Theosophy terms

 

Theosophy terminology

Ātman (Sanskrit, âtman: Self). The universal spirit in nature and in us. 

Ātman is not an individual part of us, but the inseparable ray of the divine essence, the essence with which everything created is fundamentally one (the “Father in secret” of Jesus). Through this divine spark we are connected to each other in the depths of our being. The root of the word âtman, can be found in western languages as breath (in the German language as the verb atmen, der Atem as noun) and gives Adam in the biblical text a deeper content: “Then the LORD God sculpted man out of dust that he took from the earth, and He breathed the breath of life into his nose, thus man became a living being”. (Genesis 2.7).

Aspects: (factual) will, source of courage, determination, strength, endurance, discipline.

12 Buddhi (Sanskrit, bud: to awaken, perceiving, learning). Spiritual soul.

The root of the word, bud,(pronounced like bully) to awaken, indicates that the wisdom level is concerned with awakening to the truth, or recognizing the truth in something, as opposed to believing, guessing, hypothesizing, etcetera. 

It is comparable with the  Greek word gnosis. 

Buddhi transforms the high energies from âtman to manas through inspiration, transcending the level of reality as known by thought. 

Words can therefore only be signposts in an attempt to appeal to intuition and thus to indicate the concept. The influence of buddhi can be stimu-lated through symbolic, mythical thinking, reading spiritual texts, looking at art, experiencing beauty, listening with the heart. As soon as the mind wants to ‘take’ these experiences, analyze them, it is gone. 

Buddhi is an ability that is dormant in most people and only fully at work among the great spiritual leaders of humanity. In those cases buddhi can connect directly with others, from mind to spirit rather than through words or sight. This brings with it complete understanding, and therefore perfect empathy and compassion. 

Buddhi is sometimes called ‘the Observer’. Aspects: spiritual wisdom, spiritual intuition, insight, compassion, cosmic consciousness, inner peace. The source of our conscience, duty, space, universal intelligence, pure reason, impersonal, divine love, experience of unity. Characteristic of buddhi is openness, space, freedom, creativity. The mind is then liberating, gives way to space, allowing the spiritual intuition to express itself. This is the bliss that arises from direct perception, the experience of the unity of all existence. Intuition, a frequently used word, needs an explanation here. Spiritual intuition (buddhi) has nothing to do with a hunch, ESP or extrasensory perceptions, which are more at the level of the astral. It has to do with insight, directly perceiving what transcends rational thinking. 

Manas: (Sanskrit, manas: mind, thought). The human soul, as opposed to the spiritual soul of buddhi.

The human mind, mental activity, conscious attention. Manas is self-consciousness, which connects the spiritual with the physical. The root of the word manas can be found in western languages; such as the gender-neutral connotation of the German and English word man. It shows that manas is the human aspect of our consciousness. 

This thinking principle operates on two levels; higher and lower manas, two faces of the same principle. 

1. Higher (buddhi-) manas (higher self / wisdom mind). This form of pure  thinking increases when it controls its passions (kāma) and is inspired by  buddhi, when it develops its conscience and has selfless love for all. Talent  for esotericism, abstract thinking, music and mathematics originate here. 

2. Lower (kāma-) manas (lower self, desire mind). This stands for ordinary  concrete daily thinking. It solves the daily problems, understands and  organizes things. Is constantly in motion, has a tendency to scattering,  restlessness, desire for sensations. Partly because of this, it is closely  linked to kāma (emotion, desire and self-preservation).  It always finds justifications for what we “want”. This combination of   thought and feelings corresponds to Plato’s mortal soul (psyche).  This is the domain of separateness, identification with the personality.  Our desire mind does not know things as they are but only the reflections  that are formed in our mind, as in the analogy of Plato’s cave.  At best, it opens itself up to the higher aspects of manas.

Kāma Kāma has a strong influence on our thinking, it relates to desire in all its forms, of emotion, feeling, self-preservation. Because the reactions to these emotions, etcetera are sometimes intense, and always unreasonable, it has a bad reputa-tion. Yet it is fundamental to life. Kāma appreciates the sensations of the senses as pleasant and unpleasant. Under the influence of the mind (kāma-manas), a desire arises to repeat the pleasant, or to avoid the unpleasant, thereby creates (pre)judgments, block-ages. As a result, we find it difficult to experience afresh new ideas and events. This aspect of our consciousness is also called the personality. Characteristic for kāma is identification with, and strengthening of the persona-lity, the ego. Actions bind us, limit us, lock us in. These also create the illusion that we are spiritually doing well, are advancing. 

Aspects: Kāma has three aspects: 

1. Will. The will, as part of the emotional life, has a strong influence on our  thinking. It is also the source of the will to live, of our motivation, and re   presents the divine will to do good, to create, to gain experience through it.

