persist
in them. 

This book is meant for sincere students, and especially for those who have
some glimmering of what Krishna meant, when in Bhagavad-Gita he said, that
after a while spiritual knowledge grows up within and illuminates with its
rays all subjects and objects. 

Students of the mere forms of Sanskrit who look for new renderings or
laborious attempts at altering the meaning of words and sentences will find
nothing between these covers. 

It should be ever borne in mind that Patanjali had no need to assert or
enforce the doctrine of reincarnation. That is assumed all through the
Aphorisms. That it could be doubted, or need any restatement, never occurred
to him, and by us it is alluded to, not because we have the smallest doubt
of its truth, but only because we see about us those who never heard of such
a doctrine, who, educated under the frightful dogmas of Christian
priestcraft, imagine that upon quitting this life they will enjoy heaven or
be damned eternally, and who not once pause to ask where was their soul
before it came into the present body. 

Without Reincarnation Patanjali's Aphorisms are worthless. 

Take No. 18, Book III, which declares that the ascetic can know what were
his previous incarnations with all their circumstances; or No. 13, Book II,
that while there is a root of works there is fructification in rank and
years and experience. Both of these infer reincarnation. In Aphorism 8, Book
IV, reincarnation is a necessity. 

The manifestation, in any incarnation, of the effects of mental deposits
made in previous lives, is declared to ensue upon the obtaining of just the
kind of bodily and mental frame, constitution and environment as will bring
them out. Where were these deposits received if not in preceding lives on
earth- or even if on other planets, it is still reincarnation. And so on all
through the Aphorisms this law is tacitly admitted.

In order to understand the system expounded in this book it is also
necessary to admit the existence of soul, and the comparative unimportance
of the body in which it dwells. 

For Patanjali holds that Nature exists for the soul's sake, [p. 24] taking
it for granted that the student believes in the existence of soul. Hence he
does not go into proof of that which in his day was admitted on every hand. 


MIND and SOUL

And, as he lays down that the real experiencer and knower is the soul and
not the mind, it follows that the Mind, designated either as "internal
organ," or "thinking principle," while higher and more subtle than the body,
is yet only an instrument used by the SOUL in gaining experience, just in
the same way as an astronomer uses his telescope for acquiring information
respecting the heavens. 

But the Mind is a most important factor in the pursuit of concentration; one
indeed without which concentration cannot be obtained, and therefore we see
in the first book that to this subject Patanjali devotes attention. He shows
that the mind is, as he terms it, "modified" by any object or subject
brought before it, or to which it is directed. This may be well illustrated
by quoting a passage from the commentator, who says: "The internal organ is
there"- in the Vedanta Paribhasha - "compared to water in respect of its
readiness to adapt itself to the form of whatever mold it may enter. 'As the
waters of a reservoir, having issued from an aperture, having entered by a
channel the basins, become four-cornered or otherwise shaped, just like
them; so the manifesting internal organ having gone through the sight, or
other channel, to where there is one object, for instance a jar, becomes
modified by the form of the jar or other object. 

It is this altered state of the internal organ- or mind- that is called its
modification.'" While the internal organ thus molds itself upon the object
it at the same time reflects it and its properties to the soul. The channels
by which the mind is held to go out to an object or subject, are the organs
of sight, touch, taste, hearing, and so on. Hence by means of hearing it
shapes itself into the form of the idea which may be given in speech, or by
means of the eye in reading, it is molded into the form of that which is
read; again, sensations such as heat and cold modify it directly and
indirectly by association and by recollection, and similarly in the ease of
all senses and sensations. 

It is further held that this internal organ, while having an innate
disposition to assume some modification or other depending upon constantly
recurring objects- whether directly present or only such as arise from the
power of reproducing thoughts, whether by association or otherwise, may be
controlled and stilled into a state of absolute calmness. This is what he
means by "hindering the modifications." And just here it is seen that the
theory of the soul's being the real experiencer and knower is necessary. For
if we are but mind, or slaves of mind, we never can attain real knowledge
because the incessant panorama of objects eternally modifies that mind which
is uncontrolled by the soul, always preventing real knowledge from being
acquired. But as the Soul is held to be superior to Mind, it has the power
to grasp and hold the latter if we but use the Will to aid it in the work,
and then only the real end and purpose of mind is brought about. 

