Theos-Talk Archives (August 2005 Message tt00017)

Dear Jerry:

Most interesting.

Let me offer some more definitions from Theosophical texts for
consideration:

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T H E A B S O L U T E 


U N I T Y 



CAUSE -- INFINITE AND ETERNAL

"...there is one absolute Reality which antecedes all manifested,
conditioned, being. This Infinite and Eternal Cause--dimly formulated in
the "Unconscious" and "Unknowable"...is the rootless root of "all that was,
is, or ever shall be." It is of course devoid of all attributes and is
essentially without any relation to manifested, finite Being. It is
"Be-ness" rather than Being (in Sanskrit, Sat), and is beyond all thought or
speculation...Thus, then, the first fundamental axiom of the Secret Doctrine
is this metaphysical ONE ABSOLUTE--BE-NESS--symbolized by finite
intelligence as the theological trinity." S D I, p. 14


PARABRAHM - ONE REALITY - ABSOLUTE CONSCIOUSNESS

"Parabrahm (the One Reality, the Absolute) is the field of Absolute
Consciousness, i.e., that Essence which is out of all relation to
conditioned existence, and of which conscious existence is a conditioned
symbol. But once that we pass in thought from this (to us) Absolute
Negation, duality supervenes in the contrast of Spirit (or consciousness)
and Matter, Subject and Object.

Spirit (or Consciousness) and Matter are, however, to be regarded, not as
independent realities, but as the two facets or aspects of the Absolute
(Parabrahm), which constitute the basis of conditioned Being whether
subjective or objective...precosmic root-substance (Mulaprakriti) is that
aspect of the Absolute which underlies all the objective planes of Nature.

Just as pre-Cosmic Ideation is the root of all individual consciousness, so
pre-Cosmic Substance is the substratum of matter in the various grades of
its differentiation.

Hence is will be apparent that the contrast of these two aspects of the
Absolute is essential to the existence of the "Manifested Universe."
Secret Doctrine I, p. 15


"Ever-Darkness means...the ever-unknowable mystery, behind the veil--in fact
Parabrahm. Even the Logos can see only Mulaprakriti, it cannot see that
which is beyond the veil. It is that which is the "Ever-unknowable
Darkness."..."Ever- Darkness" is eternal, the Ray periodical. Having
flashed out from this central point and thrilled through the Germ, the Ray
is withdrawn again within this point and the Germ develops into the Second
Logos, the triangle within the Mundane Egg."	Trans. 84



PARANISHPANNA - PARAMARTHASATYA - PARANIRVANA


" Paranishpanna, remember, is the summum bonum, the Absolute, hence the same
as Paranirvana. Besides being the final state it is that condition of
subjectivity which has no relation to anything but the one absolute truth
(Para-mârthasatya) on its plane. It is that state which leads one to
appreciate correctly the full meaning of Non-Being, which, as explained, is
absolute Being. Sooner or later, all that now seemingly exists, will be in
reality and actually in the state of Paranishpanna.  

But there is a great difference between conscious and unconscious “being.”
The condition of Paranishpanna, without Paramârtha, the Self-analysing
consciousness (Svasamvedana), is no bliss, but simply extinction (for Seven
Eternities). 

Thus, an iron ball placed under the scorching rays of the sun will get
heated through, but will not feel or appreciate the warmth, while a man
will. It is only “with a mind clear and undarkened by personality, and an
assimilation of the merit of manifold existences devoted to being in its
collectivity (the whole living and sentient Universe),” that one gets ridof
personal existence, merging into, becoming one with, the Absolute,* and
continuing in full possession of Paramârtha."	S D I, 53-54 



ETERNAL DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS


The Absolute is "the eternal divine Consciousness." Trans. 16
	

"...the Absolute, which is to us, at our present stage of mental
development, merely a logical speculation, though dating back to thousands
and thousands of years."	Trans. 21

