THE
OF
THEOSOPHY
A
Definitive Work on Theosophy
By
William
Quan Judge
CHAPTER 5
Body and Astral Body
The body, as
a mass of flesh, bones, muscles, nerves, brain matter, bile, mucous, blood, and
skin is an object of exclusive care for too many people, who make it their god
because they have come to identify themselves with it, meaning it only when
they say "I." Left to itself it is devoid of sense, and acts in
such a case
solely by reflex and automatic action. This we see in sleep, for then the body
assumes attitudes and makes motions which the waking man does not permit. It is
like mother earth in that it is made up of an infinitesimal number of
"lives." Each of these lives is a sensitive point. Not only are there
microbes, bacilli, and bacteria, but these are composed of others, and those
others of still more minute lives. These lives are not the cells of the body,
but make up the cells, keeping ever within the limits assigned by evolution to
the cell.
They are
forever whirling and moving together throughout the whole body, being in
certain apparently void spaces as well as where flesh, membrane, bones, and
blood are seen. They extend, too, beyond the actual outer limits of the body to
a measurable distance.
One of the
mysteries of physical life is hidden among these "lives." Their
action, forced forward by the Life energy -- called Prana or Jiva -- will
explain active existence and physical death. They are divided into two classes,
one the destroyers, the other the preservers, and these two war upon each other
from birth until the destroyers win. In this struggle the Life Energy itself
ends the contest because it is life that kills. This may seem heterodox, but in
Theosophical philosophy it is held to be the fact. For, it is said, the infant
lives because the combination of healthy organs is able to absorb the life all
around it in space, and is put to sleep each day by the overpowering strength
of the stream of life, since the preservers among the cells of the youthful
body are not yet mastered by the other class.
These
processes of going to sleep and waking again are simply and solely the restoring
of the equilibrium in sleep and the action produced by disturbing it when
awake. It may be compared with the arc-electric light wherein the brilliant arc
of light at the point of resistance is the symbol of the waking active man. So
in sleep we are again absorbing and not resisting the Life Energy; when we wake
we are throwing it off. But as it exists around us like an ocean in which we
swim, our power to throw it off is necessarily limited. Just when we wake we
are in equilibrium as to our organs and life; when we fall asleep we are yet
more full of life than in the morning; it has exhausted us; it finally kills
the body. Such a contest could not be waged forever, since the whole solar
system's weight of life is pitted against the power to resist focussed in one
small human frame.
The body is
considered by the Masters of Wisdom to be the most transitory, impermanent, and
illusionary of the whole series of constituents in man. Not for a moment is it
the same. Ever changing, in motion in every part, it is in fact never complete
or finished though tangible. The ancients clearly perceived this, for they
elaborated a doctrine called Naimittika [the correct Sanskrit term is Nitya]
Pralaya, or the continual change in material things, the continual destruction.
This is known
now to science in the doctrine that the body undergoes a complete alteration
and renovation every seven years. At the end of the first seven years it is not
the same body it was in the beginning. At the end of our days it has changed
seven times, perhaps more. And yet it presents the same general appearance from
maturity until death; and it is a human form from birth to maturity. This is a
mystery science explains not; it is a question pertaining to the cell and to
the means whereby the general human shape is preserved.
The
"cell" is an illusion. It is merely a word. It has no existence as a
material thing, for any cell is composed of other cells. What, then, is a cell?
It is the ideal form within which the actual physical atoms -- made up of the
"lives" -- arrange themselves. As it is admitted that the physical
molecules are forever rushing away from the body, they must be leaving the
cells each moment.
Hence there
is no physical cell, but the privative limits of one, the ideal walls and
general shape. The molecules assume position within the ideal shape according
to the laws of nature, and leave it again almost at once to give place to other
atoms. And as it is thus with the body, so is it with the earth and with the
solar system. Thus also is it, though in slower measure, with all material
objects. They are all in constant motion and change. This is modern and also
ancient wisdom. This is the physical explanation of clairvoyance,
clairaudience, telepathy, and mind-reading. It helps to show us what a deluding
and unsatisfactory thing our body is.
