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Theosophical Siftings

Consciousness

Vol 7, No 7

Consciousness
by R.B. Holt
Reprinted from "Theosophical Siftings" Volume 7 The Theosophical Publishing Society, England

Page !" T#ERE are $ery fe% %ho ha$e not at some time or other as&ed themsel$es, " #o% is it that ' &no%, and %hat are these successi$e stages of perception that %e summarise as life ( " )adame *la$ats&y recommends us to bring all things do%n to states of consciousness+ That is, to strip mas& after mas& from each phenomenon, till at last %e realise that our &no%ledge of things is all that they are, or can be, to us, nay, that the Soul itself is nothing beyond thin&ing, i.e+, e$ol$ed "consciousness", and ["-oga Sutra of Patan.ali" Page /] that Chida&asam, the field of consciousness, is the only one permanent condition in the 0ni$erse+ Clearly then, a right understanding of [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page /34] consciousness or "the po%er by %hich things realise themsel$es" is a [Ra.a -oga+ Sri V5&ya6 Sudh5, Page 7] matter of primary importance to e$eryone+ Therefore, %ithout pretending to any authority, ' %ill endea$our to place before you %hat leading occultists say on this interesting sub.ect, and in passing, ' %ill ma&e such comments on their teaching as may seem right and reasonable to me+ 8ell, %e are told that "matter, life, form and consciousness constitute our lo%er 9uaternary and this is dominated by the angel incarnate+" 'f [Thoughts on the *haga$ad :ita, Page 119] %e can succeed in strengthening this hypothesis %e shall ha$e done something to%ards sol$ing the mystery of being, before %hich 8estern philosophers admit that their "science stands baffled and appalled"+ *ut in attempting this %e must ne$er forget the caution gi$en us by #+P+*+, that [#eredity, Page ;4] " no Theosophist ought to claim infallibility for anything he may say or [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page ;<=] %rite on occult matters+" The >riental $ie% of this sub.ect is %ell e?pressed in @Thoughts on the Bhagavad GitaA, %here %e read, " 'f you grant that the entire cosmos is one $ast machine %ith a most beautiful ad.ustment of parts manifested on the atomic basis, you must also grant that beneath this ob.ecti$e aspect and ser$ing as its support there must be a psychical manifestation %hich [Thoughts on the *haga$ad :ita, Page <<] may be called force6matter+ Burther, belo% this there must be the cosmos made up of the substance of consciousness+ This substance is, of course, sub.ecti$e to us and is described in the Puranas as a &ind of Te.as or pure flame"+ This is the cosmic aspect, in %hich Parabrahm stands in the same relation to consciousness that the Ego does on our plane+ No% it is self6e$ident that a man must be before he can become conscious, e$en of his o%n being, and that till he distinguishes the " ' " from the "Not '", indi$iduality does not e?ist to him, therefore that "being" may %ell be regarded as the substance of consciousness+ #o% %e "are" Page <" the %isest of us cannot say, but all thin&ers intuiti$ely predicate a boundless *e6ness in %hich countless millions of correlated 'ndi$idualities li$e, mo$e, and ha$e their being+ >bser$ation teaches us that each of these 'ndi$idualities has its degree of consciousness, and as consciousness is unthin&able apart from intelligence, %hile Page 7

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e$ery effect necessitates a cause, %e logically endea$our to satisfy our need to &no% by concluding that there is a uni$ersal 'ntelligence %hich is the prototype of our mental manhood+ #a$ing done this, %e regard our physical bodies as the tangible manifestations of special ideas %hich are first intuited in the consciousness of this uni$ersal 'ntelligence, and then demonstrated as particular beings+ *eyond this %e cannot go, for %e cannot thin& of Cosmos as non6e?istent, %hile as )a? )uller %ell says, [Dnthropological Religion" Page 34] "To attempt to &no% %hat a thing is by itself, is to &no% a thing as %e do not &no% it, i.e+, noumenally+ Nothing can be real to us unless it submits to be phenomenal+ Nothing can be ob.ecti$e to us e?cept in the forms of our sub.ecti$e consciousness"+ 8hile 1$i$edi tells usE FDn Dd$aitin ta&es the material uni$erse as it is and at once 9uestions [Ra.a -oga, Page 2!] himself %hat are the ob.ects around him+ #e concludes that as consciousness can ne$er transcend itself, and as ob.ects are only perceptible by a series of changes reflected in and through this $ery consciousness, the nature of a thing per se can ne$er be &no%n+ That it is is a fact beyond dispute, %hat it is beyond a certain name and form it is difficult or impossible to say+ 't is absurd to thin& of e?istence %ithout consciousness or thought, and all ob.ects, e$en prime matter, are compounds of thought and being"+ Thus the occultist and scientist are practically agreed, and #+P+*+ says that >ccultism teaches that "an Dbsolute 1eity, ha$ing to be unconditioned [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page7/4] and unrelated, cannot be thought of at the same time as an acti$e, creating, and li$ing :od, %ithout an immediate degradation of the ideal"+ Therefore the Cause of all causes is e$er inscrutable to us, and the constant alternations of cause and effect are but another form of the old philosophical cru? as to %hether hens e?isted before eggs, or eggs %ere anterior to hens+ Get us then not %aste our time o$er such unprofitable speculations, but admitting that each of us is an incarnated intelligence, possessed of finite po%ers, but infinite possibilities, endea$our by means of occult teaching to get a right understanding of %hat is termed consciousness+ Scientifically consciousness is defined " H7I as the &no%ledge of sensations and mental operations, or of %hat passes in oneFs o%n mindE the act of the mind %hich ma&es &no%n an internal ob.ect, H2I immediate &no%ledge of any ob.ect %hate$er"+ Thus, e$en in the common acceptation of the term, consciousness is &no%ledge beyond either thought or sensation+ 'n this, science is in accord %ith >ccultism" %hich teaches that, "on e$ery plane, percepti$e life proper, i.e+, consciousness, begins on the astral planeFF and that "it is not the physical or ob.ecti$e molecules %hich see, hear, etc+" Page /" %hile both science and >ccultism %ould admit that these molecules are instruments through %hich consciousness cogniJes manFs correlation %ith other forms of being+ *ut here >ccultism uses a special term, and that a $ery perple?ing one, for it can hardly be said to ha$e either a definite or a uniform meaning+ Etymologically, "astral" should ha$e some reference to the stars, but in >ccultism this is rarely the case+ )rs+ *esant tells us "that it is applied to [Small :lossary, Page /] all &inds of matter too subtle to be sensed by our present organs"+ This appears to mean that the term is used to designate the physical elements of things %hich, to most of us, e?ist only as possible perceptions+ Then "Dstral is identified %ith shining, pellucid in $arious degrees, from a 9uite filmy to a $ascid state"+ [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page 2/7] 'n another place it is translated "'n$isible"+ *ut BranJ #artmann e?plains that in >ccultism a star means a state, %hile a fi?ed star is a fi?ed state of a po%er in nature, a manifestation of 0ni$ersal Gife or Dll6Consciousness, and this %e may ta&e to be the real meaning of it+ [>ccult Science in )edicine", Page 2]

