Emotion, Intellect and Spirituality

by
Annie Besant
First Impression March 1911
Second Impression March 1914
Theosophical Publishing House Adyar, hennai !Madras" India
[Page 1] TH#$# is so much con%usion o% thought &ith regard to the
meaning o% the three stages o% consciousness &hich I ha'e described
under the names #motion, Intellect and Spirituality, that I thin( &e
shall not &aste our hour this e'ening i% &e de'ote it to the
consideration o% these stages o% consciousness, trying to de%ine them
accurately and to understand e)actly &hat is meant by the name &hich
is gi'en to each* And it is not only that by this study &e shall, perhaps,
some&hat clari%y our ideas, but also &e shall %ind that ans&ers present
themsel'es to certain rather curious problems that appear in human li%e
%rom time to time, problems that are pu++ling in their nature and that
gi'e rise to a good deal o% be&ildered ,uestioning* -e %ind people, %or
instance, as(ing &hy it is that &e sometimes see an apparently
%undamental change ta(e place in a person &ithin the limits o% a single
incarnation, and &hy someone &ho loo(s by no means hope%ul during
the earlier stages o% his li%e should [Page 2] perhaps e'ol'e 'ery
rapidly during the last hal% o% his incarnation* Then, again, another
,uestion that sometimes arises is. -hy is it that people &ho in many
&ays do not seem to be ,uali%ied, sho& none the less certain signs o%
spiritual gro&th / -hat is there in their nature &hich enables them to
ac,uire certain spiritual %aculties, &hen, loo(ing at them %rom the
purely e)ternal standpoint, they &ould not seem to be su%%iciently
e'ol'ed to sho& %orth these ,ualities / -hy is it, as I ha'e o%ten heard
people say, that you can sometimes obtain better and &iser ad'ice %rom
a person in &hom the higher intellect is not largely de'eloped, but &ho
sho&s 'ery strongly the ,ualities o% compassion, bene'olence and
sympathy, than %rom an intellect %ar more highly trained, than %rom a
&ell0de'eloped mind /
1o& i% these stages o% consciousness are not understood, &e are apt to
ans&er such ,uestions in a 'ery mista(en %ashion2 and in a %ashion,
moreo'er, that is not only mista(en in itsel%, but is also li(ely to gi'e
rise to certain serious mista(es in conduct, certain gra'e blunders in our
attempts to %or&ard our o&n e'olution* Thus &e %ind people sometimes
mista(ing abounding emotion %or spirituality, sometimes con%using the
mere surging up o% %eeling &ith the strong potencies that come do&n
%rom the spiritual &orld2 and it is partly in order that &e may a'oid
those [Page 3] blunders, that I am going to as( you to %ollo& me this
e'ening in a some&hat care%ul analysis o% these stages o%
consciousness, bringing them under the light o% that Theosophical
teaching &hich has illuminated %or many o% us so many problems in the
past, and &hich illuminates so many ne& problems no&*
I% &e loo( at the ,uestion %rom the ordinary standpoint o% &estern
psychology &e %ind in our te)t0boo(s the 'ery %amiliar di'ision o% the
mind into emotion, intellect and &ill* -hen &e come to loo( a little
more closely into this classi%ication, &e %ind that under the heading
emotion sub0classes are made. %irst, sensations, simple, primiti'e in
their character, lying at the root o% all %urther mani%estation o%
consciousness, sensations &hich are the response o% the organism to
stimuli, to something that touches it %rom &ithout* Then &e
ha'e feelings, &hich are said to arise %rom the grouping and co0
ordination o% these primiti'e sensations, comple) in their nature 3
sometimes e)ceedingly comple) 3 but none the less traced do&n to
these simple sensations, &hich, grouped together according to their
nature, gradually produce that &hich is recogni+ed as %eeling2 so that
under this heading emotion &e ha'e the t&o sub0classes o% sensations
and %eelings*
1o& i% &e consider %or a moment the %i'e planes o% the uni'erse on
&hich, according to [Page 4] the Theosophical teachings, our human
e'olution is proceeding at the present time 3 the physical, the astral,
the mental or m4nasic, the buddhic and the nir'4nic 3 i% &e consider
%or a moment those %i'e planes, &e shall see that they seem to arrange
themsel'es in a 'ery de%inite order* -ith regard to the nir'4nic plane
&e need say practically nothing tonight, %or although that be the higher
region o% the spiritual uni'erse it can scarcely come into our
consideration at the present stage o% e'olution* The nir'4nic and the
buddhic planes together &e class under the heading spiritual* All their
%orces &ould be spiritual %orces, all consciousness &or(ing in them
&ould be a consciousness spiritual in its nature, spiritual 5eings &ould
ha'e there their habitat* I%, then, omitting also %or the moment the
mental region, &e loo( at the t&o lo&er planes 3 the astral and the
physical 3 &e %ind that these may be classed together as phenomenal*
In these phenomenal &orlds e'olution ta(es place &ith regard to the
astral body, the etheric double and the dense physical* These three
bodies belong, o% course, to the astral and the physical planes, &hich
are capable o% being classed together as phenomenal, 6ust as the t&o
higher planes are classed together as spiritual* They are essentially the
&orlds o% phenomena, the &orlds o% concrete ob6ects, the &orlds in
&hich [Page 5] %orms are %ound &ith all their limitations2 &hereas the
t&o higher are &orlds &hich to the lo&er scrutiny are %ormless, in
&hich the li%e is continually mani%esting itsel% and moulding the subtle
matter o% those planes into immediate e)pression o% itsel%* So that the
great characteristic o% the t&o higher regions is the mani%estation o%
li%e, the great characteristic o% the t&o lo&er the mani%estation o% %orm*
Thus &e may classi%y them in these pairs as phenomenal and spiritual*