Although,
strictly speaking, the second constituent of man is the Astral Body -- called
in Sanskrit Linga Sarira -- we will consider Life Energy -- or Prana and Jiva
in Sanskrit -- together, because to our observation the phenomenon of life is
more plainly exhibited in connection with the body.
Life is not
the result of the operation of the organs, nor is it gone when the body
dissolves. It is a universally pervasive principle. It is the ocean in which
the earth floats; it permeates the globe and every being and object on it. It
works unceasingly on and around us, pulsating against and through us forever.
When we
occupy a body we merely use a more specialized instrument than any other for
dealing with both Prana and Jiva. Strictly speaking, Prana is breath; and as
breath is necessary for continuance of life in the human machine, that is the
better word. Jiva means "life," and also is applied to the living
soul, for the life in general is derived from the Supreme Life itself. Jiva is
therefore capable of general application, whereas Prana is more particular.
It cannot be
said that one has a definite amount of this Life Energy which will fly back to
its source should the body be burned, but rather that it works with whatever be
the mass of matter in it. We, as it were, secrete or use it as we live. For
whether we
are alive or dead, life-energy is still there; in life among our organs
sustaining them, in death among the innumerable creatures that arise from our
destruction.
We can no
more do away with this life than we can erase the air in which the bird floats,
and like the air it fills all the spaces on the planet, so that nowhere can we
lose the benefit of it nor escape its final crushing power. But in working upon
the physical body this life -- Prana -- needs a vehicle, means, or guide, and
this vehicle is the astral body.
There are
many names for the Astral Body. Here are a few: Linga Sarira, Sanskrit, meaning
design body, and the best one of all; ethereal double; phantom; wraith;
apparition; doppelganger; personal man; perisprit; irrational soul; animal
soul; Bhuta; elementary; spook; devil; demon. Some of these apply only to the
astral body when devoid of the corpus after death. Bhuta, devil, and elementary
are nearly synonymous; the first Sanskrit, the other English.
With the
Hindus the Bhuta is the Astral Body when it is by death released from the body
and the mind; and being thus separated from conscience, is a devil in their estimation.
They are not far wrong, if we abolish the old notion that a devil is an angel
fallen from heaven, for this bodily devil is something which rises from
the earth.
It may be
objected that the term Astral Body is not the right one for this purpose. The
objection is one which arises from the nature and genesis of the English
language, for as that has grown up in a struggle with nature and among a
commercial people it has not as yet coined the words needed for designating the
great range
of faculties and organs of the unseen man. And as its philosophers have not
admitted the existence of these inner organs, the right terms do not exist in
the language. So in looking for words to describe the inner body the only ones
found in English were the "astral body." This term comes near to the
real fact,
since the substance of this form is derived from cosmic matter or star matter,
roughly speaking. But the old Sanskrit word describes it exactly -- Linga
Sarira, the design body -- because it is the design or model for the physical
body. This is better than "ethereal body," as the latter might be
said to be subsequent to the physical, whereas in fact the astral body precedes
the material one.
The astral body
is made of matter of very fine texture as compared with the visible body, and
has a great tensile strength, so that it changes but little during a lifetime,
while the physical alters every moment. And not only has it this immense
strength, but at the same time possesses an elasticity permitting
its extension
to a considerable distance. It is flexible, plastic, extensible, and strong.
The matter of
which it is composed is electrical and magnetic in its essence, and is just
what the whole world was composed of in the dim past when the processes of
evolution had not yet arrived at the point of producing the material body for
man. But it is not raw or crude matter. Having been through a vast period of
evolution and undergone purifying processes of an incalculable number, its
nature has been refined to a degree far beyond the gross physical elements we
see and touch with the physical eye and hand.
