THE
OF
THEOSOPHY
A Definitive Work on Theosophy
By
William Quan Judge
CHAPTER
16
Psychic
Laws, Forces,
and
Phenomena
The field of psychic forces, phenomena, and dynamics
is a vast one. Such phenomena are seen and the forces exhibited every day in
all lands, but until a few years ago very little attention was given to them by
scientific persons, while a great deal of ridicule was heaped upon those who
related the occurrences or averred belief in the psychic nature. A cult sprang
up in the United States some forty years ago calling itself quite wrongly
"spiritualism," but having a great opportunity it neglected it and
fell into mere wonder-seeking without the slightest shadow of a philosophy. It
has accomplished but little in the way of progress except a record of many
undigested facts which for four decades failed to attract the serious attention
of people in general.
While it has had its uses, and includes in its ranks
many good minds, the great dangers and damages coming to the human instruments
involved and to those who sought them more than offset the good done in the
opinion of those disciples of the Lodge who would have man progress evenly and
without ruin along his path of evolution. But other Western investigators of
the accepted schools have not done much better, and the result is that there is
no Western Psychology worthy of the name.
This lack of an adequate system of Psychology is a
natural consequence of the materialistic bias of science and the paralyzing
influence of dogmatic religion; the one ridiculing effort and blocking the way,
the other forbidding investigation. The Roman Catholic branch of the Christian
Church is in some respects an exception, however. It has always admitted the
existence of the psychic world -- for it the realm of devils and angels, but as
angels manifest when they choose and devils are to be shunned, no one is
permitted by that Church to meddle in such matters except an authorized priest.
So far as that Church's prohibiting the pernicious practice of necromancy
indulged in by "spiritualists" it was right, but not in its other
prohibitions and restrictions. Real psychology is an Oriental product today.
Very true the system was known in the West when a very
ancient civilization flourished in America, and in certain parts of Europe
anterior to the Christian era, but for the present day psychology in its true
phase belongs to the Orient.
Are there psychic forces, laws, and powers? If there
are, then there must be the phenomena. And if all that has been outlined in
preceding chapters is true, then in man are the same powers and forces which
are to be found anywhere in Nature. He is held by the Masters of Wisdom to be
the highest product of the whole system of evolution, and mirrors in himself
every power, however wonderful or terrible, of Nature; by the very fact of
being such a mirror he is man.
This has long been recognized in the East, where the
writer has seen exhibitions of such powers which would upset the theories of
many a Western man of science. And in the West the same phenomena have been
repeated for the writer, so that he knows of his own knowledge that every man
of every race has the same powers potentially.
The genuine psychic -- or, as they are often called,
magical -- phenomena done by the Eastern fakir or yogi are all performed by the
use of natural forces and processes not even dreamed of as yet by the West.
Levitation of the body in apparent defiance of gravitation is a thing to be
done with ease when the process is completely mastered. It contravenes no law.
Gravitation is only half of a law. The Oriental sage admits gravity, if one
wishes to adopt the term; but the real term is attraction, the other half of
the law being expressed by the word repulsion, and both being governed by the
great laws of electrical force. Weight and stability depend on polarity, and
when the polarity of an object is altered in respect to the earth immediately
underneath it, then the object may rise. But as mere objects are devoid of the
consciousness found in man, they cannot rise without certain other aids. The human
body, however, will rise in the air unsupported, like a bird, when its polarity
is thus changed.
This change is brought about consciously by a certain
system of breathing known to the Oriental; it may be induced also by aid from
certain natural forces spoken of later, in the cases of those who without
knowing the law perform the phenomena, as with the saints of the Roman Catholic
Church.
A third great law which enters into many of the
phenomena of the East and West is that of Cohesion. The power of Cohesion is a
distinct power of itself, and not a result as is supposed. This law and its
action must be known if certain phenomena are to be brought about, as, for
instance, what the writer has seen, the passing of one solid iron ring through
another, or a stone through a solid wall. Hence another force is used which can
only be called dispersion. Cohesion is the determinating force, for, the moment
the dispersing force is withdrawn, the cohesive force restores the particles to
their original position.
Following this out the Adept in such great dynamics is
able to disperse the atoms of an object -- excluding always the human body --
to such a distance from each other as to render the object invisible, and then
can send them along a current formed in the ether to any distance on the earth.
At the desired point
the dispersing force is withdrawn, when immediately
cohesion reasserts itself and the object reappears intact. This may sound like
fiction, but being known to the Lodge and its disciples as an actual fact, it
is equally certain that Science will sooner or later admit the proposition.
But the lay mind infested by the materialism of the
day wonders how all these manipulations are possible, seeing that no
instruments are spoken of. The instruments are in the body and brain of man. In
the view of the Lodge "the human brain is an exhaustless generator of
force," and a complete knowledge of
the inner chemical and dynamic laws of Nature,
together with a trained mind, give the possessor the power to operate the laws
to which I have referred. This will be man's possession in the future, and
would be his today were it not for blind dogmatism, selfishness, and
materialistic unbelief. Not even the Christian lives up to his Master's very
true statement that if one had faith he could remove a mountain. A knowledge of
the law when added to faith gives power over matter, mind, space, and time.
Using the same powers, the trained Adept can produce
before the eye, objective to the touch, material which was not visible before,
and in any desired shape. This would be called creation by the vulgar, but it
is simply evolution in your very presence. Matter is held suspended in the air
about us. Every particle of matter, visible or still unprecipitated, has been
through all possible forms, and what the Adept does is to select any desired
form, existing, as they all do, in the Astral Light and then by effort of the
Will and Imagination to clothe the form with the matter by precipitation. The
object so made will fade away unless certain other processes are resorted to
which need not be here described, but if these processes are used the object
will remain permanently.
And if it is desired to make visible a message on
paper or other surface, the same laws and powers are used. The distinct --
photographically and sharply definite -- image of every line of every letter or
picture is formed in the mind, and then out of
the air is drawn the pigment to fall within the limits
laid down by the brain, "the exhaustless generator of force and
form." All these things the writer has seen done in the way described, and
not by any hired or irresponsible medium, and he knows whereof he speaks.
This, then, naturally leads to the proposition that
the human Will is all powerful and the Imagination is a most useful faculty
with a dynamic force. The Imagination is the picture-making power of the human
mind. In the ordinary average human person it has not enough training or force
to be more than a sort
of dream, but it may be trained. When trained it is
the Constructor in the Human Workshop. Arrived at that stage it makes a matrix
in the Astral substance through which effects objectively will flow. It is the
greatest power, after Will, in the human assemblage of complicated instruments.
The modern Western definition of Imagination is incomplete and wide of the
mark.
It is chiefly used to designate fancy or misconception
and at all times stands for unreality. It is impossible to get another term as
good because one of the powers of the trained Imagination is that of making an
image. The word is derived from those signifying the formation or reflection of
an image. This faculty used, or rather suffered to act, in an unregulated mode
has given the West no other idea than that covered by "fancy." So far
as that goes it is right but it may be pushed to a greater limit, which, when
reached causes the Imagination to evolve in the Astral substance an actual
image or form which may be then used in the same way as an iron moulder uses a
mould of sand for the molten iron. It is therefore the King faculty, inasmuch
as the Will cannot do its work if the Imagination be at all weak or untrained.
For instance, if the person desiring to precipitate from the air wavers in the
least with the image made in the Astral substance, the pigment will fall upon
the paper in a correspondingly wavering and diffused manner.
To communicate with another mind at any distance the
Adept attunes all the molecules of the brain and all the thoughts of the mind
so as to vibrate in unison with the mind to be affected, and that other mind
and brain have also to be either voluntarily thrown into the same unison or
fall into it voluntarily.
So though the Adept be at Bombay and his friend in New
York, the distance is no obstacle, as the inner senses are not dependent on an
ear, but may feel and see the thoughts and images in the mind of the other
person.
And when it is desired to look into the mind and catch
the thoughts of another and the pictures all around him of all he has thought
and looked at, the Adept's inner sight and hearing are directed to the mind to
be seen, when at once all is visible. But, as said before, only a rogue would
do this, and the Adepts do not
do it except in strictly authorized cases. The modern
man sees no misdemeanour in looking into the secrets of another by means of
this power, but the Adepts say it is an invasion of the rights of the other
person.
No man has the right, even when he has the power in
his hand, to enter into the mind of another and pick out its secrets. This is
the law of the Lodge to all who seek, and if one sees that he is about to
discover the secrets of another he must at once withdraw and proceed no
further. If he proceeds his power is taken from him in the case of a disciple;
in the case of any other person he must take the consequence of this sort of
burglary. For Nature has her laws and her policemen, and if we commit felonies
in the Astral world the great Law and the guardians of it, for which no bribery
is possible, will execute the penalty, no matter how long we wait, even if it
be for ten thousand years. Here is another safeguard for ethics and morals. But
until men admit the system of philosophy put forward in this book, they will not
deem it wrong to commit felonies in fields where their weak human law has no
effect, but at the same time by thus refusing the philosophy they will put off
the day when all may have these great powers for the use of all.
Among phenomena useful to notice are those consisting
of the moving of objects without physical contact. This may be done, and in
more than one way. The first is to extrude from the physical body the Astral
hand and arm, and with those grasp the object to be moved. This may be accomplished
at a distance of as much as ten feet from the person. I do not go into argument
on this, only referring to the properties of the Astral substance and members.
This will serve to some extent to explain several of the phenomena of mediums.
In nearly all cases of such apportation the feat is accomplished by thus using
the unseen but material Astral hand. The second method is to use the elementals
of which I have spoken.
They have the power when directed by the inner man to
carry objects by changing the polarity, and then we see, as with the fakirs of
India and some mediums in America, small objects moving apparently unsupported.
These elemental entities are used when things are brought from longer distances
than the length to which the Astral members may be stretched. It is no argument
against this that mediums do not know they do so. They rarely if ever know
anything about how they accomplish any feat, and their ignorance of the law is
no proof of its non-existence. Those students who have seen the forces work
from the inside will need no argument on this.
Clairvoyance, clairaudience, and second-sight are all
related very closely. Every exercise of any one of them draws in at the same
time both of the others. They are but variations of one power. Sound is one of
the distinguishing characteristics of the Astral sphere, and as light goes with
sound, sight obtains simultaneously with hearing. To see an image with the
Astral senses means that at the same time there is a sound, and to hear the
latter infers the presence of a related image in Astral substance. It is
perfectly well known to the true student of occultism that every sound produces
instantaneously an image, and this, so long known in the Orient, has lately
been demonstrated in the West in the production to the eye of sound pictures on
a stretched tympanum.
This part of the subject can be gone into very much
further with the aid of occultism, but as it is a dangerous one in the present
state of society I refrain at this point. In the Astral Light are pictures of
all things whatsoever that happened to any person, and as well also pictures of
those events to come the causes for which are sufficiently well marked and
made. If the causes are yet indefinite, so will be the images of the future.
But for the mass of events for several years to come all the producing and
efficient causes are always laid down with enough definiteness to permit the
seer to see them in advance as if present. By means of these pictures, seen
with the inner senses, all clairvoyants exercise their strange faculty. Yet it
is a faculty common to all men, though in the majority but slightly developed;
but occultism asserts that were it not for the germ of this power slightly
active in every one no man could convey to another any idea whatsoever.
In clairvoyance the pictures in the Astral Light pass
before the inner vision and are reflected into the physical eye from within.
They then appear objectively to the seer. If they are of past events or those
to come, the picture only is seen; if of events actually then occurring, the
scene is perceived through the Astral Light by the inner sense. The
distinguishing difference between ordinary and clairvoyant vision is, then,
that in clairvoyance with waking sight the vibration is communicated to the
brain first, from which it is transmitted to the physical eye, where it sets up
an image upon the retina, just as the revolving cylinder of the phonograph
causes the mouthpiece to vibrate exactly as the voice had vibrated when thrown
into the receiver. In ordinary eye vision the vibrations are given to the eye
first and then transmitted to the brain. Images and sounds are both caused by
vibrations, and hence any sound once made is preserved in the Astral Light from
whence the inner sense can take it and from within transmit it to the brain,
from which it reaches the physical ear. So in clairaudience at a distance the
hearer does not hear with the ear, but with the center of hearing in the Astral
body.
Second-sight is a combination of clairaudience and
clairvoyance or not, just as the particular case is, and the frequency with
which future events are seen by the second-sight seer adds an element of
prophecy.
The highest order of clairvoyance -- that of spiritual
vision -- is very rare. The usual clairvoyant deals only with the ordinary
aspects and strata of the Astral matter. Spiritual sight comes only to those
who are pure, devoted, and firm. It may be attained by special development of
the particular organ in the body through which alone such sight is possible,
and only after discipline, long training, and the highest altruism.
All other clairvoyance is transitory, inadequate, and
fragmentary, dealing, as it does, only with matter and illusion. Its
fragmentary and inadequate character results from the fact that hardly any
clairvoyant has the power to see into more than one of the lower grades of
Astral substance at any one time.
The pure-minded and the brave can deal with the future
and the present far better than any clairvoyant. But as the existence of these
two powers proves the presence in us of the inner senses and of the necessary
medium -- the Astral Light, they have, as such human faculties, an important
bearing upon the claims made by the so-called "spirits" of the seance
room.
Dreams are sometimes the result of brain action
automatically proceeding, and are also produced by the transmission into the
brain by the real inner person of those scenes or ideas high or low which that
real person has seen while the body slept. They are then strained into the
brain as if floating on the soul as it
sinks into the body. These dreams may be of use, but
generally the resumption of bodily activity destroys the meaning, perverts the
image, and reduces all to confusion. But the great fact of all dreaming is that
some one perceives and feels therein, and this is one of the arguments for the
inner person's existence.
In sleep the inner man communes with higher
intelligences, and
sometimes succeeds in impressing the brain with what
is gained, either a high idea or a prophetic vision, or else fails in
consequence of the resistance of brain fibre. The karma of the person also
determines the meaning of a dream, for a king may dream that which relates to
his kingdom, while the same thingdreamed by a citizen relates to nothing of
temporal consequence. But, as said by Job:
"In dreams and visions of the night man is
instructed."
Apparitions and doubles are of two general classes.
The one, astral shells or images from the astral world, either actually visible
to the eye or the result of vibration within thrown out to the eye and thus
making the person think he sees an objective form without. The other, the
astral body of living persons and
carrying full consciousness or only partially so
endowed.
Laborious attempts by Psychical Research Societies to
prove apparitions without knowing these laws really prove nothing, for out of
twenty admitted cases nineteen may be the objectivization of the image
impressed on the brain. But that apparitions have
been seen there is no doubt. Apparitions of those just
dead may be either pictures made objective as described, or the Astral Body --
called Kama Rupa at this stage -- of the deceased. And as the dying thoughts
and forces released from the body are very strong, we have more accounts of
such apparitions than of any other class.
The Adept may send out his apparition, which, however,
is called by another name, as it consists of his conscious and trained astral
body endowed with all his intelligence and not wholly detached from his
physical frame.
Theosophy does not deny nor ignore the physical laws
discovered by science. It admits all such as are proven, but it asserts the
existence of others which modify the action of those we ordinarily know. Behind
all the visible phenomena is the occult cosmos with its ideal machinery; that
occult cosmos can only be fully understood by means of the inner senses which
pertain to it; those senses will not be easily developed if their existence is
denied. Brain and mind acting together have the power to evolve forms, first as
astral ones in astral substance, and later as visible ones by accretions of the
matter on this plane.
Objectivity depends largely on perception, and
perception may be affected by inner stimuli. Hence a witness may either see an
object which actually exists as such without, or may be made to see one by
internal stimulus.
This gives us three modes of sight:
(a) with the eye by means of light from an object
(b) with the inner senses by means of the Astral Light
(c) by stimulus from within which causes the eye to
report to the brain, thus throwing the inner image without.
The phenomena of the other senses may be tabulated in
the same
manner.
The Astral substance being the register of all
thoughts, sounds, pictures, and other vibrations, and the inner man being a
complete person able to act with or without co-ordination with the physical,
all the phenomena of hypnotism, clairvoyance, clairaudience, mediumship, and the
rest of those which are not
consciously performed may be explained. In the Astral
substance are all sounds and pictures, and in the Astral man remain impressions
of every event, however remote or insignificant; these acting together produce
the phenomena which seem so strange to those who deny or are unaware of the
postulates of occultism.
But to explain the phenomena performed by Adepts,
Fakirs, Yogis, and all trained occultists, one has to understand the occult
laws of chemistry, of mind, of force, and of matter. These it is obviously not
the province of such a work as
this to treat in detail.
______________________
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THE PHYSICAL PLANE THE ASTRAL PLANE
KÂMALOKA THE MENTAL PLANE DEVACHAN
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THE LAW OF SACRIFICE MAN'S
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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)
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Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
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The Seven Principles of Man Karma
Reincarnation Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
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History of the Theosophical
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Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical Society
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The Three Objectives of the
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Explanation of the Theosophical
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Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
Index of Searchable
Full Text Versions 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
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from 1909-1913 in The Theosophist.
compiled from
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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.
(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
Try these if you 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