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January 1965 to Mars 1965

Pages 140-142 – The Theosophical Movement – January 1965 (pp. 124-126)

The Absolute or Parabrahm is not realizable in the sense that our own Higher Self is realizable. The Absolute has a relation with the manifested universe; its nature, therefore, can be “sensed,” for this is the word that H.P.B. uses. Now what is sensed by a higher spiritual organism is not expressible in words; the thought is too high and the ideation is too lofty. Our own inner Ego catches the influence through this higher sensing, but is not able to explain it to others. Let us take an example in ordinary affairs. People often understand a teaching with the help of their own mind or intuition, but they are not able to explain it to others. It is because what is sensed by instinct or intuition is not brought down to the plane of Manas where it can be explained. Selfconsciousness understands and explains. Intuitive spiritual consciousness has a sense of its own and there is inner realization, but there is also the inability to give expression to that realization. Law and being are not created by the Absolute. They are the coeval and coeternal expressions in manifestation or out of manifestation of the Absolute. This is a metaphysical proposition which it is important for us to understand.

Laya Centres are a fascinating metaphysical study. Laya Centre is the original foundation Centre of a universe to which material forces are attracted, while from within the Centre Alayic forces express themselves. If you read in the S.D., Vol. I, how the Earth Chain was formed after the close of the Moon Chain, you will know. Alaya, the Universal Soul, is that which is not bound by Laya, though on the Spirit side It functions without feeling any limitation. It is the same as the closing verse of the 10^th Chapter of the Gita: Krishna manifests as the entire universe, but remains separate.

Beings arise out of Be-ness by the process of Becoming. Be-ness, Becoming, Being is the triple manifestation in evolution. Now, Being implies entity, but not in our sense of the term. Arupa-formless forms are abstractions to us from this plane. They are concrete forms of their own plane. Formless forms may be understood correspondentially. A square on paper is really a formal representation of a cube in a higher dimension; a circle is a globe; and so on. Forms of elementals, gods, Dhyanis, may be conceived by the personal consciousness of man, only partially, imaginatively, and often such conceiving is grotesque. What is the Arupa-loka of Devachan? S.D. (Vol. I) speaks of Lipikas and Four Maharajahs. Some of these exalted Beings are not finite, as we know it, nor infinite, metaphysically and cosmically speaking. The whole universe is finite in manifestation and within the finite cosmos there are formless forms and familiar three-dimensional forms.

The confusion in your mind in reference to the three kingdoms of elementals and the three qualities of nature must be removed. It does not mean that one kingdom of elementals is Sattvic, another kingdom is Rajasic, and the third is Tamasic. The three qualities of nature or Prakriti are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, they are the powers belonging to Mulaprakriti. They do not express themselves in three different kingdoms. Thus in our Manasic nature itself there is the expression of the Tamasic, the Rajasic and the Sattvic qualities. Monads themselves can be divided at the very dawn of manifestation into three groups. Just as in the human kingdom there are men full of inertia and other men full of activity and a third class of men full of rhythm and truth, so also in the elementals. Nature manifests itself in three aspects and these are the Gunas, the qualities or attributes of nature. Now we are embodied beings and we are environed by lives from high to low degrees of density, and these lives are Tamasic, Rajasic and Sattvic. It is necessary for you to get the difference in your mind between identity and correspondence. The three elemental kingdoms may for the purposes of study be made to correspond to the three qualities, but it does not mean that each quality manifests itself only in one kingdom.

If the knower is absolved from nature then he is absolved from the three Gunas. He is in his pure state and the three qualities of the Self are not the three qualities of nature. In the final analysis, metaphysically speaking, Sat, Chit, Ananda are the three aspects of the Self. Ichchha, Gnyan, Kriya are the psychological three aspects of consciousness; they are rendered as faith, which comes from our very existence, Sat; powers are from the Chit aspect of consciousness; and actions are the creative aspect related to pleasure or Ananda.

