Mind and Consciousness in Theosophy

Dear Friends: A study on CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE POWERS OF THE MIND has been on-going in the past few weeks and I hope this collection of quotations from various parts and places in the Literature of Theosophy may prove useful to you,
Best wishes, Dallas

(posted on the internet somewhere in 2001)

[The sources are in abbreviations. The complete titles are at the bottom.]

Mind and Consciousness

CONSCIOUSNESS

"Our consciousness is one and not many, nor different from other consciousnesses...consciousness itself...the one consciousness of each person is the Witness or Spectator [his Higher Self] of the actions and experiences of every state we are in or pass through. It therefore follows that the waking condition of the mind is not separate consciousness. "The one consciousness pierces up and down through all the states or planes of Being, and serves to uphold the memory--whether complete or incomplete--of each state's experience. "Thus in waking life, Sat experiences fully and knows. In dream state, Sat again knows and sees what goes on there, while there may not be in the brain a complete memory of the waking state just quitted. In Sushupti--beyond dream and yet on indefinitely, Sat still knows all that is done or heard or seen. "The way to salvation must be entered. To take the first step raises the possibility of success. Hence it is said, 'When the first attainment has been won, Moksha (salvation) has been won.' "The first step is giving up bad associations and getting a longing for knowledge of God; the second is joining good company, listening to their teachings and practicing them; the third is strengthening the first two attainments, having faith and continuing in it..."
G. NOTES 98-100

"...the plane of action is thought itself, that is to say--ideas. Action is merely the sequence of the concretion of thought."
FRIENDLY PHILOS. p. 246

"Man, made of thought, occupant only of many bodies from time to time, is eternally thinking. His chains are through thought, his release due to nothing else. His mind is immediately tinted or altered by whatever object it is directed to. By this means the soul is enmeshed in the same thought or series of thoughts as is the mind. If the object be anything that is distinct from the Supreme Self then the mind is at once turned into that, becomes that, is tinted like that. This is one of the natural capacities of the mind. It is naturally clear and uncolored...It is movable and quick, having a disposition to bound from one point to another. Several words would describe it. Chameleon-like it changes color, sponge-like it absorbs that to which it is applied, sieve-like it at once loses its former color and shape the moment a different object is taken up...it becomes that to which it is devoted."
GITA NOTES p. 141-2

"No act is performed without a thought at its root either at the time of performance or as leading to it. These thoughts are lodged in that part of the man which we have called Manas-the mind, and there remain as subtle but powerful links with magnetic threads that enmesh the solar system, and through which various effects are brought out...the whole system to which this globe belongs is alive, conscious on every plane, though only in man showing self-consciousness...the slightest impression...is not lost but only latent...in proportion to the intensity of his thought will be the intensity and depth of the picture..."
OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY, p. 91-2

"The same power to perceive is possessed by all alike. The differences in beings consists in the range of perception which has been acquired through evolution, and this applies to all lives below Man, to Man himself, and to all beings higher than Man. In THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE it is said that "Mind is like a mirror; it gathers dust while it reflects," and in other writings it is spoken of as "the mirror of the Soul." We cannot fail to see that we act in accordance with the ideas of life that we hold' that what we call "our mind" is a number of ideas held by us as a basis for thought and actions; that we change our ideas from time to time, as we find occasion for such change; but that at all times we act from the basis of the ideas presently held... We are prone to accept and hold only such ideas as are in accord with out personal desires...The real "worship" is devotion to an ideal. Here "the Self of All" is the ideal, and the action indicated is to think and act for, and as, the One Self in all things, without self-interest in the results. We are not attached to results by our acts, but by our thoughts; freedom comes from a renunciation of self-interest in the fruit of actions."
GITA NOTES, p. 161-2

"This means that each human being has the power to see and know all things, however restricted that power may be at any given time; that the restriction lies in the more or less narrow range of the ideas that he adheres to, and which form the basis for his actions. This self-limited range of perception, not only prevents the full exercise of his powers as Self, but acts as a bar to the right understanding of his observation and experience."

GITA NOTES, p. 166-7

MIND -- GENERAL

"Mind is the intelligent part of the Cosmos...[it contains] the plan of the Cosmos...brought over from a prior period of manifestation, which added to its ever-increasing perfectness, and no limit can be set to its evolutionary possibilities in perfectness...the plan has been laid down in the universal mind; the original force comes from spirit; the basis is matter--which is in fact invisible--Life sustains all the forms requiring life, and Akasa is the connecting link [Fohat] between matter on one side and spirit-mind on the other.
OCEAN, pp. 14-16.

Manas (Sk) Lit., "the mind," the mental faculty which makes of man an intelligent and moral being, and distinguishes him from the mere animal; a synonym of Mahat. Esoterically, however, it means, when unqualified, the Higher Ego, or the sentient reincarnating Principle in man. When qualified it is called by Theosophists Buddhi-Manas or the Spiritual Soul in contradistinction to its human reflection--Kama-Manas."
GLOS. 292

"...it is also necessary to admit the existence of soul, and the comparative unimportance of the body in which it dwells. For, Patanjali holds that Nature exists for the soul's sake [PAT., p.26]...he lays down that the real experiencer and knower is the soul and not the mind, it follows that the Mind, designated either as "internal organ," or "thinking principle," while higher and more subtle than the body, is yet only an instrument used by the Soul in gaining experience...He shows that the mind is, as he terms it, "modified" by any object or subject brought before it, or to which it is directed..."
PATANJALI - YOGA-SUTRAS, Introduction. p. xiii

Mahat(Sk.) Lit., "The great one." The first principle of Universal Intelligence and Consciousness. In the Puranic philosophy the first product of root-nature or Pradhana (the same as Mulaprakriti); the producer of Manas the thinking principle, and of Ahankara, egotism or the feeling of "I am I" (in the lower Manas).
T. GLOS. 210

"...Divine Mind is, and must be, before differentiation takes place. It is called the divine ideation, which is eternal in its Potentiality and periodical in its Potency, when it becomes Mahat, Anima Mundi or Universal Soul...each of these conceptions has its most metaphysical, most material, and also intermediate aspects. "
TRANSACTIONS of the BLAVATSKY LODGE, p. 4

"Buddhi is the Immortal Ego. Buddhi cannot be described. It is feeling, the accumulated experiences--all our experience is in feeling. Manas is the Higher Mind, that part of the Buddhi which is in action; the creative power of Buddhi. There is a continuous line of experience as Perceivers--all beings are Perceivers. They are limited by the power of their self-created instruments. In all perceptions is the quality of the instrument through which that perception comes.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, . p. 6

Buddhi(Sk.) Universal Soul or Mind. Mahabuddhi is a name of Mahat (see "Alaya"); also the spiritual Soul in man (the 6th principle), the vehicle of Atma, exoterically the 7th.
T. GLOS., p. 67

Maha-Buddhi(Sk) Mahat. Alaya: The Intelligent Soul of the World.
T. GLOS., p. 1

Cosmic Buddhi, the emanation of the Spiritual Soul: Alaya, is the vehicle Mahat only when that Buddhi corresponds to Prakriti. Then it is called Maha-Buddhi. This Buddhi differentiates through 7 planes, whereas the Buddhi in man is the vehicle of Atman, which vehicle is of the essence of the highest plane of Akasa and therefore does not differentiate. The difference between Manas and Buddhi in man is the same as the difference between the Manasaputra and the Ah-hi in Kosmos.
T. GLOS., p. 199

