View source for Lipsky S. - On the Nature of Human Mind

{{MTT publication
 | author =  Svyatoslav Lipsky
 | title = On the Nature of Human Mind
 | subtitle = 
 | issue = 2023-1
 | number = 15
 | publications = 
 | info = 
 | russian = Липский С.И. - О природе ума
 | categories = 
}}

Our Mind is the central principle in our microcosm as human beings. Here the Higher Principles connect with those that make up our earthly personality. Here lies the boundary between the mortal and the immortal. In this connection it seems important to try to better comprehend the nature of Mind, the source of thought, the principle of its action; and – on a more practical level – to see how to apply this understanding in our lives, what goals to set for ourselves and what efforts we can make working with our thought.

To begin with, as we know, the Secret Doctrine explains that humanity was endowed with Mind about 18 million years ago. Of all the events in world history, this is probably the most significant one so far. We live in the Fifth Root Race or, we might say, perhaps, in the fifth version of humanity. There will be a total of seven such Races on our planet in this great Cycle of Evolution. Intelligence was gained by us in the middle of the Third one. This made human a complete being, in the sense that we acquired the ability to think, gained free will (or the freedom of choice), and consequently the responsibility for our actions (which we usually think of as of the Law of Karma). In connection with this, the subjective perception of time came about in us – in each individual and in humanity as a whole.

Probably the most famous symbol of this great Event in the Western culture is Prometheus and the legend of the abduction of the Heavenly Fire and the bringing of this Gift to humanity. Of course, this symbol is universal and has its analogues in all ancient cultures and mythologies. Thus, we see that the Mind here is symbolized by fire. The Secret Doctrine, in explaining the meaning of these evolutionary processes, uses Eastern terms and says that the endowment of humanity with Mind was carried out by the Solar Ancestors, beings of a higher plane of existence, also called ''Agnishvattas'' – from the word ''Agni'' – fire.

Our mind is of a dual nature. We call its two aspects the Higher Manas and the Lower Manas. The higher one is also called the Buddhi Manas – after the name of that higher principle to which it is attracted – the spiritual Soul, called Buddhi. The Lower one is also called Kama Manas – by the name of that lower principle to which it is attached and gravitates and which represents sensual desires and passions in the human being and is called Kama.

The Higher Manas is our immortal Individuality. It is inseparable from the two still higher principles (Buddhi and Atma) and is also called:
* the Spiritual or True Individuality;
* the Higher Ego;
* ''Kshetrajna'', "embodied Spirit";
* ''Manasaputra<ref>The term ''Manasaputra'' especially refers to our Higher Egos seen as beings independent so to say from humanity as we know it – beings in their own right, e.g. before they incarnated in humanity.</ref>'', from the word ''manas'' (mind) and ''putra'' (son), as it is a living being of a higher plane of existence, and as the rays come from the Sun, so these beings are "sons of the World Mind" or ''Mahat''.

It is this principle in us, it is these spiritual beings who produced the thinking human being, "manu," as it is called. They incarnated in the Third Race of Humanity entering the prepared bodies of that period for this purpose. Thus, the originally senseless human form, a living biorobot governed solely by instincts, through their incarnation (in exceptional cases full but mostly partial incarnation) became a real human being.

In ''The Key to Theosophy'' we read this definition:

{{Style P-Quote|"It is Manas, therefore, which is the real incarnating and permanent Spiritual Ego, the INDIVIDUALITY, and our various and numberless personalities only its external masks.

...