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"The Dstral plane is identified %ith the ne?t higher order of matter [Small :lossary, Page /] than that %hich our present senses percei$e, and therefore its $ibrations do not affect them+ The finer senses, ho%e$er, %hich lie %aiting to be de$eloped in each of us can percei$e astral matter, as in Clair$oyance"+ 't is also called "The Ner$e Plane" and "Psychic 8orld of super6sensuous Perceptions, and of decepti$e sight" [The Voice of the Silence, Page 7/] , %hile Dstral Gight is defined as [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 2/!] "Electro6magnetic Ether, the $ital and luminous caloric", " Primordial [ ibid, Page 7!] Principle, the 8isdom of Chaos", " The )otherE the Cosmic Soul," and [ ibid, Page !;7] is said to be " The :enerator and 1estroyer of all forms"+ ['sis 0n$eiled, Volume 7, Page 7!4] Consciousness then belongs to a plane that is still physical, though the matter of it is e?tremely rarefied+ The idea appears to be that %e ha$e an intangible counterpart of our tangible body, that this counterpart has finer organs of sense, %hich correspond %ith our physical organs, ta&e up the $ibrations transmitted by them, and recreate the form %hich first imparted a special aggregate of motion to the molecules %hich had been differentiated as an organ of sense+ *ut beyond e$en this is "the ultimate recipient of &no%ledge, [ @-oga Sutras of Patan.aliA,by )anilal Nabhubhai 1$i$edi, Page !7] the real Self, Purusha", "the 1i$ine Self", "the ideal male part of [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page /7<] the Dstral Gight" + " Purusha is all &no%ledge, the indescribable cause and [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 73;] essence of consciousness", " %hile as the sole attributes of Dtma are *e6ness, [-oga Sutra of Patan.ali, Page /3] consciousness and bliss" it is really $ery difficult to discriminate bet%een ")editations of Vasude$a", Volume /, Page /7" them, in fact #artmann asserts that "Spirit is consciousness on e$ery plane of e?istence" [">ccult Science in )edicine", Page ;<] , and he continues, "There is no dead matter in the uni$erseE each thing is a representation of a state of consciousness in [>ccult Science in )edicine, Page 74] nature, e$en if its state of consciousness differs from ours, and is therefore beyond the reach of our recognition, e$erything is a manifestation of )ind e$en if it does not e?hibit any intelligent functions, or %hat %e are capable Page ;" of recognising as such+" 8hile in the " )editations of Vasude$a " %e read, page ;;, @Dtma through the $ehicles of )aya and D$idya attains the states of 'sh%ara and Ki$a .ust as a man becomes a father and grandfatherA+ They are only different states of one being+ >f course it is impossible to gi$e tangible proof of intangible substance to those %ho can use only physical organs, but do %e not constantly accept other e$idence in parallel cases ( The )oons of )ars are in$isible to an unaided $ision, yet %e accept the testimony of competent %itnesses and gi$e a 9ualified assent to the e?istence of those orbs+ No% .ust as %e belie$e astronomers %hen they tell us that anyone %ho loo&s in the right direction at the right time, through a suitable telescope, %ill see 1eimos and Phobos re$ol$ing round the distant planet, so do occultists belie$e it is possible that certain men and %omen possess abnormal organs of sight %hich enable them to discern astral bodies as readily as %e do physical bodies+ To ma&e the parallel perfect %e are also told that though these organs ha$e been atrophied in most men, still the use of them can be regained by suitable means, and that e$eryone %ho re6e$ol$es them can ['sis 0n$eiled, Volume 2, Page //4] see for himself that the astral body does e?ist, that it is un9uestionably [Notes on the *haga$ad :ita, Page 2;] "the real, animal man", "The seat of his lo%er nature", "The senseless [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page 2<7] mode of the physical man"+ 'n @Notes on the *haga$ad :itaA, Page 42, Subba Ro% tells us that "an aura composes its 0padhi, or $ehicle, and that behind this aura there is the energy %hich is the basis of the feeling of Self , " i.e+, of Consciousness+ Dccording to scientific obser$ation, muscular contractility and molecular change are the transmitters of Page !

