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VII – THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY AND THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD:
The Diversity of the Manifested Capacities
59 - “But this Brotherhood of all
souls is like the relation of brotherhood within a family; brothers are not all
of the same age, though they are of the same parents.” (C. Jinarajadasa, Practical Theosophy, p. 63)
60 - “That great principle of
Reincarnation must ever go hand in hand with the principle of Brotherhood if
Brotherhood is to be applied, if it is to be made a working principle of
ordinary life. For it is out of these differences of age that
grows up all the possibilities of an ordered and happy society amongst
ourselves.” (A. Besant, The Changing World, p. 79)
Let us now proceed to analyze
Diversity, which co-exists with Unity and is also a fundamental aspect of the
universal brotherhood of humanity. In spite of this, its importance within this
law is not really as well known as that of the aspect of essential Unity. In
this, as we hope to show, lies the origin of most of the
incorrect
interpretations within the TS concerning the law of the universal brotherhood,
as well as the inability of most of the members to really understand its immense
importance to the solutions of human problems. And it is because of this that we
shall insist on the analysis of this aspect.
It is not possible for us to reach an
exact understanding of the fundamental importance of this aspect (of the
manifested Diversity) to the principle or law of the brotherhood of all humanity
without taking into account the knowledge of the inner constitution of man or
the evolutionary process of the human Soul through successive reincarnations. In
this sense, the first fact of importance for an appropriate view of the human
being as a whole which is revealed to us by the Perennial Philosophy is that of
the existence of matter on many levels of density more subtle than those that
are well known scientifically.
The important fact to our study is
that man possesses bodies manifested on all these planes, even though, in
accordance with his level of evolution, some may be quite underdeveloped. Thus,
the human being is essentially a Ray or Spark of the Sun of the One Divine
Consciousness, rooted in the highest or divine plane. From this point on, this
Divine Consciousness in man covers itself with the body appropriate to its
expression on all planes and sub-planes of density of matter, including the
physical.
In accordance with the Esoteric
Philosophy, if we observe all of the constitution of man, from its densest to
its most subtle body, it would be as follows: (1) a physical dense body, of
flesh and bone, which corresponds to the solid, liquid and gaseous levels of the
physical plane; (2) a first invisible body or aura, called etheric double, which belongs to the four etheric sublevels of the physical plane; (3) an astral or
emotional (body or aura), made up of matter from the seven sublevels of the
astral plane; (4) a concrete mental body made up of matter from the four densest
mental sublevels; (5) an abstract mental body made up of matter from the three
sublevels of more subtle mental matter; (6) an intuitive or buddhic body with matter from all sublevels of this plane;
(7) a body of spiritual or atmic volition made up of
matter from the four inferior sublevels of the atmic
plane; (8) a Monad or Divine Spark, the reflection from the Divine Trinity in
man, which is expressed beginning with the three higher atmic
sublevels, up to the heights of the divine plan.
According to
The total constitution of man
described above may be visualized more easily with the help of the figures below
(pp. 9 and
The next point to be considered is
how these bodies behave in the process of successive reincarnations as this will
grant us a better understanding of the principal aspect of Diversity in the
human brotherhood, which is the fact that humanity is made up of beings of
different ages or different stages of spiritual evolution. This is so because
this process of reincarnations explains the different accumulation of
experiences, which lies at the basis of the different levels of maturity or
spiritual development of human beings.
In a first stage, the divine energies
create and surround themselves with ever denser levels of matter until reaching
the physical plane. From this point on, as has been mentioned previously, these
energies animate the mineral, vegetable, animal, human, and super-human kingdoms
until they return fully conscious to the bosom of the One Divinity. Human
beings, therefore, have immediately behind them the animal kingdom from which
they rose as beings who have acquired their own individuality through the act of
liberating themselves from the limitations of group consciousness typical of
animal instincts.
It is only at this point in
evolution, at the beginning of the human stage, that man’s Higher Ego has become
an individual spiritual entity, thus
acquiring freedom of thought and a much higher consciousness of self than it had
in the animal kingdom. This Higher Ego, however, has not yet developed its
immense latent powers. It will gradually develop these powers as the human being
passes through successive reincarnations.
At the beginning of each incarnation,
the Higher Ego creates a new lower quaternary to enable it to gather more
experiences on the Physical, Astral, and Lower Mental planes. The physical life
is usually the shortest, although the most meaningful one as it is the only one
during which the human being encounters all the bodies and, therefore, has
greater independence and power to generate new causes and search for new
experiences.