It is that Ego, that "Causal Body," which overshadows every personality Karma forces it to incarnate into; and this Ego which is held responsible for all the sins committed through, and in, every new body or personality — the evanescent masks which hide the true Individual through the long series of rebirths."
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. The Key to Theosophy}}

So, the principle in us that is called Buddhi Manas is a living being of a higher plane of existence, a being that can be symbolically called a fallen angel. This allegory of the fall of gods, angels, etc. has produced throughout history a great number of literary works and artistic images, like the dragon that fell from heaven and carried away a third of the stars, Lucifer and others. The philosophical meaning of this fall is incarnation, imprisonment in flesh, that is in the earthly personality. Therefore, Prometheus, who brought us the fire of Mind and was crucified on a rock – the symbol of matter – is the collective symbol of the incarnated ''Manasaputra,'' the so-called "fallen" angels. They are our true Higher Egos – the rays of the World Mind – those who go through the period of incarnation in us, in humanity, simply by virtue of the fact that the time has come for them to gain this experience in their evolutionary cycle of development. For the rest of their kin, for the other “stars” of the same plane of existence this time will come in future cycles and it will then be their turn to “fall”.

Speaking about the interrelation between these two aspects of the human Mind, another beautiful and defining symbol to be found in theosophical writings is the branch and the leaves. Hundreds of our personalities grow on the branch of our spiritual Individuality, our Higher Manas. They grow, absorb the light and warmth of the sun, in other words, receive their earthly experience, which they pass on to their Branch (such part of this experience whose quality is high enough to be accepted); then they wither and fall off, and new leaves grow in their place, which each time may become a little more perfect than their previous versions.

Thus, for each incarnation our earthly personality is created. For this our true Ego emanates a ray, which becomes Kama Manas, the Lower Mind embodied in human flesh. This way our earthly mind is formed in this life and in each of our lives by our Higher Mind. H.P. Blavatsky in in her ''Isis Unveiled'' gives this very important quote from Plutarch (also quoted by C.C. Massey in his essay ''Ancient Opinions upon Psychic Bodies'' from ''Five Years of Theosophy''):

{{Style P-Quote|“The nous of Socrates, was pure and mixed itself with the body no more than necessity required... Every soul hath some portion of&nbsp;nous,&nbsp;reason, a man cannot be a man without it; but as much of each soul as is mixed with flesh and appetite is changed, and through pain and pleasure becomes irrational. Every soul doth not mix herself after one sort; some plunge themselves into the body, and so in this life their whole frame is corrupted by appetite and passion; others are mixed as to some part, but the purer part still remains without the body. It is not drawn down into the body, but it swims above, and touches the extremest part of the man’s head; it is like a cord to hold up and direct the subsiding part of the soul, as long as it proves obedient and is not overcome by the appetites of the flesh. The part that is plunged into the body is called soul. But the incorruptible part is called the&nbsp;nous,&nbsp;and the vulgar think it is within them, as they likewise imagine the image reflected from a glass to be in that glass. But the more intelligent, who know it to be without, call it a Dæmon.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Isis Unveiled}}

Here we see that a higher portion of our Manas hovers above the body, barely touching the top of the head, and is called by Plutarch “nous”, whereas the embodied portion or aspect of our Manas is incarnated in the body and is called “soul” in this quote. From this point of view, the tradition in some Eastern countries of not touching the top of other people’s (e.g. children’s) head is interesting. Perhaps, intuitively there is some reluctance to interfere – be that magnetically or even purely symbolically – with the crucial connection between these principles. Putting it somewhat poetically – not to create an eclipse by hiding the Sun of the Higher Ego, with the moon of your hand, from the earth of one’s personality. Again, we can think about why it is so natural for us to turn our attention and our eyes upward when praying. In a wide variety of countries and cultures throughout centuries this seems to be quite a natural tendency.

Now, although our Higher Ego, emits such a ray, supplying each new personality with the Lower Mind, there can be no question of exhausting this principle, just as the flame of a torch cannot be exhausted, no matter how many candles are lit from it. The ''Esoteric Instructions'' state:

{{Style P-Quote|“The essence of the divine Ego is “pure flame,” an entity to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be taken, it cannot, therefore be diminished even by countless numbers of lower minds, detached from it like flames from a Flame.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Esoteric Instruction III}}