"The mind might be likened to a telescope in use by Man, the Perceiver, in order to be able to perceive the nature of the things about him. He can act only in accord with what he perceives through the telescope. If the telescope is not properly adjusted or out of focus, the perceptions will be out of true, and wrong action will follow...[we have to learn] the proper adjustment and focusing of the instrument upon which right perception and action depend."
FRIENDLY PHILOSOPHER, p. 143 [ see OCEAN, p. 53-4, KEY, p. 129 ]

"...there exists in Nature a triple evolutionary scheme, for the formation of the three principal Upadhis; or rather three separate schemes of evolution, which in our system are inextricably interwoven and interblended at every point. These are the Monadic (or spiritual), the intellectual, and the physical evolutions. These three are the finite aspects or the reflections on the field of Cosmic Illusion of ATMA, the seventh, the ONE REALITY... 2. The Intellectual, represented by the Manasa-Dhyanis (the Solar Devas, or the Agnishwatta Pitris) the "givers of intelligence and consciousness" to man... (182) It is the Manasa-Dhyanis who fill the gap, and they represent the evolutionary power of Intelligence and Mind, the link between "Spirit" and "Matter"--in this Round."
SD I 181-2

HIGHER ASPECT OF THE LOWER MANAS

"Man is a perfected animal, but before he could have reached perfection even on the animal plane, there must have dawned on him the light of a higher plane. Only the perfected animal can cross the threshold of the next higher, of the human plane, and as he does so there shines upon him the ray from the supra-human plane. Therefore, as the dawn of humanity illumines the animal plane, and as a guiding star lures the Monad to higher consciousness, so the dawn of divinity illuminates the (28) human plane, luring the monad to the supra-human plane of consciousness.... Man...is however, "the vehicle of a fully developed Monad, self-conscious and deliberately following its own line of progress...
WQJ Articles, I p. 27-8 (see ISIS I 305, SD I 571-2, HPB ART III 440-1, HPB ART II 271)

CONSCIOUSNESS IN MAN

"..."Mind" is manas, or rather its lower reflection, which, whenever it disconnects itself, for the time being, with kama, becomes the guide of the highest mental faculties, and is the organ of the free-will in physical man...."
HPB ARTICLES, Vol. II, p. 13

That which is known as you is the result of one continuous existence of an entity. Your present body and your soul (or the personality) are the results of a series of existences. Your Karma is a result of co-existence. The individuality, or spirit, is the cause of the soul and personality, or what is called "you." You are the manifestation of an entity and are the result of many appearances of that entity upon this stage of action in various personalities.
WQJ Articles, Vol. II, p. 452

"Happy is the man physically pure, for if his external soul (astral body, the image of the body) is pure, it will strengthen the second (the lower Manas), or the soul which is termed by him the higher mortal soul, which, though liable to err from its own motives, will always side with reason against the animal proclivities of the body. In other words, the ray of our Higher Ego, the lower Manas, has its higher light, the reason or rational powers of the Nous, to help it in the struggle with Kamic desires. The lusts of man arise in consequence of his perishable material body, so do other diseases, says Plato..."
HPB ARTICLES, Vol. I, p. 27-8 [ see VOICE p. 12 fn ]

"Man is a perfected animal, but before he could have reached perfection even on the animal plane, there must have dawned on him the light of a higher plane. Only the perfected animal can cross the threshold of the next higher, of the human plane, and as he does so there shines upon him the ray from the supra-human plane. Therefore, as the dawn of humanity illumines the animal plane, and as a guiding star lures the Monad to higher consciousness, so the dawn of divinity illuminates the human plane, luring the monad to the supra-human plane of consciousness.... Man...is however, "the vehicle of a fully developed Monad, self-conscious and deliberately following its own line of progress..."
WQJ ART I 27-8 (see ISIS I 305, SD I 571-2, HPB ART III 440-1, HPB ART II 271)

PERSONALITY -- LOWER MANAS

PersonalityIn Occultism--which divides man into 7 principles, considering him under three aspects of the divine, the thinking or the rational, and the animal man--the lower quaternary or the purely astro-physical being; while by Individuality is meant the Higher Triad, considered as a Unity. Thus the Personality embraces all the characteristics and memories of one physical life, which the Individuality is the imperishable Ego which re-incarnates and clothes itself in one personality after another.
T. GLOS. p. 252

"The astral through Kama (desire) is ever drawing Manas down into the sphere of material passions and desires. But if the better man or Manas tries to escape the fatal attraction and turns its aspirations to Atma-Spirit--the Buddhi (Ruach) conquers and carries Manas with it to the realm of eternal Spirit."

S D I p. 244-5 "The life principle acts from the time of fetal existence until death. The lower principles are fed continuously during that time from the astral plane; that which constitutes the individual monad reincarnates at the time of birth, but whether or not the highest principles may assimilate with the germ during a lifetime, and to which extent they will either assimilate or be lost, will depend on the will and the exertions of the individual."
THEOS. ART. & NOTES, p. 118-9

"That which is known as you is the result of one continuous existence of an entity. Your present body and your soul (or the personality) are the results of a series of existences. Your Karma is a result of co-existence. The individuality, or spirit, is the cause of the soul and personality, or what is called "you." You are the manifestation of an entity and are the result of many appearances of that entity upon this stage of action in various personalities."
WQJ ART., II, p. 452

MATTER

Q'lippoth(Heb.) ...Olam Klippoth... contains the matter of which stars, planets, and even men are made...chaotic turbulent matter, which is used in its finer state by spirits to robe themselves in...the "vesture" or form (rupa) of the incarnating Egos...the Manasaputras or Sons of Wisdom, use for the consolidation of their forms, in order to descend into lower spheres, the dregs of Swabhavat, or that plastic matter which is throughout Space...primordial ilus....Typhon...Satan...Samael on inversus--the Demon is the lining of God."
T. GLOS. p. 268-9

PHYSICAL BRAIN

"Experience is gained, [and] places upon itself, one after the other, various sheaths, each having its peculiar property and function. The mere physical brain is thus seen to be only the material organ first used by the percipient in receiving or conveying ideas and perceptions; and so with all the other organs, they are only means for centralizing the power of the real man in order to experience the modifications of nature at that particular spot. Who is the sufferer from this despondency? It is the false personality...as distinguished from Krishna--the Higher Self--which is oppressed by the immediate resistance offered by all the lower part of our nature..."
G. NOTES 26

Personality is always an illusion, a false picture hiding the reality inside. No person is able to make his bodily environment correspond exactly to the best that is within him, and others therefore continually judge him by the outward show. If we try...to find the divine in everything, we will soon learn not to judge by appearances...do our duty without hope of reward and without trimming ourselves with a desired result in view...
GITA. NOTES, p. 109

"...Plato accepted the clue and followed it, if to these five, namely Agathon (Deity or Atma), Psuche (Soul in its collective sense), Nous (Spirit or Mind), Phren (physical mind), and Thumos (Kama-rupa or passions) we add the eidolon of the mysteries, the shadowy form or the human double, and the physical body...(= 7) ]
KEY, p. 96