As to your question about the Voice image of the Bird of Life: The Great Bird is the Universe in motion. It is the Logos in manifestation, the great or macrocosmic Hamsa; and so man in motion is the yogi who makes his own movements and motion coincide with those of the Great Cycle. Look up in the Glossary under “Hamsa.” The two wings, at our stage of evolution, are Wisdom and Compassion or knowledge and love, and on these we rise, by motions of yoga — Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi — till we become the All. It is a fascinating symbol. Buddhas are called Hamsas; by Wisdom the Buddha teaches, but there is Love which enables him to forgive intelligently, and when we accept his love or compassion we truly begin to understand.

Kala Hamsa represents Eternity. It is the Time aspect; it is Duration. To live in the Eternal is to master past, present and future or to bestride Kala Hamsa.

The gift of the Divine Eye is not intuition; it is higher Clairvoyance. (See S.D., “Eye of Dangma.”) It is the Single Eye which beholds the whole universe at once, and understands. The memory of Nature and its results are felt and known in self-consciousness in an Arupic, formless way. It has been said that the formless forms have a form — the archetypal form. It is said that the Mahatmic consciousness expresses the powers of all gods and goddesses. Master, says Judge, is everywhere. all the time, and so identical with the great Law of Righteousness. It is difficult to comprehend by our three-dimensional vision. The Eye of the mind sees things one by one and then by groups; it is the Eye of the Heart that sees by one supreme feeling. On the lower human plane, deep, unselfish love of one person for another understands, appreciates the goodness, forgives and tries to mend the blemishes and weaknesses.

I am not surprised at the enquiry arising in your mind as you read page 183 of Mr. Crosbie’s Friendly Philosopher. You must get hold of the point of view that the memory, when transferred to a personality, even of a previous incarnation, must go through Skandhas. What Mr. Crosbie is trying to convey is that the Skandhaic memory reasserts itself in a new body. Billiards playing is not necessarily the memory of the spiritual Ego but of the personal lives that make up our lower members. The reincarnated Ego is the higher Manas, that which gets into the body as a ray or beam of that higher Manas, but that ray never remains intact or pure, but is mixed up with the Skandhas and therefore becomes a complex entity. The memory of the Skandhas is one thing, and the memory of the spiritual Ego or higher Manas is a totally different thing. What Mr. Crosbie is trying to convey is that the memory of the Skandhas of previous incarnations can manifest itself in the new body of this incarnation. Therefore the assemblage of Skandhas of the previous body must belong to a power here, very recent in time.

Pages 143-144 – The Theosophical Movement – February 1965 (pp. 169-170)

As to the position of the stars and real Astrology: Judge has said that it is not solitary stars or sidereal bodies that affects us but the whole dome — the complete conjunction of all the bodies in the firmament it is that affects us. I would not bother to get a horoscope prepared for any child that is born. Please see what Vol. I of the S.D. says — the section on Karma and Cycles.

In an early volume of The Theosophical Movement [Vol. XIII, January 1943] we have reprinted several articles on astrology. The basic principle of the whole process is well described by H.P.B. in S.D., Vol. I, p. 646. All prognostications are founded upon cyclic computations. The chart of the heavens is a photograph, so to speak, which says, “Such-and-such an influence is now due” — like the clock or watch which we use. We determine that our breakfast is at eight, but the watch tells us, “Now it is eight; go for your breakfast.” Do you get me?

Suppose instead of saying that heavenly bodies affect us we say that we make an impress on heavenly bodies in their respective motions, and we will be able to glimpse the truth. But not only humans so affect; all the visible and invisible kingdoms affect the bodies of the sky. But it is true, it is well-nigh impossible to calculate what any particular person will do at a given moment; the free will of man is in itself a motion and for most an erratic motion. Then, H.P.B. speaks in the S.D. (I. 572) about the star of the personality which changes at every incarnation and the Manvantaric star of the Individuality.

The question of free will arises only in the human kingdom. So astrology has its correspondence in natural impulse and then in self-induced ways and means. It is difficult to reconcile determinism and free will. But the force of will, in quality as in quantity, to be exerted by a person is calculable by an Adept, maybe a very high-grade Adept.

