Theos-Talk Archives (November 2005 Message tt00169)

11/28/2005 3:26 AM

 

Dear Friends:

            

 

ABSOLUTE TIME, SPACE and CONSCIOUSNESS

 

 

 

In considering these we might take advantage of the Theosophical teachings found in the ancient BHAGAVAD GITA .

 

Sri Krishna speaks there as a personification of the SUPREME SPIRIT (the INDIVISIBLE SELF UNIT) from which, all radiates, and eventually we perceive as the many emanations in the illusory maya of monadic manifestation. 

 

The “return journey” of the countless monads to the ONE, isthe program we (as such a Monad) are all engaged in. 

 

He speaks from the plane of the single, but all-pervasive and timeless occult wisdom called the non-manifest “Para Vidya.” All other knowledge is of the many levels of the manifested “Apara Vidya” – the knowledge that changes with the cycles of time and experience in many spaces.  

 

What ought to draw our attention is that there is a SINGLE CONSCIOUSNESS that is invariably and ever aware of all such changes. 

 

In view of this, HE says: "I established this whole Universe with a singleportion of myself, and remain separate." Git. p. 76 

  

"There are two kinds of beings in the world, the one divisible, the other indivisible; the divisible is all things and the creatures, the indivisible is called Kûtastha, or he who standeth on high unaffected. 

 

But there is another spirit designated as the Supreme Spirit― Paramâtma― which permeates and sustains the three worlds. As I am above the divisible and also superior to the indivisible, therefore both in the world and in the Vedas am I known as the Supreme Spirit. 

 

He who being not deluded knoweth me thus as the Supreme Spirit, knoweth allthings and worships me under every form and condition.” Git. p. 108

 

 

The BHAGAVAD GITA makes this clear: “HE” The SUPREME SPIRIT is not involved in Karma. 

HE is NOT a “person.” He is the ONE UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE. The Causeless Cause of All things and forms.

 

“Those who are wise in spiritual things grieve neither for the deadnor for the living. I myself never was not, nor thou, nor all the princes of the earth; nor shall we ever hereafter cease to be.” Git. p. 11

 

 

Krishna further enlightens us:

 

"There is nothing, O son of Pritha, in the three regions of the universe which it is necessary for me to perform, nor anything possible to obtain which I have not obtained; and YET I AM CONSTANTLY IN ACTION. 

 

If I were not indefatigable in action, all men would presently follow my example, O son of Pritha. 

 

If I did not perform actions these creatures would perish; I should be the cause of confusion of castes, and should have slain all these creatures. 

 

O son of Bharata, as the ignorant perform the duties of life from the hope of reward, so the wise man, from the wish to bring the world to duty and benefit mankind, should perform his actions without motives of interest. He should not create confusion in the understandings of the ignorant, who are inclined to outward works, but by being himself engaged in action should cause them to act also. All actions are effected by the qualities of nature. 

 

The man deluded by ignorance thinks, 'I am the actor.' But he, O strong-armed one! who is acquainted with the nature of the two distinctions of cause and effect, knowing that the qualities act only in the qualities, and that the Self is distinct from them, is not attached in action. 

 

"Those who have not this knowledge are interested in the actions thus brought about by the qualities; and he who is perfectly enlightened should not unsettle those whose discrimination is weak and knowledge incomplete, nor cause them to relax from their duty. 

 

"Throwing every deed on me, and with thy meditation fixed upon the Higher Self, resolve to fight, without expectation, devoid of egotism and free fromanguish. 

 

"Those men who constantly follow this my doctrine without reviling it, and with a firm faith, shall be emancipated even by actions; but they who revile it and do not follow it are bewildered in regard to all knowledge, and perish, being devoid of discrimination. 

 

"But the wise man also seeketh for that which is homogeneous with his own nature. 

All creatures act according to their natures; what, then, will restraint effect? In every purpose of the senses are fixed affection and dislike. 

 

A wise man should not fall in the power of these two passions, for they arethe enemies of man. It is better to do one's own duty, even though it be devoid of excellence, than to perform another's duty well. It is better to perish in the performance of one's own duty; the duty of another is full of danger." Git. Pp. 25-27

 

  

"All this universe is pervaded by me in my invisible form; all things existin me, but I do not exist in them. Nor are all things in me; 

 

Behold this my divine mystery: myself causing things to exist and supporting them all but dwelling not in them. 

 

Understand that all things are in me even as the mighty air which passes everywhere is in space. O son of Kuntî, at the end of a kalpa all thingsreturn unto my nature, and then again at the beginning of another kalpa I cause them to evolve again. 

 

Taking control of my own nature I emanate again and again this whole assemblage of beings, without their will, by the power of the material essence.  