 
"The Absolute cannot be said to have a consciousness...such as we have here.
It has neither consciousness, nor desire, nor wish, nor thought, because it
is absolute thought, absolute desire, absolute consciousness, absolute
"all."	Trans. 17


"How can the Absolute be said to feel ? The Absolute can have no condition
nor attribute."	Trans. 25


"The absoluteness of the all-containing One essence, has to manifest itself
equally in rest and activity." Trans 11



SAT


"Summary...	(1.)	The ABSOLUTE; the Parabrahm of the Vedantins or the
one Reality, SAT, which is...both Absolute Being and Non-Being...The ONE
REALITY; its dual aspects in the conditioned Universe."
S D I p. 16


"...although the root of every atom individually and of every form
collectively, is that 7th principle or the one Reality, still, in its
manifested phenomenal and temporary appearance, it is no better than an
evanescent illusion of our senses.

In its absoluteness, the One Principle under its two aspects (of Parabrahm
and Mulaprakriti) is sexless, unconditioned and eternal. Its periodical
(manvantaric) emanation--or primal radiation--is also One, androgynous and
phenomenally finite."	S D I p. 18



SPACE


"...the Arhat secret doctrine on cosmogony, admits but of one absolute,
indestructible, eternal, and uncreated UNCONSCIOUSNESS...of an
"element"...absolutely independent of everything else in the universe; a
something ever present or ubiquitous, a Presence which ever was, is, and
will be, whether there is a God, gods, or none; whether there is a universe
or no universe; existing during the eternal cycles of the Maha Yugs, during
the Pralayas as during the periods of Manvantara: and this is SPACE, the
field for the operation of the eternal Forces and natural Law, the
basis...upon which take place the eternal intercorrelations of
Akasa-Prakriti, guided by the unconscious regular pulsations of Sakti...the
eternal energy of an eternal unconscious Law, say the Buddhists. Space
then...the "Emptiness" is the nature of the Buddhist Absolute." HPB
III 335


"Space exists where there is nothing else, and must so exist whether the
Universe is one absolute vacuum or a full Plenum... Space is what the
ancients called the One invisible and unknown (now unknowable) Deity. "
Trans. 12



THAT - SVABHAVAT - BUDDHI


"[THAT]...is the Vedantic Mulaprakriti, and the Svabhavat of the Buddhists,
or that androgynous something ...which is both differentiated and
undifferentiated. In its first principle it is a pure abstraction, which
becomes differentiated only when it is transformed, in a process of time,
into Prakriti. If compared with the human principles, it corresponds to
Buddhi, while Atma would correspond to Parabrahm, Manas to Mahat, and so
on."	Trans. p. 4	[see S D II 596 ]



ABSOLUTE -- SPACE -- BE-NESS


"Be-ness"...Sat. It is not existence, for existence can only apply to
phenomena, never to noumena ...Existence ...implies something having a
beginning and an end. [ ex-istence cannot]...be applied to that which ever
was, and of which it cannot be predicated that it ever issued from something
else."	Trans 17


"Be-ness" is not being, for it is equally non-being. We cannot conceive of
it, for our intellects are finite and our language far more limited and
conditioned even than our minds. How...can we express that which we can
only conceive of by a series of negatives?"	Trans p. 17


["ever invisible robes"]...invisible to finite consciousness...Even for the
Logos, Mulaprakriti is a veil, the Robes in which the Absolute is enveloped.
Even the Logos cannot perceive the Absolute, say the Vedantins."
Trans. 5



TIME AND DURATION -- CAUSE


"Duration is; it has neither beginning nor end. How can you call that
which has neither beginning nor end, Time? Duration is beginningless and
endless; Time is finite...Time can be divided; for as to Duration, it is
impossible to divide it or set up landmarks therein. Duration with us is
the one eternity, not relative, but absolute."	Trans 11


"The causes of existence...refers to the last Manvantara, or age of Brahmâ,
but the cause which makes the Wheel of Time and Space run into Eternity,
which is out of Space and Time, has nothing to do with the finite causes or
what we call the Nidanas...