KAMA - THE SENSE OF SEPARATENESS

"...the path which is not manifest is with difficulty attained by corporeal beings." The difficulty here stated is that caused by the personality, which causes us to see the Supreme as different as separate from ourselves. The tendency of human beings is to think and act as persons in their relations with other human beings and with manifested nature in general, and although they may ardently desire to act "for and as the Self," they find themselves constantly falling under the sway of the purely personal feeling of separateness."
GITA NOTES, p. 181-2

Kama(Sk) Evil desire, lust, volition; the cleaving to existence. Kama is generally identified with Mara, the tempter.
T. GLOS., p. 170

Kamadeva(Sk) ...the first conscious, all embracing desire for universal good, love, and for all that lives and feels, needs help and kindness, the first feeling of infinite tender compassion and mercy that arose in the consciousness of the creative ONE FORCE, as soon as it came into life and being as a ray from the ABSOLUTE..."Desire first arose in IT, which was the primal germ of mind, and which Sages, searching with their intellect, have discovered in their heart to be the bond which connects Entity with non-Entity," or Manas with pure Atma-Buddhi.". (see SD II 176 ) "There is no idea of sexual love in the conception. Kama (deva) is pre- eminently the divine desire of creating happiness and love ... is represented as the Supreme Deity and Creator ... is the child of Dharma, the god of Law and Justice, of Sraddha, faith. ... springs from the heart of Brahma...born from water, i.e., from primordial chaos, or the "Deep"...one of his many names, Ira-ja, "the water-born;" and Aja, "unborn;" and Atma bhu or "Self-existent...the sign of Makara (Capricornus) on his banner, he is also called "Makara Ketu." The allegory about Siva, the "Great Yogin," reducing Kama to ashes by the fire from his central (or third) Eye...is very suggestive, as it is said that he thereby reduced Kama to his primeval substance. " T. GLOS. p. 170-1 Sukshopadhi (Sk) ...the principle (in Taraka Raj-Yoga) containing both the higher and the lower Manas and Kama. It corresponds to the Manomaya Kosha of the Vedantic classification and to the Svapna state (esoterically: dual Manas -- see GLOS. 205)
GLOS. 312 (See also, S.D. I, p. 157)

"Astral Soul," another name for the lower Manas, or Kama-Manas so-called, the reflection of the Higher Ego."
T. GLOS. p. 37

"...Anoia, (folly, or the irrational animal Soul)..."
KEY, p. 91

"...the instinctual soul...derived from and through and ever influenced by the moon [astral light]..."
KEY, p. 96

"The Soul of man (i.e., the personality) per se, is neither immortal, eternal, nor divine."
KEY, p. 106

"From the fact that the soul (Higher Manas) is conjoined in the body with the organ of thought (Lower Manas), and thus with the whole of Nature, lack of discrimination follows, produces misconceptions of duties and responsibilities."
PATANJALI, p. 24-5

INDIVIDUALITY -- HIGHER MANAS + BUDDHI + ATMA

"It may be conceived that the "Ego" in man is a monad that has gathered to itself innumerable experiences through aeons of time, slowly unfolding its latent potencies through plane after plane of matter. It is hence called the "eternal pilgrim." The Manasic, or mind principle, is cosmic and universal. It is the creator of all forms, and the basis of all law in nature. Not so with consciousness. Consciousness is a condition of the monad as the result of embodiment in matter and the dwelling in a physical form. Self-consciousness, which from the animal plane looking upward is the beginning of perfection, from the divine plane looking downward is the perfection of selfishness and the curse of separateness. It is the "world of illusion" that man has created for himself. "Maya is the perceptive faculty of every Ego which considers itself a Unit, separate from and independent of the One Infinite and Eternal Sat or 'be-ness'" The "eternal pilgrim" must therefore mount higher, and flee from the plane of self-consciousness it has struggled so hard to reach.... The complex structure that we call "Man" is made up of a congeries of almost innumerable "Lives."...the "Eternal Pilgrim," the Alter-Ego in man, is a monad progressing through the ages...The human monad or Ego is...akin to all below it and heir to all above it, linked by indissoluble bonds to (31) spirit and matter ...the Manasic, or mind element, with its cosmic and infinite potentialities, is not merely the developed "instinct" of the animal. Mind is the latent or active potentiality of Cosmic Ideation, the essence of every form, the basis of every law, the potency of every principle in the universe....man senses and apprehends nature just as nature unfolds in him. When, therefore, the Monad has passed through the form of the animal ego, involved and unfolded the human form, the higher triad of principles awakens from the sleep of ages and over-shadowed by the "Manasa-putra" and built into its essence and substance.."
WQJ ARTICLES Vol. I, pp. 29-31

Individuality One of the names given in Theosophy and Occultism to the Human Higher EGO. We make a distinction between the immortal and divine Ego, and the mortal human Ego which perishes. The latter, or "personality" (personal Ego) survives the dead body only for a time in the Kama Loka; the Individuality prevails forever."
T. GLOS. p.. 154-5

Personality In Occultism-which divides man into 7 principles, considering him under three aspects: 1. of the divine, 2. the thinking or the rational, and 3. the animal man-the lower quaternary or the purely astro-physical being; while by Individuality is meant the Higher Triad, considered as a Unity. This the Personality embraces all the characteristics and memories of one physical life, while the Individuality is the imperishable Ego which reincarnates and clothes itself in one personality after another."
T. GLOSS., p. 252 .

occult philosophy claims; our Ego is a ray of the Universal Mind, The Occultist would call the "Higher Ego" the immortal Entity, whose shadow and reflection is the human Manas, the mind, limited by its physical senses. The two may be well compared to the Master-artist and the pupil-musician...In the course of natural evolution our "brain-mind" will be replaced by a finer organism, and helped by the 6th and the 7th senses. Even now there are pioneer minds who have developed these senses.."
HPB -- T A & N p. 208

Augoeides (Gr.) ... "Luminous Self," or our Higher Ego. But Occultism makes of it something distinct from this. It is a mystery. The Augoides is the human divine radiation of the EGO which, when incarnated, is but its shadow--pure as it is yet.." T. GLOSSARY, p. 43-4

" Spirit...in Theosophical teachings "Spirit" is applied solely to that which belongs directly to Universal Consciousness, and which is its homogeneous and unadulterated emanation. Thus, the higher Mind in Man or his Ego (Manas) is, when linked indissolubly with Buddhi, a spirit; while the term "Soul", human or even animal (the lower Manas acting in animals as instinct), is applied only to Kama-Manas, and qualified as the living soul. This is nephesh, in Hebrew, the "breath of life." SPIRIT is formless and immaterial, being, when individualized, of the highest spiritual substance --Suddhasatwa, the divine essence, of which the body of the manifesting highest Dhyanis are formed... Spirit, in short, is no entity in the sense of having form; for, as Buddhist philosophy has it, where there is a form, there is a cause for pain and suffering. But each individual spirit-- this individuality lasting only throughout the manvantaric life-cycle-- may be described as a centre of consciousness, a self-sentient and self-conscious centre; a state, not a conditioned individual. This is why there is such a wealth of words in Sanskrit to express the different States of Being, Beings, and Entities, each appellation showing the philosophical difference, the plane to which such unit belongs, and the degree of its spirituality or materiality..."
T. GLOS. 306