 

These acts do not bind me, O conqueror of wealth, because I am as one who sitteth indifferent, uninterested in those works. By reason of my supervision nature produceth the animate and inanimate universe; it is through this cause, O son of Kuntî, that the universe revolveth.   

Git. Pp. 64-5

 

Therefore HE is not involved in Karma.  

 

"Others with the sacrifice of knowledge in other ways worship me as indivisible, as separable, as the Spirit of the universe. 

 

I am the sacrifice and sacrificial rite; I am the libation offered to ancestors, and the spices; I am the sacred formula and the fire; I am the food and the sacrificial butter; I am the father and the mother of this universe,the grandsire and the preserver; I am the Holy One, the object of knowledge, the mystic purifying syllable OM, the Rik, the Saman, the Yajur, and allthe Vedas. 

 

I am the goal, the Comforter, the Lord, the Witness, the resting-place, theasylum and the Friend; I am the origin and the dissolution, the receptacle, the storehouse, and the eternal seed. 

 

I cause light and heat and rain; I now draw in and now let forth; I am death and immortality; I am the cause unseen and the visible effect." Git. p. 66

 

  

“Those who are free from pride of self and whose discrimination is perfected, who have prevailed over the fault of attachment to action, who are constantly employed in devotion to meditation upon the Supreme Spirit, who have renounced desire and are free from the influence of the opposites known as pleasure and pain, are undeluded, and proceed to that place which endureth forever. Neither the sun nor the moon nor the fire enlighteneth that place; from it there is no return; it is my supreme abode. 

 

"It is even a portion of myself which, having assumed life in this world ofconditioned existence, draweth together the five senses and the mind in order that it may obtain a body and may leave it again. 

 

And those are carried by the Sovereign Lord to and from whatever body he enters or quits, even as the breeze bears the fragrance from the flower. Presiding over the eye, the ear, the touch, the taste, and the power of smelling, and also over the mind, he experienceth the objects of sense. 

 

The deluded do not see the spirit when it quitteth or remains in the body, nor when, moved by the qualities, it has experience in the world. But thosewho have the eye of wisdom perceive it, and devotees who industriously strive to do so see it dwelling in their own hearts; whilst those who have notovercome themselves, who are devoid of discrimination, see it not even though they strive, thereafter. 

 

Know that the brilliance of the sun which illuminateth the whole world, andthe light which is in the moon and in the fire, are the splendor of myself. I enter the earth supporting all living things by my power, and I am thatproperty of sap which is taste, nourishing all the herbs and plants of thefield. 

 

Becoming the internal fire of the living, I associate with the upward and downward breathing, and cause the four kinds of food to digest. 

 

I am in the hearts of all men, and from me come memory, knowledge, and alsothe loss of both. I am to be known by all the Vedas; I am he who is the author of the Vedanta, and I alone am the interpreter of the Vedas. Pp.106-8

 

 

“There is no existence for that which does not exist, nor is there any non-existence for what exists. By those who see the truth and look intothe principles of things, the ultimate characteristic of these both is seen. Learn that He by whom all things were formed is incorruptible, and that no one is able to effect the destruction of IT which is inexhaustible. 

 

These finite bodies, which envelope the souls inhabiting them, are said to belong to Him, the eternal, the indestructible, unprovable Spirit, who is in the body: wherefore, O Arjuna, resolve to fight. 

 

The man who believeth that it is this Spirit which killeth, and he who thinketh that it may be destroyed, are both alike deceived; for it neither killeth nor is it killed. “ Git. p. 12

 

 

The term: ABSOLUTE introduces the idea that beyond “Spirit” there is its source. 

 

HPB wrote:

 

“The Universe is the periodical manifestation of this unknown Absolute Essence. To call it “essence,” however, is to sin against the very spirit of the philosophy. For though the noun may be derived in this case from the verb esse, “to be,” yet IT cannot be identified with a being of any kind, that can be conceived by human intellect. IT is best described as neither Spirit nor matter, but both. “Parabrahmam and Mulaprakriti” are One, in reality, yet two in the Universal conception of the manifested, even in the conception of the OneLogos, its first manifestation…” SD I p. 273

 

 

Universal Karma (law) – the process of evolution from the absolute into manifestation, is described :

 

 

“Ain-Soph, the ABSOLUTE ENDLESS NO-THING, uses also the form of theONE, the manifested “Heavenly man” (the FIRST CAUSE) as its chariot (Mercabah, in Hebrew; Vahan, in Sanskrit) or vehicle to descend into, and manifest through, in the phenomenal world. But the Kabalists neither make it plain how the ABSOLUTE can use anything, or exercise any attribute whatever, since, as the Absolute, it is devoid of attributes; nor do they explain that in reality it is the First Cause (Plato’s Logos) the original and eternal IDEA, that manifests through Adam Kadmon, the SecondLogos, so to speak.” SD I p. 3

