The All
Getting Started in
Theosophy
(And it’s all Free Stuff )
But you don’t have to live in Wales
to
find this guide useful
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
1831 – 1891
____________________
The Constitution of Man
From
A Textbook of Theosophy
By
C
Man is
therefore in essence a Spark of the divine Fire, belonging to the monadic world.
(The President has now decided upon a set of names for the planes, so for the
future these will be used instead of those previously employed. A table of them
is given below for reference) To that Spark, dwelling
all the time in that world, we give the name “Monad”. For the purpose of human
evolution Monad manifests itself in lower worlds. When it descends one stage
and enters the spiritual world, it shows itself there as the triple Spirit,
having itself three aspects (just as in worlds infinitely higher the Deity has
His three Aspects.) Of those three - one remains always in that world, and we
call that the Spirit in man. The second aspect manifests itself in the
intuitional world, and we speak of it as the Intuition in man. The third shows
itself in the higher mental world, and we call it the Intelligence in man.
These three aspects taken together constitute the ego which ensouls
the fragment from the group-soul.
Thus man
as we know him
New Names & Old Names
1 Divine World Âdi
Plane
2 Monadic World Anupâdaka
3 Spiritual World Âtmic
or Nirvânic Plane
4 Intuitional World
Buddhic Plane
5 Mental World Mental Plane
6 Emotional or Astral World
Astral Plane
7 Physical World Physical Plane
reality a Monad residing in the monadic world, shows
himself as an ego in the higher mental world, manifesting these three aspects
of himself (Spirit, Intuition and Intelligence) through that vehicle of higher
mental matter which we name the casual body.
This ego
is the man during the human stage of evolution; he is the nearest
correspondence, in fact, to the ordinary unscientific conception of the soul.
He lives unchanged (except for his growth) from the moment of individualization
until humanity is transcended and merged into divinity. He is in no way
affected by what we call birth and death; what we commonly consider as his life
is only a day in his life. The body which we can see, the body which is born
and dies, is a garment which he puts on for the purposes of a certain part of
his evolution.
Nor is it
the only body which he assumes. Before he, the ego in the higher mental world,
can take a vehicle belonging to the physical world, he must make a connection with
it through the lower mental and astral worlds. When he wishes to descend he
draws around himself a veil of the matter of the lower mental world, which we
call his mental body. This is the instrument by means of which he thinks all
his concrete thoughts – abstract thought being a power of the ego himself in
the higher mental world.
Next he
draws round himself a veil of astral matter, which we call his astral body; and
that is the instrument of his passions and emotions, and also (in conjunction
with the lower part of his mental body) the instrument of all such thought as
is tinged by selfishness and personal feeling. Only after having assumed these
intermediate vehicles can he come into touch with a baby physical body, and be
born into the world which we know. He lives through what we call his life,
gaining certain qualities as the result of its experiences; and at its end,
when the physical body is worn out, he reverses the process of descent and lays
aside one by one the temporary vehicles which he has assumed.
The first
to go is the physical body, and when that is dropped, his life is centered in
the astral world and he lives in his astral body.
The length
of his stay in that world depends upon the amount of passion and emotion which
he has developed within himself in his physical life. If there is much of these
the astral body is strongly vitalized, and will persist for a long time; if
there is but little, the astral body has less vitality, and he will soon be
able to cast that vehicle aside in turn.
When that
is done he finds himself living in his mental body. The strength of that
depends upon the nature of the thoughts to which he had habituated himself, and
usually his stay at this level is a long one. At last it comes to an end, he casts aside the mental body in turn, and is once
more the ego in his own world.
Owing to
lack of development, he is as yet but partially conscious in that world; the
vibrations of its matter are too rapid to make any impression upon him, just as
the ultraviolet rays are too rapid to make any impression upon our eyes. After
a rest there, he feels the desire to descend to a level where the undulations
are perceptible to him, in order that he may feel himself to be fully alive; so
he repeats the process of descent into denser matter, and assumes once more a
mental, an astral and a physical body. As his previous bodies have all
disintegrated, each in its turn, these new vehicles are entirely distinct from
them, and thus it happens that in his physical life he has no recollection
whatever of other similar lives which have preceded it.