This one eternal causeless and therefore "causeless cause" is immutable and
has nothing to do with the causes on any of the planes which are concerned
with finite and conditioned being. The cause can therefore by no means be a
finite consciousness or desire.  

It is an absurdity to postulate desire or necessity of the Absolute; the
striking of a clock does not suggest the desire of the clock to strike...the
Absolute containing both clock and Winder, once it is the Absolute; the
only difference is that the former is would up in Space and Time and the
latter out of Space and Time, that is to say, in Eternity...Parabrahm is not
a cause, neither is there any cause that can compel it to emanate or create.
Strictly speaking, Parabrahm is not even the Absolute, but Absoluteness.
Parabrahm is not a cause, but causality, or the propelling but not
volitional power, in every manifesting Cause. We may have some hazy idea
that there is such a thing as this eternal Causeless Cause or Causality.
But to define it is impossible..."	Trans. 40-1



"...Maya is the Cause, and at the same time an aspect, of
differentiation...the Absolute can never be differentiated. Maya is a
manifestation; the Absolute can have no manifestation, but only a
reflection, a shadow which is radiated periodically from it--not by it."
Trans. 30


Radiation is, so to say, the unconscious and spontaneous shooting forth, the
action of a something from which this act takes place; but emanation is
something from which another thing issues in a constant efflux, and emanates
consciously. An orthodox Occultist goes so far as to say that the smell of a
flower emanates from it "consciously"—absurd as it may seem to the profane.
Radiation can come from the Absolute; Emanation cannot. One difference
exists in the idea that Radiation is sure, sooner or later, to be withdrawn
again while Emanation runs into other emanations and is thoroughly separated
and 
differentiated. Of course at the end of the cycle of time emanation will
also be withdrawn into the One Absolute; but meanwhile, during the entire
cycle of changes emanation will persist. One thing emanates from the other,
and, in fact, from one point of view, emanation is equivalent to Evolution;
while "radiation" represents to my mind—in the precosmic period, of
course—an instantaneous action like that of a piece of paper set on fire
under a burning glass, of which act the Sun knows nothing. Both terms, of
course, are used for want of better. “	TRANS . 93-4




LIGHT AND DARKNESS


"Darkness has...to be read in a metaphorical sense. It is Darkness most
unquestionably to our intellect, inasmuch as we can know nothing of
it...neither Darkness or Light are to be used in the sense of opposites, as
in the differentiated world.  

Darkness is the term which will give rise to least misconceptions...light is
the first potentiality awakening from its laya condition to become a
potency; it is the first flutter in undifferentiated matter which throws it
into objectivity and into a plane from which it will start manifestation."
Trans. 42


"Darkness,"...in this instance, is that of which no attributes can be
postulated; it is the Unknown Principle filling Cosmic Space...[darkness]
is used in the sense of the Unmanifested and the Unknown as the opposite
pole to manifestation, and that which falls under the possibility of
speculation...The "Darkness" here meant can be opposed to neither Light nor
Differentiation, as both are the legitimate effects of the Manvantaric
evolution--the cycle of Activity. It is the "Darkness upon the face of the
Deep," in Genesis: Deep being here "the bright son of the Dark
Father"--Space."	Trans. 35


"Ever-Darkness means...the ever-unknowable mystery, behind the veil--in fact
Parabrahm. Even the Logos can see only Mulaprakriti, it cannot see that
which is beyond the veil. It is that which is the "Ever-unknowable
Darkness."..."Ever- Darkness" is eternal, the Ray periodical. Having
flashed out from this central point and thrilled through the Germ, the Ray
is withdrawn again within this point and the Germ develops into the Second
Logos, the triangle within the Mundane Egg."	Trans. 84



GREAT BREATH -- PULSATION



"...in Pralaya too there is the "Great Breath"...for the "Great Breath" is
ceaseless, and is...the universal and eternal perpetuum mobile...compared to
the rhythmical motions of the Unconscious Ocean."	Trans. 9-10


“The First Stanza describes the state of the ONE ALL during Pralaya, before
the first flutter of re-awakening manifestation. 