 

“The Universe is worked and guided from within outwards. As above so it is below, as in heaven so on earth; and man—the microcosm andminiature copy of the macrocosm—is the living witness to this Universal Law and to the mode of its action… The whole Kosmos is guided, controlled, and animated by almost endless series of Hierarchies of sentient Beings, each having a mission to perform, and who—whether we give to them one name or another, and call them Dhyan-Chohans or Angels—are “messengers” in the sense only that they are the agents of Karmic and Cosmic Laws.” S D I p. 274

 

“…each of these Beings either was, or prepares to become, aman, if not in the present, then in a past or a coming cycle (Manvantara).They are perfected, when not incipient, men They are “Living Ones,” because they are the streams projected on the Kosmic screen of illusion from the ABSOLUTE LIFE; beings in whom life cannot become extinct,before the fire of ignorance is extinct in those who sense these “Lives.” Having sprung into being under the quickening influence of the uncreated beam, the reflection of the great Central Sun that radiates on the shores of the river of Life, it is the inner principle in them which belongs to the waters of immortality, while its differentiated clothing is as perishable as man’s body.” SD I p. 275-6 

 

 

We may then consider the process of perfection of man –the “mind-being.”

 

“…by paralyzing his lower personality [selfishness], and arriving thereby at the full knowledge of the non-separateness of his higher SELF from the One absolute SELF, man can, even during his terrestrial life,become as “One of Us.” Thus it is, by eating of the fruit of knowledge which dispels ignorance, that man becomes like one of the Elohim or the Dhyanis; and once on their plane the Spirit of Solidarity and perfect Harmony, which reigns in every Hierarchy, must extend over him and protect him in every particular.” SD I 276

 

 

Writes HPB:  

 

“There are four (out of the many other) names of the various kinds of Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even in the esoteric Purânas. 

 

There is (1) Yajna-Vidya, 1 knowledge of the occult powers awakened in Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites. 

 

(2) Maha-vidya, the "great knowledge," the magic of the Kabalists and of the Tantrika worship, often Sorcery of the worst description. 

 

(3) Guhya-Vidya, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound (Ether), hence in the Mantras (chanted prayers or incantations) and depending on therhythm and melody used; in other words a magical performance based on Knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and 

 

(4) ATMA-VIDYA, a term which is translated simply "knowledge of the Soul," true Wisdom by the Orientalists, but which means far more. 

 

This last is the only kind of Occultism that any theosophist who admires Light on the Path, and who would be wise and unselfish, ought to strive after. All the rest is some branch of the "Occult Sciences," i.e., arts based onthe knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things in the Kingdoms of Nature--such as minerals, plants and animals--hence of things pertaining to the realm of material nature, however invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded the grasp of Science. …[ATMA-VIDYA] … It includes them all and may even use them occasionally, but it does so after purifying them of their dross, for beneficent purposes, andtaking care to deprive them of every element of selfish motive. 

 

Let us explain: Any man or woman can set himself or herself to study one orall of the above specified "Occult Arts" without any great previous preparation, and even without adopting any too restraining mode of life. One could even dispense with any lofty standard of morality. In the last case, of course, ten to one the student would blossom into a very decent kind of sorcerer, and tumble down headlong into black magic.”

OCCULTISM VS. THE OCCULT ARTS. HPB Art. II pp. 102-3   

 

 

What can be concluded from these ideas? The ABSOLUTE –non-manifest -- is devoid of any multiplicity. IT IS. 

 

Manifestation implies contrast and multiplicity. The SECRET DOCTRINE is devoted to demonstrating this in regard to our condition in terms of history as well as knowledge.

 

Thus “Time” includes all “substances and objects” in both their isolated and responsive existence and motions. “Space” is an indefinable parameter of location and movement in time. 

 

“Consciousness” is the innate ability of perception.

 

Man’s “mind” is capable of being directed to the consideration of these in either abstract or concrete conditions.

 

Who or what directs the mind ? What is the “SELF ?” Are we not seeking to know ourselves?

It is not “outside” but inside our selves. [ for instance,see S D II p. 167 ]

 

Best wishes, 

 

DTB

 

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

-----Original Message-----
From: saidevotee
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 8:04 AM
To: Subject: 4. Space, Time and Consciousness

 

What is the relationship between Space, Time and Consciousness? 

 

"What is it that ever is?" 

"Space, the eternal Anupadaka." 

 

"What is it that ever was?" 

"The Germ in the Root." 

 

"What is it that is ever coming and going?" 

"The Great Breath." 

 

"Then, there are three Eternals?" 

"No, the three are one. 

 

That which ever is is one, that which ever was is one, that which 

is ever being and becoming is also one: and this is Space." 

 

-- The Secret Doctrine, I, II 

SNIP



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