Theosophy and the Number
Seven
A selection of articles
relating to the esoteric
significance
of the Number 7 in Theosophy
Brahmanism on the
Sevenfold Principle in Man
By
T Subba Row
With notes by H P
Blavatsky
It is now very difficult to say what was the real
ancient Aryan
doctrine. If an inquirer were to attempt to answer it
by an analysis
and comparison
of all the various systems of esotericism prevailing in
comparison between our
real Brahmanical and the Tibetan esoteric
doctrines will be
possible unless one ascertains the teachings of that
so-called "Aryan
doctrine," and fully comprehends the whole range of the
ancient Aryan
philosophy. Kapila's
"Sankhya," Patanjali's
"Yog
philosophy," the
different systems of "Saktaya" philosophy,
the various
Agamas and Tantras are but branches of
it. There is a doctrine, though,
which is their
real foundation, and which is sufficient to explain the
secrets of these
various systems of philosophy and harmonize their
teachings. It probably existed long before the Vedas
were compiled, and
it was studied
by our ancient Rishis in connection with the Hindu
scriptures. It is attributed to one mysterious personage
called
Maha.*.....
----------
* The very title of the present chief of the esoteric Himalayan
Brotherhood.--Editor, Theosophist
Magazine.
----------
The Upanishads and such portions of the Vedas as are not chiefly
devoted
to the public
ceremonials of the ancient Aryans are hardly intelligible
without some
knowledge of that doctrine. Even the real significance of
the grand
ceremonials referred to in the Vedas will not be perfectly
apprehended without its
light being throw upon them. The Vedas were
perhaps compiled
mainly for the use of the priests assisting at public
ceremonies, but the
grandest conclusions of our real secret doctrine are
therein
mentioned. I am informed by persons
competent to judge of the
matter, that the
Vedas have a distinct dual meaning--one expressed by
the literal
sense of the words, the other indicated by the metre
and the
swara
(intonation), which are, as it were the life of the Vedas.
Learned Pundits and philologists of course deny that swara has anything
to do with
philosophy or ancient esoteric doctrines;
but the mysterious
connection between swara and light is one of its most profound secrets.
Now, it is extremely difficult to show whether the Tibetans derived
their doctrine
from the ancient Rishis of India, or the ancient
Brahrnans learned
their occult science from the adepts of
again, whether the
adepts of both countries professed originally the
same doctrine and
derived it from a common source.* If you
were to go
to the Sramana Balagula, and question
some of the Jain Pundits there
about the
authorship of the Vedas and the origin of the Brahmanical
esoteric doctrine,
they would probably tell you that the Vedas were
composed by Rakshasas** or Daityas, and that
the Brahmans had derived
their secret
knowledge from them.***
---------
* See Appendix, Note I.
** A kind of demons-devil.
*** And so would the Christian padris. But they would never admit that
their "fallen
angels" were borrowed from the Rakshasas; that their
"devil" is the illegitimate son
of Dewel, the Sinhalese female demon;
or that the
"war in heaven" of the Apocalypse--the foundation of the
Christian dogma of the "Fallen Angels" was copied from
the Hindu story
about Siva hurling
the Tarakasura who rebelled against the gods into
Andhahkara, the abode of Darkness, according to Brahmanical
Shastras.
---------
Do these assertions mean that the Vedas and the Brahmanical
esoteric
teachings had their
origin in the lost Atlantis--the continent that once
occupied a
considerable portion of the expanse of the Southern and the
Pacific oceans? The assertion in "Isis Unveiled," that
Sanskrit was the
language of the
inhabitants of the said continent, may induce one to
suppose that the
Vedas had probably their origin there, wherever else
might be the
birthplace of the Aryan esotericism.*
But the real
esoteric doctrine, as
well as the mystic allegorical philosophy of the
Vedas, were derived from another source again, whatever that may
be--
perchance from the
divine inhabitants (gods) of the sacred island which
once existed in
the sea that covered in days of old the sandy tract now
called
powers of Nature
possessed by the inhabitants of the lost Atlantis was
learnt by the
ancient adepts of
esoteric doctrine
taught by the residents of the sacred island.**
The
Tibetan adepts, however, have not accepted this addition to their
esoteric
doctrine; and it is in this respect that
one should expect to
find a difference
between the two doctrines.***
----------
* Not necessarily. (See Appendix, Note II.)