-hen &e come to deal &ith the mental &orld, the m4nasic, &e %ind
that it parta(es o% the characteristics o% those regions abo'e and o%
those belo&, or, i% &e pre%er to say so, o% the inner and the outer* The
lo&er hal% o% the mental plane sho&s the distinct mar( o% the
phenomenal &orlds, the r7pa le'els or the le'els o% %orm* And &e
notice that its phase o% consciousness is that o% the intellect, &hose
ideas are dra&n %rom the phenomenal &orld and &hich ta(es sensations
and %eelings %rom that &orld belo& it, co0ordinates them, groups them
together, dra&s its o&n conclusions %rom them, the &hole o% that &or(
going on on the lo&er mental plane, that &hich &e spea( o% as the
le'els o% %orm or r7pa* Those le'els, then, are distinctly related to the
t&o lo&er &orlds* 5ut &hen &e pass on to the higher, the upper hal% o%
the mental, &e %ind that the intellect ta(es[Page ] on the
characteristics &hich belong to the higher regions or spiritual &orld* It
is abstract, not concrete, in its character 2 it deals &ith ideas &hich %rom
the standpoint o% the concrete intellect are %ormless, those ideas that
ha'e the peculiar characteristic o% e)isting in their o&n &orld as things
per%ectly intelligible, per%ectly distinct, per%ectly clear as seen by the
intuition o% manas, but that none the less, the moment they pass on to
the lo&er le'el o% the mental plane, are %ound not to be one but many in
e'ery case3one abstract idea belonging to the %ormless &orld gi'ing
birth perhaps to hundreds o% concrete ideas, each one distinct &ith its
o&n characteristic %orm* So that, loo(ed at in this &ay, &e see that the
mental plane seems to di'ide itsel% into this dual relationship to the
&orlds abo'e it and the &orlds belo&* onsciousness &or(ing thereon
sho&s out these t&o great characteristics 3 the concrete dealing &ith
the phenomenal, and the abstract reaching up&ards to&ard the spiritual*
This plane is essentially the human plane, it is the great battleground o%
humanity2 none o% the combats that ta(e place on the physical or the
astral planes are to be compared in their intensity, in their importance,
in their subtlety, &ith the combats that are &aged on the mental plane*
It is the plane o% balance, the plane ha'ing t&o belo& [Page !] it and
t&o abo'e it, the central plane %or humanity, and in that sense the most
important and the most characteristic in human e'olution* It is there
that the 8 I8 de'elops, the root and the center o% indi'iduality2 hence it
is that on this plane all the most terrible combats are &aged* It is the
place &here success or %ailure comes to humanity in the course o% our
&orld0e'olution*
1o& loo(ing at the &hole ,uestion in that rather &ide &ay, trying to
ta(e, as it &ere, a bird9s0eye 'ie& o% these planes on &hich human
e'olution is proceeding, &e shall %ind, I thin(, that the ,uestion o%
consciousness &ill become 'ery much easier to grasp* I% &e &ould
understand the consciousness &hich is &or(ing on these planes, &e
must note the characteristics o% each plane, and these &ill in turn be
characteristics o% the consciousness in its acti'ity on any gi'en plane2
and the more &e are able to recogni+e each o% these planes as separate
%rom the others, as ha'ing its o&n place in e'olution, the more shall &e
be able to understand the &or(ings o% consciousness on each, the
attributes &hich it &ill necessarily de'elop, the characteristics &hich it
&ill ine'itably sho&* And i% &e can &or( these out %airly, clearly and
de%initely, &e shall not run into the danger o% con%usion into &hich I
notice so many o% our students do run, sometimes thin(ing that the
emotional [Page "] is the spiritual, and utterly misunderstanding the
place o% the mental in the total e'olution o% man*
There is one thing that &e shall ha'e to consider &hen &e are dealing
&ith consciousness, &hich does not at once come out clearly and
plainly in this broad 'ie& that I ha'e been ta(ing* There is a (ind o%
borderland bet&een the astral and the mental planes2 not a borderland
in the sense o% anything that inter'enes bet&een the t&o, but a region
&hich is in a 'ery real sense common to both2 a region in &hich the
higher matter o% the astral plane and the lo&er matter o% the mental
plane &or( together in a peculiar and co0ordinated %ashion, so that you
cannot entirely separate them in their &or(ing, so that characteristics o%
both planes are there %ound to be united* And the product o% acti'ity,
&hen the t&o (inds o% matter %rom the higher astral and the lo&er
mental are brought together and meet to &or( together, the product o%
that coalition has partly the intellectual stamp, partly the stamp &hich
belongs to it as coming to it %rom the astral plane 3 the stamp o% (4ma2
so that &e get a %orm o% consciousness &hich &e are obliged to
distinguish by the term dra&n %rom both, (4ma0m4nasic* And some o%
you, I dare say, in your studies, especially in reading the &ritings
o% [Page #] H* P* 5la'ats(y, ha'e sometimes been a little con%used by
this di'ision &hich is brought in by her* So much does she bring it in,
in %act, that she e'en occasionally spea(s o% the (4ma0m4nasic plane as
a region &here both (4ma and manas are &or(ing together, &here one
cannot spea( o% it as &holly (4mic or as &holly m4nasic, &here the t&o
so interpenetrate each other that they may be separated %rom the pure
&or(ings o% manas on the one hand and o% (4ma on the other, but
&here &e get the characteristics o% both* This region is there%ore
con'eniently called by the names o% both, (4ma0m4nasic* The
recognition o% that &ill help us considerably in clearing up some o% the
di%%iculties that are le%t by the ordinary &estern di'ision, bet&een
emotions, ta(en as di'ided into sensations and %eelings, and the
di%%erences that arise bet&een the di%%erent classes o% %eelings, &hich