When
functioning in this physical world he remembers by means of his mental body;
but since that is a new one, assumed only for this birth, it naturally cannot
contain the memory of previous births in which it had no part. The man himself,
the ego, does remember them all when in his own world, and occasionally some
partial recollection of them or influence from them filters through into his
lower vehicles. He does not usually, in his physical life, remember the
experiences of earlier lives, but he does manifest in physical life the
qualities which those experiences have developed in him. Each man is therefore
exactly what he has made himself during those past lives; if he has in them
developed good qualities in himself, he possesses the good qualities now; if he
neglected to train himself, and consequently left himself weak and of evil
disposition, he finds himself precisely in that condition now. The qualities,
good or evil, with which he is born are those which he
has made for himself.
This
development of the ego is the object of the whole process of materialization; he assumes those
veils of matter precisely because through them he is able to receive vibrations
to which he can respond, so that his latent faculties may thereby be unfolded.
Though man
descends from on high into these lower worlds, it is only through that descent
that a full cognizance of the higher worlds is developed in him. Full
consciousness in any given world involves the power to perceive and respond to
all the undulations of that world; therefore the ordinary man has not yet
perfect consciousness at any level – not even in this physical world which he
thinks he knows. It is possible for him to unfold his percipience in all these worlds, and it is by means of such developed consciousness
that we observe all these facts which I am now describing.
The causal
body is the permanent vehicle of the ego in the higher mental world. It
consists of matter of the first, second and third subdivisions of that world.
In ordinary people it is not yet fully active, only that matter which belongs
to the third subdivision being vivified. As the ego
unfolds his latent possibilities through the long course of his evolution, the
higher matter is gradually brought into action, but it is only in the perfected
man whom we call the Adept that it is developed to its fullest extent. Such
matter can be discerned by clairvoyant sight, but only by a seer who knows how
to use the sight of the ego.
It is difficult
to describe a causal body fully, because the senses belonging to its world are
altogether different from and higher than ours at this level. Such memory of
the appearance of a causal body as it is possible for a clairvoyant to bring
into his physical brain represents it as ovoid, and as surrounding the physical
body of the man, extending to a distance of about eighteen inches from the
normal surface of that body. In the case of primitive man it resembles a
bubble, and gives the impression of being empty. It is in reality filled with
higher mental matter, but as this is not yet brought into activity it remains
colorless and transparent. As advancement continues it is gradually stirred
into alertness by vibrations which reach it from the lower bodies. This comes
but slowly, because the activities of man in the earlier stages of his
evolution are not of a character to obtain expression in matter so fine as that
of the higher mental body; but when a man reaches the stage where he is capable
either of abstract thought or of unselfish emotion the matter of the causal
body is aroused into response.
When these
rates of undulation are awakened within him they show themselves in his causal
body as colors, so that instead of being a mere transparent bubble it gradually
becomes a sphere filled with matter of the most lovely and delicate
hues – an object beautiful beyond all conception.
It is found by experience that these colors are significant. The vibration
which denotes the power of unselfish affection shows itself as a pale
rose-color; that which indicates high intellectual power is yellow; that which
expresses sympathy is green, while blue betokens devotional feeling, and a
luminous lilac-blue typifies the higher spirituality. The same scheme of color
significance applies to the bodies which are built of denser matter, but as we
approach the physical world the hues are in every case by comparison grosser –
not only less delicate but also less living.
In the
course of evolution in the lower worlds man often introduces into his vehicles
qualities which are undesirable and entirely inappropriate for his life as an
ego – such, for example, as pride, irritability, sensuality. These, like the
rest, are reducible to vibrations, but they are in all cases vibrations of the
lower subdivisions of their respective worlds, and therefore they cannot
reproduce themselves in the casual body, which is built exclusively of the
matter of the three higher subdivisions of its world. For each section of the
astral body acts strongly upon the corresponding section of the mental body,
but only upon the corresponding section; it cannot influence any other part. So
the casual body can be affected only by the three higher portions of the astral body; and the
oscillations of those represent only good qualities.