After having existed for years in the
physical body, man arrives at the passage called death when he abandons the
dense physical body and the etheric double, which are
both worn out and no longer of service to garner more experiences, and departs
for a life on the astral plane with the help of his astral body. This life
normally lasts two or three times longer than physical life, and then this
astral body is left behind in a second death, which is another passage to a life
normally even longer on the lower mental plane. At the end of this cycle, the
Higher Ego garners the results or lessons of the experiences lived through its
lower quaternary on the three densest planes.
This is a simple description of the
process through which the Higher Ego develops its infinite powers until it
reaches a stage of maturity and perfection in which this cycle of reincarnations
is no longer mandatory. In other words, at the end of this long journey through
hundreds of reincarnations, the human being achieves Liberation, and his
consciousness enters a super-human stage of development, one of whose
characteristics is the fact of having achieved conscious immortality and the
other is the unity with the Divine Will. One of the names given to this
Liberation is that of “Adeptship.” The Adepts or
Mahatmas who inspired the founding of the TS are believed to be examples of
beings who have already achieved this evolutionary level.
All human beings are engaged in this
process of development of their divine powers because, as has been stated
previously, all are essentially divine. However, the billions of incarnate human
beings, as well as those (in even larger numbers) without a physical body in the
cyclical astral or mental life, will not start out on their human journey at the
same time. Some of them have begun their journey long before others. Thus, while
some have already arrived at their destination and others are nearing the end of
their journey, the greater part of humanity can be found along this way, some of
them even at its beginning. This is a very important fact as it explains the
great diversity in stages of spiritual development (reflected in the differences
of character and ability) in human beings.
In view of the above, it is not
difficult for us to understand that this aspect of the great Diversity in the
levels of spiritual development is almost as important in helping us understand
the true nature of the universal brotherhood of humanity, as that of the Unity
underlying all beings.
Let us now consider some excerpts
from the writings of Geoffrey Hodson, a great
clairvoyant of the TS, in which he deals with the Higher Mental (Causal) body as
well as with its development. These excerpts will clearly explain what has
already been touched on in preceding paragraphs:
61 - “In Sanskrit, the causal body is
known as the Karana Sharira,
Karana
meaning cause. Briefly, the causal body has two main functions:
(1) To act as a vehicle for the ego: the causal body is
the “body of Manas,” the form aspect of the
individual, the true man, the Thinker.
(2) To act as a receptacle or storehouse for the
essence of man’s experiences in his various incarnations. The causal body is
that into which is woven everything which can endure, and in which are stored
the germs of qualities, to be carried over to the next incarnation. Hence one
sees that the lower manifestation of man, i.e., his expression in his mental, astral and physical bodies,
depends ultimately upon the growth and development of the real man himself, the
one “for whom the hour never strikes”.
“At its inception, the causal body,
or form-aspect of the true man, is described as a delicate film of subtlest
matter, just visible, marking where the individual begins his separate life.
That delicate, almost colourless, film of subtlest
matter, is the body which will last through the whole of the human
evolution: on this, as on a thread – the thread-self, or
Sutratma, as it is sometimes called – will all the future
incarnations be strung.
“The causal body, as said, is the
receptacle of all that is enduring –
i.e.,
only that which is
noble and harmonious, and in accordance with the law of the spirit; for every
great and noble thought, every pure and lofty emotion, is carried up, and its
essence worked into the substance of the causal body. Hence, the conditions of
the causal body is a true register – the only true register – of the growth the man, of the stage of
evolution to which he has attained. (...)
“In the Thinker, residing in the
causal body, are all the powers that we class as Mind, i.e., memory, intuition, will, the Thinker gathers up all
experiences of the earth-lives, through which he passes, to be transmuted within
himself, by his own divine alchemy, into that essence of experience and
knowledge which is Wisdom. Even in the one brief earth-life we distinguish
between the knowledge we acquire and the wisdom we gradually – often too rarely
– distil from that knowledge. Wisdom is the fruitage of life’s experience, the
crowning possession of the aged. In a much fuller and richer sense, Wisdom is
the fruitage of many incarnations, the produce of much experience and knowledge.
In the Thinker, thus, is the store of experiences, reaped in all his past lives,
harvested through many rebirths.
“In ordinary people the causal body
is not yet fully active, and consequently only that matter which belongs to the
third sub-plane is vivified. As the ego, during the long course of his
evolution, unfolds his latent possibilities, the higher matter is gradually
brought into activity; but it is only in the perfected men whom we call Adepts,
or Masters, that it is developed to its fuller extent.