It is generally held by
Occultists that Sanskrit has been spoken in Java and adjacent
islands
from remote
antiquity.--Editor, Theosophist Magazine.
** A locality which is spoken of to this day by the Tibetans, and
called
by them "Scham-bha-la," the
*** To comprehend this passage fully, the reader must turn to vol.
I.
pp. 589-594 of
"
--------
The Brahmanical occult doctrine probably
contains everything that was
taught about the
powers of Nature and their laws, either in the
mysterious island of
the North or in the equally mysterious continent of
the South. And if you mean to compare the Aryan and the
Tibetan
doctrines as regards
their teachings about the occult powers of Nature,
you must
beforehand examine all the classifications of these powers,
their laws and
manifestations, and the real connotations of the various
names assigned to
them in the Aryan doctrine. Here are
some of the
classifications contained in
the Brahmanical system:
II. As appertaining to man
and existing in the MICROCOSM.
III. For the purposes of d Taraka Yog or Pranava
Yog.
IV. For the purposes of Sankhya Yog (where they are, as
it were,
the
inherent attributes of Prakriti).
V. For the purposes of Hata Yog.
VI. For the purposes of Koula Agama.
VII. For the purposes of Sakta Agama.
VIII. For the purposes of Siva Aqama.
IX. For the purposes of Sreechakram (the Sreechakram
referred
to
in "Isis Unveiled" is not the real esoteric Sreechakram
of
the ancient adepts of Aryavarta).*
--------
* Very true. But who would be allowed to give out the
"real" esoteric
one?--Editor,
Theosophist Magazine.
--------
X. In Atharvena
Veda, &c.
In all these classifications subdivisions have been multiplied
indefinitely by
conceiving new combinations of the Primary Powers in
different
proportions. But I must now drop this
subject, and proceed to
consider the
"Fragments of Occult Truth" (since embodied in "Esoteric
Buddhism").
I have carefully examined it, and find that the results arrived at
(in
the Buddhist
doctrine) do not differ much from the conclusions of our
Aryan philosophy, though our mode of stating the arguments may
differ in
form. I shall now discuss the question from my own
standpoint, though,
following, for
facility of comparison and convenience of discussion, the
sequence of
classification of the sevenfold entities or principles
constituting man which is
adopted in the "Fragments."
The questions
raised for
discussion are (1) whether the disembodied spirits of human
beings (as they are
called by Spiritualists) appear in the seance-rooms
and
elsewhere; and (2) whether the
manifestations taking place are
produced wholly or
partly through their agency.
It is hardly possible to answer these two questions satisfactorily
unless the meaning
intended to be conveyed by the expression
"disembodied spirits of human
beings" be accurately defined. The words
spiritualism and spirit
are very misleading. Unless English
writers in
general, and
Spiritualists in particular, first ascertain clearly the
connotation they mean to
assign to the word spirit, there will be no end
of confusion,
and the real nature of these so-called spiritualistic
phenomena and their
modus occurrendi can never be clearly defined.
Christian writers generally speak of only two entities in man--the
body,
and the soul or
spirit (both seeming to mean the same thing to them).
European philosophers generally speak of body and mind, and argue
that
soul or spirit
cannot be anything else than mind. They are of opinion
that any belief
in lingasariram* is entirely unphilosophical. These
views are
certainly incorrect, and are based on unwarranted assumptions
as to the
possibilities of Nature, and on an imperfect understanding of
its laws. I shall now examine (from the standpoint of
the Brahmanical
esoteric doctrine)
the spiritual constitution of man, the various
entities or principles
existing in him, and ascertain whether either of
those entities
entering into his composition can appear on earth after
his death, and
if so, what it is that so appears.
--------
* The astral body, so called.
--------
Professor Tyndall in his excellent papers on what he calls the
"Germ
Theory," comes to the following conclusions as the result of a
series of
well-planned
experiments:--Even in a very small volume of space there
are myriads of
protoplasmic germs floating in ether.