The
practical effect of this is that the man can build into the ego (that is, into
his true self) nothing but good qualities; the evil qualities which he develops
are in their nature transitory and must be thrown aside as he advances, because
he has no longer within him matter which can express them. The difference
between the causal bodies of the savage and the saint is that the first is
empty and colorless, while the second is full of brilliant coruscating tints.
As the man passes beyond even sainthood and becomes a great spiritual power,
his causal body increases in size, because it has so much more to express, and
it also begins to pour out from itself in all directions powerful rays of
living light. In one who has attained Adeptship this
body is of enormous dimensions.
The mental
body is built of matter of the four lower subdivisions of the mental world, and
expresses the concrete thoughts of the man. Here also we find the same color scheme
as in the casual body. The hues are somewhat less delicate, and we notice one
or two additions. For example, a thought of pride shows itself as orange, while
irritability is manifested by a brilliant scarlet.
We may see
here sometimes the bright brown of avarice, the grey-brown of selfishness, and
grey-green of deceit. Here also we perceive the possibility of a mixture of
colors; the affection, the intellect, the devotion may be tinged by
selfishness, and in that case their distinctive colors are mingled with the
brown of selfishness, and so we have an impure and muddy appearance. Although
its particles are always in intensely rapid motion among themselves,
this body has at the same time a kind of loose organization.
The size
and shape of the mental body are determined by those of the causal vehicle.
There are in it certain striations which divide it more or less irregularly
into segments, each of these corresponding to a certain department of the
physical brain, so that every type of thought should function through its duly
assigned portion. The mental body is as yet so imperfectly developed in
ordinary men that there are many in whom a great number of special departments
are not yet in activity, and any attempt at thought belonging to those departments
has to travel round through some inappropriate channel which happens to be
fully open. The result is that thought on those subjects is for those people
clumsy and uncomprehending. This is why some people have a head for mathematics
and others are unable to add correctly – why some people instinctively
understand, appreciate and enjoy music, while others do not know one tune from
another.
All the
matter of the mental body should be circulating freely, but sometimes a man
allows his thought upon
a certain subject to set and solidify, and then the circulation
is impeded, and there is congestion which presently hardens into a kind of wart
on the mental body. Such a wart appears to us down here as a prejudice; and
until it is absorbed and free circulation restored, it is impossible for man to
think truly or to see clearly with regard to that particular department of his
mind, as the congestion checks the free passage of undulations both outward and
inward.
When a man
uses any part of his mental body it not only vibrates for the time more
rapidly, but it also temporarily swells out and increases in size. If there is
prolonged thought upon a subject this increase becomes permanent, and it is
thus open to any man to increase the size of his mental body either along
desirable or undesirable lines.
Good
thoughts produce vibrations of the finer matter of the body, which by its
specific gravity tends to float in the upper part of the ovoid; whereas bad
thoughts, such as selfishness and avarice, are always oscillations of the
grosser matter, which tends to gravitate towards the lower part of the ovoid.
Consequently
the ordinary man, who yields himself not infrequently to selfish thoughts to
various kinds, usually expands the lower part of his mental body, and presents
roughly the appearance of an egg with its larger end downwards. The man who has
repressed those lower thoughts, and devoted himself
to higher ones, tends to expand the upper part
of his mental body and therefore presents the appearance of an egg standing on
its smaller end. From a study of the colors and striations of a man’s mental
body the clairvoyant can perceive his character and the progress he has made in
his present life. From similar features of the causal body he can see what
progress the ego has made since its original formation, when the man left the
animal kingdom.
When a man
thinks of any concrete object – a book, a house, a landscape – he builds a tiny
image of the object in the matter of his mental body. This image floats in the
upper part of that body, usually in front of the face of the man and at about
the level of the eyes. It remains there as long as the man is
contemplating the object, and usually for a little time afterwards, the
length of time depending upon the intensity and the clearness of the thought.
