EVOLUTION VS. CREATION
Dec 31, 2005 06:28 AM
by W.Dallas TenBroeck
12/31/2005 5:50 AM
Dear Friends:
Interesting questions arise on “EVOLUTION VS. CREATION”
We are in the middle of this and now wish to find answers.
Why not consult the SECRET DOCTRINE ?
As an instance: --
EVOLUTION AS A WHOLE
-- First: ARC OF DESCENT Than AN ARC OF ASCENT
In both the Arcs [descent and ascent called together Evolution], the one
force and power that is ever "dominant" is Karma -- the Universal and
uniform Law Of Justice, and equity for all. This is most important to
grasp. There are no favourites, nor are there any variants to this Law. It
is the same throughout the Universe.
The next great idea is that the "players" and "performers" on the fields of
involution and evolution are the same continuous, immortal beings. In
THEOSOPHY, named "Monads." We are Monads, each of us. We, as immortals have
been through at least half of the evolutionary cycle (arc of descent into
"matter") and are on the way upward towards spirituality (arc of ascent)
THEOSOPHY teaches [ see SECRET DOCTRINE ].
What is taught in MAHATMA LETTERS and the SECRET DOCTRINE needs to be
thoroughly mastered. Speculations without that basis remain, usually,
questionable.
Mirroring the UNIVERSE, they (the MONADS) are the eternally bound-together
micro-universes of force and energy, and each is centered in a single
compound unity.
Thus, paradoxically, they (as evolving Units) are composites of three great
factors. The BHAGAVAD GITA would say:
(1) purity or SPIRIT (Sattva);
(2) inertia or MATTER (Tamas); and,
(3) intelligence, activity, DESIRE and MIND (Rajas). [S D II 79]
In the S D, Vol. I, p. 200 is a diagram that illustrates this. The
triangle above the 4 planes of manifestation, in which the two Arcs of
Descent [a, b, c] and of Ascent [e, f, g] occur, may be said to represent
this eternal Spiritual [Three-in-One] Monadic stability.
Below, in the 4 planes, we find the 7 Principles and Globes displayed in
their universal sequence. [see also S D I 157-8 (for man), and S D II
596 (for the Universe). Globe D [the present position of most “Human
Monads”] represents the "Balance point” of all Evolutionary journeys, and
ours in particular.
As I understand it, THEOSOPHY teaches the ARC OF DESCENT represents the
universal manvantaric effort (carried forward from an earlier Manvantara)
and process, to assist all MONADS (and these are immortal entities of
"individualized force and power") to improve their intelligence as they are
more deeply involved in the phenomena of matter. Then, passing the
mid-point the Arc of Ascent is entered. [ see S D I 150fn ]
It is a universal process, and we are an intelligent part of it. We are
individuals, and not "robots" under some special constraint, nor are we some
playthings of a "Superior Power." Yet, we follow and assist in the
universal scheme -- just as pupils enter and assist in the work of their
schools. We are always free, and yet we are bound to wider constraints as
represented in the great laws of KARMA, which can be seen operating widely
as consubstantiality, analogy and universal brotherhood.
Every man-bearing globe, or planet, commences its evolution in this fashion.
In this, we perceive the effort to transform the selfishness and the
isolation of ignorance and vice into the consciously self-controlled and
voluntary virtues of brotherhood, concern and care for all other beings.
The key concept to grasp is that nothing ever "dies" as an individual
"monad" of a singular force/power. It is only transformed, and it retains
the memory of all its past travels and experiences. It also has its own
limited local and personal control, and is aware of its own individuality
and the circumstances of its present limitations at all times. It is
neither created nor destroyed. It IS. It always has BEEN.
THEOSOPHY teaches: -- The immortal and eternal Monads (ourselves as
mind-monads, and all the rest at their own levels of intelligence) pass
through the experiences succeedingly offered in this vast universal School
of Life: passing through the elemental, mineral, vegetable and animal
forms, before entering the human kingdom where self-consciousness (and its
moral duties, and responsibilities) are acquired and used in the human form.
Each of these "forms" is comprised of innumerable "monads of lesser
experience" -- 'beginners ?' [ those are said to be monads which have just
emerged from the "Monadic Essence" (S D I 176, 178-0, 619-20)] -- and
the process benefits them as well as the "Monads of longer and superior
intelligence" (us). Beyond and above us, so to say, are the Masters of
Wisdom -- they are the earlier graduates of this School and are our
instructors and also as our HIGHER SELF, they are our indwelling tutors (see
S D I 247. 573, 638-9; II 167, 247, 254-5, 272, 58;).