you &ill %ind in a moment that I shall pre%er to separate o%% de%initely as
emotional*
:ne other point has to be considered be%ore I ta(e up these things
separately, and it is this. that consciousness is one, and that ho&e'er
di%%erent the mani%estations may be, the li%e &ithin them is the same*
There is but one li%e &or(ing in us, the li%e o% 4tm4* It is that &hich,
pouring %orth %rom the nir'4nic plane, presents itsel% as buddhi on the
buddhic plane, [Page 1$] as manas on the manasic plane, as (4ma on
the astral, as pr4na, through the etheric and the dense body, on the
physical* There is but one li%e, no matter ho& di%%erent may be its
mani%estations2 it is the essential consciousness, and that unit is the root
o% our being* #'erything that is in us comes %orth %rom that2 and &e
should thin( o% it as a great stream o% outpouring energy, &hich
changes its appearance and its color as it clothes itsel% in the matter o%
one plane a%ter another, the color being lent it by the plane 3 the
coloring matter, &e might almost call it* -hile the essential li%e
remains the same, remember al&ays that that essential li%e dra&s into
itsel% the coloring characteristic o% any plane2 so that &hen the
e'olution through all the planes is completed, the 4tm4 has ta(en up the
coloring o% e'ery plane, and is there%ore 'ery di%%erent at the conclusion
o% the human e'olution %rom the 4tm4 at the beginning o% that e'olution
3 a point &hich &e are 'ery o%ten apt to lose sight o%, and so to get a
sort o% despairing idea and to say o% the &hole e'olution. 8 I% it be 4tm4
at the beginning and ;tm; at the ending, &hat has been done through all
this pilgrimage /8 -hile 4tm4 may sha(e o%% all the matter o% the
planes, the coloring obtained through that matter is not lost*[Page 11]
$eali+ing this one outpouring energy, let us remember that in the course
o% e'olution &e ha'e the mounting up&ards, as the Monad climbs %rom
the mineral to the 'egetable, %rom the 'egetable to the animal, %rom the
animal to the animal< man2 that &e ha'e the do&npouring stream,
4tm40buddhi0manas, &or(ing do&n&ards to&ards the m4nasic plane,
&hile 4tm40buddhi %rom belo&, as the Monad, is &or(ing up&ards
to&ards the m4nasic plane* Hence that same central plane is the
meeting0place o% the t&o streams 0 another thing that sho&s us its
enormous importance and the central position &hich I ga'e to it in the
%i'e as a &hole* It is the meeting0ground o% the t&o great &a'es o%
e'olution, the one going =p &ards, %rom the second >ogos, the other
coming do&n&ards %rom the %irst. they meet on the mental plane and
there carry on &hat &e call the 6oint e'olution*
>et us see, then, ho& emotion is to be distinguished, ho& it arises and
ho& it mani%ests itsel%* -e may here utili+e ,uite rightly and ,uite %ully
the &estern psychology in the analysis that it gi'es o% sensations and
%eelings* They belong to that up&ard0climbing Monad that &e (no& as
the &a'e %rom the second >ogos ha'ing the organi+ing characteristic o%
4tm40buddhi climbing up&ards in e'olution* That climbing o% the
mineral to the 'egetable begins, as &e [Page 12] (no&, by the 'i'i%ying
o% astral matter, the Monad dra&ing it round itsel% %or the purpose o%
e)pressing the capacity o% &hat &e call sensation* As it passes on&ards
%rom the 'egetable to the animal, this astral matter is dra&n 'ery much
more under the control o% the Monad and is roughly shaped round it in
the astral body o% the animal, at &hich stage the characteristic o%
sensation becomes 'ery mar(ed*
1o& &hat is sensation / It is the po&er to respond to a stimulus %rom
&ithout, the response o% the organism to something that touches it, the
ans&er &hich it sends out to that touch, the sensibility to contact* -e
ha'e learnt that this po&er o% response resides in the astral matter, not
in the physical, that the po&er o% sensation is not a po&er &hich is
located in the physical body, but that all that the physical body does is
to pro'ide certain organs &hereby stimuli may be sent in %rom the
physical &orld and conducted to the true centers o% sensation in the
astral body* I% anything inter%ere &ith the lin( bet&een the astral and
the physical, sensation stops2 dislocate the astral %rom the physical, and
there is no sensation in the physical* As &e (no& in the use o% 'arious
drugs, &hen that dislocation is brought about &e lose all po&er o%
sensation, o% response to any stimulus that may touch us %rom
&ithout* [Page 13] The po&er o% sensation is in the astral matter, and as
that is aggregated together into a primiti'e (ind o% astral body centers
o% sensation are gradually built up, and the animal %eels, responds to
stimuli, and has &hat &e call primary sensations* As this astral body
becomes better organi+ed, these simple sensations aggregate
themsel'es together into %eelings, 'ery much a%ter the %ashion that
&estern psychology describes, and &e ha'e then more complicated
mo'ements in the astral body made up o% a number o% primary
sensations, the astral body adding to the mere response to the e)ternal
stimulus its o&n po&er &hich has been e'ol'ed by &ay o% those
repeated responses* So that it gradually ac,uires, as it &ere, a (ind o%
ready0made apparatus2 an apparatus composed o% a number o%
'ibrations &hich are al&ays ready to come into action as a group, and
these aggregated 'ibrations &e may at this stage call feelings* They
belong to the astral body, and they come as a great gush in ans&er to a
stimulus, the impulse being in its nature the (ind o% sensation &hich
ga'e rise &ithin the astral body 3 by many repetitions and many
&or(ings o% the astral body upon the sensation 3 to this %eeling, &hich
is then established as &hat &e may call a group o% 'ibrations2 not the
simple 'ibration o% the ans&er that &e call [Page 14] sensation, but the