A moment's thought shows that such a state can only be symbolised; to
describe it is impossible. Nor can it be symbolised except in negatives;
for, since it is the state of Absoluteness per se, it can possess none of
those specific attributes which serve us to describe objects in positive
terms. Hence that state can only be suggested by the negatives of all those
most abstract attributes which men feel rather than conceive, as the
remotest limits attainable by their power of conception... (S D I 21) …

8. ALONE THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS, INFINITE, CAUSELESS,
IN DREAMLESS SLEEP; AND LIFE PULSATED UNCONSCIOUS IN UNIVERSAL SPACE,
THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS SENSED BY THE OPENED EYE OF THE
DANGMA. 

9. BUT WHERE WAS THE DANGMA WHEN THE ALAYA OF THE UNIVERSE WAS IN PARAMARTHA
AND THE GREAT WHEEL WAS ANUPADAKA? “	(S D I 27)




ABSOLUTE DIVINE MIND -- CONSCIOUSNESS


"...during Pralayas...there is nothing to receive and reflect the ideation
of the Absolute Mind; therefore it is not. Everything outside the Absolute
and immutable Sat (Be-ness), is necessarily finite and conditioned, since it
has beginning and end...

A distinction had to be made between the Absolute Mind, which is ever
present, and its reflection and manifestation in the Ah-hi [Dhyan Chohans],
who being on the highest plane, reflect the universal mind collectively at
the first flutter of Manvantara.  


After which they begin the work of evolution of all the lower forces
throughout the seven planes, down to the lowest--our own. The Ah-hi are the
primordial seven rays, or Logoi, emanated from the first Logos, triple, yet
one in essence."	Trans. 19-20



"Universal or Absolute Mind always is during Pralaya as well as Manvantara;
it is immutable. The Ah-hi are the highest Dhyanis, the Logoi...During
Pralaya there are no Ah-hi, because they come into being only with the first
radiation of the Universal Mind, which, per se, cannot be differentiated,
and the radiation from which is the first dawn of Manvantara. The Absolute
is dormant, latent mind, and cannot be otherwise in true metaphysical
perception; it is only Its shadow which becomes differentiated in the
collectivity of these Dhyanis...It is absolute consciousness eternally,
which consciousness becomes relative consciousness periodically, at every
"Manvantaric dawn." Trans. 20



"The Divine Mind is, and must be, before differentiation takes place. It is
called the divine Ideation, which is eternal in its Potentiality and
periodical in its Potency, when it becomes Mahat, Anima Mundi or Universal
Soul."	Trans. p. 4


 
"...Mahat--the great Manvantaric Principle of Intelligence--acts as a Brain
through which the Universal and Eternal Mind radiates the Ah-hi,
representing the resultant Consciousness or ideation. As the shadow of this
primordial triangle falls lower and lower through the descending planes, it
becomes with every stage more material."	Trans. 28


"Apart from Cosmic Substance, Cosmic Ideation could not manifest as
individual consciousness, since it is only through a vehicle of matter that
consciousness wells up as "I am I," a physical basis being necessary to
focus a ray of the Universal Mind at a certain stage of complexity.  

