Theos-Talk Archives (March 1999 Message tl00021)

				AN EPITOME OF EVOLUTION

	SOURCE OF THEOSOPHY

The theory of nature and of life which Theosophy offers is not at
first speculatively laid down and then proved by adjusting facts
or conclusions to fit it.  It is an explanation of existence,
cosmic and individual, derived from knowledge reached by those
who have acquired the power to see behind the curtain that hides
the operations of nature.  Such Beings are called Sages, using
the term in its highest sense, also, Mahatmas and Adepts.

The power to see and absolutely know such laws is surrounded by
natural inherent regulations which must be complied with as
conditions precedent; and it is not possible to respond to the
demand of the worldly man for an immediate statement of this
wisdom until those conditions are fulfilled.

As this knowledge deals with laws and states of matter, and of
consciousness undreamed of by the "practical" Western world, it
can only be grasped, piece by piece, as the student pushes
forward the demolition of his preconceived notions, that are due
to inadequate or erroneous theories.  A false method of reasoning
has for many centuries prevailed, resulting in an almost
universal habit of mind which causes men to look upon many
effects as causes, and to regard that which is real as the
unreal, putting meanwhile the unreal in the place of the real.

	FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS

The following are some of the fundamental propositions of
Theosophy:

The SPIRIT in man is the only real and permanent part of his
being; the rest of his nature being variously compounded. And
since decay is incident to all composite things, everything in
man but his Spirit is impermanent.

The UNIVERSE BEING ONE AND NOT DIVERSE, and everything within it
is connected with the whole and with every other thing.  Upon the
upper plane there is a perfect record continuously made. No act
or thought occurs without each portion of the great whole
perceiving and noting it. Hence, all being and humans are
inseparably bound together by the tie of Brotherhood.

	THE UNITARY SOURCE OF LIFE

This first fundamental proposition of Theosophy postulates that
the universe is not an aggregation of diverse unities but that it
is ONE WHOLE, denominated "Deity" or "Para-Brahm."

It may be called the Unmanifested, containing within itself the
potency of every form of manifestation, together with the laws
governing those manifestations.

It is taught that there is no "creation" of worlds; but their
appearance is due strictly to evolution. When the time comes for
the Unmanifested to manifest as an objective Universe, it
emanates a Power or "The First Cause"-so called because it itself
is the rootless root of that Cause, and called in the East the
"Causeless Cause."

	Process of Manifestation

The first Cause we may call Brahma, or by any name we please. The
projection into TIME of the influence of universal Life (Jiva),
called also the "out-breathing of Brahma," causes all the worlds
and the beings upon them to gradually appear. They remain in
manifestation just as long as that influence continues to proceed
forth in evolution. After long aeons the outbreathing,
evolutionary influence slackens, and the universe begins to go
into obscuration, or pralaya, until, the "breath" being fully
indrawn, no objects remain, because nothing is but Brahma the
manifested Logos. This breathing-forth is known as a Manvantara,
or the Manifestation of the world between two Manus (from Manu,
and Antara "between"), and the completion of the inbreathing
brings with it Pralaya, or the dispersal of all forms
(destruction

Spirit and Matter

For the purpose of a Manvantara two so-called eternal principles
are postulated, that is, Purusha (Spirit),and Prakriti (Matter)
because both are ever present and conjoined in each
manifestation. Purusha is not the unmanifested, nor is Prakriti
matter as known to science; the Sages therefore declare that
there is a higher spirit still, called Purushottama.  The reason
for this is that at the night of Brahma, or the so-called
indrawing of his breath, both Purusha and Prakriti are absorbed
in the Unmanifested.

	Universal Evolution

This brings us to the doctrine of Universal Evolution. The
Spirit, or Purusha, proceeds from Brahma through the various
forms of matter evolved at the same time, beginning in the world
of the spiritual from the highest and in the material world from
the lowest form. The lowest form is one unknown as yet to modern
science. Thus, therefore, the mineral, vegetable and animal forms
each imprison a spark of the Divine, a portion of the indivisible
Purusha.

These sparks struggle to "return to the Father," or in other
words, to secure self-consciousness and at last come into the
highest form, on Earth, that of man, where alone
self-conscious-ness is possible to them.

