The Mystery of Consciousness and the Soul of Things

The Souls of Atoms

ATOMS like their privacy as any physicist knows who tries to nail down their elusive face and place.

This effect is due to something dubbed the “measurement problem” in quantum physics.

Whether atoms are waves or particles, it was supposed, would be established simply by observing them. But it was not that easy.

So-called “observing” the fickle critters, actually changed their supposed appearance!

For decades this classic problem in quantum physics has been a mystery and shows no possibility of being resolved anytime soon, at least not with the use of conventional scientific methods.

In ancient times such mysteries were resolved by initiated seers whose “flashing gaze” could penetrate “into the very kernel of matter, and recorded the soul of things there,” H. P. Blavatsky declared: 

but modern science believes not in the ‘soul of things’ and hence will reject the whole system of ancient cosmogony.

A Living Cosmos

“It is useless to say that the system in question is no fancy of one or several isolated individuals. That it is the uninterrupted record covering thousands of generations of Seers whose respective experiences were made to test and to verify the traditions passed orally by one early race to another, of the teachings of higher and exalted beings, who watched over the childhood of Humanity.”

“The Pith and Marrow of Occultism” 
The Secret Doctrine, 1:272

The size, shape and location of these energetic illusions will likely never be resolved. To prove it, Mme. Blavatsky argues that the atoms and particles of modern science don’t really exist except in the exuberant imaginations of the scientists. And she famously insisted that atoms are merely “entified abstractions,” are not subject to physical laws and that no scientist will ever see one.

The Web of Life: A Conscious Universe, Part 2

Paracelsus

PARACELSUS was an alchemist and practicing astrologer. For him, the Sun of our universe corresponded to its Heart — the visible and invisible life giver and sustainer of the world.

The human heart or of any being, according to Theosophy, directly corresponds to the Sun.

The heart emanates the largest and strongest field in the body, just as the Sun does in its “body” – our Universe.

“The real substance of the concealed (Sun) is a nucleus of Mother substance,” the secret commentary explains:- “It is the heart and the matrix of all the living and existing Forces in our solar universe. It is the Kernel from which proceed to spread on their cyclic journeys all the powers:

“…that set in action the atoms in their functional duties, and the focus within which they again meet in their SEVENTH ESSENCE every eleventh year.”

The Commentary further teaches that “the Sun is the store-house of Vital Force, which is the Noumenon of Electricity — and “it is from its mysterious, never-to-be-fathomed depths, “…that issue those life currents which thrill through Space, as through the organisms of every living thing on Earth.”

When Spirit and Matter Hold Hands

DESPITE our seeming insanity H. P. Blavatsky foresaw a world ready for greater normalcy, and insisted she heard a more enlightened humanity “raising its voice.”

With an insight decades in advance of her time, her declaration clearly expected a kinder, gentler New Age.

The voice of the new humanity was described in her article The Tidal Wave saying “the Spirit in man has returned like King Lear, from seeming insanity to its senses.”

Humanity today is transitioning as she envisioned, with thousands of New Age movements speaking “in those authoritative tones to which the men of old listened in reverential silence through incalculable ages.”

She was not the first to acknowledge the arrival of a newly awakened humanity.

In the long past human kind had listened to their inner spiritual voice, she says, but failed because too “deafened by the din and roar of civilization and culture, they could hear it no longer.”

But now “look around you and behold,” writing as if she were living today, and “think of what you see and hear, and draw therefrom your conclusions.”

“If every 8 year old is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” – Dalai Lama

What must have been a difficult sell in her time, Blavatsky nevertheless boldly maintained that “the age of crass materialism, of Soul insanity and blindness, is swiftly passing away” — an idea still not easy to see. More like:

“A death struggle between Mysticism and Materialism is no longer at hand, but is already raging.”

Ω

True knowledge, Plato’s Nous, comes slowly and is not easily acquired, says Theosophy.

Proof of the Soul thru Dreams

WRESTING consciousness from the lords of scientific reductionism, where its mysteries have languished for decades, takes imaginative and fearless warriors.

