Theos-Talk Archives (November 2005 Message tt00113)

November 20, 2005


Principles 1 to 7 -- CONSCIOUS COMMUNICATION

 
[The author of the article "MEDIUMS AND YOGIS", identified only by three
stars, in the course of his explanation of the difference between yogis and
mediums, says: "As the magnetic power is directed to any particular
faculty, so that faculty at once forms a direct line of communication with
the spirit, which, receiving the impressions, conveys them back to the
physical body." To this HPB remarks:]
 

HPB REMARKS


SIXTH PRINCIPLE---SPIRITUAL SOUL. [ or BUDDHI ]

 
In the normal or natural state, the sensations are transmitted from the
lowest physical to the highest spiritual body, i.e., from the first to the
6th principle (the 7th being no organized or conditioned body, but an
infinite, hence unconditioned principle or state), the faculties of each
body having to awaken the faculties of the next higher one, to transmit the
message in succession, until they reach the last, when, having received the
impression, the latter (the spiritual soul) sends it back in an inverse
order to the body.  

Hence, the faculties of some of the "bodies" (we use this word for want of a
better term) being less developed, they fail to transmit the message
correctly to the highest principle, and thus also fail to produce the right
impression upon the physical senses, as a telegram may have started for the
place of its destination faultless, and have been bungled up and
misinterpreted by the telegraph operator at some intermediate station.  

This is why some people, otherwise endowed with great intellectual powers
and perceptive faculties, are often utterly unable to appreciate---say, the
beauties of nature, or some particular moral quality; as, however perfect
their physical intellect---unless the original material or rough physical
impression conveyed has passed in a circuit through the sieve of every
"principle"---(from 1,2,3,4,5,6 up to 7, and down again from 7,6,5,4,3,2, to
No. 1)---and that every "sieve" is in good order---the spiritual perception
will always be imperfect.  

The Yogi, who, by a constant training and incessant watchfulness, keeps his
septenary instrument in good tune and whose spirit has obtained a perfect
control over all, can, at will, and by paralysing the functions of the four
intermediate principles, communicate from body to spirit and vice
versa---direct.

 
[The author says: "The Yogi forms a direct connection between his spiritual
soul and any faculty, and, by the power of his trained will, that is by
magnetic influence, concentrates all his powers in the soul, which enables
him to grasp the subject of his enquiry and convey it back to the physical
organs, through the various channels of communication."  

HPB adds:]

 
“Or---direct, which is oftener the case, we believe.”


 
[The author also says: "If he desires to traverse space in spirit, this is
easily done by him by transferring the faculty of will. . . ."  

HPB adds:]

 
“From the physical to the Spiritual body and concentrating it there, as we
understand it.”

[from Blavatsky: COLLECTED WORKS, Vol. IV, pp. 101-102]


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SEVEN-FOLD MAN



SOUL -- EGO -- MIND


Nearly everyone says he has a soul and a body, and there it ends. What the
soul is, and whether it is the real person or whether it has any powers of
its own, are not inquired into, the preachers usually confining themselves
to its salvation or damnation. And by thus talking of it as something
different from oneself, the people have acquired an underlying notion that
they are not souls because the soul may be lost by them. From this has come
about a tendency to materialism causing men to pay more attention to the
body than to the soul, the latter being left to the tender mercies of the
priest of the Roman Catholics, and among dissenters the care of it is most
frequently put off to the dying day. But when the true teaching is known it
will be seen that the care of the soul, which is the Self, is a vital matter
requiring attention every day, and not to be deferred without grievous
injury resulting to the whole man, both soul and body…. 