This form is quite objective, and can be seen by another person, if that other
has developed the sight of his own mental body. If a man thinks of another, he
creates a tiny portrait in just the same way. If his
thought is merely contemplative and involves no feeling (such as affection or
dislike) or desires (such as a wish to see the person) the thought does not
usually perceptibly affect the man of whom he thinks.
If coupled
with the thought of the person there is a feeling, as for example of affection,
another phenomenon occurs besides the forming of the image. The thought of
affection takes a definite form, which it builds out of the matter of the
thinker’s mental body. Because of the emotion involved, it draws round it also matter
of his astral body, and thus we have an astro-mental
form which leaps out of the body in which it has been generated, and moves
through space towards the object of the feeling of affection. If the thought is
sufficiently strong, distance makes absolutely no difference to it; but the
thought of an ordinary person is usually weak and diffused, and is therefore
not effective outside a limited area.
When this
thought-form reaches its object it discharges itself into his astral and mental
bodies, communicating to them its own rate of vibration. Putting this in
another way, a thought of love sent from one person to another involves the
actual transference of a certain amount both of force and of matter from the
sender to the recipient, and its effect upon the recipient is to arouse the
feeling of affection in him, and slightly but permanently to increase his power
of loving. But such a thought also strengthens the power of affection in the
thinker, and therefore it does good simultaneously to both.
Every thought
builds a form; if the thought be directed to another person it travels to him;
if it be distinctly selfish it remains in the immediate neighbourhood
of the thinker; if it belongs to neither of these categories it floats for
awhile in space and then slowly disintegrates.
Every man
therefore is leaving behind him wherever he goes a trail of thought-forms; as
we go along the street we are walking all the same amidst a sea of other men’s
thoughts. If a man leaves his mind blank for a time, these residual thoughts of
others drifts through it, making in most cases but little impression upon him.
Sometimes
one arrives which attracts his attention, so that his mind seizes upon it and
makes it its own, strengthens it by the addition of its force, and then casts
it out again to affect somebody else. A man, therefore, is not responsible for
a thought which floats into his mind, because it may be not his, but someone
else’s, but he is responsible if he takes it up, dwells upon it and then sends
it out strengthened.
Self-centered
thought of any kind hangs about the thinker, and most men surround their mental
bodies with a shell of such thoughts. Such a shell obscures the mental vision
and facilitates the formation of prejudice.
Each thought-form
is a temporary entity. It resembles a charged battery, awaiting an opportunity
to discharge itself. Its tendency is always to reproduce its own rate of
vibration in the mental body upon which it fastens itself, and so to arouse in
it a like thought. If the person at whom it is aimed happens to be busy, or
already engaged in some definite train of thought, the particles of his mental
body are already swinging at a certain determinate rate, and cannot for the
moment be affected from without. In that case the thought-form bides its time,
hanging about its object until he is sufficiently at rest to permit its
entrance; then it discharges itself upon him, and in the act ceases to exist.
The
self-centered thought behaves in exactly the same way with regard to its
generator, and discharges itself upon him when opportunity offers. If it be an
evil thought he generally regards it as the suggestion of a tempting demon,
whereas in truth he tempts himself. Usually each definite thought creates a new
thought-form; but if a thought-form of the same nature is already hovering
round the thinker, under certain circumstances a new thought on the same
subject, instead of creating a new form, coalesces with and strengthens the old
one, so that by long brooding over the same subject a man may sometimes create
a thought-form of tremendous power. If the thought be a wicked one, such a
thought-form may become a veritable evil influence, lasting perhaps for many
years, and having for a time all the appearance and powers of a real living
entity.
All these
which have been described are the ordinary unpremeditated thoughts of
man. A man can make a thought-form intentionally,
and aim it at another with the
object of helping him. This is one of the lines of
activity adopted by those who desire to serve humanity. A steady stream of
powerful thought directed intelligently upon another person may be of the
greatest assistance to him. A strong thought-form may be a real guardian angel,
and protect its object from impurity, from irritability or from fear.