“It is difficult to describe a causal
body fully, because the senses belonging to the causal world are altogether
different from and higher than those we employ at the physical level. Such
memory of the appearance of a causal body, as it is possible for a clairvoyant
to bring into his physical brain, represents it as an ovoid, that being, in
fact, the shape of all the bodies, and as surrounding the physical body of the
man, extending to a distance of about
“A human being, who has just individualised from the animal kingdom, has a causal body of
a minimum size.
“In the case of a primitive man, the
causal body resembles a bubble and gives the impression of being empty. It is a
mere colourless film, just sufficient, apparently, to
hold itself together and make a reincarnating entity, but no more. Although it
is filled with higher mental matter, this is not yet brought into activity, and
so remains colourless and transparent. As the man
develops, this matter is gradually stirred into alertness by vibrations which
reach it from the lower bodies. This comes but slowly, because the activities of
man in the earlier stages of his evolution are not of a character to obtain
expression in matter so
fine as that of the causal body. But when a man reaches the stage where he is
capable either of abstract thought, or of unselfish emotion, the matter of the
causal body is aroused into response.
“The vibrations thus aroused show
themselves in the causal body as colours, so that,
instead of being a mere transparent bubble, it gradually becomes a sphere filled
with matter of the most lovely and delicate hues, an object beautiful beyond all
conception.
“In the case of spiritually developed
man, an enormous change is noticed. The glorious iridescent film is now
completely filled with the most lovely colours, typifying the higher form of love, devotion and symphathy, aided by an intellect refined and spiritualised, and by aspirations reaching ever towards the
divine. Some of these colours have no place in the
physical plane spectrum.
“The inconceivably fine and delicate
matter of such a causal body is intensively alive, and pulsating with living
fire, forming a radiant globe of flashing colours, its
high vibrations sending ripples of changing hues over its surface – hues of
which earth knows nothing – brilliant, soft and luminous beyond the power of
language to describe. Such a causal body is filled with living fire, drawn from
a still higher plane, with which it appears to be connected by a quivering
thread of intense light.
“Furthermore, from the upper part of
the causal body there ascends a crown of brilliant sparks, indicating the
activity of spiritual aspiration, and of course adding very greatly to the
beauty and dignity of the man’s appearance. (...)
“This very upward rushing of
spiritual aspiration, which makes so glorious a crown for the developed man, is
itself the channel through which the divine power descends: so that the fuller
and stronger his aspiration become, the larger is the measure of the grace from
on high.” (Basic Theosophy, pp. 21-25)
The information given above makes it
possible for us to understand how Diversity of levels of development is one of
the fundamental aspects of human brotherhood, as is also its essential Unity. In
the light of this knowledge we are then able to embark on a general
visualization of the universal brotherhood of humanity as it is presented during
earthly life. We shall do this through a quotation from C. Jinarajadasa, well-known author and former International
President of the TS. In these paragraphs he states in simple language the
fundamental aspects of human brotherhood, giving due emphasis not only to the
aspect of Diversity but also to some of its principal practical implications,
using as examples questions concerning government and the treatment of
criminals:
62 - “Since a man is a unit of a social
organization, the value which any ethical teaching may have for the individual
is inseparable from its application to the community of which he is a part. Just
as an understanding of certain simple truths modifies a man’s conception of
himself, so too the conception of what constitutes the true state, when viewed
in the light of the Esoteric Philosophy, profoundly modifies a man’s attitude to
his life among his fellow men. (...)
“The individuals who compose the
state are Souls, immortal egos in
earthly bodies; they are the members of the State in order to evolve to an ideal
of perfection. As souls, and as all
partaking of one Divine Nature, all within the State are brothers; whether rich
or poor, cultured or ignorant, law-abiding or law-breaking, all are brothers,
and nothing one soul does can modify that fact of nature.
“The educated or the proud may refuse
to see an identity of nature with the ignorant and the lowly; the weak and the
criminally minded may show more attributes of the brute than that of the God.
Yet is there in high and low alike the one nature of the Divine Life, and nothing a man does can weaken the bond of
brotherhood between him and all the others.
“But this Brotherhood of all souls is
like the relation of brotherhood within a family; brothers are not all of the
same age, though they are of the same parents. So too, among the souls that
compose a state, there are elder souls and younger souls; it is just this
difference of spiritual age and capacity which makes possible the functions of
the real State.
“The age of the soul is seen in the
response to ideals of altruism and co-operation; he is the elder soul who
springs forward to help in the welfare of others, and that soul is the younger
who thinks of self-interest first and follows its needs in preference to
self-sacrifice on behalf of others.
“The divisions which we now have in a
state’s life of rank and of wealth are no true distinctions which divide the
elder souls from the younger souls; one man born into a high class or caste may
yet be a very young soul, while another whose birth is ignoble, according to the
world’s conventions, may be far advanced as a soul.