In another instance in the same text HPB. explains how a the human being is the composition of the seven main principles which are provided so to say by the Spirits or the Genii ruling the seven main planets of the Solar System. Among them it is Venus that provides us with Mind. In other words, the essence of the two aspects of Mind is derived from the spiritual Hierarchy ruling Venus. Then HPB also speaks about the colours they fill our Auric Body with. The colour of the Higher Manas is dark blue or indigo. It is “the complement of yellow in the prism” and “the intensified color of the heaven or sky, to denote the upward tendency of Manas towards Buddhi, or the heavenly Spiritual Soul”. For the Lower Manas it is green:

{{Style P-Quote|“Again, the Auric Body will contain much of the color of the Lower Manas if the man is a material sensualist, just as it will contain much of the darker hue if the Higher Manas has preponderance over the Lower.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Esoteric Instruction II}}

Let us now consider the Lower Manas or concrete mind. Its vehicle or conductor is the physical brain. The departments of the brain correspond to the aspects of the Lower Mind, and its convolutions are formed by the work of thought. The activity of the thinking principle creates more and more complex convolutions. The Lower Manas is the animal soul – a reflection or shadow of the Buddhi Manas. It has a great potential precisely because of its connection with the higher immortal principles in us (even more than a connection, actually – it has the same essential nature as its higher counterpart), but it is usually limited, being enslaved by its ties with the elements of Kama – sensual desires, passions, attachments, etc. The earthly mind develops – as does everything else – by exercise. Since it leans on the brain, its development is related to the development of the brain, the gradual complication of its structure, the perfection of its cells, and the increase of their sensitivity. An important characteristic of our earthly mind is that it is designed to deal with objects that have a certain dimension in space and a certain duration in time. In other words, it deals with limited objects. It cannot comprehend that which is infinite or eternal. That is neither its job nor its purpose. The eternal and the infinite is what the Higher Manas deals with, not having the same limitations as its lower aspect. As for our memory, since the memory of our lives, relating to the workings of the earthly mind, in each incarnation relies on the physical brain, it is lost to us with the new birth because we no longer have the former physical brain and the memory which the Higher Manas possesses is as yet almost inaccessible to us. Why so? Because the earthly mind and the entire earthly personality are poorly prepared (not pure and not sensitive enough) to perceive the emanations of its source – our True Ego.

A question can arise here: are the Lower Mind and the Higher Mind two independent principles in the human being or is it one principle with two aspects, and, in any way, what is the relation between them during our incarnations and disincarnated states.

After the ray is emitted during the creation of a new earthly personality after the period of out-of-body existence, the Higher Manas and the Lower Manas become essentially two separate Egos. The Parental Principle of our lower consciousness becomes to us a kind of separate living being of a higher plane<ref>In this regard it is interesting to remember that we are invited to pray to our “Father which is in secret”. What a useful exercise it can be when done with good motivation and supplied with sufficient metaphysical knowledge!</ref>. Because of this separation, which is due to the strong illusion that our earthly personality produces, our Spiritual Ego is at the same time ourselves and another Being – one that is immeasurably more powerful, all-knowing and perfect. This reminds us of the advice from ''Light on the Path'':

{{Style P-Quote|“1. Stand aside in the coming battle, and though thou fightest be not thou the warrior.

2. Look for the warrior and let him fight in thee.

3. Take his orders for battle and obey them.

4. Obey him not as though he were a general, but as though he were thyself, and his spoken words were the utterance of thy secret desires; for he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger than thyself. Look for him, else in the fever and hurry of the fight thou mayest pass him; and he will not know thee unless thou knowest him. If thy cry meet his listening ear, then will he fight in thee and fill the dull void within.”
|signature=Mabel Collins. Light on the Path}}

We are reminded of this same advice by a wonderful episode from the great Indian epic ''Ramayana''. Remembering that one of the main keys for understanding such works of Ageless Wisdom is the metaphysical one, we can see in this Scripture a description of the advance on spiritual Path and the events of the inner life that correspond to it. We see that Rama – the symbol of the Higher Self in us – sends his friend Sugriva, the king of the Vanaras, whom he protects, to fight against his (Sugriva’s) invincible brother Bali. Victory cannot be achieved by Sugriva, great warrior though he is, but it is Rama who shoots a single deadly arrow, ensuring the victory of his friend and devotee.