An
interesting branch of the subject is the study of the various shapes and colors
taken by thought-forms of different kinds. The colors indicate the nature of
the thought, and are in agreement with those which we have already described as
existing in the bodies. The shapes are of infinite variety, but are often in
some way typical of the kind of thought which they express.
Every
thought of definite character, such as a thought of affection or hatred, of
devotion or suspicion, of anger or fear, of pride or jealousy, not only creates
a form but also radiates an undulation. The fact that each one of these
thoughts is expressed by a certain color indicates that the thought expresses
itself as an oscillation of the matter of a certain part of the mental body.
This rate of oscillation communicates itself to the surrounding mental matter
precisely in the same way as the vibration of a bell communicates itself to the
surrounding air.
This
radiation travels out in all directions, and whenever it impinges upon another
mental body in a passive or receptive condition it communicates to it something
of its own vibration. This does not convey a definite complete idea, as does
the thought-form, but it tends to produce a thought of the same character as
itself. For example, if the thought be devotional its undulations will excite
devotion, but the object of worship may be different in the case of each person
upon whose mental body they impinge. The thought-form, on the other hand, can
reach only one person, but will convey to that person (if receptive) not only a
general devotional feeling, but also a precise image of the Being for whom the
adoration was originally felt.
Any person
who habitually thinks pure, good and strong thoughts is utilizing for that
purpose the higher part of his mental body – a part which is not used at all by
the ordinary man, and is entirely undeveloped in him. Such an
one is therefore a power for good in the world, and is being of great use to
all those of his neighbours who are capable of any
sort of response. For the vibration which he sends out tends
to arouse a new and higher part of their mental bodies, and consequently to
open before them altogether new fields of thought.
It may not
be exactly the same thought as that sent out, but it is of the same nature. The
undulations generated by a man thinking of Theosophy do not necessarily
communicate theosophical ideas to all those around him; but they do awaken in
them more liberal and higher thought than that to which they have before been
accustomed. On the other hand, the thought-forms generated under such
circumstances, though more limited in their action than the radiation, are also
more precise; they can affect only those who are to some extent open to them,
but to them they will convey definite Theosophical ideas.
The colors
of the astral body bear the same meaning as those of the higher vehicles, but
are several octaves of color below them, and much more nearly approaching to
such hues as we see in the physical world. It is the vehicle of passion and
emotion and consequently it may exhibit additional colors, expressing man’s
less desirable feelings, which cannot show themselves at higher levels; for
example, a lurid brownish red indicates the presence of sensuality, while black
clouds show malice and hatred. A curious livid grey betokens the presence of
fear, and a much darker grey, usually arranged in heavy rings around the ovoid,
indicates a condition of depression. Irritability is shown by the presence of a
number of small scarlet flecks in the astral body, each representing a small
angry impulse. Jealousy is shown by a peculiar brownish-green, generally
studded with the same scarlet flecks. The astral body is in size and shape like
those just described, and in the ordinary man its outline is usually clearly
marked; but in the case of primitive man it is often exceedingly irregular, and
resembles a rolling cloud composed of all the more unpleasant colors.
When the
astral body is comparatively quiet (it is never actually at rest) the colors
which are to be seen in it indicate those emotions to which the man is most in
the habit of yielding himself. When the man experiences a rush of any
particular feeling, the rate of vibration which expresses that feeling dominates
for a time the entire astral body. If, for example, it be devotion, the whole
of his astral body is flushed with blue, and while the emotion remains at its
strongest the normal colors do little more than modify the blue, or appear
faintly through a veil of it; but presently the vehemence of the sentiment dies
away, and the normal colors reassert themselves. But because of that spasm of
emotion the part of the astral body which is normally blue has been increased
in size. Thus a man who frequently feels high devotion soon comes to have a
large area of blue permanently existing in his astral body.