These propositions imply that the will is not wholly dependent on the mind,
but is separable from it; and, further, that knowledge exists as an
abstraction. 

The will and mind are only servants for the soul's use, but so long as we
are wrapped up in material life and do not admit that the real knower and
only experiencer is the soul, just so long do these servants remain usurpers
of the soul's sovereignty. Hence it is stated in old Hindu works, that "the
Soul is the friend of Self and also its enemy; and, that a man should raise
the self by the self." [BHAGAVAD GITA, VI, p. 45 ]

In other words there is a constant struggle between the lower and the Higher
Self, in which the illusions of matter always wage war against the Soul,
tending ever to draw downward the inner principles which, lying midway
between the upper and the lower, are capable of reaching either salvation or
damnation.


WILL

There is no reference in the Aphorisms to the will. It seems to be inferred,
either as well understood and admitted, or as being one of the powers of
soul itself and not to be discussed. 

Many old Hindu writers hold, and we incline to the same view, that Will is a
spiritual power, function or attribute constantly present in every portion
of the Universe. It is a colorless power, to which no quality of goodness or
badness is to be assigned, but which may be used in whatever way man
pleases. When considered as that which in ordinary life is called "will," we
see its operation only in connection with the material body and mind guided
by desire; looked at in respect to the hold by man upon life it is more
recondite, because its operation is beyond the ken of the mind; analyzed as
connected with reincarnation of man or with the persistence of the
manifested universe throughout a Manvantara, it is found to be still more
removed from our comprehension and vast in its scope. 

In ordinary life it is not man's servant, but, being then guided solely by
desire, it makes man a slave to his desires. Hence the old cabalistic maxim,
"Behind Will stands Desire." The desires always drawing the man hither and
thither, cause him to commit such actions and have such thoughts as form the
cause and mold for numerous reincarnations, enslaving him to a destiny
against which he rebels, and that constantly destroys and 
recreates his mortal body. It is an error to say of those who are known as
strong-willed men, that their wills are wholly their servants, for they are
so bound in desire that it, being strong, moves the will into action for the
consummation of wished for ends. 

Every day we see good and evil men prevailing in their several spheres. To
say that in one there is good, and in the other evil will is manifestly
erroneous and due to mistaking will, the instrument or force, for desire
that sets it in motion toward a good or bad purpose. 

But Patanjali and his school well knew that the secret of directing the will
with ten times the ordinary force might be discovered if they outlined the
method, and then bad men whose desires were strong and conscience wanting,
would use it with impunity against their fellows; or that even sincere
students might be carried away from spirituality when dazzled by the
wonderful results flowing from a training of the will alone. Patanjali is
silent upon the subject for this reason among others. 

The system postulates that Ishwara, the spirit in man, is untouched by any
troubles, works, fruit of works, or desires, and when a firm position is
assumed with the end in view of reaching union with spirit through
concentration, He comes to the aid of the lower self and raises it gradually
to higher planes. In this process the Will by degrees is given a stronger
and stronger tendency to act upon a different line from that indicated by
passion and desire. Thus it is freed from the domination of desire and at
last subdues the mind itself. 

But before the perfection of the practice is arrived at the will still acts
according to desire, only that the desire is for higher things and away from
those of the material life. Book III is for the purpose of defining the
nature of the perfected state, which is therein denominated Isolation. 


ISOLATION OF THE SOUL 

in this philosophy does not mean that a man is isolated from his fellows,
becoming cold and dead, but only that the Soul is isolated or freed from the
bondage of matter and desire, being thereby able to act for the
accomplishing of the aim of Nature and Soul, including all souls of all men.



GOAL and PURPOSE

Such, in the Aphorisms, is clearly stated to be the purpose. 


MAHATMA - JIVANMUKTA


It has become the habit of many superficial readers and thinkers, to say
nothing of those who oppose the Hindu philosophy, to assert that Jivanmuktas
or Adepts remove themselves from all life of men, from all activity, and any
participation in human affairs, isolating themselves on inaccessible
mountains where no human cry can reach their ears. Such a charge is directly
contrary to the tenets of the philosophy which prescribes the method and
means for reaching such a state. 

These Beings are certainly removed from human observation, but, as the
philosophy clearly states, they have the whole of nature for their object,
and this will include all living men. They may not appear to take any
interest in transitory improvements or ameliorations, but they work behind
the scenes of true enlightenment until such times as men shall be able to
endure their appearance in mortal guise. 