So, the Higher and the Lower Manas remain essentially two separate Egos throughout the whole of earthly life. In this separation from our Source lie all our problems, and reunion with It is the goal of the spiritual Path (at our present level of development), the goal of religion and yoga, because, as we know, both these words essentially mean reunion. This means the reunion with our own Higher Principles, and for our earthly consciousness it is the Buddhi Manas that is the nearest on the next plane of existence.

When our consciousness leaves the body at the end of our earthly life, in the normal and ordinary way of events, at some point it plunges into a blissful state, which in the theosophical tradition is called Devachan. In that state our Lower Manas and our Higher Manas are united.

Still, however, even during our incarnation, these two human principles are not completely separate. There is a connection between them. This connection is often symbolized by a bridge and is called Antakharana. It is, in essence, the noble and morally pure part of our earthly personality, which is free from sensual elements and devoted to its Source, the Higher Ego. It is obedient to the voice of conscience, which is precisely the voice of our True Ego in us and which seems to tend to tell us what not to do rather than direct our actions. At the same time, this pure part of our personality is also capable of perceiving such emanations of our Spiritual Individuality which we call intuition, insight, inspiration, etc.

H.P. Blavatsky’s ''Esoteric Instructions ''say:

{{Style P-Quote|“When the Ray is thus shot forth, it clothes itself in the highest degree of the Astral Light, and is then ready for incarnation; it has been spoken of at this stage as the Chhâyâ, or shadow, of the Higher Mind, as indeed it is. … as an emanation of the Higher Manas and of the same nature, it cannot, in that nature, make any impression on this plane nor receive any. An archangel, having no experience, would be senseless on this plane, and could neither give nor receive impressions. Hence the Lower Manas clothes itself with the essence of the Astral Light, and this Astral Envelope shuts it out from its Parent, except through the Antaskarana. … It is the only salvation. Break this and you become an animal.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Esoteric Instruction V}}

Turning to the aforementioned allegory of branches and leaves that gather heat and sunlight, our True Ego collects the experience of earthly lives through our Lower Manas. However, not any earthly experience can be assimilated or absorbed by the Spiritual Ego. In the moral sense, not all of our thoughts, experiences, feelings, etc., are worthy of being immortalized by being absorbed by the Higher Manas.

{{Style P-Quote|“The “harvest of life” consists of the finest spiritual ideations, of the memory of the noblest and most unselfish deeds of the personality, and the constant presence during its bliss after death of all those it loved with divine, spiritual devotion.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Esoteric Instruction III}}

Bees do not collect dirt and dust from flowers, only nectar. Perhaps, we can say that a different sort of experience is alien to the nature of our Spiritual Ego. However, morally pure experience allows our Lower Manas – our human soul – to partially blend with its True Ego during our life in the body. After the completion of the earthly life, it is only through this that the partial immortality of the personality is ensured. "Only that which is worthy of the immortal God within us, and identical in its nature with the divine quintessence, can survive," as the same text says. All divine feelings and noble thoughts in our earthly personality are direct emanations of the Spiritual Ego and therefore, are capable of returning to their Source, thus constituting an immortal part of the experience of the earthly life.

But what of the other part? Our personality produces all sorts of states – lowly and sublime included. They all together constitute our content during our incarnations. Consequently, after we abandon our physical body, the first question to decide is whether or not there is any part of the earthly personality that can be immortalized by joining the Spiritual Ego. In the conventional average version of ordinary human life, as it is explained to us, there is always such a part. However, it may be of different “size” so to say.