(Q.: Can there be Consciousness without Mind?) A.: Not on this plane of matter. But why not on some other and higher plane?...On that higher plane ... Mahat--the great Manvantaric Principle of Intelligence--acts as a Brain, through which the Universal and Eternal Mind radiates the Ah-hi, representing the resultant Consciousness or ideation."
TRANSACTIONS, p. . 28

"...the higher Mind in Man, or his Ego (Manas) is, when linked indivisibly with Buddhi, a spirit..."
GLOS 306-7

"...Occultism calls this the seventh principle [Atma], the synthesis of the six, and gives it for vehicle the Spiritual Soul, Buddhi...in conjunction these two are One, impersonal and without any attributes (on this plane)..."
KEY, 120

"The SPIRITUAL divine EGO is the Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi in close union with Manas, the mind-principle, without which it is no EGO at all, but only the Atmic Vehicle."
KEY 176

"Buddhi becomes conscious by the accretions it gets from Manas after every new incarnation..."
SD I 244

"Plato defines Soul (Buddhi) as "the motion that is able to move itself." "Soul"..."is the most ancient of all things, and the commencement of motion," thus calling Atma-Buddhi "Soul,"... which we do not."
KEY 114

"It is by development that the soul becomes spirit, both being at the lower and the higher rungs of one and the same ladder whose basis is the UNIVERSAL SOUL or spirit."
H.P.B. Articles, Vol. II, p. 306

"...there is no impossibility in supposing [ that the Ego is a "god on a higher plane"] so surrounded by the clouds of matter as to become latent or hidden until the time when the form suitable for this plane is evolved...that Ego, who is the Spectator of all things...[the Self] ..."
THEOS. FORUM ANSWERS, p. 108

"...Pythagoras...described the Soul as a self-moving Unit (monad) composed of 3 elements, the Nous (Spirit), the phren (mind), and the thumos (life, breath or the Nephesh of the Kabalists), which 3 correspond to our "Atma-Buddhi," (higher Spiritual-Soul), to Manas (the EGO), and to Kama Rupa in conjunction with the lower reflection of Manas."
KEY, p. 94

"...[the Agnishwatta Pitris] were destined to incarnate as the Egos of the forthcoming crop of Mankind. The human Ego is neither Atman nor Buddhi, but the higher Manas: the intellectual fruition and the efflorescence of the intellectual self-conscious Egotism--in the higher spiritual sense. The ancient works refer to it as Karana Sarira on the plane of the Sutratma, which is the golden thread on which, like beads, the various personalities of this higher Ego are strung...these beings were returning Nirvanees, from preceding Maha-Manvantaras--ages of incalculable duration..."
S D II 79

"The Ego does not enter the body at any time...the connection of the Ego with the body--by means of the principle Manas--is made in general, at seven years of age, and from then on the Ego is involved or entangled in body. But before such material entanglement it was first caught and involved in the passions and desires...kama--which is always the efficient or producing cause for the embodiment of the Ego. This kama is known to form a part of the skandhas or aggregates, of which the material body is one."
FORUM ANSWERS p. 47

"...man...Spiritual Fire is its instructor (Guru)...This fire is the higher Self, the Spiritual Ego, or that which is eternally reincarnating under the influence of its lower personal Selves, changing with every re-birth, full or Tanha or desire to live. It is a strange law of Nature, that on this plane, the higher (Spiritual) Nature should be, so to say, in bondage to the lower. Unless the Ego takes refuge in the Atman, the ALL-SPIRIT, and merges entirely into the essence thereof, the personal Ego may goad it to the bitter end...That which propels towards, and forces evolution, i.e., compels the growth and development of Man towards perfection, is (a) the MONAD, or that which acts in it unconsciously through a force inherent in itself; and (b) the lower astral body or the personal SELF...unless the higher Self or EGO gravitates towards its Sun--the Monad--the lower Ego, or personal Self, will have the upper hand in every case. For it is this Ego, with its fierce Selfishness and animal desire to live a Senseless life (Tanha), which is "the maker of the tabernacle" as Buddha calls it...the Atman alone warms the inner man; i.e., it enlightens it with the ray of divine life and alone is able to impart to the inner man, or the reincarnating Ego, its immortality."
SD II 109-110

MONAD(Gr) The Unity, the one; but in Occultism it often means the unified triad, Atma-Buddhi-Manas, or the duad, Atma-Buddhi, that immortal part of man which reincarnates in the lower kingdoms, and gradually progresses through them to Man and then to the final goal--Nirvana."
GLOS. 216

"Manas is immortal, because after every new incarnation it adds to Atma-Buddhi something of itself, and thus assimilating itself to the Monad, shares its immortality. Buddhi becomes conscious by the accretions it gets from Manas after every new incarnation and the death of man."
SD I 243-4

"The supreme energy resides in the Buddhi, latent--when wedded to Atman alone, active and irresistible when galvanized by the essence of "Manas," and when none of the dross of the latter commingles with that pure essence to weigh it down by its finite nature. Manas, pure and simple, is of a lower degree, and of earth earthy..."
M L p. 341-2

"...man and Soul have to conquer their immortality by ascending towards the unity."
KEY 102

"...the Soul of man (or his higher "principles, and attributes")...(as defined by Pythagoras, Plato, and Timmaeus of Locris)...[ are derived ] from the Universal World Soul...AEther (Pater Zeus)..."
KEY 104

"...the reasoning soul comes from within the Universal Soul..."
KEY 105

"...the work of the soul is to seek Wisdom, and the substance of earthly wisdom is to know Universal Wisdom."
MODERN PANARION, 379

"Since Manas, in its lower aspect, is the seat of the terrestrial mind, it can, therefore, give only that perception of the Universe which is based on the evidence of that mind; it cannot give spiritual vision."
KEY 158

"...Manas-Taijasi, the Buddhi-lit human soul...if it can be said of Buddhi that it is unconditionally immortal, the same cannot be said of Manas...no post-mortem consciousness or Manas-Taijasi, can exist apart from Buddhi, the divine soul, because the first (Manas) is, in its lower aspect, a qualificative attribute of the terrestrial personality...In its turn, Buddhi would remain only an impersonal spirit without this element which it borrows from the human soul, which conditions and makes of it. in this illusive Universe, as it were something separate from the universal soul for the whole period of the cycle of incarnation. Say rather that Buddhi-Manas can neither die nor lose its compound self-consciousness in Eternity, nor the recollections of its previous incarnations..."
HPB ART II 198-9

"The Universe (visible and invisible--compounded of purity, action and rest)...exists for the sake of the soul's experience and emancipation...For the sake of the soul alone, the Universe exists..."
PAT 25-6

"the soul is the Perceiver; is assuredly vision itself pure and simple; unmodified; and looks directly upon ideas."
PAT 26

"Spirit is universal...It cannot know itself except as Soul. Spirit is the "power to become;" Soul is "the becoming." Spirit is the power to see and know; Soul is the seeing and knowing. Soul is the accumulation of perceptions and experiences by means of which Spiritual Identity is realized."
(see GLOS 306) Q & A, p. 21