If, for instance,
say water (clear
water) is exposed to them, and if they fall into it,
some form of life
or other will be evolved out of them.
Now, what are
the agencies for
the bringing of this life into existence?
Evidently--
I. The water, which is the field, so to say, for the growth
of life.
II. The protoplasmic germ, out of which life or a living organism
is to be
evolved or developed. And lastly--
III. The power, energy, force, or tendency which springs into
activity
at the touch or
combination of the protoplasmic germ and the water, and
which evolves or
develops life and its natural attributes.
Similarly, there are three primary causes which bring the human
being
into
existence. I shall call them, for the
purpose of discussion, by
the following
names
(1) Parabrahmam, the Universal Spirit.
(2) Sakti, the crown of the astral light,
combining in itself all the
powers of Nature.
(3) Prakriti, which in its original or
primary shape is represented by
Akasa. (Really every form of matter is finally
reducible to Akasa.)*
It is ordinarily stated that Prakriti or
Akasa is the Kshetram, or the
basis which
corresponds to water in the example we have taken Brahmam
the germ, and Sakti, the power or energy that comes into existence at
their union or
contact.**
--------
* The Tibetan esoteric Buddhist doctrine teaches that Prakriti is cosmic
matter, out of
which all visible forms are produced;
and Akasa, that
same cosmic
matter, but still more subjective--its spirit, as it were.
Prakriti being the
body or substance, and Akasa Sakti its soul or
energy.
** Or, in other words, "Prakriti, Swabhavat, or Akasa, is SPACE, as the
Tibetans have it;
Space filled with whatsoever substance or no
substance at all--i.e.,
with substance so imperceptible as to be only
metaphysically
conceivable. Brahman, then, would be the
germ thrown
into the soil of
that field, and Sakti, that mysterious energy or
force
which develops it,
and which is called by the Buddhist Arahat of Tibet,
FOHAT. That which we call form (rupa)
is not different from that which
we call space (sunyata).... Space
is not different from form. Form is
the same as
space; space is the same as form. And so with the other
skandhas, whether vedana, or sanjna, or sanskara, or vijnana, they are
each the same as
their opposite." .... (Book of Sin-king, or the "Heart
Sutra." Chinese
translation of the "Maha-Prajna-Paramita-Hridaya-Sutra,"
chapter on the
"Avalokiteshwara," or the manifested
Buddha.) So that
the Aryan and
Tibetan or Arhat doctrines agree perfectly in
substance,
differing but in names
given and the way of putting it.
---------
But this is not the view which the Upanishads take of the question.
According to them, Brahamam* is the Kshetram or basis, Akasa or
Prakriti, the germ or
seed, and Sakti, the power evolved by their union
or
contact. And this is the real
scientific, philosophical mode of
stating the case.
--------
* See Appendix, Note IV.
--------
Now, according to the adepts of ancient Aryavarta,
seven principles are
evolved out of these
three primary entities. Algebra teaches us that the
number of
combinations of n things, taken one at a time, two at a time,
three at a time,
and so forth = 2(n)-1.
Applying this formula to the present case, the number of entities
evolved from
different combinations of these three primary causes
amounts to 2(3)-1 =
8-1 = 7.
As a general rule, whenever seven entities are mentioned in the
ancient
occult science of
that those seven
entities came into existence from three primary
entities; and that these three entities, again, are
evolved out of a
single entity or
MONAD. To take a familiar example, the
seven coloured
rays in the solar
ray are evolved out of three primary coloured rays;
and the three
primary colours coexist with the four secondary colours in
the solar
rays. Similarly, the three primary
entities which brought man
into existence
co-exist in him with the four secondary entities which
arose from
different combinations of the three primary entities.
Now these seven entities, which in their totality constitute man,
are as
follows. I shall enumerate them in the order adopted
in the
"Fragments," as far as the two orders (the Brahmanical and the Tibetan)
coincide:--
Corresponding names in
Esoteric Buddhism.
I. Prakriti. Sthulasariram
(Physical Body).
II. The entity evolved
out of the
combination Sukshmasariram or Lingasariram
of Prakriti and Sakti. (Astral
Body).