grouped, co0ordinated and modi%ied 'ibrations &hich &or( together as
a %eeling*
Then comes the still %urther change &hich occurs &hen, %rom the
mental plane, action ta(es place on the part o% the a&a(ened manas
a%ter the third li%e0&a'e has come do&n, and manas is brought into
acti'ity2 that is, m4nasic matter is being brought together by that
do&n&ard &a'e and the inchoate mental body is %ormed* -e then %ind
that this mental matter begins to 'ibrate &hen the astral matter is set
'ibrating 'ery 'ehemently, and that &hen these complicated groups o%
'ibrations are acti'e in the astral body, an ans&ering 'ibration is set up
in the gro&ing mental body* That 'ibration lends to the %eeling
something o% the mental character* Then memory comes in, and a little
inclination to reason and to 6udgment, and so on2 a certain intellectual
,uality is thus imparted to the %eeling, &hich enriches and deepens it
and tends to ma(e it more permanent, gi'ing it a more de%ined
character o% its o&n* This separates it o%% still more distinctly %rom
other groups o% %eelings, or 'ibrations that are called %eelings, in their
turn2 and this mental ,uality, &hich is due to the mental region inter0
&or(ing &ith the astral, gi'es us &hat I &ill de%ine as emotion* So that
&e ha'e no& three classes instead o% [Page 15] the t&o o% &estern
psychology &hich ta(es emotion as the &hole* I am ta(ing sensation,
%eeling and emotion as a triad, as three classes &hich can be
distinguished the one %rom the other2 the %irst t&o, the sensations and
the %eelings, being really (4mic or astral, the third, emotion, being
(4ma0m4nasic 3 the manas and the (4ma both entering into it and
producing this (4ma0m4nasic 'ibration* This, in order to use an
ordinary #nglish &ord, &e &ill spea( o% as emotion, remembering that
its distinguishing mar( is this mental, this intellectual touch added to
that o% (4ma*
It &ill probably ma(e these theoretical distinctions, as &e may perhaps
call them, a little clearer i% I ta(e t&o illustrations* :ne, &hich you
&ould generally characteri+e 3 ?&hen you bring morality into the
,uestion@ 3 as good, and the other &hich you &ould characteri+e 3
?regarded %rom the moral standpoint@ 3 as bad* ertain sensations in
primiti'e man, as in the animal, are pleasurable, others pain%ul* Ta(e
the group o% pleasurable sensations &hich arise either in the animal or
in the animal0man in contact &ith another animal or animal0man o% the
opposite se) 3 I am using the &ord man, o% course, in the double
sense* -here there is se) di%%erence, the coming into touch &ith each
other gi'es rise, at the earliest possible stage, to a [Page 1] certain
%eeling o% mutual attraction, a %eeling &hich &ill be called pleasurable
in its nature and &hich attracts the t&o together* It is nothing more than
a response o% the nature o% sensation on the part o% each to the stimulus
a%%orded by the other2 but the t&o opposites &hich %ind one o% their
e)pressions in se) 3 ?those t&o opposites that run all through the
uni'erse and that e)press themsel'es as se) on the physical plane@ 3
&hen they come to&ards each other embodied in t&o %orms separated
%or the time, attract each other* #ach acts as a stimulus to the other and
there is the stimulus gi'ing rise to a sensation2 but it is a complete inter0
action, each acting as a stimulus to the opposite, each %eeling the
sensation in reply to that stimulus* There is there nothing but the simple
sensation in the most primiti'e %orm* A%ter a time, ho&e'er, the acti'ity
o% the astral body, the grouping together o% many such sensations and
the placing them, as it &ere, in connection &ith beings that ha'e the
characteristics o% the opposite se), gi'e rise to a %eeling &hich &e may
then characteri+e as something more than a mere se)ual sensation* -e
might call it passion still animal &hether in the brute or in the animal0
man, but distinguishable %rom mere sensation, less primiti'e in its
character, &ith a great deal more astral %orce and li%e coming [Page
1!] into it* So that the consciousness 3 ?&hich, remember, is a unit@ 3
responding by this %ar more highly organi+ed astral grouping, &ill ha'e
%ar more complicated 'ibrations2 and these &e may spea( o% as se)ual
passion* Then comes the time &hen the intelligence begins to &or( in
connection &ith this passion, &hen the intelligence begins to bring in
its %iner and (eener 'ibrations and &e ha'e the emotion o% lo'e, (4ma0
m4nasic in its character* >ater there &ill be a recognition o% many other
elements that should enter into that passion to puri%y and to re%ine it,
and all sorts o% other ideas &ill come into connection &ith it 3 the
ideas o% sacri%ice and sel%0surrender and help%ulness and desire to ma(e
happy 3 and then the &hole %eeling is enriched and puri%ied and
ele'ated by this in%lu) o% the intelligence &or(ing in the mental body*
In this sur'ey &e get the three stages. The sensation, &hich is the mere
response to the stimulus %rom the opposite se)2 the passion, &hich is
the more complicated %eeling and into &hich 'ery many more
'ibrations in the astral bodies enter2 and the emotion, lo'e, o% a %ar
higher character and containing %ar lo%tier possibilities* These, spea(ing
generally, &ould be on the side that &e should call good*
Then, i% &e study the ,uestion on the side that &e regard as e'il, &e
may ta(e a similar [Page 1"] set o% three stages in connection &ith
pain* Pain is caused by t&o antagonists meeting each other, &hen their
meeting gi'es rise, say by a blo& in%licted by one on the other, to a
sensation o% pain 3 a response %rom the astral body, unpleasant,
inharmonious, troublesome in its character* That, as a simple sensation,
&ould be nothing more than pain* 5ut gradually that passes, being
