Theos-Talk Archives (August 1996 Message tl00290)

Patrick quotes Alice Bailey>
>" II. ... the one Life, manifesting through matter, produces a third factor
which is
>consciousness. ...

Richard Ihle writes>
Some interesting material, Patrick.

I could not help but notice, however, that in the above quote AB appears to
deviate from what, in my opinion at least, is the most significant premise of
the Principal Theosophical Philosophy (PTP)--viz. that Undifferentiated
Consciousness (~Brahman~/~Atman~/~Purusa~) PRECEDES matter and is certainly
NOT PRODUCED by it as is the view of most of modern scientific thinking.

Looked at in a different way, of course, the evolution of matter into simple
biological forms and then into human beings can be thought of as "producing"
all the different possibilities for "differentiated states of
consciousnessness"; however, this may be more properly regarded as a
"tainting" of Undifferentiated Consciousness by means of "interaction" with
matter (more properly:  Purusa "in association with" ~Prakriti~) and its
physical, emotional, and mental "evolutes" rather than an actual
"epi-creation" of matter.

While it is altogether likely that many parts of the PTP may be "re-worked"
to show their compatibility with modern evolutionary perspectives, it appears
doubtful that the PTP will ever be willing to give up its transcendentally
derived fundamental premise .

And again, that fundamental premise, it seems to me, is that Undifferentiated
Consciousness comes FIRST.  With the possible exception of Alice Bailey, am I
wrong in thinking that this is the "majority opinion" among theosophists?

Thanks, again, Patrick and

Godspeed,


Richard Ihle