Again, apart from Cosmic Ideation, Cosmic Substance would remain an empty
abstraction, and no emergence of consciousness could ensue. The "manifested
Universe," therefore is pervaded by duality, which is, as it were, the very
essence of its ex-istence as "manifestation."...subject and object, spirit
and matter, are but aspects of the One Unity in which they are synthesized
so, in the manifested Universe, there is "that" which links spirit to
matter, subject to object...Fohat...is thus the dynamic energy of Cosmic
Ideation...the intelligent medium, the guiding power of all manifestation,
the "Thought Divine" transmitted and made manifest through the Dhyan
Chohans, the Architects of the visible World. Thus from Spirit, or Cosmic
Ideation, comes our consciousness; from Cosmic Substance the several
vehicles in which that consciousness is individualized and attains to
self--or reflective--consciousness; while Fohat, in its various
manifestations, is the mysterious link between Mind and Matter, the
animating principle electrifying every atom to life." S D I 15-16



COSMIC MIND [ IN MANIFESTATION ]


"...cosmic mind appears at the third stage, or degree, and is confined or
limited to the manifested universe...Cosmic Mind is Mahat, or divine
ideation in active (creative) operation, and thus only the periodical
manifestation in time and in actu, of the Eternal Universal Mind--in
potentia.  

In strict truth, Universal Mind, being only another name for the Absolute,
out of time and space, this Cosmic Ideation, or Mind, is not an evolution at
all (least of all a :creation"), but simply one of the aspects of the former
[ABSOLUTE], which knows no change, which ever was, which is, and will
be...Universal Mind is not the same thing [as Cosmic Mind], as no
conditioned and relative act can be predicted of that which is Absolute.
Universal ideation was as soon as the Ah-hi appeared, and continues
throughout the Manvantara."  

[The Ah-hi] belong to the first, second, and third planes--the last plane
being really the starting point of the primordial manifestation--the
objective reflection of the unmanifested. Like the Pythagorean Monas, the
first Logos, having emanated the first triad, disappears into silence and
darkness."	Trans. 23


"The "Ah-hi" pass through all the planes, beginning to manifest on the
third. Like other Hierarchies, on the highest plane they are arupa, i.e.,
formless, bodiless, without any substance, mere breaths. On the second
plane, they first approach to Rupa, or form. On the third, they become
Manasa-putras, those who become incarnated in man. With every plane they
reach they are called by different names--there is a continual
differentiation of their original homogeneous substance; we call it a
substance, although in reality it is no substance of which we can conceive.
Later they become Rupa--ethereal forms."	Trans. 24


"It is most misleading to apply mechanical laws to the higher metaphysics of
cosmogony, or to space and time, as we know them, for neither existed then.
The reflection of the triad in space and time, or the objective universe,
comes later."	Trans. 23


"...Mahat--the great Manvantaric Principle of Intelligence--acts as a Brain
through which the Universal and Eternal Mind radiates the Ah-hi,
representing the resultant Consciousness or ideation. As the shadow of this
primordial triangle falls lower and lower through the descending planes, it
becomes with every stage more material."	Trans. 28



MAN -- HUMANITY -- FREE-WILL


"Every living creature, of whatever description, was, is, or will become a
human being in one or another Manvantara." Trans. 23


"Free will can only exist in a Man who has both mind and consciousness,
which act and make him perceive things both within and without himself."
Trans. 25


"...our Ego is a ray of the Universal Mind, individualized for the space of
a cosmic life-cycle, during which space of time it gets experience in almost
numberless reincarnations or rebirths, after which it returns to its
Parent-Source.  

The Occultist would call the "Higher Ego" the immortal Entity, whose shadow
and reflection is the human Manas, the mind limited by its physical senses.
The two may be well compared to the Master-artist and the
pupil-musician...In the course of natural evolution our "brain-mind" will be
replaced by a finer organism, and helped by the 6th [Buddhi] and the 7th
[Atma] senses..."	Theos. Articles & Notes, p. 208




MANIFESTATION -- RADIATION -- EMANATION


"Are not the prismatic rays fundamentally one single white ray? From the
one they become three; from the three, seven; from which seven primaries
they fall into infinitude. Referring back to the so-called "consciousness"
of the Ah-hi, that consciousness cannot be judged by the standard of human
perceptions. It is on quite another plane. [Example] ...often the reasoning
faculty of the higher mind may be asleep, and the instinctual mind be fully
awake."	Trans. 26-7