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sensation up to the limits of physical sensibility, but this is utterly inconclusi$e+ 't tells us nothing about the "*eing" %ho feels+ >ccultism asserts that "it is not the" physical or ob.ecti$e molecules %hich see, hear," etc+, but that there is an intangible recipient of tangible motion, and then tells us that "self6 consciousness begins bet%een Cama and )anas, i.e+, bet%een form and mind+ #ere "form" appears to signify the definite idea of a physical body, %hich has arri$ed at the critical condition immediately preceding ob.ecti$ity, and %hich may transiently become the image of a tangible being, %hile mind may stand for the digesti$e force of a sort of spiritual stomach, through the action of %hich, the idea, embodied in the tangible being, is absorbed by the 'nner Self, and so becomes actual &no%ledge+ 'f %e ma&e a distinction bet%een feeling and our &no%ledge of that feeling, and try to understand ho% the one becomes the other, %e seem to get some notion of the meaning of the te?t+ The 9uestion is argued thus, [Ra.a -oga by Sri V5&ya6Sudh5+ Page 7] )5y5 is the acti$e form of matter rendered so by differentiation in the uni$ersal consciousness, and it has t%o different po%ers of action+ 'ts Page 7" o$ert action Hveks'epa) multiplies the original differentiation ad infinitum, and its co$ert action HvaranaI thro%s, as it %ere, a $eil o$er the false distinctions caused by this differentiation, and thus, in a sense, perpetuates them+ So that e$olution means nothing more than infinite differentiation of the uni$ersal consciousness caused by )aya+ 't is only a panorama of names and forms, the substance e$er remaining the same+ Thus, indeed, is the distinction of the seer and the sight H%hich are really oneI produced %ithinE and also the distinction bet%een indi$iduals and the indi$idual L the Dll+ H*rahmaI %ithout+ 'n this manner that form of matter in %hich consciousness manifests itself in a tangible manner is called the subtlest form Hlinga-dehaI, but it cannot act of itself, it therefore unites itself %ith a suitable material shell and identifies itself %ith it+ This comple? form is called Ki$a in ordinary intercourse+ E$erything that is is a Ki$a, an indi$idual, for nothing is %hich has not its linga as %ell as its sthula-deha, i.e+, cause of )anas and Egoism and also its physical form+ 't must not, ho%e$er, be forgotten that though occultism denies that our sight, hearing, etc+, are the attributes of molecules, it still maintains that e$en atoms %hich constitute molecules ha$e the correspondents of these attributes, on their o%n plane+ *ut, as %ith the deniJens of e$ery plane, that consciousness is limited by their needs, and that .ust as needs e$ol$e so do organs of consciousness, till at last perception is perfected in the specialised organism, and the animal attains the totality of senses %hich is proper to our plane of being+ *y this means the astral animal becomes conscious of those special $ibrations %hich indi$idualise the "Not '", by their correlated discrepancy from the $ibrations %hich indi$idualise the " '+" 'n both cases these $ibrations are modes of the ":reat *reath", i.e+, t%o forms of one motion, each of %hich embodies a di$ine idea+ >r, to put it other%iseE )otion, can be thought of apart from that %hich mo$es, but it can be percei$ed by us only in its effect upon something that is ob.ecti$e+ This effect is apprehended by one or other of our senses in its o%n peculiar manner, and then %e &no% the ob.ect %hich embodies some modification of motion by the change %hich it causes in the $ibrations of our o%n molecular aggregation+ No%, ob.ecti$ely, neither the " ' " nor the "Not '" is self6e?istent+ They e?ist only as differentiations in the uni$ersal consciousness, and their perception of each other is an intuition of their correlation to that uni$ersal consciousness, limited by ideation+ That being so, clearly the " 'Fs" &no%ledge of the "Not ' " is, essentially, a sub6state of di$ine consciousness, or the 0nconscious ha$ing become self6conscious in another mode of being+ This becoming is logically placed bet%een Cama and )anas, i.e+, at the point %here the ob.ecti$e and sub.ecti$e are transmuted, the idea Page 4" embodied by the one being Page <

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Thus if, as asserted, our life is a succession of states of consciousness, and each state is the absorption or &no%ledge of an embodied idea, it [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page, /34] follo%s that %e successi$ely become that %hich %e &no%, or, as the Dd%aitees say, an e?ternal ob.ect is, to us, merely the product of our [-oga Sutra of Patan.ali, Page !] mental states+ This enables us to formulate some $ery important deductions+ Then 1$i$edi tells us "Consciousness is e$er oneE but the thin&ing principle transforms itself into ob.ecti$e and sub.ecti$e phenomena, and the immutable seer is for the time obscured by it, or, %hich is the same thing, is assimilated into it+" There is also another $ie% %hich has much to commend it+ The e$olution of man has carried him through e$ery e?isting form of being on the lo%er planes, conse9uently his perception of these forms may only be a resurrected consciousness, a li$ing again as he has pre$iously li$ed+ Some of us ha$e been present %hen an idea, embodied in thought, has been transferred from one consciousness to another+ This %as done .ust as readily as if the idea had been e?pressed in a material form, and the &no%ledge of it had been transmitted through the ordinary physical organs+ 'f then thought forms produce a consciousness identical %ith that produced by physical forms, do %e not appro?imate to a perception of the process by %hich the intangible becomes tangible, and the one becomes many, %hile the essential unity is e$er unbro&en ( Dnd no% ha$ing said so much about $ibrations, it beho$es me to gi$e you some authorities for attaching such great importance to them+ 8ell, Rama Prasad in his "NatureFs Biner Borces" says, " that it is not till the life6%a$e reaches humanity that the $ibrations of 's%ara, or F the collecti$e consciousness of the manifested 1eityF HSecret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 7!2I begin to sho% themsel$es in the mind+" Then the author of @Getters that ha$e #elped )eA, Page ;2, tells us thatE "The different states are only differences of $ibration, and %e do not recognise the astral and other planes because %e are out of time %ith their $ibrations", that is, our $ibrations must &eep time %ith the $ibrations of things before %e can cogniJe their modes of motion as different from our o%n modes of motion+ 8hen the rates of our $ibrations accord %ith those of others, %e are in the same state of consciousness, and ha$e the same scale of thought and action+ *ut this must not be understood as meaning that ordinary people can e$er &no% e$erything about other peopleFs pri$ate affairs+ 8e can be in accord but not in unison %ith them+ "The state of mind can be understood, but not the thought %hich occupies it"[-oga Sutras of Patan.ali by )+ N+ 1$i$edi, Page ;<] , unless a special Samyama is performed+ 'n order to e$ol$e this sympathy, %e are told thatE "The important thing is to de$elop the Self in the self, and then the possession of %isdom belonging to all %ise men at once becomes ours"+ [Getters that ha$e #elped me, Page ;!] , Page 3"

