Theosophy Wiki - User contributions [en]

Anupadaka

2020-10-11T13:29:45Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Anupādaka''' is a word used in the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature, derived from the [[Sanskrit]] ''anupapādaka'', "parentless" or "having no material parent",<ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=DI&beginning=0+&tinput=anupapAdaka&trans=Translate&direction=AU.# Anupapādaka] at Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary.</ref> or ''upapāduka'', "self-produced".<ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=DI&beginning=0+&tinput=upapAduka&trans=Translate&direction=AU# Upapāduka] at Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary.</ref>

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] applied this term most frequently to refer to the hierarchy of the [[Dhyāni-Buddhas]], that is, those Dhyanis that are not [[Emanation|emanated]] by higher entities, but are "self-born" from the divine essence. Human [[Buddha]]s and [[Bodhisattva]]s are regarded to represent the lower rung of the same hirarchy. Occassionaly, the second divine world or plane, to which the Dhyani-Buddhas belong, is also denominated anupadaka.

== General description ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] applied this term most frequently to the hierarchy of the [[Dhyāni-Buddhas]]:

<blockquote>Anupâdaka (Sk.). Anupapâdaka, also Aupapâduka; means “parentless”, “self-existing”, born without any parents or progenitors. A term applied to certain self-created gods, and the Dhyâni Buddhas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 25.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>They [the Dhyāni-Buddhas] are the “Buddhas of Contemplation,” and are all Anupadaka (parentless), i.e., self-born of divine essence.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 109.</ref></blockquote>

However, since the human [[Buddha]]s are regarded as manifestations of the "Celestial Buddhas" (Dhyāni-Buddhas) in the world of form and matter, they are also called "anupadakas":

<blockquote>The term Anupadaka, “parentless,” or without progenitors, is a mystical designation having several meanings in the philosophy. By this name celestial beings, the Dhyan-Chohans or Dhyani-Buddhas, are generally meant. But as these correspond mystically to the human Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, known as the “Mânushi (or human) Buddhas,” the latter are also designated “Anupadaka,” once that their whole personality is merged in their compound sixth and seventh principles—or Atma-Buddhi, and that they have become the “diamond-souled” (Vajra-sattvas), the full Mahatmas. The “Concealed Lord” (Sangbai Dag-po), “the one merged with the absolute,” can have no parents since he is Self-existent, and one with the Universal Spirit (Svayambhu), the Svâbhâvat in the highest aspect. The mystery in the hierarchy of the Anupadaka is great, its apex being the universal Spirit-Soul, and the lower rung the Mânushi-Buddha; and even every Soul-endowed man is an Anupadaka in a latent state. Hence, when speaking of the Universe in its formless, eternal, or absolute condition, before it was fashioned by the “Builders”—the expression, “the Universe was Anupadaka.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 52.</ref></blockquote>

In [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza V|Stanza V.4]] of Cosmogenesis the anupadaka is mentioned as the second "world" or "plane", the "divine arupa" whose garment is the "chhayaloka" or intellectual world:

<blockquote>The first Divine World is ready, the first (is now), the second (world), then the “Divine Arupa” (the formless universe of thought) reflects itself in Chhayaloka (the shadowy world of primal form, or the intellectual) the first garment of (the) Anupadaka.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 118-119.</ref></blockquote>

It is on this plane that the Dhyāni-Buddhas reside:

<blockquote>This is the second logos of creation, from whom emanate the seven (in the exoteric blind the five) Dhyani Buddhas, called the Anupadaka, “the parentless.” These Buddhas are the primeval monads from the world of incorporeal being, the Arupa world, wherein the Intelligences (on that plane only) have neither shape nor name, in the exoteric system, but have their distinct seven names in esoteric philosophy.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 571.</ref></blockquote>

The phrase [[Logos#Second Logos|"second Logos"]] in Mme. Blavatsky's writings sometimes refers to the unmanifested-manifest one, while in other occasions it refers to the manifested logos. The "second Logos" that emanates the Dhyāni-Buddhas may be the unmanifested-manifest one:

<blockquote>The former [Dhyāni-Buddhas] only are called Anupadaka, parentless, because they radiated directly from that which is neither Father nor Mother but the unmanifested Logos.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 344.</ref></blockquote>

In other uses, [[Space]],<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 11.</ref> [[Mūlaprakṛti]],<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 62.</ref> and the circle with the central point,<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 11.</ref> have been referred to as "anupadaka".

=== According to Annie Besant ===

[[Annie Besant]]'s view of the seven planes regarded the two highest as being Logoic planes. She called the second of them "anupadaka":

<blockquote>The two planes beyond the five represent the sphere of divine activity, encircling and enveloping all, out of which pour forth all the divine energies which vivify and sustain the whole system. They are at present entirely beyond our knowledge, and the few hints that have been given regarding them probably convey as much information as our limited capacity is able to grasp. We are taught that they are the planes of divine Consciousness, wherein the LOGOS, or the divine Trinity of Logoi, is manifested, and wherefrom He shines forth as the Creator, the Preserver, the Dissolver, evolving a universe, maintaining it during its life-period, withdrawing it into Himself at its ending. We have been given the names of these two planes: the lower is the Anupadaka, that wherein “no vehicle has yet been formed”; the higher is the Adi, “the first”, the foundation of a universe, its support and the fount of its life.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Study in Consciousness'' (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1975), 2.</ref></blockquote>

== Misspelling of the original term ==

According to [[David Reigle]]'s research, the term ''anupādaka'' used by [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] appears in Emil Schlagintweit's ''Buddhism in Tibet'' published in 1863. This was miscopied by her from the ''anupapādaka'' present in Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, which was taken from Brian H. Hodgson, the first Westerner to gain access to [[Sanskrit]] [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts, during his residency in Nepal. In its turn, ''anupapādaka'' seems to be a misspelling from the original ''aupapāduka'' or ''upapāduka''.<ref>[http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/reigle02.html ''Technical Terms in Stanza I'' by David Reigle].</ref>

== Notes ==

<references/>

==Further reading==

* [https://theosophy.world/encyclopedia/anupadaka Anupadaka] at Theosophy World.

* Reigle, David. [http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/reigle02.html "Technical Terms in Stanza I"] in Blavatsky Archives website. Previously published at Eastern Tradition Research Institute.

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[es:Anupadaka]]
[[it:Anupadaka]]

Anupadaka

2020-10-11T13:19:33Z

Daniele Urlotti:

Ah-hi

2020-10-11T12:19:12Z

Daniele Urlotti:

The term '''Ah-hi''', as such, is not found in any known language. According to [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] it is a [[Senzar]] word related to the [[Sanskrit]] ''ahī'' (devanāgarī: अही) "snake", symbolizing “Wise Serpents” or "Dragons of Wisdom".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 11.</ref>

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature, the Ah-hi are the highest [[Dhyāni-Chohan]]s that appear on the scale of manifestation, to become the vehicles for the expression of the [[Mahat|Universal Mind]]. They are seen as the [[Seven Rays|seven primordial rays]] emanated from the [[Logos]], and the source of all differentiated beings as they descend into the more and more material [[plane]]s. Some synonyms used for them are "[[Primordial Seven]]" and "[[Dhyāni-Buddha]]s".

== General description ==

Given the claim that the term "Ah-hi" is connected to the [[Sanskrit]] word for snake (''ahī''), David Reigle suggests that this term may be understood in connection with the Sanskrit word "[[nāga]]":

<blockquote>We may apply a rule for “ferreting out the deep significance of the ancient Sanskrit nomenclature” given by [[T. Subba Row]] in his article, “The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac,” namely, to “find the synonyms of the word used which have other meanings.” A widely used synonym of ahi is nāga, as in the name [[Nāgārjuna]], famous for having received the Prajñā-pāramitā or “Perfection of Wisdom” scriptures from the [[Nāga]]s, the Serpents of Wisdom.<ref>[http://easterntradition.org/book%20of%20dzyan%20research%20report%201-technical%20terms%20in%20stanza%201.pdf# Technical Terms in Stanza I] at Eastern Tradition Research Institute</ref></blockquote>

The Ah-hi are the highest [[Dhyāni-Chohan|Dhyanis]] that appear at the beginning of a [[manvantara]]. They "proceed from unity, and are the first of its [[Seven Rays|seven rays]]".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 323.</ref></blockquote> When they appear, they become the vehicles of the universal ideation, which continues throughout the Manvantara.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 320.</ref> As the [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza I|Stanza I.3]] states: "[[Mahat|Universal Mind]] was not, for there were no Ah-hi to contain it".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 37.</ref> [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] comments:

<blockquote>The AH-HI (Dhyan-Chohans) are the collective hosts of spiritual beings . . . who are the vehicles for the manifestation of the divine or universal thought and will. They are the Intelligent Forces that give to and enact in Nature her “laws,” while themselves acting according to laws imposed upon them in a similar manner by still higher Powers. . . . This hierarchy of spiritual Beings, through which the Universal Mind comes into action, is like an army—a “Host,” truly. . .<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 38.</ref></blockquote>

Although the Ah-hi are said to be the highest Dhyānis, Mme. Blavatsky mentions above "still higher Powers". The following dialogue was held regarding this with some of her students:

<blockquote>''Q. What are the higher powers which condition the Ah-hi?''
 
A. They cannot be called powers; power or perhaps Potentiality would be better. The Ah-hi are conditioned by the awakening into manifestation of the periodical, universal LAW, which becomes successively active and inactive. It is by this law that they are conditioned or formed, not created. "Created" is an impossible term to use in Philosophy.
 
''Q. Then the power or Potentiality which precedes and is higher than the Ah-hi, is the law which necessitates manifestation.''
 
A. Just so; periodical manifestation. When the hour strikes, the law comes into action, and the Ah-hi appear on the first rung of the ladder of manifestation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 318.</ref></blockquote>

The Ah-hi appear on the highest plane of manifestation and descend through all the planes, being transformed on each one:

<blockquote>The Ah-hi are the flame from which the rays stream forth, becoming more and more differentiated as they fall deeper into matter, until they finally reach this world of ours, with its teeming millions of inhabitants and sensuous beings, and then they become truly complex.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 323.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The "Ah-hi" pass through all the planes, beginning to manifest on the third. Like all 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 became [[Mānasaputra|Manasa-putras]], those who became incarnated in men. With every plane they reach they are called by different names — there is a continual differentiation of their original homogeneous substance; we call it substance, although in reality it is no substance of which we can conceive. Later, they become Rupa — ethereal forms.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 321.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The difference between [[Manas]] and [[Buddhi]] in man is the same as the difference between the Manasa-putra and the Ah-hi in Kosmos.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 324.</ref></blockquote>

== Vehicles of the universal mind ==

As the Ah-hi appear, they become the vehicles for the Universal Ideation (coming from the Absolute Mind), manifesting the [[Mahat|Universal Mind]]:

<blockquote>''Q. The Commentary suggests that the Ah-hi are not themselves the Universal Mind, but only the vehicle for its manifestation.''

A. The meaning of this sloka is, I think, very clear; it means that, as there are no finite differentiated minds during [[Pralaya]], it is just as though there were no mind at all, because there is nothing to contain or perceive it. There is nothing to receive and reflect the ideation of the Absolute Mind; therefore, it is not. Everything outside of the Absolute and immutable [[Sat]] ([[Be-ness]]), is necessarily finite and conditioned, since it has beginning and end. Therefore, since the "Ah-hi were not," there was no Universal Mind as a manifestation. A distinction had to be made between the Absolute Mind, which is ever present, and its reflection and manifestation in the Ah-hi, 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 [[plane]]s, down to the lowest — our own. The Ah-hi are the primordial seven rays, or [[Logos|Logoi]], emanated from the [[Logos#First Logos|first Logos]], triple, yet one in its essence.
 
''Q. Then the Ah-hi and Universal Mind are necessary complements of one another?''

A. Not at all: Universal or Absolute Mind always is during Pralaya as well as Manvantara; it is immutable. The Ah-hi are the highest Dhyanis, the Logoi as just said, those who begin the downward evolution, or emanation. 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.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 317-318.</ref></blockquote>

== Their consciousness ==

The Ah-hi should not be thought of in an anthropomorphic way, as if they were self-conscious angels:

<blockquote>A man has free will and Ah-hi have none. They are obliged to act simultaneously, for the law under which they must act gives them the impulse. Free will can only exist in a [[Kingdoms of Life#Human kingdom|Man]] who has both mind and consciousness, which act and make him perceive things both within and without himself. The “Ah-hi” are Forces, not human Beings.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 322.</ref></blockquote>

This does not mean that they are blind or mechanical forces. They are "conscious in as far as they act within the universal consciousness". But they are beyond the concepts of personality, independent thought, etc., which appear only on a lower plane, with the [[Mānasaputra]]s.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 322.</ref> As Mme. Blavatsky said, "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".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 323.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Primordial Seven]]
*[[Seven Rays]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[https://www.theosophy.world/encyclopedia/Ah-Hi Ah-Hi] at Theosophy World

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Senzar terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Ah-hi]]
[[it:Ah-hi]]

Skandha

2019-04-24T10:05:12Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Skandha''' (devanāgarī: स्कन्ध) is a [[Sanskrit]] term usually translated as "aggregate". It used in [[Buddhism]] to refer to the five functions or aspects that constitute the human being. In [[Theosophy]] the concept is frequently used in a similar (albeit not identical) way, though they are regarded to constitute the [[personality]], not the totality, of a human being.

== In Buddhism ==

The [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] sūtras describe human beings as composed of five aggregates, nothing among them being a permanent "I":

* Rūpa ("form" or "matter"): The physical world and the material body.
* Vedanā ("sensation" or "feeling"): The pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations arising from the perception of an object.
* Samjñā ("conception" or "cognition"): Recognition of the qualities of an object perceived.
* Samskāra ("mental formations" or "volition"): Volition and all types of mental habits, which trigger a reaction to the perception of an object. Connected to the formation of karma.
* Vijñāna ("consciousness" or "discernment"): Awareness of or sensitivity to an object, but without conceptualization.

== In Theosophy ==

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] defined them as follows:

<blockquote>Skandha or Skhanda (Sk.). Lit., “bundles”, or groups of attributes; everything finite, inapplicable to the eternal and the absolute. There are five —esoterically, seven— attributes in every human living being, which are known as the Pancha Shandhas. These are (1) form, rûpa; (2) perception, vidâna; (3) consciousness, sanjnâ; (4) action, sanskâra; (5) knowledge, vidyâna. These unite at the birth of man and constitute his personality. After the maturity of these Skandhas, they begin to separate and weaken, and this is followed by jarâmarana, or decrepitude and death.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 301-302.</ref></blockquote>

The Theosophical literature agrees with [[Buddhism]] that nowhere within the five (or seven) skandhas can a real or permanent "I" be found. However, [[Theosophy]] postulates that the skandhas belong only to the [[personality]], and that beyond it there is the real [[Ego]]:

<blockquote>The personality with its Skandhas is ever changing with every new birth. . . . This is why we preserve no memory on the physical plane of our past lives, though the real "Ego" has lived them over and knows them all.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 131.</ref></blockquote>

Because they belong to the personality, the skandhas cannot follow the [[Ego#Higher ego|higher ego]] to [[Devachan]]. However, they are not merely dissolved, but "wait" for the return of the Ego to the new [[Reincarnation|incarnation]]:

<blockquote>Karma, with its army of Skandhas, waits at the threshold of Devachan, whence the Ego re-emerges to assume a new incarnation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 141.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>They [the skandhas] remain as ''Karmic effects'', as germs, hanging in the atmosphere of the terrestrial plane, ready to come to life, as so many avenging fiends, to attach themselves to the new personality of the Ego when it reincarnates.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 154.</ref></blockquote>

As can be seen, the skandhas are intimately connected to the idea of [[karma]]. In fact, [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K.H.]] wrote: "The Buddhist calls this his 'Skandha', the Hindu gives it the name of 'Karma'".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' Appendix I (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 472.</ref>

=== Esoteric skandhas ===

Mme. Blavatsky's mention of the esoteric skandhas is further explained in [[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|''The Mahatma Letters'']]:

<blockquote>It is the group of Skandhas that form and constitute the physical and mental individuality we call man (or any being). This group consists (in the exoteric teaching) of five Skandhas, namely: Rupa — the material properties or attributes; Vedana — sensations; Sanna — abstract ideas; Samkara — tendencies both physical and mental; and Vinnana — mental powers, an amplification of the fourth — meaning the mental, physical and moral predispositions. We add to them two more, the nature and names of which you may learn hereafter. Suffice for the present to let you know that they are connected with, and productive of Sakkayaditthi, the “heresy or delusion of individuality” and of Attavada “the doctrine of Self,” both of which (in the case of the fifth principle, the soul) lead to the maya of heresy and belief in the efficacy of vain rites and ceremonies, in prayers and intercession.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 68 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 199.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The "heresy of Individuality" is a doctrine propounded by [[Gautama Buddha|Tathagatha]] with an eye to the [[Kāmaloka#Shells|Shell]].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 330.</ref></blockquote>

The word ''sakkāya-diṭṭhi'' is [[Pali]] (from ''sakkāya'', "aggregates of existence" + ''diṭṭhi'', "wrong view or belief") and means the wrong idea that we are the personality formed by the skandhas. The word ''attavāda'' is also Pali (from ''attan'', "self' + ''vada'', "theory"), and refers to the illusion of the existence one's psychological self as a substantial and permanent entity.

===Dora Kunz commentary===
[[Dora van Gelder Kunz]] wrote:
<blockquote>
Each person comes into the world with certain attributes, or ''skandhas'', as the Buddhists call them: "conditions of existence" which we all bring with us at birth. While these are obviously connected with genetic factors, there is also a basic, unique individuality which is sometimes strangely different from the family pattern, with unaccountable idiosyncrasies. We know that during life the present is shaped for an individual by past experiences; reincarnation merely extends this past to include a larger heritage of assimilated experiences...
 
 
The concept of ''skandhas'' comes closer, I believe, than any other to identifying the causal connection between our past in its entirety and what we now are. You could say that each one of us is "caused" by our heritage - physically, of course, but also mentally and emotionally. But, according to reincarnation, that heritage is not limited to this brief life, but extends far back to the dawn of our consciousness. It equally reaches into the most distant future, for what we are now - which includes the changes we make in ourselves - becomes the seeds of what we shall be. This is the essence of the evolution of consciousness.<ref>Dora van Gelder Kunz, ''The Personal Aura'' (Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 60-61.</ref>
</blockquote>
==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Skandha# Skandha] at Theosopedia

===Videos===
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJb20VzFO1w Karma, Skandhas, and Personality] by Shirley Nicholson

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Skandha]]

Nirmanakaya

2019-04-23T17:33:58Z

Daniele Urlotti:

{{Template:Article needs expansion}}
 
 
 
'''Nirmanakaya''' (devanāgarī: निर्माणकाय ''nirmāṇakāya'') is a Buddhist term for a physical body of a [[Buddha]] created to be manifested in time and space. In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view this concept refers to the [[Masters of Wisdom]]:

<blockquote>These Nirmanakayas are the Bodhisattvas or late Adepts, who having reached Nirvana and liberation from rebirth, renounce it voluntarily in order to remain invisibly amidst the world to help poor ignorant Humanity within the lines permitted by Karma.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'', vol. 12 (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 31. </ref></blockquote>

== Theosophical view ==

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote in her [[The Theosophical Glossary (book)|''Theosophical Glossary'']] the following:

<blockquote>Nirmânakâya (Sk.). Something entirely different in esoteric philosophy from the popular meaning attached to it, and from the fancies of the Orientalists. Some call the ''Nirmânakâya'' body “Nirvâna with remains” (Schlagintweit, etc.) on the supposition, probably, that it is a kind of Nirvânic condition during which consciousness and form are retained. Others say that it is one of the ''Trikâya'' (three bodies), with the “power of assuming any form of appearance in order to propagate Buddhism” (Eitel's idea); again, that “it is the incarnate avatâra of a deity” (ibid.), and so on. Occultism, on the other hand, says: that Nirmânâkaya, although meaning literally a transformed “body”, is a state. The form is that of the adept or yogi who enters, or chooses, that ''Post mortem'' condition in preference to the Dharmakâya or ''absolute'' Nirvânic state. He does this because the latter kâya separates him for ever from the world of form, conferring upon him a state of ''selfish'' bliss, in which no other living being can participate, the adept being thus precluded from the possibility of helping humanity, or even ''devas''. As a Nirmânakâya, however, the man leaves behind him only his physical body, and retains every other “principle” save the Karmic--for he has crushed this out for ever from his nature, during life, and it can never resurrect in his ''post mortem'' state. Thus, instead of going into selfish bliss, he chooses a life of self-sacrifice, an existence which ends only with the life-cycle, in order to be enabled to help mankind in an invisible yet most effective manner. (See ''The Voice of the Silence'', third treatise, “The Seven Portals”.) Thus a Nirmânakâya is not, as popularly believed, the body “in which a Buddha or a Bodhisattva appears on earth”, but verily one, who whether a ''Chutuktu'' or a ''Khubilkhan'', an adept or a yogi during life, has since become a member of that invisible Host which ever protects and watches over Humanity within Karmic limits. Mistaken often for a “Spirit”, a Deva, God himself, &c., a Nirmânakâya is ever a protecting, compassionate, verily a guardian angel, to him who becomes worthy of his help. Whatever objection may be brought forward against this doctrine; however much it is denied, because, forsooth, it has never been hitherto made public in Europe and therefore since it is unknown to Orientalists, it must needs be “a myth of modern invention”--no one will be bold enough to say that this idea of helping suffering mankind at the price of one's own almost interminable self-sacrifice, is not one of the grandest and noblest that was ever evolved from human brain.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 231.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>According to the Occult teachings, however, Siddhas are the Nirmânakâyas or the “spirits” (in the sense of an individual, or conscious spirit) of great sages from spheres on a higher plane than our own, who voluntarily incarnate in mortal bodies in order to help the human race in its upward progress. Hence their innate knowledge wisdom and powers.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 636, fn.</ref></blockquote>

== Buddhist view ==

== Notes ==
<references/>
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Nirmanakaya]]

Matter

2019-04-23T17:10:54Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Matter''', in the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view, is a manifestation of the One Principle beyond the range and reach of thought, the [[Absolute]]. Matter, as well as [[spirit]], are just aspects of this Principle, though they appear to our perception as being different:

<blockquote>[[Spirit]], [[life]] and matter, are not natural principles existing independently of each other, but the effects of combinations produced by eternal [[motion]] in [[Space]].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 317.</ref></blockquote>

== General description ==

According to [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]], what we call "matter" is the phenomena that appears to our consciousness, "[[substance]]" being its [[noumenon]] or cause:

<blockquote>In strict accuracy—to avoid confusion and mis-conception—the term “Matter” ought to be applied to the aggregate of objects of possible perception, and “Substance” to noumena; for inasmuch as the phenomena of our plane are the creation of the perceiving [[Ego]]—the modifications of its own subjectivity—all the “states of matter representing the aggregate of perceived objects” can have but a relative and purely phenomenal existence for the children of our plane. As the modern [[Idealism|Idealists]] would say, the co-operation of Subject and Object results in the Sense-object or phenomenon.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 329.</ref></blockquote>

She explained that the [[Occultism|occult]] concept of matter is not limited to what can be perceived on the physical [[plane]]:

<blockquote>Matter, to the Occultist, it must be remembered, is that totality of existences in the Kosmos, which falls within any of the planes of possible perception.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 514.</ref></blockquote>

Thus, in its ultimate nature, matter is not different from [[spirit]]. In [[Mahatma Letter No. 90|one of his letters]], [[Koot Hoomi| Mahatma K.H.]] wrote to [[A. O. Hume]]:

<blockquote>The conception of matter and spirit as entirely distinct, and both [[Eternity|eternal]] could certainly never have entered my head, however little I may know of them, for it is one of the elementary and fundamental doctrines of [[Occultism]] that the two are one, and are distinct but in their respective manifestations, and only in the limited perceptions of the world of senses.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 90 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>In the book of [[Tibetan Buddhist canon#Tantras|Kiu-te]], [[Spirit]] is called the ultimate sublimation of matter, and matter the crystallization of spirit. And no better illustration could be afforded than in the very simple phenomenon of ice, water, vapour and the final dispersion of the latter, the phenomenon being reversed in its consecutive manifestations and called the Spirit falling into generation or matter.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 90 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???.</ref></blockquote>

About this, [[W. Q. Judge]] wrote:

<blockquote>Theosophy postulates an eternal principle called the unknown . . . The perceived universe is the manifestation of this unknown, including spirit and matter, for Theosophy holds that those are but the two opposite poles of the one unknown principle. They coexist, are not separate nor separable from each other, or, as the Hindu scriptures say, there is no particle of matter without spirit, and no particle of spirit without matter.<ref>William Quan Judge, ''Theosophy Generally Stated'' ??????</ref></blockquote>

For this reason, matter in its essence (sometimes called "substance"), is seen as [[eternal]]. [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K.H.]] wrote:

<blockquote>Matter we know to be eternal, i.e., having had no beginning (a) because matter is Nature herself (b) because that which cannot annihilate itself and is indestructible exists necessarily — and therefore it could not begin to be, nor can it cease to be (c) because the accumulated experience of countless ages, and that of exact science show to us matter (or nature) acting by her own peculiar energy, of which not an atom is ever in an absolute state of rest, and therefore it must have always existed, i.e., its materials ever changing form, combinations and properties, but its principles or elements being absolutely indestructible.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 88 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 272.</ref></blockquote>

Spirit (or life) and matter being the two aspects of the same [[principle]], there is no matter without spirit (or life), and no spirit without matter of some kind. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] is reported to have said:

<blockquote>There is no dead matter. Every last atom is alive. It cannot be otherwise since every atom is itself fundamentally Absolute Being. Therefore there is no such thing as ‘spaces’ of Ether, or Akasha, or call it what you like, in which angels and elementals disport themselves like trout in water. That’s a common idea. The true idea shows every atom of substance no matter of what plane to be in itself a LIFE.<ref>Robert Bowen, ''Madame Blavatsky on How to Study Theosophy'' (Wheaton, Il: Theosophical Society in America, [1989?]), 9.</ref></blockquote>

[[Theosophy]] postulates the existence of different states of matter, from the highest [[cosmic matter]] down to the physical matter, forming [[seven planes]] "each more dense on the way down to the plane of our senses than its predecessor, the substance in all being the same only differing in degree."<ref>William Quan Judge, ''Theosophy Generally Stated''??????</ref> All forms of matter are differentiations of a primordial one element, differentiation that is ultimately a [[māyā]] or illusion:

<blockquote>The homogeneous primordial Element is simple and single only on the terrestrial plane of consciousness and sensation, since matter, after all, is nothing else than the sequence of our own states of consciousness, and Spirit an idea of psychic intuition. Even on the next higher plane, that single element which is defined on our earth by current science, as the ultimate undecomposable constituent of some kind of matter, would be pronounced in the world of a higher spiritual perception as something very complex indeed.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 542.</ref></blockquote>

== Differentiation of matter ==

The highest state of matter (many times referred to as "substance") is [[Mulaprakriti]], variously called "primordial cosmic substance"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 24.</ref>, "undiferentiated cosmic substance"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 75.</ref>, [[Substance#Pre-cosmic_substance|Pre-cosmic substance]], the root of matter, etc. During the [[manvantara|manvantaric]] impulse it becomes [[svabhavat]], and later [[akasha]] or the "cosmic substance". Further on this becomes [[cosmic matter]], which differentiates into the different manifested [[planes]].

The [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza I|Stanza I.1]] states that before the re-awakening of the universe the "[[Space#Pre-Cosmic space|eternal parent]]" was "wrapped in her ever invisible robes." According to Mme. Blavatsky, the robes refer to "the substance . . . on the seventh plane of matter counting upwards, or rather from without within."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 35.</ref> These "robes," also referred to as "skins," are the germ for all the septenaries that will be manifested:

<blockquote>Q. What, then, are the seven layers of Space, for in the “Proem” we read about the “Seven-skinned Mother-Father”? 
A. Plato and Hermes Trismegistus would have regarded this as the Divine Thought, and Aristotle would have viewed this “Mother-Father” as the “[[privation]]” of matter. It is that which will become the seven planes of being, commencing with the spiritual and passing through the psychic to the material plane. The seven planes of thought or the seven states of consciousness correspond to these planes. All these septenaries are symbolized by the seven Skins.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 304.</ref></blockquote>

The opposite process, that of coming back to the source substance, was described by [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] in [[Mahatma Letter No. 90#Page 19|one of his letters]] as follows:

<blockquote>There is a moment in the existence of every molecule and atom of matter when, for one cause or another, the last spark of [[spirit]] or [[motion]] or [[life]] (call it by whatever name) is withdrawn, and in the same instant with the swiftness which surpasses that of the lightning glance of thought the atom or molecule or an aggregation of molecules is annihilated to return to its pristine purity of intra-cosmic matter. It is drawn to the mother fount with the velocity of a globule of quicksilver to the central mass.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 90 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 283.</ref></blockquote>

== Physical matter ==

At the end of the nineteenth century, the atoms were thought to be like small, hard, indivisible, "balls" of matter, with no motion. In 1888, [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] quotes Professor Philip Spiller who wrote that "no atom, is in itself originally endowed with force, but that every such atom is absolutely dead, and without any power to act at a distance". To this, she commented:

<blockquote>Occultism says that in all cases when matter appears inert, it is the most active. A wooden or a stone block is motionless and impenetrable to all intents and purposes. Nevertheless, and de facto, its particles are in ceaseless eternal vibration which is so rapid that to the physical eye the body seems absolutely devoid of motion; and the spacial distance between those particles in their vibratory motion is—considered from another plane of being and perception—as great as that which separates snow flakes or drops of rain. But to physical science this will be an absurdity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), fn., 507-508.</ref></blockquote>

This was proved by [[Science]] in the following decades. In 1897, Physicist J. J. Thomson discovered the electron through his work on [[Radiant Matter|cathode rays]], thus overturning the belief that atoms were indivisible. In 1909 it was suggested that most the atom's mass was concentrated in a nucleus at the center of it, with electrons fast-moving around. After the 1920's the radius of the atoms began to be measured and it was discovered that most of the atom's volume consisted of empty space.

Mme. Blavatsky also proposed that the atoms can be divided "ad infinitum", which makes them "simple centers of force", a concept very close to the current one in Science:

<blockquote>The atom is elastic, ergo, the atom is divisible, and must consist of particles, or of sub-atoms. And these sub-atoms? They are either non-elastic, and in such case they represent no dynamic importance, or, they are elastic also; and in that case, they, too, are subject to divisibility. And thus ad infinitum, But infinite divisibility of atoms resolves matter into simple centres of force, i.e., precludes the possibility of conceiving matter as an objective substance.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 519.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Materia]]
[[it:Materia]]

Manu

2019-04-23T16:57:49Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Manu''' (devanāgarī: मनु) is the [[Sanskrit]] title given in [[Hinduism]] to the progenitor of mankind, who is said to have been the very first king to rule this earth. During a [[Kalpa]] 14 Manus are said to appear, one after the other, who manifest and regulate this world. Each Manu’s life ([[Manvantara]]) consists of 71 [[Mahayugas]].

== In Hinduism ==

In Hinduism, Manu is the title of the progenitor of humanity. The current time period is ruled by the seventh Manu, called the Vaivasvata Manu, who is the 7th Manu. He is regarded as the first king to rule this earth. He saved humanity from the great flood after being warned of it by the Matsya avatar of [[Viṣṇu|Vishnu]], who advised him to build a giant boat.