The astral
body is the guiding model for the physical one, and all the other kingdoms have
the same astral model. Vegetables, minerals, and animals have the ethereal
double, and this theory is the only one which will answer the question how it
is that the seed produces its own kind and all sentient beings bring forth
their like. Biologists can only say that the facts are as we know them, but can
give no reason why the acorn will never grow anything but an oak except that no
man ever knew it to be otherwise. But in the old schools of the past the true
doctrine was known, and it has been once again brought out in the West
through the
efforts of H. P. Blavatsky and those who have found inspiration in her works.
This doctrine
is, that in early times of the evolution of this globe the various kingdoms of
nature are outlined in plan or ideal form first, and then the astral matter
begins to work on this plan with the aid of the Life principle, until after
long ages the astral human form is evolved and perfected.
This is,
then, the first form that the human race had, and corresponds in a way with the
allegory of man's state in the garden of Eden. After another long period,
during which the cycle of further descent into matter is rolling forward, the
astral
form at last
clothes itself with a "coat of skin," and the present physical form
is on the scene.
This is the explanation
of the verse of the book of Genesis
which
describes the giving of coats of skin to Adam and Eve. It is the final fall
into matter, for from that point on the man within strives to raise the whole
mass of physical substance up to a higher level, and to inform it all with a
larger measure of spiritual influence, so that it may be ready to go still
further on
during the next great period of evolution after the present one is ended. So at
the present time the model for the growing child in the womb is the astral body
already perfect in shape before the child is born.
It is on this
the molecules arrange themselves until the child is complete, and the presence
of the ethereal design-body will explain how the form grows into shape, how the
eyes push themselves out from within to the surface of the face, and many other
mysterious matters in embryology which are passed over by medical men with a
description but with no explanation. This will also explain, as nothing else
can, the cases of marking of the child in the womb sometimes denied by
physicians but well-known by those who care to watch, to be a fact of frequent
occurrence.
The growing
physical form is subject to the astral model; it is connected with the
imagination of the mother by physical and psychical organs; the mother makes a
strong picture from horror, fear, or otherwise, and the astral model is then
similarly affected. In the case of marking by being born legless, the ideas and
strong imagination of the mother act so as to cut off or shrivel up the astral
leg, and the result is that the molecules, having no model of leg to work on,
make no physical leg whatever; and similarly in all such cases. But where we
find a man who still feels the leg which the surgeon has cut off, or perceives
the fingers that were amputated, then the astral member has not been interfered
with, and hence the man feels as if it were still on his person. For knife or
acid will not injure the astral model, but in the first stages of its growth
ideas and imagination have the power of acid and sharpened steel.
In the
ordinary man who has not been trained in practical occultism or who has not the
faculty by birth, the astral body cannot go more than a few feet from the
physical one. It is a part of that physical, it sustains it and is incorporated
in it just as the fibres of the mango are all through that fruit.
But there are
those who, by reason of practices pursued in former lives on the earth, have a
power born with them of unconsciously sending out the astral body.
These are
mediums, some seers, and many hysterical, cataleptic, and scrofulous people.
Those who have trained themselves by a long course of excessively hard
discipline which reaches to the moral and mental nature and quite beyond the
power of the average man of the day, can use the astral form at will, for they
have gotten
completely over the delusion that the physical body is a permanent part of
them, and, besides, they have learned the chemical and electrical laws
governing in this matter. In their case they act with knowledge and
consciously; in the other cases the act is done without power to prevent it, or
to bring it
about at
will, or to avoid the risks attendant on such use of potencies in nature of a
high character.
The astral body
has in it the real organs of the outer sense organs. In it are the sight,
hearing, power to smell, and the sense of touch. It has a complete system of
nerves and arteries of its own for the conveyance of the astral fluid which is
to that body as our blood is to the physical. It is the real personal man.
There are located the subconscious perception and the latent memory, which the
hypnotizers of the day are dealing with and being baffled by.