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This can be best e?plained by a 9uotation from Natures Finer Forces, %here %e read, " *y accelerating the motions of the Tat%as they become spiritual"+ That is, if %e can increase the rate of our $ital $ibrations till they &eep pace %ith those of higher beings, %e shall be able to recei$e the same intuitions that are imparted to them, and ha$e the same direct &no%ledge %hich they possess+ Nay, more, %e are told that " Dll mental action produces a change in the $ibrations of the 0ni$ersal )ind"+ This seems 9uite reasonable, for each mind is not a self6e?istent self, but a manifestation of the 0ni$ersal )ind, therefore future indi$idualiJations in the 0ni$ersal )ind must epitomise e$ery pre$ious change in the $ibrations of the 0ni$ersal )ind+ Thus each of us is accountable not only to his o%n self for the use he ma&es of the po%ers conferred upon him, but is responsible also to all future "sel$es" for the effect that his action has produced on the essentiality of their $ital $ibrations+ *ut ho%e$er much e$il may arise from indi$idual per$ersity, the 0ni$ersal )ind is e$er spiritualising, that is, 9uic&ening its $ibrations, conse9uently, the later the )anu, the more spiritual, so a time %ill come %hen the present macrocosmic mind %ill be entirely absorbed in the soul"+ [NatureFs Biner Borces, Page 7/2] 8hat %ill then be manFs life rate it is impossible for us to imagine+ )eantime, occult training enables us transiently to anticipate this e$olution+ Cundalini, "the 0ni$ersal life principle", is "an electro6spiritual forceA, [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 23!] %hich, %e are told, "mo$es in three and a half circles, [The Voice of the Silence, Page 73] and is belie$ed to encircle the procreati$e %ill of the self6e?istent 1eity"+ "'t progresses %ith an inconcei$able $elocity, and its $ibrations are s%ifter than thought" [>riental 1epartment Tracts, Page 2!]+ 8e, of course, are borne along in Cundalini, %hile to obtain a consciousness of personal egoity %e must be, for a life6point, one of the countless states %hich its motions are to us+ 'f %e picture our self as standing in a rapid current and endea$ouring to get thimblefuls out of it in order to 9uench a raging thirst, %e shall ha$e some idea of our earth6life+ 'f %e trusted our self to one of its bubbles, and allo%ed oursel$es to be borne along by the current, our tas& %ould be much easier, pro$ided %e could &eep our heads abo$e %ater, and the bubble did not burst under us+ Something analogous to this is %hat %e term -ogi practice+ The self ceases to stand in the mire of earth, or to snatch mere thimblefuls of consciousness, for %hen entranced, Cundalini bears it along faster and faster, till in Samadhi it can drin& of the $ital tide as fully and as 9uietly as if it %ere at rest, and the $ibrations, %hich no% blur one another, then become distinct perceptions, for consciousness can &eep pace %ith them+ " The conception of all things being di$ine ideas manifested by di$ine [Theosophy or Psychological Religion, by )a? )uller, Page !3/] thought, is not confined to >riental teaching+ Dristotle spea&s of a Prime )o$er, as intelligence, thin&ing itself"+ " Parmenides says thin&ing is not [ ibid , Page !;<] Page 7=" different [ ibid, Page !32] from being, because there is nothing but being, and thin&ing is [ ibid , Page !4!] thin&ing of being"+ " Socrates spea&s of the thought in all, and Dna?agoras of the Nous %hich is all things", "%hile the Clamaths, a tribe of Red 'ndians, say, FThe >ld Bather made the %orld by thin&ing and %illingF"+ Dnd the )aori of Ne% Mealand belie$e that thought, the subtlest element, first generated in the primordial night and %as [PeschellNs Races !/!] follo%ed by desire, or according to a different $ersion, thought arose first, then the spirit, and lastly matter+ )a? )uller tells us that thought [Theosophy or Psychological Religion, Page <=2] embodied in sound is the first sentient manifestation"+ " Philo Kudaeus Page ;