For us, all this takes place on our Earth (and we, as self-conscious monads
in and on it) are no exception. The same processes are taking place
elsewhere in the Universe on other man-bearing globes and planets.
The 1st Vol. of the SECRET DOCTRINE describes this ancient and universal
process. The first half of Vol. 2 particularizes this process historically
for us and for our present World. It brings us through the first set of 3
Rounds to this the 4th. up to the present: the Fourth Round, 4th Globe (G),
and the 5th (Aryan) Race.
It is the immortal and eternal Monadic Spirits that enter and work in and
through all Matter (also consisting of immortal monads which are then, as
"beginners," in the process of developing their personal and individual
intelligence) that first enter the – that was the "Descending Arc."
Later, after the "balance point" (S D I 150 fn) has been passed,
evolution for those same immortal Monads begins the process of the
'spiritualizing of matter' -- and, the development of moral and ethical
rectitude on a purely voluntary basis -- from that spring the virtues:
compassion, generosity, altruism and nobility, which may be seen ever more
active in the "Ascending Arc."
This is the evolution of individualized "Spiritual Intelligence” (ATMA -
BUDDHI - MANAS) out of its sojourn and many reincarnations in "Human Forms"
of matter.
Briefly put, we might say, as a guess, that our present Kama-Manas (lower
Brain-mind) will rejuvenate and transform itself (by imposing on itself the
observing of a strict moral code of brotherhood and virtue) into
Buddhi-Manas (the Higher Altruistic Mind or Wisdom) -- this will require a
continued effort for some future lives and ages to come. We have just passed
the mid-point some 18 million years ago.
It is not to be thought that this process is solely for the benefit of
ourselves as the monadic "Spirits." No. They each have a duty to enter and
assist in the evolution of those "monads of lesser experience" which make up
the "forms of matter" that they use. [S D II 167; I 207-8] The form
of matter should not be considered to be an index of intelligence.
We make our own destiny, our choices determines that. In so doing we
participate in the destiny and fate of our “brothers.” We learn the logic of
generosity, of compassion and brotherly love, and we find that we are very
much "our brothers keepers."
In both the Arcs the one force and power that is ever "dominant" is Karma --
the uniform law of justice and equity for all. This is most important to
grasp.
"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. p. 23
Please consider these:
LIGHT AND DARKNESS -- ABSOLUTENESS
"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."
TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE, p. 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. p. 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. p. 84
============================================
MANIFESTATION
GREAT BREATH -- PULSATION
“…. 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.” SD I 27
"...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
“…to the follower of the true Eastern archaic Wisdom, to him who worships
in spirit nought outside the absolute Unity, that ever pulsating great
“Heart” that beats throughout, as in every atom of nature, each such atom
contains a germ from which he may raise the Tree of Knowledge, whose fruits
give life eternal and not physical life alone…the Force which directs its
[the seeds’] growth, the ever mysterious, as the ever unknown…this is the
only force that has a reality for him, as it is the never-dying breath of
life.” SD II 588-9
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. p. 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. p. 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. p. 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. p. 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. p. 28
MAN -- HUMANITY
"Every living creature, of whatever description, was, is, or will become a
human being in one or another Manvantara." Trans. p. 23
"Freewill 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. p. 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
"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. p. 24
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. p. 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 [see p. 94] periodically from it--not
by it."
Trans. p. 30
"In all cosmogonies the first differentiation was considered feminine. It
is mulaprakriti [Maha-Buddhi] 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 anthropomorphised 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. p. 2-3
"On the first plane of differentiation there is no sex--to use the term for
convenience' sake--but both sexes exist potentially in primordial matter.
Matter is the root of the word "mother" and therefore female; But there
are two kinds of matter.
The undifferentiated, primordial matter is not fecundated by some act in
space and time, fertility and productiveness being inherent in it.
Therefore
that which emanates or is born out of that inherent virtue is not born from,
but through it...that virtue or quality is the sole cause that this
something
manifests through its vehicle; whereas on the physical plane, Mother-matter
is not the active cause but the passive means and instrument of an
independent cause." Trans. p. 87-8
"..."the seventh vibration" applies to both the First, and to the manifested
Logos--the first out of Space and Time, the second, when Time has commenced.