== In Theosophy ==
===General description ===

In Theosophical literature the term "Manu" is used in different ways. In one use, it refers to a hierarchy of celestial beings that have the role of guiding the evolution on a [[Planetary Chain]]. There are Manus in charge of each [[Round]] as well as those in charge of a particular [[Globe]] and [[Root-Race]]. They all can be regarded as emanations or differentiation from the primitive Manu. As [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>As an analogy he [the primitive Manu] may be compared to the white light which contains all the other rays, giving birth to them by passing through the prism of differentiation and evolution. But this pertains to the esoteric and metaphysical teachings.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 363-364.</ref></blockquote>

A Manu is said to be the "builder" of all that develops in his [[Law of Cycles|cycle]]:

<blockquote>Esoterically, every Manu, as an anthropomorphized patron of his special cycle (or Round), is but the personified idea of the “Thought Divine” (as the Hermetic “Pymander”); each of the Manus, therefore, being the special god, the creator and fashioner of all that appears during his own respective cycle of being or Manvantara.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 63.</ref></blockquote>

However, his role seems to be more particularly related to the evolution of self-conscious humanity:

<blockquote>Manu is, and contains the potentiality of all the thinking forms which will be developed on earth from this particular source. . . . Every [[Manvantara]] has thus its own Manu and from this Manu the various Manus or rather all the Manasa [thinking beings] of the [[Kalpa]]s will proceed.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 363-364.</ref></blockquote>

The Manus are said to have emanated the [[Pitṛs#Lunar_Pitris|Lunar Pitris]] that build the [[Root-Race#First Root-Race|First Root-Race]]:

<blockquote>The Manus are the creators of the creators of our First Race—the Spirit of mankind.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 311.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>You may say that Manu is a generic name for the Pitris, the progenitors of mankind. They come, as I have shown, from the Lunar Chain. They give birth to humanity, for, having become the first men, they give birth to others by evolving their shadows, their astral selves. They not only give birth to humanity but to animals and all other creatures.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 364.</ref></blockquote>

When talking about the Manu "in the abstract sense", it cannot be regarded as an individuality:

<blockquote>Manu is the synthesis perhaps of the Manasa, and he is a single consciousness in the same sense that while all the different cells of which the human body is composed are different and varying consciousnesses, there is still a unit of consciousness which is the man. But this unit, so to say, is not a single consciousness: it is a reflection of thousands and millions of consciousnesses which a man has absorbed.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 364.</ref></blockquote>

Thus, in another use of the term, "Manu" does not represent an individual but the collective humanity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 578.</ref>

=== Root and Seed Manus ===

In [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature, a [[Kalpa]] is said to be the time employed for the development of [[Round|seven Rounds]] in a given [[Planetary Chain]]. During this [[cycle]] 14 Manus are said to appear. This number is explained by Mme. Blavatsky by pointing out that there are two "Manus" in each round: the Root Manu at its beginning and the Seed Manu at its end:

<blockquote>Those who know that there are seven Rounds, of which we have passed three, and are now in the fourth; and who are taught that there are seven dawns and seven twilights or fourteen [[Manvantara]]s; that at the beginning of every Round and at the end . . . there is “an awakening to illusive life,” and “an awakening to real life,” and that, moreover, there are “root-Manus” and what we have to clumsily translate as “the seed-Manus”—the seeds for the human races of the forthcoming Round (a mystery divulged, but to those who have passed their third degree in initiation); those who have learned all that, will be better prepared to understand the meaning of the following. . . . There is a root-Manu at [[Globe#Globe A|globe A]] and a seed-Manu at [[Globe#Globe G|globe G]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 576.</ref></blockquote>

The first Root Manu on this Planetary Chain is called [[svayambhū#Svāyambhuva|Svāyambhuva]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 311.</ref> This term means "son of [[svayambhū]]", which in turn means "self-existing". Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>Svayambhû (Sk.). A metaphysical and philosophical term, meaning “the spontaneously self-produced” or the “self-existent being”. An epithet of Brahmâ. Svâyambhuva is also the name of the first Manu.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 315.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Swâyambhuva, the first of the Manus, who started from Swâyambhu, “the self-existent” hence the Logos, and the progenitor of mankind.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 206.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Who was Manu, the son of Svâyambhuva? The secret doctrine tells us that ''this'' Manu was no man, but the representation of the first human races evolved with the help of the [[Dhyāni-Chohan|Dhyan-Chohans]] (Devas) at the beginning of the [[Round#First Round|first Round]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 576.</ref></blockquote>

=== Vaivasvata Manu ===

The Root-Manu of the [[Round#Fourth Round|Fourth Round]] is called [[Vaivasvata Manu|"Vaivasvata"]]. It is the seventh appeared so far, since 2 have already appeared in the first Round (the Root and Seed Manus), two in the second, two in the third, and one more (a Root-Manu) at the beginning of the fourth:

<blockquote>Thus it becomes clear that Manu—the last one, the progenitor of our Fourth Round Humanity—must be the seventh, since we are on our fourth Round, and there is a root-Manu at globe A and a seed Manu at globe G. Just as each planetary Round commences with the appearance of a ‘Root Manu’ (Dhyan Chohan) and closes with a ‘Seed-Manu,’ so a Root and a Seed Manu appear respectively at the beginning and the termination of the human period on any particular planet.</blockquote>

In the Hindu books, the Manu of [[Fifth Root-Race|our Root-race]] is also called "Vaivasvata". However, this is not the Root Manu but an emanation from it, also called Vaivasvata:

<blockquote>Whereas the Hindu Purânas speak of one Vaivasvata Manu, we affirm that there were several, the name being a generic one.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 251.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Vaivasvata thus, though seventh in the order given, is the primitive Root-Manu of our fourth Human Wave . . . while our Vaivasvata was but one of the seven Minor Manus who are made to preside over the seven races of this our planet.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 578.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The present seventh Manu is called "Vaivasvata" and stands in the exoteric texts for that Manu who represents in India the Babylonian Xisuthrus and the Jewish Noah. But in the esoteric books we are told that Manu Vaivasvata, the progenitor of our Fifth race—who saved it from the flood that nearly exterminated the Fourth (Atlantis)—is not the seventh Manu, mentioned in the nomenclature of the Root, or primitive-Manus, but one of the 49 Manus emanated from this Root-Manu.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 577.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The Aryan races, for instance, now varying from dark brown, almost black, red-brown-yellow, down to the whitest creamy colour, are yet all of one and the same stock—the Fifth Root- Race—and spring from one single progenitor, called in Hindu exotericism by the generic name of Vaivasvata Manu.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 249-250.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Vaivasvata Manu (the Manu of our own fifth race and Humanity in general) is the chief personified representative of the thinking Humanity of the fifth Root-race; and therefore he is represented as the eldest Son of the Sun and an Agnishwatta Ancestor.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 363.</ref></blockquote>

Although Root and Seed Manus seem to be [[Planetary Spirit]]s, the Manus of the Root-Races may be incarnated [[Mahātma|Mahatmas]], or "Manu-Rishis". Mme. Blavatsky explained this in connection with a Hindu legend related to the seven [[Marut]]s. In it, the God Indra divided the embryo in Diti's womb into seven portions, and then every such portion into seven pieces again, which would become the Maruts. Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>[The] seven portions [are] a reference not alone to the seven sub-races of the new Root-Race, in each of which there will be a “Manu,” but also to the seven degrees of adeptship—and then each portion into seven pieces—alluding to the Manu-Rishis of each Root-Race, and even sub-race. . . . There will be seven Rishis in every Root-Race . . . as there are fourteen Manus in every Round.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 614-615.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>For all you know Vaivasvata Manu may be an Avatar or a personification of MAHAT, commissioned by the Universal Mind to lead and guide thinking Humanity onwards.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 364.</ref></blockquote>

== See also ==
*[[Manvantara]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Manu# Manu] at Theosopedia
*[http://theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Vaivasvata_Manu# Vaivasvata Manu] at Theosopedia
*[http://theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Vaivasvata_Manu# Vaivasvata Manu] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/ListOfCollatedArticles/VaivasvataManu.html#top Vaivasvata Manu] at WisdomWorld.org

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Mahatmas and Adepts]]
[[it:Manu]]

Dharmakaya

2019-04-23T15:54:02Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Dharmakaya''' (devanāgarī: धर्म काय ''dharmakāya'') is a [[Sanskrit]] word meaning "truth body" or "reality body". In Mahayana Buddhism it is one of the three bodies (Trikayas) of the [[Buddha]]. Dharmakaya constitutes the unmanifested, "inconceivable" aspect of a Buddha, out of which Buddhas arise and to which they return after their dissolution.

== In Mahayana Buddhism ==

== In Theosophy ==

In Theosophical literature the term Dharmakāya has being used mainly in two ways: a) as a "glorified spiritual body", in terms of the [[Mahayana Buddhism|Mahayana Buddhist]] teaching of the [[trikāya]], and b) as a universally diffused essence, similar to the concept found in some schools of [[Vajrayana Buddhism]].

In one instance Mme. Blavatsky used the term as an adjective, to point out to the quality of the intellect in which [[ālaya]], the universal soul, can be reflected:

<blockquote>Ālaya, or Nying-po, being the root and basis of all, invisible and incomprehensible to human eye and intellect, it can reflect only its reflection—not Itself. Thus that reflection will be mirrored like the moon in tranquil and clear water only in the passionless Dharmakâya intellect, and will be distorted by the flitting image of everything perceived in a mind that is itself liable to be disturbed.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 439.</ref></blockquote>

=== Glorified spiritual body ===

In [[The Theosophical Glossary (book)|''The Theosophical Glossary'']] Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>Dharmakâya (Sk). Lit., “the glorified spiritual body” called the “Vesture of Bliss”. The third, or highest of the Trikâya (Three Bodies), the attribute developed by every “[[Buddha]]”, i.e., every initiate who has crossed or reached the end of what is called the “fourth Path” (in esotericism the sixth “portal” prior to his entry on the seventh). The highest of the Trikâya, it is the fourth of the Buddhakchêtra, or Buddhic planes of consciousness, represented figuratively in Buddhist asceticism as a robe or vesture of luminous Spirituality. 
In popular Northern Buddhism these vestures or robes are: 
(1) Nirmanakâya (2) Sambhogakâya (3) and Dharmakâya the last being the highest and most sublimated of all, as it places the ascetic on the threshold of [[Nirvāṇa|Nirvâna]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 100.</ref></blockquote>

However, she says this is the [[exotericism|exoteric]] teaching. A more [[esotericism|esoteric]] view is offered in the Glossary of [[The Voice of the Silence (book)|''The Voice of the Silence'']]:

<blockquote>The Dharmakâya body is that of a complete Buddha, i.e., no body at all, but an ideal breath: Consciousness merged in the Universal Consciousness, or [[Soul]] devoid of every attribute. Once a Dharmakâya, an [[Adept]] or Buddha leaves behind every possible relation with, or thought for this earth.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Voice of the Silence'' (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1992), 96-97.</ref></blockquote>

Those who attain the Dharmakâya are Jîvanmuktas or Nirvâṇîs "without remains";<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 376.</ref> they are "the pure Arupa, the formless Breaths".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 436.</ref> The "perfect [[Initiation|Initiate]]" who during [[Samādhi]] separates his [[Higher Self]] entirely from his [[sthūla-śarīra|body]], can attain momentarily the Dharmakâya, experiencing a state of [[Nirvāṇa]] “without remains”.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 439, fn.</ref></blockquote>

=== Universally diffused essence ===

Samuel Beal, a scholar of late nineteenth century, wrote in 1871:

<blockquote>So again, when the idea of a universally diffused essence (dharmakaya) was accepted as a dogmatic necessity, a further question arose as to the relation which this 'supreme existence' bore to time, space, and number. And from this consideration appears to have proceeded the further invention of the several names Vairochana (the Omnipresent), Amitabha (for Amirta) the Eternal, and [[Adi-Buddha]] (yih-sin) the 'one form of existence.'<ref>Samuel Beal, ''A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese'' (London: Trubner & Co., 1871), 373.</ref></blockquote>

In one of the [[Mahatma Letter No. 67|Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett]], Master [[Koot Hoomi|K.H.]] defines Dharmakāya in a similar way, as "the mystic, universally diffused essence", and also identifies it with Yin Sin ("the one form of existence") and [[Adi-Buddha#Adi-Buddhi|"Adi-Buddhi"]].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 67 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 182.</ref> In [[Mahatma Letter No. 111|letter No. 111]] we find a similar reference to [[Yih-sin]] but now it is said to be "the child of Dharmakaya".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 111 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 378-379.</ref> This view of Dharmakāya is related to the idea of the "[[Elements#The One element|one element]]" in [[Theosophy]].

A similar correlation has been shown to exist in the Jonangpa school of [[Tibetan Buddhism]] by David Reigle. He quotes the text ''Ratna-gotra-vihhaga'' about "the element" or dhatu (which is permanent, stable, quiescent, and eternal), and adds:

<blockquote>As noted earlier, this one thing, dhatu or element, may be called tathagata-garbha or Buddha-nature when obscured, and dharma-kaya or body of the law when unobscured.<ref>[http://easterntradition.org/book%20of%20dzyan%20research%20report%202-theosophy%20in%20tibet-the%20teachings%20of%20the%20jonagpa%20school.pdf# Theosophy in Tibet: The Teachings of the Jonangpa School] by David Reigle</ref></blockquote>

=== Dhyani-Buddhas ===

Mme. Blavatsky says that the [[Dhyāni-Buddha]]s are the Dharmakāyas from previous [[manvantara]]s:

<blockquote>. . . a “Son of Light” from a still higher sphere, Who being Arupa, has no personal [[Astral Body|astral body]] of His own fit for this world. Such “Sons of Light,” or Dhyâni-Buddhas, are the Dharmakâyas of preceding Manvantaras, who have closed their cycles of incarnations in the ordinary sense and who, being thus [[Karma]]less, have long ago dropped their individual Rūpas, and have become identified with the first Principle.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 397.</ref></blockquote>

In another passage, she states that they are in the Dharmakaya state:

<blockquote>The Âtmic or Auric state or locality. It radiates directly from the periodical manifestation in ABSOLUTENESS, and is the first something in the Universe. Its correspondence in Kosmos is the hierarchy of non-substantial primordial beings, in a place which is no state. This hierarchy contains the primordial plane, all that was, is, and will be, from the beginning to the end of the Mahâmanvantara; all is there. This statement should not, however, be taken to imply fatality, kismet: the latter is contrary to all the teachings of Occultism. Here are the hierarchies of the Dhyâni-Buddhas. Their state is that of Para-Samâdhi, of the Dharmakâya; a state where no progress is possible. The entities there may be said to be crystallized in purity, in homogeneity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 665.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==
<references/>

==Further reading==

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Dharmakaya]]

Astral Body

2019-04-23T14:27:10Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Astral Body''' is a term used to refer to one or more of the [[Subtle Bodies|subtle bodies]] of human beings. In early [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature it was usually applied to the [[Liṅga-śarīra]], the ethereal counterpart of the [[Sthūla-śarīra|physical body]]. However, the term was also used for other subtle bodies, such as the [[Māyāvi-Rūpa]].

Later, [[Annie Besant|Dr. Besant]], within the tradition followed by the [[Theosophical Society (Adyar)]], redefined the terms to apply them in an unambiguous way. She used the term "[[Etheric Double]]" for the Liṅga-śarīra and "Astral Body" for what she called the [[Emotional Body]].

== In early Theosophical literature ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] used the term frequently to refer to the [[second principle]] in Man, or [[Liṅga-śarīra|liṅga-śarīra]]:

<blockquote>Astral Body, or Astral “Double”. The ethereal counterpart or shadow of man or animal. The Linga Sharira, the “Doppelgäinger”. The reader must not confuse it with the ASTRAL SOUL, another name for the [[Manas#Lower manas|lower Manas]], or Kama-Manas so-called, the reflection of the [[Ego#Higher Ego|HIGHER EGO]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 37.</ref></blockquote>

However, in some occasions Mme. Blavatsky also applied this term in a more general way, saying that "there are various Astral Bodies".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'', vol. 12 (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 705.</ref> For example, she wrote: "A more important kind of Astral Body is the [[Māyāvi-Rūpa]], or illusionary Body, and this is of different degrees."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'', vol. 12 (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 706.</ref> She also talked of the astral body as being constituted by "the lower manas and volition, kama"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. V (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1950), fn. 81.</ref>.

Since the linga sharira cannot go far away from the [[Sthūla-śarīra|physical body]], it is to these other kinds of astral bodies that [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] was probably referring in the following passage in [[Isis Unveiled (book)|''Isis Unveiled'']]:

<blockquote>In our sleep the astral body is free and can, by the elasticity of its nature, either hover round in proximity with its sleeping vehicle, or soar higher to hold converse with its starry parents, or even communicate with its brothers at great distances.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Isis Unveiled'', vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 170.</ref></blockquote>

She also talked about the conscious projection of this subtle body, using the phrase "astral form" for it:

<blockquote>One phase of magical skill is the voluntary and conscious withdrawal of the inner man (astral form) from the outer man (physical body). In the cases of some mediums withdrawal occurs, but it is unconscious and involuntary. With the latter the body is more or less cataleptic at such times; but with the adept the absence of the astral form would not be noticed, for the physical senses are alert, and the individual appears only as though in a fit of abstraction — “a brown study,” as some call it.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Isis Unveiled'', vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 588.</ref></blockquote>

== According to Annie Besant ==

[[Annie Besant]] felt the nomenclature for the [[Subtle Bodies|subtle bodies]] needed some adjustment, and sought to use terms in unequivocal ways. She decided to call H. P. Blavatsky's [[Liṅga-śarīra|linga sharira]] "[[Etheric Double|etheric double]]" and use the name "astral body" only to refer to the [[Kāma|kamic]] or [[Emotional Body|emotional body]]:

<blockquote>On looking at a man's lower bodies with astral vision, the etheric double (Linga Sharīra) and the astral body (kâmic body) are seen interpenetrating each other, as both interpenetrate the dense physical, and hence some confusion has arisen in the past and the names Linga Sharīra and astral body have been used interchangeably, while the latter name has also been used for the kâmic or desire-body. This loose terminology has caused much trouble, as the functions of the kâmic body, termed the astral body, have often been understood as the functions of the etheric double, also termed the astral body, and the student, unable to see for himself, has been hopelessly entangled in apparent contradictions. Careful observations on the formation of these two bodies now enable us to say definitely that the etheric double is composed of the physical ethers only, and cannot, if extruded leave the physical plane or go far away from its denser counterpart; further, that it is built after the mould given by the Lords of Karma, and is not brought with him by the Ego, but awaits him with the physical body formed upon it. The astral or kâmic body, the desire-body, on the other hand, is composed of astral matter only, is able to range the astral plane when freed from the physical body, and is the proper vehicle of the Ego on that plane; it is brought with him by the Ego when he comes to re-incarnate. Under these circumstances it is better to call the first the etheric double, and the second the astral body, and so avoid confusion.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Man and His Bodies'' (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1912), 26.</ref></blockquote>

== In Neoplatonism ==

The late Neoplatonist [[Proclus]], who is credited the first to speak of subtle "[[plane]]s", posited two subtle bodies or "carriers" (''okhema'') intermediate between the [[Soul#Human Soul|rational soul]] and the [[Sthūla-śarīra|physical body]]. These were; 1) the '''astral''' vehicle which was the immortal vehicle of the Soul and 2) the spiritual (''pneuma'') vehicle, aligned with the vital breath, which he considered mortal.<ref>E. R. Dodds, ''Proclus: The Elements of Theology'', (1963), Appendix.</ref>

==Onlines resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Astral_Body# Astral Body] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/TheAstralBody-HistoricalStudies/index.html# The Astral Body - Historical Studies] at Wisdom World
* [http://ebookbrowse.com/powell-the-astral-body-pdf-d39291430 The Astral Body - and Other Astral Phenomena] by Arthur. E. Powell

== Notes ==
<References/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Corpo astrale]]

Bodhisattva

2019-04-23T13:36:46Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Bodhisattva''' (devanāgarī: बोधिसत्त्व) is a [[Sanskrit]] term that means ''enlightened'' (bodhi) ''existence'' (sattva). In Buddhism, especially in the [[Mahayana]] tradition, a bodhisattva is anyone who, full of compassion, desires to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] defines it as follows:

<blockquote>Bodhisattva (Sk). Lit., “he, whose essence (sattva) has become intelligence (bodhi)”; those who need but one more incarnation to become perfect Buddhas, i.e., to be entitled to Nirvâna. This, as applied to Manushi (terrestrial) Buddhas. In the metaphysical sense, Bodhisattva is a title given to the sons of the celestial Dhyâni Buddhas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 59.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Bodhisattva# Bodhisattva] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[it:Bodhisattva]]

Brahman

2019-04-23T12:20:52Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Brahman''' (devanāgarī: ब्रह्मन्) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that in [[Hinduism]] denotes the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything in this Universe; that is the one supreme, universal spirit. This supreme principle receives no worship but is object of abstract [[meditation]] which Hindu sages practice in order to obtain absorption into it.<ref>John Dowson, ''A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology'', (London, Routedge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1968), 56.</ref>

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Brahma''' (Sk.). The student must distinguish between Brahma the neuter, and [[Brahmâ]], the male creator of the Indian Pantheon. The former, Brahma or Brahman, is the impersonal, supreme and uncognizable Principle of the Universe from the essence of which all emanates, and into which all returns, which is incorporeal, immaterial, unborn, eternal, beginningless and endless. It is all-pervading, animating the highest god as well as the smallest mineral atom. [[Brahmâ]] on the other hand, the male and the alleged Creator, exists periodically in his manifestation only, and then again goes into [[pralaya]], i.e., disappears and is annihilated.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 62.</ref></blockquote>

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view Brahman is not the [[Absolute]] or [[Parabrahman]] but rather the [[Logos#First Logos|unmanifested Logos]].

== Nirguna and Saguna Brahman ==

''Nirguṇa Brahman'', generally translated as the "brahman without attributes", is the supreme reality without form or qualities. In [[Advaita Vedānta|Advaita Vedanta]] this Brahman without qualities is [[Parabrahman]]. The ''Saguṇa Brahman'' is the aspect of Brahman with infinite qualities or attributes, being immortal, imperishable, eternal, etc.

==Further reading==

*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Brahman# Brahman] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
[[es:Brahman]]
[[it:Brahman]]

Yoga

2019-04-23T12:05:44Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Yoga''' (devanāgarī: योग) is a [[Sanskrit]] term derived from the root ''yuj'', "to join, to unite, to attach", which can be interpreted as "union of [[ātman]] (the individual Self) with paramātma (the Universal Self)". It is one of the six [[darśanas]] (orthodox āstika schools) of [[Hinduism]] based on the Vedas, and prescribes spiritual practices performed primarily as a means to enlightenment.

Traditionally, there are four main paths to attain union, namely, ''karma yoga'' (through action), ''bhakti yoga'' (through devotion), ''[[Jñāna Yoga|jñāna yoga]]'' (through knowledge), and ''[[Rāja Yoga|rāja yoga]]'' (through meditation). According to the late Yogatattva Upanishad, yoga is divided into four forms — Mantrayoga, Layayoga, [[Haṭha Yoga|Hathayoga]] and [[Rāja Yoga|Rajayoga]].

== See also ==
*[[Rāja Yoga]]
*[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]
*[[Jñāna Yoga]]
*[[Haṭha Yoga]]
*[[Meditation]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Yoga# Yoga] at Theosopedia
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No200_201.pdf# The Hatha-Yoga and Raja-Yoga of India] by Annie Besant
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/questions-answered-about-yoga-vidya# Questions Answered about Yoga Vidya] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/yoga-philosophy-hpb# The Yoga Philosophy] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1420# Delight as a Form of Yoga] by Radha Burnier
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/articles/UniversalYoga.pdf# The Universal Yoga Tradition] by Radha Burnier
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No91.pdf# Yoga-Practice in the Roman Catholic Church] by Franz Hartmann
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1359# Explorations: Meditation and Yoga] by Kay Mouradian
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1336# By What Knowledge is the Spirit Known?] by Ravi Ravindra
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No124.pdf# True and False Yoga] by Arthur A. Wells
*[http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/forum/f25n07p394_yoga-in-daily-life.htm# Yoga in Daily Life] by Ernest Wood
*[http://www.theosophical.org/online-resources/leaflets/1808# Yoga: A Theosophical Perspective] by The Theosophical Society in America
*[http://www.austheos.org.au/tsia-article-yoga-a-study-and-practice.html# Yoga - A Study and a Practice] by The Theosophical Society in Australia

===Books===
*[http://www.anandgholap.net/Introduction_To_Yoga-AB.htm# An Introduction To Yoga] by Annie Besant

===Audio===
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/Downloads/mp3/hodson/Psychedelic%20and%20Yogic%20Pathways%20to%20Reality.mp3# The Psychedelic and Yogic Pathways to Reality] by Geoffrey Hodson

===Video===
*[http://www.theosophicalinstitute.org/medialibrary/viewtitle.php?titleid=C38C9855-5A12-4AD8-B532-654FB460A6BE# The Yoga of Theosophy] by Pablo Sender

== Additional resources ==
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/library/Bibliography/Yoga.pdf# Bibliography on Yoga] at the [[Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library]]

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]

[[it:Yoga]]

Yuga

2019-04-23T10:51:41Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Yuga''' (devanāgarī: युग) is a [[Sanskrit]] word meaning 'epoch' or 'era' used in [[Hinduism|Hindu philosophy]] to refer to a cycle of four ages called Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. The total of the said four Yugas is called Maha Yuga.

== General description ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] said that "the exoteric figures accepted throughout India . . . dovetail pretty nearly with those of the Secret works"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 69-70</ref> so she gives the duration of the yugas as rendered in the Hindu books:

Krita Yuga: 1,728,000 years

Treta Yuga: 1,296,000 years

Dwapara Yuga: 864,000 years

Kali Yuga: 432,000 years

Maha Yuga: 4,320,000 years

One thousand Mahayugas: 4,320,000,000 years (a [[kalpa]] or "day of [[Brahmā]]").

==Kali Yuga==
Kali Yuga (Devanāgarī: कलियुग) literally means the "age of [[Kali]]" and it is frequently referred as the "black age". This is the age humanity is currently in. According to the Surya Siddhanta, Kali Yuga began at midnight (00:00) on 18 February 3102 BCE, a date also considered by many Hindus to be the day that [[Krishna]] left Earth to return to his abode. [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>Kaliyuga (Sk). The fourth, the blaek or iron age, our present period, the duration of which is 432,000 years. The last of the ages into which the evolutionary period of man is divided by a series of such ages. It began 3,102 years B.C. at the moment of Krishna's death, and the first cycle of 5,000 years will end between the years 1897 and 1898.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 170.</ref></blockquote>

=== Theosophical view ===

In [[Mahatma_Letter_No._130#Page 3|one of his letters]], [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] wrote to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|Mr. Sinnett]]:

<blockquote>Those who have watched mankind through the centuries of this cycle, have constantly seen the details of this death-struggle between Truth and Error repeating themselves. Some of you [[Theosophist]]s are now only wounded in your "honour" or your purses, but those who held the lamp in preceding generations paid the penalty of their lives for their knowledge.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 130 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???.</ref></blockquote>

====1897-1898====

<blockquote>We are at the very close of the cycle of 5,000 years of the present Aryan Kaliyuga; and between this time and 1897 there will be a large rent made in the Veil of Nature, and materialistic science will receive a death-blow.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 612.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The world moves in cycles, which proceed under the impetus of two mutually antagonistic and destroying Forces, the one striving to move Humanity onward, toward Spirit, the other forcing Mankind to gravitate downward, into the very abysses of matter. It remains with men to help either the one or the other. Thus, also, it is our present task, as Theosophists, to help in one or the other direction. We are in the very midst of the Egyptian darkness of Kali-yuga, the "Black Age," the first 5,000 years of which, its dreary first cycle, is preparing to close on the world between 1897 and 1898. Unless we succeed in placing the T.S. before this date on the safe side of the spiritual current, it will be swept away irretrievably into the Deep called "Failure," and the cold waves of oblivion will close over its doomed head. Thus will have ingloriously perished the only association whose aims, rules and original purposes answer in every particular and detail--if strictly carried out--to the innermost, fundamental thought of every great Adept Reformer, the beautiful dream of a UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 418.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==

<references/>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Yuga# Yuga] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/kali-yuga.htm# The Kali Yuga] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/kali-yuga-present-age.htm# The Kali Yuga - the Present Age] by William Q. Judge

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]

[[it:Yuga]]

Theosophical World University

2019-01-16T20:42:03Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Theosophical World University''' was established in 1925 by [[Annie Besant]] and others with the objectives: "To train the coming generations in the World Wisdom which we call Theosophy; to explore fresh avenues of truth; to establish a world unity of thought and consciousness." A constitution was drawn up, and officers were appointed. [[Annie Besant]] was Rector, [[George S. Arundale]] was Vice-Rector and Principal, and the Directors of Studies were [[Charles Webster Leadbeater]] and [[James I. Wedgwood]]. The Registrar was Harold Baillie-Weaver, assisted by Iwan Alex Hawliczek.

<blockquote>
The first constitution was based on conventional university systems and provided for control by a Senate and Convocation; division into faculties; the conferring of degrees; the posts of Professor, Assistant Professor, Reader and Lecturer. As a first practical step, correspondence courses of study were offered and students’ courses of lessons arranged.

The scheme was over-ambitious and at a meeting of the Council held March 6, 1934, it was decided to hand over the day to day activities of the T.W.U. to the various research centers then existing while maintaining the council as a coordinating body. The advent of World War II caused an interruption of all activities, but in 1947, under the direction of the then President of the Theosophical Society (TS), [[Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa]], an International Council of the T.W.U. was established, the first members being: [[Edward L. Gardner|E. L. Gardner]], Chairman; V. Walter Slater, Deputy Chairman; [[Elizabeth Preston|Elizabeth W. Preston]], Secretary; and A. B. Crow, Treasurer; along with five Council members.

Whilst the T.W.U. never functioned as a University it did act as a coordinating body for much serious theosophical research.<ref>"Theosophical World University, The" in [http://theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Theosophical_World_University,_The Theosopedia].</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Julia K. Sommer]] served for a time as Chairman of the '''Theosophical World-University Association in America'''. In that capacity, she edited '''''Child Training: In the Light of Theosophy''''', which was compiled by Professor R. K. Kulkarni of the League of Parents and Teachers.

== Notes ==
<references/>
[[it:Theosophical World University]]

[[Category:Educational institutions and programs|Theosophical World University]]
[[Category:TS Adyar|Theosophical World University]]

Sat

2019-01-03T10:29:53Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Sat''' (devanāgarī: सत्) is a [[Sanskrit]] adjective meaning "the ideal; pure and true essence (nature)" of an entity or existence in the [[Vedanta]]. It can thus be related to the self-existent or Universal Spirit, [[Brahman]].

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature ''sat'' is frequently used to refer to the [[Absolute]]:

<blockquote>'''Sat''' (Sk.). The one ever-present Reality in the infinite world; the divine essence which is, but cannot be said to exist, as it is Absoluteness, [[Be-ness]] itself.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 292.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==

<references/>

==Further reading==

*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Sat# Sat] at Theosopedia

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Sat]]
[[it:Sat]]

Absolute

2019-01-03T10:19:25Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Absolute''' is a term derived from the Latin ''absolūtus'' which means "loosened from" or "unattached." As such, the word "Absolute" points out a negative concept meaning non-relative, non-comparative, or without relation to anything else. In philosophy it refers to an unconditioned reality which transcends the limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes conceived of as the source through which all beings emanate. This, however, is not an accurate expression. Beings and objects cannot be emanated ''from'' the absolute as if there was an "outside" to it but, rather, they are aspects of the absolute reality itself.