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teaches that :od forms to #imself an ideal in$isible %orld containing the ideas of all things+ These ideas are the patterns of all things, and the po%er by %hich :od concei$ed them is fre9uently called the 8isdom of :od"+ " 8hile the only6begotten Son is the thought of :od realised and rendered $isible to the %orld"+ These notions, therefore, occultists hold in $ery good company+ 'f it is as&ed, "8hat are the factors of consciousness (" %e are told "Ki$a and Bohat"+ Ki$a is defined as "that state in %hich Prana, or [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page <3!] 0ni$ersal Gife, becomes conscious of its indi$iduality", %hile Bohat, the energising and guiding intelligence is also an omnipresent form of consciousnessA+ [ibid, Page 4/] "'t is the $ehicle through %hich the ideas of the 0ni$ersal )ind [ibid, Page /2;] are impressed upon matter"+ " *y its action upon a compound or e$en a simple body, the phenomena %e call life are produced", conse9uently there could not be e$en atomic consciousness, or chemical affinity %ithout Bohat+ *ut though Bohat may be termed intelligence, it must not be indi$idualised [ibid, Page 777] as an intelligence+ "'t is only personified electric $ital fluid, the transcendent binding unity of all cosmic energies"+ "The acti$e male #+P+*+" potency of the female reproducti$e po%er", or as 1$i$edi [N+ *+:+, <3] calls it, "The Gight of the Gogos"+ These, therefore, li&e all other modes of consciousness, are not definite physical forms %hose outlines can be determined by our senses, but sub.ecti$e aspects or differentiations in the >ne Eternal *e6nessO 'deas through %hich the Binite can understand the 'nfinite by limiting its cognition to the aspect presented to it+ Goo&ing at it in another [-oga Sutra of Patan.ali, Page !7] mode, 1$i$edi says, "*uddhi Hor intellectI is the result of Satt$a or 9uiescence in di$ine &no%ledgeI, and is the instrument through %hich all things are percei$ed by Purusha"+ No% as consciousness is the sum of our being, and our highest possible life is a true manifestation of the di$ine *e6ness, it is e$ident that %hate$er $itiates our consciousness of that *e6ness, must also debase our *eing+ 'f then, instead of obeying the pure intuitions %hich are conse9uent from our essential >neness %ith the Ptmic prototype, and %hich e$er re$eal to us the perfect Ga% of Gife, %e re.ect the good of all, and care only Page 77" for selfish gratification, habits %ill be formed %hich render it more and more difficult for us to resist temptation+ This lessening of the possibility of %ell6doing is Carma, and the 0ni$ersalisation of egoism in his consciousness is the greatest possible alienation of )an from his #igher Self, the altruistic Dtma+ 'ts consummation is the obliteration of all consciousness of the di$ine Eternal *e6ness, and an absolute identification %ith the beast that perisheth+ Dnd no%, ha$ing considered our sub.ect some%hat generally, let us proceed to study %hat may be termed the chronology of consciousness+ >ur #igher Ego, "the ancestral heart, the reincarnating principle", is [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 22=] " the sub.ecti$e indi$idual consciousness and perception of the potential [Ra.a -oga by Sri V5&ya6 Sudh5, Page 2!] attributes of a human entity+ D unity progressing through $arious spheres or states of being"+ " 't is the consciousness in man, F ' am 'F A L "The #+P+*+" reflected image of the Gogos in Carana Sarira+" #+P+*+ tells us that [Notes on the *haga$ad :ita] " %hen the immortal Ego incarnates it becomes, as a total, a compound unit of matter and spirit, %hich, together, act on se$en different planes of [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page ;!] being and consciousness"+ 8e ha$e therefore to regard the incarnated Ego as different in itself and to itself from the homogeneous *e6ness in %hich it is a differentiation+ This difference consists in it ha$ing apparently se$en different modes of being and Page 7

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conse9uently se$en different states of consciousness+ Still, as it is an uni$ersal a?iom that nothing can e %ithout its antecedent cause, " %e may $enture to assert that the intuition %hich differentiates the idea of self, or Ego, in our consciousness must ha$e had a prototypal e?istence pre$ious to its manifestationA+ No% intuition is direct &no%ledge L that %hich comes to us %ithout a reasoning process , it is the germ %hich thought e$ol$es and reason formulates into a logical deduction, an established $erity %hich apparently becomes an instinct in our ne?t incarnation+ Thought, therefore, is impossible %ithout an antecedent intuition, and clearly %ithout thought there can be no thin&er, conse9uently as thin&er and man are synonymous terms man and intuition must ha$e e$er co6e?isted+ Then comes the 9uestion, "from %hence do %e deri$e our intuitions ( "+ ' should ans%er it in this %ay+ There is uni$ersal &no%ledge deduced from uni$ersal e?perience and stored in uni$ersal consciousness, and it does not seem unreasonable to regard intuition as the effect of an immediate contact of our finite consciousness %ith this uni$ersal consciousness, the result being that a spar&, or germ, of higher truth is transmitted to us, and then by cogitation %e are able to digest it into an instinct %hich %ill be a predisposition of our %ill in all future incarnations+ Get us see ho% this %ill %or& out+ >ur Dnte6Ego is regarded as impersonal, that is [Ra.a -oga by Sri V5&ya6Sudh5, Page !] to say, to us, a uni$ersal consciousness !as before that limitation in it, %hich %e intuit as "'", ecame+ Sub.ecti$ely, therefore, our Ego has a Page 72" past, a present, and a future, to us, %hile the uni$ersal Self is e$er present to itself, and our being is to it only a mode of consciousness, a state or aspect of *e6ness, conse9uently our hope of immortality consists in the possibility of perpetuating our special mode of consciousness in the uni$ersal consciousnessE of ma&ing our life an instinct of the di$ine lifeE an e?perience %hich %ill become a predisposition to eternal special $ibrations in the Causeless Cause of all causes+ >ccultism asserts that this is possible, nay, that no man can e$er cease to be e?cept by his o%n %ilful per$ersity+ )anFs lo%er nature is of the earth, earthly+ #is body is an aggregate of %hat science terms cells, and >ccultism calls Gi$es+ These %e regard as the simplest and most uni$ersal forms in %hich *e6ness manifests itself as life+ *ut there seems little doubt that the cell of science is a highly organised being, a %hole uni$erse of Gi$es infinitely di$erse in their forms, faculties and consciousness+ Each of these Gi$es &no%s that it is, and it is e$er stri$ing to become more than it has been+ 8e may call them the "atoms of Prana"E the sub.ecti$e constituents of $itality or the infinitesimalities %hich our most abstract consciousness can present to us as possibilities+ *ut after all %hat are they but beings li&e unto oursel$es, di$ine ideas e$ol$ing in the 0ni$ersal Consciousness, and any of them may become hereafter much more than %e are no%+ Ds for men and %omen, are they really anything but cells %hose aggregate is e$ol$ing the di$ine idea of humanity ( L and for aught %e &no% humanity itself is but a single cell in an organism that embodies a still grander idea of that life %hich is as great as it is small+ There can be no doubt that in all stages of being there is a uniform plan, the building up of the one by the aggregation of the many, and di$erse as are the functions to be performed, that plan is ne$er $aried+ The many are for the one, and the one is common to all+ *y the ad$ancement of the one its constituents progress, by its ideation their needs are e$ol$ed, their possibilities are realised, and, as the potential consciousness of the ">ne" is infinite, %e can concei$e of no bounds to the multiplication of its differentiations+ 'f %e turn to the lo%est plane, >ccultism tells us that the consciousness of Gi$es is of the simplest &ind Page 4