connected &ith the one &ho in%licted the pain, into &hat &e may call
the passion o% resentment, and the astral body %eels an impulse to return
the pain it has recei'ed2 and this passion o% resentment, loo(ed at %rom
the standpoint merely o% the pairs o% opposites, is the corresponding
correlati'e o% the passion o% attraction on the other side* Then, passing
on to the time &hen the intelligence begins to touch this %eeling, or
passion, o% resentment, &e ha'e hatred e'ol'ed, 6ust the opposite o%
lo'e, the repulsion as against attraction, that also belonging to the
(4ma0m4nasic region* Hatred is an emotion, not simply a %eeling,
ha'ing this intellectual ,uality &hich has deepened and enriched it and
made it (eener and more subtle in its nature, capable o% gi'ing rise to
other 'ibrations e)ceedingly destructi'e in their character, 6ust as those
gi'en rise to by the 'ibrations o% the emotion o% lo'e are constructi'e in
their character* For here &e ha'e indeed one o% [Page 1#] those great
pairs o% opposites &hich are &or(ing throughout the &hole o% the
uni'erse*
These t&o illustrations &ill probably enable you to bear in mind, in a
some&hat concrete %ashion, &hat I mean ?&hether I am de%ining them
rightly is a matter %or debate@ by these three classes o% sensations,
passions and emotions, or sensations, %eelings 3 i% you li(e to use that
&ord instead o% passions 3 and emotions* 1o& coming %rom that to an
analysis o% the action o% consciousness on the intellectual, the mental
plane, &e shall %ind that its &or(ing ta(es on an entirely di%%erent
character, that there are certain broad lines o% di'ision &hich separate
o%% its e)periences as m4nasic %rom its e)periences as (4mic*
First o% all, i% you loo( at the (4mic e)periences broadly, you &ill %ind
that they are all o% the nature o% rushing out&ards, that they all are
pouring themsel'es out to see(, that they are ne'er satis%ied by an
e)pression &hich is contained &ithin the consciousness 3 &hich is a
%eeling 3 but that the consciousness is al&ays trying to reach out&ards
to something &hich it loo(s at as e)ternal to itsel%* That is a broad
characteristic o% the &hole o% those 3 &hether you ta(e sensation, or
passion, or emotion, it does not matter 3 they are all mar(ed by this
common peculiarity, that they are all part o% [Page 2$] the out&ard0
rushing energy o% 4tm42 they rush out&ards to see( e)pression and
satis%action in the phenomenal &orld, they cannot be satis%ied alone* In
%act, i% &e thin( %or a moment, &e cannot imagine any o% these things
as e)isting alone2 i% &e could thin( o% a person as per%ectly isolated in
the uni'erse, this out&ard0rushing energy &ould be stopped2 it could
not e)press itsel% e)cept in connection &ith another* That is the great
mar( o% action on the (4mic plane, and it is a mar( o% enormous
importance i% you &ant to understand some o% the problems I alluded to
at the beginning*
5ut no&, &hen &e come to deal &ith the mental plane, &e are at once
struc( &ith this immense di%%erence 3 that it is sel%0contained* -hen
the consciousness begins to &or( in its intellectual aspect, and to &or(
&ith pure m4nasic matter undisturbed by these astral 'ibrations 3
lea'ing out the (4ma0m4nasic entirely 3 it dra&s itsel% in, it
concentrates itsel%, it endea'ors to shut out the e)ternal &orld, and
loo(s on e'erything that comes %rom outside as a disturbing in%luence
&hich pre'ents it %rom concentrating itsel% and %rom e)ercising its
%aculties in the natural &ay* So that the 'ery %irst thing that the
consciousness &ill do &hen it begins to &or( on the mental plane &ill
be to dra& itsel% in&ards, carrying &ith it that &ith &hich it has come
into [Page 21] contact on the astral plane* It cannot get ideas until it
dra&s in %rom the astral body a large number o% those emotions, &hich
gro& out o% the %eelings and sensations on the astral plane, and &hich
ha'e been &or(ed up in the astral body and ha'e been handed on by it,
%or the ne)t acti'ity, to the mental plane* All the great ideas &ith &hich
that consciousness is going to &or( &ill be dra&n %rom the sensations
&hich ha'e been obtained by the astral body coming into contact &ith
the outer uni'erse* There, again, &estern psychology is right2 it is
continually right in its earlier analysis, &hile it brea(s do&n &hen it
comes to deal &ith the deeper phases o% consciousness* It is ,uite true
that &hen dealing &ith the a&a(ening mentality in man e'erything is
%ound to depend upon &hat is supplied to it %rom outside. it cannot start
itsel%, it must ans&er2 and the earlier 'ibrations o% the m4nasic
consciousness can only be a&a(ened by recei'ing 'ibrations %rom
outside &hich shall stir it into acti'ity* It &ill then send out a little
ans&er, and as it sends it out it &ill dra& bac( again, dra&ing &ith it
the e)periences it has obtained2 but it cannot ma(e any use o% those
e)periences outside its o&n limits, it can do nothing &ith them as
mental %ood, until it dra&s them &ithin the circle o% the mind and
begins then to &or( upon them in its o&n sphere* [Page 22] And in
order to do that success%ully, ha'ing dra&n itsel% in, it must shut out the
e)ternal &orld and must not permit all these surging 'ibrations to come
in and con%use its attention, %or its attention has to be directed to that
&hich it has dra&n into itsel% i% it is to ma(e any use o% those
e)periences and so de'elop germinal intellectual %aculties* 5ear in
mind, then, that %undamental di%%erence o% intellectual &or(ing* True, it
must gather %rom outside, the astral body must hand on2 but the
condition o% success %or the intellectual &or(ing is that it shall
concentrate itsel% on that &hich is obtained %rom the lo&er 'ehicle*
Ara&ing in these results, these threads, it sets to &or( upon them, and
all its characteristic &or(ings are these internal 'ibrations &hich deal
