NOW!
THE THEOSOPHY WALES WEBSITE
THAT JUST WONT 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 East Wales near the border with
Herefordshire, England.
_________________
The Seven Principles of Man
By
Annie Besant
Principle IV
The Desire
Body
In building up our man we have now reached the principle sometimes
described as the animal soul, in Theosophical parlance Kāma Rūpa, or the
desire-body. It belongs to in constitution, and functions on, the second or
astral plane. It includes the whole body of appetites, passions, emotions, and
desires which come under the head of instincts, sensations, feelings and
emotions, in our Western psychological classification, and are dealt with as a
subdivision of mind.
In Western psychology mind is divided by the modern school into
three main groups, feelings, will, intellect. Feelings are again divided into
sensations and emotions , and these are divided and subdivided under numerous
heads. Kāma, or desire, includes the whole group of "feelings," and
might be described as our passional and emotional nature.
All animal needs, such as hunger, thirst, sexual desire, come under it;
all passions, such as love (in its lower sense), hatred, envy, jealousy. It is
the desire for sentient experience, for experience of material joys "the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life".
This principle is the most material in our nature, it is the one that
binds us fast to earthly life. "It is not molecularly constituted matter,
least of all the human body, Sthula Sharira, that is the grossest of all our
principles but verily the middle principle, the real animal centre ; whereas
our body is but its shell, the irresponsible factor and medium through which
the beast in us acts all its life" ( Secret Doctrine, vol. I, p. 280-81).
United to the lower part of Manas, the mind, as Kāma-Manas, it becomes
the normal human brain-intelligence, and that aspect of it will be dealt with
presently. Considered by itself, it remains the brute in us, the "ape and
tiger" of Tennyson, the force which most avails to keep us bound to earth
and to stifle in us all higher longings by the illusions of sense.
Kāma joined to Prāna is, as we have seen, the "breath of
life," the vital sentient principle spread over every particle of the
body. It is, therefore, the seat of sensation, that which enables the organs of
sensation to function. We have already noted that the physical organs of sense,
the bodily instruments that come into immediate contact with the external
world, are related to the organs of sensation in the etheric double (ante p.
14).
But these organs would be incapable of functioning did not Prāna make
them vibrant with activity, and their vibrations would remain vibrations only,
motion on the material plane of the physical body, did not Kāma, the principle
of sensation translate the vibration into feeling. Feeling indeed, is
consciousness on the kāmic plane, and when a man is under the domination of a
sensation or a passion, the Theosophist speaks of him as on the kāmic plane,
meaning thereby that his consciousness is functioning on that plane.
For instance, a tree may reflect rays of light, that is ethereal
vibrations, and these vibrations striking on the outer eye will set up
vibrations in the physical nerve-cells ; these will be propagated as vibrations
to the physical and on to the astral centres, but there is no sight of the tree
until the seat of the sensation is reached, and Kāma enables us to perceive.
Matter of the astral plane including that called elemental essence
is the material of which the desire-body is composed, and it is the peculiar
properties of this matter which enable it to serve as the sheath in which the
Self can gain experience of sensation. (The constitution of the elemental
essence would lead us too far from an elementary treatise).
The desire body, or astral body, as it is often called, has the form
of a mere cloudy mass during the earlier stages of evolution, and is incapable
of serving as an independent vehicle of consciousness. During deep sleep it
escapes from the physical body, but remains near it, and the mind within it is
almost as much asleep as the body. It is, however, liable to be affected by
forces of the astral plane akin to its own constitution, and gives rise to
dreams of a sensuous kind.
In a man of average intellectual development the desire-body has become
more highly organised, and when separated from the physical body is seen to
resemble it is outline and features ; even then, however, it is not conscious
of its surroundings on the astral plane, but encloses the mind as a shell,
within which the mind may actively function, while not yet able to use it as an
independent vehicle of consciousness.
Only in the highly evolved man does the desire-body become thoroughly
organised and vitalised, as much the vehicle of consciousness on the astral
plane as the physical body is on the physical plane.
After death, the higher part of man dwells for awhile in the
desire-body, the length of its stay depending on the comparative grossness or
delicacy of its constituents. When the man escapes from it, it persists for a
time as a "shell" and when the departed entity is of a low type, and
during earth life infused such mentality as it possessed into the passional
nature, some of this remains entangled with the shell.
It then possesses consciousness of a very low order, has brute cunning,
is without conscience an altogether objectionable entity, often spoken of as
a "spook." It strays about, attracted to all places in which animal
desires are encouraged and satisfied, and is drawn into the currents of those
whose animal passions are strong and unbridled.
Mediums of low type inevitably attract these eminently undesirable
visitors, whose fading vitality is reinforced in their séance rooms, who catch
astral reflections, and play the part of "disembodied spirits" of a
low order. Nor is this all; if at such a séance there be present some man or
woman of correspondingly low development, the spook will be attracted to that
person, and may attach itself to him or to her, and thus may be set up currents
between the desire-body of the living person and the dying desire-body of the
dead person, generating results of the most deplorable kind.
The longer or shorter persistence of the desire-body as a shell or a
spook depends on the greater or less development of the animal and passional
nature in the dying personality. If during earth-life the animal nature was
indulged and allowed to run riot, if the intellectual and spiritual parts of
man were neglected or stifled, then, as the life-currents were set strongly in
the direction of passion, the desire-body will persist for a long period after
the body of the person is dead.
Or again, if earth-life has been suddenly cut short by accident or by
suicide, the link between Kāma and Prāna will not be easily broken, and the
desire-body will be strongly vivified. If, on the other hand, desire has been
conquered and bridled during earth-life, if it has been purified and trained
into subservience to mans higher nature, then there is but little to energise
the desire-body and it will quickly disintegrate and dissolve away.
There remains one other fate, terrible in its possibilities, which may
befall the fourth principle, but it cannot be clearly understood until the
fifth principle has been dealt with.
____________________________
Annie Besant with Mahatma Gandhi
___________________________
_____________________________
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most people have ever
heard of. Lets
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Links to Free Online Theosophy
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The main criteria
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Topics include
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Provided in
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Judy Show, Llandudno.
The same family
has run this show since 1860
The Voice of the Silence Website
Rhayader
Mid
Cader Idris, Mid Wales.
A Winter View
This is for everyone, you dont have to live
in Wales to make good use of this Website
The Old Severn
Bridge at night
If you are
travelling to Wales along the M4, you can cross on the
Old Severn
Bridge (opened 1966) by taking the M48, which will take
you over the
bridge and back on to the M4. You can also cross this
bridge on foot,
horse or bike by using the service roads on
either side.
Dont try this on the new Severn Bridge
Port
Meirion,
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of the cult 1960s TV series,
The
Prisoner
Cardiff
Theosophists on an outing to
Caerleon in Gwent, South Wales.
No Aardvarks were harmed in the
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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 Bangor High Street.
This idea began in Covent Garden and spread
round Britain.
____________________
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 Mans 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 Mans 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 Colwyn Bay beach
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
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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.
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Cardiff
Bay at Sunset
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General pages
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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
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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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