Not surprisingly, the acclaimed Father of Modern Philosophy, René Descartes, cannot be authenticated as a combatant truth seeker.

Descartes held that non-human creatures must be reductively assumed to be nothing but mere automatons, signaling a tired materialism, not frontier science.

The Cartesian assumptions do not sit well with animal welfare advocates, environmentalists, especially not Theosophists who insist that consciousness is endemic to all kingdoms of nature, not just the human.

Possessors of sentient consciousness include, Theosophy says, such unlikely candidates as bacteria, minerals — and yes, even atoms!

Descartes held rigidly to the premise “I think therefore I am”— without ever explaining what a thought is, or explaining the ever-elusive, dogged persistence of consciousness. Whether awake or asleep, comatose or vegetative, its presence is in-dismissible.

One wonders if it doesn’t seem far more reasonable to assume in fact that the opposite is true, i.e. —“I AM, therefore I think?”

Adherents biassedly line up on one or the other side of the issue. (Actually, Theosophy could argue both sides are accounted for by its teaching of the mind’s dual nature.)

In fact, the elusive, omnipersistent ‘mind’, is not a production of the brain at all, but an aspect of universal mind.

Over one hundred years ago, unraveling the mystery of the existence of the ‘soul’ was attempted by physical science, employing of course the expected material, reductionist methods — using a mechanical device to weigh it!

Intentional Chocolate

EMBARRASSMENT is hard to hide and is even more embarrassing if it is noticed by others around you.

The effect is impossible to ignore, yet the biological impact that thoughts and feelings have on us are a mystery to modern science.

A hint of shame or a critical stare, for example, may causes our skin to redden but how can the effect be explained?

How can the invisible, subjective and intangible energy of a thought or feeling noticeably affect the visible physical system of the human body? Science can describe the effect, but it does not know the mechanism which causes it.

A similar enigma for science is the work of biochemist Rupert Sheldrake who is famous for his experiment with blindfolded subjects who guessed whether persons were staring at them, or not. He reported that, in tens of thousands of trials the scores were consistently above chance (60%) when the subject was being stared at.

Traditional Science has no explanation for these things. “Sow a thought, reap an act” is a familiar occult mantra, but again: what is the mysterious mechanism that transforms a thought into an act?  And cause biological changes?

Mindfulness Meditation

Similarly inexplicable it was reported in ScienceDaily® that an 8-week mindfulness meditation program “appears to make measurable changes in the brain.” A team “led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain’s grey matter.”

 “…words [or images] cause us to deliberately go out of balance,” says Chopra, “and there’s no physical mechanism to explain it.”

“It’s well known that the human body depends upon homeostasis,” writes Deepak Chopra, and asks where memories and emotions originate, “in the Mind or the Brain?”  There is a ” huge mystery, known as the mind-body problem,” he says, and “as long as we ignore the mind, we may be making profound mistakes about the brain.”

Angels in the Snow

SNOW angels, as far as we know, are only human-made depressions formed in an area of snow in the shape of an angel.

Snow angel making is a classic and fun winter child’s game — adults too can’t resist.

Nearly everyone living in northern latitudes knows about making “snow angels.” If you don’t, or haven’t, here’s the recipe.

The creation of the snow angel is easy. The first step is to find an undisturbed blanket of snow.

The next step is to lie on your back on the newly fallen snow, spreadeagled. Arms and legs are then swept back and forth, creating the winged shape.

The finished creation should have the appearance of an angel, the movement of the arms having formed wings, and that of the legs having formed the dress.

The trick is always to launch oneself carefully out of the newly formed impression without disturbing the design.

Then, if possible, take giant steps away minimizing any tell-tale footprints — leaving behind, for passers-by to marvel, a glistening angel dropped magically out of heaven!

Seeing is Deceiving

ATOMS like their privacy as any physicist knows who tries to nail down their elusive face and place.

This effect is due to something dubbed the “measurement problem” in quantum physics.

Whether atoms are waves or particles, it was supposed, would be established simply by observing them. But it was not that easy.

So-called “observing” the fickle critters, actually changed their supposed appearance!