III. Sakti. Kamarupa (the Perispirit).
IV. The entity evolved out
of the
combination of Jiva (Life-Soul).
Brahmam, Sakti and
Prakriti.
V. The entity evolved out
of the
combination of Physical
Intelligence (or
Brahmam and Prakriti. animal
soul).
VI. The entity evolved
out of the
combination of Spiritual
Intelligence (or Soul).
Brahmam and Sakti.
VII. Brahmam. The emanation from the
ABSOLUTE,
&c. (or pure spirit.)
Before proceeding to examine these nature
of these seven entities, a few
general explanations
are indispensably necessary.
I. The secondary principles arising out of the combination of
primary
principles are quite
different in their nature from the entities out of
whose combination
they came into existence. The
combinations in
question are not of the
nature of mere mechanical juxtapositions, as it
were. They do not even correspond to chemical
combinations.
Consequently no valid inferences as regards the nature of the
combinations in question
can be drawn by analogy from the nature
[variety?] of these
combinations.
II. The general proposition, that when once a cause is removed its
effect vanishes, is
not universally applicable. Take, for
instance, the
following example:--If
you once communicate a certain amount of momentum
to a ball,
velocity of a particular degree in a particular direction is
the result. Now, the cause of this motion ceases to exist
when the
instantaneous sudden
impact or blow which conveyed the momentum is
completed; but according to
continue to move on
for ever and ever, with undiminished velocity in the
same direction,
unless the said motion is altered, diminished,
neutralized, or
counteracted by extraneous causes. Thus,
if the ball
stop, it will not
be on account of the absence of the cause of its
motion, but in
consequence of the existence of extraneous causes which
produce the said
result.
Again, take the instance of subjective phenomena.
Now the presence of this ink-bottle before me is producing in me,
or in
my mind, a
mental representation of its form, volume, colour and so
forth.
The bottle in question may be removed, but still its mental picture
may
continue to
exist. Here, again, you see, the effect
survives the cause.
Moreover, the effect may at any subsequent time be called into
conscious
existence, whether the
original cause be present or not.
Now, in the ease of the filth principle above mentioned-the entity
that
came into
existence by the combination of Brahmam and Prakriti--if the
general proposition
(in the "Fragments of Occult Truth") is correct,
this principle,
which corresponds to the physical intelligence, must
cease to exist
whenever the Brahmam or the seventh Principle should
cease to exist for
the particular individual; but the fact
is certainly
otherwise. The general proposition under consideration
is adduced in
the
"Fragments" in support of the assertion that whenever the seventh
principle ceases to
exist for any particular individual, the sixth
principle also ceases
to exist for him. The assertion is
undoubtedly
true, though the
mode of stating it and the reasons assigned for it, are
to my mind
objectionable.
It is said that in cases where tendencies of a man's mind are
entirely
material, and all
spiritual aspirations and thoughts were altogether
absent from his
mind, the seventh principle leaves him either before or
at the time of
death, and the sixth principle disappears with it. Here,
the very
proposition that the tendencies of the particular individual's
mind are entirely
material, involves the assertion that there is no
spiritual intelligence
or spiritual Ego in him, it should then have been
said that,
whenever spiritual intelligence ceases to exist in any
particular individual,
the seventh principle ceases to exist for that
particular individual
for all purposes. Of course, it does not
fly off
anywhere. There can never be any thing like a change of
position in the
case of Brahmam.* The
assertion merely means that when there is no
recognition whatever of Brahmam, or spirit, or spiritual life, or
spiritual
consciousness, the seventh principle has ceased to exercise
any influence or
control over the individual's destinies.
--------
* True--from the standpoint of Aryan Exotericism and the Upanishads,
not
quite so in the
case of the Arahat or Tibetan esoteric doctrine; and it
is only on this
one solitary point that the two teachings disagree, as
far as we
know. The difference is very trifling,
though, resting as it
does solely upon
the two various methods of viewing the one and the same
thing from two
different aspects. (See
Appendix, Note IV.)
--------
I shall now state what is meant (in the Aryan doctrine) by the
seven
principles above
enumerated.
I. Prakriti. This is the basis of Sthulasariram,
and represents it in
the
above-mentioned classification.