 If the motivation is well tuned, it responds to the sensations, but also  resonates with the deepest intuition in us. In fact, it has two aspects,  desire and emotion.

2. Desire. The essential nature of desire is the attraction of things that bring  joy to a person and repulsion of those things that displease the person.  This attracting and repelling shows the presence of power, which is  essentially the same as willpower. There is therefore no essential difference  between desire and will, since desire is in some respects only the reflection  of the will on the emotional plane. 

3. Emotion. Love or hate is the power of motivation, stimulates thoughts,  drives action. Without it, man becomes inert. 

Desire and will, a fundamental difference 

In an article, H.P.B. explains the difference between desire and will. “At the universal level, desire and will are indistinguishable kama. On the human level, however, there is distinction, and desire and will are opposing forces. The difference is that ‘will’ comes from the divine, the god in man, while ‘desire’ is the motivating selfish force in material life. Most people are unable to tell the difference between desire and will, mistaking desire for will. Both desire and will are creative forces through which man shapes himself and his environment. However, the person who wants to develop spiritually would do well to learn to distinguish desire from will. Desire should be curbed, but if it is given free rein, it will hang from one’s neck like a millstone in the form of karma.”Collected Writings VIII, H.P. Blavatsky, page 109 

Desire is originally the divine desire to do good However, there is one form of desire (kama) that helps us move forward on our path and that is aspiration, the pursuit of spiritual development. Originally, kama is the divine desire to do good, to be compassionate and merciful, and comes from the heart. This divine desire is a force that allows the mind (manas) to be elevated from desire (kama) to spiritual inspiration (buddhi). 

Vitality (Prana) Prana is the energy that permeates all creation, similar to the radiating power of âtman. It is an indispensable factor of the living human being. An uninterrupted flow of prana is necessary for the health of body and mind. With a lack of sufficient prana, we would feel depressed and could get ill.

The etheric double (Linga Sharira, Sanskrit: distinctive shape) The vehicle of prana is a more delicate body, through which prana flows. It provides the model for the development of the physical body and is thus sometimes called ‘the double’, the model body or life body. 

The physical body (Sthula Sharira) Our consciousness is closely linked to our physical body, the vehicle of all other principles throughout life. From a spiritual perspective, it is important not to identify with the body. We are not our body, we have a body, a vehicle that needs to be well maintained. It is from a stable body that we can develop spiritually, and therefore the monad (see hereunder) can express itself better. 

Some concepts explained in more detail 

As has been said, it is precisely the interaction between the principles that is very important. These are often summarized under other concepts, which may be helpful for consideration.

The monad; the pilgrim. 

Ātman and buddhi need a vehicle, one might also say a catalyst, to be able to work in creation, just as the holy spirit transmits the impulse of the father to the son. Ātman’s impulse is emitted by buddhi, its vehicle. Ātman and buddhi together therefore form a duality, referred to as the monad, also called the pilgrim. These two aspects of the One then give rise to the dualities of life and form. The monad itself is impersonal, without attributes, and thus of little use to us unless the divine impulse is absorbed and reflected by consciousness (manas). This thus creates the individuality. 

Personality and individuality A seemingly very simple view of our consciousness is the distinction between individuality and personality. It is the personality we identify with, that we think we are, as human beings. The origin of the word persona (Greek: stage mask) already indicates that it is about appearances, a role that we play. The personality is formed by the world of involution, one might say. The world where the monad must play its part, where the pilgrim must go on their journey. However, that mundane world has become very dominant and seems to have taken over the “role-playing”. If we observe ourselves closely, it turns out that this personality consists of a large number of sub-personalities, each playing 

At the beginning of this chapter HPB their own role, whether or not influenced by mentions that we function on different aspects of kāma. The self-identification of wave lengths. The waves of our cons-ciouness are visible by clairvoyants. the personality is culture-bound and is Desire exhibiting in this astral body is particularly strong. It does everything it very much mind controlled. can to avoid losing its control, not to allow 

The yellow light circling the head room for individuality. It is precisely the represents the intellect. identification with the personality that is one of the barriers on the spiritual path. C.W. Leadbeater, Man Visible and Those who choose this path realize that Invisible. they have to keep a close eye on the personality, with all its “tricks”. 

One of the pitfalls is that the strengthening  personality on this path believes that it is making significant strides. The individuality (Causal body) arises when consciousness (manas) is open to the influence of buddhi and can thus add uplifting experiences to the monad. In this way, the pilgrimage of the monad is enriched, on its way to a conscious reunion with the Absolute. The personality then becomes the servant of individuality, in the field of experience. Individuality does not include elements of personality.

Characteristic of actions motivated by individuality is that the results are libera-ting, healing, while actions from the personality are prejudicial, the results of which limit us, bind us, fix us.