Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tl00436)

>Martin comments: if we view swabhava as operating on all planes of
>existence, then their would be a spiritual swabhava too.
	We don't view swabhava as operating on all planes.

JS>At least, I and Buddhism don't.  It only operates on the lower
four planes (physical, astral, mental, and causal).  Above the
Abyss, the sense of oneness obliterates all swabhavic tendencies.

According to my understanding of Theosophy swabhava operates also
above the Abyss, but I'm not sure whether it is actually stated so
by GdP. He says that swabhava is behind karma, reincarnation and
hierarchies. So, for him it is a very important concept.
So, it would not surprise me (according to this line of reasoning)
if the Divine Self has or rather is its own Swabhava, being a spiritual
ray from a star (in GdP's system).
My guess is that swabhava is involved with the emanation of rays
of consciousness/light by all kinds of Monads, but I admit that
swabhava in the Theosophical sense is a rather abstruse concept.
Its like keys, chords and themes in a composition of music, the things
that structure the piece of music. Swabhava (essential characteristic) and
skandhas structure and give form, expression, to our life (a crude analogy,
perhaps).

>Martin comments: if it is a circle, then what about progressive evolution,
>a key concept in theosophy?
	
JS>"Progressive evolution" is an illusion, a maya, just like
 swabhava.  Both are very real on the lower four planes, but do not
 exist on the higher planes.

How can you be so sure about that?


>Martin comments> But most of us (all?) need several lifetimes to
>complete this circle. Every next life we get closer to this unity
>of Self with Not-Self (if we tread the spiritual path).
>So, don't we see a spiral here instead of a circle?



JS>	Yes, there is a spiral, but it exists within an overall
circle.  In order to understand reincarnation, go back to its
very beginnings and ask yourself where it all starts.  There
cannot logically be any "beginning" as such.  This is exactly
what gets Christianity into so much logical hot water.  We
only get out of this delimna by assuming a circle--we begin
as spiritual, go through countless manvantaras of spirals
both downward and upward, and then wind up spiritual
again--a big circle, without beginning or end, and without
logic problems.

	
Make it an infinite, eternally moving circle and I'll go along
with that.

Martin
Member TI