&ith the %ruits o% the e)perience gathered %rom outside* It puts side by
side number o% these things &hich &e call at this stage perceptions, and
these perceptions or percepts are ranged side by side, and the mind
contemplates them and begins to de'elop &hat &e call the po&er o%
comparison* >oo(ing at them all, it sees their li(enesses and their
di%%erences and compares one &ith another* Ha'ing thus considered and
compared them, it begins to dra& out their li(enesses and puts those
li(enesses together, and out o% them %orms an idea o% a rather more
elaborate character. it [Page 23]then ta(es all the di%%erences and ma(es
those into di'iding mar(s* -e %ind no& an immense amount o% &hat
&e call analysis 3 that is, the brea(ing up o% these things by the
comparison &hich recogni+es identities and di%%erences2 and by %i)ing
the attention on di%%erences the process o% analysis goes on*
Thus the mind, in its lo&er stages, by ta(ing all these concrete ideas
&hich it e'ol'es %rom all that it has obtained %rom the outer &orld, by
putting them together and classi%ying them, by building up more
complicated ideas out o% them, de'elops, by means o% this concrete
acti'ity, all the po&ers that &e recogni+e as the intellectual po&ers 3
6udgment, reasoning, comparison, memory, then the dra&ing o%
conclusions, the deducti'e and inducti'e %aculties, the logical %aculties
3 all these things are gradually e'ol'ed* 5ut i% &e consider them, &e
shall see that their e'olution must depend on the po&er o% the mind to
isolate itsel%, so that it shall not be con%used by inrushes %rom the outer
&orld* It &ants to be alone, it &ants to be ,uiet, it &ants to shut the
doors o% the senses, and &ithin its o&n sel%0contained realm to apply
itsel% to those results &hich it has obtained %rom the lo&er 'ehicles in
&hich the consciousness has been %unctioning* It is only as this has
gone on to a 'ery great e)tent, as the phenomenal &orld has been
used [Page 24] %or the shaping o% all these concrete ideas and the
&or(ing upon them and the reasoning upon them, it is only then that
the higher %aculties o% the intelligence &ill begin to e'ol'e on the
%ormless plane, and abstract thought 3 the dra&ing out o% the common
element in these 'arious separated concrete ideas 3 &ill begin* Slo&ly
and gradually that lo&er acti'ity &ill ma(e acti'e the higher manas2 on
its o&n plane it &ill enter on its o&n especial &or( o% abstract thin(ing,
and the highest intellectual %aculties &ill then be gradually de'eloped*
These higher %aculties are classi%ied as synthetical rather than as
analytical. they are no longer engaged in brea(ing up into their
component parts the ideas on &hich the mental acti'ity has been
&or(ing, but are re0combining them and by synthesis are creating ne&
ideas 3 ideas &hich are the images o% realities in the =ni'ersal Mind*
This is the ,uality in man &hich ma(es it possible that he in turn shall
become uni'ersal, &hich e'ol'es &ithin the limits o% the causal body
that third aspect o% the li%e o% the %irst >:B:S, that ,uality o% the
=ni'ersal Mind &hich is to be the essence o% indi'iduality &hen the
limits o% the indi'idual ha'e %allen a&ay*
>oo(ing at that, then, as a rough de%inition o% mental &or(ing, &e come
bac( again to the idea &hich is so important %or our
understanding [Page 25] o% its place in e'olution, that the mind is the
sel%0contained part o% the consciousness, and that the sel%0containing is
necessary %or its per%ect e'olution* The mental plane is, as &e ha'e
seen, the balance, the center o% the &hole e'olution* The plane abo'e
and the plane belo& ha'e a certain de%inite relation the one to the other,
and this relation lies in the common characteristic that in both o% them
is the consciousness pouring itsel% out* :n the buddhic plane the
consciousness is pouring itsel% out&ards2 on the (4mic plane the
consciousness is pouring itsel% out* In both cases it is see(ing
e)pression by uni%ying* :n the (4mic plane it does this on a 'ery much
lo&er le'el by gaining possession o% an ob6ect and bringing it into
itsel%, by ta(ing possession o% it as mine, by holding it and assimilating
it2 &hereas on the higher plane, the buddhic, it pours itsel% %orth to
include, and not %eeling the sense o% di%%erence o% the 8I 8 and o% the 8
mine8, it is conscious o% a unity &hich sees all that it touches as part o%
itsel% and includes all &ithin itsel%* Thus the outpouring di%%ers in this
subtle &ay %rom the outpouring on the (4mic plane, that the one is
pouring out to the e)ternal, &hile the other, i% I may use the phrase, is
pouring internally* The consciousness on the higher plane recogni+es
e'erything as part o% its o&n li%e and its o&n [Page 2] nature2 it does
not need to go %orth in order to %ind, %inding all as &ithin itsel%, yet still
ha'ing that e)pansi'e character &hich is continually including, ne'er
e)cluding, &hich does not (no& limitations, &hich does not recogni+e
boundaries* Hence it has sometimes been said that the (4mic plane is
the re%lection o% the buddhic on a lo&er le'el2 it sho&s, as it &ere, in an
image do&n belo& a (ind o% re%lection o% the ,ualities &hich are %ound
abo'e* Cust as may be seen in the &ater the re%lection o% a mountain
&hich is by the side o% a la(e, so in (4ma there is a (ind o% re%lection o%
certain buddhic ,ualities* And thin(ing, as &e are taught to thin(, o% the
&hole o% these creati'e acti'ities as pairs continually re%lected, &e %ind
these pairs e)isting on the nir'4nic and the physical planes, on the
buddhic and the (4mic, and once more the intellectual region as the
point o% balance %or the &hole*
1o& this, i% care%ully &or(ed out in our thought, &ill thro&
considerable light upon those curious problems that I spo(e o% &ith