For decades this classic problem in quantum physics has been a mystery, and shows no possibility of being resolved anytime soon, at least not with the use of conventional scientific methods.

In ancient times such mysteries were resolved by initiated seers whose “flashing gaze” could penetrate “into the very kernel of matter, and recorded the soul of things there,” H. P. Blavatsky recounts. [SD 1:272]

“…but modern science believes not in the ‘soul of things,'” she wrote.

The size, shape and location of these energetic illusions will likely never be resolved. To prove it, Mme. Blavatsky argues that the atoms and particles of modern science don’t really exist except in the exuberant imaginations of the scientists. And she famously insisted that atoms are merely “entified abstractions,” are not subject to physical laws, and that no scientist will ever see one.

Soul and the Juggernaut of Science

OUR modern objective science “is the hallmark of society today, and “it has an unrivaled power base.”

“Its description of reality has molded the modern world,” write Deepak Chopra, MD and Jim Walsh in their July 1, 2013 article in Huffington Post.

And, “its worldview holds sway over universities, governments and the public at large.”

“Everyone who participates in the consensus view of reality has been touched by it. But the role of the observer has puzzled and intrigued physics since the quantum revolution a century ago.,” say the Authors of the article The Consciousness Project – Hopeful Solutions for Epic Problems.

“We feel that this issue offers a crucial opening for expanding the role of science.”

“As a counterpoint to the science juggernaut, there is another view of reality supported by loosely aligned groups in religion, philosophy, and a minority in science,” they write. “Their worldview is consciousness-based. Whatever their differences, supporters of consciousness place mind first in Nature and matter second.”

“Flying” – Lois Greenfield

“Such a worldview has no significant financial backing comparable to mainstream science,” writes Dr. Chopra. “It has been excluded from experimentation in major universities and all but banished from respectability, depending on the rich heritage, East and West, of saints, sages, and seers who fall outside the scientific method.”

Wresting the domain of consciousness from the lords of scientific  reductionism, where it has been abused and minimized for decades, takes imaginative and fearless investigators.

Such would not have been included the proclaimed “Father of Modern Philosophy” René Descartes, who held that non-human animals could be reductively explained as mere automatons.

This is not a concept that sits well with consciousness-based views of reality, nor with animal advocates, environmentalists, including most Theosophists — who recognize that consciousness is inherent in all kingdoms of nature, not just the human. In their view, possessors of sentient consciousness include such unlikely candidates as bacteria, minerals — and atoms!

Decartes held famously to the premise “I think therefore I am”— without ever explaining what a thought is, or explaining the persistence and presence of the ever-elusive nature of consciousness. One wonders if it doesn’t seem far more reasonable to assume in fact that the opposite is true, i.e. —“I AM, therefore I think?”

Adherents biassedly line up on one or the other side of the issue. (Actually, Theosophy would argue both sides are accounted for by the ancient teaching of the mind’s dual nature.)

In fact, the elusive, omnipersistent ‘mind’, is not a production of the brain at all, but an aspect of universal mind.

Over one hundred years ago, unraveling the mystery of the existence of the ‘soul’ was attempted by physical science, employing of course the expected material, reductionist methods — using a mechanical device to weigh it!

The Matter with Matter

SKEPTICAL about science, many people are wary of the unproved claims of its leading authorities.

“I am not skeptical of science but of the pseudoscience spread due to impatience and arrogance,” says MegaBanne in a YouTube comment.

It’s “the notion that by employing fantasy and math one can know all there is to know about Nature.”

“It is incredible how arrogant some physicists are, too proud to actually follow the scientific method. To think that the problems that they have ahead of them are so complex,” MegaBanne writes, “yet they don’t need to show any evidence on which to base their theories.”

Indeed, says Theosophy, the atom “can neither be weighed, nor measured, nor found with a microscope.”

Because, as Blavatsky wrote, sciences’ speculations are “pure hypothesis, undemonstrated and undemonstrable,” especially on theories of the elusive “atom,” the alleged underpinning of matter.

“Where is the atom of science; who has ever seen it; where and when has its existence been demonstrated?,” asks W. Q. Judge [Which Is Vague, Theosophy Or Science?] The ‘atom’ of science is today as great a mystery as the ‘soul’ of Theosophy.