The passage you ask about in The Voice of the Silence [pp. 39-40] is puzzling, especially the Sun “falling” and becoming a planet. By analogy and example we can grasp at least one meaning. Think of a great scholar who, instead of going on with securing further knowledge, takes a teaching job in a college to help a certain grade of pupils who are stuck because there is no one to teach them. Venus points the way; it is by turns the morning star Lucifer and then the evening star Hesper; the Goddess of Wisdom, patron, so to speak, of the Higher-Mind Hierarchy. She is responsible for the Birth of Man and also for his Passing. Our Higher Manas should and does point out to us the way; and when it is active in us, even for a while, it energizes and inspires us to serve other souls and minds. Mars is the God of War and Love; our higher aspirations fight our lower desires — or ought to; the lower desires conquering lower Manas is the material aspect and similarly love. There is the blind Cupid and the all-seeing Eros — the Love that sees and understands. The watchful single-eye of Mars sweeps over slumbering humanity. Read what the Glossary says about Kamadeva. Mercury is the God of Wisdom — Budha—the Patron-Saint of all who seek the Secret Wisdom, Gupta Vidya. The Power of Protection comes from It or Him. These Dhyanis symbolize forces and powers of significance in Occultism.

In more than one place it is stated that Planets stand for Regents or Dhyanis whose Homes these Planets are. Every Planet has a Dhyani-Buddha, and in each of the seven Hierarchies there are Intelligences, and so each Manas as Thinker belongs to a “House” as they say in astrology. The S.D. says that a Planet results in evolution after a long travelling.

The seven groups are evolving along seven lines. Let us compare them to seven professions — architect, engineer, lawyer, doctor, artist, etc. No one is superior or inferior to the others. They are different and equally useful to civic life. The difference in the seven Rays or Lodges is not of powers and knowledge and virtues as of technique. They all have the power to know and to serve, but each Ray has a technique of its own. Of course individualistic differences do seem to persist. Shelley and Keats are both poets with intuition; there is similarity of message but difference of technique.

Pages 145-147 – The Theosophical Movement – March 1965 (pp. 212-214)

As to Judge: there is the outer body and the outer personality of Irish descent, and then comes the change in him as a boy and there begins an inner process which attracts the Nirmanakaya to whom H.P.B. refers in one place. He is called “the greatest of the Exiles.” To us Judge represents, or should represent, the lay-chela, then the probationary chela, then the accepted chela walking upwards to Adeptship. The mystery of Judge is in the paper on the “Borrowed Body” [The Theosophical Movement, March 1939]. For the sake of comparison also read “A Hindu Chela’s Diary” [The Theosophical Movement, April and May 1940]. Judge’s articles are a clue, and especially his letters.

Our civilization has developed the personal and the mental more and that at the cost of the spiritual. Kama rules the personal man in almost everyone and mind is used to support selfishness. The great “scientists” and “leaders” in other departments of life are fast approaching Atlantean pride and selfishness, and the hoi polloi become admiring followers. How many dream of a higher living and its reality? We are heading for a huge downfall. In that connection you must remember the very last aphorism on Karma. Collapse of civilization takes place on more than one plane and the worthy may be “called and warned.” So, be ever on the watch and do not miss a single warning word which may come to your conscience or to your consciousness.

We have to rise above sattva, but how are we to jump from rajas to beyond sattva? If we could make a list, let us say of all that the Gita puts forward of sattvic tendencies — food, steadfastness, buddhi, charity, tapas, sacrifice, death, etc. — we would get an idea of how to get through these to the higher state. As Judge says, from rajasika region we must rise to touch the hem of the garment of sattva. We have some sattva, but we are immersed in rajas; we have to get sattvic where we are not. I may eat sattvic food, but I may not be using my food-sattva to develop sattva in steadfastness or in sacrifice.

