Theos-Talk Archives (November 1993 Message tl00043)

    Thanks for your reply to the KH quote I sent you to counter your
view that no individual can operate more than one body at once. Prior
to reading your answer, I saw your stuff opposing the concept of group
souls.

     I think you are quite wrong on those subjects - surprisingly so,
considering the very thoughtful nature of your remarks generally. Your
reply to the KH quote I sent reminds me of the story on this network
about the Los Angeles theosophist who refused to believe that Morya
smoked a pipe, despite all the plain testimony from Morya himself and
others.

     Theosophists often tend to have too active minds, using their
lively intellects to speculate and imagine so much that simple truths
become obscured and distorted. I fear you have fallen into this
tendency. KH's words on the Tchang-chub adept are pretty simple and
clear. Your suggested interpretations show knowledge of theosophical
material, but not close and open attention to what KH said.

     That said, I'll try again with KH words, not sharing your
absolute pessimism about the possibility of "converting" people. From
page 43 of "The Mahatma Letters":

     "When our great Buddha - the patron of all the adepts, the
reformer and codifier of the occult system, reached first Nirvana on
earth, he became a Planetary Spirit; i.e. - his spirit could at one
and the same time rove the interstellar spaces in full consciousness,
and continue at will on Earth in his original and individual body. For
the divine Self had so completely disfranchised itself from matter
that it could create at will an inner substitute for itself, and
leaving it in the human form for days, weeks, sometimes years, affect
in no wise by the change either the vital principle or the physical
mind of its body. By the way, that is the highest form of adeptship
man can hope for on our planet."

     Surely it is impossible to believe that KH meant to say that,
during those days, weeks, and sometimes years, the human form was, as
you would have it, fast asleep or meditating. Consider the exoteric
story that Buddha died at 80, and the esoteric one that 80 really
refers to his Nirvana, he having lived to 100.

     Teachings about group souls and individualization are not, as you
have it, due to Besant/Leadbeater theosophy. The intelligence evident
in a single ant is localized in that ant? Consider the path from
androgyny to separate sexes back to androgyny. Ask theater people
about "group soul" theater audience behavior. Think about the "one
flesh" of the traditional marriage concept. HPB had her cigarettes,
Morya his pipe. .
                                        James T.Anderson