© Lois Greenfield.

“Indeed, in the opinion of many Theosophists [the atom] is a far greater mystery than the soul,” Blavatsky said,”because some say they have seen that which may be soul; which looks like it—and no man has been, at any time, so fortunate or unfortunate as to have seen an atom.”

Nor has any scientist seen matter, or what they think is matter. “Spirit is matter on the seventh plane; matter is spirit – on the lowest point of its cyclic activity; and both – are MAYA [illusion] according to the occult teachings (SD 1:633).

The Psychic You

EVERY organ and cell in the body has its own energetic biofield, and uses it to network wirelessly with all other organs and cells.

The heart and the gut talk back and forth continually to the brain, whose neurons also converse with each other, day and night.

Researchers have recently discovered that both the heart and the gut, have substantial neuronal regions, showing they both have brains of their own. The gut can even act independently when we have “gut feelings” for example.

The holographic network of the heart links, organizes and entrains, say the researchers at the Institute of Heartmath, the totality of signals from all the noetic webs, of all the cells and neurons of the body.

“These biosignals pass information over to the body’s chief superintendent, the brain.”

ξ

This complex unifying biofield may well be the underlying mechanism of healing, of thought transference, and gene behavior, experimental evidence confirms. It is also the pathway by which the environment influences us.

The power of this invisible field is undoubtedly the unseen agent driving what many modern self-help gurus refer to as the ‘secret’ of intention, and thought. In Isis Unveiled (1:xxvii) H. P. Blavatsky wrote:

“The Hindu Vedas fifty centuries ago, ascribed to it the same properties as do the Tibetan lamas of the present day.”

“When one sees mortal man displaying tremendous capabilities, controlling the forces of nature and opening up to view the world of spirit,” she writes, “the reflective mind is overwhelmed.”

Thou Art Buddha

Photo: barrywheeler.net

DEDICATED repetition is the foundation of all accomplishment in true art, science, and even spiritual development.

Yet success may entail much more than just ‘practice, practice’ to get to Carnegie Hall, as the saying goes.

Sweat, talent and technical skill are of course required. But the intuitive musician has a growing sense of  how a composition ought to be performed.

She is able to increasingly embrace the intent of the composer while shaping the music into a unique performance of her own.

Becoming ‘free of the keyboard’ an accomplished artist is untied from the written score and physical instrument.

The shift signals an artist who has the required technical mastery, plus an inspiration of her own.

Yet in large orchestras, the conductor communicates directions to musicians during a performance, becoming the authoritative guide, interpreter, and dedicated amanuensis of the composer.

Not unlike the Buddha following his enlightenment, an orchestra conductor, or music instructor, has transformed herself into a guru to the searchers, coaxing them through their envelope of inexperience, to ever increasing emancipation.

They say that when a student is ready, the teacher will appear. Spiritual knowledge and development does require commitment and dedication to an ideal, but on a grander scale. Achievement is more demanding any art, religion, science or philosophy for it is the synthesis of them all.

“Practical Theosophy is not one Science,” Blavatsky explained, “but it embraces every science in life, moral and physical. It may, in short, be justly regarded as the universal ‘coach,’ — a tutor of world-wide knowledge and experience.”

The Psychic Life

ELECTRIC and magnetic affinities are generated, occult teachers say, whenever there is physical touch, the sound of a voice, or even a meaningful look.

Every action we take carries information about us and the life around us, a kind of psychic body language. We also call them ‘vibes’ – and they can be ‘good’ or ‘bad.’

The invisible transfer of information between persons, animals, trees, bacteria and brain neurons, is still largely a mystery. Even birds and bees do it. The general term today is “psi,” coined from parapsychology, and usually refers to telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception currently unexplained.

Mme. Blavatsky with her Adept Teachers authorized Three  Objects for the Theosophical Society, which included study of  this mysterious phenomena.

The First Object of the Society was “to form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity,” and the Second “the study of Aryan and other Scriptures, of the World’s religion and sciences etc.,” and these are preserved by almost all Theosophical groups.