THE 7-FOLD CLASSIFICATION

H. P. Blavatsky directly from the Great Lodge of Initiates…places…the old
doctrine [of seven-fold Man] before western civilization. The
classification is: 

1.	The Body, or Rupa. 
2.	Vitality, or Prana-Jiva. 
3.	Astral Body, or Linga-Sarira. 
4.	Animal Soul, or Kama-Rupa 
5.	Human Soul, or Manas. 
6.	Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi. 
7.	Spirit, or Atma, 
8.	
The words in the Sanskrit language are adopted the English terms. This
classification stands to this day for all practical purposes, but it is
capable of modification and extension.
For instance, a later arrangement which places ASTRAL BODY second instead
of third in the category does not substantially alter it. It at once gives
an idea of what man is, very different from the vague description by the
words "body and soul," and also boldly challenges the materialistic
conception that mind is the product of brain, a portion of the body. 

No claim is made that these principles were hitherto unknown, for they were
all understood in various ways not only by the Hindus but by many Europeans.
Yet the compact presentation of the sevenfold constitution of man in
intimate connection with the septenary constitution of a chain of Globes
through which the being evolves, had not been given out… 

Considering these constituents in another manner, we would say that the
lower man is a composite being, but in his real nature is a unity, or
immortal being, comprising a trinity of Spirit, Discernment, and Mind which
requires four lower mortal instruments or vehicles through which to work in
matter and obtain experience from Nature. 

This trinity is that called Atma-Buddhi-Manas in Sanskrit, difficult terms
to render in English. Atma is Spirit, Buddhi is the highest power of
intellection, that which discerns and judges, and Manas is Mind. This
threefold collection is the real man; and beyond doubt the doctrine is the
origin of the theological one of the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The four lower instruments or vehicles are shown in this table: 


Real Man is : 

Atma, 
Buddhi, 	
Manas, 


Lower Vehicles are : 

•	The Passions and Desires, 
•	Life Principle, 
•	Astral Body, 
•	Physical Body. 


These four lower material constituents are transitory and subject to
disintegration in themselves as well as to separation from each other. When
the hour arrives for their separation to begin, the combination can no
longer be kept up, the physical body dies, the atoms of which each of the
four is composed begin to separate from each other, and the whole collection
being disjointed is no longer fit for one as an instrument for the real man.


DEATH of the PHYSICAL

This is what is called "death" among us mortals, but it is not death for the
real man because he is deathless, persistent, immortal. He is therefore
called the Triad, or indestructible trinity, while they are known as the
Quaternary or mortal four. 


This quaternary or lower man is a product of cosmic or physical laws and
substance. It has been evolved during a lapse of ages, like any other
physical thing, from cosmic substance, and is therefore subject to physical,
physiological, and psychical laws which govern the race of man as a whole.

Hence its period of possible continuance can be calculated just as the limit
of tensile strain among the metals used in bridge building can be deduced by
the engineer. Any one collection in the form of man made up of these
constituents is therefore limited in duration by the laws of the
evolutionary period in which it exists. Just now, that is generally seventy
to one hundred years, but its possible duration is longer. Thus there are in
history instances where ordinary persons have lived to be two hundred years
of age; and by a knowledge of the occult laws of nature the possible limit
of duration may be extended nearly to four hundred years. 


•	THE VISIBLE PHYSICAL MAN IS: 
•	
•	Brain, Nerves, Blood, Bones, Lymph, Muscles, Organs of Sensation and
Action, and Skin. 


•	THE UNSEEN PHYSICAL MAN IS: 
•	
•	Astral Body, Passions and Desires, Life Principle (called prana or
jiva). 
•	
•	
It will be seen that the physical part of our nature is thus extended to a
second department which, though invisible to the physical eye, is
nevertheless material and subject to decay. 


REAL AND UNREAL

Because people in general have been in the habit of admitting to be real
only what they can see with the physical eye, they have at last come to
suppose that the unseen is neither real nor material. But they forgot that
even on the earth plane noxious gases are invisible though real and
powerfully material, and that water may exist in the air held suspended and
invisible until conditions alter and cause its precipitation. 

Let us recapitulate before going into details. The Real Man is the trinity
of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, or Spirit and Mind, and he uses certain agents and
instruments to get in touch with nature in order to know himself. 