"...a soul which thirsts after a reunion with its spirit, which alone confers upon it immortality, must purify itself through cyclic transmigration..."
KEY 111

"What then is the universe for, and for what purpose is man the immortal thinker here in evolution? It is all for the experience and emancipation of the soul, for the purpose of raising the entire mass of manifested matter up to the stature, nature, and dignity of conscious god-hood. The great aim is the reach self-consciousness; not through a race or a tribe of some favored nation, but by and through the perfecting, after transformation, of the whole mass of matter as well as what we now call soul. Nothing is or is to be left out. The aim for present man is his initiation into complete knowledge, and for the other kingdoms below him that they may be raised up gradually from stage to stage to be in time initiated also. This is evolution carried to its highest power; it is a magnificent prospect; it makes of man a god, and gives to every part of nature the possibility of being some day the same; there is strength and nobility in it, for by this no man is dwarfed and belittled, for no one is so originally sinful that he cannot rise above all sin."
OCEAN, pp. 60-1

"Starting upon the long journey immaculate; descending more and more into sinful matter, and having connected himself with every atom in manifested Space--the Pilgrim, having struggled through and suffered in every form of life and being, is only at the bottom of the valley of matter, and half through his cycle, when he has identified himself with collective Humanity. This, he has made in his own image. In order to progress upwards and homewards, the "God" has to now ascend the weary uphill path of the Golgotha of Life. It is the martyrdom of self-conscious existence. Like Visvakarman he has to sacrifice himself to himself in order to redeem all creatures, to resurrect from the many into the One Life. Then he ascends into heaven indeed; where, plunged into the incomprehensible absolute Being and Bliss of Paranirvana, he reigns unconditionally, and whence he will re-descend again at the next "coming," which one portion of humanity expects in its dead-letter sense as the second advent, and the other as the last "Kalki Avatar."
SD I 268

"Theosophy considers humanity as an emanation from divinity on its return path hereto. At an advanced point upon the path, Adeptship is reached by those who have devoted several incarnations to its achievement...many incarnations are necessary for it after the formation of a conscious purpose and the beginning of the needful training..."
KEY 214-5

METAPHYSICAL PRINCIPLES

"The universe evolves from the unknown, into which no man or mind, however high, can inquire, on seven planes or in seven ways or methods in all worlds...The divisions of the sevenfold universe may be laid down roughly as: The Absolute, Spirit, Mind, Matter, Will, Akasa or AEther, and Life. In place of "the Absolute" we can use the word Space...which ever is, and in which all manifestation must take place...Our knowledge begins with differentiation, and all manifested objects, beings, or powers are only differentiations of the Great Unknown...The first differentiation --speaking metaphysically as to time--is Spirit, with which appear Matter and Mind. Akasa is produced from Matter and Spirit, Will is the force of Spirit in action and Life is the resultant of the action of Akasa, moved by Spirit, upon Matter (the real Matter which is always invisible...Mulaprakriti). Mind is the intelligent part of the Cosmos, and...the plan is brought over from a prior period of manifestation...because there never was any beginning to the periodical manifestations of the Absolute, there will never be an end, but forever the going forth and withdrawing into the Unknown will go on...the plan is laid down in universal mind; the original force comes from spirit; the basis is matter...Life sustains all the forms...and Akasa is the connecting link between matter on one side and spirit-mind ion the other."
OCEAN, pp. 14-16

"Occult philosophy reconciles the absurdity of postulating in the manifested Universe an active Mind without an organ, with that worse absurdity, an objective Universe evolved as everything else in it, by blind chance, by giving to this Universe an organ of thought, a "brain." The latter, although not objective to our senses, is none the less existing; it is to be found in the Entity called KOSMOS (Adam Kadmon in the Kabalah). As in the Microcosm, MAN, so in the Macrocosm, or the Universe. Every "organ" in it is a sentient entity, and every particle of matter or substance, from the physical molecule up to the spiritual atom, is a cell, a nerve center, which communicates. This is precisely what occult philosophy claims; our Ego is a ray of the Universal Mind, individualized for the space of a cosmic life-cycle, during which space of time it gets its experience in almost numberless reincarnations or rebirths, after which it returns to its Parent-Source. The Occultist would call the "Higher Ego" the immortal Entity, whose shadow and reflection is the human Manas, the mind, limited by its physical senses. The two may be well compared to the Master-artist and the pupil-musician...In the course of natural evolution our "brain-mind" will be replaced by a finer organism, and helped by the 6th and the 7th senses. Even now there are pioneer minds who have developed these senses."
HPB -- Theosophical Articles & Notes, p. 208

".the substratum, or support, for the whole Cosmos, is the presiding Spirit...There must be something eternally persisting, which is the witness and perceiver of every passing change, itself unchangeable...there must be a universal presiding spirit, the producer as well as the spectator, of all this collection of animate and inanimate things."
G. NOTES 23

Mulaprakriti (Sk) The Parabrahmic root, the abstract deific feminine principle--undifferentiated substance. Akasa. Lit. "the root of nature" (Prakriti) or Matter.
GLOS. 218

Parabrahm (Sk) "Beyond Brahma," literally. The Supreme Infinite Brahma, "Absolute"--the attributeless, the secondless reality. The impersonal and nameless universal Principle.
GLOS. 248

[Parabrahm, Ain-Soph, and the Zeruana-Akerne of the Avesta alone represent such an Eternity (beginningless and endless); all the other periods are finite and astronomical, based on tropical years and other enormous cycles.
TRANS. 9

"...it is impossible to define Parabrahm, yet once that we speak of that first something which can be conceived, it has to be treated of as a feminine principle. In all cosmogonies the first differentiation was considered feminine. It is Mulaprakriti which conceals or veils Parabrahm...it is the goddess...who come first. The first emanation becomes the immaculate Mother from whom proceeds all the gods, or the anthropomorphized creative forces...."
TRANS. 2

Paramatma (Sk.) The Supreme Soul of the Universe.
GLOS. 249

Pradhana (Sk.) Undifferentiated substance, called elsewhere and in other schools--Akasa; and Mulaprakriti or Root of Matter by the Vedantins. In short, Primeval Matter.
GLOS. 259

SOURCE OF THE SPIRIT IN MAN

"...The Host of Dhyanis, whose turn it was to incarnate as the Egos of the immortal, but, on this plane, senseless monads--that some "obeyed" (the law of evolution) immediately when the men of the 3rd Race became physiologically and physically ready, i.e., when they had separated into sexes. These were those early conscious Beings who, now adding conscious knowledge and will to their inherent Divine purity, created by Kriyasakti the semi-Divine man, who became the seed on earth for future adepts. Those, on the other hand, who, jealous of their intellectual freedom (unfettered as it then was by the bonds of matter), said:--"We can choose...we have wisdom,"...and incarnated far later--these had their first Karmic punishment prepared for them. They got bodies (physiologically) inferior to their astral models, because their chhayas had belonged to progenitors of an inferior degree in the 7 classes. As to those "Sons of Wisdom" who had "deferred" their incarnation till the 4th Race, which was already tainted (physiologically) with sin and impurity, they produced a terrible cause, the Karmic result of which weighs on them to this day...the bodies they had to inform had become defiled through their own procrastination...This was the "Fall of the angels," because of their rebellion against Karmic Law. The "fall of man" was no fall, for he was irresponsible..."
SD II 228