The original Third Object was also stated clearly by H. P. Blavatsky in The Key to Theosophy, Section 3, published in 1889, and reads:

“To investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature under every aspect possible, and the psychic and spiritual powers latent in man especially.”

Ξ

Despite the Founder’s unambiguous wording, some Theosophical revisionists have chosen to unilaterally remove both the words “‘psychic” and “spiritual” from the last Object. Others followed suit, and today a timid, unauthorized and watered-down version is all the public sees.  How could this happen with a subject that pervades every major textbook the Teachers wrote, and hundreds of their original articles?

Thoughts are Things

EMBARRASSMENT can be, well, embarrassing — especially if you tend to blush in public. We recognize in this, in ourselves and others, a real yet scientifically inexplicable effect.

Even a hint of a reprove by another, or admiring glance, likewise causes our skin to redden— or it might signal our getting caught sneaking a candy from a store display.

But it begs a real question of how does an invisible, seemingly intangible, subjective activity as a thought or feeling, manifest into a physical system, and affect that system biologically and visibly?

How can this happen? How is it possible for an immaterial thought or feeling produce a visible, physical effect?

Δ

Science cannot answer. “Sow a thought, reap an act” is a familiar occult mantra and begs an explanation, what is the mysterious mechanism of how thought energy can speak to the nervous system, and just as quickly cause a visible response in the physical body?

“It’s well known that the human body depends upon homeostasis,” writes Deepak Chopra, and asks: Memories and Emotions: All in The Mind or the Brain? And answers: “it is the ability to keep very complex systems in balance and to return to a state of balance when it is disturbed—

 “Yet words [or images] cause us to deliberately go out of balance,” says Chopra, “and there’s no physical mechanism to explain it.”

↔

Stepping Stones

Photo: barrywheeler.net

DEDICATED repetition is the foundation of all accomplishment in true art, science, and even spiritual development.

Yet success may entail much more than just ‘practice, practice’ to get to Carnegie Hall, as the saying goes.

Sweat, talent and technical skill are of course required. But the intuitive musician has a growing sense of  how a composition ought to be performed.

Because, through an inner  transformation, she can embrace the intent of the composer, and transform the music into an exhilarating inspiration of her own.

The accomplished performer is not tied to notes on paper, becoming what is called ‘free of the keyboard.’ That shift signals an musician who not only has the required technical mastery, but is also ready to shape a performance in her own inspired way.

Yet in large orchestras, the conductor communicates directions to musicians during a performance, becoming the authoritative guide, interpreter, and dedicated amanuensis of the composer.

Not unlike the Buddha following his enlightenment, an orchestra conductor, or music instructor, has transformed herself into a guru to the searchers, coaxing them through their envelope of inexperience, to ever increasing emancipation.

They say that when a student is ready, the teacher will appear. Spiritual knowledge and development does require commitment and dedication to an ideal, but on a grander scale. The stakes are higher than any one art or science.

“Practical Theosophy is not one Science,” Blavatsky explained, “but it embraces every science in life, moral and physical. It may, in short, be justly regarded as the universal ‘coach,’ — a tutor of world-wide knowledge and experience.”

Kinship with God

EVERY organ and cell in the body has its own energetic biofield, and uses it to network wirelessly with all the other organs and cells.

The heart and the gut talk back and forth continually to the brain, whose neurons also converse with each other, day and night.

Researchers have recently discovered that both the heart and the gut, have substantial neuronal regions, showing they both have brains of their own. The gut can even act independently when we have “gut feelings” for example.

The holographic network of the heart links, organizes and entrains, say the researchers at the Institute of Heartmath, the totality of signals from all the noetic webs, of all the cells and neurons of the body.

“These biosignals pass information over to the body’s chief superintendent, the brain.”

ξ

This complex unifying biofield may well be the underlying mechanism of healing, of thought transference, and gene behavior, experimental evidence confirms. It is also the pathway by which the environment influences us.