In the Mahatma Letters (ML-48) there is such an expression as “hard won share of immortality”. Here one might ask: What is immortality? Clearly, we cannot hope for immortality of the physical body because it is subject to unstoppable disintegration. The four elements of which it is composed, bound by karma, by the pulse of life, irrepressibly seek to return to their respective oceans. In essence, immortality for us is the continuity of consciousness. If this is achieved, it does not matter that bodies or shells change. So, the above-mentioned phrase from the Mahatma<ref>Although Mahatmas themselves have, of course, realized immortality, their physical bodies are also subject to decay and disintegration during their extremely long life. However, we may suppose that this process is controlled in their case and the mortal particles of the physical flesh are gradually substituted during life for immortal subtle particles of the astral body to create the perfect subtle body of an Adept insusceptible to decay – the process described in the seminal article ''The “Elixir of Life”''.</ref> Letters shows us that immortality is obtained by us gradually, drop by drop, and that there is some work to be done for it. Another interesting indication of the same principle can be found in the article ''Occult Study'' from ''The Five Years of Theosophy'', where it is explained that even the slightest attention seriously paid to esoteric science – the science of spirituality, we might say – leads to such change in human consciousness which will no longer disappear at rebirth, and forms a trend which will inevitably continue in the future. Somewhere along the way, we must all have generated this interest, have payed sincere attention to these matters in one way or another. So today, in this life, we have found again the sources of the Ageless Wisdom and study it to the best of our ability. The same article says that such interest in the course of an earthly life markedly changes the state of Devachan following it. By our serious interest to the True Knowledge, we noticeably alter our experience between lives. And we find echoes of these words again in the Mahatma Letters, where Sinnett asks the Mahatma, saying of himself, "…assuming that the spiritual monad temporarily engaged in this incarnation will find enough decent material in the fifth [''principle – i.e. Mind''] to lay hold of..." And the Mahatma replies: "It will find “enough decent material” and to spare. A few years of Theosophy will furnish it."

In this we get one of the answers to the question about what we should do and how to apply the theoretical knowledge about our Mind and our thought. We need to turn it to the study of Theosophy, which is the art of living and the science of life.

Reflecting on this further, we realize that in essence, as mentioned above, it all comes to the matter of improving the reconnection of our Lower Mind with our own Higher Principles.

{{Style P-Quote|Manas, being again one remove (on the downward plane) from Buddhi, is still so immeasurably higher than the physical man, that it cannot enter into direct relation with the personality, except through its reflection, the lower mind. Manas is Spiritual Self-Consciousness, in itself, and Divine Consciousness when united with Buddhi. Buddhi-Manas, therefore, is entirely unfit to manifest during its periodical incarnations, except through the human mind, or lower Manas.&nbsp;
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Esoteric Instruction III}}

In a very interesting article entitled ''Genius'' H.P. Blavatsky writes that in the true sense a genius is someone who has become quite receptive to their Higher Manas. One who has removed obstacles and purified oneself, whose receptive earthly mind has become a pure vehicle or conductor of the Higher Mind. One in whose case the glass of the lamp has been cleaned and through that person the bright light from a higher plane of existence flows unhindered into our world. People on the level of Buddha and Christ HPB calls full geniuses. Other outstanding spiritual people are geniuses in the making. It seems, that we see that in everyday life the word "genius" is used far more loosely than is given in this article but more importantly without understanding of the meaning of this phenomenon. It seems also that in most cases of such everyday usage we should rather speak about a person's talent than about their genius.

Then, if it is our goal to reconnect with our Higher Manas, the Spiritual Ego, we need to eliminate that which prevents this. In the ''Instructions'' we encounter the term "tanmatras" – properties of the material form that HPB. says must be dissipated and paralyzed in order for the Lower Manas or thinking personality to merge with its god. In the moral dimension all of these hindering qualities and properties are manifestations of selfishness. This is what theosophists so often read about in the theosophical literature and discuss. If the obstacle is that the personality, its Lower Manas, by gravitating toward Kama, creates a powerful illusion of separateness (both from its own Higher Principles and from other people – the individualized particles of the ONE BEING evolving around us), then a direct counter to this is altruism – the generation of thoughts and, crucially, sincere feelings aimed at unity with other living beings. This is what leads us gradually along the path towards the realization of the universal Oneness. This must be why so much emphasis is placed in the theosophical tradition on the development of altruism in thought and feeling, as well as in words and actions in which they are expressed. As stated in the text entitled ''Conversations on Occultism ''published by William Q. Judge'' ''in his magazine'' The Path'':