DIFFERENT "FORMS" OF MATTER - NEEDS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Causal Body This "body," which is no body either objective or subjective, but Buddhi, the Spiritual Soul, is so called because it is the direct cause of the Sushupti condition, leading to the Turya state, the highest state of Samadhi. It is called Karanopadhi, "the basis of the Cause," by the Taraka Raja Yogis...corresponds to both the Vignanamaya and Anandamaya Kosha, the latter coming next to Atma, and therefore being the vehicle of the universal Spirit. Buddhi alone could not be called a "Causal Body," but becomes so in conjunction with Manas, the incarnating Entity or EGO."
T. GLOS. 74

Karana Sarira (Sk. ) The "Causal Body." It is dual in its meaning. Exoterically, it is Avidya, ignorance, or that which is the cause of the evolution of a human ego and its reincarnation; hence the lower Manas; esoterically--the causal body or Karanopadhi stands in the Taraka Raja-yoga as corresponding to Buddhi and the Higher "Manas," or Spiritual Soul."
T. GLOS. 173

Karanopadhi (Sk.) ...upadhi of Karana, the "Causal soul." In Taraka Rajayoga, it corresponds with both Manas and Buddhi.
(see S.D. I 157) GLOS. 173

Suddha Satwa (Sk) A substance not subject to the qualities of matter; a luminiferous and (to us) invisible substance, of which the bodies of the Gods and highest Dhyanis are formed. Philosophically, Suddha Satwa is a conscious state of spiritual Ego-ship rather than any essence."
GLOS. 311

Sukshma Sarira (Sk) The dream-like, illusive body akin to Manasa-rupa or "thought-body". It is the vesture of the gods, or the Dhyanis and the Devas...Sukshma Sharira ... Sukshmopadhi...
GLOS. 312

Sukshmopadhi (Sk) ...the principle (in Taraka Raj-Yoga) containing both the higher and the lower Manas and Kama. It corresponds to the Manomaya Kosha of the Vedantic classification and to the Svapna state
(esoterically: dual Manas -- GLOS. 205) GLOS. 312 (See also, S.D. I 157)

Svabhavat (Sk.) ...the world-substance and stuff, or rather that which is behind it--the spirit and essence of substance. The name comes from Subhava and is composed of 3 words --su, good perfect, fair, handsome; sva, self; and bhava, being, or state of being. From it all nature proceeds and into it all returns at the end of the life-cycles. In Esotericism it is called "Father-Mother." It is the plastic essence of matter."
T. GLOS. 314

"That" ...Mulaprakriti...Svabhavat...that androgynous something ...which is both differentiated and undifferentiated. In its first principle it is a pure abstraction, which becomes differentiated only when it is transformed, in the process of time, into Prakriti. If compared with the human principles, it corresponds to Buddhi, while Atma would correspond to Parabrahm, Manas to Mahat, and so on. "
TRANS. 4

Adi-Buddhi (Sk) Primeval Intelligence or Wisdom; the eternal Buddha Universal Mind. Used of Divine Ideation, "Mahabuddhi" being synonymous with MAHAT."
T. GLOS. 6

Ahankara (Sk) The conception of "I", Self consciousness or Self- identity; the "I", the egotistical and mayavic principle in man, due to ignorance which separates our "I" from the Universal ONE-SELF, Personality, Egoism.
T. GLOS. 11

Akasa (Sk.) The subtle, supersensuous spiritual essence which pervades all space; The primordial substance erroneously identified with Ether. But it is to Ether what Spirit is to Matter, or Atma to Kama- rupa. It is, in fact, the Universal Space in which lies inherent the eternal Ideation of the Universe in its ever-changing aspects of the planes of matter and objectivity, and from which radiates the First Logos, or expressed thought...Akasa has but one attribute, namely sound, for sound is but the translated symbol of the Logos--"Speech"--in its mystic sense.
T. GLOS. 13

Alaya (Sk.) The Universal Soul (See S. D. Vol. I, 47, et seq.) The name belongs to the Tibetan system of the contemplative Mahayana School. Identical with Akasa in its mystic sense, and with Mulaprakriti, in its essence, as it is the basis or root of all things.
T. GLOS. p. 14

Atma (or Atman) (Sk.) The Universal Spirit, the divine Monad, the 7th Principle, so-called, in the septenary constitution of man. The Supreme Soul.
T. GLOS., p. 43

LIGHTING UP OF MANAS ( THE HUMAN MIND )

"...divine man dwelt in his animal--though externally human --form; and, if there was instinct in him, no self-consciousness came to enlighten the darkness of the latent 5th principle [Manas]. When moved by the law of Evolution, the Lords of Wisdom infused into him the spark of consciousness, the first feeling it awoke to life and activity was a sense of solidarity, of one-ness with his spiritual creators. As the child's first feeling is for its mother and nurse, so the first aspirations of the awakening consciousness in primitive man were for those whose element he felt within himself, and who yet were outside, and independent of him. DEVOTION arose out of that feeling, and became the first and foremost motor in his nature; for it is the only one which is natural in our heart, which is innate in us, and which we find alike in human babe and the young of the animal. This feeling of irrepressible, instinctive aspiration in primitive man ...(211) It lives undeniably, and has settled in all its ineradicable strength and power in the Asiatic Aryan heart from the 3rd Race direct through it first "mind-born" sons,--the fruits of Kriyasakti. As time rolled on the holy caste of Initiates produced but rarely, and from age to age, such perfect creatures: beings apart, inwardly, though the same as those who produced them, outwardly...the 3rd primitive race...was called into being, a ready and perfect vehicle for the incarnating denizens of higher spheres, who took forthwith their abodes in these forms born of Spiritual WILL and the natural divine power in man. Its physical frame alone was of time and of life, as it drew its intelligence direct from above. It was the living tree of divine wisdom; and may therefore be likened to the Mundane Tree of the Norse Legend, which cannot wither and die until the last battle of life shall be fought, and while its roots are gnawed all the time by the dragon Niddhogg; for even so, the first and holy son of Kriyasakti had his body gnawed by the tooth of time, but the roots of his inner being remained for ever undecaying and strong, because they grew and expanded in heaven not on earth. He was the first of the FIRST, and he was the seed of all the others. There were other "Sons of Kriyasakti" produced by a second spiritual effort, but the first one has remained to this day the Seed of divine Knowledge, the One and the Supreme among the terrestrial "Sons of Wisdom."
SD I 210-211

"No sooner had the mental eye of man been opened to understanding, than the Third Race felt itself one with the ever-present as the ever to be unknown and invisible ALL, the One Universal Deity...feeling in himself his inner God, each felt he was a Man-God in his nature, though an animal in his physical Self...
(SD II 272)

the evolution of Spirit into matter could never have been achieved; nor would it have received its first impulse, had not the bright Spirits sacrificed their own respective super-ethereal essences to animate the man of clay, by endowing each of his inner principles with a portion, or rather, a reflection of that essence."
SD II 273

NIRMANAKAYA -- INVISIBLE, LIVING SAGES

"...those EGOS of great Adepts who have passed away, and are also known as Nirmanakayas; ...for whom--since they are beyond illusion--there is no Devachan, and who, having either voluntarily renounced it for the good of mankind, or not yet reached Nirvana, remain invisible on earth ...they are reborn over and over again ... Who they are, "on earth"--every student of Occult science knows..."