So when the
body dies the astral man is released, and as at death the immortal man -- the
Triad -- flies away to another state, the astral becomes a shell of the once
living man and requires time to dissipate. It retains all the memories of the
life lived by the man, and thus reflexly and automatically can repeat what the
dead man
knew, said, thought, and saw. It remains near the deserted physical body nearly
all the time until that is completely dissipated, for it has to go through its
own process of dying. It may become visible under certain conditions. It is the
spook of the spiritualistic seance-rooms, and is there made to masquerade as
the real spirit of this or that individual.
Attracted by
the thoughts of the medium and the sitters, it vaguely flutters where they are,
and then is galvanized into a factitious life by a whole host of elemental
forces and by the active astral body of the medium who is holding the seance or
of any other medium in the audience. From it (as from a photograph) are then
reflected into the medium's brain all the boasted evidences which spiritualists
claim go to prove identity of deceased friend or relative.
These
evidences are accepted as proof that the spirit of the deceased is present,
because neither mediums nor sitters are acquainted with the laws governing
their own nature, nor with the constitution, power, and function of astral
matter and astral man.
The
Theosophical philosophy does not deny the facts proven in spiritualistic
seances, but it gives an explanation of them wholly opposed to that of the
spiritualists. And surely the utter absence of any logical scientific
explanation by these so-called spirits of the phenomena they are said to
produce supports the contention that they have no knowledge to impart. They can
merely cause certain phenomena; the examination of those and deductions
therefrom can only be properly carried on by a trained brain guided by a living
trinity of spirit, soul, and mind. And here another class of spiritualistic
phenomena requires brief notice. That is the appearance of what is called a
"materialized spirit."
Three
explanations are offered: First, that the astral body of the living medium
detaches itself from its corpus and assumes the appearance of the so-called
spirit; for one of the properties of the astral matter is capacity to reflect
an image existing unseen in ether. Second, the actual astral shell of the
deceased -- wholly devoid of his or her spirit and conscience -- becomes
visible and
tangible when
the condition of air and ether is such as to so alter the vibration of the
molecules of the astral shell that it may become visible. The phenomena of
density and apparent weight are explained by other laws. Third, an unseen mass
of electrical and magnetic matter is collected, and upon it is reflected out of
the astral light a picture of any desired person either dead or living. This is
taken to be the "spirit" of such persons, but it is not, and has been
justly called by H. P. Blavatsky a "psychological fraud," because it
pretends to be what it is not. And, strange to say, this very explanation of
materializations has been given by a "spirit" at a regular seance,
but has never been accepted by the spiritualists just because it upsets their
notion of the return of the spirits of deceased persons.
Finally, the
astral body will explain nearly all the strange psychical things happening in
daily life and in dealings with genuine mediums; it shows what an apparition
may be and the possibility of such being seen, and thus prevents the scientific
doubter from violating good sense by asserting you did not see what you know
you have seen; it removes superstition by showing the real nature of these
phenomena, and destroys the unreasonable fear of the unknown which makes a man
afraid to see a "ghost." By it also we can explain the apportation of
objects without
physical contact, for the astral hand may be extruded and made to take hold of
an object, drawing it in toward the body.
When this is
shown to be possible, then travelers will not be laughed at who tell of seeing
the Hindu yogi make coffee cups fly through the air and distant objects
approach apparently of their own accord untouched by him or anyone else.
All the
instances of clairvoyance and clairaudience are to be explained also by the
astral body and astral light. The astral -- which are the real -- organs do the
seeing and the hearing, and as all material objects are constantly in motion
among their own atoms the astral sight and hearing are not impeded, but work at
a distance as great as the extension of the astral light or matter around and
about the earth. Thus it was that the great seer Swedenborg saw houses burning
in the city of Stockholm when he was at another city many miles off, and by the
same means any clairvoyant of the day sees and hears at a distance.