These instruments and agents are found in the lower Four -- or the
Quaternary -- each principle in which category is of itself an instrument
for the particular experience belonging to its own field, the body being the
lowest, least important, and most transitory of the whole series. 

For when we arrive at the body on the way down from the Higher Mind, it can
be shown that all of its organs are in themselves senseless and useless when
deprived of the man within. 

Sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smelling do not pertain to the body but to
the second unseen physical man, the real organs for the exercise of those
powers being in the ASTRAL BODY, and those in the physical body being but
the mechanical outer instruments for making the coordination between nature
and the real organs inside. "


[Extracted from THE OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY ]



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Comment: JW

The health of the transmission lines, even for a beginner might center
around the general attitude they maintain as live flows on, far more than
any specific event.  

HPB indicates something like this in her DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO EDITORS,
and also infers it in PSYCHIC AND NOETIC ACTION [HPB Art. II p. 7…] like
this:
 
“…each cell bears a long record of impressions connected with its parent
organ, and each cell has a memory and a consciousness of its kind, or call
it instinct if you will. These impressions are, according to the nature of
the organ, physical, psychic, or mental, as they relate to this or another
plane. 

They may be called “states of consciousness” only for the want of a better
expression—as there are states of instinctual, mental, and purely abstract,
or spiritual consciousness. 

If we trace all such “psychic” actions to brain work, it is only because in
that mansion called the human body the brain is the front door, and the only
one which opens out into Space. 

All the others are inner doors, openings in the private building, through
which travel incessantly the transmitting agents of memory and sensation. 

The clearness, the vividness, and intensity of these depend on the state of
health and the organic soundness of the transmitters. But their reality, in
the sense of trueness or correctness, is due to the “principle” they
originate from, and the preponderance in the Lower Manas of the noëtic orof
the phrenic (“Kamic,” terrestrial) element."

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

>From this quote we see that the "vividness," "clearness" and "intensity"
depend upon the state of health of the transmitters, while the "trueness" or
"correctness" depends upon the principle they originate from.
 
One is constantly impressed with the wisdom-equation that person's life is a
combination of their karma and their will. The less Will we bring to the
table the more we are creatures of FATE and statistics on some
behaviourist's chart.
jw
 
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Best wishes,

DTB

Dallas
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: saidevotee
Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2005 9:04 AM
To: 
Subject: Spiritual Inquiries: 3. The One, The Three and the Seven

Before we think about the seven planes of Nature, their constituents 
and inhabitants, we need to think about the various forms and 
aspects of the One God. 

Why? Because these forms and aspects build, maintain and dissolve 
the universes, their solar systems, and life forms. This One-in-all 
and all-in-One aspect of God is very well known to all Hindus, 
illiterate and literate. 

Our discussions in this posting are based on the book titled 
Theosophy Explained in Questions and Answers by P. Pavri. 

Theosophy performs a comparative study of the truths of major 
religions, unites them, and presents a holistic worldview which is 
intuitive, logical and scientific. The investigations of Theosophy 
are backed by observation using advanced psychic powers and are 
mostly verifiable by people having such powers. 

The One, the Three and the Seven. Unity, Trinity and Septenary. 

All religions aver that God is One. The One Existence who is the 
centre of all life. An Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Eternal, 
Boundless and Immutable Principle on which all speculation is 
impossible. The One only without a Second. The Unmanifested Logos. 
The formless, impersonal God. 

He is the Paramatman of Hinduism. The Nirguna Brahman -- the Brahman 
without attributes, remaining unmanifested. 

He is the Boundless Space --Zarwane Akrane-- of Zoroastrianism. The 
Thrice-unknown Darkness of the Greek Orphic System. 

>From That all comes forth; to That all returns. That includes within 
itself all that ever has been, is and can be. He is called That 
because He is formless and unconditional. When He is formless, He 
remains as the All, the Mulaprakriti, the root-matter or Koilon out 
of which every form is shaped. 

Even though He is formless, He is not still. He is Pure 
Consciousness, Pure Motion, Pure Energy. 