{{Style P-Quote|“The power to know does not come from book-study nor from mere philosophy, but mostly from the actual practice of altruism in deed, word, and thought; for that practice purifies the covers of the soul and permits that light to shine down into the brain-mind. As the brain-mind is the receiver in the waking state, it has to be purified from sense-perception, and the truest way to do this is by combining philosophy with the highest outward and inward virtue.”
|signature=Conversations on Occultism: IX. The Path, November 1894}}

So, on the one hand, emphasis can be placed on the importance of living pure life in order to deliver as much worthy, high-quality material as possible for our Higher Manas to assimilate and thus to make sure that as much of our earthly personality as possible manages to become immortal (however small that part of us may still be). This purity, however, does not mean emptiness or dryness, because one should strive for such life that is filled with high spiritual experiences that transcend the personal element and its limitations. In this connection, we should probably speak of nurturing and developing our Mind not in the Western sense of this word, but in the Eastern sense, which places the Mind in our heart and includes in this concept also our feelings and psychic sphere. In other words, we should develop our heart and cultivate high spiritual feelings but not only engage in intellectual efforts.

At the same time, studying esoteric science has its significant importance. It is the process by which our thought is directed, disconnecting from external senses and their derivatives, to more spiritual concepts. It frees itself from earthly mortal limitations, and thus, little by little, it begins to realize its Source, the Spiritual Ego, gradually receiving its emanations more and more fully. “…the Lower Manas is the same in its essence as the Higher and may become one with it by rejecting Kamic impulses,” – the ''Instructions<ref>Meeting XVI - March 11, 1891</ref>'' tell us. This is expressed also in the article ''Psychology, the Science of the Soul'':

{{Style P-Quote|"Buddhi-Manas … in the act of <u>self-analysis</u> or <u>highest abstract thinking</u>, <u>partially reveals its presence</u> and holds the subservient brain-consciousness in review."
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Psychology - the Science of the Soul}}

A remark about the sun can be made here. In theosophical works, we find some explanations of the importance of the sun for us and for nature as a whole. The Sun is the center of our Solar system. It is through the Sun that life energies enter this system. There is an obvious analogy here with the Higher Principles of the human being and their significance for our earthly personality. Let us turn once more to ''Conversations on Occultism'':

{{Style P-Quote|"... And not only comes mere life through that focus, but also much more that is spiritual in its essence. The sun should therefore not only be looked at with the eye but thought of by the mind. It represents to the world what the Higher Self is to the man. It is the soul-center of the world with its six companions, as the Higher Self is the center for the six principles of man. So it supplies to those six principles of the man many spiritual essences and powers. He should for that reason think of it and not confine himself to gazing at it. So far as it acts materially in light, heat, and gravity, it will go on of itself, but man as a free agent must think upon it in order to gain what benefit can come only from his voluntary action in thought.

… if at the same time … we … think on it as the sun in the sky and of its possible essential nature, we thereby draw from it some of its energy not otherwise touched.”
|signature=Conversations on Occultism: X. The Path, December 1894}}

So, the connection of our earthly personality, our earthly mind with the Higher Principles goes through the Buddhi Manas. No principle can be jumped over on this “ladder”. Consequently, although the above quotation clearly refers to the seventh principle, Atma, as the source of the other six, our very reflection on it inevitably directs us straight to our Spiritual Ego, the source of our Lower Mind. That is to say, reflecting on the Higher Principles of the human being, on our individual Sun, our earthly concrete mind always refers directly to its Source, the Higher Manas.