______________________
THE
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The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
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The Result of Theosophical Study
The Occult World
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The Occult World is an treatise on the
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Preface to the American Edition Introduction
Occultism and its Adepts The Theosophical Society
First Occult Experiences Teachings of Occult Philosophy
Later Occult Phenomena Appendix
by
Annie Besant
THE PHYSICAL PLANE THE ASTRAL PLANE
KÂMALOKA THE MENTAL PLANE DEVACHAN
THE BUDDHIC AND NIRVANIC PLANES
THE THREE KINDS OF KARMA COLLECTIVE KARMA
THE LAW OF SACRIFICE MAN'S
ASCENT
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Camberley, Surrey,
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Concerns about the fate of the
wildlife as
Tekels Park is to
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Concerns are
raised about the fate of the
wildlife as The Spiritual Retreat,
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Camberley, Surrey,
England is to be
sold to a developer.
Tekels Park is a
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concern about the park,
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Confusion as the Theoversity moves out of
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Lancashire while the leadership claim
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Future
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A Satirical view
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What the men in
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__________________________
An
Outline of Theosophy
Charles
Webster Leadbeater
Theosophy - What it is How is it Known?
The Method of Observation General Principles
The Three Great Truths Advantage Gained from this Knowledge
The Deity
The Divine Scheme The Constitution of Man
The True Man
Reincarnation
The Wider Outlook
Death Man’s Past and Future Cause and Effect
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What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
Ascended Masters After Death States
The Seven Principles of Man Karma
Reincarnation Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
Society
History of the Theosophical
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Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical
Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the
Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical
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The Theosophical Order of
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Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
Index of
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H P Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine
Isis Unveiled by H P Blavatsky
H P Blavatsky’s Esoteric Glossary
Mahatma Letters to A P Sinnett 1 - 25
A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
(Selection of Articles by H P Blavatsky)
The Secret Doctrine – Volume 3
A compilation of H P Blavatsky’s
writings published after her death
Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy
Mystical,
Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical
and Scientific
Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Stow Mead
From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight”
Series of Articles
The In the
Twilight” series appeared during
1898 in The
Theosophical Review and
from 1909-1913
in The Theosophist.
compiled from
information supplied by
her relatives
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Letters and
Talks on Theosophy and the Theosophical Life
Obras
Teosoficas En Espanol
Theosophische
Schriften Auf Deutsch
An Outstanding Introduction
to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
Nature
is infinite in space and time -- boundless and eternal, unfathomable and ineffable.
The all-pervading essence of infinite nature can be called space,
consciousness, life, substance, force, energy, divinity -- all of which are
fundamentally one.
2) The
finite and the infinite
Nature
is a unity in diversity, one in essence, manifold in form. The infinite whole
is composed of an infinite number of finite wholes -- the relatively stable and
autonomous things (natural systems or artefacts) that we observe around us.
Every natural system is not only a conscious, living, substantial entity, but
is consciousness-life-substance, of a particular range of density and form.
Infinite nature is an abstraction, not an entity; it therefore does not act or
change and has no attributes. The finite, concrete systems of which it is
composed, on the other hand, move and change, act and interact, and possess
attributes. They are composite, inhomogeneous, and ultimately transient.
3)
Vibration/worlds within worlds
The
one essence manifests not only in infinitely varied forms, and on infinitely varied
scales, but also in infinitely varying degrees of spirituality and
substantiality, comprising an infinite spectrum of vibration or density. There
is therefore an endless series of interpenetrating, interacting worlds within
worlds, systems within systems.
The
energy-substances of higher planes or subplanes (a plane being a particular
range of vibration) are relatively more homogeneous and less differentiated
than those of lower planes or subplanes.
Just
as boundless space is comprised of endless finite units of space, so eternal
duration is comprised of endless finite units of time. Space is the infinite
totality of worlds within worlds, but appears predominantly empty because only
a tiny fraction of the energy-substances composing it are perceptible and
tangible to an entity at any particular moment. Time is a concept we use to
quantify the rate at which events occur; it is a function of
change
and motion, and presupposes a succession of cause and effect. Every entity is
extended in space and changes 'in time'.