Universes arise out of Him, like the waves from an ocean. Universes 
sink into Him, like the waves sink back. The wave is the form or 
manifestation of the water underneath. 

Did this One, the formless God build our Solar System? 

Yes and no. Yes because, as the Upanishad says, 'He willed: I will 
multiply.' No because, He did not do it directly. 

When He willed to multiply, out of Him came the manifested 
Brahman--the Saguna Brahman, the Personal God. 

We should understand that the manifested and unmanifested are merely 
two states of Brahman. The Saguna Brahman is not a Second, but the 
One in manifestation. Like a wave from the ocean. 

Theosophy calls the Saguna Brahman the Cosmic Logos, the Supreme 
Ruler of the universe. He is further described as the self-existing 
One, the Root and Cause of all beings, also sometimes called 
Purusha, the Supreme Spirit, the Self. 

The One builds the universe, with a portion of Himself, manifesting 
as the Supreme Spirit. 

He then unfolds Himself into a threefold form, the three great Logoi 
of cosmic evolution, the Trimurti or Trinity aspect towards the 
universe of the Manifested God. 

The seven Embodiments of His nature are then formed into the Seven 
Cosmic Planetary Logoi, who are associated with the work of the 
three Cosmic Logoi of the Universe. 

Thus, the One manifests as the Trimurti or the Trinity. The Three 
are His aspects and are not separate from Him. He is the sum-total 
and the All of the Three. They are in Him and He is in Them all. 

The aspect of Isvara (another name for the One) in which he creates 
the world is named Brahma by the Hindus, and the Holy Ghost by the 
Christians. 

That aspect in which Isvara preserves and maintains the worlds is 
named Vishnu by the Hindus, the Son by the Christians. 

The aspect in which he dissolves the worlds when they are of no 
further use is named Siva or Mahadeva by the Hindus, the Father by 
the Christians. 

There are innumerable universes, and countless solar systems in each 
universe. Each solar system is energized and controlled by a mighty 
Being called the Solar Logos or the Solar Deity. For our solar 
system, the Solar Deity is called Savitri by the Hindus. 

Next below the Solar Deity are the seven Solar Planetary Logoi or 
the Planetary Spirits. Just as the seven Cosmic Planetary Logoi 
mentioned above are the seven Embodiments of the nature of the One, 
the seven Solar Planetary Logoi are the seven expressions of the 
nature of the Solar Deity. 

These seven aspects are known as the seven Prajapatis (Lords of 
Creatures) in Hinduism; the seven Amesha Spentas (Immortal Holy 
Ones) in Zoroastrianism; the Seven Spirits before the throne of God 
in Hebrew and Christian tradition. 

The energies of these Seven control and direct all that takes place 
within the solar system. They are the rulers of the planets Vulcan, 
Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. (More on these 
Seven Schemes of Evolution later). 

Each of the Seven is the Head and Ruler of hierarchies of creative 
entities who work under his direction in the building and sustaining 
of the solar system. 

The hierarchies include Devas (or Shining Ones or Angelic hosts) 
called Adityas, Vasus, Dhyan Chohans, etc. in Oriental religions, or 
Angels, Archangels, Thrones, etc. in the Christian tradition -- 
manifestations of the One, the innumerable ministers of the Supreme 
Will. 

Thus God manifests Himself under a triple form, a Trinity (the 
Regenerator, Preserver and Creator), spoken of by the Theosophist as 
the First, Second and Third Logos; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost of 
the Christian; Siva, Vishnu and Brahma of the Hindu; the Kepher, 
Binah and Chochmah of the Hebrew Kabbalist; Ahura, Mazda and 
Ahuramazda --the Life, Wisdom and the One Existence-- of the 
Zoroastrian. 

Thus God being immanent in all, all are sharers in one Life, and 
form one great Brotherhood. 

We can now turn our thoughts to the actual building of our solar 
system and the seven planes of Nature, in the next instalment. 

Tat twam asi - That Thou art. -- Chandogya Upanishad 

Regards,

saidevo
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