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view, the ultimate reality of the universe is regarded to be Absolute. It is '''atemporal''', meaning that the absolute reality was, is, and will be, whether there is a universe manifested or not. It is '''boundless''' and '''omnipresent''', being the essence of [[spirit]], [[matter]], and [[energy]]. It is '''immutable''', which implies that it cannot grow, change, or evolve. Being absolute, it transcends any opposites (such as fullness and emptiness, good and evil, being and non-being, transcendent and immanent, etc.) It cannot be grasped by the mind, though it can be sensed by the spiritual intuition.

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] postulates that the Absolute has two aspects: the absolute abstract [[motion]] and the absolute abstract [[space]]. There is also some mention of "[[duration]]", a kind of absolute lasting, as a third aspect.

Some synonyms used in Theosophical literature are [[Be-ness]], [[One Life]], [[Parabrahman]], [[Sat]], [[Adi-Buddha]], [[Ain Soph]], among others.

== General description ==

This Absolute reality is the first fundamental proposition found in [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']], described as follows:

<blockquote>An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable PRINCIPLE on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the range and reach of thought—in the words of Mandukya, “unthinkable and unspeakable.”
To render these ideas clearer to the general reader, let him set out with the postulate that there is one absolute Reality which antecedes all manifested, conditioned, being. This Infinite and Eternal Cause—dimly formulated in the “Unconscious” and “Unknowable” of current European philosophy—is the rootless root of “all that was, is, or ever shall be.” It is of course devoid of all attributes and is essentially without any relation to manifested, finite Being. It is “Be-ness” rather than Being (in Sanskrit, Sat), and is beyond all thought or speculation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. I (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 14.</ref></blockquote>

Elaborating on the fact that the Absolute is "beyond the range and reach of thought," [[H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The “Absolute Consciousness” . . . “behind” [[Noumenon#Phenomenon|phenomena]], which is only termed unconsciousness in the absence of any element of personality, transcends human conception. Man, unable to form one concept except in terms of empirical phenomena, is powerless from the very constitution of his being to raise the veil that shrouds the majesty of the Absolute. Only the liberated [[Spirit]] is able to faintly realise the nature of the source whence it sprung and whither it must eventually return. . . . The highest [[Dhyāni-Chohan|Dhyan Chohan]], however, can but bow in ignorance before the awful mystery of Absolute Being; and . . . even in that culmination of conscious existence—“the merging of the individual in the universal consciousness”—to use a phrase of Fichte’s—the Finite cannot conceive the Infinite, nor can it apply to it its own standard of mental experiences.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. I (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 51.</ref></blockquote>

Although it is regarded as the "Causeless Cause" of the universe, we should not think the universe is produced "out of the Absolute". Both [[manvantara|manifestation]] and [[pralaya|dissolution]] are facets of the Absolute reality, which nevertheless remains immutable. As [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The first lesson taught in Esoteric philosophy is, that the incognizable Cause does not put forth evolution, whether consciously or unconsciously, but only exhibits periodically different aspects of itself to the perception of finite Minds.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. II (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 487.</ref></blockquote>

The “Causeless Cause” of the universe,<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 14.</ref> however, does not correspond to the usual concept of [[God]] in monotheistic religions:

<blockquote>We deny the existence of a thinking conscious [[God]], on the grounds that such a God must either be conditioned, limited and subject to change, therefore not infinite, or ... if he is represented to us as an eternal unchangeable and independent being, with not a particle of matter in him, then we answer that it is no being but an immutable blind principle, a law.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 88 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 272.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The God of theology, we say -- and prove it -- is a bundle of contradictions and a logical impossibility. Therefore, we will have nothing to do with him. . . This God is called by his devotees infinite and absolute . . . Then, if infinite -- i. e., limitless -- and especially if absolute, how can he have a form, and be a creator of anything? Form implies limitation, and a beginning as well as an end; and, in order to create, a Being must think and plan. How can the ABSOLUTE be supposed to think -- i. e., to have any relation whatever to that which is limited, finite, and conditioned? This is a philosophical, and a logical absurdity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), ??.</ref></blockquote>

No feelings, even the highest, can be attributed to the Absolute. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] answered a question about this as follows:

<blockquote>Q. But we understand that bliss, as the state of the Absolute, was intended to be referred to. 
A. This is still more illogical. How can the ABSOLUTE be said to feel? The Absolute can have no condition nor attribute. It is only that which is finite and differentiated which can have any feeling or attitude predicated of it.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 322.</ref></blockquote>

In several instances Mme. Blavatsky stated that the Absolute can be regarded to be both Absolute ''Being'' and ''Non-Being''.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 249.</ref> On certain occasions the termed "Absoluteness" is used to provide an even less concrete idea of the Absolute:

<blockquote>'''Absoluteness'''. When predicated of the UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE, it denotes an abstract noun, which is more correct and logical than to apply the adjective “absolute” to that which has neither attributes nor limitations, nor can IT have any.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 4.</ref></blockquote>

A frequently asked question is why the Absolute puts forth a cosmos, if the former is perfect in itself and cannot gain or be affected in any way by the latter? Mme. Blavatsky said:

<blockquote>Ah! It is a very easy question to ask. . . . He wants to ask what is the cause that propels or compels Parabrahman to create. Parabrahman is not a cause. It is not even the Absolute, as I say, but absolutness. Now, how can we know the cause that propels Parabrahman to create? That which is behind all veil of matter is incomprehensible, and no finite intellect can conceive it. . . . and to come and ask for the cause is perfectly ridiculous. . . . Just try to imagine two forces: the centripetal and the centrifugal, which periodically must emanate from IT. Just as the clock must strike so this strikes and emanates periodically. When it has done striking it goes to sleep again. Try to imagine that and then you will have perhaps a notion. . . . Mind you, it is not that I say, and certainly not that I would go and advocate, the automatic creation of the materialists; never. But it is for the purpose of giving a shape to it, and to allow people to conceive of it, because otherwise, you cannot.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 70-71.</ref></blockquote>

== Absolute Aspects ==

Although Mme. Blavatsky said the Absolute is "devoid of all attributes"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 14.</ref></blockquote> (which imply relative characteristics) we can still talk about some "aspects" of it:

<blockquote>This “Be-ness” is symbolised in the Secret Doctrine under two aspects. On the one hand, absolute abstract Space, representing bare subjectivity, the one thing which no human mind can either exclude from any conception, or conceive of by itself. On the other, absolute Abstract Motion representing Unconditioned Consciousness.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 14.</ref></blockquote>

"[[Duration]]" is sometimes also regarded as a third aspect of the Absolute.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 43.</ref></blockquote>

=== Absolute abstract motion ===

The "motion aspect" of the absolute is the basis for the development of all the different kinds of consciousness in the universe:

<blockquote>It is the fons et origo [source and origin] of force and of all individual consciousness, and supplies the guiding intelligence in the vast scheme of cosmic Evolution.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 15.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Even our Western thinkers have shown that Consciousness is inconceivable to us apart from change, and motion best symbolizes change, its essential characteristic.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 14.</ref></blockquote>

In its "absoluteness", motion is also called "the [[Great Breath]]"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 14.</ref>

<blockquote>When the “Great Breath” is projected, it is called the Divine Breath, and is regarded as the breathing of the Unknowable Deity—the One Existence—which breathes out a thought, as it were, which becomes the Kosmos. . . . So also is it when the Divine Breath is inspired again the Universe disappears into the bosom of “the Great Mother,” who then sleeps “wrapped in her invisible robes.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 43.</ref></blockquote>

Although this aspect is the absolute source of all kinds of consciousnesses, it is not any particular consciousness, or it would cease to be absolute. In Mme. Blavatsky words:

<blockquote>In the occult teachings, the Unknown and the Unknowable MOVER, or the Self-Existing, is the absolute divine Essence. And thus being Absolute Consciousness, and Absolute Motion—to the limited senses of those who describe this indescribable—it is unconsciousness and immoveableness. . . . Consciousness implies limitations and qualifications; something to be conscious of, and someone to be conscious of it. But Absolute Consciousness contains the cognizer, the thing cognized and the cognition, all three in itself and all three one. . . . It must not be forgotten, also, that we give names to things according to the appearances they assume for ourselves. We call absolute consciousness “unconsciousness,” because it seems to us that it must necessarily be so, just as we call the Absolute, “Darkness,” because to our finite understanding it appears quite impenetrable, yet we recognize fully that our perception of such things does not do them justice. We involuntarily distinguish in our minds, for instance, between unconscious absolute consciousness, and unconsciousness, by secretly endowing the former with some indefinite quality that corresponds, on a higher plane than our thoughts can reach, with what we know as consciousness in ourselves. But this is not any kind of consciousness that we can manage to distinguish from what appears to us as unconsciousness.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 56.</ref></blockquote>

=== Absolute abstract space ===

Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>The One All is like Space—which is its only mental and physical representation on this Earth, or our plane of existence—neither an object of, nor a subject to, perception.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 8.</ref></blockquote>

One reason for this is the fact that space is a container that is not really affected by the content. A room can be filled with furniture, move it around, or destroy it, but the space in which all this happens remains unaffected. Similarly, a cosmos may be manifested or dissolve and the Absolute Reality remain the same. This, of course, is a metaphor. The "space" that is an aspect of the absolute is not the physical space of science which, as [[Albert Einstein]] shown, is relative and can be "bent". It is its absolute abstraction. As such, the absolute abstract space is beyond the idea of emptiness ([[śūnyatā]]) or fullness (pūrṇa):

<blockquote>Space is neither a “limitless void,” nor a “conditioned fullness,” but both: being, on the plane of absolute abstraction, the ever-incognizable Deity, which is void only to finite minds, and on that of mayavic perception, the Plenum, the absolute Container of all that is, whether manifested or unmanifested: it is, therefore, that ABSOLUTE ALL.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 8.</ref></blockquote>

The "space aspect" of the absolute is frequently identified with the "root substance" ([[mūlaprakṛti]]):

<blockquote>Space, however, viewed as a “Substantial Unity”—the “living Source of Life”—as the “Unknown Causeless Cause,” is the oldest dogma in Occultism. . .<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 9-10, fn.</ref></blockquote>

This aspect is the origin of all the different types of [[matter]] in the universe:

<blockquote>On the other hand, pre-cosmic root-substance (Mulaprakriti) is that aspect of the Absolute which underlies all the objective planes of Nature. Just as pre-cosmic Ideation is the root of all individual consciousness, so [[Substance#Pre-cosmic_substance|pre-cosmic Substance]] is the substratum of matter in the various grades of its differentiation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 15.</ref></blockquote>

=== Duration ===

Mme. Blavatsky talked about a third aspect of the absolute, in addition to the two already mentioned. She wrote:

<blockquote>“The Great Breath” . . . being Motion, is one of the three aspects of the Absolute—Abstract Space and Duration being the other two.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 43.</ref></blockquote>

A reference to this aspect can be found in [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza I|Stanza I.2]]: "[[Time]] was not, for it lay asleep in the infinite bosom of duration". Below is a series of answers given by Mme. Blavatsky about the difference between duration and time:

<blockquote>Q. What is the difference between Time and Duration? 
A. Duration is; it has neither beginning nor end. How can you call that which has neither beginning nor end, Time? Duration is beginningless and endless; Time is finite. 
Q. Is, then, Duration the infinite, and Time the finite conception? 
A. Time can be divided; Duration—in our philosophy, at least—cannot. Time is divisible in Duration—or, as you put it, the one is something within Time and Space, whereas the other is outside of both. 
Q. The only way one can define Time is by the motion of the earth. 
A. But we can also define Time in our conceptions. 
Q. Duration, rather? 
A. No, Time; for as to Duration, it is impossible to divide it or set up landmarks therein. Duration with us is the one eternity, not relative, but absolute. 
Q. Can it be said that the essential idea of Duration is existence? 
A. No; existence has limited and definite periods, whereas Duration, having neither beginning nor end, is a perfect abstraction which contains Time. Duration is like Space, which is an abstraction too, and is equally without beginning or end.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 310.</ref></blockquote>

It is important to notice that duration is not an infinite extension of time (called sempiternity), but it is altogether beyond time.

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Absolute# Absolute] at Theosopedia
*[[Three Fundamental Propositions#First Fundamental Proposition|First Fundamental Proposition]] at TS Wiki
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/science/other/multiverse.htm# Multiverse and the Absolute] at Blavatsky Net
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/two-aspects-of-the-absolute/ Two Aspects of the Absolute] by Ingmar de Boer
*[http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/ListOfCollatedArticles/TheAbsoluteAll.html# The Absolute All] at WisdomWorld.org

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Absoluto]]
[[it:Assoluto]]

Dharma

2019-01-03T09:46:33Z

Daniele Urlotti:

{{Template:Article needs expansion}}
 
 
 
'''Dharma''' (devanāgarī: धर्म) is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. It has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In Hinduism, ''dharma'' signifies behaviours that are considered to be in accord with the order that makes life and universe possible (Ṛta), and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living." In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order", it is frequently used to refer to "phenomena," and it is also applied to the teachings of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]].

== Definition ==

There is no equivalent single-word synonym for ''dharma'' in western languages. The Sanskrit noun ''dharma'' (धर्म) derives from the root ''dhṛ'', which means "to hold, maintain, keep or bear." It takes a meaning of "what is established or firm", and hence "law". It is the thing that regulates the course of change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains constant.
The meaning of the word dharma depends on the context. There are numerous definitions such as that which is established or firm, steadfast decree, statute, law, practice, custom, duty, right, justice, virtue, morality, ethics, religion, religious merit, good works, nature, character, quality, property. In common parlance dharma means "right way of living" and "path of rightness".

==In Theosophy==

[[Annie Besant]] described the Theosophical meaning of the term "dharma" as follows:

<blockquote>Dharma may now be defined as the “inner nature of a thing at any given stage of [[evolution]], and the law of the next stage of its unfolding”. . . . Take those two thoughts together, and then you will understand why perfection must be reached by following one’s own Dharma. My Dharma is the stage of evolution which my nature has reached in unfolding the seed of divine life which is myself, plus the law of life according to which the next stage is to be performed by me. It belongs to this separated self. I must know the stage of my growth, and I must know the law which will enable me to grow further; then I know my Dharma, and by following that Dharma I am going towards perfection.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Dharma'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 19869), 17.</ref></blockquote>

=== Duty ===

The word ''dharma'' is sometimes translated as "duty", which may be seen as one aspect of it. Even the [[Masters of Wisdom]] are bounded by duty although it is a willingly accepted one. In [[Mahatma Letter No. 126#Page 1 transcription, image, and notes|one of his letters]] [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] wrote:

<blockquote>My first duty is to my Master. And duty, let me tell you, is for us, stronger than any friendship or even love; as without this abiding principle which is the indestructible cement that has held together for so many milleniums, the scattered custodians of nature's grand secrets — our Brotherhood, nay, our doctrine itself — would have crumbled long ago into unrecognisable atoms.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 126 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???.</ref></blockquote>

== Online resources==
===Articles===
*[https://www.theosophical.org/publications/1595# Synchronicity: The Gateway to Opportunity] by Ed Abdill
*[http://hpb.narod.ru/Dharma.htm# Dharma] by Dora Kunz
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1504# Karma and Dharma: Twin Keys to the Heroic Journey] by Joy Mills

===Books===
*[http://www.anandgholap.net/Dharma-AB.htm# Dharma] by Annie Besant

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[Category:Dharma]]
[[it:Dharma]]

Father-Mother

2019-01-03T09:30:57Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Father-Mother''' (or sometimes, Mother-Father) is a compound term used by [[H. P. Blavatsky]] in some different ways. She defines it as the "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In this sense, Father-Mother is related to [[svabhavat]]. In other passages "father-mother" is used to refer to the more concrete emanation [[akasha]]. In yet another sense, "father-mother" refers to the [[Logos#Second Logos|second Logos]]. Finally, there is a more generic use, in which it represents the male and female poles of the universe.

== General description ==

In its general application, Father and Mother are a symbol of the masculine and feminine aspects of the Cosmos, which during [[Pralaya]] are still united and, therefore, unmanifested. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The Father-Mother are the male and female principles in root-nature, the opposite poles that manifest in all things on every plane of Kosmos, or [[Spirit]] and [[Matter#Differentiation_of_matter|Substance]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 41.</ref></blockquote>

== Primordial Substance ==

Mme. Blavatsky said that the "Eternal Parent" of the [[Stanzas of Dzyan|Stanzas of Dzyan]] ([[Mūlaprakṛti]])<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 3.</ref></blockquote> becomes the "seven skinned Father Mother" at the first flutter of differentiation,<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 2.</ref> when matter comes out of its [[Laya Centre#Laya condition|Laya condition]]:<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 66.</ref>

<blockquote>. . . Matter had begun to differentiate, but had not yet assumed form. Father-Mother is a compound term which means primordial Substance or Spirit-matter. When from Homogeneity it begins through differentiation to fall into Heterogeneity, it becomes positive and negative; thus from the “Zero-state” (or laya) it becomes active and passive, instead of the latter alone; and, in consequence of this differentiation (the resultant of which is evolution and the subsequent Universe),—the “Son” is produced, the Son being that same Universe, or manifested Kosmos, till a new Mahapralaya.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 333.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The Worlds, including our own, were of course, as germs, primarily evolved from the [[Element#The One Element|ONE Element]] in its second stage (“Father-Mother,” the differentiated World’s Soul, not what is termed the “[[Over-Soul]]” by Emerson).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 140.</ref></blockquote>

The phrase "Spirit-matter" suggests that, though there is a primordial differentiation between these two principles, they are still united.

The Father-Mother contains the germs for the manifestation of all the planes in the universe, and, therefore, the seven fundamental manifestations of force, consciousness, etc. For this reason, the [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza VI|Stanzas of Dzyan]] portray it as being "seven-Skinned":

<blockquote>Space is called in the esoteric symbolism “the Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 9.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Q. What, then, are the seven layers of Space, for in the “Proem” we read about the “Seven-skinned Mother-Father”? 
A. Plato and Hermes Trismegistus would have regarded this as the Divine Thought, and Aristotle would have viewed this “Mother-Father” as the “[[privation]]” of matter. It is that which will become the seven planes of being, commencing with the spiritual and passing through the psychic to the material plane. The seven planes of thought or the seven states of consciousness correspond to these planes. All these septenaries are symbolized by the seven Skins.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 304.</ref></blockquote>

The [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza VI|Stanza II.5]] of Cosmogenesis identifies Father-Mother with [[Svābhāvat]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 60.</ref></blockquote> Mme. Blavatsky also stated:

<blockquote>In Esotericism it [Svabhavat] is called “Father-Mother”. It is the plastic essence of matter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>As for Svabhavat, the Orientalists explain the term as meaning the Universal plastic matter diffused through Space, with, perhaps, half an eye to the Ether of Science. But the Occultists identify it with “father-mother” on the mystic plane.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98.</ref></blockquote>

Finally, there are some references to the Father-Mother as being the [[Ākāśa]] (the third, rather than the second stage of differentiation).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 18.</ref><ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 400, fn.</ref><ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 75-76.</ref></blockquote>

== Father-Mother of the gods ==

Another aspect of Father-Mother is that this principle is from where the Logoi and subsequent gods are born:

<blockquote>The first [Logos] is the already present yet still unmanifested potentiality in the bosom of Father-Mother.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 334.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The first line or diameter is the Mother-Father; from it proceeds the Second Logos, which contains in itself the Third Manifested Word.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 314.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>In The Secret Doctrine, that from which the manifested Logos is born is translated by the “Eternal Mother-Father”; while in the Vishnu-Purâna it is described as the Egg of the World, surrounded by seven skins, layers or zones.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 313.</ref></blockquote>

It is also said that the [[Primordial Seven]] are born from the Father-Mother, before it becomes the [[Mother (symbol)|Mother]] under the fecundation of the [[Logos#Third Logos|Third Logos]]:

<blockquote>Latent, during Pralaya, and active, during Manvantara, the “Primordial” proceed from “Father-Mother” (Spirit-Hyle, or Ilus); whereas the other manifested Quaternary and the Seven proceed from the Mother alone.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 88.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>''Question'': Is Father-Mother here synonymous with the third Logos and not with [[Svābhāvat]] in Darkness, as before, since it has now manifested and differentiated existence. . .? 
''Mme. Blavatsky'': It is synonymous now with the third Logos. And Svābhāvat is light, or manifestation. It is called both; it is perfectly interchangeable.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 313-314.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The first primordial seven are born from the third Logos. This is before it is differentiated into the mother, when it becomes pure primordial matter in its first primitive essence--father, mother potentially.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 313.</ref></blockquote>

This apparent contradiction can be understood if we remember that the "Father-Mother" is related to the [[Logos#Second Logos|Second Logos]], which is regarded to be both manifested and unmanifested.

== Second Logos ==

Although the Father-Mother is seen as the origin of all the Logoi, we also find an identification between this and the [[Logos#Second Logos|Second Logos]]:

<blockquote>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.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 358-359.</ref></blockquote>

As shown above, the Father-Mother has been defined as "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In the [[Three Fundamental Propositions#First Fundamental Proposition|First Fundamental Proposition]] it is written: "Spirit-matter, Life; the “Spirit of the Universe,” the Purusha and Prakriti, or the second Logos".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 16.</ref> She also states that "the Point in the Triangle represents the Second Logos, “Father-Mother”.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 564.</ref>

Also, although Father-Mother is identified with [[Svābhāvat]], in [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza VI|Stanza III.10]] of Cosmogenesis the former is portrayed as an active principle building on latter, which could be interpreted as referring to the second Logos:

<blockquote>Father-Mother spin a web whose upper end is fastened to Spirit (''Purusha''), the light of the one Darkness, and the lower one to Matter (''Prakriti'') its (''the Spirit’s'') shadowy end; and this web is the Universe spun out of the two substances made in one, which is Swâbhâvat.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 83.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==

<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Padre–Madre]]
[[it:Padre-Madre]]

Mulaprakriti

2019-01-03T09:22:59Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Mulaprakriti''' (devanāgarī: मूलप्रकृति, ''mūlaprakṛti'') is a [[Sanskrit]] term that can be translated as "the root of nature" or "root of [[Prakriti]]"; meaning "fundamental matter". In the [[Samkhya]] school of [[Hinduism]] it is frequently used as a synonym of [[pradhāna]].

== General description ==

In [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature it is often defined as the essence of matter, the [[Substance#Pre-cosmic_substance|Pre-Cosmic Substance]]:

<blockquote>Precosmic root-substance (Mulaprakriti) is that aspect of the Absolute which underlies all the objective planes of Nature. Just as pre-Cosmic Ideation is the root of all individual consciousness, so pre-Cosmic Substance is the substratum of matter in the various grades of its differentiation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 15.</ref></blockquote>

It is the "Eternal Parent wrapped in her ever invisible robes" of the [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza I|Stanza I.1]] of Cosmogenesis:

<blockquote>''[Question]'': What aspect of space . . . is here called the Eternal Parent? 
''Mme. Blavatsky'': Well, it is just this androgynous something; the Svabhavat of the Buddhists. It is non-differentiated, hence--an abstraction. It is the Mulaprakriti of the Vedantins. If you preoceed to make it correspond with the human priniciples it will be Buddhi, Atman corresponding to Parabrahman.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 3.</ref></blockquote>

The "invisible robes" of the Eternal Parent are the non-differentiated substance or spiritual matter,<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 3.</ref></blockquote> and they are on the highest, or seventh, plane of matter.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 6.</ref></blockquote>

Other synonyms Mme. Blavatsky uses is the Vedic [[Aditi]]<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 4.</ref> or [[Pradhana]]. She often refers to [[Svābhāvat]] as a synonym, though this is probably in a general sense only, because in other occasions she talks of it as a differentiation of Mulaprakriti.

As explained by our learned Vedantin Brother—T. Subba Row—Mulaprakriti, the first universal aspect of Parabrahma, its Kosmic Veil, and whose essence, to us, is unthinkable, is to the LOGOS “as material as any object is material to us”

== See also ==
*[[Substance]]
*[[Matter]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=M%C5%ABlaprak%E1%B9%9Bti# Mūlaprakṛti] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Mulaprakriti]]
[[it:Mulaprakriti]]

Aditi

2019-01-03T09:17:44Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Aditi''' (devanāgarī: अदिति) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means limitless (from ''a'' "without" and ''diti'' "bound"). In the Vedas Aditi is mother of the gods (devamatri) from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born. Aditi is associated with the primal substance ([[mulaprakriti]]) in Vedanta. As celestial [[Mother (symbol)|mother]] of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is associated with [[space]] ([[Ākāśa|akasa]]) and with mystic speech ([[Vāc]]). She may be seen as a female aspect of [[Brahmā]].

== In Hinduism ==

Aditi is a goddess, personification of the infinite and universal expanse. She is the supporter of the sky, the sustainer of existence, and the nourisher of the earth, often represented as a cow.<ref>Benjamin Walker, ''The Hindu World'', (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1968), 2.</ref> Aditi is called Deva-mātri, the "mother of the gods".

According to an allegory found in the Rig-Veda, eight sons were born from her body; she approached the gods with seven but cast away the eighth, Mārttānda (the sun). These seven were the Ādityas.<ref>John Dowson, ''A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology'', (London, Routedge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1968), 3.</ref></blockquote> The names of these sons given in different parts of the Vedas do not agree with each other and it is difficult to know who were originally regarded as Ādityas. In the Purānas the number of the Ādityas is increased to twelve.

=== Blavatsky's interpretation ===

In [[Stanzas of Dzyan# Stanza IV|Stanza IV.5]] of [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']] it is said: "Then come the sons, the seven fighters, the one, the eighth left out, and his breath which is the light-maker (bhâskara)".

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] explains this sloka with an [[Seven Keys of Interpretation|astronomical key]] using the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] allegory of Aditi and her eight sons:

<blockquote>The “One Rejected” is the Sun of our system. The exoteric version may be found in the oldest Sanskrit Scriptures. In the Rig Veda, Aditi, “The Boundless” or infinite Space, translated by Mr. Max Müller, “the visible infinite, visible by the naked eye (!!); the endless expanse beyond the Earth, beyond the clouds, beyond the sky,” is the equivalent of “Mother-Space” coeval with “Darkness.” She is very properly called “The Mother of the Gods,” DEVA-MATRI, as it is from her Cosmic matrix that all the heavenly bodies of our system were born—Sun and Planets. Thus she is described, allegorically, in this wise: “Eight Sons were born from the body of Aditi; she approached the gods with seven, but cast away the eighth, Mârttânda,” our sun. The seven sons called the Aditya are, cosmically or astronomically, the seven planets; and the Sun being excluded from their number shows plainly that the Hindus may have known, and in fact knew of a seventh planet, without calling it Uranus. But esoterically and theologically, so to say, the Adityas are, in their primitive most ancient meanings, the eight, and the twelve great gods of the Hindu Pantheon. “The Seven allow the mortals to see their dwellings, but show themselves only to the Arhats,” says an old proverb, “their dwellings” standing here for planets.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 99-100.</ref></blockquote>

== In Theosophy ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] writes that Aditi is the abstract aspect of [[Parabrahman]], called [[mulaprakriti]], which is both unmanifested and unknowable.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 7.</ref> In the Proem of the [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']] it is said:

<blockquote>A disc with a point in it [represents] the first differentiation in the periodical manifestations of the ever-eternal nature, sexless and infinite “Aditi in THAT” (Rig Veda), the point in the disc, or potential Space within abstract Space.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 4.</ref></blockquote>

In this case, the circle would represent the abstract space (an [[Absolute#Absolute abstract space|aspect of the Absolute]]) and the point within it, Aditi (potential space). This principle, however, can be related to [[space]] in its different aspects or stages of differentiation. For example, it is frequently identified with [[Akasha]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 332.</ref>

Aditi is also related to the female aspect of the divine. It is said that in its third aspect or differentiation it becomes [[Vâch]],<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 430.</ref> Aditi-Vâch being the [[Logos#Female Logos|female Logos]], or the “word,” Verbum.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 431.</ref>

<blockquote>Aditi is the ever-equilibrizing mother-nature on the purely spiritual and subjective plane. She is the Sakti, the female power or potency of the fecundating spirit; and it is for her to regulate the behaviour of sons born in her bosom. The Vedic allegory is very suggestive.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 402.</ref></blockquote>

In [[Hinduism]] Aditi is regarded as the mother of the gods, and of the sun. According to Mme. Blavatsky, when regarded in connection with the solar system, Aditi is the female aspect of the highest principle:

<blockquote>Akâsa is Aditi in the allegory, and the mother of Mârttânda (the sun), the Deva-matri—“Mother of the gods.” In the solar system, the sun is her Buddhi and Vahan, the Vehicle, hence the 6th principle. . .<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 527, fn.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==

<references/>

==Further reading==

*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=%C4%80diti# Āditi] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/hmvp/hmvp08.htm# Āditi and the Ādityas] at the Internet Sacred Texts Archive

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Devamātri]]
[[it:Aditi]]

Chaos

2019-01-03T08:50:03Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Chaos''' (from the Greek χάος, khaos) means "emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss" and in the Greek creation myths it refers to a moving, formless mass from which the cosmos and the gods originated. In [[Theosophy]], Chaos is space filled with darkness, which is primordial matter in its pre-cosmic state.<ref> Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. 1 (London: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 336.</ref> It contains in itself all the Elements in their rudimentary, undifferentiated State.<ref> Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. 1 (London: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 342.</ref>

[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']] uses many synonyms for this Principle. Some of them can be found in the following definition by [[H. P. Blavatsky]]:

<blockquote>Chaos (Gr.). The Abyss, the "Great Deep". It was personified in Egypt by the Goddess Neith, anterior to all gods . . . Neith is the "[[Father-Mother|Father-mother]]" of the [[Stanzas of Dzyan|Stanzas]] of the Secret Doctrine, the [[Svābhāvat|Swabhavat]] of the Northern Buddhists, the [[Mother_(symbol)|immaculate Mother]] indeed, the prototype of the latest "Virgin" of all. . . Neith is Swabhavat and also the Vedic [[Aditi]] and the Puranic [[Ākāśa|Akasa]].<ref> Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1918), 77.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Chaos# Chaos] in Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Caos]]
[[it:Caos]]

Hiranyagarbha

2019-01-03T08:38:57Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Hiranyagarbha''' (devanāgarī: हिरण्यगर्भः ''hiraṇyagarbha'') is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means the "golden womb" or "golden egg". It is the source of creation of the Universe in Indian philosophy.

There are different accounts of the initial creation. After [[Pralaya|Mahāpralaya]], the great dissolution of the Universe, there was darkness everywhere. Everything was in a state of sleep. There was nothing, either moving or static. Then Svayambhu, Self-manifested Being arose, which is a form beyond senses. It created the primordial waters first and established the seed of creation into it. The seed turned into a golden womb, Hiranyagarbha. Then Svayambhu entered in the egg, and it is called [[Vishnu]] because of entering. Once in the Egg, he becomes the germ of [[Brahmā]], who is incubated there. After having continued for about a (divine) year in the egg, Brahmā divided it into two parts by his mere thought, and with these two shells he formed the heavens and the earth; and in the middle he placed the sky, the eight regions, and the eternal abode of the waters.

Sometimes, Hiranyagarbha is used as the name of Brahmā or the supreme deity ([[Prajāpati]]). In the Rig-veda Hiranyagarbha “is said to have arisen in the beginning, the one lord of all beings, who upholds heaven and earth, who gives life and breath, whose command even the gods obey, who is the god over all gods, and the one animating principle of their being.”

See also [[Egg#Mundane egg|Mundane egg]]

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Hiranyagarbha]]
[[it:Hiranyagarbha]]

Ether

2019-01-03T08:27:04Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Ether''' is a word derived from the [[Greek]] ''aithēr'' (αἰθήρ), meaning "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky", and refers to a postulated space-filling substance or field. [[Aristotle]] included ''aether'' among the four terrestrial [[elements]], thus making of it the fifth one (the ''quintessence''). In the late 19th century the "luminiferous ether" was a light-bearing element postulated by scientists to describe a medium for the propagation of light, theory that was later discarded.

The [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature also regards ether as the fifth element (out of seven) although only four are at this point completely manifested:

<blockquote>Seven Elements on our Earth. Of these, four elements are now fully manifested, while the fifth —Ether— is only partially so, as we are hardly in the second half of the [[Chains and Rounds#Rounds|Fourth Round]], and consequently the fifth Element will manifest fully only in the [[Chains and Rounds#Rounds|Fifth Round]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 140.</ref></blockquote>

In [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature the word ether is sometimes loosely applied to [[Akasha]], although in reality "Ether is the lowest of the septenate division of Akâsa-Pradhâna".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1981), 124.</ref>

The ether of the 19th century science is described by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] as a kind of "material" ether:

<blockquote>Ether. Students are but too apt to confuse this with [[Akasa]] and with [[Astral Light]]. It is neither, in the sense in which ether is described by physical Science. Ether is a material agent, though hitherto undetected by any physical apparatus; whereas [[Akasa]] is a distinctly spiritual agent, identical, in one sense, with the [[Anima Mundi]], while the [[Astral Light]] is only the seventh and highest principle of the terrestrial atmosphere, as undetectable as [[Akasa]] and real Ether, because it is something quite on another plane.</blockquote>

Thus, the term may also refer to the "real ether", this being the more spiritual principle called the [[Astral Light]]:

<blockquote>Ether, this hypothetical Proteus, one of the “representative Fictions” of modern Science—which, nevertheless, was so long accepted—is one of the lower “principles of what we call PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE ([[Akâsa]], in Sanskrit), one of the dreams of old, and which has now become again the dream of modern science. It is the greatest, just as it is the boldest, of the surviving speculations of ancient philosophers. For the [[Occultism|Occultists]], however, both ETHER and the Primordial Substance are a reality. To put it plainly, ETHER is the [[Astral Light]], and the Primordial Substance is [[Ākāśa|AKÂSA]], the [[Upadhi]] of DIVINE THOUGHT.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 326.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Ether# Ether] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/science/ether/ether.htm# Ether] by Reed Carson

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Aether]]

Anima Mundi

2019-01-03T08:19:04Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Anima Mundi''' is a [[Latin]] term meaning ''world soul''. The idea originated with [[Plato]] and was an important component of most [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] systems:

<blockquote>Therefore, we may consequently state that: this world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence ... a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related.<ref>Plato, ''Timaeus'', 29/30; 4th century BCE.</ref></blockquote>

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] used it as a synonym for [[Ālaya]]. She wrote:

<blockquote>Anima Mundi (Lat.). The “Soul of the World”, the same as the Ālaya of the Northern Buddhists; the divine essence which permeates, animates and informs all, from the smallest atom of matter to man and god. It is in a sense the “seven-skinned [[Mother (symbol)|mother]]” of the [[Stanzas of Dzyan|stanzas]] in [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']], the essence of seven [[plane]]s of sentience, consciousness and differentiation, moral and physical. In its highest aspect it is [[Nirvāṇa]], in its lowest [[Astral Light]]. It was feminine with the [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]], the early [[Christianity|Christians]] and the Nazarenes; bisexual with other sects, who considered it only in its four lower planes. Of igneous, ethereal nature in the objective world of form (and then ether), and divine and spiritual in its three higher planes. When it is said that every human [[soul]] was born by detaching itself from the Anima Mundi, it means, esoterically, that our higher [[Ego]]s are of an essence identical with It, which is a radiation of the ever unknown Universal [[Absolute|ABSOLUTE]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 6.</ref></blockquote>

== Additional resources ==

* Fardone, Enzo. "The World Soul in Myth and Symbolism." ''Theosophy in Australia'' 56.4 (September 1992), 65-66.

== Notes ==

<references/>

==Further reading==

*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Anima_Mundi# Anima Mundi] at Theosopedia

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Alma del Mundo]]
[[it:Anima mundi]]

Svabhavat

2019-01-03T08:04:13Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Svābhāvat''' is a term used by [[H. P. Blavatsky]] in her writings, although it is not found in [[Sanskrit]] as a noun in the way she uses it, but as ''svabhāva''.

== Spelling of the word ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] explains the meaning of the term Svābhāvat as follows:

<blockquote>The name comes from Subhâva and is composed of three words--su, good, perfect, fair, handsome; sva, self; and bhâva being, or state of being.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.</ref></blockquote>

However, she added a final "t" that is not found in [[Sanskrit]] for a noun. The origin of Mme. Blavatsky's spelling was explained by David Reigle as follows:

<blockquote>After standing for more than 120 years, the problem of the word svābhāvat was solved by Daniel Caldwell, and he did this without knowing Sanskrit. Ironically, it had entered [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']] because of HPB not knowing Sanskrit. As Daniel found (on Oct. 13, 2009), HPB had copied svābhāvat from [[Max Müller|F. Max Muller]], who had used it as declined in the ablative case: svabhāvāt. The word itself, undeclined, is svabhāva. This is obviously what HPB intended, especially in its seven occurrences in the stanzas that she published from the [[Book of Dzyan]].<ref>[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/svabhavat-svabhavat-and-svabhava/# Svābhāvat, svabhāvāt, and svabhāva] at The Book of Dzyan</ref></blockquote>

== General description ==

Svabhāva was defined by Mme. Blavatsky in her early writings as "the Eternal and the uncreated Self-existing Substance which produces all; while everything which is of its essence produces itself out of its own nature".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Isis Unveiled'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 266.</ref> She defines it similarly in [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]:

<blockquote>The Svabhavat of the Buddhist philosopher, the eternal cause and effect, omnipresent yet abstract, the self-existent plastic Essence and the root of all things, viewed in the same dual light as the Vedantin views his Parabrahm and Mulaprakriti, the one under two aspects.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 46.</ref></blockquote>

Although she repeats that Svabhāva, "in the highest aspect" is the Universal Spirit (Svayambhu)<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 52.</ref>, more frequently she defines it as a concrete aspect of Mulaprakriti:

<blockquote>Svâbhâvat, the “Plastic Essence” that fills the Universe, is the root of all things. Svâbhâvat is, so to say, the Buddhistic concrete aspect of the abstraction called in Hindu philosophy Mulaprakriti. It is the body of the Soul, and that which Ether would be to Akasa, the latter being the informing principle of the former.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 61.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Svabhâvat (Sk.). Explained by the Orientalists as “plastic substance”, which is an inadequate definition. Svabhâvat is the world substance and stuff, or rather that which is behind it-the spirit and essence of substance.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.</ref></blockquote>

In these quotes Blavatsky shows three levels of the same principle becoming more and more concrete, as follows: i) [[Mulaprakriti]], ii) Svabhāva, and iii) world substance.

In [[ML65|Mahatma Letter No. 65]], [[Koot Hoomi|Master KH]] explains that this principle can exist in both a passive and an active condition:

<blockquote>You will have first of all to view the eternal Essence, the Swabavat not as a compound element you call spirit-matter, but as the one element for which the English has no name. It is both passive and active, pure Spirit Essence in its absoluteness, and repose, pure matter in its finite and conditioned state.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 65 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 165.</ref></blockquote>

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] makes a reference supporting this:

<blockquote>The Svabhâvikas, or philosophers of the oldest school of Buddhism (which still exists in Nepaul), speculate only upon the active condition of this “Essence,” which they call Svâbhâvat, and deem it foolish to theorise upon the abstract and “unknowable” power in its passive condition.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 3.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>At the first flutter of renascent life, Svâbhâvat, "the mutable radiance of the Immutable Darkness unconscious in Eternity," passes, at every new rebirth of Kosmos, from an inactive state into one of intense activity; that it differentiates, and then begins its work through that differentiation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 635.</ref></blockquote>

We should not think of Svābhāvat as inert or unconscious substance, because at this level consciousness and matter are not yet separated:

<blockquote>Everyone knows that Buddhism does not recognize either one god or many gods. Yet the Arhat, for whom every atom of dust is as much replete with Svabhavat (plastic substance, eternal and intelligent, though impersonal) as he himself, and who strives to assimilate that Svabhavat by identifying himself with the All, in order to attain Nirvâna, must travel the same painful road of renunciation, of good works and of altruism, and must lead the same saintly life, though less egotistical in its motive, as the beatified Christian.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 127.</ref></blockquote>

In [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza III|Stanza III.12]] it is Svābhāvat who sends [[Fohat]] "to harden the atoms".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 85.</ref></blockquote>

There is a reference that interprets Svābhāvat as the manifestation of the universal [[Akasha]] on our earth:

<blockquote>Everything has come out of Akâsa (or Svâbhâvat on our earth) in obedience to a law of motion inherent in it, and after a certain existence passes away.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 635-636.</ref></blockquote>

This corresponds with another passage where Mme Blavatsky identifies Svābhāvat with the [[Anima Mundi]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. I (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 293.</ref> In a similar vein, in [[ML65|Mahatma Letter No 65]] [[Koot Hoomi|Master KH]] identifying "Swabavat" with the "[[Elements#The One Element|one element]]", writes:

<blockquote>We recognise but one element in Nature (whether spiritual or physical) outside which there can be no Nature since it is Nature itself, and which as the Akasa pervades our solar system, every atom being part of itself, pervades throughout space and is space in fact.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 65 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 168.</ref></blockquote>

== Father-Mother ==

H. P. Blavatsky asserts that from an occult point of view it is the "[[Father-Mother|father-mother]] on the mystic plane".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98, fn.</ref>

<blockquote>From it all nature proceeds and into it all returns at the end of the life-cycles. In Esotericism it is called “Father-Mother”. It is the plastic essence of matter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.</ref></blockquote>

[[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza III|Stanza III.10]] talks about the Father-Mother spinning the web of the universe out of the "two substances made in one, which is Svābhāvat".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 83.</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Svābhāva (Buddhism)]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Svabhavat# Svabhavat] at Theosopedia
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/svabhavat-swabhavat-or-svabhava/ Svâbhâvat, Swâbhâvat or Svâbhâva] by Jacques Mahnich
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/the-meaning-of-svabhava/ The Meaning of Svabhāva] by David Reigle
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/prehistoric-svabhavavada/ Prehistoric Svabhāvavāda Part 1] and [http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/prehistoric-svabhavavada-part-2/ Part 2] by David Reigle
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/svabhavat-svabhavat-and-svabhava/ Svābhāvat, svabhāvāt, and svabhāva] by David Reigle
*[http://easterntradition.org/book%20of%20dzyan%20research%20report%203-technical%20terms%20in%20stanza%202.pdf# Technical Terms in Stanza II] by David Reigle
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/why-the-form-svabhavat-in-theosophical-writings/# Why the form "Svabhavat" in Theosophical Writings] by David Reigle

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Svabhavat]]

Akasha

2019-01-03T07:51:02Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Akasha''' (devanāgarī: आकाश Ākāśa) is a [[Sanskrit]] word meaning "space, sky". In [[Hinduism]] it is the first (and highest) [[Elements#In Hinduism|element]] (''mahābhūta'') in creation, after which follow four more (Air, Fire, Water, and Earth).

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view Akasha is seen as the spiritual Primordial Substance that pervades the whole [[space]], and from which the cosmos is developed. Before the beginning of manifestation, Akasha is said to contain in seed the [[Logos]] of the system to-be. When the hour for re-awakening strikes, the Logos develops in Akasha and the [[Logos#Divine Thought|Divine Thought]] of the former differentiates the primordial substance into all the manifested planes and forms in the Cosmos.

In the listing of [[Plane#Macrocosmic or Solar planes|cosmic planes]], Akasha is regarded as the fifth one (counting from the lowest plane "upwards"), the plane of [[Mahat]] or the Divine Thought. However, it is also reflected on the corresponding [[Plane#Prakritic planes|Prakritic planes]].

== General description ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Âkâsa''' (''Sk.''). The subtle, supersensuous spiritual essence which pervades all space; the primordial substance erroneously identified with [[Ether]]. But it is to Ether what [[Spirit]] is to [[Matter]], or [[Ātman|Âtmâ]] to [[Kāma|Kâma-rûpa]]. It is, in fact, the Universal Space in which lies inherent the eternal Ideation of the Universe in its ever-changing aspects on the planes of matter and objectivity, and from which radiates the First [[Logos]], or expressed thought. This is why it is stated in the Purânas that Âkâsa has but one attribute, namely sound, for sound is but the translated symbol of Logos--“Speech” in its mystic sense.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 13.</ref></blockquote>

Akasha is frequently identified with the cosmic [[fifth principle]] (counting from below upwards):

<blockquote>Akâsa—of which Ether is the grossest form—the fifth universal Cosmic [[Principle]] (to which corresponds and from which proceeds human [[Manas]]).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), fn. 13.</ref></blockquote>

This principle is sometimes referred to as primordial or cosmic ''substance'', which is the vehicle of the [[Logos#Divine Thought|Divine Thought]], or [[Mahat|Cosmic Ideation]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 326.</ref> It is the higher aspect of the manifested [[cosmic matter]] or [[Prakriti]]:

<blockquote>The Tibetan esoteric Buddhist doctrine teaches that Prakriti is cosmic matter, out of which all visible forms are produced; and Akâsa that same cosmic matter—but still more imponderable, its spirit, as it were, “Prakriti” being the body or substance, and Akâsa-Sakti its soul or energy.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. III (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1968), fn. 405.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Akâsa, then, is [[Pradhāna|Pradhâna]] in another form. . . . It is, as said, the [[noumenon]] of the seven-fold differentiated Prakriti.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 256.</ref></blockquote>

After a [[Pralaya|Maha-pralaya]] Akasha is "resolved back again into the primary state of abstract potential objectivity" ([[mulaprakriti]]). When the [[manvantara|manvantaric]] impulse re-awakens and Akasha is evolved, it becomes the [[upadhi]] of the [[cosmic ideation]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 328.</ref>

In the [[Esotericism|esoteric]] view akasha is septenary as anything else in the cosmos:

<blockquote>The realm of Akâsa is the undifferentiated noumenal and abstract Space which will be occupied by Chidakasam, the field of primordial consciousness. It has several degrees, however, in Occult philosophy; in fact, “seven fields.” The first is the field of latent consciousness which is coeval with the duration of the first and second unmanifested Logoi. It is the “Light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not” of St. John’s Gospel. When the hour strikes for the [[Logos#Third Logos|Third Logos]] to appear, then from the latent potentiality there radiates a lower field of differentiated consciousness, which is Mahat, or the entire collectivity of those [[Dhyāni-Chohan|Dhyan-Chohans]] of sentient life of which [[Fohat]] is the representative on the objective plane and the [[Mānasaputra|Manasaputras]] on the subjective. The [[Astral Light]] is that which mirrors the three higher [[plane]]s of consciousness, and is above the lower, or terrestrial plane; therefore it does not extend beyond the fourth plane, where, one may say, the Akâsa begins.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 360.</ref></blockquote>

== Akasha and magic ==

Akasha is connected with the power behind all magical operation. Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>In the same sacrifice (the Jyotishtoma Agnishtoma) it is called the “God Âkâsa”. In these sacrificial mysteries Âkâsa is the all-directing and omnipotent Deva who plays the part of Sadasya, the superintendent over the magical effects of the religious performance, and it had its own appointed Hotri (priest) in days of old, who took its name. The Âkâsa is the indispensable agent of every Krityâ (magical performance) religious or profane. The expression ”to stir up the Brahmâ”, means to stir up the power which lies latent at the bottom of every magical operation, Vedic sacrifices being in fact nothing if not ceremonial magic. This power is the Âkâsa--in another aspect, [[Kundalini]]--occult [[electricity]], the alkahest of the alchemists in one sense, or the universal solvent, the same anima mundi on the higher plane as the astral light is on the lower.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 13.</ref></blockquote>

== According to C. W. Leadbeater ==

[[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] wrote:

Like so many others of our Theosophical terms, the word âkâsha has been very loosely used. In some of our earlier books it was considered as synonymous with [[Astral Light|astral light]], and in others it was employed to signify any kind of invisible matter, from [[Mūlaprakṛti|Mulaprakriti]] down to the physical [[ether]]. In later books its use has been restricted to the matter of the mental plane.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), ??.</ref></blockquote>

== In Hinduism ==

In [[Hinduism]] Akasha (often translated as "space", "ether", or even "sky") is the chief and more subtle of the "five elements" (Panchamahabhuta). It is the first to be created, and forms the basis and essence of all things in the visible universe. In this sense, it is regarded as the one, eternal, and all pervading imperceptible substance. Its main characteristic or property is Shabda (sound), of which it is the substratum.

== See also ==
*[[Akashic Records]]
*[[Astral Light]]
*[[Astral Plane]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=%C4%80k%C4%81%C5%9Ba# Ākāśa] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Akasha]]
[[it:Akasha]]

Tattva

2019-01-03T07:36:14Z

Daniele Urlotti:

{{Template:Article needs expansion}}
 
 
 
'''Tattva''' (devanāgarī: तत्त्व) is a Sanskrit word meaning "principle, essence, reality."

== Adi-Tattva ==

<blockquote>ÂDI TATTVA, the primordial universal Force, issuing at the beginning of manifestation (or creative period) from the eternal immutable SAT, the substratum of ALL. It corresponds with the Auric Envelope or “Brahmâ’s Egg,” surrounding every globe, as every man, animal and thing. It is the vehicle containing potentially everything––Spirit and Substance, Force and Matter. It is Âdi Tattva that we refer to in Esoteric Cosmogony, as the Force which proceeds from the First or Unmanifested Logos.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 612.</ref></blockquote>

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[it:Tattva]]

Shakti

2019-01-03T07:25:46Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Shakti''' (devanāgarī: शक्ति ''śakti'') from [[Sanskrit]] ''Śak'', "to be able," meaning ''force'' or ''empowerment''. Shakti is the female ''primordial cosmic energy'' and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in [[Hinduism]]. In [[Theosophy]] it is seen as the female counterpart of the male [[Fohat]].

In Hindu thought there are different lists of shaktis. Below is one of them:

(1) Parāśakti: The supreme śakti from which all others are derived.

(2) Ānandaśakti: The power of spiritual bliss.

(3) Jñānaśakti: The power to know truth.

(4) [[Icchāśakti]]: The will-power.

(5) [[Kriyāśakti]]: The thought-power.

(6) [[Kuṇḍalinīśakti]]: The fiery power.

(7) Mātrikāśakti: The power of mantras.

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Sakti# Sakti] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
[[it:Shakti]]

Adepts

2019-01-03T07:08:46Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Adept''' is a word that comes from the Latin ''adeptus'', meaning "obtained, attained". It is commonly used to describe a highly skilled person; an expert in a particular discipline.

In Theosophical literature this term is employed in connection with the [[Occult Science]] and the [[Esoteric Philosophy]]. The word is used to define a wide variety of degrees of knowledge of [[Occultism]], from relatively advanced students to Masters of the science. The term does not imply high spiritual and moral development, since there is mention to "white" and "black" Adepts, meaning those who use the [[Siddhi|occult powers]] for unselfish and selfish purposes respectively. The high Adepts working for the welfare of humanity are also known as [[Masters of Wisdom]], [[Mahātmas]], [[Arhat]]s, or simply "Brothers".

== General description ==

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] defines the term as follows:

<blockquote>Adept (Lat.). Adeptus, “He who has obtained” In Occultism one who has reached the stage of Initiation, and become a Master in the science of Esoteric philosophy.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 6.</ref></blockquote>

[[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K. H.]] wrote: "The adept is the rare efflorescence of a generation of enquirers".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 2 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 6.</ref> Thus, relatively speaking, there are few Adepts in the world. As Mme. Blavatsky's stated: "Were adeptship easy of attainment many would achieve it, but it is the hardest task in nature".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'', vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 165.</ref>

In the Theosophical literature the high Adepts are Initiates of various degrees, of which there are seven.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'', vol. 2 (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 614.</ref>

== Adepts and Masters ==

The word "Adept" was used in a general way by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]]. The word [[Masters of Wisdom|Master]], however, seems to be reserved to high adepts, who work in line with the evolutionary movement. This idea is expressed to certain extent by [[Charles Johnston]] in an article published in H. P. Blavatsky's ''Collected Writings'':

<blockquote>Then she told me something about other Masters and adepts she had known -- for she made a difference, as though the adepts were the captains of the occult world, and the Masters were the generals. She had known adepts of many races, from Northern and Southern India, Tibet, Persia, China, Egypt; of various European nations, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, English; of certain races in South America, where she said there was a Lodge of adepts.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'', vol. 8 (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1960), 400.</ref></blockquote>

== Women Adepts ==

A review from [[H. P. Blavatsky]] about a novel of "deep philosophical and occult truths" written by [[Franz Hartmann]] says:

<blockquote>The hero follows, and finds he is brought to a “theosophical monastery,” in a hidden valley of the most gorgeous description. Therein he meets, to his surprise, with adepts of both sexes; for, as he learns later:— "What has intelligence to do with the sex of the body? Where the sexual instincts end, there ends the influence of the sex."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. VIII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1990), 132.</ref></blockquote>

In May, 1880, [[Henry Steel Olcott|Col. Olcott]] wrote an article in [[The Theosophist (periodical)|''The Theosophist'']] in answer to a claim by [[George Wyld|Dr. George Wyld]], who stated that no woman had become an Adept. The Colonel wrote:

<blockquote>It is equally incorrect to say that no woman has become an adept. Not to mention one example which will immediately recall itself to every Theosophist, I may say that I personally have encountered in India two other initiated women, and know of a number of others in the East.<ref>See [http://www.theosophical.org/component/content/article/65-olcott/1826# "Becoming a Theosophist"] by Henry S. Olcott</ref></blockquote>

In June, 1889, C. S. Stockholm sent a few questions to the editors of the Theosophical Journal ''Lucifer''. One of them was about the existence of Women Adepts:

<blockquote>Has any woman ever attained to Adeptship proper? Will her intellectual and spiritual nature and gifts permit it, even while supposing that her physical nature might endure the hardships therefrom indispensable?</blockquote>

To this, [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] answered:

<blockquote>Woman has as good a chance as any man has to reach high Adeptship. Why she does not succeed in this direction in Europe is simply due to her early education and the social prejudice which causes her to be regarded as inferior to man.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'', vol. 11 (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 301.</ref></blockquote>

[[Subba Row|T. Subba Row]], considered by Mme. Blavatsky to be her equal in occultism, wrote:

<blockquote>There are instances of females becoming the greatest Adepts. Whether an individual is male or female depends upon temperament as much as anything else. . . . There is one woman who still stands in the list of the Mahachohans of one of the greatest Rays--that to which H ... belongs. She is not merely a great Adept of that Ray, but had made many original discoveries. . .
There is a Ray specially adapted to women; it is sometimes called "the body of love". Its Logos is rather a female than a male; it belongs to the magnetic pole of the universe. I do not think there will ever be a female Adept of the First Ray, because it belongs entirely to the positive pole.<ref>Tallapragada Subba Row, ''Esoteric Writings'' (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1931), 570.</ref></blockquote>

In ''The Theosophist'', October, 1883, "An Inquirer" asked:

<blockquote>Will you kindly let me know whether females can attain to adeptship, and whether female adepts exist at all?</blockquote>

To this, [[Damodar K. Mavalankar]], a [[chela]] of Mahatma [[K. H.]] wrote:

<blockquote>It is difficult to see any good reason why females should not become Adepts. None of us, Chelas, are aware of any physical or other defect which might entirely incapacitate them from undertaking the dreary ordeal. It may be more difficult, more dangerous for them than it is for men, still not impossible. The Hindu sacred books and traditions mention such cases, and since the laws of Nature are immutable, what was possible some thousand years ago must be possible now. . . . In Nepaul, we all know, there is a high female Adept. And in Southern India, flourished at a recent date, another great female Initiate named Ouvaiyar. Her mysterious work in Tamil on Occultism is still extant. It is styled Kural, and is said to be very enigmatically written, and consequently inexplicable. In Benares too lives a certain lady, unsuspected and unknown but to the very few. . .<ref>Sven Eek, ''Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement'' (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1965), 320.</ref></blockquote>

Mme. Blavatsky added an interesting perspective about the possibilities of high women adepts. In talking about the divine virgin figures such as the [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[Sophia]] she wrote:

<blockquote>[[Śakti]] being a female principle, it is fully manifested through a woman, although, properly speaking, the inner man is neither male, nor female. It is only the preponderance of either of the two principles (positive and negative) which determines the sex. Now, this preponderance is determined by the Law of Affinity; and hence in a woman is manifested abnormally the occult power represented by Śakti. She is moreover gifted with a wonderfully vivid imagination—stronger than man’s. And as the phenomenal is the realization or rather the manifestation of the IDEAL, which can be properly and strongly conceived only by a powerful IMAGINATION—a WOMAN-ADEPT can produce high occultists—a race of “Buddhas and Christs,” born “without sin.” The more and the sooner the animal sexual affinities are given up, the stronger and the sooner will be the manifestation of the higher occult powers which alone can produce the “immaculate conception.” And this art is practically taught to the occultists at a very high stage of initiation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. VI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1989), 262.</ref></blockquote>

== See also ==
*[[Brotherhood of Adepts]]
*[[Mahatma]]
*[[Masters of Wisdom]]
*[[Portraits of the Masters]]
*[[:Category:Mahatmas and Adepts|Wiki articles on Mahatmas and Adepts]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Adept# "Adept"] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.ultindia.org/pamphlets/wqj/TheosophicalAdepts.pdf# ''Theosophical Adepts'' no. 12 (a collection of articles)] by William Q. Judge

===Audio===
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/Downloads/mp3/abdill/The%20Adepts:%20Our%20Brothers.mp3# "The Adepts: Our Brothers"] by Ed Abdill

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Adeptos]]
[[it:Adepto]]

Dhyani-Buddha

2019-01-02T21:08:50Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Dhyani-Buddha''' is a [[Sanskrit]] compound term from ''dhyāni'' ("contemplative, one who meditates") and ''buddha'' (an "awakened one" or "the enlightened one"), which could be translated as "Buddha of Contemplation"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 109.</ref>. In [[Vajrayana Buddhism]], there are five Dhyani-Buddhas, namely Akṣobhya, Amitābha, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasaṃbhava, and Vairocana.

The five Dhyani-Buddhas are based on the [[Yogācāra]] teachings concerning the [[Trikaya]] ([[Sanskrit]] ''Tri'': "three", and ''kaya'': "body") doctrine, which posits three "bodies" of the Buddha. The Dhyani-Buddhas are all aspects of the ''[[dharmakaya]]'' or "truth-body", which embodies the principle of enlightenment.

== Theosophical View ==
===General description===
Regarding the origin of the Dhyani-Buddhas, [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] explained the following:

<blockquote>In the esoteric, and even exoteric [[Buddhism]] of the North, [[Adi-Buddha]] (Chogi dangpoi sangye), the One unknown, without beginning or end, identical with [[Parabrahman|Parabrahm]] and [[Ain Soph|Ain-Soph]], emits a bright ray from its darkness. 
This is the [[Logos#First Logos|Logos (the first)]], or Vajradhara, the Supreme [[Buddha]] (also called Dorjechang). As the Lord of all Mysteries he cannot manifest, but sends into the world of manifestation his heart—the “diamond heart,” Vajrasattva (Dorjesempa). This is the [[Logos#Second Logos|second logos]] of creation, from whom emanate the seven (in the exoteric blind the five) Dhyani Buddhas, called the [[Anupādaka|Anupadaka]], “the parentless.” These Buddhas are the primeval [[monad]]s from the world of incorporeal being, the Arupa world, wherein the Intelligences (on that plane only) have neither shape nor name, in the exoteric system, but have their distinct seven names in [[Esoteric Philosophy|esoteric philosophy]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 571.</ref></blockquote>

The Dhyani-Buddhas are thus the [[Seven Rays|seven primordial rays]] emanated from the second Logos. The latter is said to be unmanifested-manifest, and the reference to it in this context should probably be taken as referring to its unmanifested aspect:

<blockquote>The former [Dhyāni-Buddhas] only are called Anupadaka, parentless, because they radiated directly from that which is neither Father nor Mother but the unmanifested Logos. They are, in fact, the spiritual aspect of the seven Logoi; and the [[Planetary Spirit]]s are in their totality, as the seven Sephiroth.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 344-345.</ref></blockquote>

In another quote, Mme. Blavatsky said that the Atmic or Auric plane correspond to the Kosmic Dhyāni-Buddhas, who are said to be in the [[Dharmakāya]] state:

<blockquote>The Âtmic or Auric state or locality. It radiates directly from the periodical manifestation in ABSOLUTENESS, and is the first something in the Universe. Its correspondence in Kosmos is the hierarchy of non-substantial primordial beings, in a place which is no state. This hierarchy contains the primordial plane, all that was, is, and will be, from the beginning to the end of the Mahâmanvantara; all is there. This statement should not, however, be taken to imply fatality, kismet: the latter is contrary to all the teachings of Occultism. Here are the hierarchies of the Dhyâni-Buddhas. Their state is that of Para-Samâdhi, of the Dharmakâya; a state where no progress is possible. The entities there may be said to be crystallized in purity, in homogeneity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 665.</ref></blockquote>

Because these Dhyanis are the highest on the scale of manifestation, they are related to the higher human principles: "The 'Dhyani-Buddhas' are concerned with the human higher triad in a mysterious way that need not be explained here".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 341.</ref> In fact, each [[monad]] is said to be part of the essence of a Dhyani-Buddha.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 573.</ref>

=== Evolutionary role ===

The Dhyani-Buddhas are involved in growth of humanity in different ways. One of them is to "watch" over the development of the different evolutionary cycles:

<blockquote>In the Esoteric System, the Dhyanis watch successively over one of the [[Round]]s and the great [[Root-Race|Root-races]] of our [[Planetary Chain|planetary chain]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 42.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Every class or hierarchy corresponds to one of the Rounds, the first and lowest hierarchy to the first and less developed Round, the second to the second, and so on till the seventh Round is reached, which is under the supervision of the highest Hierarchy of the Seven Dhyanis.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 344.</ref></blockquote>

In this function, they are known as the "watchers" or the "architects". They remain active during the whole [[Manvantara|Planetary manvantara]], and can rest--

<blockquote>Only at the end of the [[Round#Seventh Round|seventh Round]], and not between each round, for they have to watch over the working of the laws during these minor pralayas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 344.</ref></blockquote>

Now, "there are incarnating and there are watching Dhyanis", although we must remember that "all these differences in fact are merely functional, for they are all aspects of one and the same Essence".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 344.</ref>

They incarnating Dhyanis appear on Earth during every Round and Race<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 42.</ref> through their emanations, the celestial Bodhisattvas:

<blockquote>These Dhyani Buddhas emanate, or create from themselves, by virtue of Dhyana, celestial Selves—the super-human Bodhisattvas. These incarnating at the beginning of every human cycle on earth as mortal men, become occasionally, owing to their personal merit, Bodhisattvas among the Sons of Humanity, after which they may re-appear as Manushi (human) Buddhas. The Anupadaka (or Dhyani-Buddhas) are thus identical with the Brahminical Manasaputra, “mind-born sons”—whether of Brahmâ or either of the other two Trimurtian Hypostases, hence identical also with the Rishis and Prajâpatis.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 571.</ref></blockquote>

Although Tibetan Buddhism mentions five Dhyani-Buddhas, the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature talks about seven ("or, rather, the Seven Hierarchies of these Dhyanis"<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 343.</ref>). The reason given is that although there are seven hierarchies in total, they become active progressively as the evolutionary cycles go on. Thus, on this [[Globe#Globe D|Globe]]...

<blockquote>...five only have hitherto manifested, and two are to come in the sixth and seventh Root-races. They are, so to speak, the eternal prototypes of the [[Buddha]]s who appear on this earth, each of whom has his particular divine prototype."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 108.</ref></blockquote>

However, this is said to be only a figurative way of speaking. As Mme. Blavatsky further explained:

<blockquote>This is, again, semi-allegorical, if not entirely so. For the sixth and seventh Hierarchies have been already incarnated on this earth together with the rest. But as they have reached “Buddhaship,” so called, almost from the beginning of the [[Root-Race#Fourth Root-Race|fourth Root-Race]], they are said to rest since then in conscious bliss and freedom till the beginning of the Seventh Round, when they will lead Humanity as a new race of Buddhas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 343.</ref></blockquote>

It seems that even the "watchers" incarnate at the beginning and the beginning and the end of major evolutionary cycles:

<blockquote>The Dhyani-Buddhas of the two higher groups, namely, the “Watchers” or the “Architects,” furnished the many and various races with divine kings and leaders. It is the latter who taught humanity their arts and sciences, and the former who revealed to the incarnated Monads that had just shaken off their vehicles of the lower Kingdoms—and who had, therefore, lost every recollection of their divine origin—the great spiritual truths of the transcendental worlds.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 267.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>At the last, they will appear on earth, as also will some of the [[Planetary Spirit|Planetary]], for the whole humanity will have become Bodhisattvas, their own “sons,” i.e., the “Sons” of their own Spirit and Essence or—themselves.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1964), 344.</ref></blockquote>

== In Tibetan Buddhism ==

== See also ==
*[[Ah-hi]]
*[[Primordial Seven]]
*[[Seven Rays]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Dhy%C4%81ni-Buddha# Dhyāni-Buddha] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[es:Dhyani-Buddha]]
[[it:Dhyani Buddha]]

Maya

2019-01-02T20:50:35Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Maya''' (devanāgarī: माया ''māyā'') is a [[Sanskrit]] word that in Indian religions has multiple meanings. Usually translated as "illusion" (from ''mā'' "not" and ''yā'' "this"), it points out the fact that we do not experience the reality but only a false image perceived by our minds, as when one pursues a mirage in the desert or mistakes a rope for a snake.

It is also regarded as "the cosmic power which renders phenomenal existence and the perceptions thereof possible."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 211.</ref> Thus, in early Vedic mythology, maya was the power with which the gods created and maintained the physical universe.

Both in [[Hinduism|Hindu]] philosophy and in [[Theosophy]] only that "which is changeless and eternal is called reality; all that which is subject to change through decay and differentiation and which has therefore a begining and an end is regarded as mâyâ—illusion."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 211.</ref> As [[H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The Universe is called, with everything in it, MAYA, because all is temporary therein, from the ephemeral life of a fire-fly to that of the Sun. Compared to the eternal immutability of the ONE, and the changelessness of that Principle, the Universe, with its evanescent ever-changing forms, must be necessarily, in the mind of a philosopher, no better than a will-o’-the-wisp. Yet, the Universe is real enough to the conscious beings in it, which are as unreal as it is itself.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 274</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Maya or illusion is an element which enters into all finite things, for everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute, reality, since the appearance which the hidden noumenon assumes for any observer depends upon his power of cognition. To the untrained eye of the savage, a painting is at first an unmeaning confusion of streaks and daubs of colour, while an educated eye sees instantly a face or a landscape. Nothing is permanent except the one hidden absolute existence which contains in itself the noumena of all realities. The existences belonging to every plane of being, up to the highest Dhyan-Chohans, are, in degree, of the nature of shadows cast by a magic lantern on a colourless screen; but all things are relatively real, for the cogniser is also a reflection, and the things cognised are therefore as real to him as himself. Whatever reality things possess must be looked for in them before or after they have passed like a flash through the material world; but we cannot cognise any such existence directly, so long as we have sense-instruments which bring only material existence into the field of our consciousness. Whatever plane our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. As we rise in the scale of development we perceive that during the stages through which we have passed we mistook shadows for realities, and the upward progress of the Ego is a series of progressive awakenings, each advance bringing with it the idea that now, at last, we have reached “reality;” but only when we shall have reached the absolute Consciousness, and blended our own with it, shall we be free from the delusions produced by Maya.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 39-40</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Concrete realities for the Entities of whose experience they form a part, in the same manner as the rocks and rivers around us, are real from the stand-point of a physicist, though unreal illusions of sense from that of the metaphysician. . . . From the stand-point of the highest metaphysics, the whole Universe, gods included, is an illusion. . . . The pure object apart from consciousness is unknown to us, while living on the plane of our three-dimensional World; as we know only the mental states it excites in the perceiving Ego. And, so long as the contrast of Subject and Object endures—to wit, as long as we enjoy our five senses and no more, and do not know how to divorce our all-perceiving Ego (the Higher Self) from the thraldom of these senses—so long will it be impossible for the personal Ego to break through the barrier which separates it from a knowledge of things in themselves (or [[Substance]]).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 329-330.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=M%C4%81y%C4%81# Māyā] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1402# The Dual Nature of Reality] by Richard Smoley

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Maya]]
[[it:Maya]]

Nirvana

2019-01-02T20:27:55Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Nirvana''' (devanāgarī: निर्वाण ''nirvāṇa'') is a central concept in Indian religions. The word literally means "blowing out"—referring in the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] context, to the blowing out of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion, or simply of all consciousness. In [[Shramana|sramanic]] thought it is the state of being free from suffering. In [[Hinduism|Hindu philosophy]] it is the union with [[Brahman]] through [[mokṣa]].

== Theosophical view ==

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] rejected the idea that Nirvana merely means the extintion of all consciousness:

<blockquote>Very often we are confronted with the statement: “you talk about Nirvāna. What is Nirvāna? It is an extinction, it is just like a flame that is blown out from the candle; there remains nothing. Nirvāna—‘the flame out’.” I had how many times to have disputes and discussions about that. I said it is not that at all. It is that every particle of [[matter]], of that which may have form in our conception or be conditioned or limited, everything disappears to make room for one homogeneity, and for the one [[Absolute|absolute spirit]]. But this spirit is not at all; it is non-consciousness for us, but it is absolute consciousness there.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 339.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>'''Nirvana''' (Sk.). According to the[ Orientalists, the entire "blowing out", like the flame of a candle, the utter extinction of existence. But in the esoteric explanations it is the state of absolute existence and absolute consciousness, into which the Ego of a man who has reached the highest degree of perfection and holiness during life goes, after the body dies, and occasionally, as in the case of Gautama Buddha and others, during life.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 232.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>[W]hat is the good of a virtuous life, full of privations and suffering, if the only result of it is to be annihilation at the end? If even the attainment of that supreme perfection which leads the Initiate to remember the whole series of his past lives, and to foresee that of the future ones, by the full development of that inner, divine eye in him, and to acquire the knowledge that unfolds the causes [Nidānas] of the ever-recurring cycles of existence, brings him finally to non-being, and nothing more— then the whole system is idiotic, and Epicureanism is far more philosophical than such Buddhism. He who is unable to comprehend the subtle, and yet so potent, difference between existence in a material or physical state and a purely spiritual existence—Spirit or “Soul-life”—will never appreciate at their full value the grand teachings of the Buddha, even in their exoteric form. Individual or personal existence is the cause of pains and sorrows; collective and impersonal life-eternal is full of divine bliss and joy for ever, with neither causes nor effects to darken its light. And the hope for such a life-eternal is the keynote of the whole of Buddhism.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 432.</ref></blockquote>

[[Damodar K. Mavalankar]] questioned the use of the term Nirvana "as a synonym for annihilation", and explains:

<blockquote>Yes: it is annihilation, not of the spiritual Ego, but of the lower principles in man, of the animal Soul, the personality which must perish. . . . A careful study of the Fragments of Occult Truth and other literature on Esoteric Theosophy knows that these lower principles are destructible and must therefore be annihilated. . . . the white magician, by his training as described in the Elixir of Life, gradually kills his lower principles, without any suffering, thus extending over a long period their dissolution; and his Manas identifies itself with his higher — the sixth and seventh — principles. Every tyro in Occultism knows that the sixth principle being but the vehicle of the seventh — which is all-pervading, eternal essence — must be permanent. From the foregoing remarks it is evident that it is the black magician whose lot is annihilation; while the adept, the white magician, enjoys the blissful condition of absolute existence where there is no pain or pleasure, no sorrow or joy, since these are all relative terms, and the state is one of supreme bliss; in short the latter enjoys an immortality of life.<ref>Damodar K. Mavalankar, "White and Black Magic," Supplement to The Theosophist vol 5 (February, 1884), p. 42.</ref></blockquote>

According to Mme. Blavatsky "there are two kinds of Nirvâṇa: the earthly, and that of the purely disembodied Spirits".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 436, fn.</ref> In [[Mahatma Letter No. 119#Page 3|one of his letters]], [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] said that Nirvana is experienced in the "seventh state of matter".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 119 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 407.</ref>

== Parinirvana ==

In Buddhism, ''parinirvāṇa'' is the final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi). The parinirvana ([[Pāli]]: ''parinibbana'') of [[Gautama Buddha]] is described in the Mahāparinibbāna sutta.

In Blavatsky's writings the term "paranirvana" is used to refer to the state the universe enters at "the great day of Be-with-Us",<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 134.</ref></blockquote> when:

<blockquote>. . . everything becomes one, all individualities are merged into one, yet each knowing itself, a mysterious teaching indeed. But then, that which to us now is non-consciousness or the unconscious, will then be absolute consciousness.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 405.</ref></blockquote>

This "day" does not come after a [[Pralaya#Planetary pralaya|planetary pralaya]], but only at the end of the [[maha-manvantara]], when the universal pralaya sets in:<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 385.</ref>

<blockquote>In Paranirvana — when Pralaya will have reduced not only material and psychical bodies, but even the spiritual Ego(s) to their original principle — the Past, Present, and even Future Humanities, like all things, will be one and the same. Everything will have re-entered the Great Breath. In other words, everything will be ‘merged in Brahma’ or the divine unity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 265-266.</ref></blockquote>

In parinivana all things are in [[pariniṣpanna]] or absolute perfection.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 53.</ref>

During the course of the manvantara it is said that there is a "[[Ring Pass-Not]]" that prevents embodied consciousness from entering in this state.

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Nirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a# Nirvāṇa] at Theosopedia

===Books===
*[http://www.anandgholap.net/Nirvana-GSA.htm# Nirvana - A Study in Synthetic Consciousness] by George S. Arundale

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[es:Nirvana]]
[[it:Nirvana]]

Karma

2019-01-02T18:20:50Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Karma''' (devanāgarī: कर्म) is a [[Sanskrit]] term that "action" or "deed." In in [[Hinduism|Hindu]], [[Jainism|Jain]], [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and [[Sikhism|Sikh]] religions karma refers to a law that regulates causes and effects.

== In Theosophy ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Karma''' (Sk.). Physically, action: metaphysically, the LAW OF RETRIBUTION, the Law of cause and effect or Ethical Causation. Nemesis, only in one sense, that of bad Karma. It is the eleventh Nidana in the concatenation of causes and effects in orthodox Buddhism; yet it is the power that controls all things, the resultant of moral action, the meta physical Samskâra, or the moral effect of an act committed for the attainment of something which gratifies a personal desire. There is the Karma of merit and the Karma of demerit. Karma neither punishes nor rewards, it is simply the one Universal LAW which guides unerringly, and, so to say, blindly, all other laws productive of certain effects along the grooves of their respective causations. When Buddhism teaches that "Karma is that moral kernel (of any being) which alone survives death and continues in transmigration" or reincarnation, it simply means that there remains nought after each Personality but the causes produced by it; causes which are undying, i.e., which cannot be eliminated from the Universe until replaced by their legitimate effects, and wiped out by them, so to speak, and such causes—unless compensated during the life of the person who produced them with adequate effects, will follow the reincarnated Ego, and reach it in its subsequent reincarnation until a harmony between effects and causes is fully reestablished. No “personality”—a mere bundle of material atoms and of instinctual and mental characteristics—can of course continue, as such, in the world of pure Spirit. Only that which is immortal in its very nature and divine in its essence, namely, the Ego, can exist for ever. And as it is that Ego which chooses the personality it will inform, after each Devachan, and which receives through these personalities the effects of the Karmic causes produced, it is therefore the Ego, that self which is the “moral kernel” referred to and embodied karma, “which alone survives death.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 173-174.</ref></blockquote>

Karma being a universal law, its effects cannot be erased by rituals, meditations, or spiritual beings. Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>No Adept of the Right Path will interfere with the just workings of Karma. Not even the greatest of Yogis can divert the progress of Karma or arrest the natural results of actions for more than a short period, and even in that case, these results will only reassert themselves later with even tenfold force, for such is the occult law of Karma and the Nidânas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 160-161.</ref></blockquote>

Its workings are not mechanistic, and are difficult to predict even by [[Initiation|Initiates]]. In [[Mahatma Letter No. 126|one of his letters]], [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K.H.]] wrote to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|Mr. Sinnett]], "you know nothing of the ins and outs of the work of karma — of the "side-blows" of this terrible Law",<ref>Hao Chin, Vic., ''Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'' No. 126 (Quezon City, Manila: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 423.</ref> and later added, "have another look at Karma . . . and remember that it ever works in the most unexpected ways".<ref>Hao Chin, Vic., ''Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'' No. 126 (Quezon City, Manila: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 425.</ref>

=== Accumulation of merits ===

The idea of performing good actions to accumulate merits is not encouraged by [[Theosophy]], since in this case the motive of the action is still self-centered. [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] quotes "from letters written by the Masters":

<blockquote>Let not the fruit of good Karma be your motive; for your Karma, good or bad, being one and the common property of all mankind, nothing good or bad can happen to you that is not shared by many others. Hence your motive, being selfish, can only generate a double effect, good and bad, and will either nullify your good action, or turn it to another man’s profit.<ref>See [http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-am/hpb-am2.htm H. P. Blavatsky to the American Conventions]</ref></blockquote>

=== Collective karma ===

In [[Mahatma_Letter_No._131#Page 7|one of his letters]], [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] wrote to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|A. P. Sinnett]]:

<blockquote>It is but a truism, yet I say it, that in adversity alone can we discover the real man. It is a true manhood when one boldly accepts one's share of the collective Karma of the group one works with, and does not permit oneself to be embittered, and to see others in blacker colours than reality, or to throw all blame upon some one "black sheep", a victim, specially selected. Such a true man as that we will ever protect and despite his shortcomings, assist to develop the good he has in him.<ref>Hao Chin, Vic., ''Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'' No. 131 (Quezon City, Manila: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 437.</ref></blockquote>

=== No interference with Karma ===

A common question is, since all suffering comes from karma, whether a person should try to help others in the relief of it. [[Annie Besant]] wrote:

<blockquote>You need not be troubled about Karma any more than by the law of gravitation. You cannot interfere with it. That is a point that all who are beginning to read theosophical books ought to realize very clearly. Sometimes you find an ill-trained Theosophist who says, "I must not help so and so; it is his Karma to suffer." You might as well say you will not pick up a child that has fallen, because by the law of gravitation it has fallen and must be left under its law to take care of itself. Your duty is to do all you can to help others. If you cannot help them, their Karma will take you out of their road. Do not take Karma as an excuse for indolence, as I am sorry to say many people do.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Theosophical Lectures'', (Chicago: The Rajput Press, 1907), 136.</ref></blockquote>

=== Lords of Karma ===

See [[Lipika]]s.

== In Hinduism ==

In [[Hinduism]] there are three kinds of karma: Sanchita karma (accumulated past karma), Prarabdha karma (the one ready to be experienced through the present incarnation), and Kriyamana karma (the karma being created in the present incarnation, the fruits of which will be experienced in the future).

== Online Resources ==
===Articles and pamphlets===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Karma# Karma] at Theosopedia
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No13.pdf# Elementary Lessons on Karma] by Annie Besant
*[http://www.ts-adyar.org/node/198#Karma# Karma: A Continuing Creation] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No133.pdf# Karma Once More] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No128.pdf# Karma and Social Improvement] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No125.pdf# On Karma] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No195b.pdf# Some Karmic Problems] by Annie Besant
*[http://www.anandgholap.net/Study_In_Karma-AB.htm# A Study in Karma] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AdyarPamphlet_No195c.pdf# You Create Your Own Future: Deeds and Their Consequences] by Annie Besant
*[http://www.katinkahesselink.net/hpbkarma.htm# Karma] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/karmic-visions# Karmic Visions] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/blavatskykarmareincarnation.htm# Reincarnation and Karma] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/articles/KARMA.pdf# Karma] Written down by Mabel Collins
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/advantages-disadvantages-in-life# Advantages and Disadvantages in Life] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/aphorisms-on-karma# Aphorisms On Karma] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/elementals-karma# Elementals-Karma] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/environment# Environment] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/is-heredity-a-puzzle# Is Heredity A Puzzle?] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/is-karma-only-punishment# Is Karma Only Punishment?] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/is-poverty-bad-karma# Is Poverty Bad Karma?] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/karma# Karma] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/karma-in-the-desatir# Karma in the Desatir] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/men-karmic-agents# "Men Karmic Agents"] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/moral-law-of-compensation# The Moral Law of Compensation] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/thoughts-on-karma# Thoughts on Karma] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/cwl_karma.htm# The Law of Cause and Effect] by C. W. Leadbeater
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1504# Karma and Dharma: Twin Keys to the Heroic Journey] by Joy Mills
*[http://www.theosophical.org/online-resources/leaflets/1799# Karma: The Law of Order and Opportunity] by Theosophical Society in America

===Books===
*[http://hpb.narod.ru/KarmaAB.htm# Karma] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/AStudyInKarma_AnnieBesant.pdf# A Study in Karma] by Annie Besant
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/DoesTheBibleTeachReincarnationAndKarma_RGKatsunoff.pdf# Does the Bible Teach Reincarnation and Karma] by Robert G. Katsunoff

===Audio===
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/Downloads/mp3/algeo/Freedom,%20Order,%20and%20the%20Law%20of%20Karma.mp3# Freedom, Order, and the Law of Karma] by John Algeo
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/Downloads/mp3/kunz/Karma%20and%20Human%20Relations.mp3# Karma and Human Relations] by Dora Kunz
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/Downloads/mp3/kunz/The%20Role%20of%20Karma%20in%20Life.mp3# The Role of Karma in Life] by Dora Kunz

===Video===
*[http://www.theosophicalinstitute.org/medialibrary/viewtitle.php?titleid=B5C77FE0-FC6C-49F0-9B01-187ECF1A9A69# Chance or Law in Human Life?] by Geoffrey Hodson
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJb20VzFO1w Karma, Skandhas, and Personality] by Shirley Nicholson

== Additional resources ==
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/library/Bibliography/KarmaandReincarnation.pdf# Bibliography on Karma and Reincarnation] from the [[Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library]].

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Karma]]
[[it:Karma]]

Ego

2019-01-02T18:01:36Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Ego''' is a word derived from the [[Greek]] Εγώ (Ego) meaning "I", often used in English to mean the "self", "identity" or other related concepts. In Theosophical teachings there are different levels of the sense of I-ness (ego) in us. The personal ego (lower ''manas'') is the psychological "I" that is often selfish. The higher ego (higher ''manas''), also called "reincarnating ego" is the impersonal sense of I-ness at the level of the soul. The spiritual ego (''buddhi-manas'') is an enlightened sense of I-ness present in those who recognize the one universal self.

== General description ==

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Ego''' (Lat.). “Self”; the consciousness in man “I am I”—or the feeling of “I-am-ship”. Esoteric philosophy teaches the existence of two Egos in man, the mortal or personal, and the Higher, the Divine and the Impersonal, calling the former “personality” and the latter “Individuality".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 111.</ref></blockquote>

The quality of Ego-ship is a feature of the fifth [[principle]], [[manas]]. The meaning of the word "ego" in [[Theosophy]] is not restricted to the one modern psychology gives. It is used to refer to the sense of "I-ness", which can manifest in different ways to the [[plane]] in which it expresses. It can appear in a personal and selfish way through the lower manas (lower ego), in an impersonal form through the higher manas (higher ego), or as a divine self-consciousness through buddhi (spiritual ego). However, it is important to keep in mind that these three egos are just aspects of the one self:

<blockquote>Those who would feel inclined to see three Egos in one man will show themselves unable to perceive the metaphysical meaning. Man is a trinity composed of Body, Soul and Spirit; but man is nevertheless one and is surely not his body. It is the latter which is the property, the transitory clothing of the man. The three “Egos” are MAN in his three aspects on the astral, intellectual or psychic, and the Spiritual planes, or states.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 257, fn.</ref></blockquote>

== Origins ==

The reincarnating Egos are said to be sons or rays of the [[Universal Mind]]:

<blockquote>The reincarnating Ego [is that] which old Aryan philosophers call Manasaputra, the “Sons of Mind” or of Mahat, the Universal Cosmic Mind.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 411.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Occult philosophy claims; 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.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 414-415.</ref></blockquote>

== Higher ego ==

<blockquote>The human Ego is neither Ātma nor Buddhi, but the higher Manas: the intellectual fruition and the efflorescence of the intellectual self-conscious Egotism—in the higher spiritual sense.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 79.</ref></blockquote>

The higher ego is the human individual element ([[Ātman|atman]] and [[buddhi]] being universal) which provides self-consciousness, thus acting as a bridge between the monad and the body:

<blockquote>This is the real Individuality, or the divine man. It is this Ego which—having originally incarnated in the senseless human form animated by, but unconscious (since it had no consciousness) of, the presence in itself of the dual monad—made of that human-like form a real man. It is that Ego, that "Causal Body," which overshadows every personality Karma forces it to incarnate into.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 136.</ref></blockquote>

When the higher ego has to incarnate, it sends a "ray" to animate the body, giving origin to the lower ego:

<blockquote>Manas is, as it were, a globe of pure, Divine Light, a Ray from the World Soul, a unit from a higher sphere, in which is no differentiation. Descending to a plane of differentiation it emanates a Ray which is itself, which it can only manifest through the personality already differentiated. This Ray is the Lower Manas, while the globe of Divine Light, a Kumāra on its own plane, is the Higher Ego, or Higher Manas, Manas proper.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 709.</ref></blockquote>

On its own plane, the higher ego must strive to assimilate the influence from buddhi.

<blockquote>In every incarnation, [the Ego] is under the direct ray of Buddhi, if he wants to assimilate [it]. If he does not want to, it is his look out; his personality will drop out. It is only in the case which assimilates Buddhi that it really lives throughout, and will belong to that string of personality which forms consciousness after the Manvantara is at an end—the direct, immortal ray.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 646.</ref></blockquote>

When this is accomplishe and the self-consciousness is raised to the buddhic level, the passive [[Soul#Spiritual soul|spiritual soul]] becomes a self-conscious spiritual ego.

== Lower ego ==

The lower ego is frequently referred to as "''kama-manas''" because it is the outcome of the union of these two [[principle]]s:

<blockquote>During life the Lower Manas acts through this Kâma-Rûpa, and so comes into contact with the Sthûla-Úarîra; this is why the Lower Manas is said to be “enthroned in Kâma-Rûpa”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 708.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Manas and its vehicle—the Kama rupa, or body of passions and desires [are] the two elements of Ahamkara which evolve individualized consciousness—the personal ego.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 241.</ref></blockquote>

== Spiritual ego ==

The spiritual ego refers to the principle of [[Buddhi]], when acting in conjunction with [[Manas]].

<blockquote>The student must not confuse this Spiritual Ego with the "HIGHER SELF" which is [[Ātman|Atma]], the God within us, and inseparable from the Universal Spirit.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), ??.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Ego# Ego] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/remembering-experiences-ego.htm# Remembering the Experiences of the Ego] by W. Q. Judge
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1399# The Self, Science, and Religion] by Anna F. Lemkow

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Ego]]
[[it:Ego]]

Fohat

2019-01-02T17:47:57Z

Daniele Urlotti:

:''For the Theosophical journal see [[Fohat (periodical)]]''

'''Fohat''' is a term of unknown origin, although [[H. P. Blavatsky]] claims it comes from the Tibetan language. According to her it is "one of the most, if not the most important character in esoteric Cosmogony".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 109.</ref> Maybe because of this, it can be found in many forms. As Mme. Blavatsky said:

<blockquote>Fohat is a generic term and used in many senses. He is the light (Daiviprakriti) of all the three logoi—the personified symbols of the three spiritual stages of Evolution. Fohat is the aggregate of all the spiritual creative ideations above, and of all the electro-dynamic and creative forces below, in Heaven and on Earth.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 334.</ref></blockquote>

Fohat is "the animating principle [[electricity|electrifying]] every atom into life."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 16</ref> During the process of manifestation it is the cosmic energy which produces the differentiation of primordial [[cosmic matter]] to form the different [[Plane|planes]]. In the manifested Universe, Fohat is the link between spirit and matter, subject and object.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 16.</ref>

== General description ==

In her [[The Theosophical Glossary (book)|''Theosophical Glossary'']], [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Fohat''' (Tib.) A term used to represent the active (male) potency of the Sakti (female reproductive power) in nature. The essence of cosmic [[electricity]]. An occult Tibetan term for ''Daiviprakriti'', primordial light: and in the universe of manifestation the ever-present electrical energy and ceaseless destructive and formative power. Esoterically, it is the same, Fohat being the universal propelling Vital Force, at once the propeller and the resultant.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 120-121.</ref></blockquote>

At the beginning of a [[manvantara]] the Wisdom-aspect of the [[Absolute]] radiates the [[Pre-Cosmic Ideation]], which manifests as the [[Cosmic Ideation]]. The latter eventually gives rise to Fohat. In Mme. Blavatsky's words:

<blockquote>Absolute wisdom mirrors itself in its Ideation; which, by a transcendental process, superior to and incomprehensible by human Consciousness, results in Cosmic Energy (Fohat).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 328.</ref></blockquote>

Fohat is the active power through which the plan for the new universe present in the [[Logos]] is manifested objectively, thus providing a bridge between the subjective spirit and the objective matter:

<blockquote>But just as the opposite poles of 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. 
This something, at present unknown to Western speculation, is called by the occultists Fohat. It is the “bridge” by which the “Ideas” existing in the “Divine Thought” are impressed on Cosmic substance as the “laws of Nature”. Fohat is thus the dynamic energy of Cosmic Ideation; or, regarded from the other side, it is 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. . . . Fohat, in its various manifestations, is the mysterious link between Mind and Matter, the animating principle electrifying every atom into life.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 16.</ref></blockquote>

It is also the cause for the differentiation of the [[cosmic matter|primordial matter]] into the [[Plane|seven planes]]

<blockquote>Thrilling through the bosom of inert Substance, Fohat impels it to activity, and guides its primary differentiations on all the Seven planes of Cosmic Consciousness.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 328.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>In the phenomenal and Cosmic World, he is that Occult, electric, vital power, which, under the Will of the Creative Logos, brings together the elemental atoms and makes them aggregate and combine. Fohat, running along the seven principles of AKASA, acts upon manifested substance or the One Element and by differentiating it into various centres of Energy, sets in motion the law of Cosmic Evolution, which, in obedience to the Ideation of the Universal Mind, brings into existence all the various states of being in the manifested Solar System.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 110.</ref></blockquote>

Fohat manifests in different ways on each plane:

<blockquote>On the earthly plane his influence is felt in the magnetic and active force generated by the strong desire of the magnetizer. On the Cosmic, it is present in the constructive power that carries out, in the formation of things -- from the planetary system down to the glow-worm and simple daisy -- the plan in the mind of nature, or in the Divine Thought, with regard to the development and growth of that special thing. He is, metaphysically, the objectivised thought of the gods; the "Word made flesh," on a lower scale, and the messenger of Cosmic and human ideations: the active force in Universal Life. In his secondary aspect, Fohat is the Solar Energy, the electric vital fluid,* and the preserving fourth principle, the animal Soul of Nature, so to say, or -- [[Electricity]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 111-112.</ref></blockquote>

Since Fohat acts as the power of attraction between atoms, it is seen as the Divine Love:

<blockquote>Fohat, in his capacity of DIVINE LOVE (Eros), the electric Power of affinity and sympathy, is shown allegorically as trying to bring the pure Spirit, the Ray inseparable from the ONE absolute, into union with the Soul, the two constituting in Man the MONAD, and in Nature the first link between the ever unconditioned and the manifested.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 119.</ref></blockquote>

Interestingly, Fohat is seen as an entity (without implying anthropomorphism). Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>Fohat, then, is the personified electric vital power, the transcendental binding Unity of all Cosmic Energies, on the unseen as on the manifested planes, the action of which resembles --on an immense scale-- that of a living Force created by WILL, in those phenomena where the seemingly subjective acts on the seemingly objective and propels it to action. Fohat is not only the living Symbol and Container of that Force, but is looked upon by the Occultists as an Entity -- the forces he acts upon being cosmic, human and terrestrial, and exercising their influence on all those planes respectively.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 111.</ref></blockquote>

According to [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] the [[swastika]] is the symbol for the activity of Fohat:

<blockquote>Few world-symbols are more pregnant with real occult meaning than the Swastica. It is the emblem of the activity of Fohat, of the continual revolution of the “wheels”, and of the Four Elements, the “Sacred Four”. One initiated into the mysteries of the meaning of the Swastica, say the Commentaries, “can trace on it, with mathematical precision, the evolution of Kosmos and the whole period of Sandhya.” Also “the relation of the Seen to the Unseen”, and “the first procreation of man and species”.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 587.</ref></blockquote>

==See also==
* [[Primordial Seven]]
* [[Gravity]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Fohat# Fohat] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1685# The Ethics and Sociology of Fohat] by Robert Ellwood
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1687# On Fohat] by Joy Mills
*[http://prajnaquest.fr/blog/category/key-concepts/fohat/ Fohat and Devī Prakṛti] by David Reigle

====Secret Doctrine Question and Answer Section by [[Geoffrey A. Barborka|Geoffrey Barborka]]====
* [http://theosophy.katinkahesselink.net/canadian/Vol-69-4-Theosophist.htm "10. FOHAT - PART I"]. ''The Canadian Theosophist'' 69.4 (September-October 1988), 87.
* [http://theosophy.katinkahesselink.net/canadian/Vol-69-6-Theosophist.htm "10. FOHAT - PART II"]. ''The Canadian Theosophist'' 69.6 (January-February 1989), 140.
* [http://theosophy.katinkahesselink.net/canadian/Vol-70-1-Theosophist.htm "10. FOHAT - PART III"]. ''The Canadian Theosophist'' 70.1 (March-April 1989), 20.
* [http://theosophy.katinkahesselink.net/canadian/Vol-70-2-Theosophist.htm "10. FOHAT - PART IV"]. ''The Canadian Theosophist'' 70.2 (May-June 1989), 46.

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Fohat]]
[[it:Fohat]]

Sthula-Sharira

2019-01-02T17:43:42Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Sthula-Sharira''' (devanāgarī: स्थूलशरीर ''sthūla-śarīra'') is a compound [[Sanskrit]] word from sthūla ("dense, gross, solid"), and śarīra ("body"). This term is used to refer to the physical body, which can be perceived through our five senses.

== General description ==

Since the early [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] classifications of the human constitution the sthula-sarira was listed as the densest and lower [[principle]] in human beings "composed wholly of matter in its grossest and most tangible form".<ref>[http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/humefrags1.htm Fragments of Occult Truth No. 1] at Blavatsky Study Center</ref> According to [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] this Rupa, or Sthula-Sarira "is the vehicle of all the other "principles" during life".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 91.</ref></blockquote>

Although the body is a vehicle of consciousness, it has its own automatic elemental consciousness and activity which prevents the higher consciousness from manifesting on the physical plane:

<blockquote>Occultism tells us that every atom, like the monad of Leibnitz, is a little universe in itself; and that every organ and cell in the human body is endowed with a brain of its own, with memory, therefore, experience and discriminative powers. The idea of Universal Life composed of individual atomic lives is one of the oldest teachings of esoteric philosophy.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 134.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>We assert that the divine spark in man being one and identical in its essence with the Universal Spirit, our "spiritual Self" is practically omniscient, but that it cannot manifest its knowledge owing to the impediments of matter. Now the more these impediments are removed, in other words, the more the physical body is paralyzed, as to its own independent activity and consciousness, as in deep sleep or deep trance, or, again, in illness, the more fully can the inner Self manifest on this plane.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, "The Key to Theosophy" (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 29.</ref></blockquote>

Mme. Blavatsky, however, also talked about "the possibility of a complete control over the cells and atoms of his body by man",<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 134.</ref> an ability that is attained by means of the occult training.

== Esoteric view ==

In a more esoteric classification of the [[Principles#Seven principles in human beings|human principles]] Mme. Blavatsky did not include the sthula-sarira as a principle in itself but as a vehicle of consciousness:

<blockquote>The Body is not a Principle in strict Esoteric parlance; it is an upadhi rather than a Principle. But it is a vehicle of consciousness, and therefore must be considered in studying Consciousness. Apart from this, it can be regarded as merely a denser aspect of the Linga-Śarîra, for the Body and the Linga-Śarîra are both on the same plane, and the Linga- Śarîra is molecular in its constitution, like the Body.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 694.</ref></blockquote>

== Correlation between organs and principles ==

== According to Besant and Leadbeater ==

[[Annie Besant]] regarded the sthūla-śarīra as the dense counterpart of the physical body, which is also composed of a subtle counterpart, the [[liṅga-śarīra]]:

<blockquote>Under the term physical body must be included the two lower principles of man - called in our old terminology the Sthūla Sharīra and Linga Sharīra - since they both function on the physical plane, are composed of physical matter, are formed for the period of one physical life, are cast off by the man at death, and disintegrate together in the physical world when he passes on into the astral.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Man and His Bodies'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1983), 5.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Triad# Triad] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Stula sharīra]]

Kama-Rupa

2019-01-02T17:41:29Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Kama-Rupa''' (devanāgarī: कामरूप ''kāmarūpa'') is a compound [[Sanskrit]] word formed by '''Kāma''' (काम) often translated as "desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure", and '''rūpa''' (रूप) "form , shape , figure." In [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature is usually refers to the astral shells of a deceased person which remain on the [[Kāmaloka]] "until they fade out from it by the complete exhaustion of the effects of the mental impulses that created these eidolons of human and animal passions and desires."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 171-172.</ref>

[[H. P. Blavatsky]] defines it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Kamarupa''' (Sk.). Metaphysically, and in our esoteric philosophy, it is the subjective form created through the mental and physical desires and thoughts in connection with things of matter, by all sentient beings, a form which survives the death of their bodies. After that death three of the seven “principles”—or let us say planes of senses and consciousness on which the human instincts and ideation act in turn—viz., the body, its astral prototype and physical vitality,—being of no further use, remain on earth; the three higher principles, grouped into one, merge into the state of Devachan (q.v.), in which state the Higher Ego will remain until the hour for a new reincarnation arrives; and the eidolon of the ex-Personality is left alone in its new abode. Here, the pale copy of the man that was, vegetates for a period of time, the duration of which is variable and according to the element of materiality which is left in it, and which is determined by the past life of the defunct. Bereft as it is of its higher mind, spirit and physical senses, if left alone to its own senseless devices, it will gradually fade out and disintegrate. But, if forcibly drawn back into the terrestrial sphere whether by the passionate desires and appeals of the surviving friends or by regular necromantic practices—one of the most pernicious of which is medium- ship—the “spook” may prevail for a period greatly exceeding the span of the natural life of its body. Once the Kamarupa has learnt the way back to living human bodies, it becomes a vampire, feeding on the vitality of those who are so anxious for its company. In India these eidolons are called Pisâchas, and are much dreaded, as already explained elsewhere.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 172.</ref></blockquote>

Sometimes the fourth [[principle]] of human beings, [[kāma]], has being referred to as kamarupa, although this is not correct. In a living human being the fourth principle "is no Rûpa, or form at all, except after death, but the Kâmic elements, animal desires and passions, such as anger, lust, envy, revenge, etc., etc., the progency of selfishness and matter."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1954), fn. 608.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kāma]]
*[[Desire]]

==Further reading==

*[http://theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=K%C4%81ma-R%C5%ABpa# Kāma-Rūpa] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Kāmarūpa]]

Kama-Loka

2019-01-02T16:51:30Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Kama-Loka''' is a compound [[Sanskrit]] word from ''kāma'' (काम), "desire" and ''loka'' (लोक), "place". [[H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>'''Kamaloka''' (Sk.). The semi-material plane, to us subjective and invisible, where the disembodied “personalities”, the astral forms, called Kamarupa remain, until they fade out from it by the complete exhaustion of the effects of the mental impulses that created these eidolons of human and animal passions and desires; (See “Kamarupa”.) It is the Hades of the ancient Greeks and the Amenti of the Egyptians, the land of Silent Shadows; a division of the first group of the Trailôkya. (See “Kamadhâtu”.)<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 171-172.</ref></blockquote>

Kāmaloka is the stage that precedes the one of [[devachan]] (or [[avitchi]] in the case of a wicked personality):

<blockquote>From Kama-Loka, then, in the great Chiliocosm, once awakened from their post-mortem torpor the newly translated “Souls” go all (but the shells) according to their attractions, either to Devachan or Avitchi.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 104 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 361.</ref></blockquote>

== General description ==

<blockquote>Kama-loka . . . is an astral locality, the limbus of scholastic theology, the Hades of the ancients, and, strictly speaking, a locality only in a relative sense. It has neither a definite area nor boundary, but exists within subjective space; i. e., is beyond our sensuous perceptions. Still it exists, and it is there that the astral eidolons of all the beings that have lived, animals included, await their second death.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 106.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Every just disembodied four-fold entity - whether it died a natural or violent death, from suicide or accident, mentally sane or insane, young or old, good, bad, or indifferent - loses at the instant of death all recollection, it is mentally annihilated; it sleeps its akasic sleep in the Kama-loka.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 85B (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 263.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>During life the Lower Manas acts through this Kama-Rupa, and so comes into contact with the Sthula-Sarira; this is why the Lower Manas is said to be "enthroned in Kama-Rupa". After death it ensouls the Kama-Rupa for a time, until the Higher Triad, having reabsorbed the Lower Manas, or such portion of it as it can reabsorb, passes into Devachan. . . The Kama-Rupa eventually breaks up, and leaving in Kama-Loka the Tanhic Elementals, its remaining portions go into animals.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 708.</ref></blockquote>

=== Duration ===

In [[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|''The Mahatma Letters'']] the period of stay in the Kāmaloka is not very long:

<blockquote>This state lasts from a few hours (rarely less), days, weeks, months - sometimes several years. All this according to the entity, to its mental status at the moment of death, to the character of its death, etc.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 85B (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 263.</ref></blockquote>

But Mme. Blavatsky stated that the normal duration is much longer:

<blockquote>During life the Lower Manas acts through this Kama-Rupa, and so comes into contact with the Sthula-Sarira; this is why the Lower Manas is said to be "enthroned in Kama-Rupa". After death it ensouls the Kama-Rupa for a time, until the Higher Triad, having reabsorbed the Lower Manas, or such portion of it as it can reabsorb, passes into Devachan. The normal period during which any part of the consciousness remains in Kama-Loka, i.e., is connected with the Kama-Rupa, is one hundred and fifty years. The Kama-Rupa eventually breaks up, and leaving in Kama-Loka the Tanhic Elementals, its remaining portions go into animals.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 708.</ref></blockquote>

== Suicides and accidents ==

<blockquote>The rule is, that a person who dies a natural death, will remain from "a few hours to several short years," within the earth's attraction, i.e., in the Kama-Loka. But exceptions are, in the case of [[suicide]]s and those who die a violent death in general. Hence, one of such [[Ego]]s, for instance, who was destined to live — say 80 or 90 years, but who either killed himself or was killed by some accident, let us suppose at the age of 20 — would have to pass in the Kama Loka not "a few years," but in his case 60 or 70 years, as an [[Elementary]], or rather an "earth-walker"; since he is not, unfortunately for him, even a "shell." Happy, thrice happy, in comparison, are those disembodied entities,who sleep their long slumber and live in dream in the bosom of Space!<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 68 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 200.</ref></blockquote>

== Shells ==

Shell is a technical term used in [[Theosophy]] to refer to the psychic remnants left behind by an [[Ego]] when entering into [[Devachan]], consisting the [[kama|fourth principle]] and the personal aspect of the [[manas|fifth principle]]. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:

<blockquote>Shells. A Kabbalistic name for the phantoms of the dead, the “spirits” of the Spiritualists, figuring in physical phenomena; so named on account of their being simply illusive forms, empty of their higher principles.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 297.</ref></blockquote>

Once the [[Life after Death#Period of gestation|period of gestation]] is over, the lower duad is left behind in the Kāmaloka:

<blockquote>The lower principles are like wild beasts, and the higher Manas is the rational man who tames or subdues them more or less successfully. But once the animal gets free from the master who held it in subjection; no sooner has it ceased to hear his voice and see him than it starts off again to the jungle and its ancient den. It takes, however, some time for an animal to return to its original and natural state, but these lower principles or "spook" return instantly, and no sooner has the higher Triad entered the Devachanic state than the lower Duad rebecomes that which it was from the beginning, a principle endued with purely animal instinct, made happier still by the great change.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 260.</ref></blockquote>

Although the higher [[Principles]] are missing, these shells may show a resemblance of self-consciousness:

<blockquote>That which remains, after the separation of the higher principles from the lower ones by the process of dying is complete, consists of the fourth principle and lower parts of the fifth. This,—the animal soul—has still a more or less indistinct consciousness of its own, and its actions resemble those of a person walking in his sleep. It has also a remnant of will, in a more or less latent condition. But as the higher principles have left this, will is no more guided by any moral considerations and cannot exert itself in any other way than by following its attractions. Its lower passions, animal desires and material attractions, still remain, and in proportion as they have been more or less developed, nursed or fortified, during earth life, in the same proportion will they act more or less powerfully after the death of the physical body.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. VI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1989), 210.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>And even the shells of those good men whose page will not be found missing in the great Book of Lives at the threshold of the Great Nirvana, even they will regain their remembrance and an appearance of Self-consciousness, only after the sixth and seventh principles with the essence of the 5th (the latter having to furnish the material for even that partial recollection of personality which is necessary for the object in Devachan) — have gone to their gestation period, not before.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 70-C (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 210.</ref></blockquote>

These shells are many times the entities that are channeled by psychics, and although their words may show some knowledge, it is just a mechanical repetition of what was acquired in life:

<blockquote>The shell of a highly intelligent, learned, but utterly unspiritual man who died natural death, will last longer and the shadow of his own memory helping — that shadow which is the refuse of the sixth principle left in the fifth — he may deliver discourses through trance speakers and repeat parrot-like that which he knew of and thought much over it, during his life-time.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 328.</ref></blockquote>

All this is many times done with the help of [[Elemental]]s:

<blockquote>Elementals enter into all of them, and thus get a fictitious personality and intelligence wholly the property of the shell. They galvanize the shell into action, and by its means can see and hear as if beings themselves, like us. The shells are, in this case, just like a sleepwalking human body. They will through habit exhibit the advancement they got while in the flesh. Some people, you know, do not impart to their bodily molecules the habit of their minds to as great extent as others. We thus see why the utterences of these so-called 'spirits' are never ahead of the highest point of progress attained by living human beings, and why they take up the ideas elaborated day-by-day by their votaries.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 108.</ref></blockquote>

Shells of very selfish and materialistic people may become dangerous entities:

<blockquote>[The] cases of half successful sorcerers, of very wicked persons passionately attached to Self — offer a real danger to the living. These very material shells, whose last dying thought was Self, — Self, — Self — and to live, to live! will often feel it instinctively. So do some suicides — though not all. What happens then is terrible for it becomes a case of post mortem licanthropy. The shell will cling so tenaciously to its semblance of life that it will seek refuge in a new organism in any beast — in a dog, a hyæna, a bird when no human organism is close at hand — rather than submit to annihilation.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 330-331.</ref></blockquote>

=== According to C. W. Leadbeater ===

[[C. W. Leadbeater]] distinguished two different types of shells, one of which he called "Shade" and the other "Shell." He explained the nature of the Shades as follows:

<blockquote>The ordinary man, however, usually allows himself to be so pitiably enslaved by all sorts of base desires that a certain portion of this lower mind becomes closely interwoven with the desire-body, and when the separation takes place at the close of his astral life the mental principle has, as it were, to be torn apart, the degraded portion remaining within the disintegrating astral body. . . . Thus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called "The Shade" – an entity, be it observed, which is not in any sense the real individual at all, for he has passed away into the heaven-world; but nevertheless, it not only bears his exact personal appearance, but possesses his memory and all his little idiosyncrasies, and may therefore readily be mistaken for him, as indeed it frequently is at ''séances''.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''The Astral Plane'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 67-68.</ref></blockquote>

He defined the shell as follows:

<blockquote>This is absolutely the mere astral corpse in the later stages of its disintegration, every particle of the mind having left it. It is entirely without any kind of consciousness or intelligence and drifts passively about upon the astral currents just as a cloud might be swept in any direction by a passing breeze; but even yet it may be galvanized for a few moments into a ghastly burlesque of life if it happens to come within reach of a medium's aura. Under such circumstances it still exactly resembles its departed personality in appearance, and may even reproduce to some extent his familiar expressions or handwriting, but it does so merely by the automatic action of the cells of which it is composed, which tend under stimulation to repeat the form of action to which they are most accustomed. Whatever amount of intelligence may lie behind any such manifestation has no connection with the original man, but is lent by the medium or his "guides" for the occasion.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''The Astral Plane'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 69-70.</ref></blockquote>

== According to Annie Besant ==

Dr. [[Annie Besant]] explained that after [[death]] the [[Kāma|kamic]] principle rearranges itself into a "desire body" or [[Kāmarūpa]]:

<blockquote>This desire body undergoes a marked change soon after death. The different densities of the astral matter of which it is composed arrange themselves in a series of shells or envelopes, the densest being outside, shutting the consciousness away from all but very limited contact and expression. The consciousness turns in on itself, if left undisturbed, and prepares itself for the next step onwards, while the desire body gradually disintegrates, shell after shell. 
Up to the point of this re-arrangement of the matter of the desire body, the post-mortem experience of all is much the same; it is a “dreamy, peaceful semi-consciousness”, as before said, and this, in the happiest cases, passes without vivid awakening into the deeper “pre-devachanic unconsciousness” which ends with the blissful wakening in Devachan, heaven, for the period of repose that intervenes between two incarnations.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'' (Adyar, Madras:Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 33.</ref></blockquote>

According to her, "if a person has led a pure life and has steadfastly striven to rise and to identify himself with the higher rather than the lower part of his nature" the staying in Kāmaloka is short and normally unconscious. However:

<blockquote>An awakening may be caused by the passionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth, and these violently vibrating kamic elements in the embodied persons may set up vibrations in the desire body of the disembodied, and so reach and rouse the lower Mind. . . . This awakening is often accompanied with acute suffering, and even if this be avoided, the natural process of the Triad freeing itself is rudely disturbed, and the completion of its freedom is delayed.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'' (Adyar, Madras:Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 36.</ref></blockquote>

In those who during life have being attached to sensual pleasures the [[manas]]ic consciousness "cannot quickly disentangle itself from the web of its weaving". They experience "a considerable delay in the world of transition, in Kāmaloka, while the desires wear out and fade away to a point at which they can no longer detain the [[Soul]] with their clinging arms".<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'' (Adyar, Madras:Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 36.</ref> The more attached to the physical life a person was, the more easily he can be awakened on this plane. In Besant's words:

<blockquote>Human beings, who have quitted earth and in whom the kāmic elements were strong, may very readily be attracted by the kāmic elements in embodied men, and by their help become conscious again of the presence of the scenes they had left; and human beings still embodied may set up methods of communication with the disembodied, and may, as said, leave their own bodies for awhile, and become conscious in Kāmaloka by the use of faculties through which they have accustomed their consciousness to act.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'' (Adyar, Madras:Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 31.</ref></blockquote>

If [[Mediumship|channels]] of communication with the physical plane are offered "the period in Kāmaloka is . . . lengthened, the desire body is fed and its hold on the [[Ego#Higher ego|Ego]] is maintained, and thus is the freedom of the Soul deferred".<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'' (Adyar, Madras:Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 39.</ref>

Now, people "who have led an evil life, who have gratified and stimulated their animal passions, and have full fed the desire body while they have starved even the lower mind" become [[Elementary|Elementaries]]:

<blockquote>These remain for long, denizens of Kāmaloka, and are filled with yearnings for the earth-life they have left, and for the animal delights that they can no longer – in the absence of the physical body – directly taste. These gather round the medium and the sensitive, endeavouring to utilise them for their own gratification, and these are among the more dangerous of the forces so rashly confronted in their ignorance by the thoughtless and the curious.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'' (Adyar, Madras:Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 39.</ref></blockquote>

== See also ==
*[[Death]]
*[[Life after Death]]
*[[Devachan]]
*[[Avichi]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=K%C4%81ma-Loka# Kāma-Loka] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Shell(s)# Shell(s)] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Kāmaloka]]

Prana

2019-01-02T16:50:09Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Prana''' (devanāgarī: प्राण ''prāṇa'') is the [[Sanskrit]] word for "vital life" (from the root ''prā''). In [[Vedanta|Vedantic]] philosophy, prana is the notion of a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy, comparable to the Chinese notion of Qi. In human beings, it flows through a network of fine subtle channels called [[nāḍi|nāḍis]].

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature prāṇa is the third (sometimes second) [[principle]] of human beings, usually referred as "life principle" or "vital principle."

== General theosophical concept ==

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] postulates "the existence in every organism of a distinct “VITAL FORCE” independent of any physical or chemical process".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 136.</ref> She identified this force with prāṇa, the "Life Principle, the breath of life".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 260.</ref>

Although it is normally considered as the second principle in human beings, strictly speaking it is not a human, but a universal, principle:

<blockquote>"Prana," or "Life," is, strictly speaking, the radiating force or Energy of Atma -- as the Universal Life and the ONE SELF, -- ITS lower or rather (in its effects) more physical, because manifesting, aspect. Prana or Life permeates the whole being of the objective Universe; and is called a "principle" only because it is an indispensable factor and the ''deus ex machina'' of the living man.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 176.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Although the student can no longer look on Prâna as one of the Seven Principles, since it is the Universal Life, he must not forget that it vivifies all, as Prânic energy. Every Principle is a differentiation of [[Jīva|Jîva]], and the life-motion in each is Prâna, “the Breath of Life.” It is Nephesh: and Jîva becomes Prâna only when the child is born. . . . As an example, a sponge may be immersed in an ocean; the water in the sponge’s interior may be compared to Prâna; the water outside is Jîva. Prâna is the motor-principle in life. The Body leaves Prâna, Prâna does not leave it. Take out the sponge from the water, and it becomes dry––thus symbolizing death.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 707.</ref></blockquote>

The activity of prana in human beings is said to be [[Septenary Principle|septenary]], as anything else in the universe:

<blockquote>For Prâna (or life) has, strictly speaking, two vehicles . . . Linga-Śarîra, or astral body, is the vehicle of the life principle, or spirit life; while Kâma-rûpa is the vehicle of the physical or material essence. In other words, the three higher principles of the septenary of Prâna reside in the astral body, while the four lower principles have their seat in Kâma-rûpa. . . . Therefore, as Kâma-rûpa is the vehicle of the grossest of that form, that Prâna the astral body has got, is a vehicle of the spirit of the life principle, because it is connected with the higher principles of the triad and not with the quaternary.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 493-494.</ref></blockquote>

=== Leadbeater's view ===

[[C. W. Leadbeater]] talked about a "vitality globule" composed of seven [[atom]]s charged with prāna, which are seen by the clairvoyant as having different colors (violet, blue, yellow, green, rose, orange, and red). When the globule is absorbed by the body, it is decomposed in the spleen in its original seven atoms, and five different streams or rays are produced (violet-blue, yellow, green, rose, and orange-red). These streams flow through the different [[chakra]]s and circulate around the body, giving energy to the various organs.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''The Chakras'' (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 53-54.</ref> Leadbeater associates the five streams with the five prānas in [[Hinduism]] as follows: Prāna (yellow), Apāna (orange-red), Udāna (violet-blue), Samāna (green), and Vyāna (rose).<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''The Chakras'' (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 61.</ref>

== Fiery Lives ==

Prana has also been identified with the "Fiery Lives". [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote in [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]:

<blockquote>Fire alone is ONE, on the plane of the One Reality: on that of manifested, hence illusive, being, its particles are fiery lives which live and have their being at the expense of every other life that they consume. Therefore they are named the “DEVOURERS.”. . . “Every visible thing in this Universe was built by such LIVES, from conscious and divine primordial man down to the unconscious agents that construct matter.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 249-250.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>It might be supposed that these “fiery lives” and the microbes of science are identical. This is not true. The “fiery lives” are the seventh and highest subdivision of the plane of matter, and correspond in the individual with the One Life of the Universe, though only on that plane. The microbes of science are the first and lowest sub-division on the second plane — that of material prana (or life). The physical body of man undergoes a complete change of structure every seven years, and its destruction and preservation are due to the alternate function of the fiery lives as “destroyers” and “builders.” They are “builders” by sacrificing themselves in the form of vitality to restrain the destructive influence of the microbes, and, by supplying the microbes with what is necessary, they compel them under that restraint to build up the material body and its cells. They are “destroyers” also when that restraint is removed and the microbes, unsupplied with vital constructive energy, are left to run riot as destructive agents. Thus, during the first half of a man’s life (the first five periods of seven years each) the “fiery lives” are indirectly engaged in the process of building up man’s material body; life is on the ascending scale, and the force is used in construction and increase. After this period is passed the age of retrogression commences, and, the work of the “fiery lives” exhausting their strength, the work of destruction and decrease also commences.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 262-263.</ref></blockquote>

In his book ''Septenary Man'' Jerome A. Anderson wrote:

<blockquote>The human body, then, is built up of countless hosts of molecules synthesized into cells by units of consciousness having their normal existence upon the molecular plane. These latter derive their energy and vitality from those which the "Secret Doctrine" terms "fiery lives"—that is to say, from the almost homogeneous, electrical "world stuff" which represents the dawn of cosmic differentiation, and whose center of energy is the sun. The infinitely active energies of these fiery lives, radiating as that which we recognize as light, heat, electricity, vital force, etc., are intercepted and directed or synthesized in order to construct molecular bodies by units of consciousness descending to the molecular plane. The action is similar to that of the millwright who takes advantage of the flowing stream of water to direct it through his turbine wheels to move his machinery.<ref>Jerome A. Anderson, ''Septenary Man: Or The Microcosm Of The Macrocosm'', (San Francisco, CA: The Lotus Publishing Company, 1895), 29.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>While the force of the downward cycle of a reembodying entity is sufficient to control into an orderly sequence the action of the fiery lives, yet, when that cycle begins to wane, the force relaxes, and, from being "builders," these now become "destroyers"; and their energies, no longer controlled by the "elemental" which synthesizes the human body, are seized upon by the numberless parasites, or "microbes," which infest it, and utilized to finally break up the form which the same energies originally constructed.<ref>Jerome A. Anderson, ''Septenary Man: Or The Microcosm Of The Macrocosm'', (San Francisco, CA: The Lotus Publishing Company, 1895), 29-30.</ref></blockquote>

=== Annie Besant's view ===

[[Annie Besant]] talked about two kinds of vitality that she called "Automatic Vitality" and "Energising Vitality". The former is mediated by lower "infinitesimal invisible lives [that] compose the atoms of the bodies",<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 261.</ref> while the latter is regulated by the higher "Fiery Lives". In her own words:

<blockquote>These [infinitesimal invisible] “lives” which, separate and independent, are the minute vehicles of Automatic Vitality, aggregated together form the molecules and cells of the physical body, and they stream in and stream out, during all the years of bodily life, thus forming a continual bridge between man and his environment. Controlling these are the “Fiery Lives”, Energising Vitality, which constrain these to their work of building up the cells of the body, so that they work harmoniously and in order, subordinated to the higher manifestation of life in the complex organism called Man. These Fiery Lives on our plane correspond, in this controlling and organising function, with the One Life of the Universe, and when they no longer exercise this function in the human body, the lower lives run rampant, and begin to break down the hitherto definitely organised body.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Death--And After?'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 15.</ref></blockquote>

The Energising Vitality exercises its controlling and co-ordinating force through the [[Liṅga-śarīra]] until at [[Death]] the latter breaks its connection to the physical body and is withdrawn from it.

== In Hinduism ==

According to Hindu philosophy there are five pranas or ''vital currents'' that sustain physiological processes.<ref>Rammurti S. Mishra, ''Yoga Sutras: The Textbook of Yoga Psychology'' (New York: The Julian Press Inc., 1987), 272-273</ref> They are:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Prāṇas
!Name
!Function
|-
| Prāṇa
| Beating of the heart and breathing. Prana enters the body through the breath and is sent to every cell through the circulatory system.
|-
| Apāna
| Elimination of waste products from the body through the lungs and excretory systems.
|-
| Uḍāna
| Sound production through the vocal apparatus, as in speaking, singing, laughing, and crying.
|-
|Samāna
| All metabolic processes from digestion of food to cell metabolism. Samana also includes the heat regulating processes of the body.
|-
|Vyāna
| Expansion and contraction of cardio-vascular system and muscles in general.
|}

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Prana# Prana] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/life-principle# The Life Principle] by H. P. Blavatsky

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Prāna]]

Prana

2019-01-02T16:35:30Z

Daniele Urlotti:

Principle

2019-01-02T16:25:59Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Principle''' (from the Latin ''principium'', meaning "beginning, foundation") is a technical term used in [[Theosophy]], which refers to "a fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality."<ref>[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/principle Principle] at Wiktionary</ref> In this view, there are '''seven principles''' constituting both the universe and human beings:

<blockquote>Principles. The Elements or original essences, the basic differentiations upon and of which all things are built up. We use the term to denote the seven individual and fundamental aspects of the One Universal Reality in Kosmos and in man. Hence also the seven aspects in the manifestation in the human being—divine, spiritual, psychic, astral, physiological and simply physical.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Theosophical Glossary'' (Los Angeles, CA: Theosophy Company, 1973), 262-263.</ref></blockquote>

== Seven principles in human beings ==

The first publication describing the seven principles in human being was in [[A. O. Hume]]'s "Fragments of Occult Truth." The information came as a result of his correspondence with some of the [[Mahatmas]], part of which was published in the book ''[[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett]]''. Below is his description:

<blockquote>1. [[Sthūla-śarīra|The Physical body]], composed wholly of matter in its grossest and most tangible form. 

2. [[Prāṇa|The Vital principle]] --- (or Jiv-atma) ---, a form of force, indestructible and when disconnected with one set of atoms, becoming attracted immediately by others. 

3. The Astral body ([[Liṅga-śarīra|Linga Sharira]]) composed of highly etherialized matter; in its habitual passive state, the perfect but very shadowy duplicate of the body; its activity, consolidation and form depending entirely on the kama rupa. 

4. The Astral shape ([[Kāmarūpa|kama rupa]]) or body of desire, a principle defining the configuration of-- 

5. The [[Manas|animal or physical intelligence]] or consciousness or [[Ego]], analogous to, though proportionally higher in degree than, the reason, instinct, memory, imagination, &c., existing in the higher animals. 

6. The Higher or Spiritual intelligence or consciousness, or [[Ego#Spiritual ego|spiritual Ego]], in which mainly resides the sense of consciousness in the perfect man, though the lower dimmer animal consciousness co-exists in No. 5. 

7. The [[Ātman|Spirit]] --- an emanation from the ABSOLUTE; uncreated; eternal; a state rather than a being.<ref>See [http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/humefrags1.htm Fragments of Occult Truth No. 1] at Blavatsky Study Center</ref></blockquote>

Mr. Hume added that the first two principles constitute "'''The Body'''", the three middle principles form "'''The Animal Soul or ''Perispirit'''''", and the last two principles constitute "'''The Spiritual Soul or Spirit'''". In this classification, the [[fifth principle]] is regarded as the "animal or physical intelligence", which later on will be regarded as only the lower aspect of the fifth pinciple or [[manas]].

In 1883 [[A. P. Sinnett]], the main correspondent of the ''[[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|Mahatma Letters]]'' published the seven principles, renaming some of them, and adding the Sanskrit names:

<blockquote>1. '''The Body''' . . . . . . . Rupa. 

2. '''Vitality''' . . . . . . . . . Prana, or Jiva. 

3. '''Astral Body'''. . . . . . Linga Sharira. 

4. '''Animal Soul'''. . . . . . Kama Rupa. 

5. '''Human Soul'''. . . . . . Manas. 

6. '''Spiritual Soul'''. . . . . Buddhi. 

7. '''Spirit''' . . . . . . . . . . . . Atma.<ref>Alfred Percy Sinnett, ''Esoteric Buddhism'' (San Diego, CA: Wizards Bookshelf, 1987), 24.</ref></blockquote>

In 1889, the seven principles were explained by [[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] as follows:

<blockquote>'''LOWER QUATERNARY'''

(a) '''Rupa''', or Sthula-Sarira -- Physical body -- Is the vehicle of all the other "principles" during life. 

(b) '''Prana''' -- Life, or Vital principle -- Necessary only to a, c, d, and the functions of the lower Manas, which embrace all those limited to the (physical) brain. 

(c) '''Linga Sharira''' -- Astral body -- The Double, the phantom body. 

(d) '''Kama rupa''' -- The seat of animal desires and passions -- This is the centre of the animal man, where lies the line of demarcation which separates the mortal man from the immortal entity. 

'''THE UPPER IMPERISHABLE TRIAD'''

(e) '''Manas''' — a dual principle in its functions -- Mind, Intelligence: which is the higher human mind, whose light, or radiation links the MONAD, for the lifetime, to the mortal man -- The future state and the Karmic destiny of man depend on whether Manas gravitates more downward to Kama rupa, the seat of the animal passions, or upwards to Buddhi, the Spiritual Ego. In the latter case, the higher consciousness of the individual Spiritual aspirations of mind (Manas), assimilating Buddhi, are absorbed by it and form the Ego, which goes into Devachanic bliss. 

(f) '''Buddhi''' -- The Spiritual Soul -- The vehicle of pure universal spirit. 

(g) '''Atma''' -- Spirit -- One with the Absolute, as its radiation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 92.</ref></blockquote>

== Individuality and personality ==

The division of the principles into the lower quaternary and the upper or higher triad gives rise to an important classification, that of individuality and personality:

<blockquote>Esoteric philosophy teaches the existence of two Egos in man, the mortal or personal, and the Higher, the Divine and the Impersonal, calling the former "personality" and the latter "Individuality".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 111.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The teachings of Occultism divide man into three aspects -- the divine, the thinking or rational, and the irrational or animal man. For metaphysical purposes also he is considered under a septenary division, or, as it is agreed to express it in theosophy, he is composed of seven "principles," three of which constitute the Higher Triad, and the remaining four the lower Quaternary. It is in the latter that dwells the Personality which embraces all the characteristics, including memory and consciousness, of each physical life in turn. The Individuality is the Higher Ego (Manas) of the Triad considered as a Unity. In other words the Individuality is our imperishable Ego which reincarnates and clothes itself in a new Personality at every new birth.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', Glossary (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1972), 359.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Personality. In Occultism--which divides man into seven principles, considering him under the three aspects of the divine, the thinking or the rational, and the animal man--the lower quaternary or the purely astrophysical being; while by Individuality is meant the Higher Triad, considered as a Unity. Thus the Personality embraces all the characteristics and memories of one physical life, while the Individuality is the imperishable Ego which re-incarnates and clothes itself in one personality after another.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 252.</ref></blockquote>

Thus, '''Individuality''' refers to the [[Triad#Human triad|three higher principles]] ([[ātman]], [[buddhi]] and [[manas]]) or, more specifically, to the [[fifth principle]], the [[Manas#Higher manas|higher manas]] or [[reincarnation|reincarnating]] [[Ego]], while the '''Personality''' refers to the [[Quaternary#Lower quaternary in human beings|four lower principles]], namely the physical body ([[sthūla-śarīra]]), [[liṅga śarīra]], [[prāṇa]] and [[kāma]].

== Esoteric classification ==

Mme. Blavatsky wrote:

<blockquote>Speaking metaphysically and philosophically, on strict esoteric lines, man as a complete unit is composed of Four basic Principles and Three Aspects produced by them on this earth. In the semi-esoteric teachings, these Four and Three have been called Seven Principles, to facilitate the comprehension of the masses.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 607.</ref></blockquote>

Below, a summary of her explanation:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Eternal Principles !! Transitory Aspects
|-
| 1. Âtman, or Jiva || 1. Prâna, the Breath of Life
|-
| 2. Auric Envelope || 2. Linga-Sarira
|-
| 3. Buddhi 4. Manas (the Higher Ego). || 3. Lower Manas
|}
[[File:Seven Principles - Representation by HPB.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Colored representation of the seven principles by H. P. Blavatsky]]
Mme. Blavatsky designed a colored representation of the seven principles in human beings. According to her, "the colored part of the Plate is profoundly esoteric".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 547.</ref> The key to the interpretation of the colors is as follows:<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 562.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! PRINCIPLES !! COLORS
|-
| Chhâyâ, Shadow or Double || Violet
|-
| Higher Manas, Spiritual Intelligence || Indigo
|-
| Auric Envelope || Blue
|-
| Lower Manas, or Animal Soul || Green
|-
| Buddhi, or Spiritual Soul || Yellow
|-
| Prâna, or Life-Principle || Orange
|-
| Kâma-Rûpa, the seat of Animal Life || Red
|}

Mme. Blavatsky explains some aspects of the diagram as follows:

<blockquote>You find here Paramâtman, the Spiritual Sun, outside of the human Auric Egg, as also outside the Macrocosmic or Brahmâ’s Egg. Why? Because . . . it is not a principle, but the cause of every principle . . . The Plate shows, moreover, Buddhi, the yellow semi-disc, serving as a vehicle to that Paramâtmic shadow, to be universal, and so also is the human Âtman, the Sun or white sphere above Buddhi. Within the blue Auric Egg we find the orange macrocosmic pentacle of LIFE, Prâna, containing within itself the (red) pentagram which represents man. Have you noticed that while the universal pentacle has its point soaring upwards (the sign of White Magic), in the human red pentacle it is the lower points which are upward, forming the “Horns of Satan,” as the Christian Kabalists call it? This is the symbol of matter, that of personal man, and the recognized pentacle of the black magician. For the red pentacle does not stand only for Kâma, the fifth principle exoterically, but is made also to represent physical man, the animal of flesh with its desires and passions. . . That the upper (indigo blue) Manas is connected with the lower (green) Manas by a thin line which binds the two together. This is the Antaskarana, that path or bridge of communication which serves as a link between the personal being whose physical brain is under the sway of the lower (animal) mind, and the reincarnating Individuality, the spiritual Ego, Manas-Manu, the “Divine Man.” . . . Look at the Plate; see the divine Ego tending with its point upwards towards Buddhi, and the human Ego gravitating downwards, immersed in matter and connected with its higher, subjective half only by that Antaskarana.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 623-624.</ref></blockquote>

== Comparison between the principles in human beings and cosmos ==

[[H. P. Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] explained that the seven principles in human beings are a reflection of those in the cosmos. She compared the two as follows:<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. II (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 596.</ref>
[[File:Seven Principles.gif|left|600px]]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. The Unmanifested Logos is frequently called the [[Logos#First_Logos|First Logos]].

2. The Universal Ideation, still latent, is referred to as the [[Logos#Second_Logos|Second, or semi-manifested, Logos]].

3. The active Cosmic Intelligence is [[Mahat]], the Universal Mind, also regarded as the [[Logos#Third_Logos| Third, or manifested, Logos]].

4. The undifferentiated Cosmic Energy is frequently called [[Fohat]], and is the source of all kinds of energies in the Cosmos.

5. The Astral Ideation is a subtle counterpart of things on the terrestrial plane, reciprocally affecting each other.

6. The Life Essence or Energy refers to the Universal Life or [[Jiva]].

7. The Earth is the [[Globe#Globe D|Globe]] on which the humanity is [[Evolution|evolving]] at present.

== See also ==
*[[Plane]]

== Online Resources ==
=== Articles ===
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/classification-of-principles# Classification Of Principles] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/17-hpblavatsky/hpb-articles/270-dialogue-on-mysteries-of-after-life# Dialogue On The Mysteries Of The After Life] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/re-classification-of-principles# Re-Classification of Principles] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/theosophical-study-classes/373-septenary-constution-of-man-basic-course# The Sevenfold Constitution of a Human Being by H.P. Blavatsky] Compiled by the Blavatsky Study Center
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/sevenfold-division# The Sevenfold Division - Why not Change the Designation?] by William Q. Judge

=== Books ===
*[http://hpb.narod.ru/SevenPrinciples.htm# The Seven Principles of Man] by Annie Besant

===Videos===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJb20VzFO1w Karma, Skandhas, and Personality] by Shirley Nicholson
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjsyTAUWZ_o The Mystery of Individuality--Introduction 6-3-12] by ULT Bethesda
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJizgKWJ0yU The Mystery of Individuality--Presentation 6-3-12] by ULT Bethesda

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[es:Principios]]
[[it:Principi]]

Kama

2019-01-02T16:17:22Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Kama''' (devanāgarī: काम ''kāma'') is a [[Sanskrit]] term meaning "[[desire]]," "wish," "passion," or "pleasure of the senses."

In [[Theosophy]] the terms refers to the [[fourth principle]] of human beings is "the seat of animal desires and passions. This is the centre of the animal man, where lies the line of demarcation which separates the mortal man from the immortal entity."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 91.</ref>

<blockquote>Kama-rupa [is] the principle of animal desire, which burns fiercely during life in matter, resulting in satiety; it is inseparable from animal existence.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 593.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Connected so strongly with the organs that support and propagate life, the acme of Kâma is the sexual instinct.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 708.</ref></blockquote>

== Kama-rupa ==

Although frequently called "Kama-rupa" (''rupa'' meaning "form" or 'body"), the fourth principle does not form a body during life:

<blockquote>Metaphysically, and in our [[Esoteric Philosophy|esoteric philosophy]], it is the subjective form created through the mental and physical desires and thoughts in connection with things of matter, by all sentient beings, a form which survives the [[death]] of their bodies.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 172.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>It is no Rûpa, or form at all, except after death, but the Kâmic elements, animal desires and passions, such as anger, lust, envy, revenge, etc., etc., the progency of selfishness and matter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 608, fn.</ref></blockquote>

== Kama-prana ==

The combined term "kama-prana" is used to refer to the animal life animating human beings:

<blockquote>For [[Prāṇa|Prâna]] (or life) has, strictly speaking, two vehicles . . . Linga-Śarîra, or astral body, is the vehicle of the life principle, or spirit life; while Kâma-rûpa is the vehicle of the physical or material essence. In other words, the three higher principles of the septenary of Prâna reside in the astral body, while the four lower principles have their seat in Kâma-rûpa. . . . Therefore, as Kâma-rûpa is the vehicle of the grossest of that form, that Prâna the astral body has got, is a vehicle of the spirit of the life principle, because it is connected with the higher principles of the triad and not with the quaternary.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 493-494.</ref></blockquote>

== Kama-manas ==

Kama is also the vehicle of [[manas]], with which it forms the [[Ego#Lower_ego|lower ego]]:

<blockquote>During life the Lower Manas acts through this Kâma-Rûpa, and so comes into contact with the Sthûla-Sarîra; this is why the Lower Manas is said to be “enthroned in Kâma-Rûpa”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 708.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Manas and its vehicle—the Kama rupa, or body of passions and desires [are] the two elements of Ahamkara which evolve individualized consciousness—the personal ego.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 241.</ref></blockquote>

Due to this close connection, the manasic consciousness is constantly pulled towards the animal nature in man, away from the spiritual one:

<blockquote>Kāma (Sk.) Evil desire, lust, volition; the cleaving to existence. Kāma is generally identified with Mara, the tempter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 170.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The Astral through Kama (desire) is ever drawing Manas down into the sphere of material passions and desires. But if the better man or Manas tries to escape the fatal attraction and turns its aspirations to Atma—Spirit—then Buddhi (Ruach) conquers, and carries Manas with it to the realm of eternal Spirit.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 244-245.</ref></blockquote>

== Purification of kama ==

The spiritual path involves the purification of the fourth principle so that no lower desires are left, but only the energy that this principle provides:

<blockquote>To get rid of Kāma, you must crush out all your material instincts––“crush out matter.” But at the same time you must remember that Kāma, while having as part of it bad passions and emotions, animal instincts, yet helps you to evolve, by giving also the desire and impulse necessary for rising. For in Kāma-Prāna are the physical elements which impel to growth both physically and psychically, and without these energetic and turbulent elements progress could not be made. . . . Hence the student must learn to dominate and purify Kāma, until only its energy is left as a motor power, and that energy directed wholly by the Mānasic Will.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 708-709.</ref></blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Desire]]
*[[Kamarupa]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=K%C4%81ma# Kāma] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/2195# Desire and Spiritual Selfishness] by Edward Abdill
*[http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/death/de-gdp4.htm# The Nature of the Kama-rupa] by G. de Purucker
*[http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/human/hu-wqj3.htm# Kama or Desire] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.teosofia.com/Mumbai/7412divine.html# Divine Desire] published at Teosofia.com

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Kama]]

Manas

2019-01-02T16:12:23Z

Daniele Urlotti:

:''For the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] magazine see [[Manas (periodical)]]''

'''Manas''' (devanāgarī: मनस्) is the [[Sanskrit]] word for "mind", from the root ''man'', "to think". In [[Hinduism]] it is the recording faculty that receives impressions gathered by the sense from the outside world, coordinating sensory impressions before they are presented to the higher faculty of [[buddhi]] (the "intellect" in [[Hinduism]]). Manas is one of the four parts of the [[antahkarana]] (the "internal organ"), the other three parts being [[buddhi]] (the intellect), [[citta]] (the memory) and [[ahamkāra]] (the ego).

In [[Theosophy]] manas is the [[fifth principle]] in human beings. It is the intellectual faculty that allows humans to think, remember, plan, etc. It is also the origin of self-consciousness. During life, this principle is regarded to have a dual nature. On one hand, it is the [[Ego#Higher ego|Higher Ego]], that is, the [[Soul#Human soul|human soul]] that [[Reincarnation|reincarnates]] in a body life after life. But once it is incarnated, it gives origin to the [[Ego#Lower ego|lower or personal ego]], that is, the feeling of "I am Mr. Smith" without reference to its true origin as a lasting soul.

== General description ==

Manas is regarded as a dual principle in different ways. One of them, as [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] pointed out, is that this is both a [[principle]] and an entity:

<blockquote>'''Manas''' (Sk.). Lit., “the mind”, the mental faculty which makes of man an intelligent and moral being, and distinguishes him from the mere animal; a synonym of [[Mahat]]. [[Esotericism|Esoterically]], however, it means, when unqualified, the [[Ego#Higher ego|Higher EGO]], or the sentient [[Reincarnation|reincarnating]] Principle in man. When qualified it is called by [[Theosophy|Theosophists]] Buddhi-Manas or the [[Soul#Spiritual soul|Spiritual Soul]] in contradistinction to its human reflection—Kâma-Manas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 202.</ref></blockquote>

In its original nature, i. e., on its own plane, manas is a spiritual entity with omniscience (higher mind) and a spiritual sense of I-ness (higher ego). However, when the moment for [[reincarnation|incarnation]] comes, manas sends a "ray" from itself to operate through the body, which gives origin to the conditioned faculty of thinking (lower manas) and the selfish sense of "I" (lower ego).

Some synonyms for higher manas are Higher Ego (or simply the Ego), Reincarnating Ego, Inner Man,<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 156.</ref> Causal body,<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 174.</ref> Karana Sharira, Nous, or Inner Self.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', Section 10, (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), ???.</ref> The higher manas is frequently said to be working in conjunction with [[buddhi]] as ''buddhi-manas''.

== The Principle of mind ==

=== Higher manas ===

<blockquote>In its purely metaphysical aspect, Manas, being again one remove (on the downward plane) from Buddhi, is still so immeasurably higher than the physical man, that it cannot enter into direct relation with the personality, except through its reflection, the lower mind.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 630.</ref></blockquote>

=== Lower manas ===

== Self-Consciousness ==

While [[Ātman|atman]] has been defined as "conscious non-consciousness"<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 609-10.</ref> and [[Buddhi|buddhi]] as "universal consciousness"<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 610.</ref>, manas is "the principle of self-consciousness, the 'I-am-I'".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 249.</ref>

Because this principle is the origin of the sense of "I-ness", it is called the "[[Ego]]":

<blockquote>Ego (Lat.) "I"; the consciousness in man of the "I am I," or the feeling of I-am-ship. [[Esoteric Philosophy|Esoteric philosophy]] teaches the existence of two Egos in man, the mortal or personal, and the higher, the divine or impersonal, calling the former [[Principle#Individuality and personality|"personality"]], and the latter [[Principle#Individuality and personality|"individuality"]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 111.</ref></blockquote>

The meaning of the word "ego" in [[Theosophy]] is not restricted to the one modern psychology gives. It is used to refer to the sense of "I-ness", which can be expressed in a personal and selfish way (through the lower manas), as well as in a spiritual and impersonal form (through the higher manas).

=== Higher ego ===

In connection to the later, [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The human Ego is neither Ātma nor Buddhi, but the higher Manas: the intellectual fruition and the efflorescence of the intellectual self-conscious Egotism—in the higher spiritual sense.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 79.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>This is the real Individuality, or the divine man. It is this Ego which—having originally incarnated in the senseless human form animated by, but unconscious (since it had no consciousness) of, the presence in itself of the dual monad—made of that human-like form a real man. It is that Ego, that "Causal Body," which overshadows every personality Karma forces it to incarnate into.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 136.</ref></blockquote>

When the higher ego has to incarnate, it sends a "ray" to animate the body, giving origin to the lower ego:

<blockquote>Manas is, as it were, a globe of pure, Divine Light, a Ray from the World Soul, a unit from a higher sphere, in which is no differentiation. Descending to a plane of differentiation it emanates a Ray which is itself, which it can only manifest through the personality already differentiated. This Ray is the Lower Manas, while the globe of Divine Light, a Kumāra on its own plane, is the Higher Ego, or Higher Manas, Manas proper.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 709.</ref></blockquote>

=== Lower ego ===

== The "fifth principle" in The Mahatma Letters ==

In [[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|''The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'']], especially those before the publication of the [[Esoteric Buddhism (book)|''Esoteric Buddhism'']], the phrase "fifth principle" often refers to the lower portion of manas rather than to the whole principle. This is because the [[Mahatmas]] were following [[Allan Octavian Hume]]'s classification published in the the October 1881 issue of [[The Theosophist (periodical)|''The Theosophist'']], where the author defines the fifth principle as "the animal or physical intelligence".

== See also ==

*[[Ego]]
*[[Soul]]

== Notes ==
<references/>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Manas# Manas] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/genius# Genius] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/psychic-and-noetic-action# Psychic and Noetic Action] by H. P. Blavatsky
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/articles/ExtendedMind.pdf The Extended Mind] by Rupert Sheldrake

===Audio===
*[http://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/Downloads/mp3/warcup/A%20Mind%20to%20Embrace%20the%20Universe.mp3 A Mind to Embrace the Universe] by Adam Warcup

===Video===
* [http://www.theosophicalinstitute.org/medialibrary/viewtitle.php?titleid=8E2228B1-1E36-442C-9A48-FD22CA1B8EED# The Extraordinary Nature of the Ordinary Mind] by Joy Mills

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Manas]]

Buddhi

2019-01-02T16:11:56Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Buddhi''' (devanāgarī: बुद्धि) from the root ''budh'' (to be awake; to understand; to know) is a feminine [[Sanskrit]] noun derived from the same root as the masculine form ''[[buddha]]''. In [[Hinduism]] it refers to the intellect, the faculty of discrimination. It is the aspect of the mind that knows, discriminates, judges, and decides. It is frequently regarded as the higher mind, which can determine the wiser of two courses of action if it functions clearly and if manas will accept its guidance. In [[Hinduism]] buddhi is one of the four parts that form the [[antaḥkaraṇa]] (the "inner organ") the other three being [[manas]] (the mind), [[citta]] (the memory) and [[ahamkāra]] (the ego).

In [[Theosophy]] buddhi is not the mind ([[manas]]) although it can work in close relationship with it, furnishing manas with spiritual illumination. In the [[seven principles|septenary constitution]] of human beings buddhi is the [[sixth principle]]. It is regarded to be the vehicle of [[ātman]], and in this function it is frequently called [[Soul#Spiritual soul|spiritual soul]].

== Adi Buddhi ==

In one of his letters, [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] talks about "the all-pervading supreme and absolute intelligence," which he calls "adi-buddhi."<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 67 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 182.</ref> In this letter he relates it to Yin-sin, the one “Form of existence,” and Dharmakaya.

For more information see [[Adi-Buddha#Adi-Buddhi|Adi-Buddhi]].

== Universal dual monad ==

While [[Ātman|atman]], the [[Seventh Principle|highest principle]], is a ray of the [[Absolute]], buddhi is regarded as the first differentiation of the One and, therefore, its vehicle of expression in the manifested universe:

<blockquote>Âtma is said to have Buddhi for a vehicle, because Buddhi is already the first differentiation after the evolution of the universe. It is the first differentiation, and it is the Upâdhi, so to say, of Âtma.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 609.</ref></blockquote>

Because it is just the first differentiation, in itself, buddhi is still beyond any quality:

<blockquote>The Buddhi ''per se'' has nothing to do with any qualification of anything; it is simply the vehicle of Âtman, of spirit; and spirit is nothing. It cannot be said it is something. It is that which has neither beginning nor end. It is the one thing.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 639.</ref></blockquote>

Buddhi, being the vehicle of expression of atman, is regarded as the [[Monad#The dual Monad|dual Monad]]:

<blockquote>The [word] Monad is from Greek, “One” the unit, whatever it is. . . . Âtma in reality is not a unit, but the one universal principle, and it is simply a ray. That which uses Buddhi as a vehicle is that ray of that universal principle. Therefore, in reality it is Buddhi which is the Monad, the one unit.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 566.</ref></blockquote>

Since neither of these two principles are individual, the dual Monad is regarded as universal:

<blockquote>Âtma and Buddhi cannot be predicated as having anything to do with a man, except that man is immersed in them. So long as he lives he is overshadowed by these two; but it is no more the property of that than of anything else.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 644.</ref></blockquote>

== Universal consciousness ==

Buddhi is the first principle of sentiency in the universe, although still in a very universal plane:

<blockquote>Buddhi is nothing, per se, but simply the first differentiation. And it is the consciousness in the universal consciousness, but it is non-consciousness in this world. On this plane of finite consciousness it is nothing, for it is infinite consciousness.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 610.</ref></blockquote>

In this connection, buddhi is regarded as "the Spiritual Soul, the vehicle of pure universal spirit". Because the spiritual soul does not show the quality of individual consciousness, it is frequently regarded as ''irrational'', except when acting in conjuction with [[manas]]:

<blockquote>As a pure emanation of the Universal mind it can have no individual reason of its own on this plane of matter, but like the Moon, who borrows her light from the Sun and her life from the Earth, so Buddhi, receiving its light of Wisdom from Atma, gets its rational qualities from Manas. Per se, as something homogeneous, it is devoid of attributes".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), ???.</ref></blockquote>

In [[Mahatma Letter No. 85b#Page 24|one of his letters]], [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] stated that the "remorse of conscience" proceeds "always from the 6th principle".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 85B (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 264.</ref> However, we must keep in mind that in the letters the sixth principle frequently refers to buddhi-manas.

== Spiritual Ego ==

In order to be manifested or "activated" on the lower planes Buddhi has to be united to the [[Manas|manasic]] principle:

<blockquote>The supreme energy resides in the Buddhi; latent — when wedded to [[Ātman|Atman]] alone, active and irresistible when galvanized by the essence of "Manas" and when none of the dross of the latter commingles with that pure essence to weigh it down by its finite nature.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 111 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 375.</ref></blockquote>

When united to [[manas]], buddhi or the Universal Soul is generally called the [[Ego#Spiritual ego|Spiritual Ego]]. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The Spiritual divine Ego is the Spiritual soul or Buddhi, in close union with Manas, the mind-principle, without which it is no EGO at all, but only the Atmic Vehicle.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), ???.</ref></blockquote>

== Spiritual intuition ==

When the nature of buddhi expresses through [[manas]] there is a phenomena of direct perception, beyond rational thinking, which is sometimes called spiritual intuition:

<blockquote>The Spiritual ego reflects no varying states of consciousness; is independent of all sensation (experience); it does not think—it KNOWS, by an intuitive process only faintly conceivable by the average man.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. VIII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1990), 96.</ref></blockquote>

In some of [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]]'s writings there are some references to this principle forming a body:

<blockquote>In the normal or natural state, the sensations are transmitted from the lowest physical to the highest spiritual body, i.e., from the first to the 6th principle (the 7th being no organized or conditioned body, but an infinite, hence unconditioned principle or state).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IV (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 101.</ref></blockquote>

== See also ==
* [[Intuition]]

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Buddhi# Buddhi] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1374# The Intuition: Knowledge by Fusion] by Shirley Nicholson

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Buddhi]]
[[it:Buddhi]]

Atman

2019-01-02T16:05:59Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Atman''' (devanāgarī: आत्मन् ātman) or '''Ātmā''', is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means "self". In [[Hinduism|Hindu philosophy]], especially in the [[Vedānta]] school, it refers to one's ''true'' self beyond phenomena.

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature, it refers to the [[Seventh Principle|seventh principle]] in man and the cosmos. Atman is said to be a ray of the [[Absolute]] and, therefore, not individual. Each person participates of this universal principle, which manifests in him or her as the "Higher Self". However, ''per se'', atman is beyond consciousness or any other relative attribute. Its vehicle of expression in the differentiated universe is the sixth principle, or [[Buddhi]].

== Universal principle ==

Ātman, the [[Seventh Principle|seventh principle]], is frequently described by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] as being a ray of the [[Absolute]]:

<blockquote>The seventh [principle is] the synthesis of the six, and not a principle but a ray of the Absolute ALL—in strict truth.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 232, fn.</ref></blockquote>

This being the case, atman is essentially beyond any description:

<blockquote>Ātma is nothing; it is all absolute, and it cannot be said that it is this, that or the other. . . It is simply that in which we are.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 609.</ref></blockquote>

Since atman is omnipresent, it cannot be regarded as a human principle, but rather as a universal one:

<blockquote>Spirit (in the sense of the Absolute, and therefore, indivisible ALL), or Atma. As this can neither be located nor limited in philosophy, being simply that which IS in Eternity, and which cannot be absent from even the tiniest geometrical or mathematical point of the universe of matter or substance, it ought not to be called, in truth, a “human” principle at all.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 119.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>The seventh [Principle] is not a human, but a universal principle in which Man participates; but so does equally every physical and subjective atom, and also every blade of grass and everything that lives or is in Space, whether it is sensible of it or not.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 630.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>We say that the Spirit (the "Father in secret" of Jesus), or Atman, is no individual property of any man, but is the Divine essence which has no body, no form, which is imponderable, invisible and indivisible, that which does not exist and yet is, as the Buddhists say of Nirvana. It only overshadows the mortal; that which enters into him and pervades the whole body being only its omnipresent rays, or light, radiated through [[Buddhi]], its vehicle and direct emanation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), ???.</ref></blockquote>

== The Higher Self ==

When referring to the presence of atman in human beings, it is said to constitute the "higher self":

<blockquote>The Higher Self is Atma the inseparable ray of the Universal and ONE SELF. It is the God above, more than within, us.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), 175.</ref></blockquote>

However, this does not mean that each person has his or her own higher self. In reality, there is only One self expressing through every person:

<blockquote>Atma, the "Higher Self," is neither your Spirit nor mine, but like sunlight shines on all. It is the universally diffused "divine principle," and is inseparable from its one and absolute Meta-Spirit, as the sunbeam is inseparable from sunlight.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 135. </ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>You must never say: “my Âtma”; you have no Âtma. This idea is the curse of the world. It has produced this tremendous selfishness, this egotism we say, “we are”, “my Âtma”, “my Buddhi”.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 646.</ref></blockquote>

== Conscious non-consciousness ==

Being a universal and absolute principle, ātman cannot be said to have [[consciousness]] as we know it, which is a relative attribute:

<blockquote>Consciousness implies limitations and qualifications; something [the object] to be conscious of, and someone [the subject] to be conscious of it. But Absolute Consciousness contains the cognizer, the thing cognized and the cognition, all three in itself and all three one.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 56.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Understand me, Ātman cannot be called infinite consciousness. It is the one Absolute, which is conscious non-consciousness. It contains everything, the potentiality of all; therefore, it is nothing at all. . . . It is “No Thing,” you understand?<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 609-10.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>He [man] starts downward as a simply spiritual entity—an unconscious seventh principle . . . with the germs of the other six principles lying latent and dormant in him.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 44 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 118.</ref></blockquote>

However, it should not be thought that atman is just a lack of consciousness. Its state is not what we know as consciousness and, to indicate this fact, it is said to be unconscious or non-conscious:

<blockquote>It must not be forgotten, also, that we give names to things according to the appearances they assume for ourselves. We call absolute consciousness “unconsciousness,” because it seems to us that it must necessarily be so.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 56.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=%C4%80tman# "Ātman"] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1367# "The Becoming Self"] by Joy Mills

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Atman]]
[[it:Atma]]

Gunas

2019-01-02T15:41:36Z

Daniele Urlotti:

{{Template:Article needs expansion}}
 
 
 
'''Guna''' (devanāgarī: गुण ''guṇa'') is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means "quality", "virtue", "talent". In [[Samkhya]] philosophy, the guṇas are three major qualities or tendencies of [[prakṛti]], which are called: ''sattva'' (purity, equilibrium), ''rajas'' (passion, activity), and ''tamas'' (ignorance, inertia). Each of the three gunas is present in every particle of creation but the variations in their activity manifest the variety in creation.

== Tamas ==

== Rajas ==

== Sattva ==

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Gu%E1%B9%87a(s)# Guṇa] at Theosopedia

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[it:Guna]]

Prakriti

2019-01-02T15:28:02Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Prakriti''' (devanāgarī: प्रकृति ''prakṛti'') is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means "nature". It is used to refer to principle of [[matter]] (not only in its physical aspect) as opposed to that of spirit ([[Puruṣa]]). Prakriti is composed of three [[gunas]], which are its tendencies or modes of operation, known as [[sattva]] (equilibrium), [[rajas]] (activity), and [[tamas]] (inertia).

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] view, when used in a general sense, Prakriti is the universal [[sixth principle]] upon which the [[Seventh Principle|seventh]] (the [[Puruṣa|Purusha]]) is perpetually acting and manifesting through.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. VI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1989), 262.</ref> More specifically, it is the [[cosmic matter]] that forms the lowest of the [[Plane#Macrocosmic or Solar planes|planes in the solar system]]. The [[Plane#Prakritic planes|Prakritic plane]], in its turn, has seven subdivisions, the lowest of which is our physical plane. As [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] stated, Prakriti is a lower reflection of [[Ākāśa|Akasha]]:

<blockquote>The Tibetan esoteric Buddhist doctrine teaches that Prakriti is cosmic matter, out of which all visible forms are produced; and Akâsa that same cosmic matter—but still more imponderable, its spirit, as it were, “Prakriti” being the body or substance, and Akâsa-Sakti its soul or energy.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. III (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1968), fn. 405.</ref></blockquote>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Prakrti# Prakriti] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[es:Prakriti]]
[[it:Prakriti]]

Monad

2019-01-02T11:52:07Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Monad''' is a term derived from the Greek μονάς (''monas'') which means "unit" or "one"; that which has no parts. With the Pythagoreans, "monad" was a term for the Divinity--the source of everything, referred to as "the One." German philosopher Leibniz talked about "monads" as the indivisible soul-like particles that are the ultimate elements of the universe. In [[Theosophy]], the word "monad" generally refers to the divine spark, comprised by the two highest [[Principles]], ''[[ātman]]'' and ''[[buddhi]]'', which during the process of human [[evolution]] assimilate the highest attributes of ''[[manas]]''.