II. Prakriti and Sakti. This is the Lingasariram,
or astral body.
III. Sukti. This principle corresponds to your Kamarupa.
This power or
force is placed by
ancient occultists in the Nabhichakram. This power
can gather akasa or prakriti, and mould it
into any desired shape. It
has very great
sympathy with the fifth principle, and can be made to act
by its
influence or control.
IV. Brahmam and Sakti,
and Prakriti. This
again corresponds to your
second principle, Jiva.
This power represents the universal life-principle which exists in
Nature. Its seat is the Anahatachakram
(heart). It is a force or power
which constitutes
what is called Jiva, or life. It is, as you say,
indestructible, and its
activity is merely transferred at the time of
death to another
set of atoms, to form another organism.
V. Brahma and Prakriti. This, in our Aryan philosophy, corresponds to
your fifth
principle, called the physical intelligence.
According to
our
philosophers, this is the entity in which what is called mind has
its seat or
basis. This is the most difficult
principle of all to
explain, and the
present discussion entirely turns upon the view we take
of it.
Now, what is mind? It is a
mysterious something, which is considered to
be the seat of
consciousness--of sensations, emotions, volitions, and
thoughts. Psychological analysis shows it to be
apparently a congeries
of mental
states, and possibilities of mental states, connected by what
is called
memory, and considered to have a distinct existence apart from
any of its
particular states or ideas. Now in what
entity has this
mysterious something
its potential or actual existence? Memory and
expectation, which form,
as it were, the real foundation of what is
called
individuality, or Ahankaram, must have their seat of
existence
somewhere. Modern psychologists of
material substance of
brain is the seat of mind; and that past
subjective experiences,
which can he recalled by memory, and which in
their totality
constitute what is called individuality, exist therein in
the shape of
certain unintelligible mysterious impressions and changes
in the nerves
and nerve-centres of the cerebral hemispheres.
Consequently, they say, the mind--the individual mind--is destroyed
when
the body is
destroyed; so there is no possible
existence after death.
But there are a few facts among those admitted by these
philosophers
which are
sufficient for us to demolish their theory.
In every portion
of the human
body a constant change goes on without intermission. Every
tissue, every
muscular fibre and nerve-tube, and every ganglionic centre
in the brain,
is undergoing an incessant change. In
the course of a
man's lifetime
there may be a series of complete tranformations of
the
substance of his
brain. Nevertheless, the memory of his
past mental
states remains
unaltered. There may be additions of new
subjective
experiences and some
mental states may be altogether forgotten, but no
individual mental state
is altered. The person's sense of
personal
identity remains the
same throughout these constant alterations in the
brain
substance.* It is able to survive all
these changes, and it can
survive also the
complete destruction of the material substance of the
brain.
--------
* This is also sound Buddhist philosophy, the transformation in
question being known
as the change of the skandhas.--Editor, Theosophist
Magazine.
--------
This individuality arising from mental consciousness has its seat
of
existence, according
to our philosophers, in an occult power or force,
which keeps a
registry, as it were, of all our mental impressions. The
power itself is
indestructible, though by the operation of certain
antagonistic causes its
impressions may in course of time be effaced, in
part or wholly.
I may mention in this connection that our philosophers have
associated seven occult
powers with the seven principles or entities
above-mentioned. These seven occult powers in the microcosm
correspond
with, or are the
counterparts of, the occult powers in the macrocosm.
The mental and spiritual consciousness of the individual becomes
the
general
consciousness of Brahmam, when the barrier of
individuality is
wholly removed, and
when the seven powers in the microcosm are placed
en rapport with
the seven powers in the macrocosm.
There is nothing very strange in a power, or force, or sakti, carrying
with it
impressions of sensations, ideas, thoughts, or other subjective
experiences. It is now a well-known fact, that an electric
or magnetic
current can convey
in some mysterious manner impressions of sound or
speech, with all
their individual peculiarities;
similarly, I can
convey my thoughts
to you by a transmission of energy or power.
Now, this fifth principle represents in our philosophy the mind,
or, to
speak more
correctly, the power or force above described, the
impressions of the
mental states therein, and the notion of
self-identity