The term "knowledge" as used here has a greater meaning than we are
accustomed to giving it. It implies full identification of the mind, for any
length of time, with whatever object or subject it is directed to. 

Modern science and metaphysics do not admit that the mind can cognize
outside of certain given methods and distances, and in most quarters the
existence of soul is denied or ignored. 

It is held, for instance, that one cannot know the constituents and
properties of a piece of stone without mechanical or chemical aids applied
directly to the object; and that nothing can be known of the thoughts or
feelings of another person unless they are expressed in words or acts. 

Where metaphysicians deal with soul they are vague and appear to be afraid
of science, because it is not possible to analyse it and weigh its parts in
a balance. Soul and Mind are reduced to the condition of limited instruments
which take note of certain physical facts spread before them through
mechanical aids. Or, in ethnological investigation, it is held that we can
know such and such things about classes of men from observations made
through sight, touch, sense of smell and hearing, in which case mind and
soul are still mere recorders. But this system declares that the practicer
who has reached certain stages, can direct his mind to a piece of stone,
whether at a distance or near by, or to a man or class of men, and by means
of concentration, cognize all the inherent qualities of the objects as well
as accidental peculiarities, and know all about the subject. Thus, in the
instance of, say, one of the Easter Islanders, the ascetic will cognize not
only that which is visible to the senses or to be known from long
observation, or that has been recorded, but also deeply seated qualities,
and the exact line of descent and evolution of the particular human specimen
under examination. 

Modern science can know nothing of the Easter Islanders and only makes wild
guesses as to what they are; nor can it with any certainty tell what is and
from what came a nation so long before the eye of science as the Irish. In
the ease of the Yoga practitioner he becomes, through the power of
concentration, completely identified with the thing considered, and so in
fact experiences in himself all the phenomena exhibited by the object as
well as all its qualities. 


ASTRAL LIGHT -- AKASA

To make it possible to admit all this, it is first required that the
existence, use and function of an ethereal medium penetrating everywhere,
called Astral Light or Akasa by the Hindus, should be admitted. The
Universal distribution of this as a fact in nature is metaphysically
expressed in the terms "Universal Brotherhood" and "Spiritual Identity." In
it, through its aid, and by its use, the qualities and motions of all
objects are universally cognizable. It is the surface, so to say, upon which
all human actions and all things, thoughts and circumstances are fixed. The
Easter Islander comes of a stock which has left its imprint in this Astral
Light, and carries with him in indelible writing the history of his race.
The ascetic in concentration fixes his attention upon this, and then reads
the record lost to Science. 


ASTRAL RECORDS OF EVERYTHING


Every thought of Herbert Spencer, Mill, Bain, or Huxley is fastened in the
Astral Light together with the respective systems of Philosophy formulated
by them, and all that the ascetic has to do is to obtain a single point of
departure connected with either of these thinkers, and then to read in the
Astral Light all that they have thought out. By Patanjali and his school,
such feats as these relate to matter and not to spirit, although to Western
ears they will sound either absurd, or if believed in, as relating to
spirit. 

In the things of the spirit and of the mind, the modern schools seem, to the
sincere student of this Philosophy, to be woefully ignorant. What spirit may
be is absolutely unknown, and indeed, it cannot yet be stated what it is
not. Equally so with mental phenomena. As to the latter there is nothing but
a medley of systems. 

No one knows what mind is. One says it is brain and another denies it;
another declares it to be a function, which a fourth refuses to admit. As to
memory, its place, nature and essential property, there is nothing offered
but empiric deductions. To explain the simple fact of a man remembering a
circumstance of his early youth, all that is said is, that it made an
impression on his mind or brain, with no reasonable statement of what is the
mind nor how or where the brain retains such vast quantities of impressions.


With such a chaos in modern psychological systems, the student of Patanjali
feels justified in adopting something which will, at least, explain and
embrace the greater number of facts, and it is to be found in the doctrines
again brought forward by the Theosophical Society, relating to man as a
Spirit; to a Spirit in nature: to the identity of all spiritual beings, and
to all phenomena presented for our consideration. 

New York, 1889. WILLIAM Q. JUDGE. 
 
