Theos-Talk Archives (August 1994 Message tl00049)

This is by Brenda Tucker.

In looking through THE SECRET DOCTRINE for ideas on Atma-Buddhi, I
settled on Volume I, Stanza VI, Sloka 5, p.  191-192.

It reads (minus H.P.B's parenthesis): "At the fourth the sons are
told to create their images.  One third refuses-Two obey.  The
curse is pronounced: They will be born in the fourth, suffer and
cause suffering.  This is the first war."

For my purposes, rather than think that this refers to human egos,
I prefer to think this relates to the elementals.  In my last post,
I chose to portray this group as children and the four materialized
kingdoms as adults.  Thereby, it was the astral and etheric
elementals who created in their image.  Since the mental elementals
refused to create, they were born into vehicles.  Definitely mental
genetics!

I don't know if I made myself clear or not in how I am portraying
the astral.  Partly because of what Jerry has so stubbornly said
about astral being in H.P.B.'s mind a shadowy prototype of the
physical and that upon which the physical body was built, I have
chosen to limit by understanding of astral in a peculiar way for
the purpose of presenting information here.  In general, all
reference to astral refers to human forms - elves, imps, fairies,
gnomes, etc., being included.  I have no acceptance of this
information as he presents it other than for testing and evaluating
further the subject of the elementals in this context.  H.P.B.'s
presentation of material for study is inextricably linked to
cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis.  Other people have attempted to
open us to future possibilities for the revelation of atma and
buddhi in our lives and activity as aspirants and chelas on the
path of adeptship.

There is a really fun book titled ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES from our
L.A.  public library with stories and lore from Ireland.  I'm sure
you can recall the way in which the fairies could disappear into
thin air when approached by humans and I often picture them in
particular harmony with the plant kingdom and in relation to man's
quest in providing healthy vegetables for the table.  I'm not
certain, but perhaps there was an abundance of thought towards this
achievement which added to the inducement for fairy participation
as I would imagine astral beings gather where man's thoughts are
directed.

The etheric elementals I am unclear regarding, but prefer something
of an interpenetration (without massive separate existence) with
the lower levels of the physical plane.

H.P.B.  comments: "And it so happens that we are in the Fourth
Round at the middle point of which the perfect equilibrium between
Spirit and Matter had to take place."

As the Manasaputras had departed and man had fallen into generation
by sex, in the fourth root race there are two simultaneous tasks
for man: human intellectuality and responsibility for continuing
the physical races.

Two paths were needed at this point of "perfect equilibrium" - a
physical or left hand path and spiritual-mental or right hand path,

as H.P.B.  mentions in the footnote to above referenced quote.
What this means to me is that while the path is available through
physical contact and endeavor, it is not until the path is taken
inward and is stimulated from atma-buddhi that the right hand path
is found.  Through atma-buddhi man becomes a giver of life to all
of the seven kingdoms in form existence.  Thoughts especially
become covered with will and love-wisdom and their sojourn as well
as man's is a happy one.

Says The Commentary (not H.P.B.'s own, but the one which came with
the Stanzas): "The holy youths (the gods) refused to multiply and
create species after their likeness, after their kind.  They are
not fit form [rupas] for us.  They have to grow.  They refuse to
enter the chhayas [shadows or images] of their inferiors.  Thus had
selfish feeling prevailed from the beginning, even among the gods,
and they fell under the eye of the Karmic Lipikas."

While mind recently had been left by the Manasaputras to man's own
inclinations, the thought world still probably retained much of the
vibration of their previous habitation and H.P.B.  likewise says in
the above mentioned footnote, it was "...during the highest point
of civilization and knowledge, as also of human intellectuality..."
(that the two paths were begun.)

I'm suggesting that "the holy youths (the gods)" refers to the
mental elementals.  Every time the commentary says "they," it
refers to qualities of material existence (except in the last
sentence regarding selfishness.) I wonder especially about the
mention of the activity of "entering inferior shadows." Perhaps
this could be an inner world activity of the thought elementals,
involving their love of descent or involution as a method of
progress, which if they had created as told in the material plane,
would have been severely stifled just as their freedom of movement
could have been.  Why would they be classified as inferior though
since the astral elementals are the next kingdom forward to the
mental elementals? Perhaps H.P.B.  was using the sense in our human
understanding of inferior: emotions being inferior generally to
thoughts.

Since the thought elementals were previously existent within the
minds of Manasaputras (beings further evolved than man) and the
Manasaputras acted as an intermediary to man's progress, the
elementals would have been quite satisfied with their lives as the
Manasaputras (as I imagine them) are more responsive to Atma-
Buddhi and can direct all seven kingdoms on earth simultaneously,
justly, and with equanimity for the benefit of all.

Before the Fall, generation of human and animal form took place
through the will of the Creators.  Thus, perhaps this is the reason
that fairy children in today's time (Ireland, 1600s) are so rare.

Their generation still takes place through the will of the
Creators.  Also, this might explain why mankind existed for long
ages (500 years) in the Old Testament of The Bible - a carryover
from the third and even fourth root races.

Through the working of astral elementals, all in human (or near
human) form, all material existence has inclination to human
existence.  And why not!? We're in a human based chain.  Matter
coagulates for that ultimate (in a chain of ultimates) purpose.  It
is possible to prefer this kingdom, and to see their enterprise in
much of what we do, even to the extent of centering oneself
astrally in much of one's relations with other people.  The human
being who lives without close contact to atma-buddhi, who daily
wears away his or her unreplenished astral resources, practically
void of reason and love for mankind as well as aspiration, is a
type of an imp, dependent upon forces of nature for his or her
daily life energy.

To culminate this message, and of special importance in this
context, H.P.B.  says, "Spirit per se is an unconscious negative
abstraction.  (Eldon's infinite darkness in his essay on first
cause.) Its purity is inherent, not acquired by merit;" In
Kabalistic terms, "...no Spirit could belong to the divine
hierarchy unless Ruah (Spirit) was united to Nephesh (living
Soul)..." and in Eastern Esoteric teaching, "A Dhyani has to be an
Atma-Buddhi; once the Buddhi-Manas breaks loose from its immortal
Atman of which it (Buddhi) is the vehicle, Atman passes into non-
being, which is absolute Being."

Interpret this sentence by H.P.B.  in a similar context.  "Satan
and his rebellious host would thus prove, when the meaning of the
allegory is explained, to have refused to create physical man, only
to become the direct Saviors and the Creators of "divine Man." Vol
I p.  193 The mind is our most valuable resource.  Look at the
remaining five pages for further elucidation.

The closest I can come to participating in this work of clothing
thoughts in Atma-Buddhi is to bless this work before putting it on
the network and to request that the masters or celestial
hierarchies do the same.  By not ever allowing it to appear simply
as thought alone in my consciousness, but by seeing it as a
threefold manifestation which rays out its influence to all life on
earth in abundance and magnificence, we should be able to escape
its negative downward tendency of involution and simultaneously
result in a product which is not specifically of benefit to men
singly, but only in their relation to the entire earth scheme.