“There being in each state elder
souls and younger souls, the Law of Brotherhood requires that the elder shall be
more self-sacrificing, on behalf of the younger, than the younger should be
towards the elder. Since life through long ages has given more to the elder
souls than to the younger, more is required from the elder, both of
self-sacrifice and of responsibility.
“By the natural order of events, the
direction of a state’s affairs will fall inevitably on the elder souls. (...)
when the state begins to perform its true functions, the direction of its
affairs is by an aristocracy, by the best souls, that is, the elder and more
capable souls. (...)
“The great principle to guide them in
their administration is that in all the state’s affairs the principle of
Brotherhood shall dominate in all things. This will mean the clear recognition
that any preventable suffering or ignorance or backwardness of even one citizen
is to the detriment of the welfare of all citizens; since the destiny of each is
inseparable from the destiny of all, as rises one so rise all, and as falls one
so fall all; that there must be no shadow of exploitation of one man by another,
of one class or caste by another. Since, too, all men are souls and, even the
least developed, Gods in the making, it becomes the duty of the administrator in
all laws and institutions continually to appeal to the hidden Divinity in man.
(...)
“When there comes in the state the
recognition of this hidden God in man, a complete revolution will take place in
our attitude to and in our treatment of the criminal. First and foremost,
whatever he does, he is our brother. He is a younger brother truly to those of
us who are the elders and give implicit and willing obedience to the laws of the
state; but though he falls a thousand times, he is our brother even after the
thousandth time.” (Practical Theosophy, pp. 61-66)
These quotations from C. Jinarajadasa show the relevance of the aspect of Diversity
to the universal brotherhood of humanity and reveal some of its major practical
implications. Unfortunately, the importance of this aspect is not so well known
in either theoretical or practical terms. The following quotation from N. Sri
Ram is a clarion call in this direction:
63 - “It is not enough to realize our
underlying brotherhood, but there has to be skill and wisdom in dealing with the
outer differences, the inequalities of development and circumstances.”
(Thoughts for Aspirants, 2nd Series, p. 122)
There is a passage from the writings
of HPB which is also worth mentioning in this context, in which she remarks on
the importance of the law of reincarnation in explaining the differences in
human beings and on the harm done by the lack of a logical explanation for these
differences:
64 - “Cultured people have been brought up
in that most pernicious idea that the wide difference found between the units of
one and the same mankind, or even race, is the result of chance; that the gulf
between man and man in their respective social positions, birth, intellect,
physical and mental capacities – every one of which qualifications has a direct
influence on every human life – that all this is simply due to blind hazard,
only the most pious among them finding equivocal consolation in the idea that
this is ‘the will of God.’ They have never analysed,
never stopped to think of the depth of the opprobrium that is thrown upon their
God, once the grand and most equitable law of the manifold rebirths of man upon
this earth is foolishly rejected.” (CW, Vol. XIV, p. 57)
Before we end our analysis of this
aspect, of the existence of a Diversity of individual developments simultaneous
with the existence of an underlying Unity, we shall quote a few examples of
passages from several of the great religious traditions as a means of
corroborating the above perspective through the method of comparison. Most of
these quotations were taken from The Wisdom of the Living Religions, by Joseph
Gaer: [GAER, Joseph. The Wisdom of the Living
Religons.
New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1956. 338 pp.]
Christianity:
65 - “And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,
and God in him.” (1st Epist. John, 4:16)
66 - “If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth
God love his brother also.” (1st Epist. John, 4:20-21)
67 - “And hath made of one blood all
nations of men (...)” (Acts, 17:26)
68 - “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew, 25:40)
Hinduism:
69 - “True knowledge is to see one
changeless life in all the lives, and in Separate, One Inseparable.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, XVIII. Gaer, p. 135, n. 133)
70 - “True religion is to love, as
God has loved them, all things, whether great or small.” (Hitopadesha Upanishad. Gaer, p.
142, n. 55a)
Islam:
71 - “O People, serve your Lord
(Allah) who created you and those who went before you. He made the earth as your
resting place and the sky as your canopy; and sends down rain from heaven to
bring forth fruit with which to sustain you.” (Koran, 2:19-20. Gaer, p. 226, n. 3)
Judaism:
72 - “The LORD by wisdom hath founded
the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge
the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” (Proverbs, 3:19-20)
73 - “Have we not all one Father?
Hath not one God created us all?” (Malachi, 2:10. Gaer, p. 187, n. 238)
Shintoism:
74 - “All men are brothers; all
receive the blessings of the same heaven.” (Proverb of the “Kurozomi
Kyo”. Gaer, p. 255, n. 36)
Taoism:
75 - “The
Tao (Way) is nameless and hidden, yet all things gain their
fulfillment in it.” (Tao-Te-King, 41. Gaer, p. 266, n.
