Theos-Talk Archives (November 1994 Message tl00063)

Jerry's comments to Martin's essay have left me with a thought:

Jerry write, <Since consciousness is an infinitely graded plane,
it is traditionally defined by establishing poles (lokas and
talas).  Since the division of anything that is infinitely graded
must be arbitrary, the choosing of one possible division over
another is done for the purpose of getting across one or another
aspect of the teachings.  Thus one division will always be as
good as another, depending upon what you want to get across.  >

This comment is rather obscure, although I think I know what was
intended.  I know that the early theosophical writers implied
that consciousness can somehow move across the cosmic planes in a
continuous manner (nature never makes abrupt moves, I think G de
P says somewhere.  If consciousness can make motions that are
continuous, so that we slowly gradually ease from one to the
other (i.e., by ascending or descending subplanes) then divisions
become relative, as Jerry implies.  However, I rather think that
consciousness moves in jumps, much like quanta on the subatomic
level.  We know today that nature does, in fact, move in jumps
and is as discontinuous as it is continuous (e.g., quantum
mechanics).  Experience also tells us that our consciousness
moves from plane to plane in jumps.  This is further
substantiated by looking a HPB's Gupta Vidya Model, in which all
vertical paths between Globes are "laya centers" which HPB
clearly points out are discontinuous leaps rather than paths.  In
fact, it is just in this area where I have found the most
discrepancy between her GV Model and the Qabalistic Tree of Life
where the Sephiroth are all interconnected by 22 pathways that
can be explored by consciousness - thus the Tree is relatively
continuous while the GV Model (using laya centers, which HPB says
is the *only* way to cross through the planes) is not.  Anyone
have some ideas on this?

In any case, it seems to me that consciousness jumps into the
lokas and talas (which I believe correspond to the Globes of the
GV Model) rather than eases into them through some kind of
pathway.

Jerry S.