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[ From BOOK 1 ]

2. Concentration, or Yoga, is the hindering of the modifications of the
thinking principle. 

In other words, the want of concentration of thought is due to the fact that
the mind-here called "the thinking principle"-is subject to constant
modifications by reason of its being diffused over a multiplicity of
subjects. So "concentration" is equivalent to the correction of a tendency
to, diffuseness, and to the obtaining of what the Hindus call
"one-pointedness," or the power to apply the mind, at any moment, to the
consideration of a single point of thought, to the exclusion of all else. 

Upon this Aphorism the method of the system hinges. The reason for the
absence of concentration at any time is, that the mind is modified by every
subject and object that comes before it; it is, as it were, transformed into
that subject or object. The mind, therefore, is not the supreme or highest
power; it is only a function, an instrument with which the soul works, feels
sublunary things, and experiences. The brain, however, must not be
confounded with the mind, for the brain is in its turn but an instrument for
the mind. It therefore follows that the mind has a plane of its own,
distinct from the soul and the brain, and what is to be learned is, to use
the will, which is also a distinct power from the mind and brain, in such a
way that instead of permitting the mind to turn from one subject or object
to another just as they may move it, we shall apply it as a servant at any
time and for as long a period as we wish, to the consideration of whatever
we have decided upon. 

3. At the time of concentration the soul abides in the state of a spectator
without a spectacle. 

This has reference to the perfection of concentration, and is that condition
in which, by the hindering of the modifications referred to in Aphorism 2,
the soul is brought to a state of being wholly devoid of taint of, or
impression by, any subject. The "soul" here referred to is not Atma, which
is spirit. 

4. At other times than that of concentration, the soul is in the same form
as the modification of the mind. 

This has reference to the condition of the soul in ordinary life, when
concentration is not practised, and means that, when the internal organ, the
mind, is through the senses affected or modified by the form of some object,
the soul also-viewing the object through its organ, the mind- is, as it
were, altered into that form; as a marble statue of snowy whiteness, if seen
under a crimson light will seem to the beholder crimson and so is, to the
visual organs, so long as that colored light shines upon it. 

5. The modifications of the mind are of five kinds, and they are either
painful or not painful; 

6. They are, Correct Cognition, Misconception, Fancy, Sleep, and Memory. 

7. Correct Cognition results from Perception, Inference, and Testimony. 

8. Misconception is Erroneous Notion arising from lack of Correct Cognition.


9. Fancy is a notion devoid of any real basis and following upon knowledge
conveyed by words. 
For instance, the terms "a hare's horns" and "the head of Rahu," neither of
which has anything in nature corresponding to the notion.

A person hearing the expression "the head of Rahu" naturally fancies that
there is a Rahu who owns the head, whereas Rahu-a mythical monster who is
said to cause eclipses by swallowing the sun-is all head and has no body;
and, although the expression "a hare's horns" is frequently used, it is well
known that there is no such thing in nature. Much in the same way people
continue to speak of the sun's "rising" and "setting," although they hold to
the opposite theory. 

10. Sleep is that modification of the mind which ensues upon the quitting of
all objects by the mind, by reason of all the waking senses and faculties
sinking into abeyance. 

11. Memory is the not letting go of an object that one has been aware of. 

12. The hindering of the modifications of the mind already referred to, is
to be effected by means of Exercise and Dispassion. 

13. Exercise is the uninterrupted, or repeated, effort that the mind shall
remain in its unmoved state. 

This is to say that in order to acquire concentration we must, again and
again, make efforts to obtain such control over the mind that we can, at any
time when it seems necessary, so reduce it to an unmoved condition or apply
it to any one point to the exclusion of all others. 

14. This exercise is a firm position observed out of regard for the end in
view, and perseveringly adhered to for a long time without intermission. 

The student must not conclude from this that he can never acquire
concentration unless he devotes every moment of his life to it, for the
words "without intermission" apply but to the length of time that has been
set apart for the practice. 

15. Dispassion is the having overcome one's desires. That is- the
attainment of a state of being in which the consciousness is unaffected by
passions, desires, and ambitions, which aid in causing modifications of the
mind. 

16. Dispassion, carried to the utmost, is indifference regarding all else
than soul, and this indifference arises from a knowledge of soul as
distinguished from all else. 

17. There is a meditation of the kind called "that in which there is
distinct cognition," and which is of a four-fold character because of
Argumentation, Deliberation, Beatitude, Egoism. 

