Theos-Talk Archives (November 2005 Message tt00049)

Thanks Dallas,
You seem to be deeply delved in theosophy and working steadily in the Path
of attaining Arhatship.
I will need quite some time to go through the data you have prvided me ,
particularly the Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. A lot of food for thought.
But I am still baffled at the secrecy of the subject. Why is it taht only a
few people get attracted to Theosophy , when the root of divinity is among
us all and all are equal. Why is it that occultism is shrouded in a veil of
mystery and is not to be discussed among all. I understand tat our knowledge
is thoughly incomplete and inadequate. But it is through discussions and
interactions of constructive kind that we become aware of newer horizons. If
I have missed out a pont on a doctrine or a concept, my friend can alwways
point it out and in this way, we both can grow faster rather that working
alone.

Please opine
On 11/9/05, W.Dallas TenBroeck <dalval14@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> 11/9/05
>
> RE: Piali Muk...
>
> Thanks for the good comments on C H E L A S and C H E L A S H I P
>
>
> Look at this, please, I hope it helps.
>
> DTB
>
> ----------------------------
>
>
>
> ESOTERICISM
>
> =======================
> "It is the Spiritual evolution of the inner,
>
> immortal man that forms the
> fundamental tenet in the Occult Sciences."
> SD I 634
>
>
> -----------------
>
>
> The following quotations give a partial view of basis of the ancient
> ESOTERIC WISDOM which is innate to every being (including the whole of
> humanity), and which the teachings of THEOSOPHY, as promulgated by the
> Masters of Wisdom through Their "messenger:" H. P. Blavatsky, and her
> devoted pupil W. Q. Judge, expound in theory and practise. The words they
> used for explanation enshrine the great secrets of Nature, and its
> practical
> and marvelously sensitive method of education, through all processes of
> living. Not an atom, a human, a planet, a sun or a galaxy is excluded from
> this working, living ABSOLUTENESS. Impersonality, universality, continuity
> because of immortality, and the justice and rule of Law support all. The
> aim of the Universe is to spiritualize and therefore it teaches mutual
> assistance, cooperation, tolerance and brotherhood.
>
> One may say that an exact reproduction of those original teachings
> provides
> all students with a common basis to begin their study. How they interpret
> the meaning behind and within those words is dependent on the moral
> character of the student. The motive power that is present, and exercised
> behind and within any action, depicts the character and condition of any
> person or being.
>
> The esoteric wisdom in inherent within the words used. It is the ideas and
> the motives behind the words that are essential. Each student has to seek
> for those. If we can take those as key ideas and compare ourselves
> detachedly and impersonally to them (as ideals), we may learn a great deal
> about our own personal nature and development.
>
> How is this possible? It is because in every being and each human a common
> and ideal base: the ATMA (a Ray" of the Universal and all-pervading ONE
> SPIRIT).
>
> There is in each of us the MONAD - the ATMA {a "Ray" of the ABSOLUTE,
> indescribable primal SELF}. It is WISE, and has undertaken (under the
> imperishable and universal Law of Karma) the task of endless
> reincarnations
> so as to assist all MONADS of lesser experience to progress to the level
> of
> wisdom it has attained.
>
> In ourselves we can witness this educational development proceeding. One
> of
> the rules of such tutelage is to permit unfettered latitude to the many
> Monads that accumulate around it by affinity and form its temporary
> sheaths
> or "bodies." [see S D II 167]
>
> THEOSOPHY holds that every individual is an IMMORTAL MONAD, and that it is
> possible for anyone to reach deep into his own Spiritual Self, and secure
> there the wisdom of accumulated experience -- as memory and reminiscence
> --
> and from those depths, obtain verification of facts, and the moral truths
> of
> "right livelihood," called BROTHERHOOD.
>
> One must remember that the UNIVERSE or NATURE has been in existence for an
> immense time. It rules and regulations have been in place long before our
> present "arrival." We, as individual MONADS, are co-existent and
> ever-living
> components of IT from the beginning. Our bodies and forms constantly
> change,
> but the SPIRIT (ATMA) within, is never killed, nor can it die and
> disappear.
>
>
> Patanjali, an ancient Sage, said: "For the purpose of the development of
> the
> Soul (mind) the UNIVERSE exists."
>
> The whole of NATURE is ruled by impartial and immutable laws -- laws which
> allow for the development of independent thought and thinkers (such as we
> MONADS all are). None is "superior" nor "inferior" to any of the others.
> But the "path" of progress that each follows has always been
> self-determined. Karma marks the interaction of such choosing with the
> impartial laws of Nature - and these are laws that demand fairness,
> honesty,
> sincerity and a "level field" for every being.
>
> The great moral and ethical rules which all are aware of in their "heart
> of
> HEARTS" are based on this fact of the co-existence of IMMORTALS.
