NOW!
THE
THEOSOPHY WALES WEBSITE
THAT
JUST WON’T WAIT
Bangor, Cardiff,
Conwy & Swansea
Swans
at Llyn Padarn,
Snowdonia,
Theosophy Wales has no controlling
body
and is made up of
independent groups
Sunset
over Gospel Pass in the black Mountains
in
South
_________________
The
Seven Principles of Man
By
Annie
Besant
Principle III
Prana, The Life
All
universes, all worlds, all men, all brutes, all vegetables, all minerals, all
molecules and atoms, all that is, are plunged in a great ocean of life, life
eternal, life infinite, life incapable of increase or diminution. The universe
is only life in manifestation, life made objective, life differentiated.
Now each
organism, whether minute as a molecule or vast as a universe, may be thought of
as appropriating to itself somewhat of life, of embodying, in itself as its own
life some of this universal life.
Figure a
living sponge, stretching itself out in the water which bathes it, envelops it,
permeates it ; there is water, still the ocean, circulating in every passage,
filling every pore ; but we may think of the ocean outside the sponge, or of part
of the ocean, appropriated by the sponge, distinguishing them in thought if we
want to make statements about each severally.
So each
organism is a sponge bathed in the ocean of life universal, and containing within
itself some of that ocean as its own breath of life.
In Theosophy
we distinguish this appropriated life under the name Prâna, breath, and call it
the third principle in man’s constitution. To speak quite accurately, the
"breath of life" – that which the Hebrews termed Nephesh, or the
breath of life breathed into the nostrils of Adam – is not Prâna only, but
Prâna and the fourth principle conjoined. It is these two together that make
the "vital spark" (Secret Doctrine, vol. i., p. 262), and that are
the "breath of life in man, as in beast or insect, or physical, material
life" (ibid., note to p. 263).
It is
"the breath of animal life in man – the breath of life instinctual in the
animal" (ibid., diagram p. 262) . But just now we are concerned with Prâna
only, with vitality as the animating principle in all animal and human bodies.
Of this life the etheric double is the vehicle, acting, so to say, as means of
communication, as bridge, between Prâna and the dense body.
Prâna is
explained in the Secret Doctrine as having for its lowest subdivision the
microbes of science ; these are the "invisible lives" that build up
the physical cells (se ante, p. 8,9) ; these are the "countless myriads of
lives" that build the "tabernacle of clay," the physical bodies
(Secret Doctrine vol. I, p. 245). "Science, dimly perceiving the truth,
may find bacteria and other infinitesimals in the human body, and see in them
only, occasional and abnormal visitors to which diseases are attributed.
Occultism –
which discerns a life in every atom and molecule, whether in a mineral or human
body, in air, fire, or water – affirms that our whole body is built of such
lives; the smallest bacterium under the microscope being to them a comparative
size like an elephant to the tiniest infusoria" (ibid., p. 245). The
"fiery lives" are the controllers and directors of these microbes,
these invisible lives, and "indirectly" build, i.e.., build by
controlling and directing the microbes, the immediate builders, supplying the
latter with what is necessary, acting as the life of these lives; the
"fiery lives" the synthesis, the essence, of Prâna, are the
"vital constructive energy" that enables the microbes to build the
physical cells.
One of the
archaic commentaries sums up the matter in stately and luminous phrases:
"The worlds, the profane, are built up of the known elements. To the
conception of an Arhat, these elements are themselves collectively a divine
life; distributively, on the plane of manifestations, the numberless and countless
crores – ( a crore is ten millions) – of lives.
Fire alone is
ONE, on the plane of the One Reality ; on that of manifested, hence illusive,
being, its particles are fiery lives which live and have their being at the
expense of every other life that they consume.
Therefore
they are named the Devourers….Every visible thing in this universe was built by
such lives, from conscious and divine primordial man, down to the unconscious
agents that construct matter…..From the One Life, formless and uncreate, proceeds
the universe of lives (Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, page 269).
As in the
universe, so in man, and all these countless lives, all this constructive
vitality, all this is summed up by the Theosophist as Prâna .
____________________________
Annie
Besant with Mahatma Gandhi
___________________________
_____________________________
Find out more about
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A B C D EFG H IJ KL M N OP QR S T UV WXYZ
Complete Theosophical Glossary in Plain Text Format
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Quick Explanations
with Links to More Detailed Info
What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis
Anthropogenesis
Root Races
Karma
Ascended Masters After Death States
Reincarnation
The Seven Principles of Man Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical Society
History of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical Society Emblem
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
The
Tabernacle, Efail Isaf,
Mid-Glamorganshire,
______________________
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
Coleg Menai Performing Art students
as ‘human
statues’ in
This
idea began in
round
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Tekels Park to be Sold to a Developer
Concerns are
raised about the fate of the wildlife as
The Spiritual
Retreat, Tekels Park in Camberley,
Surrey, England
is to be sold to a developer.
Tekels Park is a
50 acre woodland park, purchased
for the Adyar
Theosophical Society in England in 1929.
In addition to
concern about the park, many are
worried about the
future of the Tekels Park Deer
as they are not a
protected species.
____________________
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The Constitution of Man After Death Reincarnation
The Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The Result of Theosophical Study
An
Outline of Theosophy
Charles
Webster Leadbeater
Theosophy - What it is How is it Known? The Method of Observation
General Principles The Three Great Truths The Deity
Advantage Gained from this
Knowledge The Divine Scheme
The Constitution of Man The True Man Reincarnation
The Wider Outlook Death Man’s Past and Future
Cause and Effect What Theosophy does for us
The Unity Underlying all Religions
The Physical
Plane The Astral Plane
Kamaloka The Mental Plane Devachan
The Buddhic and
Nirvanic Planes Reincarnation Karma
The Three Kinds of Karma Collective Karma
The Law of
Sacrifice Man’s Ascent Building a
Cosmos
Annotated Edition Published 1885
Preface to the Annotated Edition Preface to the Original Edition
Esoteric Teachers The Constitution of Man The Planetary Chain
The World Periods Devachan
Kama Loca
The Human Tide-Wave The Progress of Humanity
Buddha Nirvana The Universe The Doctrine Reviewed
A
Juggler in action on
at
the 2009 Welsh Juggling convention
held
on the pier.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky 1831 – 1891
The Founder of Modern Theosophy
Index of Articles by
By
H P Blavatsky
Is the Desire to Live Selfish?
Ancient Magic in Modern Science
Precepts Compiled by H P Blavatsky
Obras Por H P Blavatsky
En Espanol
Articles about the Life of H P Blavatsky
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A Guide to
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These are
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The subject of
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General pages about
Wales, Welsh History
and The History of
Theosophy in Wales
Wales is a Principality
within the United Kingdom and has an eastern
border with England.
The land area is just over 8,000 square miles.
Snowdon in North
Wales is the highest mountain at 3,650 feet.
The coastline is almost
750 miles long. The population of Wales
as at the 2001 census is 2,946,200.
________________
Bangor Conwy
& Swansea Lodges are members
of the Welsh
Regional Association (Formed 1993).
Theosophy Cardiff
separated from the Welsh Regional
Association in
March 2008 and became an independent
body within the Theosophical Movement in March 2010
High
Drama & Worldwide Confusion
as
Theosophy Cardiff Separates from the
Welsh Regional Association (formed 1993)
Theosophy Cardiff cancels its Affiliation
to the Adyar Based Theosophical Society
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 self conscious 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.
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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