AM-452 CAUSAL ENVELOPE (60)

In concluding this four series of presentations, which explore humanity’s etheric, emotional, mental, and causal bodies, along with a significant amount of phenomena from the various planes to which these bodies belong, it would be helpful to review the entire scope we have covered and draw some general conclusions.

Regarding the topic of clairvoyant research, it appears that objective clairvoyance is currently quite rare. By objective clairvoyance, we mean the specific type of higher sight or perception that externalises the things being perceived, essentially making them as objective in their own right, to their own degree, as the ordinary phenomena of the physical plane.

There are two types of clear-seeing: objective clairvoyance and subjective clairvoyance. Objective clairvoyance involves perceiving and objectifying what is being observed, while subjective clairvoyance entails a more subtle and interior form of perception, often described as apprehension.

For example, while only a few people can see auras objectively, more individuals can sense auras and understand their general characteristics, such as size, quality, and colour, without actually seeing them. This type of perception is often referred to as seeing with the “mind’s eye.”

In both cases of clear-seeing, the wise and experienced student will be extremely cautious and prudent and will always take a strictly conservative view, either of what they see or think they see or of what they feel or think they feel. While it would be highly foolish and contrary to all the canons of the scientific method to ignore or discount too severely that which is seen or apprehended, it is equally foolish and indeed more dangerous to accept rashly and without careful corroboration everything that is seen or apprehended. In entering the unknown, the student must strive to maintain that careful balance between caution and rashness, which alone leads to true knowledge and keeps them on that “middle path” which has so often been described as narrow as the edge of a razor.

In a previous presentation, it was mentioned that providing proof for these series’ statements would have been impossible or at least impracticable for many reasons. Rigid intellectual proof is not currently available for a large part of the content in these presentations. It is difficult to prove things absolutely, and it’s also challenging to devise a reliable system for proving whether certain things are true or not, similar to using a pair of scales to measure weights of objects.

Among the phenomena of life, there are many crucial things on which a person must form an opinion in order to live rationally and lead a truthful life. Waiting for clear, unequivocal proof is not affordable, as it risks rejecting information that may be immensely important and valuable if true.

The only reasonable and just attitude is to decide, even when definitive proof is unavailable. When intellectual proof is lacking, it is often as foolish to disbelieve as it is to believe. There is a superstition of disbelief, just as there is a superstition of belief, and it is uncertain which form of superstition afflicts the human race the most.

Proof is an individual matter for each person, and a theory supported by evidence and experience suggests a person can train themselves to recognise a fact when presented with it for the first time. This inner recognition may be called intuition or by any other name, but it is a phenomenon that anyone can observe and test for themselves.

Dr. Annie Besant once said: “As the higher sense in you, which knows truth at sight, gradually unfolds, you will be able to take in more and more of the truth. Then there grows up in you a deep inner conviction, and when a truth is presented to you, you will know it is true. This sense corresponds to eyesight on the physical plane. It is the faculty of buddhi, pure reason.”

The wise person observes this phenomenon in themselves and others and, recognising its tremendous and far-reaching importance, deliberately set to work to train and perfect the faculty within themselves. This can become of incalculable value to them, particularly in their psychological and spiritual lives.

The statements made in these four series of presentations may seem strange, extraordinary, and even impossible to some viewers. However, it would be wise not to reject them simply because they cannot be proven. Instead, if these statements do not feel true to you, you can set them aside for now and revisit them later. On the other hand, if they do feel true to you and resonate with you, you can tentatively accept them as probably accurate for the time being. Many students of occultism have found that as they develop their own inner powers, they are able to verify many statements for themselves, which they had previously accepted based on the authority of others. This addresses the complex question of proving the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom in the context of schools of thought such as Theosophy or Hylozoics.

Turning to the ethical aspect of what has been said in these four series, the viewer will no doubt have observed that moral and ethical considerations arising from a study of the occult constitution of humanity have been touched upon only occasionally and quite secondarily. This has been done deliberately, with the view that facts speak for themselves and point out their own moral. If a person is constituted as described and if their etheric, emotional, mental, and causal bodies are of the nature stated, surely there can be no two opinions as to the way in which the person ought, even in their own interest, to live and conduct their relations with other people, and with the world in general. Whether they do so or not is, of course, their own affair entirely.

And now a few words directed more specifically to esoteric students, and to the general method of approach to the subjects dealt with in these four series.

Ancient wisdom can no doubt be presented in many ways, utterly diverse from one another. A mechanic would present them in one fashion; an artist in quite another way; a scientist would describe them in a manner very different from that which a poet or a mystic would adopt. According to the types or temperaments of humanity and their qualifications and knowledge, so will be their presentations of the eternal verities.