When the
rush of devotional feeling comes over him it is usually accompanied by thoughts
of devotion. Although primarily formed in the mental body, these draw round
themselves a large amount of astral matter as well, so that their action is in
both worlds. In both worlds also is the radiation which was previously
described, so that devotional man is a center of devotion, and will influence
other people to share both his thoughts and his feelings. The same is true in
the case of affection, anger, depression – and, indeed, of all other feelings.
The flood
of emotion does not itself greatly affect the mental body, although for a time
it may render it almost impossible for any activity from that mental body to
come through into the physical brain. That is not because that body itself is
affected, but because the astral body, which acts as a bridge between it and
the physical brain, is vibrating so entirely at one rate as to be incapable of
conveying any undulation which is not in harmony with that.
The
permanent colors of the astral body reacts upon the
mental. They produce in it their correspondences, several octaves higher, in
the same manner as a musical note produces overtones. The mental body in its
turn reacts upon the causal in the same way, and thus all the good qualities
expressed in the lower vehicles by degrees establish themselves permanently in
the ego. The evil qualities cannot do so, as the rates of vibration which
express them are impossible for the higher mental matter of which the causal
body is constructed.
So far, we
have described vehicles which are the expression of the ego in their respective
worlds – vehicles which he provides for himself; in the physical world we come
to a vehicle which is provided for him by nature under laws which will be
explained later – which , though also in some sense an
expression of him, is by no means a perfect manifestation. In ordinary life we
see only a
small part of this physical body – only that which
is built of the solid and liquid subdivisions of physical matter. The body
contains matter of all the seven subdivisions, and all of them play their part
in its life and are of equal importance to it.
We usually
speak of the invisible part of the physical body as the etheric double;
“double” because it exactly reproduces the size and shape of the part of the
body that we can see, and “etheric” because it is built of that finer kind of
matter by the vibrations of which light is conveyed to the retina of the eye.
(This must not be confused with the true aether of
space – that of which matter is the negation.) This invisible part of the
physical body is of great importance to us, since it is the vehicle through
which flow the streams of vitality which keeps the body alive, and without it,
as a bridge to convey undulations of thought and feeling from the astral to the
visible denser physical matter, the ego could make no use of the cells of his
brain.
The life
of a physical body is one of perpetual change and in order that it shall live,
it needs constantly to be supplied from three distinct sources. It must have
food for its digestion, air for its breathing, and vitality for its absorption.
This vitality is essentially a force, but when clothed in matter it appears to
us a definite element, which exists in all the worlds of which we have spoken.
At the moment we are concerned with that manifestation of it which we find in
the highest subdivision of the physical world. Just as the blood circulates
through the veins, so does the vitality circulate along the nerves; and
precisely as any abnormality in the flow of the blood at once affects the
physical body so does the slightest irregularity in the absorption or flow of
the vitality affect this higher part of the physical body.
Vitality
is a force which comes originally from the sun. When an ultimate physical atom
is charged with it, it draws round itself six other atoms and makes itself into
an etheric element. The original force of vitality is then subdivided into
seven, each of the atoms carrying a separate charge. The element thus made is
absorbed into the human body through the etheric part of the spleen. It is
there split up into its component parts, which at once flow to the
various parts of the body assigned to them. The
spleen is one of the seven force-centers in the etheric part of the physical
body. In each of our vehicles seven such centers should be in activity, and
when they are thus active they are visible to clairvoyant sight. They appear
usually as shallow vortices, for they are the points at which the force from
the higher bodies enters the lower.
In the
physical body these centers are:
(1) at the base of the spine
(2) at the solar plexus
(3) at the spleen
(4) over the heart
(5) at the throat
(6) between the eyebrows
(7) at the top of the head
There are
other dormant centers, but their awakening is undesirable.
The shape
of all the higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is ovoid, but the matter
composing them is not equally distributed throughout the egg. In the midst of
this ovoid is the physical body. The physical body strongly attracts astral
matter, and in its turn the astral matter strongly attracts mental matter.
Therefore by far the greater part of the matter of the astral body is gathered
within the physical frame; and the same is true of the mental vehicle.
