Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00308)

Jerry S:

>How does one "explore with the mind?" If you mean
>by studying, reading, and thinking about doctrinal ideas, then
>I have to disagree completely.

Purucker speaks of this in several places. The quote which I
most quickly found goes:

"So it is with spiritual clairvoyance. What the physical eye sees,
you must be perfectly assurred is something quite other than spiritual
clairvoyance. Spiritual clairvoyance is the faculty of vision, of
seeing, with the inner eye; and it is not so much a seeing of forms
and of things, as a getting of knowledge, and because this getting
of knowledge comes in a way whhich has a close parallel to seeing
with the physical eye, it is called spiritual 'clairvoyance'
--direct vision. (The Esoteric or Oriental School: Steps in the
Initiatory Cycle, 77)

>I also am not sure what you
>mean by "exploring with the senses," and I have the uneasy
>feeling that you don't really know what you are talking about
>here (I am sure that you do, but it just isn't coming through
>to me).

I'm not speaking of a second form of *external, physical experience*
that can be had by the use of the mind, apart from the actual act
of "going there and doing it." My reference is to a second way of
*knowing by experience* through a higher faculty of mind, a form
of knowing that does not require the external physical event. It's
a difficult subject to write about, and I'm probably need to write
an article to clairfy what I'm trying to write about.

>Exactly what do you think the psychic senses are?
>I would love for anyone to tell me the difference between
>"psychic senses" and "exploring with the mind" because the
>last time I looked, the word psychic was equivalent to
>mental.

Purucker uses "psychic" differently than "mental", and I think
that HPB did too. We cannot always consult our dictionaries for the
proper theosophical usage of a term, if we want to understand
what we're reading in our theosophical books.

We can understand atomic physics through reason, experimentation,
and flashes of intuition. This did not require any psychical
senses or "occult chemistry". Those "flashes of intuition" become
over time a more continuous experience of mind, where we have on
tap a source of hints, inspirations, and actual information on tap.

>What "senses" do we use in yogic meditation? I
>always thought that the whole goal of "astral traveling"
>(which is a very misleading name) was to direct consciousness
>entirely outside of the human mind, which is limited to
>the third cosmic plane.

Most of the books that I've read do not promote astral travel as
a goal. I don't think we try to take our consciousness out of the
human mind. The goal is to shift the awareness away from the mind,
to go higher within, and become aware of other manners of
consciousness. The mind continues, the stream of thoughts continue.
And so do those of feelings and sense perception. We are looking
deeper within for untapped ways of being aware of life and appreciating
it. The goal is not to escape our physical world, and merely be an
embodied being on some other plane, it is, I'd say, to awaken yet
higher parts of our nature, which to this point are dormant in
our physical lifes.

>Inner senses, like the ones
>we have in dreams, for example, are limited to the second
>plane. The human mind itself is limited to the direct
>observation of only one cosmic plane. But consciousness can
>"explore" all seven cosmic planes.

This description depends upon our model of globes, planes, principles,
etc., which can be quite an involved discussion. I'd say that on
any plane that we may come into existence, we take on all seven
principles, which represent the complete ingredients of consciousness.
This includes both an other form, senses, feelings, thought, etc.
But our evolution *is here*. We are working on bringing our higher
principles into consciousness in and through our human personalities.

>Eldon:< The deep study comes from a self-actualized process
>that transforms the inner and outer man, a process that reaches
>from the external senses to the inner spirit, and changes him
>throughout.>

>I wish you would expound on this in more detail. I
>am an "at large" member in both Pasadena and Wheaton, and
>honestly have no idea what you mean by "deep study." All
>of my own deep studying has been outside of the TS.

This is another topic for an article. There are also come good
Purucker quotes that I may be able to find.

>[Speaking regarding future Hodson's and other psychical explorers:]

>The difficulties and dangers are up to those few
>individuals who Dare to Try, and not up to the TSs.

When we take a theosophical group as a seekers' club, then any
and every approach is appropriate, and such a goal might be put
forth. When we take a particular approach to the spiritual, like
that promoted by Purucker, we would find ourselves told that
such an approach is counterproductive, that it has no more to
do with the awakening of the spiritual than taking a trip to
Africa.

>As I see it, the TSs' job is to make available the "core teachings,"
>which form much of the theoretical end of the psychic milieu.

A study combined with the attempt to live a spiritual life is
practical, not theoretical. It is a tried-and-proven approach.
It could be argued that the intellectual-spiritual approach is
the direct one, and an emphasis on the psychic abilities leads
people to avoid it, rejecting it as theoretical because it may
seem less tangible than an experience of the senses.

Apart from approaches to spiritual development, it might be
argued that having psychic abilities is a gift that allows
someone do to exceptional good in the world. Any faculty we
have can be a gift, if used to help others. What are we doing
with what we already have?

>Those individuals with psychic abilities, or those who want
>them, can find lots of books and/or "gurus" outside of the
>TSs, while using the "core teachings" as their theoretical
>background. It works for me.

It seems to work that way. But we have much more to offer than
training in psychic abilities.

-- Eldon