(SD II 615 see VOICE OF THE SILENCE. p. 35, 44, 77; T. GLOSS p. 339)

PLANETARY SPIRITS - BUDDHA : AN EXAMPLE

"When our great Buddha--the patron of all the adepts, the reformer and the codifier of the occult system, reached first Nirvana on earth, he became a Planetary Spirit, i.e.,--his spirit could at one and the same time rove the interstellar spaces in full consciousness, and continue at will on Earth in his original and individual body. For the divine Self had so completely disfranchised itself from matter that it could create at will an inner substitute for itself, and leaving it in the human form for days, weeks, sometimes years, affect in no wise by the change either the vital principle or the physical mind of its body ...that is the highest form of adeptship man can hope for on our planet. But it is as rare as the Buddhas themselves, the last Khobilgan who reached it being Song-Ka-Pa of Kokonor (XIV Century), the reformer of esoteric as well as of vulgar lamaism. Many are those who "break through the egg shell," few who, once out are able to exercise their Nirira namastaka fully, when out of the body. Conscious life in Spirit is as difficult for some natures as swimming, is for some bodies...The planetary Spirit of that kind (the Buddha like) can pass at will into other bodies--of more or less etherealized matter, inhabiting other regions of the Universe. There are many other grades and orders, but there is no separate and eternally constituted order of Planetary Spirits."
MAHAT. LET. 43-4

MODIFICATIONS OF THE MIND

"All objects, and all states of what western philosophers call Mind, are modifications, for in order to be seen or known by us, there must be some change, either partial or total, from a precedent state. The perceiver of these changes in the inner man-Arjuna-Krishna."
G NOTES 23

Concentration, or Yoga, is the hindering of the modifications of the thinking principle. (Fn.: ...the [lower] mind--here called "the thinking principle"--is subject to constant modifications by reason of its being diffused over a multiplicity of subjects. So "concentration" is equivalent to the correction of a tendency to diffuseness, and to..."one-pointedness," or the power to apply the [lower] mind at any moment, to the consideration of a single point of thought, to the exclusion of everything else...The [lower] mind...is not the supreme or highest power; it is only a function, an instrument with which the soul [higher manas] works...The brain... must not be confounded with the mind, for the brain is in its turn but an instrument for the mind... The [lower] mind has a plane of its own, distinct from the soul [higher mind] and the brain, and what is to be learned is, to use the will...a distinct power from the mind and brain...)
PATANJALI, 1-2

"...[.when the internal organ, the [lower] mind is through the senses affected or modified by the form of some object, the soul [higher aspect of the lower manas] also--viewing the object through its organ, the [lower] mind--is, as it were, altered into that form...
PATANJALI, 3

The modifications of the [lower] mind are of five kinds, and they are either painful or not painful; they are, Correct Cognition, Misconception, Fancy, Sleep, and Memory.
PATANJALI, 4

"The hindering of the modifications of the [lower] mind already referred to, is to be effected by means of Exercise and Dispassion."
PAT. 5

"....resolving to create, or rather to emanate the universe, It formed a picture of what should be, and this at once was a modification willingly brought about in the hitherto wholly unmodified spirit; whereupon the Divine Idea was gradually expanded, coming forth into objectivity, while the essence of the presiding spirit remained unmodified, and became the perceiver of its own expanded idea. Its modifications are visible (and invisible) nature. Its essence then differentiates itself continually in various directions becoming the immortal part of each man--Krishna who talks to Arjuna. Coming like a spark from the central fire, it partakes of that nature, and assumes to itself--as a cover, so to speak--the human body [and all other beings in nature] and thus being in essence unmodified, it has the capacity to perceive all the changes going on around the body. This Self must be recognized as being within, pondered over, and as much as possible understood, if we are to gain any true knowledge.
G. NOTES 23-24

FREE-WILL

"Every atom is endowed with and moved by intelligence, and is conscious in its own degree, on its own plane of development. This is a glimpse of the One Life... selfishness is the curse of separateness..."
WQJ ART I 29

"Every man has a god within, a direct ray from the Absolute, the celestial ray from the One..."
TRANS 53

"Free-will can only exist in a man who has both mind and consciousness, which act and make him perceive things both within and without himself." Consciousness is a condition of the monad as a result of embodiment in matter and the dwelling in a physical form."
WQJ ART I 29

"..."Mind" is manas, or rather its lower reflection, which whenever it disconnects itself, for the time being, with kama, becomes the guide of the highest mental faculties, and is the organ of the free-will in physical man...."
HPB ARTICLES, Vol. II, p. 13

"Spiritual mind (the upper portion or aspect of the impersonal Manas) takes no cognizance of the senses in physical man."
[ see KEY 106, 136, 138 ] SD I 96

"It is through Fohat that the ideas of the Universal Mind are impressed upon matter...appellation "Cosmic Electricity" ...properties...including intelligence."
SD I 85

"And whoever...wants to see the real Mahatma, must use his intellectual sight. He must so elevate his Manas that its perception will be clear and all mists created by Maya must be dispelled...The real Mahatma is then not his physical body but that Higher Manas which is inseparably linked to the Atma and its vehicle [Buddhi]."
HPB ART I p. 294

"...man is a free agent during his stay on earth. He cannot escape his ruling Destiny, but he has the choice of two paths that lead him in that direction, and he can reach the goal of misery--if such is decreed to him, either in the snowy white robes of the Martyr, or in the soiled garments of a volunteer in the iniquitous course; for, there are external and internal conditions which affect the determination of our will upon our actions, and it is in our power to follow either of the two...this destiny is guided either by the heavenly voice of the invisible prototype outside of us, or by our more intimate astral, or inner man, who is but too often the evil genius of the embodied entity called man. Both these lead on the outward man, but one of them must prevail; and from the very beginning of the invisible affray the stern and implacable law of compensation steps in and takes its course, faithfully following the fluctuations...this self-made destiny..."
SD I 639

"...Consciousness is not developed; Consciousness always is. It is intelligence which is developed in different ways, in different degrees of substance, on different planes of being. The intelligence gained is an understanding of externalities in their relation to Consciousness itself ...This acquired intelligence is the basis of the Archetypal World, in which types are formulated...it is Consciousness first, last and all the time at the root of all manifestation. Always the Perceiver is behind every form. What is learned in regard to externalities or any instrument is the amount of intelligence gained...as that intelligence increases it becomes the basis on which better instruments are formed."
Q & A 203-4

PURPOSE - THE GOAL

"...the Universe, which manifests periodically, for the purposes of the collective progress of the countless lives."
SD I 268

"The soul emerges from the unknown, begins to work in and with matter, is reborn again and again, makes karma, develops the six vehicles for itself, meets retribution for sin and punishment for mistake, grows stronger by suffering, succeeds in bursting through the gloom, is enlightened by the true illumination, grasps power, retains charity, expands with love for humanity, and thenceforth helps all others who remain in darkness until all may be raised up to the place with the "Father in Heaven" who is the Higher Self." ["The Mahatmas as Ideals & Facts" ]
WQJ ART II 39