Hence, presenting someone else’s method may be dangerous. Specifically, many may consider these presentations mechanical or materialistic. Nevertheless, every phenomenon must have a mechanical and material aspect, no matter how spiritual, as there can be no spirit without matter. Never forget that. Genuine esoteric students should avoid confining themselves to a rigid mechanical system. While their organised minds may appreciate categories and precise tabulations of facts, they must not let these become a prison, limiting their perspectives to narrow directions only.

Dissection, analysis, and categorisation are necessary for the intellect, but they are just scaffolding used to build the complete structure. Furthermore, as H.G. Wells has aptly stated: “These things – number, definition, class, and abstract form – I hold, are merely unavoidable conditions of mental activity; regrettable conditions rather than essential facts. The forceps of our minds are clumsy forceps and crush the truth a little in taking hold of it”.

The structure of knowledge is a single entity consisting of its many parts, yet it is greater than the sum of its parts. In its totality, it fulfils a function that none of its parts or any group of its parts can perform.

When studying and understanding humanity, we can categorise ourselves into Monad, Soul, and Personality, and our bodies into physical, etheric, emotional, mental, and causal. However, humanity itself is not solely defined by any of these categories or even by all of them combined. These are simply the means through which it expresses different aspects of itself. Humanity remains an entity, a mystery, greater than all the categories into which we try to divide it. 

I wish to point out that when I list Monad, Soul, and Personality, I leave out Spirit. Spirit should come between the Monad and the Soul if I were being pedantic. Why? If you look at the triad, the monadic level is divided into two, just as the spiritual and mental bodies are. So, in Gnostic literature, when you read about the Spirit, you are being directed to the upper half of this envelope. When a seeker reaches the dizzying heights of the Adept (45), there is still work to be done to unite the two halves of the Spiritual envelope. From here the (i6) is taken and the adept becomes a Lord or Chohan. There remains the last triadic centre to fully inhabit, that still lies within the group of nine centres. Above and outside all of these centres resides the monad, in its higher envelope, 43:1-3. However, to stay within the parameters of Theosophical doctrine, I decided to stick with Monad, Soul and Persona. The points that were needed to be made could be done through this simplified model.

C.W. Leadbeater, in The Science of the Sacraments, provides an analogy that may be helpful for understanding. If an electric current is directed around a bar of soft iron, through a coil of German silver wire, and within a tube filled with mercury vapour, it will result in magnetism, heat, and light, respectively. Although the current is the same, its effects vary depending on the material it interacts with. Similarly, in the case of humans, the life force flowing within us (fohat) manifests in different ways through our various bodies. We study these bodies and their functions, but the true essence of the individual, the source of consciousness within the different bodies, is the underlying reality behind these external manifestations. Just as the true nature of electricity remains elusive to scientists, so does the true nature of humanity elude us. It is conceivable, even probable that it is possible to present the truths of the Ancient Wisdom fully and fairly solely from the perspective of consciousness, without using technical terms such as atma, buddhi, manas, and others. A genuine seeker of truth will recognise it, regardless of the language or form in which it is expressed. Most importantly, we should be tolerant and kind, recognising that all paths lead to the same goal. Let us offer goodwill, friendship, and kindness to fellow seekers, regardless of the path they choose to follow.

In consideration of the aforementioned, the student needs to be cautious when relying on diagrams, despite their usefulness in aiding the thought process. The student should use diagrams as tools to assist in understanding but should be wary of becoming too dependent on them. Here is a test: If the student’s understanding is genuine and comprehensive, the synthesised concept they developed will exist on a higher level than the world of forms or diagrams. However, as soon as the student places their concept into the lower, categorising mind, it will manifest itself in numerous forms and shapes, depending on the materials selected from their knowledge, to express something that cannot be confined to any graph, no matter how clever or appropriate. Diagrams, like all forms of categories, are excellent tools but can become oppressive if relied on too heavily. Here, I am preaching to myself.

It is hoped that the time spent on these presentations will help bring clarity of ideas, enthusiasm, and a deepening love for Brahma-Vidya, the noble science, the knowledge of God and humanity. From knowledge comes understanding, and from understanding comes serenity and peace, which are immeasurably greater than all knowledge and understanding.

Annie Besant wrote, “The value of knowledge is tested by its power to purify and ennoble life, and all earnest students desire to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired in their study of Theosophy to the evolution of their own character and to helping their fellowmen. The emotion that impels righteous living is half wasted if the clear light of the intellect does not illuminate the path of conduct, for just as the blind man strays from the way unknowingly until he falls into a ditch, so does the Soul, blinded by ignorance, turn aside from the road of right living until he falls into the pit of evil action. Truly, Avidya—the privation of knowledge—is the first step out of unity into separateness, and only as it lessens does the separateness diminish, until its disappearance restores the Eternal Peace.”