THEOSOPHY
Theosophical Society,
Key Concepts of Theosophy
1) Infinitude
Nature is infinite in space and time --
boundless and eternal, unfathomable
and ineffable. The
all-pervading essence of infinite nature can be called
space,
consciousness, life, substance, force, energy, divinity -- all of which
are fundamentally
one.
2) The finite
and the infinite
Nature is a unity in diversity, one in
essence, manifold in form. The infinite
whole is composed of
an infinite number of finite wholes -- the relatively
stable and
autonomous things (natural systems or artefacts) that
we observe
around us. Every natural
system is not only a conscious, living, substantial
entity, but is
consciousness-life-substance, of a particular range of density
and form. Infinite
nature is an abstraction, not an entity; it therefore does
not act or change
and has no attributes. The finite, concrete systems of which
it is composed, on
the other hand, move and change, act and interact, and
possess attributes.
They are composite, inhomogeneous, and ultimately
transient.
3)
Vibration/worlds within worlds
The one essence manifests not only in
infinitely varied forms, and on
infinitely varied
scales, but also in infinitely varying degrees of
spirituality and
substantiality, comprising an infinite spectrum of vibration
or density. There is
therefore an endless series of interpenetrating,
interacting worlds
within worlds, systems within systems. The
energy-substances of
higher planes or subplanes (a plane being a
particular
range of vibration)
are relatively more homogeneous and less differentiated
than those of lower
planes or subplanes.
4) Space and
time
Just as boundless space is comprised of
endless finite units of space, so
eternal duration is
comprised of endless finite units of time. Space is the
infinite totality of
worlds within worlds, but appears predominantly empty
because only a tiny
fraction of the energy-substances composing it are
perceptible and
tangible to an entity at any particular moment. Time is a
concept we use to
quantify the rate at which events occur; it is a function of
change and motion,
and presupposes a succession of cause and effect. Every
entity is extended
in space and changes 'in time'.
5)
Causation/karma
All change (of position, substance, or form) is
the result of causes; there is
no such thing as
absolute chance. Nothing can happen for no reason at
all for
nothing exists in
isolation; everything is part of an intricate web of causal
interconnections and
interactions. The keynote of nature is harmony: every
action is
automatically followed by an equal and opposite reaction, which
sooner or later
rebounds upon the originator of the initial act. Thus, all our
thoughts and deeds
will eventually bring us 'fortune' or 'misfortune'
according to the
degree to which they were harmonious or disharmonious.
In the
long term, perfect justice prevails in nature.
6) Analogy
Because nature is fundamentally one, and the
same basic habits and structural,
geometric, and
evolutionary principles apply throughout, there are
correspondences
between microcosm and macrocosm. The principle of
analogy -- as above,
so below -- is a vital tool in our efforts to understand
reality.
7) Relativity
All finite systems and their attributes are
relative. For any entity,
energy-substances
vibrating within the same range of frequencies as its outer
body are 'physical'
matter, and finer grades of substance are what we call
energy, force,
thought, desire, mind, spirit, consciousness, but these are
just as material to
entities on the corresponding planes as our physical world
is to us. Distance
and time units are also relative: an atom is a solar system
on its own scale, reembodying perhaps millions of times in what for us is one
second, and our
whole galaxy may be a molecule in some supercosmic
entity,
for which a million of our years is just a
second. The range of scale is infinite:
matter-consciousness
is both infinitely divisible and infinitely aggregative.
8) Hierarchy
All natural systems consist of smaller
systems and form part of larger
systems. Hierarchies
extend both 'horizontally' (on the same plane) and
'vertically' or
inwardly (to higher and lower planes). On the horizontal
level, subatomic
particles form atoms, which combine into molecules, which
arrange themselves
into cells, which form tissues and organs, which form part
of organisms, which
form part of ecosystems, which form part of planets,
solar systems,
galaxies, etc. The constitution of worlds and of the organisms
that inhabit them form 'vertical'
hierarchies, and can be divided into several
interpenetrating
layers or elements, from physical-astral to psychomental
to
spiritual-divine,
each of which can be further divided. The human constitution
can be divided up in
several different ways: e.g. into a trinity of body,
soul, and spirit; or
into 7 'principles' -- a lower quaternary consisting of
physical body,
astral model-body, life-energy, and lower thoughts and desires,
and an upper triad
consisting of higher mind (reincarnating ego), spiritual
intuition, and inner
god. A planet or star can be regarded as a 'chain' of 12
globes, existing on
7 planes, each globe comprising several subplanes.
The
highest part of
every multilevelled organism or hierarchy is its
spiritual
summit or
'absolute', meaning a collective entity or 'deity' which is
relatively perfected
in relation to the hierarchy in question. But the most
'spiritual' pole of
one hierarchy is the most 'material' pole of the next,
superior hierarchy,
just as the lowest pole of one hierarchy is the highest
pole of the one
below.
9) From within
outwards
Each level of a hierarchical system exercises
a formative and organizing
influence on the
lower levels (through the patterns and prototypes stored up
from past cycles of
activity), while the lower levels in turn react upon the
higher. A system is therefore
formed and organized mainly from within
outwards, from the
inner levels of its constitution, which are relatively more
enduring and
developed than the outer levels. This inner guidance is sometimes
active and selfconscious, as in our acts of free will (constrained,
however,
by karmic tendencies
from the past), and sometimes it is automatic and
passive, giving rise
to our own automatic bodily functions and habitual and
instinctual
behavior, and to the orderly, lawlike operations of
nature in
general. The 'laws'
of nature are therefore the habits of the various grades
of conscious
entities that compose reality, ranging from higher intelligences
(collectively
forming the universal mind) to elemental nature-forces.