The period, calculated in human time, during which this evolution
goes on embraces millions of ages. Each spark of divinity has,
therefore, millions of ages in which to accomplish its
mission--that of obtaining complete self-consciousness while in
the form of man.

	Self-Consciousness

By this is not meant that the mere act of coming into human form
of itself confers self-consciousness upon this divine spark. That
great work may be accomplished during the Manvantara in which a
Divine spark reaches the human form, or it may not; all depends
upon the individual's own will and efforts. Each particular
spirit thus goes through the Manvantara, or enters into
manifestation for its own enrichment and for that of the Whole.

	Goal of Evolution

Mahatmas and Rishis are thus gradually evolved during a
Manvantara, and become, after its expiration, planetary spirits,
who guide the evolutions of other future planets. The planetary
spirits of our globe are those who in previous Manvantaras-or
days of Brahma- made the efforts, and became in the course of
that long period Mahatmas.
Each Manvantara is for the same end and purpose, so that the
Mahatmas who have now attained those heights, or those who may
become such in the succeeding years of the present Manvantara,
will probably be the planetary spirits of the next Manvantara for
this or other planets. This system is thus seen to be based upon
the identity of Spiritual Being, and, under the name of
"Universal Brotherhood,"
Is all Theosophical teaching and work done.

	Spirit is Universal

The Sages say that this Purusha (spirit) is the basis of all
manifested objects. Without it nothing could exist or cohere. It
interpenetrates everything everywhere. It is the reality of
which, or upon which, those things called real by us are mere
images. As Purusha reaches to and embraces all beings, they are
all connected together; and in or on the plane where that Purusha
is, there is a perfect consciousness of every act, thought,
object, and circumstance, whether supposed to occur there, or on
this plane, or any other. For below the spirit and above the
intellect is a plane of consciousness in which experiences are
noted, commonly called man's "spiritual nature;" this is
frequently said to be as susceptible of culture as his body or
his intellect.
This upper plane is the real register of all sensations and
experiences, although there are other registering planes. It is
sometimes called the "subconscious mind." Theosophy, however,
holds that the "spirit" is only "cultivated" in the sense of
having a vehicle prepared for its use, into which it may descend.
It is held that the real man, who is the higher self-being the
spark of the Divine before alluded to-overshadows the visible
being, which has the possibility of becoming united to that
spark. Thus it is said that the higher Spirit is not in the man,
but above him. It is always peaceful, unconcerned, blissful, and
full of absolute knowledge. It continually partakes of the Divine
state, being continually that state itself, "conjoined with the
Gods, it feeds upon Ambrosia." The object of the student is to
let the light of that spirit shine through the lower coverings.

	Spiritual Cultivation - the Goal of Evolution

This "spiritual culture" is only attainable as the grosser
interests, passions, and demands of the flesh are subordinated to
the interests, aspirations and needs of the higher nature; and
this is a matter of both system and established law.
This spirit can only become the ruler when the firm intellectual
acknowledgment or admission is first made that IT alone is. And,
as stated above, it being not only the person concerned but also
the whole, all selfishness must be eliminated from the lower
nature before its divine state can be reached. So long as the
smallest personal or selfish desire- even for spiritual
attainment for our own sake--remains, so long is the desired end
put off. Hence the above term "demands of the flesh" really
covers also demands that are not of the flesh, and its proper
rendering would be "desires of the personal nature, including
those of the individual soul. "
When systematically trained in accordance with the aforesaid
system and law, men attain to clear insight into the immaterial,
spiritual world, and their interior faculties apprehend truth as
immediately and readily as physical faculties grasp the things of
sense, or mental faculties those of reason. Or, in the words used
by some of them, "They are able to look directly upon ideas;" and
hence their testimony to such truth is as trustworthy as is that
of scientists or philosophers to truth in their respective
fields.
In the course of this spiritual training such men acquire
perception of, and control over, various forces in Nature unknown
to other men, and thus are able to perform works usually called
"miraculous," though really but the result of larger knowledge of
natural law.

[Extracts from: 	"An Epitome of Theosophy" by W. Q. Judge.]
offered by Dallas.  Mar 6th 1999