"...Maya is the Cause, and at the same time an aspect, of
differentiation...the Absolute can never be differentiated. Maya is a
manifestation; the Absolute can have no manifestation, but only a
reflection, a shadow which is radiated periodically from it--not by it."
Trans. 30


"In all cosmogonies the first differentiation was considered feminine. It
is mulaprakriti which conceals or veils Parabrahm; Sephira the light that
emanates first from Ain-Soph; and in Hesiod it is Gaea who springs from
chaos, preceding Eros...It is the goddess and goddesses who come first. The
first emanation becomes the immaculate Mother from whom proceeds all the
gods, or the anthropomorphized creative forces...From IT, strictly speaking,
nothing can proceed, neither a radiation nor an emanation...The IT
is...Parabrahm...the "unknowable"...The space of which we speak is the
female aspect of Brahmâ, the male. At the first flutter of differentiation,
the Subjective proceeds to emanate, or fall, like a shadow into the
Objective, and becomes what was called the Mother Goddess, from whom
proceeds the Logos, the Son and Father God at the same time, both
manifested, one the Potentiality, the other the Potency. But the former
must not be confounded with the manifested Logos, also called the "Son" in
all cosmogonies...Mulaprakriti means the Root of Nature or
Matter...Parabrahm cannot be called the "Root," for it is the absolute
Rootless Root of all."	Trans. 2-3



"Radiation" and "Emanation"...express two entirely different ideas, and are
at best apologies for the original terms that could be found; but it the
ordinary meanings are attached to them the idea will be missed. Radiation
is...the unconscious and spontaneous shooting forth, the action of a
something from which this act takes place; but emanation is something from
which another thing issues in a constant efflux, and emanates
consciously...Radiation can come from the Absolute; Emanation cannot. One
difference exists in the idea that Radiation is sure, sooner or later, to be
withdrawn again, while Emanation runs into other emanations and is
thoroughly separated and differentiated. Of course at the end of the cycle
of time emanation will also be withdrawn into the One Absolute, but
meanwhile, during the entire cycle of changes emanation will persist. One
thing emanates from the other, and, in fact, from one point of view,
emanation is equivalent to Evolution; while "radiation" represents...--in
the cosmic period...--an instantaneous action like that of a piece of paper
set on fire under a burning glass, of which act the Sun knows nothing."
Trans. 94-5
[ see SD I 64; II 572; HPB Art III 334-5; Glos 113 ]	


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

Best wishes,  

Dallas
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Gerald Schueler [mailto:gschueler@earthlink.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 11:44 AM
To: Theosophy Study List
Subject: Paranirvana and the Absolute

On pages 53-54 of the Secret Doctrine, Blavatskt makes some very
interesting comments in regards to the absolute (paramartha). She says, 

" Paranishpanna, remember, is the summum bonum, the Absolute, hence the
same as Paranirvana. ...It is only “with a mind clear and undarkened by
personality, and an
assimilation of the merit of manifold existences devoted to being in its
collectivity (the whole living and sentient Universe),” that one gets rid
of personal existence, merging into, becoming one with, the Absolute,* and
continuing in full possession of Paramârtha."

Here and throughout her writings she tranlstes paramartha as "absolute"
usually capitalizing it, giving Absolute, but sometimes using all caps as
in ABSOLUTE, to distinguish it from what we normally think of by that word.
Today most translators translate paramartha as "ultimate" as in "ultimate
reality" which together with conditional reality comprises all of existence
(bhava) as we know it. The Absolute in paranirvana is above or beyond our
normal consciousnesses including that of the alayavijnana.

She tells us that paranirvana, or the mental state of a buddha which is
"beyond nirvana." is the highest plane of subjectivity where we experience
"the one absolute truth (Para-mârthasatya)." Technically her Sanskrit here
should be paramartha-satya, but she is deliberately emphasizing the "para"
aspect, or that which lies beyond conditional reality as we generally
experience it. In this high state or plane, we experience "non-being" as if
it was "absolute being."    