10) Consciousness and its vehicles
The core of every entity -- whether atom,
human, planet, or star -- is a
monad, a unit of
consciousness-life-substance, which acts through a series of
more material
vehicles or bodies. The monad or self in which the
consciousness of a
particular organism is focused is animated by higher
monads and
expresses itself through a series of
lesser monads, each of which
is the nucleus of
one of the lower vehicles of the entity in question. The
following monads can
be distinguished: the divine or galactic
monad, the
spiritual or solar
monad, the higher human or
planetary-chain monad, the lower
human or globe
monad, and the animal, vital-astral, and physical monads. At
our present stage of
evolution, we are essentially the lower human monad, and
our task is to raise
our consciousness from the animal-human to the spiritual-
human level of it.
11) Evolutionary unfoldment
Evolution means the unfolding, the bringing
into active manifestation, of
latent powers and
faculties 'involved' in a previous cycle of evolution. It is
the building of ever
fitter vehicles for the expression of the mental and
spiritual powers of
the monad. The more sophisticated the lower vehicles of an
entity, the greater
their ability to express the powers locked up in the
higher levels of its
constitution. Thus all things are alive and conscious,
but the degree of
manifest life and consciousness is extremely varied.
Evolution results from the interplay of inner
impulses and environmental
stimuli. Ever
building on and modifying the patterns of the past, nature is
infinitely creative.
12) Cyclic evolution/re-embodiment
Cyclic evolution is a fundamental habit of
nature. A period of evolutionary
activity is followed
by a period of rest. All natural systems evolve through
re-embodiment.
Entities are born from a seed or nucleus remaining from the
previous
evolutionary cycle of the monad, develop to maturity, grow old, and
pass away, only to
re-embody in a new form after a period of rest. Each new
embodiment is the
product of past karma and present choices.
13) Birth and
death
Nothing comes from nothing: matter and energy
can be neither created nor
destroyed, but only
transformed. Everything evolves from preexisting material.
The growth of the body of an organism is
initiated on inner planes, and
involves the
transformation of higher energy-substances into lower, more
material ones,
together with the attraction of matter from the environment.
When an organism has exhausted the store of
vital energy with which it is
born, the
coordinating force of the indwelling monad is withdrawn, and the
organism 'dies',
i.e. falls apart as a unit, and its constituent components go
their separate ways.
The lower vehicles decompose on their respective
subplanes,
while, in the case of humans, the reincarnating ego enters a
dreamlike state of
rest and assimilates the experiences of the previous
incarnation. When
the time comes for the next embodiment, the reincarnating
ego clothes itself
in many of the same atoms of different grades that it had
used previously,
bearing the appropriate karmic impress. The same basic
processes of birth,
death, and rebirth apply to all entities, from atoms to
humans to stars.
14) Evolution
and involution of worlds
Worlds or spheres, such as planets and stars,
are composed of, and provide
the field for the
evolution of, 10 kingdoms -- 3 elemental kingdoms, mineral,
plant, animal, and
human kingdoms, and 3 spiritual kingdoms. The impulse for
a new manifestation of a world issues
from its spiritual summit or hierarch,
from which emanate a
series of steadily denser globes or planes; the One
expands into the
many. During the first half of the evolutionary cycle (the
arc of descent) the
energy-substances of each plane materialize or condense,
while during the
second half (the arc of ascent) the trend is towards
dematerialization or
etherealization, as globes and entities are
reabsorbed
into the spiritual
hierarch for a period of nirvanic rest. The
descending arc
is characterized by
the evolution of matter and involution of spirit, while
the ascending arc is
characterized by the evolution of spirit and involution
of matter.
15) Evolution
of the monad
In each grand cycle of evolution, comprising
many planetary embodiments, a
monad begins as an
unselfconsciousness god-spark, embodies in every
kingdom of nature for the purpose of gaining experience
and unfolding its
inherent faculties,
and ends the cycle as a selfconscious god. Elementals
('baby
monads') have no
free choice, but automatically act in harmony with one
another and the rest
of nature. In each successive kingdom differentiation and
individuality
increase, and reach their peak in the human kingdom with the
attainment of selfconsciousness and a large measure of free will. In the
human
kingdom in
particular, self-directed evolution comes into its own. There is no
superior power
granting privileges or handing out favours; we evolve
according
to our karmic merits
and demerits. As we progress through the spiritual
kingdoms we become
increasingly at one again with nature, and willingly
'sacrifice' our
circumscribed selfconscious freedoms (especially the
freedom
to 'do our own
thing') in order to work in peace and harmony with the greater
whole of which we
form an integral part. The highest gods of one hierarchy or
world-system begin
as elementals in the next. The matter of any plane is
composed of
aggregated, crystallized monads in their nirvanic
sleep, and the
spiritual and divine
entities embodied as planets and stars are the electrons
and atomic nuclei --
the material building blocks -- of worlds on even larger
scales. Evolution is
without beginning and without end, an endless adventure
through the fields
of infinitude, in which there are always new worlds of
experience in which
to become selfconscious masters of life.
16) Universal brotherhood
There is no absolute separateness in nature.
All things are made of the same
essence, have the
same spiritual-divine potential, and are interlinked by
magnetic ties of sympathy.
It is impossible to realize our full potential,
unless we recognize
the spiritual unity of all living beings and make
universal
brotherhood the keynote of our lives.
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