If we see
the astral body of a man in its own world, apart from the physical body, we
shall still perceive the astral matter aggregated in exactly the shape of the
physical, although, as the matter is more fluidic in its nature, what we see is
a body built of dense mist, in the midst of an ovoid of much finer mist.
The same
is true for the mental body. Therefore, if in the astral or the mental world we
should meet an acquaintance, we should recognize him by his appearance just as
instantly as in the physical world.
This, then,
is the true constitution of man. In the first place he is a Monad, a Spark of
the Divine. Of that Monad the ego is a partial expression, formed in order that
he may enter evolution, and may return to the Monad with joy, bringing his
sheaves with him in the shape of qualities developed by garnered experience.
The ego in his turn puts down part of himself for the same purpose into lower
worlds, and we call that part a personality, because the Latin word persona
means a mask, and this personality is the mask which the ego puts upon himself
when he manifests in worlds lower than his own. Just as the ego is a small part
and an imperfect expression of the Monad, so is the personality a small part
and an imperfect expression of the ego; so that what we usually think of as the
man is only in truth a fragment of a fragment.
The
personality wears three bodies or vehicles, the mental, the astral and the
physical. While the man is what we call alive and awake on the physical earth
he is limited by his physical body, for he uses the astral and mental bodies
only as bridges to connect himself with his lowest vehicle. One of the
limitations of the physical body is that it quickly becomes fatigued and needs
periodical rest.
Each night
the man leaves it to sleep, and withdraws into his astral vehicle, which does
not become fatigued, and therefore needs no sleep. During this sleep of the
physical body the man is free to move about the astral world; but the extent to
which he does this depends upon his development. The primitive savage usually
does not move more than a few miles away from his sleeping physical form –
often not as much as that; and he has only the vaguest consciousness.
The
educated man is generally able to travel in his astral vehicle wherever he
will, and has much more consciousness in the astral world, though he has not
often the faculty of bringing into his waking life any memory of what he has
seen and done while his physical body was asleep.
Sometimes
he does remember some incident which he has seen, some experience which he has
had, and then he calls it a vivid dream. More often his recollections are
hopelessly entangled with vague memories of waking life, and with impressions
made from without upon the etheric part of his brain. Thus we arrive at the
confused and often absurd dreams of ordinary life.
The
developed man becomes as fully conscious and active in the astral world as in
the physical, and brings through into the latter full remembrance of what he
has been doing in the former – that is, he has a continuous life without any
loss of consciousness throughout the whole twenty-four hours, and thus
throughout the whole of his physical life, and even through death itself.
______________________
The All
Guide to
Getting Started in
Theosophy
_______________________
Find out more about
Theosophy with these links
Cardiff Theosophical Society meetings
are informal
and there’s always a cup of tea afterwards
The
Cardiff Theosophical Society Website
The
National Wales Theosophy Website
Theosophy Cardiff’s Instant Guide
One liners and quick explanations
H P
Blavatsky is usually the only
Theosophist
that most people have ever
heard of. Let’s
put that right
The Voice of the Silence Website
Dave’s Streetwise Theosophy Boards
If you run a Theosophy
Study Group,
please feel free to use
any material on this site
If you run a
Theosophy Group you can use
this as an
introductory handout
It’s all “water
under the bridge” but everything you do
makes an imprint on
the Space-Time Continuum.
An
Independent Theosophical Republic
Links
to Free Online Theosophy
Study
Resources; Courses, Writings,
The main criteria
for the inclusion of
links on this site is
that they have some
relationship (however
tenuous) to Theosophy
and are lightweight,
amusing or entertaining.
Topics include
Quantum Theory and Socks,
Dick Dastardly and Legendary Blues Singers.