All
change (of position, substance, or form) is the result of causes; there is no
such thing as absolute chance. Nothing can happen for no reason at all for
nothing exists in isolation; everything is part of an intricate web of causal
interconnections and interactions. The keynote of nature is harmony: every
action is automatically followed by an equal and opposite reaction, which
sooner or later rebounds upon the originator of the initial act. Thus, all our
thoughts and deeds will eventually bring us 'fortune' or 'misfortune' according
to the degree to which they were harmonious or disharmonious. In the long term,
perfect justice prevails in nature.
Because
nature is fundamentally one, and the same basic habits and structural,
geometric, and evolutionary principles apply throughout, there are
correspondences between microcosm and macrocosm. The principle of analogy -- as
above, so below -- is a vital tool in our efforts to understand reality.
All
finite systems and their attributes are relative. For any entity,
energy-substances vibrating within the same range of frequencies as its outer
body are 'physical' matter, and finer grades of substance are what we call energy,
force, thought, desire, mind, spirit, consciousness, but these are just as
material to entities on the corresponding planes as our physical world is to
us. Distance and time units are also relative: an atom is a solar system on its
own scale, reembodying perhaps millions of times in what for us is one second,
and our whole galaxy may be a molecule in some supercosmic entity, for which a
million of our years is just a second. The range of scale is infinite:
matter-consciousness is both infinitely divisible and infinitely aggregative.
All
natural systems consist of smaller systems and form part of larger systems.
Hierarchies extend both 'horizontally' (on the same plane) and 'vertically' or inwardly
(to higher and lower planes). On the horizontal level, subatomic particles form
atoms, which combine into molecules, which arrange themselves into cells, which
form tissues and organs, which form part of organisms, which form part of
ecosystems, which form part of planets, solar systems, galaxies, etc. The
constitution of worlds and of the organisms that inhabit them form 'vertical'
hierarchies, and can be divided into several interpenetrating layers or
elements, from physical-astral to psychomental to spiritual-divine, each of
which can be further divided.
The
human constitution can be divided up in several different ways: e.g. into a
trinity of body, soul, and spirit; or into 7 'principles' -- a lower quaternary
consisting of physical body, astral model-body, life-energy, and lower thoughts
and desires, and an upper triad consisting of higher mind (reincarnating ego),
spiritual intuition, and inner god. A planet or star can be regarded as a
'chain' of 12 globes, existing on 7 planes, each globe comprising several
subplanes.
The
highest part of every multilevelled organism or hierarchy is its spiritual
summit or 'absolute', meaning a collective entity or 'deity' which is
relatively perfected in relation to the hierarchy in question. But the most 'spiritual'
pole of one hierarchy is the most 'material' pole of the next, superior
hierarchy, just as the lowest pole of one hierarchy is the highest pole of the
one below.
Each
level of a hierarchical system exercises a formative and organizing influence
on the lower levels (through the patterns and prototypes stored up from past
cycles of activity), while the lower levels in turn react upon the higher. A
system is therefore formed and organized mainly from within outwards, from the
inner levels of its constitution, which are relatively more enduring and
developed than the outer levels. This inner guidance is sometimes active and
selfconscious, as in our acts of free will (constrained, however, by karmic
tendencies from the past), and sometimes it is automatic and passive, giving
rise to our own automatic bodily functions and habitual and instinctual
behavior, and to the orderly, lawlike operations of nature in general. The
'laws' of nature are therefore the habits of the various grades of conscious
entities that compose reality, ranging from higher intelligences (collectively forming the universal mind) to
elemental nature-forces.
10)
Consciousness and its vehicles
The
core of every entity -- whether atom, human, planet, or star -- is a monad, a
unit of consciousness-life-substance, which acts through a series of more
material vehicles or bodies. The monad or self in which the consciousness of a
particular organism is focused is animated by higher monads and expresses itself
through a series of lesser monads, each of which is the nucleus of one of the
lower vehicles of the entity in question. The following monads can be
distinguished: the divine or galactic monad, the spiritual or solar monad, the
higher human or planetary-chain monad, the lower human or globe monad, and the
animal, vital-astral, and physical monads. At our present stage of evolution,
we are essentially the lower human monad, and our task is to raise our
consciousness from the animal-human to the spiritual-human level of it.