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represented by one un$arying oscillation through %hich consonant ob.ects are so sensed that the "'" is distinguished from the " Not ' " in a $ague, dream6li&e manner, %hile Dtma6*uddhi6)anas act only as cosmic principles+ Their in6d%elling is but a latent possibility for the indi$idual, in %hich all senses are comprised in the consciousness of Egoity+ The Gife, ho%e$er, being on the ob.ecti$e plane, it is sub.ect to the la% of duality+ The passi$e necessitates the acti$e, and their inter6action is rudimentary generation+ 1ifferentiated consciousness becomes the differentiator Page 7!" of itself, and so a higher form of being is intuited by %hich differences in the "Not '" can be obser$ed, and their relations to the " 'F rudimentarily discriminated+ Thus %hat %e term affinity is e$ol$ed, and through it ob.ecti$e being attains its primary aspiration "Collecti$e 0nity"+ The second state of consciousness is that in %hich are all the latent potentialities of human consciousness+ D+ collecti$e unity ha$ing been formed by the aggregation of many cells, being, of necessity, has become comple?+ Each cell possesses its o%n appropriate consciousness and its distincti$e characteristics+ *ut besides a multitude of indi$idual consciousnesses, no% there is also a collecti$e consciousness in %hich the common good and the collecti$e aspiration are formulated+ No% the needs of a collecti$e unity are larger and more $aried than those of an indi$idual cell+ This necessitates a differentiation of function and co6operati$e labour %hich seems to be organised in this manner+ 8hen a primordial cell di$ides, each half has a dominant differentiation, a tendency %hich impels its e$olution in a special direction, and the aim of its being is the perfection of its o%n characteristic+ The first ob.ecti$e differentiation is that of male and female, and these specialisations pre$ail on e$ery subse9uent plane of being+ *ut each se? possesses the possibility of its opposite, for each half cell becomes a %hole cell on the second plane, and then is conscious only of egoity, homogeneous and a6se?ual+ There is therefore a distinct re$ersion to the primordial state, a persistency of real unity in seeming duality+ 8hen a sub6 di$ision occurs the original plan is follo%ed, %ith results that are essentially identical, and ho%e$er deeply %e may study cell6genesis, %e find no change in the order of e$olution+ The conse9uence of this unity in di$ersity is an innate consciousness of a common antecedence, and from this consciousness an altruism is e$ol$ed %hich becomes instincti$e and per$ades each succeeding organism, gi$ing it a latent consciousness that the good of each is identified %ith the good of all+ *ut the egoism %hich characterised the cell still dominates the collecti$e unity of cells+ This egoism is the intuiti$e consciousness of infinite possibilities resulting from the antecedent identification %ith *e6ness, and this is the start point for a fuller manifestation of being+ So %hile the cell is deified on its o%n plane, the higher life has attained only to personal instinct+ Personal instinct, ho%e$er, follo%s the di$ine order of progression, and in due time becomes collecti$e consciousness, and collecti$e consciousness intuits the idea of humanity+ This idea is passi$e, but in due order it is fructified by its acti$e correlati$e "thought" Page 3

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Then man "the thin&er " is e$ol$ed in the uni$ersal Consciousness and each )onad becomes Page 7<" a cell in the spiritual *eing %ho is to be the outcome of human collecti$e consciousness+ [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page ;!] #istorically, it appears that at a certain %ell6defined point a dominant idea %as intuited, and its personification became the )anu of a ne% race+ That is a di$ine idea, demonstrated by di$ine thought, became the potential manifestation of a higher possibility of being in the consciousness that %as fitted to recei$e it+ This consciousness seminated by the intuition, clothed the idea %ith a ne% thought6personality, %hich by the la% of e$olution in due order became a physical manifestation+ Thus the one [:enesis7, 2' ] process is constantly repeated+ The germ e$er dra%s $itality from the infinite and e$ol$es the stem, the branch, the leaf and the fruit "%hose seed is in itself"+ These four may be ta&en to represent the Quaternary, %hile the root is the 0padhi of the Triad through %hich the particular dra%s egoity from the uni$ersal+ The ne?t generalisation in consciousness is that of Psychological being, the sub.ecti$e perception of a mental Cama as distinct from a physical body+ [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 77;] Cama, %e are told, is "the personification of that feeling %hich leads and propels to creation"+ 't is therefore not a tangible form, but that limitation in consciousness by %hich %e distinguish one idea from all other ideasE or perhaps %e might say it is the special $ibration of *e6ness %hich manifests in us a differentiation of being+ 't is also defined as "human egotistic $olition" L "that desire for personal gratification %hich characterises [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page /3!] our animal nature both in its physical and psychical aspects"+ "'t is the acti$e po%er producing all $ital phenomena" L " the abstract aspect of life in a %orld of illusion"+ This mode of consciousness, then, may be regarded as the idea of self6aggrandisement demonstrated by life6e?periences, and become a definite instinct in e$ery order of being+ 't can therefore be thought of as the memory of past incarnations, the mental tendencies of physical life, the EgoFs desire to be again %hate$er it has been in the past+ No% as "the change of )anu is al%ays for the better" [NatureFs Biner Borces, Page 7/2], that %hich %e have een is necessarily of a lo%er order than %hat %e are, and as %e should ine$itably ran& higher among beings of an inferior grade than %e do among those of our o%n status, %e should naturally be able to indulge our physical appetites more freely if %e could re$ert to the conditions of a past life and still retain our present functional e$olution+ *ut the desire for such physical supremacy is fatal to spiritual progressionE it is retarding our $ital $ibrations instead of stri$ing to accelerate or spiritualiJe them+ 'f the personal Ego moulds its thought6 body on an animal type, it can only function on an animal plane+ 't %ill ha$e no Page 7/" spiritual needs, therefore there %ill be no e$olution of spiritual organs, and conse9uently there can be no realiJation of higher possibilities, so the man %ill hereafter be simply a sur$i$al of an effete form of humanity+ 8e ha$e no% arri$ed at the most important point in the e$olution of man+ #e has culminated as an intellectual animal+ 'n his consciousness there is an instinct %hich e$er recalls the e?periences of past Page 7=