Finally, an important key to understanding the phenomenon of thinking is the view of Motion as of a universal process reflected in all planes of existence. The Secret Doctrine, describing the process of birth of the universe uses a set of basic symbols that denote the stages of its manifestation and development. The first of these is a circle, which is said to be the symbol of the Divine undefferentiated Oneness from which everything comes and to which everything returns; the abstract, ever incognisable PRESENCE:

{{Style P-Quote|"It is on this plane that the Manvantaric manifestations begin; for it is in this&nbsp;soul&nbsp;that slumbers, during the Pralaya, the Divine Thought, wherein lies concealed the plan of every future Cosmogony and Theogony. It is the&nbsp;one life, eternal, invisible, yet Omnipresent, without beginning or end, yet periodical in its regular manifestations, between which periods reigns the dark mystery of non-Being; unconscious, yet absolute Consciousness... Its one absolute attribute, which is&nbsp;itself, eternal, ceaseless Motion, is called in esoteric parlance the “Great Breath,” which is the perpetual motion of the universe, in the sense of limitless, ever-present&nbsp;space." 
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. The Secret Doctrine. Proem}}

The footnote to the phrase "Great Breath" also says: 

{{Style P-Quote|“Plato proves himself an Initiate, when saying in Cratylus that 'θεός' [''theos''] is derived from the verb 'θέειν' [''theein''], “to move,” “to run,” as the first astronomers who observed the motions of the heavenly bodies called the planets 'θεοί' [''theoi''], the gods.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. The Secret Doctrine. Proem}}

Here we see that the original source of Motion as such is this unknowable Absolute Consciousness, the One Life. Similarly, in the article ''Psychic and Noëtic Action'' which deals at length with the subject of Mind and its nature HPB. quoting one author shows that the term ''Atman'' also conveys the idea of movement:

{{Style P-Quote|"It is that wavy motion which is the cause of the evolution of cosmic undifferentiated matter into the differentiated universe. . . . From whence does this motion come? This motion is the spirit itself. The word&nbsp;''atma''&nbsp;(universal soul) used in the book (''vide infra''), itself carries the idea of eternal motion, coming as it does from the root, AT, or eternal motion; and it may be significantly remarked, that the root AT is connected with, is in fact simply another form of, the roots AH, breath, and AS, being. All these roots have for their origin the sound produced by the breath of animals (living beings).... The primeval current of the life-wave is then the same which assumes in man the form of inspiratory and expiatory motion of the lungs, and this is the all-pervading source of the evolution and involution of the universe...."
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Psychic and Noëtic Action}}

She adds that, "...every phenomenon in the visible universe is a manifestation of movement..." Further it is explained that the nerve energy, reaching the higher nerve centers of the human being, does not disappear (as no energy can disappear), but, "is transformed into another series, viz., that of psychic manifestations, into thought, feeling, and consciousness.” The same is true in reverse when we direct our effort to making physical movements, performing external work, etc. This is so because, “all psychic activity, from its lowest to its highest manifestations is “nothing but—motion.””

Thus, Motion as the Great Breath is the noumenon, while all manifestations of this Motion on all planes from the highest spiritual to the lowest physical are its phenomena:

{{Style P-Quote|“Motion as the GREAT BREATH … is the substratum of Kosmic-Motion. It is beginningless and endless, the one&nbsp;''eternal life'', the basis and genesis of the subjective and the objective universe; for LIFE (or Be-ness) is the&nbsp;''fons et origo&nbsp;''[source and origin]&nbsp;of existence or being. But molecular motion is the lowest and most material of its finite manifestations.”
|signature=H.P. Blavatsky. Psychic and Noëtic Action}}

Therefore, considering the phenomenon of human thinking through this grand idea of Motion, we can conclude that thinking, as we know it, is a manifestation on the plane of the human Mind (in its dual nature) of the One Motion, whose source is the Absolute Consciousness, and which manifests in a specific form and shape on every plane of existence.


{{Footnotes}}