The sort of meditation referred to is a pondering wherein the nature of that
which is to be pondered upon is well known, without doubt or error, and it
is a distinct cognition which excludes every other modification of the mind
than that which is to be pondered upon. 


1. The Argumentative division of this meditation is a pondering upon a
subject with argument as to its nature in comparison with something else;
as, for instance, the question whether mind is the product of matter or
precedes matter. 

2. The Deliberative division is a pondering in regard to whence have come,
and where is the field of action, of the subtler senses and the mind. 

3. The Beatific condition is that in which the higher powers of the mind,
together with truth in the abstract, are pondered upon. 

4. The Egoistic division is one in which the meditation has proceeded to
such a height that all lower subjects and objects are lost sight of, and
nothing remains but the cognition of the self, which then becomes a
stepping-stone to higher degrees of meditation. 

The result of reaching the fourth degree, called Egoism, is that a distinct
recognition of the object or subject with which the meditation began is
lost, and self-consciousness alone results; but this self-consciousness does
not include the consciousness of the Absolute or Supreme Soul. 

18. The meditation just described is preceded by the exercise of thought
without argumentation. Another sort of meditation is in the shape of the
self-reproduction of thought after the departure of all objects from the
field of the mind. 

19. The meditative state attained by those whose discrimination does not
extend to pure spirit, depends upon the phenomenal world. 

20. In the practice of those who are, or may be, able to discriminate as to
pure spirit, their meditation is preceded by Faith, Energy, Intentness (upon
a single point), and Discernment, or thorough discrimination of that which
is to be known. 

It is remarked here by the commentator, that "in him who has Faith there
arises Energy, or perseverance in meditation, and, thus persevering, the
memory of past subjects springs up, and his mind becomes absorbed in
Intentness, in consequence of the recollection of the subject, and he whose
mind is absorbed in meditation 
arrives at a thorough discernment of the matter pondered upon." 

21. The attainment of the state of abstract meditation is speedy, in the
case of the hotly impetuous. 

22. Because of the mild, the medium, and the transcendent nature of the
methods adopted, there is a distinction to be made among those who practise
Yoga. 

23. The state of abstract meditation may be attained by profound devotedness
toward the Supreme Spirit considered in its comprehensible manifestation as
Ishwara. 

It is said that this profound devotedness is a preeminent means of attaining
abstract meditation and its fruits. "Ishwara" is the Spirit in the body. 

24. Ishwara is a spirit, untouched by troubles, works, fruits of works, or
desires. 

25. In Ishwara becomes infinite that omniscience which in man exists but as
a germ. 

26. Ishwara is the preceptor of all, even of the earliest of created beings,
for He is not limited by time.
 
27. His name is OM. .

. . . . . .  

30. The obstacles in the way of him who desires to attain concentration are
Sickness, Languor, Doubt, Carelessness, Laziness, Addiction to objects of
sense, Erroneous Perception, Failure to attain any stage of abstraction, and
Instability in any stage when attained. 

31. These obstacles are accompanied by grief, distress, trembling, and
sighing. 

32. For the prevention of these, one truth should be dwelt upon. 

Any accepted truth which one approves is here meant. 

33. Through the practising of Benevolence, Tenderness, Complacency, and
Disregard for objects of happiness, grief, virtue, and vice, the mind
becomes purified. 

The chief occasions for distraction of the mind are Covetousness and
Aversion, and what the aphorism means is, not that virtue and vice should be
viewed with indifference by the student, but that he should not fix his mind
with pleasure upon happiness or virtue, nor with aversion upon grief or
vice, in others, but should regard all with an equal mind; and the practice
of Benevolence, Tenderness, and Complacency brings about cheerfulness of the
mind, which tends to strength and steadiness. 

34. Distractions may be combated by a regulated control or management of the
breath in inspiration, retention, and exhalation. 

35. A means of procurement of steadiness of the mind may be found in an
immediate sensuous cognition; 

36. Or, an immediate cognition of a spiritual subject being produced, this
may also serve to the same end; 

37. Or, the thought taking as its object some one devoid of passion -- as,
for instance, an ideally pure character -- may find what will serve as a
means; 

38. Or, by dwelling on knowledge that presents itself in a dream, steadiness
of mind may be procured; 

39. Or, it may be effected by pondering upon anything that one approves. 

40. The student whose mind is thus steadied obtains a mastery which extends
from the Atomic to the Infinite. 


Continued in Part 2

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