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incarnations and urges him to see& after past pleasures+ *ut there is also an intuition %hich prompts him to aspire to a higher life %ith nobler aims and %ider sympathies+ >n his choice depends not only his personal %ell6being, but the gro%th of humanity and the .oy of Dll+ ' %onder ho% many of us ha$e realised the a%ful responsibility %hich our manhood imposes upon us+ *uddhism says, ")anFs consciousness %ill cease to feel, but his $irtue %ill li$e and %or& out its full effect in the decrease of the misery of sentient beings", therefore, as a natural corollary, his $ice %ill also li$e after him and ["*uddhism" by Rhys 1a$ids, Page 7=<] %ill %or& for the %oe of all, and >ccultism says that, "in othersF %oes, the %oe6ma&er %ill, hereafter, be the first to suffer"+ This dual consciousness is termed )anas+ No% )anas is defined as [")onism or Dd$aitism" Page 22] "the atomic feeler of happiness", it is also called "feeling" L "The impress that is concerned %ith mere perception" ['sis 0n$eiled, page 27<] Land is translated " )ind+" [Ra.a -oga, Page !;] 8e %e are told thatE " 'n the macrocosm it springs from Dham&ara or egoism, in the microcosm from )ahat or cosmic intelligence, in man from *uddhi or [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page !!<] the spiritual soul, the cosmic )onad L and the term ser$es both for sense [Secret 1octrine, Volume 7, Page 777] and actionA+ 'n animals and idiots the lo%er )anas seems to stand in the same relation to intellect that the higher )anas stands to the lo%er )anas in man+ They can deduce physical effects from their past e?periences of physical causes, but they cannot predicate psychic causes from mental effects, therefore that %hich has not been phenomenal is assumed to ha$e no place in their philosophy+ The distinction here made bet%een the microcosm and man is $ery remar&able, and confirms the contention that, strictly spea&ing, the term man should be limited to the 0nconscious become conscious in some form or other+ Ds #+P+*+ tells usE "Each immortal :od Hsoul, or di$ine ideaI in [ 'sis 0n$eiled, Volume 7, Page !<4] its turn must be united %ith a human being, and from the moment of its consciousness it commences a series of births and deaths"+ 8hen it is said that man is the microcosm of the 0ni$erse, it really means that his physical form is the epitome of all the pre$ious forms in %hich *e6 ness has e$er manifested, %hile the real man is that $ery *e6ness in its highest manifestationE or, as >rientals e?press it, " #umanity, ta&en collecti$ely, [Thoughts on the *haga$ad :ita, Page 74] is the heart and brain of "agna #urusha+" "The higher )anas, %e are told, is the mental faculty %hich distinguishes #+P+*+" man from the mere animal and ma&es him an intelligent being"+ Page 7;" [Cey to Theosophy , Page 77;] 't is the " spiritual self6consciousness" L "The permanent indi$iduality" L "The reincarnating Ego" L "The $ehicle of )ahat or di$ine ideation"+ [Secret 1octrine, Volume 2, Page 7!4] This is the state to %hich #+P+*+ refers %hen she says, "8hen beings reach the status of man the souls recei$e the principle of HconsciousI immorality, become spirits, then pass into the choir of gods"+ 'n the higher )anas, then, %e ha$e the self6idea so e$ol$ed that its intelligent principle has become permanently indi$idualiJed in the di$ine consciousness+ The impersonal "'" has become conscious of its " Not '," and in personifying it, has by Cryasa&ti imparted to this "Not '" all the attributes of the di$ine "'"+ Boremost of these attributes is %ill, and %ill implies freedom of choice, %hile this freedom constitutes, moral responsibility+ Page 77

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8e ha$e conse9uently to regard )anasic consciousness as a passi$e principle in e$erything belo% the animal &ingdom+ Not that it is e$er really still, but %e possess no faculties by %hich %e can obser$e it beyond the arbitrary limit %e term "animal", therefore, as %e ha$e no consciousness of it, to us it does not e?ist+ Thus, for the purposes of philosophical classification, it is said that )anas begins %ith animal life, but in reality this )anas is the synthesis of another septenate %hich is the microcosm of its macrocosm man"+ >n the same principle the Go%er )anas is thought of apart from the #igher )anas, and man as distinct from all other animals+ This course is con$enient and harmless, so there is no reason %hy %e should not adopt it, and lea$ing captious critics to contend for the brotherhood of brutes, endea$our to ascertain %hat are our o%n po%ers, duties and possibilities+ *ut %e should al%ays remember that in these classifications e$ery principle has only a relati$e position, and that %hether any special principle is Dtma, *uddhi, )anas, or Prana, is determined by the plane of consciousness on %hich the personality is then functioning+ E$en 'sh%ara can ultimately only be regarded as an atom of Prana combining %ith others to manifest an aspect of the Dbsolute, and %e are told "that manFs se$enth principle, or Dtma, is the ultimate state Hof consciousnessI, attainable by the self Hor true soulI after crossing the ocean of conditioned e?perience, or [Thoughts on the *haga$ad :ita, Page 27] Sansara"+ Dtma, therefore, is not a separate entity, but the highest ideal %hich is possible to us in our present stage of e$olution, %hile Sat, Narayana, *rahma, etc+, is our possible permanent and changeless state of [Thoughts on the *haga$ad :ita] consciousness in relation to that %hich is temporary and changing+ #is #igher )anas, %e are told, ma&es man a moral and intelligent being+ That is, he is able to distinguish right from %rong, and to submit his %ill to the la% of reason+ This la% is his consciousness that the rights of others limit his right to the gratification of his instincti$e desires+ )an has not only the cra$ing for self6 aggrandisement %hich is common to Page 77" all beings, but the altruistic sympathies established in past incarnations ha$e made his consciousness recepti$e of intuitions %hich bring him into direct relations %ith intelligences on a higher plane than his o%n, and enable him to fashion his aspirations on the model of their ideation+ The theory is that he can thus attain &no%ledge by intuiting the %isdom %hich others can gain only by prolonged mental or physical e?ertion, and that so his spiritual progress is e?pedited+ This theory each must pro$e in his or her personal e?perience+ *eyond the )anasic lies the *uddhic consciousness, a state %hich is ruled rather by the heart than the head, %here )an prefers lo$e to reason, and instincti$ely as&s %hat is for the good of all, not %hat is profitable to himself+ There are, of course, many degrees of this state, from secret alms6gi$ing up to perfect self6de$otionE from sectarian charity %hich considers %ho are of the household of faith, up to the intelligent godliness, %hich is pure, %ise and uni$ersal, from the saint %ho dreams in 1e$achan to the Nirmana&aya %ho by boundless bene$olence has learned ho% to multiply his unit of bliss by the .oys of a %hole humanity+ D constant aspiration to%ards this *uddhic consciousness seems to be the highest mental tone that is compatible %ith earth life+ >ur bodies re9uire food and clothing, and the duty of each of us is to pro$ide for his o%n %ants by his o%n labour, conse9uently to culti$ate ecstasies %hich incapacitate us for performing the social tas&s %hich ha$e properly de$ol$ed upon us, certainly sa$ours more of selfishness than altruism, and must tend to debase rather than to e?alt our manhood+ Ds Crishna saysE "8hat is re9uired and %hat follo%s as a natural conse9uence from Ra.a6yoga is freedom from the calculation of the results of our necessary actions", not the cessation of them+ Page 72