Lentil burgers, a
thousand press ups before breakfast and
the daily 25 mile
run may put it off for a while but death
seems to get most of
us in the end. We are pleased to
present for your
consideration, a definitive work on the
subject by a Student of
Katherine Tingley entitled
This is for
everyone, you don’t have to live
in Wales to make
good use of this Website
The
Seven Principles of Man
By
Annie
Besant
No
Aardvarks were harmed in the
The Spiritual Home of Urban Theosophy
The Earth Base for Evolutionary Theosophy
Reincarnation
This guide has been included in response
to
the number of enquiries we receive on this
subject
at Cardiff Theosophical Society
From A Textbook
of Theosophy By C W Leadbeater
How We Remember our Past Lives
Life after Death & Reincarnation
The Slaughter of the
a
great demand by the public for lectures on Reincarnation
Classic Introductory Theosophy Text
A Text Book of Theosophy By C
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The Constitution of Man After Death Reincarnation
The Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The Result of Theosophical Study
The Occult World
By
Alfred Percy Sinnett
The
Occult World is an treatise on the
Occult
and Occult Phenomena, presented
in readable style, by an early giant of
the
Theosophical Movement.
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
______________________
Annie Besant Visits Cardiff 1924
National Wales Centre for Theosophy
Blavatsky Wales Theosophy Group
Selection of H P Blavatsky’s Writings
Theosophy Birmingham (England)
The Birmingham Annie Besant Lodge
Quotes
from the Writings of
Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
The Secret Doctrine , Volume 2, Page 100
It is only by the
attractive force of the contrasts that the two opposites — Spirit and Matter — can be cemented
together on Earth, and, smelted in the fire of self-conscious experience and suffering, find
themselves wedded in Eternity.
The Secret Doctrine , Volume 2, Page 108
It is the motive, and
the motive alone, which makes any exercise of power become black, malignant, or white,
beneficent Magic. It is impossible to employ spiritual forces if there is the
slightest tinge of selfishness remaining in the operator .... The powers and
forces of animal nature can equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as
by the unselfish and the all-forgiving; the powers and forces of spirit lend
themselves only to the perfectly pure in heart — and this is Divine Magic.
Isis Unveiled, Volume
1, Page 36
The Secret Doctrine , Volume 3, Page 14
Even ignorance is better than
Head-learning with no Soul-wisdom to illuminate and guide it.
The Voice of the Silence, Page 43
Tekels Park
to be Sold to a Developer
Concerns about the fate of the wildlife as
Tekels Park is to be Sold to a Developer
Concerns are raised about the fate of the wildlife as
The Spiritual Retreat, Tekels Park in Camberley,
Surrey, England is to be sold to a developer.
Tekels Park is a 50 acre woodland
park, purchased
for the Adyar
Theosophical Society in England in 1929.
In addition to concern about the
park, many are
worried about the
future of the Tekels Park Deer
as they are not a
protected species.
Confusion as the Theoversity moves out of
Tekels Park to Southampton, Glastonbury &
Chorley in Lancashire while the leadership claim
that the Theosophical
Society will carry on using
Tekels Park despite its sale to a developer
Anyone planning a “Spiritual” stay at
the
Tekels Park Guest House should be
aware of the sale.
Tekels Park & the Loch Ness Monster
A Satirical view
of the sale of Tekels Park
in Camberley,
Surrey to a developer
The Toff’s Guide to the Sale of
Tekels Park
What the men in
top hats have to
say about the sale
of Tekels Park
________________________
The Theosophy Cardiff
Glastonbury Pages
The Theosophy Cardiff Guide to
The Theosophy Cardiff Guide to
The Theosophy Cardiff Guide to
The Terraced Maze of Glastonbury Tor
Glastonbury and
Joseph of Arimathea
The Grave of King Arthur & Guinevere
Views of Glastonbury High Street
The Theosophy Cardiff Guide to
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.
(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.
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
Quick Explanations with Links to More Detailed Info
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 Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical
Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the
Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical
Society Emblem
The Theosophical Order of
Service (TOS)
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
Index
of Searchable
Full
Text Versions of
Definitive
Theosophical
Works
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 and friends and edited by A P Sinnett
Letters and
Talks on Theosophy and the Theosophical Life
Obras Teosoficas En Espanol
Theosophische Schriften
Auf Deutsch
Try these if you don’t
live in Wales
and are looking for a
Local Theosophy 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
Hey Look! Theosophy in Cardiff