The power of this invisible field is undoubtedly the unseen agent driving what many modern self-help gurus refer to as the ‘secret’ of intention, and thought. In Isis Unveiled (1:xxvii) H. P. Blavatsky wrote:

“The Hindu Vedas fifty centuries ago, ascribed to it the same properties as do the Tibetan lamas of the present day.”

“When one sees mortal man displaying tremendous capabilities, controlling the forces of nature and opening up to view the world of spirit,” she writes, “the reflective mind is overwhelmed.”

The Hard Problem

EMBARRASSMENT can be, well, embarrassing — especially if you tend to blush in public. We recognize in this, in ourselves and others, a real yet scientifically inexplicable effect.

Even a hint of a reprove by another, or admiring glance, likewise causes our skin to redden— or it might signal our getting caught sneaking a candy from a store display.

But it begs a real question of how does an invisible, seemingly intangible, subjective activity as a thought or feeling, manifest into a physical system, and affect that system biologically and visibly?

“It’s well known that the human body depends upon homeostasis,” writes Deepak Chopra, and asks: Memories and Emotions: All in The Mind or the Brain? And answers: “it is the ability to keep very complex systems in balance and to return to a state of balance when it is disturbed—

”Yet words [or images] cause us to deliberately go out of balance,” says Chopra, “and there’s no physical mechanism to explain it.”

↔

A New Humanity

COMING to its senses from seeming insanity, a new humanity is “raising its voice” Theosophy declares.

The words signaled Helena Blavatsky’s welcome to an expected New Age of humanity, written more than a hundred years ago.

The world is trending today as she envisioned: “in those authoritative tones to which the men of old listened in reverential silence through incalculable ages.”

Characterizing this new humanity she described in her article “The Tidal Wave” how “the Spirit in man has returned like King Lear, from seeming insanity to its senses.”

She was not the first to acknowledge the arrival of a newly awakened humanity.

ξ

All One Being 3

ELECTRICAL and magnetic signatures are generated, occult teachers say, whenever there is physical touch, the sound of a voice, or even a meaningful look.

Every action we take in fact carries information about us, a kind of psychic body language.

The transfer of information from one person to another without the mediation of any known channel of sensory communication, called telepathy, is the most noticeable effect of this transfer.

Mme. Blavatsky and her Teachers authorized three plainly stated Objects for the Theosophical Society— the Third referred to psychic and spiritual powers.

Despite this fact, revisionists in some major theosophical groups unilaterally removed both the words psychic and spiritual from that original Third Object. Many smaller groups have, unfortunately, timidly followed suit.

Yet, in H. P. Blavatsky’s The Key to Theosophy, Section 3, published in 1889, the original Third Object of the Theosophical Society is stated unambiguously:

“To investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature under every aspect possible, and the psychic and spiritual powers latent in man especially.”

Ξ

Flesh of My Flesh

BECAUSE all organisms are related through similarities in DNA sequences, the whole of nature could be really one family.

New insights of epigenetics have lead to a revolutionary view of human biology. Theosophy concurs with many of these new findings.

“The failures of science and its arbitrary assumptions,” Blavatsky says in The Secret Doctrine (2:670), “are far greater on the whole than any ‘extravagant’ esoteric doctrine.”

The traditional geneticist’s view of evolution “is from the animal,” she reminds us, and “mind in its various phases” is viewed, erroneously, as completely separate from matter.

It follows, then, that the identical genes that were in our ancestor’s bodies, that Blavatsky called “The Life Atoms” —”are transmitted through their descendants for generation after generation…

“…so that we are literally ‘flesh of the flesh’ of the primeval creature who has developed into man in the later period.”

§

The Heart of God

EVERY organ and cell in the body has its own energetic biofield, and uses it to network wirelessly with all the other organs and cells.

The heart and the gut talk back and forth continually to the brain, whose  neurons also converse with each other, day and night.

Researchers have recently discovered that both the heart and the gut, have substantial neuronal regions, showing they both have brains of their own.

The holographic network of the heart links, organizes and entrains, say the researchers at the Institute of Heartmath, the totality of signals from all the noetic webs, of all the cells and neurons of the body.

“These biosignals pass information over to the body’s chief superintendent, the brain.”

≈