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8hen his physical needs ha$e ceased to e, and man has transcended animal desires, then he may hope to be one %ith his Bather in #ea$enE till then he should %or& and %ait+ Dt present our highest consciousness seems to be a&in to that subtle intuition by %hich a mathematician &no%s that a thing is before he is able to cogniJe it+ Such an intuition is a foretaste of that uni$ersal harmony %hich is the unattainable essentiality of ReasonE the ultimate blending of all differentiations in the one unconditioned unity+ "'t is only %hen the state of -oga is reached that the consciousness [-oga Sutra of Patan.ali, Page !] becomes 9uite pure and ready to recei$e all &no%ledge and all impressions, from any source %hate$er+ This state is ac9uired by suppressing the transformations of the thin&ing principle+" To sho% ho% subtle are the #indu differentiations of thought, ' may instance "Dsmila, Hthe sense of beingI+ Dsmila is not to be identified %ith [-oga Sutra of Patan.ali, Page 7=] Dhan&ara, or egoism, it is only the consciousness of *eing, and 9uite [Page 74" independent of the form F' amF+ The sphere of Dhan&5ra is S5nanda Sam5dhi, or .oyous meditation, %hereas Dsmila refers $ery nearly to Purusha, through and of %hich all subsists"+ This is the cognition of the &no%er+ These higher states of consciousness are often spo&en of as "emotional"+ No% "emotion" is a $ery note%orthy term+ The e is an abbre$iation of e$, and conse9uently its e9ui$alent+ %$ may mean either "out of", or "an intensification of"+ Conse9uently e6motion means either out of motion, that is HaI absolute rest, or HbI separation from the :reat *reath, i.e+, annihilation+ 'n the other sense, emotion may mean the intensification of a motion by multiplying it into all6motion+ Ta&ing this last to be the truest signification, may %e not understand that %hen man attains a higher consciousness he e?hibits all the motions or $ibrations %hich constitute the countless phases of his pre$ious &no%ledge+ 8hen %e remember that each of these $ibrations is subdi$ided ad infinitum, and that e$ery single subdi$ision must be to him a distinct state of consciousness intuited in orderly succession, %e can readily admit that, in *uddhic consciousness, a snail might as %ell hope to out6run lightning, as reason to &eep pace %ith these messengers of &no%ledge+ Dt each time point, there are trillions of these $ibrations, and e$ery impact of them transmits a special &no%ledge, conse9uently %hen )anas is identified %ith the #igher Ego, it must respond to each of these modes of motion, and cogniJe it as distinct from e$ery other aspect of the 'nfinite+ 8hether e$en this consciousness %ill content man is another matter+ Parabrahm, %e &no%, could not abide in e$en a higher consciousness+ The omnipresence of omniscience is monotony, and monotony is not the harmony %hich seems to be a uni$ersal necessity+ Conse9uently the concord of di$ersity e$er progresses, %hile the periodic unison of all only gi$es the &eynote of fuller harmony+ Dnd so the song of life e$er gro%s grander and grander, as little rills of being add ne% tones to s%ell the flo% of melody %hich utters the consciousness of all+ Dnd %ho %ould ha$e it other%ise ( 8hat rest can remain for the true people of the true :od (

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"Their hope is eternal progression, 8ith Charity fruitful in all+"

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Dnd so the end is but the beginning, and death only the antecedent of life+

CODE D+R+ 1+*+ B+B+ #+G+ #+P+*+ #eredity '+0+ C+T+ )+ )+V+ >+1+P+ >+S+)+ R+-+ R+-+S+ S+1 S+:+ T+*+:+ T+P+R+ V+ -+S+ *uddhism

DOCUMENT TITLE Dnthropological Religion NatureFs Biner Borces Getters that ha$e #elped )e :lossary #eredity 'sis 0n$eiled Cey to Theosophy )onism or Dd$aitism )editations of Vasude$a >riental 1epartment Tracts >ccult Science in )edicine Ra.a -oga Ra.a -oga Secret 1octrine Small :lossary Thoughts on *haga$ad :ita Theosophy or Psychological Religion Voice of Silence -oga Sutra of Patan.ali

UTHOR )a? )RGGER Rhys 1DV'1S Rama PRDSD1 8illiam Quan K01:E #+P+*GDVDTSC1r+ R+ D+ 1ouglas G'T#:>8 #+P+*GDVDTSC#+P+*GDVDTSC)anilal Nabhubhai 1V'VE1' Vasude$a >riental 1epartment BranJ #DRT)DNN Sri V5&ya6Sudh5 #+P+*GDVDTSC-

)a? )RGGER #+P+*GDVDTSC)anilal Nabhubhai 1V'VE1'

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