"The course of Being is an ever-becoming. Ever-becoming is endless, therefore beginningless. This solar system and its planets of course had a beginning and will have an ending, but every manifestation is but a further becoming of that which had been. Periods of Manifestation and Non-Manifestation succeed each other in Infinite Space, to which neither beginning nor ending can be applied...The ancient way of stating any beginning is, "the Desire first arose in It;" it referring to Spirit, which is the cause and sustainer of all that was, is, or shall be. There is a beginning to the first glimmerings of external consciousness, which ever tends to widen its range of perception and manifestation until it encompasses and becomes at one with All; Potential Spirit having become Potent Intelligence. The ending of the process results in a new beginning based upon the totality of intelligence attained. Whatever begins in time ends in time. Time is due to perceptions in Consciousness; as the Secret Doctrine says...beginnings and endings pertain to that "illusion," and not to the beginningless and endless Spirit which is the Perceiver. As the Gita says: "The Spirit in the body, is called Maheshwara, the great Lord, the Spectator, the admonisher, the sustainer, the enjoyer, and also the Paramatma the highest soul;" itself without beginning or ending, it makes beginnings and endings in manifestations, which as manifestations are beginningless and endless in their turn."
Q & A 102-3

"There is That which must ever remain unknown, because it is the Knower in every body, It cannot be known because Its potentiality of knowing is Infinite. There is that in ourselves which is our very Self and which is unchanged and exhaustless through infinitudes of experiences; it is the unknowable in us as well as in all Nature; from It all manifestation proceeds. We learn what is the Self by seeing what is the non-Self...the Self ever remains unchanged, while at the same time the receptacle of all perceptions and experiences...we are not the experience, the knowledge or the power--they are our possessions. The whole process of growth is one of realization of the Oneness and eternity of the Self in us and in all creatures and forms of manifestation."
Q & A 12-13

"The object of the student is to let the light of [the] spirit shine through the lower coverings. This "spiritual culture" is only attainable as the grosser interests, passions, and demands of the flesh are subordinated to the interests, aspirations and needs of the higher nature; and this is a matter of both system and established law. "This spirit can only become the ruler when the firm intellectual acknowledgment or admission is first made that IT alone is. ...it being not only the person concerned, but also the whole, all selfishness must be eliminated from the lower nature before its divine state can be reached. So long as the smallest personal or selfish desire--even for spiritual attainment for our own sake--remains, so long is the desired end put off.. When systematically trained in accordance with the aforesaid system and law, men attain to clear insight into the immaterial, spiritual world, and their interior faculties apprehend truth as immediately and readily as physical faculties grasp the things of sense, or mental faculties those of reason..."
EPITOME 14

"THE PROCESS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT 1. securing of supremacy, to the highest, the spiritual, element of man's nature., 2. the entire eradication of selfishness...the cultivation of broad generous sympathy in, and effort for the good of others. 3. the absolute cultivation of the inner, spiritual man by meditation, by reaching to and communion with the Divine [within]...incessantly striving for an ideal end. 4. the control of fleshly appetites and desires, all lower, material interests being deliberately subordinated to the behests of the spirit. 5. the careful performance of every duty belonging to one's station in life, without desire for reward, leaving results for Divine law. 6. .a yet higher plane of spiritual attainment is conditioned upon a specific course of training, physical, intellectual and spiritual, by which the internal faculties are first aroused and then developed. 7. an extension of this process is reached in Adeptship, Mahatmaship, or the states of Rishis, Sages and Dhyan Chohans, which are all exalted sages, attained by laborious self-discipline and hardship protracted through possibly many incarnations..."
EPITOME 25-6

"The course of Being is an ever-becoming."
Q & A 102

"...that law in Nature which implants in man as well as in every beast, a passionate, inherent, and instinctive desire for freedom and self-guidance pertains to psychology..."
S D II 484

"...from the Sun to the vital heat of the meanest organic being--the world of Form and Existence is an immense chain, whose links are all connected."
S D I 604

Q.: What is the Soul? A.: It is the Consciousness in the life-powers. It is the Light within the heart.
BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD p. 11

"The Soul of man is the Eternal. It is made of consciousness, it is made of feeling, it is made of life, it is made of vision, it is made of hearing; it is made of the earth, it is made of the waters, it is made of the air, it is made of the ether, it is made of the radiance and what is beyond the radiance; it is made of desire and what is beyond desire, it is made of wrath and what is beyond wrath, it is made of the law and what is beyond law; it is made of the All. The soul is of this world and of the other world."
BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD p 24

"That man possesses an immortal soul is the common belief of humanity; to this Theosophy adds that he is a soul; and further that all nature is sentient, that the vast array of objects and men are not atoms fortuitously thrown together and thus without law evolving law, but down to the smallest atom, all is soul and spirit ever evolving under the rule of law which is inherent in the whole...the course of evolution is the drama of the soul and that nature exists for no other purpose than the soul's experience."
OCEAN, p. 2

"We have thus to carry on the cultivation of the soul...he is to rely upon the One Consciousness which, as differentiated in a man is his Higher Self. By means of this higher self he is to strengthen the lower, or that which he is accustomed to call "myself." ... "Our consciousness is one and not many, nor different from other consciousnesses. it is not waking consciousness or sleeping consciousness, or any other but consciousness itself... [this] is Being... Sat-chit-ananda. "But the one consciousness of each person is the Witness or Spectator of the actions and experiences of every state we are in or pass through...The one consciousness pierces up and down through all the states or planes of Being, and serves to uphold the memory...of each state's experience."
GITA NOTES, pp 98-99

Sources

KEY: Key to Theosophy by H.P. Blavatsky

SD I, II, 1 and 2: Secret Doctrine, by H.P. Blavatsky, volumes one and two.

ISIS: Isis Unveiled, by H.P. Blavatsky (volumes one and two).

BCW: H.P. Blavatsky Collected Writings.

PANARION: A Modern Panarion, collection of articles by H.P. Blavatsky

GLOS means H.P. Blavatsky's THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY

TRANSACTIONS is TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE by H.P. Blavatsky. (also available in BCW Vol. 10)

H.P.B. ART. : BLAVATSKY ARTICLES VOLS 1, 2, 3 is a series of 3 volumes in which most of H.P. Blavatsky's important articles have been reprinted by THEOSOPHY COMPANY, Los Angeles

W.Q.J. ART: W. Q. Judge's Articles Vols. 1, 2, is a 2 Vol. series (as just above)

THEOS ARTICLES & NOTES is a volume of combined articles from H.P.Blavatsky, Judge and others that had great philosophical value Theosophically, and had not been included in the before mentioned 3 and 2 volume set. It is a kind of "after-thought."

G. NOTES is NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA by W. Q. Judge

OCEAN is THE OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY by W. Q. Judge.

PATANJALI is PATANJALI'S YOGA-SUTRAS edited by Mr. W. Q. Judge

FRIENDLY PHILOSOPHER is a collection of the writings and talks of Robert Crosbie

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS is ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS AT AN INFORMAL "OCEAN" CLASS by Robert Crosbie