It is only when "the mother swells" that differentiation sets in, for when
the first Logos radiates through primordial and undifferentiated matter
there is as yet no action in chaos...[it] is the first [vibration] which
announces the Dawn, and is a synonym for the First or unmanifested Logos.
There is no Time at this stage.
There is neither Space nor Time when beginning is made; but it is all in
Space and Time, once that differentiation sets in. At the time of the
primordial
radiation, or when the Second Logos emanates, it is Father-Mother
potentially,
but when the third or manifested Logos appears, it becomes the
Virgin-Mother."
Trans. p. 93-4
"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 ]
MAN AND CONSCIOUSNESS
"...while Consciousness is not a thing per se, Mind is distinctly--in its
Manvantaric functions at least--an Entity...mind is a term perfectly
synonymous with Soul..." Trans. p 29
"The instinctual mind finds expression through the cerebellum, and is also
that of the animals. With man during sleep the functions of the cerebrum
cease, and the cerebellum carries him on to the Astral plane, a still more
unreal state than even the waking plane of illusion; for so we call this
state...And the Astral plane is still more deceptive, because it reflects
indiscriminately the good and the bad, and is so chaotic." Trans. p. 27
"[the Lower Manas] is susceptible of hallucinations about space and time;
for instance, a man in the dreaming state may live in a few seconds the
events of a lifetime. For the perceptions and apprehensions of the Higher
Ego there is neither space not time." Trans. p. 27
"The human brain is an exhaustless generator of the most refined quality of
cosmic force out of the low, brute energy of Nature; and the complete adept
has made himself a center from which radiate potentialities that beget
correlations upon correlations through Æons of time to come.”
Theos. Art. & Notes, p. 291
"...we all regard ourselves as Units, although essentially we are one
indivisible Unit, drops in the ocean of Being, not to be distinguished from
other drops. Having then produced this cause, the whole discord of life
follows immediately as an effect; in reality it is the endeavor of nature
to restore harmony and maintain equilibrium. It is the sense of
separateness which is the root of all evil." Trans. p. 30
MEMORY
"Our "memory" is but a general agent, and its "tablets," with their
indelible impressions, but a figure of speech; the "brain-tablets" serve
only as a upadhi or a vahan (basis or vehicle) for reflecting at a given
moment the memory of one or another thing.
The record of past events, of every minutest action, and of passing
thoughts, in fact, are really impressed on the imperishable waves of the
Astral Light, around us, and everywhere, not in the brain alone; and
these mental pictures, images, and sounds, pass from these waves in
the consciousness of the personal Ego or
Mind (the lower Manas) whose grosser essence is astral, into the "cerebral
reflectors," so to say, of our brain, whence they are delivered by the
psychic to the sensuous consciousness. This at every moment of the day, and
even during sleep." Theos. Articles & Notes, p. 209
PANTHEISM [GOD is EVERYWHERE]
"The term "Pantheism" is again one of...many abused terms, whose real and
primitive meaning has been distorted by blind prejudice and a one-sided view
of it. If you accept the Christian etymology of this compound word, and
form it of pan, "all," and theos, "god," and then imagine and teach that
every stone and every tree in Nature is a God or the ONE God, then...you
will...make of Pantheists fetish-worshipers, in addition to their legitimate
name. But you will hardly be as successful if you etymologize the word
Pantheism esoterically....
When we speak of the Deity and make it identical, and hence coeval,
with Nature, the eternal and uncreate nature is meant, and not your
aggregate of flitting shadows and finite unrealities...Our DEITY is
neither in a paradise, nor in a particular tree, building, or mountain:
it is every-where, in every atom of the visible as of the invisible Cosmos,
in, over, and around every invisible atom and divisible molecule; for
IT is the mysterious power of evolution and involution, the omnipresent,
omnipotent, and even omniscient creative potentiality."
Key To Theosophy, pp. 63-4
"Pantheism may be "physically rediscovered." It was known, seen, and felt
by the whole of antiquity. Pantheism manifests itself in the vast expanse
of the starry heavens, in the breathing of the seas and oceans and the
quiver of life of the smallest blade of grass.
Philosophy rejects the one finite and imperfect God in the universe...
It repudiates in its name of Philo-Theo-Sophia the grotesque idea that
infinite,
Absolute Deity should, or rather could, have any, whether direct or
indirect,
relation to finite evolutions of matter, and therefore cannot imagine a
universe
outside that Deity, or the latter absent from the smallest speck of animate
or
inanimate substance." Secret Doctrine I, 533
==================================
Best wishes,
Dallas
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