In answer to the very important point raised in your letter about moral refinement in the human act: What is given by Master in the letter to Mr. Hume, reprinted as U.L.T. Pamphlet No. 29, contains very explicit statements. You speak of transmuting gross energy; that you cannot do. You can transmute your thoughts and feelings, attracting to them a refined energy or vitality. The kind of vitality which energizes our thoughts and feelings depends upon the latter. To take an example: Your tailor cannot fit on you the clothes of a boy of five! He would have to make appropriate clothes of that size. The clothes are like Prana; the man himself, like thoughts and feelings. Of course it is true that your thought-feelings not only produce thoughts clothed in refined Prana but also act directly or indirectly on the matter or lives making up your body. Hope this is clear to you.

Sensitivity is both for Adept and medium lines. It is conscious receptivity in the case of the former and unconscious passivity in the medium. Receptivity is from two sides: from within —to the influence and working of Manas-Buddhi; secondly, via the astral, Nature’s influences penetrate from without inwards. Now, in almost everyone this dual action takes place, so to speak, automatically. When we come across psychic-spiritual knowledge the process of medium-adept influences begins. All of us are in some measure mediumistic, i.e., passive, prone to fantasy which, as the Key footnote points out, is the enemy of meditation, i.e., conscious, deliberate positivity. Our Esoteric Philosophy teaches us to control brain-mind action, to be deliberate, to reflect upon the nature of the Inner Monad and to unfold receptivity of both types. On the Adept line we develop into Mediators; on the other, into mediums. This distinction is also made and explained in Isis.

About moods and cyclic impressions and return: Judge’s pamphlet is definite. Cycles of moods are apt to become smaller and there is a great deal of overlapping. Of course conditions bring about moods, but what brings about conditions? Let us say a person gets depressed every evening after sunset and before real darkness descends. In this instance it is not so very difficult to get over the depressed mood, for the cause of the depression happens to be a natural psychic phenomenon — the change of magnetism of the Earth, i.e., of the Earth’s surface in relation to the sun’s radiation. Solar-earth magnetism affects our human magnetism, called Animal Magnetism (see Glossary). Having acquired the knowledge, one is able to handle the situation and apply the remedy. But often both conditions and moods are manufactured by us and that causes confusion. Elementals or nature spirits are so intimate a part of our being that we take their actions as our own, which, Egoically speaking, is not so. Automatism is a factor to be taken into our calculation. The invisible affects us and in the brain we do not know it.

The overlapping of moods mixes us up. Judge has laid down the principles in his article on the return of Cyclic Impressions. If we accept them we will act to prevent and cure will follow. We need not bother about calculating now and here when a particular mood is due; we know it is bound to come; let us be ready to meet it, prepared not to fall prey to it. To keep engaged in study and service in the spirit of sacrifice is the best protection and ready at hand is the remedy — always and ever.

In Jagrat the best preparation for sleep is made. The Supreme Spirit and Its ray in each of us have to be brought as close as possible in the brain and the heart by right metaphysical study joined to ethics and of course application; then, by the knowledge about Masters and the Great Lodge — Their Nature and Powers. They become our bridge to the Supreme Spirit.

Don’t regret your longish sleep hours. Sleep nourishes the body and gives the consciousness an opportunity to be free from attending to the senses and the organs. Do not worry about not dreaming; you are; you are not remembering, but is that truly important? You may think and feel you are blank on waking up; but do you feel fresh, well energized. awake to the joys of birth — a new day, not only for the body but for the whole personality?

The subject of food and population is naturally uppermost in the minds of many people because they are confusing the issues. It is not overpopulation that causes the food problem; the food problem is independent and is the cause of overpopulation. This is the thesis that is advanced more and more, but India is always years behind the findings of the highest and best authorities in the Western world. Our Theosophical views on the subject of population are very clear. The Theosophical attitude is more towards what Gandhiji has put forward in his two volumes on self-control and self-restraint.

How is your work among your children —the poor? Love them with a wise love and help them with understanding. Try to remove the causes of evil and do not only work with effects in a superficial manner.