>
> If we turn to the Pratimoksha Sutra. of the Buddhists, we read. :
>
> 1. Thou shalt not kill any living creature.
> 2. Thou shalt not steal.
> 3. Thou shalt not break thy vow of chastity.
> 4. Thou shalt not lie.
> 5. Thou shalt not betray the secrets of others.
> 6. Thou shalt not wish for the death of thy enemies.
> 7. Thou shalt not desire the wealth of others.
> 8. Thou shalt not pronounce injurious and foul words.
> 9. Thou shalt not indulge in luxury .
> 10. Thou shalt not accept gold or silver. Isis II 164
>
>
> "There is no pretense of personal virtue or knowledge in handing on for
> the
> benefit of others what one perceives to be good for them. A claim, even a
> thought of personal virtue, is detrimental -- because it is personal. The
> Egoic perceptions on this plane are limited by this very thing.
>
> "Thy body is not self, thy Self is in itself without a body, and either
> praise or blame affects it not."
> "Deliverance of mind from thralldom by the cessation of sin and faults is
> not for 'Deva-Egos' (reincarnating egos). Thus says the 'Doctrine of the
> Heart'."
>
> "The Dharma of the 'Heart' is the embodiment of Bodhi (True, Divine
> Wisdom),
> the Permanent and Everlasting."
>
> "To live to benefit Mankind is the first step. To practice the six
> glorious
> virtues is the second." VOICE
>
> The six glorious virtues are:
>
> ONE -- 'Sama.' It consists in obtaining perfect mastery over the mind (the
> seat of emotions and desires), and in forcing it to act in subordination
> to
> the intellect which had been strengthened by attaining -
>
> (a) 'Right knowledge of the real and the unreal' (Right Philosophy).
>
>
> (b) 'Perfect indifference to the fruits of one's actions, both here
> and hereafter.' (Renunciation of the fruits of actions.)
>
>
> TWO -- 'Dama.' Complete mastery over bodily acts.
>
> THREE -- 'Uparati.' Renunciation of all formal religion, and the
> acquirement
> of contemplation of objects without being in the least disturbed in the
> performance of the great task one has set before oneself.
>
> FOUR -- 'Titiksha.' Cessation of desire and a constant readiness to part
> with everything in the world.
>
> FIVE -- 'Samadana.' That which renders the student constitutionally
> incapable of deviating from the right path.
>
> SIX -- 'Shradda.' Implicit confidence on the part of the pupil in his
> Master's power to teach, and his own power to learn.
>
> SEVEN -- One other, and the last accomplishment required, is an intense
> desire for liberation from conditioned existence and for transformation
> into
> the One Life.
>
> While some of these may be beyond us, we can 'practise' in these
> directions;
> in fact, we have been so doing, and we know that practice makes perfect.
> F P, pp. 78-81
>
>
>
> These great facts, ideas and moral directives are reflected in statements
> on
> ESOTERICISM, and the basis for esotericism inherent in THEOSOPHY -- some
> of
> which are offered below.
>
>
> ---------------------
>
>
>
> "Occult Science has its changeless traditions from prehistoric times. It
> may err in particulars; it can never become guilty of a mistake in
> questions of Universal laws." SD I 516
>
>
>
> "The Secret Doctrine merely asserts that a system known as the Wisdom
> Religion, the work of generations of adepts and seers, the sacred heirloom
> of pre-historic times--actually exists, though hitherto preserved in the
> greatest secrecy by the present Initiates; and it points to various
> corroborations of its existence to this very day, to be found in ancient
> and
> modern works.
>
> Giving a few fragments only, it there shows how these explain the
> religious dogmas of the present day, and how they might serve Western
> religions, philosophies and science, as sign-posts along the untrodden
> paths
> of discovery.
>
> The work is essentially fragmentary, giving statements of sundry facts
> taught in the esoteric schools--kept, so far, secret--by which the
> ancient symbolism of various nations is interpreted. it does not even
> give the keys to it, but merely opens a few of the hitherto secret
> drawers.
>
> No new philosophy is set up in the Secret Doctrine, only the hidden
> meaning
> of some of the religious allegories of antiquity is given, light being
> thrown on these by the esoteric sciences, and the common source is pointed
> out, whence all the world-religions and philosophies have sprung.
>
> Its chief attempt is to show, that however divergent the respective
> doctrines and systems of old may seem on their external or objective side,
> the agreement between all becomes perfect, so soon as the esoteric or
> inner
> side of these beliefs and their symbology is examined and a careful
> comparison is made.
>
> It is also maintained that its doctrines and sciences, which form an
> integral cycle of universal cosmic facts and metaphysical axioms and
> truths,
> represent a complete and unbroken system; and that he who is brave and
> persevering enough, ready to crush the animal in himself, and forgetting
> the
> human self, sacrifices it to his Higher Ego, can always find his way to
> become initiated into these mysteries.