Evolution
means the unfolding, the bringing into active manifestation, of latent powers and
faculties 'involved' in a previous cycle of evolution. It is the building of
ever fitter vehicles for the expression of the mental and spiritual powers of
the monad. The more sophisticated the lower vehicles of an entity, the greater
their ability to express the powers locked up in the higher levels of its
constitution. Thus all things are alive and conscious, but the degree of
manifest life and consciousness is extremely varied.
Evolution
results from the interplay of inner impulses and environmental stimuli. Ever
building on and modifying the patterns of the past, nature is infinitely
creative.
12) Cyclic evolution/re-embodiment
Cyclic
evolution is a fundamental habit of nature. A period of evolutionary activity
is followed by a period of rest. All natural systems evolve through
re-embodiment. Entities are born from a seed or nucleus remaining from the
previous evolutionary cycle of the monad, develop to maturity, grow old, and
pass away, only to re-embody in a new form after a period of rest. Each new
embodiment is the product of past karma and present choices.
Nothing
comes from nothing: matter and energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but
only transformed. Everything evolves from preexisting material. The growth of
the body of an organism is initiated on inner planes, and involves the
transformation of higher energy-substances into lower, more material ones,
together with the attraction of matter from the environment.
When
an organism has exhausted the store of vital energy with which it is born, the
coordinating force of the indwelling monad is withdrawn, and the organism 'dies',
i.e. falls apart as a unit, and its constituent components go their separate
ways. The lower vehicles decompose on their respective subplanes, while, in the
case of humans, the reincarnating ego enters a dreamlike state of rest and
assimilates the experiences of the previous incarnation. When the time comes
for the next embodiment, the reincarnating ego clothes itself in many of the
same atoms of different grades that it had used previously, bearing the
appropriate karmic impress. The same basic processes of birth, death,
and rebirth apply to all entities, from atoms to humans to stars.
14) Evolution and
involution of worlds
Worlds
or spheres, such as planets and stars, are composed of, and provide the field
for the evolution of, 10 kingdoms -- 3 elemental kingdoms, mineral, plant,
animal, and human kingdoms, and 3 spiritual kingdoms. The impulse for a new
manifestation of a world issues from its spiritual summit or hierarch, from
which emanate a series of steadily denser globes or planes; the One expands
into the many. During the first half of the evolutionary cycle (the arc of
descent) the energy-substances of each plane materialize or condense, while
during the second half (the arc of ascent) the trend is towards
dematerialization or etherealization, as globes and entities are reabsorbed
into the spiritual hierarch for a period of nirvanic rest. The descending arc
is characterized by the evolution of matter and involution of spirit, while the
ascending arc is characterized by the evolution of spirit and involution of
matter.
In
each grand cycle of evolution, comprising many planetary embodiments, a monad
begins as an unselfconsciousness god-spark, embodies in every kingdom of nature
for the purpose of gaining experience and unfolding its inherent faculties, and
ends the cycle as a self conscious god. Elementals ('baby monads') have no free
choice, but automatically act in harmony with one another and the rest of
nature. In each successive kingdom differentiation and individuality increase,
and reach their peak in the human kingdom with the attainment of
selfconsciousness and a large measure of free will.
In
the human kingdom in particular, self-directed evolution comes into its own. There
is no superior power granting privileges or handing out favours; we evolve
according to our karmic merits and demerits. As we progress through the
spiritual kingdoms we become increasingly at one again with nature, and
willingly 'sacrifice' our circumscribed selfconscious freedoms (especially the
freedom to 'do our own thing') in order to work in peace and harmony with the
greater whole of which we form an integral part. The highest gods of one
hierarchy or world-system begin as elementals in the next. The matter of any
plane is composed of aggregated, crystallized monads in their nirvanic sleep,
and the spiritual and divine entities embodied as planets and stars are the
electrons and atomic nuclei -- the material building blocks -- of worlds on
even larger scales. Evolution is without beginning and without end, an endless
adventure through the fields of infinitude, in which there are always new
worlds of experience in which to become selfconscious masters of life.