== Theosophical view ==

In the manifested universe, the Monad appears as a composed unity of the three higher principles. However, the Monad exists as a Unity beyond the highest manifested plane. [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The monad, then, viewed as ONE, is above the seventh principle (in Kosmos and man), and as a triad, it is the direct radiant progeny of the said compound UNIT.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 573.</ref></blockquote>

At the beginning of the evolution the manifested Monad consists of two principles:

<blockquote>The [word] Monad is from Greek, “One” the unit, whatever it is. . . . Âtma in reality is not a unit, but the one universal principle, and it is simply a ray. That which uses Buddhi as a vehicle is that ray of that universal principle. Therefore, in reality it is Buddhi which is the Monad, the one unit.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 566.</ref></blockquote>

This dual monad which, during the process of evolution will gradually individualize in triple Monads, is said to be part of the [[Dhyāni-Chohan]]s:

<blockquote>The Monad of every living being . . . is an individual Dhyan Chohan, distinct from others, a kind of spiritual individuality of its own, during one special Manvantara. Its Primary, the Spirit (Atman) is one, of course, with Paramatma (the one Universal Spirit), but the vehicle (Vahan) it is enshrined in, the Buddhi, is part and parcel of that Dhyan-Chohanic Essence.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 265.</ref></blockquote>

=== The dual Monad ===

[[Ātman]] and [[buddhi]] being universal principles, the dual Monad is omnipresent and cannot be said to be a "property" of human beings:

<blockquote>Âtma and Buddhi cannot be predicated as having anything to do with a man, except that man is immersed in them. So long as he lives he is overshadowed by these two; but it is no more the property of that than of anything else.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 644.</ref></blockquote>

The universal dual Monad is not endowed with individual consciousness:

<blockquote>The sixth and seventh principles apart from the rest constitute the eternal, imperishable, but also unconscious “Monad.”<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr. ''The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 68 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 194.</ref></blockquote>

In this state, the Monad is said to remain unmanifested:

<blockquote>[[Pythagoras]] had a reason for never using the finite, useless figure — 2, and for altogether discarding it. The ONE, can, when manifesting, become only 3. The unmanifested when a simple duality remains passive and concealed. The dual monad (the 7th and 6th principles) has, in order to manifest itself as a [[Logos]], the "[[Kwan-Shi-Yin|Kwan-shai-yin]]" to first become a triad.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 111 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 378.</ref></blockquote>

Compelled by the [[circle of necessity]], the dual monad engages in a process of [[evolution]] through the lower kingdoms until it reaches the human stage:

<blockquote>Monad [is] that immortal part of man which reincarnates in the lower kingdoms, and gradually progresses through them to Man and then to the final goal— Nirvâna.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 216.</ref></blockquote>

=== The triple Monad ===

After the unconscious and universal dual Monad evolves through the lower kingdoms it reaches the human. Here, as the Monad gets in touch with [[manas]], it develops a consciousness that is able to function on the lower planes. [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>The Monad is impersonal and a god per se, albeit unconscious on this plane. For, divorced from its third (often called fifth) principle, Manas, which is the horizontal line of the first manifested triangle or trinity, it can have no consciousness or perception of things on this earthly plane. “The highest sees through the eye of the lowest” in the manifested world; Purusha (Spirit) remains blind without the help of Prakrit (matter) in the material spheres; and so does Atma-Buddhi without Manas.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 123, fn.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Buddhi being the first differentiation, the first ray, it is universal consciousness, and could not act on any one plane, especially on the terrestrial plane. And to be conscious of something, of somebody, it must have Manas, that is to say, the consciousness of this plane.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 610.</ref></blockquote>

It is by absorbing the highest attributes of [[manas]] that the dual Monad becomes conscious:

<blockquote>To awaken in it [the Monad] to life the latent consciousness, especially that of personal individuality, requires the monad plus the highest attributes of the fifth [principle].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr. ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 68 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 194.</ref></blockquote>

=== The astral Monad ===

In [[Isis Unveiled (book)|''Isis Unveiled'']] the "astral monad" is mentioned in relation to the concept of [[reincarnation]].<ref>See ''Isis Unveiled'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), pp. 351.</ref> Because these passages brought a [[Isis Unveiled (book)#Isis on Reincarnation|controversy]], the [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K.H.]] had to explain in [[Mahatma Letter No. 85b#Page 12|one of his letters]] that they "recognise in the astral monad the ''personal Ego''", adding that the "personal, or astral monad, the "''moi fluidique''" [is] the ''[[manas]]'', or the intellectual mind, the 5th principle".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 85b (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 260.</ref>

== Pythagorean Monad ==

The concept of "Monad" seems to have been conceived by the Pythagoreans. It refers to a single source and indivisible origin for all the diversity in the universe. With them, the Monad was the divinity, the first being, or the totality of all beings.

In the Pythagorean description of the process of manifestation, the Monad is the first thing that came into existence. This begat the dyad (duality), from which came all the numbers (as abstract entities). From numbers came points; then lines, two-dimensional entities, three-dimensional entities, bodies, culminating in the four elements earth, water, fire and air, from which the rest of our world is built up.

== Leibniz's Monad ==

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (July 1, 1646 – November 14, 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. His best known contribution to metaphysics is his theory of simple substances or monads, published in his book ''Monadology''. According to Leibniz, monads are elementary particles, being the ultimate elements of the universe. They are "substantial forms of being" with blurred perception of each other. The monads are centers of force, of which space, matter, and motion are merely phenomena. They are eternal, indecomposable, individual, subject to their own laws, un-interacting, and each reflecting the entire universe in a pre-established harmony.

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Monad# Monad] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Greek terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Monade]]

Pitris

2019-01-02T11:42:53Z

Daniele Urlotti:

'''Pitris''' (devanāgarī: पितृ ''pitṛ'', plural: ''pitara'') is a [[Sanskrit]] term that means "fathers". There are two classes of Pitris in [[Hinduism]]: the human and the divine. The human pitris (manuṣyāḥ pitaraḥ) are the spirits of the departed ancestors. They are often remembered annually. The divine Pitris (devāḥ pitaraḥ) are gods of different origins, forms, grades, and abodes, regarded to be the progenitors of mankind.

[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] used this term in her writings to refer to the divine fashioners of humanity:

<blockquote>Pitris (Sk.). The ancestors, or creators of mankind. They are of seven classes, three of which are incorporeal, arupa, and four corporeal. In popular theology they are said to be created from Brahmâ’s side. They are variously genealogized, but in esoteric philosophy they are as given in the Secret Doctrine.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 254-255.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Occultism defines and limits the number of primordial races to seven, because of the “seven progenitors,” or prajâpatis, the evolvers of beings. These are neither gods, nor supernatural Beings, but advanced Spirits from another and lower planet, reborn on this one, and giving birth in their turn in the present Round to present Humanity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 611.</ref></blockquote>

== Divine Pitris in Hinduism ==

There are seven classes of the ''devāḥ pitaraḥ'' (divine Pitris). Three of them are ''amurtayah'' (incorporeal; composed of intellectual, not elementary substance) while the other four are ''samurtayah'' (corporeal). The names and function of the different classes of Pitris vary considerably in different texts. The commonest classification is given below:<ref>Benjamin Walker, ''The Hindu World'' vol. I, "Ancestors", (New York, Frederick A. Praeger, 1968), 40.</ref>

* Incorporeal

<blockquote>1. ''Agnishvātta'' are the pitṛs of the gods. 
2. ''Barhishad'' are the pitṛs of the demons. 
3. ''Vairāja'' are the pitṛs of the great ascetics.</blockquote>

* Corporeal

<blockquote>4. ''Somapa'' are the pitṛs of the brāhmins. 
5. ''Havishmat'' are the pitṛs of the kshattriyas. 
6. ''Ājyapa'' are the pitṛs of the vaiśyas. 
7. ''Sukālin'' are the pitṛs of the of the śudras.</blockquote>

There is an eight category sometimes listed:

<blockquote>8. ''Vyāma'', "fumes", the pitṛs of the barbarians.</blockquote>

The ''Rig Veda'' and ''Manu'' make two independent classes: those who kept up the household flame (Agni-dagdhas) and those who did not keep it up (Anagni-dagdhas). The ''Vishnu Purana'' identifies the Barishads with the fromer and the Agnishwāttas with the latter.<ref>John Dowson, ''A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology'', "Pitris" (London, Routedge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1968), 236.</ref>

=== Mme. Blavatsky's interpretation ===

Regarding the question of the "sacred fire", [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] wrote:

<blockquote>Exoteric Hindu books mention seven classes of Pitris, and among them two distinct kinds of Progenitors or Ancestors: the Barhishad and the Agnishwatta; or those possessed of the “sacred fire” and those devoid of it. Hindu ritualism seems to connect them with sacrificial fires, and with Grihasta Brahmins in earlier incarnations: those who have, and those who have not attended as they should to their household sacred fires in their previous births. The distinction, as said, is derived from the Vedas. The first and highest class (esoterically) the Agnishwatta, are represented in the exoteric allegory as Grihasta (Brahman-householders) who, in their past births in other Manvantaras having failed to maintain their domestic fires and to offer burnt sacrifices, have lost every right to have oblations with fire presented to them. Whereas the Barhishad, being Brahmins who have kept up their household sacred fires, are thus honoured to this day. Thence the Agnishwatta are represented as devoid of, and the Barhishad as possessed of, fires. 
But esoteric philosophy explains the original qualifications as being due to the difference between the natures of the two classes: the Agnishwatta Pitris are devoid of fire (i.e., of creative passion), because too divine and pure (vide supra, Sloka 11th); whereas the Barhishad, being the lunar spirits more closely connected with Earth, became the creative Elohim of form, or the Adam of dust.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 77-78.</ref></blockquote>

== Pitris in Theosophy ==

According to [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] our humanity had divine ancestors:

<blockquote>“Divine origin” does not mean here a revelation from an anthropomorphic god on a mount amidst thunder and lightning; but, as we understand it, a language and a system of science imparted to the early mankind by a more advanced mankind, so much higher as to be divine in the sight of that infant humanity. By a “mankind,” in short, from other spheres; an idea which contains nothing supernatural in it.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 309.</ref></blockquote>

In her writings Blavatsky called these divine ancestors "Pitris", although she declared this is not the term used in the [[Esoteric Philosophy]]:

<blockquote>The term Pitris is used by us in these Slokas to facilitate their comprehension, but it is not so used in the original Stanzas, where they have distinct appellations of their own, besides being called “Fathers” and “Progenitors.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 34, fn.</ref></blockquote>

The are two classes of Pitris: the ''Lunar Pitris'' ([[Barhiṣads|Barhishads]]) which have to do with the lower principles in human beings, and the ''Solar Pitris'' ([[Agnishvatta|Agniṣvāttas]]) who endowed humanity with intellect:

<blockquote>There are seven classes of Pitris, as shown below, three incorporeal and four corporeal; and two kinds, the Agnishwatta and the Barhishad. And we may add that, as there are two kinds of Pitris, so there is a double and a triple set of Barhishad and Agnishwatta. The former, having given birth to their astral doubles, are reborn as Sons of Atri, and are the “Pitris of the Demons,” or corporeal beings, on the authority of Manu (III., 196); while the Agnishwatta are reborn as Sons of Marichi (a son of Brahmâ), and are the Pitris of the Gods (Manu again, Matsya and Padma Purânas and Kulluka in the Laws of the Manavas, III., 195).* Moreover, the Vâyu Purâna declares all the seven orders to have originally been the first gods, the Vairâjas, whom Brahmâ “with the eye of Yoga, beheld in the eternal spheres, and who are the gods of gods”; and the Matsya adds that the Gods worshipped them; while the Harivansa (S. I, 935) distinguishes the Virâjas as one class of the Pitris only—a statement corroborated in the Secret Teachings, which, however, identify the Virâjas with the elder Agnishwattas † and the Rajasas, or Abhutarajasas, who are incorporeal without even an astral phantom.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 89.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>THE Progenitors of Man, called in India “Fathers,” Pitara or Pitris, are the creators of our bodies and lower principles. They are ourselves, as the first personalities, and we are they. Primeval man would be “the bone of their bone and the flesh of their flesh,” if they had body and flesh. As stated, they were “lunar Beings.”
The Endowers of man with his conscious, immortal EGO, are the “Solar Angels”—whether so regarded metaphorically or literally. The mysteries of the Conscious EGO or human Soul are great. The esoteric name of these “Solar Angels” is, literally, the “Lords” (Nath) of “persevering ceaseless devotion” (pranidhâna). Therefore they of the fifth principle (Manas) seem to be connected with, or to have originated the system of the Yogis who make of pranidhâna their fifth observance (see Yoga Shastra, II., 32.) It has already been explained why the trans-Himalayan Occultists regard them as evidently identical with those who in India are termed Kumâras, Agnishwattas, and the Barhishads.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 88.</ref></blockquote>

== See also ==
*[[Barhiṣads]]
*[[Agnishvatta]]s

==Additional resources==

* Barborka, Geoffrey A. '''''The Peopling of the Earth'''''. Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1975. See the chapters on "The Lunar Pitris" and "The Lords of the Flame."

===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Pitris# Pitris] at Theosopedia

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
[[es:Pitris]]
[[it:Pitri]]

Planetary Chain

2019-01-02T11:42:19Z

Daniele Urlotti:

== Planetary Chains ==

The phrase "planetary chain" refers to a group of seven "[[globe]]s", "spheres", or "planets" linked together into a single scheme of evolution. According to Mme. Blavatsky there are seven chains in our system.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 311.</ref>

The concept was published for the first time in 1883 by [[Alfred Percy Sinnett]] in his book [[Esoteric Buddhism (book)|''Esoteric Buddhism'']]. He wrote:

<blockquote>The life and evolutionary processes of this planet . . . are linked with the life and evolutionary processes of several other planets. . . . One globe does not afford Nature scope for the processes by which mankind has been evoked from chaos, but these processes do not require more than a limited and definite number of globes. Separated as these are, in regard to the gross mechanical matter of which they consist, they are closely and intimately bound together by subtle currents and forces, whose existence reason need not be much troubled to concede, since the existence of some connection - of force or ethereal media - uniting all visible celestial bodies, is proved by the mere fact that they are visible. It is along these subtle currents that the life elements pass from world to world.<ref>Alfred Percy Sinnett, ''Esoteric Buddhism'' (London: The Theosophical Publishing House Ltd, 1972), 29.</ref></blockquote>

The "planetary chain" is composed by seven [[globe]]s that can be represented as in a circular configuration. In the words of [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K. H.]]:

<blockquote>Now, the congeries of the star-worlds (including our own planet) inhabited by intelligent beings may be likened to an orb or rather an epicycloid formed of rings like a chain — worlds inter-linked together, the totality representing an imaginary endless ring, or circle.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr. ''Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 18 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 64.</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Chains and Rounds.JPG|right|250px]]
These globes are not all on the same [[plane]] of perception. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] explains:

<blockquote>The one eternal LAW unfolds everything in the (to be) manifested Nature on a sevenfold principle; among the rest, the countless circular chains of worlds, composed of seven globes, graduated on the four lower planes of the world of formation (the three others belonging to the Archetypal Universe). Out of these seven only one, the lowest and the most material of those globes, is within our plane or means of perception, the six others lying outside of it and being therefore invisible to the terrestrial eye. Every such chain of worlds is the progeny and creation of another, lower, and dead chain—its reincarnation, so to say.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 152.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>It will be seen that the fourth member of a series occupies a unique position. Unlike the others, the Fourth has no “sister” Globe on the same plane as itself, and it thus forms the fulcrum of the “balance” represented by the whole chain. It is the sphere of final evolutionary adjustments, the world of Karmic scales, the Hall of Justice, where the balance is struck which determines the future course of the Monad during the remainder of its incarnations in the cycle.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 182.</ref></blockquote>

In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature the two highest globes are denominated A and G (or Z) on the [[Evolution#Descending and ascending arcs|descending and ascending arcs]] respectively. The globes on the next lower plane are B and F, the next pair are denominated C and E, and the lowest of all is the globe D. Although Mr Sinnett published that globes C and E were also physical, Blavatsky rejected this view and said that only the earth was the physical globe of the chain (see below [[Planetary Chain#Controversy about Mars and Mercury|Controversy about Mars and Mercury]]).

=== Planetary Chain and the Tree of Life ===
[[File:Chains and Tree of Life by HPB.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Globes and Sephiroth on the different planes]]

In [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']] Mme. Blavatsky compared the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] teachings about the different globes with the sephiroth that form the [[Tree of Life]]:

<blockquote>The following comparative diagram shows the identity between the two systems, the Kabalistic and the Eastern. The three upper are the three higher planes of consciousness, revealed and explained in both schools only to the Initiates, the lower ones represent the four lower planes—the lowest being our plane, or the visible Universe. 
These seven planes correspond to the seven states of consciousness in man.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 199.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Our Globe, as taught from the first is at the bottom of the arc of descent, where the matter of our perceptions exhibits itself in its grossest form. . . . . . . Hence it only stands to reason that the globes which overshadow our Earth must be on different and superior planes. In short, as Globes, they are in CO-ADUNITION but not IN CONSUBSTANTIALITY WITH OUR EARTH and thus pertain to quite another state of consciousness.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 166.</ref></blockquote>

Regarding the planes shown in the diagram, she wrote:

<blockquote>The Arupa or “formless,” there where form ceases to exist, on the objective plane. 
The word “Archetypal” must not be taken here in the sense that the Platonists gave to it, i.e., the world as it existed in the Mind of the Deity; but in that of a world made as a first model, to be followed and improved upon by the worlds which succeed it physically—though deteriorating in purity. 
These are the four lower planes of Cosmic Consciousness, the three higher planes being inaccessible to human intellect as developed at present.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 200, fn.</ref></blockquote>

== Controversy about Mars and Mercury ==

In his correspondence with the [[Mahatmas]] [[Koot Hoomi|K. H.]] and [[Morya|M.]], [[A. P. Sinnett|Mr. Sinnett]] asked the following question:

<blockquote>What other planets of those known to ordinary science, besides Mercury, belong to our system of worlds? 
Are the more spiritual planets — (A, B & Y, Z) — visible bodies in the sky or are all those known to astronomy of the more material sort?<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr. ''Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93A (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 307</ref></blockquote>

The answer from [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K.H.]] was the following:

<blockquote>Mars and four other planets of which astronomy knows yet nothing. Neither A, B, nor Y, Z, are known; nor can they be seen through physical means however perfected.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr. ''Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 93B (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993),331</ref></blockquote>

From this, [[A. P. Sinnett|Mr. Sinnett]] naturally assumed that Mars, Mercury, and the Earth where all part of the same septenary chain of globes, as he published in his [[Esoteric Buddhism (book)|''Esoteric Buddhism'']]:

<blockquote>Besides the earth, which is at the lowest material point, there are only two other worlds of our chain which are visible to physical eyes--the one behind and the one in advance of it. These two worlds, as a matter of fact, are Mars and Mercury--Mars being behind and Mercury in advance of us--Mars in a state of entire obscuration now as regards the human life-wave, Mercury just beginning to prepare for its next human period. . . . The two planets of our chain that are behind Mars, and the two that are in advance of Mercury, are not composed of an order of matter which telescopes can take cognizance of. Four out of the seven are thus of an ethereal nature, which people who can only conceive matter in its earthly form will be inclined to call immaterial. But they are not really immaterial at all.<ref>Alfred Percy Sinnett, ''Esoteric Buddhism'' (London: The Theosophical Publishing Hourse LTD, 1972), 136-137.</ref></blockquote>

However, in ''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|The Secret Doctrine]]'', [[H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote that this notion was an error:

<blockquote>This was a great mistake. But the blame for it is to be attached as much to the vagueness and incompleteness of the Master’s answer as to the question of the learner itself, which was equally vague and indefinite. 
It was asked: “What planets, of those known to ordinary science, besides Mercury, belong to our system of worlds?” Now if by “System of Worlds” our terrestrial chain or “string” was intended in the mind of the querist, instead of the “Solar System of Worlds,” as it should have been, then of course the answer was likely to be misunderstood. For the reply was: “Mars, etc., and four other planets of which astronomy knows nothing. Neither A, B, nor YZ are known nor can they be seen through physical means however perfected.” As to Mars, Mercury, and “the four other planets,” they bear a relation to Earth of which no master or high Occultist will ever speak, much less explain the nature . . . But neither Mars nor Mercury belong to our chain. They are, along with the other planets, septenary Units in the great host of “chains” of our system, and all are as visible as their upper globes are invisible.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 163</ref></blockquote>

It is not clear what relation these planets bear to Earth.

=== Annie Besant's interpretation ===

In 1895 Annie Besant was asked about this matter. Her answer was as follows:

<blockquote>The facts are these; the planetary chain consists of Globes A., B., Mars, Earth, Mercury, F., and G., and round these the great [[Life-Wave|life-wave]] has swept three and a half times, reaching Earth for the fourth time; the mass of humanity passed from Mars to the Earth, and will pass from the Earth to Mercury. But the leading class of humanity — and here is a fact that throws some light on the opposing statements — did not share in this general evolution. It came directly to the Earth from another region at a much later period in evolution, and had never been on Mars at all. Another fact, which H.P.B. evidently had in mind, when writing on this question, is that Mars is also concerned in an entirely different evolution, as to which nothing can be publicly said. It is therefore impossible to clear the matter up to the satisfaction of exoteric students, but it is just that it should be publicly stated that Mr. Sinnett's statement is entirely borne out by the original letter.<ref>Annie Besant, ''Lucifer'' Vol. XVII, No. 100 (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, December 1895), 271.</ref></blockquote>

[[Annie Besant]], [[C. W. Leadbeater]] and [[C. Jinarajadasa]] continued to maintain that Mars and Mercury are part of the earth chain<ref>Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Man: Whence How and Whither A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation'' (Adyar: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1913), 4</ref> while other [[Theosophists]] such as [[W. Q. Judge]] and [[Robert Crosbie]] regarded them as the globe D of different chains. [[G. de Purucker]] also maintained this position, although he introduced five more globes to the planetary chains, thus making them consist of 12 globes.

=== G. de Purucker's interpretation ===

In his work ''The Twelve Sacred Planets'', David Pratt presents [[G. de Purucker]]'s view in the following way:

<blockquote>He points out that ‘our system of worlds’ can refer to our universal solar system (i.e. all the solar systems revolving around the same raja-sun as our own), our planetary chain, our group of seven sacred planets, and to ‘this mystery-group – Earth, Mercury, Mars, and four other secret planets’. KH’s generalized reply refers in particular to this latter group, because Sinnett had just been questioning KH ‘on a certain aspect of the teachings which could not be fully explained without giving out the doctrine concerning this mystery-group’.
 
GdeP explains that many planetary chains in our solar system and universal solar system have no globes on our own plane of perception. All the countless planetary chains, visible and invisible, are divided into families of seven (or twelve), whose members are closely related karmically. Referring to our own sacred planets, he writes:
:[The] seven sacred planets are profoundly instrumental in building our planetary chain; but the earth also itself is one of another group or series of seven planets, which build or cooperate in building the planetary chain of certain other ones of our planets...
:Earth, Mercury, Mars, and the four secret planets are a septenary group ‘whose function is to act in building another planetary chain’.
:Our own planetary chain helps to build and guide one of the other planetary chains in particular but all the other planetary chains of our solar system in general. Mars, for example, is built by its particular group of seven or twelve planetary chains, itself being the eighth of its ogdoad, and our Earth chain is one of these. Not all of the seven sacred planets of any of the planets in our solar system would necessary be our own sacred planets.<ref>[http://davidpratt.info/sacredpl.htm#s3# Mars/Mercury controversy] by David Pratt, 2007</ref></blockquote>

== Rebirth of a new chain ==

In [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']] Mme. Blavatsky explains that as the evolution in a chain is coming to an end, it begin to "die" and its principles are transferred to a new one, in what can be compared with a process of "reincarnation":

<blockquote>It is said that the planetary chains having their "Days" and their "Nights"—i.e., periods of activity or life, and of inertia or death—and behave in heaven as do men on Earth: they generate their likes, get old, and become personally extinct, their spiritual principles only living in their progeny as a survival of themselves.
Without attempting the very difficult task of giving out the whole process in all its cosmic details, enough may be said to give an approximate idea of it. When a planetary chain is in its last Round, its Globe 1 or A, before finally dying out, sends all its energy and “principles” into a neutral centre of latent force, a “laya centre,” and thereby informs a new nucleus of undifferentiated substance or matter, i.e., calls it into activity or gives it life.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 154-155.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>These globes are formed by a process which the Occultists call the “rebirth of planetary chains (or rings).” When the seventh and last of one of such rings has been entered upon, the highest or first globe “A,” followed by all the others down to the last, instead of entering upon a certain time of rest—or “obscuration,” as in their previous Rounds—begins to die out. The “planetary” dissolution (pralaya) is at hand, and its hour has struck; each globe has to transfer its life and energy to another planet.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I (London: The Theosohpical Publishing House, 1978), 159</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Lunar Chain.jpg|right|250px]]
She explains the process taking as an example the end of the previous chain (of which the moon was the globe D) and the beginning of the Earth-chain:

<blockquote>In the Seventh Round on the Lunar chain, when Class 7 [of Monads], the last, quits Globe A, that Globe, instead of falling asleep, as it had done in previous Rounds, begins to die (to go into its planetary pralaya); and in dying it transfers successively, as just said, its “principles,” or life-elements and energy, etc., one after the other to a new “laya-centre,” which commences the formation of Globe A of the Earth Chain. A similar process takes place for each of the Globes of the “lunar chain” one after the other, each forming a fresh Globe of the “earth-chain.” Our Moon was the fourth Globe of the series, and was on the same plane of perception as our Earth. But Globe A of the lunar chain is not fully “dead” till the first Monads of the first class have passed from Globe G or Z, the last of the “lunar chain,” into the Nirvana which awaits them between the two chains; and similarly for all the other Globes as stated, each giving birth to the corresponding globe of the “earth-chain.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I (London: The Theosohpical Publishing House, 1978), 171-173.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>It is Fohat who guides the transfer of the principles from one planet to the other, from one star to another—child-star. When a planet dies, its informing principles are transferred to a laya or sleeping centre, with potential but latent energy in it, which is thus awakened into life and begins to form itself into a new sidereal body.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 147.</ref></blockquote>

== Teachings of Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater ==

=== Schemes of evolution ===
[[File:Chains - AB & CWL.jpg|250px|thumb|"Scheme of Evolution" to which the earth chain belongs.]]
In the teachings of [[Annie Besant]] and [[C. W. Leadbeater]] the Earth Chain is the fourth in a larger scheme composed of seven chains:

<blockquote>A scheme of Evolution passes through seven great evolutionary stages, each of which is called a Chain. This name is derived from the fact that a Chain consists of seven Globes, mutually interrelated; it is a chain of seven links, each link a globe. . . . In [the diagram] we have a single Scheme, figured in the seven stages of its evolution, i.e., in its seven successive Chains; it is now shown in relation to five of the seven spheres, or types, of matter existing in the Solar System . . . this matter is named according to the mood of consciousness to which it responds: physical, emotional, mental, intuitional, spiritual.</blockquote>

In their model, during the first half of the scheme, each new chain becomes more material, its globes descending one plane at a time. During the second half the chains become more spiritual again:

<blockquote>In the first Chain, its seven Worlds, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, are seen arranged: A and G, the root-world and the seed-world, are on the spiritual plane, for all descends from the higher to the lower, from the subtle to the dense, and climbs again to the higher, enriched with the gains of the journey, the gains serving as seed for the next Chain; B and F are on the intuitional plane, one gathering and the other assimilating; C and E are on the higher mental, in similar relationship; D, the turning point, the point of balance between the ascending and descending arcs, is in the lower part of the mental plane. These pairs of globes in every Chain are ever closely allied, but the one is the rough sketch, the other the finished picture. In the second Chain, the globes have all sunk one stage lower into matter, and D is on the emotional plane. In the third Chain, they have sunk yet one stage further, and D reaches the physical plane. In the fourth Chain, and on the fourth only, the midmost Chain of the seven, the most deeply involved in densest matter, the turning point of the Chains as is D of the globes, there are three of the globes-- C, D, and E-- on the physical plane. On the return journey, as it were, the ascent resembles the descent: in the fifth Chain, as in the third, there is one physical globe; in the sixth, as in the second, globe D is emotional; in the seventh, as in the first, globe D is mental. With the ending of the seventh Chain the Scheme has worked itself out, and its fruitage is harvested.</blockquote>

Although some planets of the chain are on the astral and mental planes, this does not mean they are within the earth's astral or mental atmosphere. C. W. Leadbeater wrote:

<blockquote>Each physical globe has its physical plane (including its atmosphere), its astral plane, and its mental plane, all interpenetrating one another, and therefore occupying the same position in space, but all quite apart from and not communicating with the corresponding planes of any other globe. It is only when we rise to the lofty levels of the buddhic plane that we find a condition common to, at any rate, all the planets of our chain. . . . A clear comprehension of these facts will prevent the confusion that has sometimes been made by students between the mental plane of our earth and those other globes of our chain which exist on the mental plane. It must be understood that the seven globes of our chain are real globes, occupying definite and separate positions in space, notwithstanding the fact that some of them are not up in the physical plane. Globes A, B, F, and G are separate from us and from one another just in the same way as are Mars and the earth; the only difference is that whereas the latter have physical, astral and mental planes of their own, globes B and F have nothing below the astral plane, and A [page 5] and G nothing below the mental. The astral plane dealt with in Manual V and the mental plane which we are about to consider are those of this earth only, and have nothing to do with these other planets at all.<ref>C. W. Leadbeater, ''The Devachanic Plane''</ref></blockquote>

== Teachings of G. de Purucker ==
[[File:Chain - GdeP.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Planetary chain according to G. de Purucker]]
In his ''Occult Glossary'', [[G. de Purucker]] explains the following:

<blockquote>Every kosmic body or globe, be it sun or planet, nebula or comet, atom or electron, is a composite entity formed of or comprised of inner and invisible energies and substances and of an outer, to us, and often visible, to us, physical vehicle or body. These elements all together number seven (or twelve), being what is called in theosophy the seven principles or elements of every self-contained entity; in other words, of every individual life-center.
 
Thus every one of the physical globes that we see scattered over the fields of space is accompanied by six invisible and superior globes, forming what in theosophy is called a chain. This is the case with every sun or star, with every planet, and with every moon of every planet. It is likewise the case with the nebulae and the comets as above stated: all are septiform entities, all have a sevenfold constitution, even as man has, who is a copy in the little of what the universe is in the great, there being for us one life in that universe, one natural system of "laws" in that universe. Every entity in the universe is an inseparable part of it; therefore what is in the whole is in every part, because the part cannot contain anything that the whole does not contain, the part cannot be greater than the whole.
 
Our own earth-chain is composed of seven (or twelve) globes, of which only one, our earth, is visible on this our earth plane to our physical sense apparatus, because that apparatus is builded or rather evolved to cognize this earth plane and none other. But the populations of all the seven (or twelve) globes of this earth-chain pass in succession, and following each other, from globe to globe, thus gaining experience of energy and matter and consciousness on all the various planes and spheres that this chain comprises.
 
The other six (or eleven) globes of our earth-chain are invisible to our physical sense, of course; and, limiting our explanation only to the manifest seven globes of the complete chain of twelve globes, the six globes other and higher than the earth exist two by two, on three planes of the solar system superior to our physical plane where our earth-globe is — this our earth. These three superior planes or worlds are each one superior to the world or plane immediately beneath or inferior to it.
 
Our earth-globe is the fourth and lowest of all the manifest seven globes of our earth-chain. Three globes precede it on the descending or shadowy arc, and three globes follow it on the ascending or luminous arc of evolution. The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky and the more recent work, Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy (1932), contain most suggestive material for the student interested in this phase of the esoteric philosophy.<ref>Gottfried de Purucker, ''Occult Glossary'' (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1996), 129.</ref></blockquote>

== Artistic representations ==

[[Theosophist]] [[James S. Perkins]], in his book ''Visual Meditations on the Universe''<ref>James S. Perkins, ''Visual Meditations on the Universe'' (Wheaton, IL:Theosophical Publishing House, 1984), 128 pp.</ref> publishes five original paintings representing the evolution of the "Earth Scheme" inspired by the teachings of [[Annie Besant]] and [[C. W. Leadbeater]] on the subject.

The horizontal colored bars represent the planes as follows:

* Purple: atmic plane

* Light blue: buddhic plane

* Yellow: higher mental plane

* Green: lower mental plane

* Orange: astral plane

* Grey: etheric plane

* Brown: physical dense plane

<gallery>
File:Perkins Cosmorama.jpg|Visual "cosmorama" of the seven chains of the "Earth Scheme."
File:Perkins Chain 1.jpg|Chain 1: Evolution of mental mineral archetypes.
File:Perkins Chain 2a.jpg|Chain 2: Evolution of astral vegetation archetypes.
File:Perkins Chain 3a.jpg|Chain 3: Evolution of etheric animal archetypes.
File:Perkins Chain 4.jpg|Chain 4: The Human Kingdom.
</gallery>

== Notes ==
<references/>

==Online resources==
===Articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Chain,_Planetary# Planetary Chain] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/earth-chain-of-globes.htm# The Earth Chain of Globes, Part I], [http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/earth-chain-of-globesII.htm#Part I], and [http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/earth-chain-of-globesIII.htm# Part III] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/how-to-square-the-teachings.htm# How to Square the Teachings] by William Q. Judge
*[http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/mars-and-mercury.htm# Mars and Mercury] by William Q. Judge
*[https://cdn.website-editor.net/e4d6563c50794969b714ab70457d9761/files/uploaded/Siftings_V5_A15b.pdf# The Planetary Chain] by G.R.S. Mead
*[http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/path/v08n06p166_esoteric-teachings.htm# Esoteric Teaching] A response to Judge's "Mars and Mercury" by A. P. Sinnett

[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[it:Catena]]