93)
Buddhism:
76 - “Few are the men who arrive to
the other side of the river; the majority of them are satisfied in staying in
the same side, going up and down the same margin.” (Dhammapada, 49a)
77 - “A fool may associate with a
wise man all his life, but perceive the truth as little as the spoon perceives
the taste of soup. An intelligent man may associate with a wise man one minute,
and perceive the truth as the tongue perceives the taste of soup.” (Dhammapada,
64-65. Gaer, p. 17, n. 38a)
78 - “Look upon this world,
glittering like a royal chariot! The fools are immersed in it; but the wise are
not attached to it.” (Dhammapada, 171. Gaer, p. 21, n. 87a)
79 - “Let great and small and equals
all do their best.” (Jatacas, 121. Gaer, p. 36, n. 36b)
Christianity:
80 - “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and
delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another
two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and
straightway took his journey.” (Matthew, 25:14-15)
81 - “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls
came and devoured them up; some fell upon stony places, where they had not much
earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and
when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up; and choked
them: but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” (Matthew, 13:3-8)
Confucianism:
82 - “The superior man thinks of his
character; the inferior man thinks of his position (…). The superior man seeks
what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable.” (Analects, IV.
Gaer, p. 101, n. 34-37)
83 - “The good and the bad government
both depend on the leaders. The posts should be trusted, not to the favorites of
the prince, but only to the capable men. The functions should be trusted, not to
the vicious men, but to those eminent by their virtues and by their talents.” (Chu-King,
VIII, II, 5)
Hinduism:
84 - “Of many thousand mortals, one,
perhaps, strives for truth.” (Bhagavad-Gita, VII. Gaer,
p. 128, n. 74)
Islam:
85 - “Speak to men according to
their mental capacities; for if you speak to men of things they cannot
understand, they may fall into error.” (Hadith, 143.
Gaer, p. 238, n. 59a)
Judaism:
86 - “When the righteous are in
authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.”
(Proverbs, 29:1. Gaer, p. 182, n. 178)
87 - “There are four characters
among men. He who says: ‘What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours’ – his
is a neutral character. He who says: ‘What is mine is yours, and what is yours
is mine’ – he is a boor. He who says: ‘What is mine is yours, and what is yours
is yours’ – he is a saint. And he who says: ‘What is mine is mine, and what is
yours is mine’ – he is a wicked man.” (Sayings of the Fathers, 5:13.
Gaer, p. 194, n. 69a)
Shintoism:
88 - “In all things, whether great
or small, find the right man, and they will be well managed.” (Nihongi, or Chronicles of
Taoism:
89 - “The great Tao (Way) is easy to follow, but people
wander off on the bypaths.” (Tao-Te-King, 53. Gaer, p.
267, n. 116)
As seen above, we can find in the different religious
traditions teachings that corroborate the perspective presented by the Perennial
Philosophy stating the fundamental principles of the universal brotherhood of
humanity – the facts of the essential Unity and the Diversity of manifested
capacities. Nor could it be different since all major religions have their roots
in the living tradition of those Adepts for whom the principles of the Perennial
Philosophy are unquestionable facts, since for Them they are subjects of
experience. Taken together, these two aspects of the universal brotherhood make
up the only perspective that can inspire not only a correct system of ethics but
also new socio-political institutions capable of organizing humanity in a
satisfying manner, since this is the only perspective that truly describes
humanity.
These quotations from the major
religious traditions also serve incidentally to confirm the afore-mentioned
statement from HPB’s The Key to Theosophy regarding brotherhood and the TS,
from which we quote the paragraph most relevant to our text:
90 - “This Society was organized on this
one principle, the essential Brotherhood of Man, as herein briefly outlined and
imperfectly set forth. It has been assailed as Buddhistic
and anti-Christian, as though it could be both these together, when both
Buddhism and Christianity, as set forth by their inspired founders, make
brotherhood the one essential of doctrine and of life.” (HPB quoting J.D. Buck,
The Key to Theosophy, p. 18)
The aspect we analyzed above – of the
Diversity of the levels of evolution of the individuals who make up the
universal brotherhood of humanity – will become even clearer in the following
pages when we deal with the current stage in the evolution of humanity
considered as a whole; in other words, when we try to understand the relative
proportions of the groups of different evolutionary ages within the human
family. And, in like manner, the importance of this aspect in the solution of
the great problems faced by humanity will also become clearer as we proceed with
our analysis.
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