>
> This is not all the Secret Doctrine claims.
>
> Are not a few facts and self-evident truths, found in these volumes--all
> the
> literary defects of the exposition notwithstanding--truths already proved
> practically to some, better than the most ingenious "working" hypotheses,
> liable to be upset any day, than the unexplainable mysteries of religious
> dogmas, or the most seemingly profound philosophical speculations ? Can
> the
> grandest among these speculations be really profound...when they are
> limited
> and conditioned by their author's brain-mind, hence dwarfed and
> crippled...cut down to fit limited sensuous perceptions, which will not
> allow the intellect to go beyond their enchanted circle?..."
> --HPB-The Babel of Modern Thought - HPB Art III 44-5
>
>
>
> "The Secret Doctrine will explain many things, set to right more than one
> perplexed student." M L 289
>
>
> "The Secret Doctrine is not a treatise, or a series of vague theories, but
> contains all that can be given out to the world in this century."
> SD I xxxviii
>
>
> " The latter," The Secret Doctrine "though giving out many fundamental
> tenets from the Secret Doctrine of the East, raise but a small corner of
> the
> dark veil. For no one, not even the greatest living adept, would be
> permitted to, or could--even if he would--give out promiscuously, to a
> mocking, unbelieving world, that which has been so effectually concealed
> from it for long aeons and ages." SD I xvi
>
>
> "For in the 20th century of our era scholars will begin to recognize that
> the S D has neither been invented nor exaggerated, but on the contrary,
> simply outlined; and finally, that its teachings antedate the Vedas."
> SD I xxxvii
>
>
> "Draw a deep line in your thought between that ever incognizable essence,
> and the, as invisible, yet comprehensible Presence (Mulaprakriti), or
> Schekinah, from beyond and through which vibrates the Sound of the Verbum,
> and from which evolve the numberless hierarchies of intelligent Egos, of
> conscious as of semi-conscious, perceptive and apperceptive Beings, whose
> essence is spiritual Force, whose Substance is the Elements and whose
> Bodies
> (when needed) are the atoms -- and our doctrine is there ... reality in
> the
> manifested world is composed of a unity of units, so to say,
> immaterial...and infinite..." SD I 629
>
>
> "It is on the doctrine of the illusive nature of matter and the infinite
> divisibility of the atom, that the whole science of Occultism is built."
> SD I 520
>
>
> "From Gods to man, from Worlds to atoms, from a star to a rush light, from
> the Sun or the vital heat of the meanest organic being--the world of Form
> and Existence is an immense chain, whose links are all connected. The law
> of Analogy is the first key to the world-problem, and those links have to
> be
> studied coordinately in their occult relations to each other."
> SECRET DOCTRINE I 604
>
>
> "Esoteric Philosophy teaches that every thing lives and is conscious, but
> not that all life and consciousness are similar to those of human or even
> animal beings. Life we look upon as the one form of existence."
> SD I 49
>
>
> "We give facts, and show land-marks: let the wayfarer follow them. What is
> given here is amply sufficient for this century." SD II 742
>
>
> "The Secret Doctrine [not the book] was the universally diffused religion
> of
> the ancient and prehistoric world." SD I xxxvi
>
>
> [HPB claims incredible antiquity for SD sources. Look up what is written
> on
> pages: S D I 272-3, II 438-9, 449, 200-201.]
>
>
> "These truths are in no sense put forward as a revelation; nor does the
> author claim the position of a revealer of mystic lore. now made public
> for
> the first time in the world's history." SD I vii
>
>
> "Is it a new religion, we are asked? By no means; it is not a religion,
> nor is its philosophy new...it is as old as thinking man. Its tenets are
> not now published for the first time, but have been cautiously given out
> to,
> and taught by, more than one European Initiate--especially by the late
> Ragon." SD I xxxvi
>
>
> "...it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings,
> however fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes, belong
> neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean nor Christianity
> exclusively. The Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these. Sprung from
> it in their origins, the various religious schemes are not made to merge
> back into their original element, out of which every mystery and dogma has
> grown, developed, and become materialized." SD I viii
>
>
> "If coming events are said to cast their shadows before, past events
> cannot
> fail to leave their impress behind them. It is, then by those shadows of
> the hoary Past and their fantastic silhouettes on the external screen of
> religion and philosophy, that we can, by checking them as we go along, and
> comparing them, trace out finally the body that produced them. There must
> be truth and fact in that which every people of antiquity accepted and
> made
> the foundation of its religions and its faith." SD II 794
>
>
> "...there are proofs of a certain character which become irrefutable and
> are
> undeniable in the long run, to every earnest and unprejudiced mind...such
> were offered to her [HPB]...But, this is the personal view of the writer;
> and her orthodoxy cannot be expected to have any more weight than any
> other
> "doxy."...