regard to the &onder%ul and une)pected change that sometimes ta(es
place in the li%e o% an indi'idual, &ith regard also to that problem as to
&hy &e %ind a touch o% deeper insight in some &ho 3 especially in old
age a%ter a li%e o% unsel%ishness and o% compassion 3 are able to gi'e
us counsel [Page 2!] and ad'ice mar(ed by that deeper insight &hich
&e are accustomed to connect &ith the idea o% spiritual acti'ity* >et us
thin( o% the change itsel%* -e %ind, perhaps, a person in &hom the rush
o% the emotional nature is tremendously strong2 he is mar(ed by great
enthusiasm, by a headlong ,uality, by lac( o% balance, by lac( o%
consideration, by a tendency to rush &ith enormous energy into some
underta(ing &hich attracts the %eelings and the emotions* Perhaps it is
some scheme o% bene'olence &hich may be e)ceedingly ill0considered,
&hich may ha'e in it innumerable %la&s and blunders, all o% &hich &ill
&or( mischie% as that scheme o% bene'olence is put into acti'ity* 5ut
the strong emotional nature has no time to thin( o% that2 the tremendous
surge o% emotion carries it right a&ay and it only sees that the scheme
promises to do good, promises to end misery, to s&eep a&ay po'erty, to
change the %ace o% the &orld* It cannot stop %or all the cold
consideration as to &hether means are adapted to ends, and all the rest2
it must go out in a tremendous rush, and out it goes* It does a
considerable amount o% good, and also a 'ery large amount o% e'il2 it
brea(s do&n a great many things that might ha'e helped, it gi'es li%e to
a great many things that are bitter e)ceedingly2 and the &hole thing is a
great &a'e 3 &ith all the %orce o% a &a'e [Page 2"] certainly 3 but
also &ith, destructi'e po&er &hich ill0regulated %orce must al&ays
present* It destroys, truly, but yet has &ithin it that great constructi'e
%orce o% the uni'erse, the emotion o% lo'e, the desire to help* In that
outrush, there%ore, it is also constructing, and ha'ing in it that ,uality o%
lo'e, it brings about a certain ans&ering 'ibration on the buddhic plane*
5y the sel%0surrender that &ill continually go &ith that great outrush o%
emotion and enthusiasm, by the &illingness o% the person &ho %eels it
to thro& his o&n li%e a&ay i% only he may ser'e the larger li%e that he
sees su%%ering around him, by the great impulse o% sel%0sacri%ice that
does not count the cost but is &illing to gi'e itsel% completely 3 health
and li%e and e'erything else 3 i% only the su%%ering may be relie'ed, is
added to the (4mic passion and emotion a touch %rom the buddhic
plane, some recognition o% the unity &hich ma(es it seem &ell that the
separated li%e should gi'e itsel% %or the li%e o% the &hole* Thus is set
stirring &ithin the e'ol'ing li%e, the e'ol'ing Sel%, a little 'ibration on
the buddhic plane &hich &ill thro& do&n on to the (4mic a slight ray
o% light, gi'ing to it its o&n beauty and attracti'e po&er and &or(ing,
in him &ho %eels it, ho&e'er ill0considered his action, ho&e'er %oolish
that &hich he does, %or the e'olution o% the [Page 2#] spiritual nature
and thus enabling a step %or&ard to be made in that incarnation* The
light %rom the buddhic plane, thro&n upon the intelligence, brings it
also into greater acti'ity, enables it to see an idea o% &hich,
intellectually recogni+ed, the intellect ta(es hold* The intellect sei+es
this great %orce &hich &as started in the (4mic nature, changes its
direction, &hile lea'ing it as a %orce, and utili+es that tremendous
energy, directing it to a &iser end, and by a &iser method, so that the
&hole nature e'ol'es %or&ards and up&ards and a great change is seen
e'en &ithin the limits o% one li%e*
For it must be remembered that %or progress %orce is absolutely
necessary and that %orce is continually being e'ol'ed by &ay o% the
emotions* Branted that in the earlier stages o% that emotional rush it
may be a %orce &hich is &or(ing 'ery %oolishly, none the less is it a
%orce2 &hereas i% there is no %orce there is not the moti'e0po&er &hich
&ill get the creature on* He lac(s the steam, and ho&e'er per%ect the
machine, it &ill not go i% there is no steam in it* -e may ha'e a piece o%
magni%icent machinery &hich, i% &e could set it going, might do
&onders2 but i% &e cannot get any steam into the boiler, or i% the boiler
is too small to gi'e su%%icient energy %or the mo'ing o% the machine, it
&ill remain there &ithout motion %or &ant o% that 'ery energy [Page
3$] that should come %rom its boiler* 1o& the (4mic nature is the boiler
o% the e'ol'ing Sel%, and no machinery that it can ma(e any&here,
ho&e'er admirable it may be and &hate'er its possibilities in the
%uture, can &or( in any gi'en incarnation i% that %orce is lac(ing &hich
&ill mo'e it* 5ut gi'en the %orce, &e can turn it to any end that is
recogni+ed as good2 and &hen the gleam o% buddhic light %lo&s do&n,
upon the intelligence, that illuminated intelligence &ill recogni+e a
great ideal and &ill begin to utili+e the %orce and turn it in a better
direction* A change in the ob6ect is all that is needed in these cases*
Turn the same %orce to&ards a higher ob6ect and the aim &ill be
achie'ed* The great %orce in the (4mic nature that &as being used %or
the sa(e o% the personal sel%, &hen turned to the ser'ice o% the common
Sel% o% man &ill ma(e the hero, the pioneer and the saint* It is a change
in the direction o% the %orce caused by the change o% the ob6ect &hich is
recogni+ed as desirable. ma(e that change3 and it is sometimes done
by a %lash o% illumination 3 and then the &hole o% that energy &ill be
turned to&ards the achie'ing o% the higher end*
Suppose, ho&e'er, that there is a great de'elopment o% the pure
intellect only, &hile this emotional side o% the nature has been
d&ar%ed [Page 31] and stunted in any gi'en incarnation2 or suppose