She also distinguishes between two types of formless states; one in which
there is self-consciousness, and therefore bliss, and one in which there is
unconsciousness, which is experienced as a temporary extinction or
cessation. In both cases there is a loss of ego or personality. But in the
former case there is "the Self-analysing consciousness (Svasamvedana)." 
Note that she capitalizes Self to distinguish it from the way we normally
think of that word.

With the above in mind, this spiritual subjective state or experience of
paranirvana is what I have called the I's experience in the I-Not-I Monad.
At this point, the I or paramatman just begins to differentiate itself from
its Not-I, and lacks the detailed definitions that exist on the lower
planes. At this stage, the I and Not-I are very similar, and the I that
perceives its Not-I here is like looking into a mirror and seeing one's own
reflection. In order to experience this state in mediation, "one gets rid
of personal existence." Personal existence comes from the atma, the
principle of selfhood, and this is on a lower plane and so has been "gotten
rid of" or transcended in this state of paranirvana. In a sense, paramatman
is experienced when atma is transcendenced in exactly the same way that
nirvana is transcended in paranirvana.
  
Now, lets see how Tzongkhapa (or Tsongkhapa or Tzong-kha-pa) views this
same experience. First of all, he rejected both the alayavijnana, or
storehouse consciousness, and the svasamvedana, the self-cognizing
apperceptive faculty of consciousness. He considered neither is these to be
necessary and so refused to give them even a conditional reality. On the
other hand, he accepted conditional reality and karma. He also accepted
both the dependent arising and cessation of emperical things as conditioned
phenomena. He understood svabhava, or essential nature, today often
translated as intrinsic existence, and sunyata or emptiness, as two poles
of a duality. 

Tzongkhapa distingushed two kinds of analysis. There is a conventional
analysis and an ultimate analysis. Conventional analysis is when we
carefully distinguish between conditional reality and imputational
reality. Ultimate analysis is when we distinguish between conditional
reality and ultimate reality. To some extent, we all use conventioanl
analysis in our everyday lives. Ultimate analysis uses what is called the
four-cornered argument or tetralemma. In it, an entity or thing possessing
svabhava cannot be said to exist in four ways:

(1) as existing
(2) as not existing
(3) as both existing and not existing
(4) as neither existing nor not existing.

Since these four lemmas address all possibilities, the object under
analysis cannot be said to exist or not exist or both or neither. The
result is what is defined as a middle way position, the view of the
Madhymika or Middle Way School. Those who see things as existing are called
essentialists. Those who see things as not existing are called nihilists.
Tzongkhapa defined his middle way position as neither of these two
extremes. In other words, things may exist imputationally but not
conditionally, or they may exist conditionally but not ultimately.

Tzongkhapa then concluded that there are two distinct meanings to the word
bhava, a Sanskrit word for entity or existing thing. When bhava refers to
an intrinsically existing thing, it can be rejected by using both
conventional and ultimate analyses. However, in the sense of a conditioned
being or functional thing (a svabhava that does something) it cannot be
rejected by conventional analysis. Furthermore, a non-existing thing like
space (abhava) also cannot be rejected by conventional analysis. The
logical fallout from this is that we have both conditional and ultimate
realities. In order to avoid being labled a nihilist, Tzongkhapa accepted
conditional reality with the understanding that it does not exist from its
own side, so to speak, meaning not instrinsically or permanently.

Using Tzongkhapa's view together with Blavatsky's and my own terminology,
we can conclude that the nondual indivisible Monad in Beness has an
ultimate reality, and is permanent. The I that observes a Not-I, even at
the most highest level or plane such as paranirvana has a conditional
reality and is therefore temporary. 

As an Aside here, the Ningma Master, Je Mipham (1846-1912), a contemporary
of Blavatsky and a critic of Tzongkhapa, wrote in favor of viewing both the
alayavijnana and svasamvedana as conditional realities. 

Jerry S.