>
> Therefore are we, Occultists, fully prepared for such questions as these:
> "How does he know that the writer has not invented the whole scheme? And
> supposing she has not, how can one tell that the whole foregoing [scheme
> of
> evolution--Rounds, Globes, Races, etc...], as given in the Stanzas, is not
> the product of the imagination of the ancients?
>
> How could they have preserved the records of such an immense, such
> an incredible antiquity? The answer that the history of the world
> since its formation and to its end "is written in the stars," i.e., is
> recorded in the Zodiac and the Universal Symbolism whose keys are in
> the keeping of the Initiates, will hardly satisfy the doubters...
>
> So are our data based upon the same readings [of the Assyrian tiles,
> cuneiform fragments, and Egyptian hieroglyphics], in addition to the
> almost
> inexhaustible number of Secret works of which Europe knows nothing--plus
> the
> perfect knowledge by the initiates of the symbolism of every word so
> recorded..." SD II 438-9
>
>
> "...the first fundamental dogma of Occultism is Universal Unity (or
> Homogeneity) under three aspects." [SPIRIT, ASTRAL SOUL, and
> PHYSICAL MATTER] S D I 58
>
>
> "...it is...a fundamental principle of Occult philosophy, the same
> homogeneity of matter, and immortality of natural law..."
> SD I 640
>
>
> "...perfect analogy, as a fundamental law in Occultism."
> S D I 586fn
>
>
> "The Occultist sees in the manifestation of every force in Nature, the
> action of the quality, or the special characteristic of its noumenon,
> which
> noumenon is a distinct and intelligent Individuality on the other side of
> the manifested mechanical Universe." SD I 493
>
>
> "Metaphysically and esoterically there is but One Element in Nature, and
> at
> the root of it is the Deity." SD I 460
>
>
> "It is the Spiritual evolution of the inner, immortal man that forms the
> fundamental tenet in the Occult Sciences." SD I 634
>
>
> "The radical unity of the ultimate essence of each constituent part of the
> compounds of Nature--from Star to mineral Atom, from the highest Dhyan
> Chohan to the smallest infusoria--this is the one fundamental law in
> Occult
> Science." SD I 120
>
>
> "The homogeneous primordial Element is simple and single only on the
> terrestrial plane of consciousness and sensation, since matter, after all,
> is nothing else than the sequence of our own states of consciousness, and
> Spirit an idea of psychic intuition." SD I 542
>
>
> ."Devotion" the first and foremost motor in his nature, for it is the only
> one that is natural in our heart, which is innate in us...This feeling of
> irrepressible, instinctive aspiration in primitive man..."
> [read: "The Great Sacrifice" ( S D I 207-8)] SD I 210
>
>
> "Collectively, men are the handiwork of hosts of various spirits,
> distributively, the tabernacles of those hosts, and occasionally, and
> singly, the vehicles of some of them." SD I 224
>
>
> "The closer the approach to one's Prototype [ATMA], "in Heaven," the
> better
> for the mortal whose personality was chosen by his own personal deity (the
> seventh principle), as its terrestrial abode. For, with every effort of
> will
> towards purification and unity with that "Self-god," one of the lower rays
> breaks and the spiritual entity of man is drawn higher and ever higher to
> th
> ray that supersedes the first, until, from ray to ray, the inner man is
> drawn into the one and highest beam of the Parent Sun." SD I 638-9
>
>
> "Initial existence...is a conscious spiritual quality." SD I 289
>
>
> "...a fundamental law in Occultism, that there is no rest or cessation of
> motion in Nature..." SD I 97
>
>
> "Space, however viewed--...is as the "Unknown Causeless Cause," is the
> oldest dogma in Occultism." SD I 9
>
>
> " Nature abhors a vacuum..." SD I 495
>
>
> "...circular motion, a fundamental dogma... SD I 116-7
>
>
> "How much of direct knowledge do we have about esoteric philosophy?"
>
> The importance of it is that only direct knowledge is the source of a
> lasting sense of responsibility. An accurate, heartfelt perception of
> things results in a sense of ethics and an active intention to be useful.
>
> Perhaps it was to highlight the significance of this feeling of personal
> accountability that Thomas Taylor, the translator of Plato and the
> Neoplatonists, wrote:
>
> A little learning is a dangerous thing.
> Drink deep, or taste not the PLATONIC spring;
> There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
> And drinking largely, sobers us again.
>
> THEOSOPHIST II p. 52
> =========================================================
>
> From PATANJALI -- Some practical advice:
>
>
> CONTROL OF MIND AND EMOTIONS IS FIRST TO BE ATTAINED.
>
>
> "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. ["Eye Doctrine" --- DTB]
>
> 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. .
>
>
> 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 [mind], 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
>
> .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. .
>
> 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.
>
>
>
> 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.
> [ Intro. to PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS ]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
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