that in the course o% e'olution the tendency has been especially to&ards
the intellectual, &hile the emotional nature li%e a%ter li%e has been little
de'eloped 3 &hich is ,uite possible, because our de'elopment is o%ten
e)ceedingly lop0sided 3 there &ill then be building on the mental
plane a piece o% magni%icent machinery that in a %uture incarnation &ill
be o% priceless 'alue* Ao not imagine %or one moment that its building
is to be deprecated2 do not imagine that it is to be considered
undesirable2 it is necessary %or the %ull and per%ect e'olution, it has to
be made at some time or another, it has gradually to be achie'ed in one
incarnation or another, but I am simply considering one incarnation %or
the sa(e o% clearing the mind* Imagine, then, that the &hole o% it has
been de'oted to the intellectual building 3 to&ards analysis, to&ards
synthesis, to&ards &or(ing out ideas on the mental plane 3 &hat is the
end o% that &or(ing / Isolation* -e build round us a &all to (eep the
outer impacts a&ay, trying to be calm and still and untouched by
anything %rom outside, in order that the mental energy, balanced
naturally, may do its &or(* There &e ha'e the building up o% the great
m4nasic possibilities2 but such a nature may %ind in any one incarnation
insuperable di%%iculties in the &ay o% achie'ing the spiritual [Page
32] li%e* The isolation is that &hich ma(es the 'ery e)pansion &hich is
a necessity o% the spiritual li%e impossible %or the time and the &hole
conditions o% the &or(ing are those &hich are least %a'orable to the
e)pansi'e and inclusi'e ,ualities* And although such a li%e &ould ha'e
a most use%ul and necessary place in the total e'olution 3 as bringing
the intellect into magni%icent &or(ing order and ensuring a splendid
and rapid e'olution in a %uture birth, yet, %or the time being, spiritual
aid &ould be practically thro&n a&ay upon it, because the &hole %orce
o% the e'olution &ould be turned to&ards the concentrated, isolated
gro&th, and not to&ards the pouring %orth o% li%e*
1o& in loo(ing at the &hole o% our nature in this &ay, &e shall see ho&
necessary the e'olution o% each o% the planes is %or the per%ect gro&th,
the per%ect e)pression o% the Sel%* -e shall see ho&, instead o% putting
the one against the other 3 the intellectual man decrying the
emotional, and the emotional man saying hard things about the
intellectual, the one scorn%ully saying that it is only cold intellect, and
the other saying, &ith e,ual scorn, that it is only ill0regulated emotion
3 the balanced and thought%ul person &ould see in each a necessary
stage o% e'olution and, i% he had reached the point &here able to gi'e
help to each, [Page 33] &ould consider only the nature o% the aid that
he should gi'e, in order to help %or&ard a man to the best possible
ad'antage in the acti'ities to &hich the Sel% in him &as chie%ly turning
its attention* For &e continually %ail to recogni+e that it is the Sel% in
each o% us that should be the guiding %orce in our e'olution2 that it is
not %or one to say ho& the Sel% in another shall e'ol'e, &hat acti'ities
he shall de'elop in one incarnation, &hat line he shall %ollo& in any
particular birth* The Sel% itsel% chooses the path&ay along &hich it &ill
go, and it is %or that inner Sel% to decide %or its 'ehicles &hich o% them
it &ill de'elop, along &hich path lies %or it the line o% least resistance in
any gi'en birth* And anyone &ho, ha'ing e'ol'ed to a higher li%e is
able to help those &ho ha'e not reached so %ar, &ill not consider &hich
,ualities to him may be most attracti'e, &hich path to him may seem
most intrinsically desirable2 he &ill rather consider &hat the Sel% is
&or(ing out in that indi'idual and ho& he can bring energy to bear to
assist the Sel% in its &or( in that incarnation &hich it has in hand* So
that in all the dealings o% the great Masters &ith e'ol'ing humanity, this
,uestion o% means and methods, o% times and seasons, e)ercises
determining %orce on the nature o% the help* They gi'e2 and many
people &ould sometimes [Page 34] %eel less discouraged, &ould, in
their 6udgment o% the great &or( &hich goes on around them, be better
balanced and &ould be seeing things more clearly, i% they recogni+ed
that the Master gi'es help in the &ay that it is most needed by the
indi'idual, and does not thin( %or one moment &hether in gi'ing that
help its nature may be misconstrued, or &hether He may be thought to
be more or less generous in His contact &ith any particular soul* He
gi'es &hat he (no&s to be the best2 He does not gi'e &hat might bring
Him the greatest outrush o% gratitude %rom the limited consciousness
&ith &hich He is dealing* It o%ten happens, there%ore, that in dealing
&ith a man o% (een intellect, o% great mental po&er, the Master gi'es
help &hich is ne'er appreciated by that man during the &hole o% his
incarnation* He helps him on&ards in his intellectual gro&th, helps him
to strengthen and to build more per%ectly his intellectual apparatus, not
minding at all, in His per%ect sel%lessness, in His per%ect compassion,
&hether that man, i% he (no&s o% the Master9s e)istence, may thin(
himsel% neglected, unhelped, or le%t on one side2 but gi'ing, as all
Those do gi'e -ho stand on those heights o% sel%lessness, the e)act aid
&hich is &anted by the e'ol'ing Sel% to ,uic(en its e'olution, the e)act
(ind o% succor &hich ma(es the [Page 35] %inal achie'ement easier
than it &ould other&ise be*
I cannot but thin( that i%, as students, &e &ere sometimes to loo( at the
matter in this broader &ay, dealing &ith it in the light o% Theosophical
(no&ledge, &e should become more compassionate, more tolerant,
more charitable to the in%inite di'ersity o% e'olution that &e see around
us on e'ery side2 more able to help our brothers, more grate%ul %or the
help that &e oursel'es recei'e*