There
is no absolute separateness in nature. All things are made of the same essence,
have the same spiritual-divine potential, and are interlinked by magnetic ties
of sympathy. It is impossible to realize our full potential, unless we
recognize the spiritual unity of all living beings and make universal
brotherhood the keynote of our lives.
Hey Look! Theosophy in Cardiff
Guide to the
Theosophy
Wales King Arthur Pages
Arthur draws
the Sword from the Stone
The Knights of The Round Table
The Roman Amphitheatre at Caerleon,
Eamont Bridge, Nr Penrith, Cumbria, England.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
(History of the Kings of Britain)
The reliabilty of this work has long been a subject of
debate but it is the first definitive account of Arthur’s
Reign
and one which puts Arthur in a historcal context.
and his version’s political agenda
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth
The first written mention of Arthur as a heroic figure
The British leader who fought twelve battles
King Arthur’s ninth victory at
The Battle of the City of the Legion
King Arthur ambushes an advancing Saxon
army then defeats them at Liddington Castle,
Badbury, Near Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
King Arthur’s twelfth and last victory against the Saxons
Traditionally Arthur’s last battle in which he was
mortally wounded although his side went on to win
No contemporary writings or accounts of his life
but he is placed 50 to 100 years after the accepted
King Arthur period. He refers to Arthur in his inspiring
poems but the earliest written record of these dates
from over three hundred years after Taliesin’s death.
Pendragon Castle
Mallerstang Valley, Nr Kirkby Stephen,
A 12th Century Norman ruin on the site of what is
reputed to have been a stronghold of Uther Pendragon
From wise child with no
earthly father to
Megastar of Arthurian
Legend
History of the Kings of Britain
Drawn from the Stone or received from the Lady of the Lake.
Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur has both versions
with both swords called Excalibur. Other versions
5th & 6th Century Timeline of Britain
From the departure of the Romans from
Britain to the establishment of sizeable
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
Glossary of
Arthur’s uncle:- The puppet ruler of the Britons
controlled and eventually killed by Vortigern
Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. Circa 450CE
An alleged massacre of Celtic Nobility by the Saxons
History of the Kings of Britain
Athrwys / Arthrwys
King of Ergyng
Circa 618 - 655 CE
Latin: Artorius; English: Arthur
A warrior King born in Gwent and associated with
Caerleon, a possible Camelot. Although over 100 years
later that the accepted Arthur period, the exploits of
Athrwys may have contributed to the King Arthur Legend.
He became King of Ergyng, a kingdom between
Gwent and Brycheiniog (Brecon)
Angles under Ida seized the Celtic Kingdom of
Bernaccia in North East England in 547 CE forcing
Although much later than the accepted King Arthur
period, the events of Morgan Bulc’s 50 year campaign
to regain his kingdom may have contributed to
Old Welsh: Guorthigirn;
Anglo-Saxon: Wyrtgeorn;
Breton: Gurthiern; Modern Welsh; Gwrtheyrn;
*********************************
An earlier ruler than King Arthur and not a heroic figure.
He is credited with policies that weakened Celtic Britain
to a point from which it never recovered.
Although there are no contemporary accounts of
his rule, there is more written evidence for his
existence than of King Arthur.
How Sir Lancelot slew two giants,
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
How Sir Lancelot rode disguised
in Sir Kay's harness, and how he
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
How Sir Lancelot jousted against
four knights of the Round Table,
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
Try
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Group or Centre
UK Listing of Theosophical Groups
Cardiff
Theosophical Society in Wales
Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24 – 1DL
_____________________________
Cardiff
Picture Gallery
Cardiff Millennium Stadium
The Hayes Cafe
Outside
Cardiff Castle Circa 1890
Church Street
Cardiff
View
Royal
The Original Norman Castle which stands inside
the Grounds of the later
Inside the Grounds at
Cardiff Street Entertainment
Cardiff Indoor Market
Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales