Bureaucrats, Interface administrators, Administrators (Semantic MediaWiki), Curators (Semantic MediaWiki), Editors (Semantic MediaWiki), Suppressors, Administrators, trusted
15,381
edits
m
no edit summary
(Created page with "{{HPB-SD-header | volume = 1 | part = 3 | section = 11 | section title = On the Elements and Atoms | previous = v.1 p.3 sec.10 | next = v.1 p.3 sec.12 | edition = e...") |
mNo edit summary |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
{{Style P-No indent|English geologists *, as the nature of matter, it is because he knows what he is talking about. When he says “ Man ” and Elements, he neither means “ man ” in his present physiological and anthropological form, nor the elemental atoms, those hypothetical conceptions, the entitative abstractions of matter in its highly attenuated state, as existing at present in scientific minds ; nor, again, the compound Elements of antiquity. In Occultism the word ''Element ''means “ rudiment ” in every case. When we say “ Elementary Man,” we mean either the proëmial, incipient sketch of man, in its unfinished and undeveloped condition, hence in that form which now lies latent in physical man during his life-time, and takes shape only occasionally and under certain conditions ; or that form which for a time survives the material body, and which is better known as an “ Elementary.” † With regard to “ Element,” when the term is used metaphysically, it means, in distinction to the mortal, the incipient ''divine ''man ; and, in its physical usage, inchoate matter in its first undifferentiated condition, or in the ''laya ''state, which is the eternal and the ''normal ''condition of substance, differentiating only periodically, and is during that differentiation in an ''abnormal ''state — in other words, a transitory illusion of the senses.}} | {{Style P-No indent|English geologists *, as the nature of matter, it is because he knows what he is talking about. When he says “ Man ” and Elements, he neither means “ man ” in his present physiological and anthropological form, nor the elemental atoms, those hypothetical conceptions, the entitative abstractions of matter in its highly attenuated state, as existing at present in scientific minds ; nor, again, the compound Elements of antiquity. In Occultism the word ''Element ''means “ rudiment ” in every case. When we say “ Elementary Man,” we mean either the proëmial, incipient sketch of man, in its unfinished and undeveloped condition, hence in that form which now lies latent in physical man during his life-time, and takes shape only occasionally and under certain conditions ; or that form which for a time survives the material body, and which is better known as an “ Elementary.” † With regard to “ Element,” when the term is used metaphysically, it means, in distinction to the mortal, the incipient ''divine ''man ; and, in its physical usage, inchoate matter in its first undifferentiated condition, or in the ''laya ''state, which is the eternal and the ''normal ''condition of substance, differentiating only periodically, and is during that differentiation in an ''abnormal ''state — in other words, a transitory illusion of the senses.}} | ||
As to the “ elemental atoms,” so called, the Occultists refer to them by that name with a meaning analogous to that which is given by the Hindu to Brahmâ when he calls him {{Style S-Small capitals|Anu}}, the “ Atom.” Every elemental ''atom'', in search of which more than one Chemist has followed the path indicated by the Alchemists, is, in their firm belief (when not ''knowledge''), a {{Style S-Small capitals|soul}} ; not necessarily a disembodied soul, but a ''jiva'', as the Hindus call it, a centre of {{Style S-Small capitals|potential vitality}}, with latent intelligence in it, and, in the case of compound Souls — an intelligent active {{Style S-Small capitals|existence}}, from the highest to the lowest order, a form composed of more or less differentiations. It requires a metaphysician — and an Eastern metaphysician — to understand our meaning. All those atom-Souls are differentiations from the one, and in the same relation to it as the ''divine Soul'' — the Buddhi — to its informing and inseparable Spirit, or ''Atman.'' | As to the “ elemental atoms,” so called, the Occultists refer to them by that name with a meaning analogous to that which is given by the Hindu to Brahmâ when he calls him {{Style S-Small capitals|Anu}}, the “ Atom.” Every elemental ''atom'', in search of which more than one Chemist has followed the path indicated by the Alchemists, is, in their firm belief (when not ''knowledge''), a {{Style S-Small capitals|soul}} ; not necessarily a disembodied soul, but a ''jiva'', as the Hindus call it, a centre of {{Style S-Small capitals|potential vitality}}, with latent intelligence in it, and, in the case of compound Souls — an intelligent active {{Style S-Small capitals|existence}}, from the highest to the lowest order, a form composed of more or less differentiations. It requires a metaphysician — and an Eastern metaphysician — to understand our meaning. All those atom-Souls are differentiations from the {{Style S-Small capitals|one}}, and in the same relation to it as the ''divine Soul'' — the Buddhi — to its informing and inseparable Spirit, or ''Atman.'' | ||
Modern physics, while borrowing from the ancients their atomic theory, forgot one point, the most important of the doctrine ; hence they got only the husks and will never be able to get at the kernel. They left behind, in the adoption of physical atoms, the suggestive fact that | Modern physics, while borrowing from the ancients their atomic theory, forgot one point, the most important of the doctrine ; hence they got only the husks and will never be able to get at the kernel. They left behind, in the adoption of physical atoms, the suggestive fact that | ||
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
{{Style P-No indent|Soul (entirely distinct from immortal Spirit when the former is enshrined ''latent ''in it, as it is in every atomic speck), was composed of a fine, tender essence, formed from the ''smoothest'', ''roundest'', ''and finest atoms.''}} | {{Style P-No indent|Soul (entirely distinct from immortal Spirit when the former is enshrined ''latent ''in it, as it is in every atomic speck), was composed of a fine, tender essence, formed from the ''smoothest'', ''roundest'', ''and finest atoms.''}} | ||
And this shows that the ancient Initiates, who were followed more or less closely by all profane antiquity, meant by the term “ atom,” a Soul, a Genius or Angel, the first-born of the ever-concealed cause of all causes ; and in this sense their teachings become comprehensible. They claimed, as do their successors, the existence of Gods and Genii, angels or “ demons,” not outside, or independent of, the Universal ''Plenum'', but within it. Only this ''Plenum'', during the life-cycles, is infinite. They admitted and taught a good deal of that which modern Science teaches now — namely, the existence of a primordial “ World-stuff or Cosmic Substance,” from which worlds are formed, ever and eternally homogeneous, except during its periodic existence, when it differentiates its universal diffusion throughout infinite space ; and the gradual formation of sidereal bodies from it. They taught the revolution of the Heavens, the Earth’s rotation, the Heliocentric System, and the Atomic Vortices — Atoms — in reality Souls and intelligences. But those “ Atomists ” were spiritual, most transcendental, and philosophical Pantheists. It is not they who would have ever conceived, or dreamt that monstrous contrasted progeny, the nightmare of our modern civilized Race ; namely — ''inanimate ''material, self-guiding atoms, on the one hand, and an extra-Cosmic God on the other. | And this shows that the ancient Initiates, who were followed more or less closely by all profane antiquity, meant by the term “ {{Style S-Small capitals|atom}},” a Soul, a Genius or Angel, the first-born of the ever-concealed {{Style S-Small capitals|cause}} of all causes ; and in this sense their teachings become comprehensible. They claimed, as do their successors, the existence of Gods and Genii, angels or “ demons,” not outside, or independent of, the Universal ''Plenum'', but within it. Only this ''Plenum'', during the life-cycles, is infinite. They admitted and taught a good deal of that which modern Science teaches now — namely, the existence of a primordial “ World-stuff or Cosmic Substance,” from which worlds are formed, ever and eternally homogeneous, except during its periodic existence, when it differentiates its universal diffusion throughout infinite space ; and the gradual formation of sidereal bodies from it. They taught the revolution of the Heavens, the Earth’s rotation, the Heliocentric System, and the Atomic Vortices — Atoms — in reality Souls and intelligences. But those “ Atomists ” were spiritual, most transcendental, and philosophical Pantheists. It is not they who would have ever conceived, or dreamt that monstrous contrasted progeny, the nightmare of our modern civilized Race ; namely — ''inanimate ''material, self-guiding atoms, on the one hand, and an extra-Cosmic God on the other. | ||
It may be useful to show what, in the teachings of the old Initiates, the Monad was, and what its origin. | It may be useful to show what, in the teachings of the old Initiates, the Monad was, and what its origin. | ||
| Line 59: | Line 59: | ||
{{Style P-No indent|Sankarâchârya (''Viveka Chudâmani'') *, and the reader will realize what is now said.}} | {{Style P-No indent|Sankarâchârya (''Viveka Chudâmani'') *, and the reader will realize what is now said.}} | ||
While the Christian is taught that the human soul is a breath of God — being created by him for sempiternal existence, ''i.e.'', having a beginning, ''but no end ''(and therefore never to be called eternal) — the Occult teaching says, “ ''Nothing is created'', ''but is only transformed. ''Nothing can manifest itself in this universe — from a globe down to a vague, rapid thought — that was not in the universe already ; everything on the subjective plane is an eternal is ; as everything on the objective plane is an ''ever becoming'' — because transitory.” | While the Christian is taught that the human soul is a breath of God — being created by him for sempiternal existence, ''i.e.'', having a beginning, ''but no end ''(and therefore never to be called eternal) — the Occult teaching says, “ ''Nothing is created'', ''but is only transformed. ''Nothing can manifest itself in this universe — from a globe down to a vague, rapid thought — that was not in the universe already ; everything on the subjective plane is an eternal {{Style S-Small capitals|is}} ; as everything on the objective plane is an ''ever becoming'' — because transitory.” | ||
The monad — a truly “ indivisible thing,” as defined by Good, who did not give it the sense we now do — is here rendered as the ''Atma ''in conjunction with ''Buddhi ''and the higher Manas. This trinity is one and eternal, the latter being absorbed in the former at the termination of all conditioned and ''illusive ''life. The monad, then, can be traced through the course of its pilgrimage and its changes of transitory vehicles only from the incipient stage of the manifested Universe. In Pralaya, or the intermediate period between two manvantaras, it loses its name, as it loses it when the real one self of man merges ''into Brahm ''in cases of high Samadhi (the ''Turiya ''state) or final Nirvana ; “ when the disciple ” in the words of Sankara, “ having attained that primeval consciousness, absolute bliss, of which the nature is truth, which is without form and action, abandons this illusive body that has been assumed by the ''atma ''just as an actor (abandons) the dress (put on).” For Buddhi (the ''Anandamaya sheath'') is but a mirror which ''reflects ''absolute bliss ; and, moreover, ''that reflection ''itself is yet not free from ignorance, and is ''not ''the Supreme Spirit, being subject to conditions, being a spiritual modification of Prakriti, and an effect ; ''Atma ''alone is the one real and eternal substratum of all — the essence and absolute knowledge — the ''Kshetragna.'' † It is called in the Esoteric philosophy “ the One Witness,” | The monad — a truly “ indivisible thing,” as defined by Good, who did not give it the sense we now do — is here rendered as the ''Atma ''in conjunction with ''Buddhi ''and the higher Manas. This trinity is one and eternal, the latter being absorbed in the former at the termination of all conditioned and ''illusive ''life. The monad, then, can be traced through the course of its pilgrimage and its changes of transitory vehicles only from the incipient stage of the manifested Universe. In Pralaya, or the intermediate period between two manvantaras, it loses its name, as it loses it when the real one self of man merges ''into Brahm ''in cases of high Samadhi (the ''Turiya ''state) or final Nirvana ; “ when the disciple ” in the words of Sankara, “ having attained that primeval consciousness, absolute bliss, of which the nature is truth, which is without form and action, abandons this illusive body that has been assumed by the ''atma ''just as an actor (abandons) the dress (put on).” For Buddhi (the ''Anandamaya sheath'') is but a mirror which ''reflects ''absolute bliss ; and, moreover, ''that reflection ''itself is yet not free from ignorance, and is ''not ''the Supreme Spirit, being subject to conditions, being a spiritual modification of Prakriti, and an effect ; ''Atma ''alone is the one real and eternal substratum of all — the essence and absolute knowledge — the ''Kshetragna.'' † It is called in the Esoteric philosophy “ the One Witness,” | ||
| Line 97: | Line 97: | ||
{{Style P-No indent|the {{Style S-Small capitals|individuality}}. The “ Angel ” of that Star, or the Dhyani-Buddha will be either the guiding or simply the presiding “ Angel,” so to say, in every new rebirth of the monad, ''which is part of his own essence'', through his vehicle, man, may remain for ever ignorant of this fact. The adepts have each their Dhyani-Buddha, their elder “ twin Soul,” and they know it, calling it “ Father-Soul,” and “ Father-Fire.” It is only at the last and supreme initiation, however, that they learn it when placed face to face with the bright “ Image.” How much has Bulwer Lytton known of this mystic fact when describing, in one of his highest inspirational moods, Zanoni face to face with his ''Augoeides ?''}} | {{Style P-No indent|the {{Style S-Small capitals|individuality}}. The “ Angel ” of that Star, or the Dhyani-Buddha will be either the guiding or simply the presiding “ Angel,” so to say, in every new rebirth of the monad, ''which is part of his own essence'', through his vehicle, man, may remain for ever ignorant of this fact. The adepts have each their Dhyani-Buddha, their elder “ twin Soul,” and they know it, calling it “ Father-Soul,” and “ Father-Fire.” It is only at the last and supreme initiation, however, that they learn it when placed face to face with the bright “ Image.” How much has Bulwer Lytton known of this mystic fact when describing, in one of his highest inspirational moods, Zanoni face to face with his ''Augoeides ?''}} | ||
The ''Logos'', or both the unmanifested and the manifested {{Style S-Small capitals|Word}}, is called by the Hindus, Iswara, “ the Lord,” though the Occultists give it another name. Iswara, say the Vedantins, is the highest consciousness in nature. “ This highest consciousness,” answer the Occultists, “ is only a ''synthetic unit ''in the world of the manifested Logos — or on the ''plane of illusion ; ''for it is the sum total of Dhyan-Chohanic ''consciousnesses.''” “ Oh, wise man, remove the conception ''that not-Spirit is Spirit'',” says Sankarâchârya. Atma is ''not-Spirit ''in its final Parabrahmic state, ''Iswara ''or ''Logos ''is Spirit ; or, as Occultism explains, it is a compound unity of manifested living Spirits, the parent-source and nursery of all the mundane and terrestrial monads, ''plus ''their ''divine ''reflection, which emanate from, and return into, the Logos, each in the culmination of its time. There are seven chief groups of such Dhyan Chohans, which groups will be found and recognised in every religion, for they are the primeval seven Rays. Humanity, occultism teaches us, is divided into seven distinct groups and their sub-divisions, mental, spiritual, and physical. * The monad, then, viewed as one, is above the seventh principle (in Kosmos and man), and as a triad, it is the direct radiant progeny of the said ''compound ''unit, not the breath (and special ''creation ''out of ''nihil'') of “ God,” as that unit is called ; for such an idea is quite unphilosophical, and degrades Deity, dragging it down to a finite, attributive condition. As well expressed by the translator of the “ Crest-Jewel of Wisdom ” — though ''Iswara ''is “ God ” “ unchanged in the profoundest depths of ''pralayas ''and in the intensest activity of the ''manvantaras ”'' . . ., still “ ''beyond ''(him) is | The ''Logos'', or both the unmanifested and the manifested {{Style S-Small capitals|Word}}, is called by the Hindus, Iswara, “ the Lord,” though the Occultists give it another name. Iswara, say the Vedantins, is the highest consciousness in nature. “ This highest consciousness,” answer the Occultists, “ is only a ''synthetic unit ''in the world of the manifested Logos — or on the ''plane of illusion ; ''for it is the sum total of Dhyan-Chohanic ''consciousnesses.''” “ Oh, wise man, remove the conception ''that not-Spirit is Spirit'',” says Sankarâchârya. Atma is ''not-Spirit ''in its final Parabrahmic state, ''Iswara ''or ''Logos ''is Spirit ; or, as Occultism explains, it is a compound unity of manifested living Spirits, the parent-source and nursery of all the mundane and terrestrial monads, ''plus ''their ''divine ''reflection, which emanate from, and return into, the Logos, each in the culmination of its time. There are seven chief groups of such Dhyan Chohans, which groups will be found and recognised in every religion, for they are the primeval {{Style S-Small capitals|seven}} Rays. Humanity, occultism teaches us, is divided into seven distinct groups and their sub-divisions, mental, spiritual, and physical. * The monad, then, viewed as {{Style S-Small capitals|one}}, is above the seventh principle (in Kosmos and man), and as a triad, it is the direct radiant progeny of the said ''compound ''{{Style S-Small capitals|unit}}, not the breath (and special ''creation ''out of ''nihil'') of “ God,” as that unit is called ; for such an idea is quite unphilosophical, and degrades Deity, dragging it down to a finite, attributive condition. As well expressed by the translator of the “ Crest-Jewel of Wisdom ” — though ''Iswara ''is “ God ” “ unchanged in the profoundest depths of ''pralayas ''and in the intensest activity of the ''manvantaras ”'' . . ., still “ ''beyond ''(him) is | ||
{{Footnotes start}} | {{Footnotes start}} | ||
| Line 133: | Line 133: | ||
{{Style P-No indent|the bodies subject to him in his system. Of these bodies the poor little number of ''primary ''and ''secondary ''planets known to astronomy, looks wretched enough, in truth. * Therefore, it stands to reason that there are a great number of planets, small and large, that have not been discovered yet, but of the existence of which ancient astronomers — al of them initiated adepts — must have certainly been aware. But, as their relation to the gods was sacred, it had to remain arcane, as also the names of various other planets and stars.}} | {{Style P-No indent|the bodies subject to him in his system. Of these bodies the poor little number of ''primary ''and ''secondary ''planets known to astronomy, looks wretched enough, in truth. * Therefore, it stands to reason that there are a great number of planets, small and large, that have not been discovered yet, but of the existence of which ancient astronomers — al of them initiated adepts — must have certainly been aware. But, as their relation to the gods was sacred, it had to remain arcane, as also the names of various other planets and stars.}} | ||
Besides which, even the Roman Catholic theology speaks of “ ''seventy ''planets that preside over the destinies of the nations of this globe ;” and, save the erroneous application, there is more truth in this tradition than in exact modern astronomy. The seventy planets are connected with the ''seventy ''elders of the people of Israel ''(Numb. ''11, 16'' ) ''because the ''regents ''of these planets are meant, not the orbs themselves ; and the word seventy is a play and a ''blind ''upon the 7 × 7 of the subdivisions. Each people and nation, as said already, has its ''direct ''Watcher, Guardian and Father in Heaven — a Planetary Spirit. We are willing to leave their own national God, Jehovah, to the descendants of Israel, the worshippers of ''Sabaoth ''or {{Style S-Small capitals|Saturn}} ; for, indeed, the ''monads ''of the people chosen by him are his own, and the Bible has never made a secret of it. Only the text of the English (Protestant) Bible is, in disagreement, as usual, with those of the Septuagint and the Vulgate. Thus, while in the former one reads ''(in Deuter. ''xxxii., 8 ''and ''9'' ) ''“ When the most high (not Jehovah) divided to the nations their inheritance . . . he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel,” in the ''Septuagint ''the text reads “ according ''to the number of the Angels ”'' (Planet-Angels), which is more concordant with truth and fact. Moreover, all the texts agree that “ the Lord’s ( Jehovah) ''portion ''is his people ; Jacob ''is ''the lot of ''his ''inheritance ” (Deut. xxxii. 9) ; and this settles the question. The “ Lord ” Jehovah took ''for his portion ''Israel — what have other nations to do with that particular ''national ''Deity ? Let then, the “ angel Gabriel ” watch over Iran and “ Mikael-Jehovah ” over the Hebrews. These are not the gods of other nations, and it is difficult to see why Christians | Besides which, even the Roman Catholic theology speaks of “ ''seventy ''planets that preside over the destinies of the nations of this globe ;” and, save the erroneous application, there is more truth in this tradition than in exact modern astronomy. The seventy planets are connected with the ''seventy ''elders of the people of Israel ''(Numb. ''11, 16'' ) ''because the ''regents ''of these planets are meant, not the orbs themselves ; and the word seventy is a play and a ''blind ''upon the 7 × 7 of the subdivisions. Each people and nation, as said already, has its ''direct ''Watcher, Guardian and Father in Heaven — a Planetary Spirit. We are willing to leave their own national God, Jehovah, to the descendants of Israel, the worshippers of ''Sabaoth ''or {{Style S-Small capitals|Saturn}} ; for, indeed, the ''monads ''of the people chosen by him are his own, and the Bible has never made a secret of it. Only the text of the English (Protestant) Bible is, in disagreement, as usual, with those of the Septuagint and the Vulgate. Thus, while in the former one reads ''(in Deuter. ''xxxii., 8 ''and ''9'' ) ''“ When the {{Style S-Small capitals|most high}} (not Jehovah) divided to the nations their inheritance . . . he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel,” in the ''Septuagint ''the text reads “ according ''to the number of the Angels ”'' (Planet-Angels), which is more concordant with truth and fact. Moreover, all the texts agree that “ the Lord’s ( Jehovah) ''portion ''is his people ; Jacob ''is ''the lot of ''his ''inheritance ” (Deut. xxxii. 9) ; and this settles the question. The “ Lord ” Jehovah took ''for his portion ''Israel — what have other nations to do with that particular ''national ''Deity ? Let then, the “ angel Gabriel ” watch over Iran and “ Mikael-Jehovah ” over the Hebrews. These are not the gods of other nations, and it is difficult to see why Christians | ||
{{Footnotes start}} | {{Footnotes start}} | ||