In this "Infinity" of the full Initiate there is neither height, breadth nor thickness, but all is fathomless profundity, reaching down from the physical to the "para-para-metaphysical." In using the word "down," essential depth -- "nowhere and everywhere" -- is meant, not depth of physical matter.
If one searches carefully through the exoteric and grossly anthropomorphic allegories of popular religions, even in these the doctrine embodied in the circle of "Pass-Not" thus guarded by the Lipika, may be dimly perceived.
Thus one finds it even in the teachings of [[Vol.
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the Vedantin sect of the Visishtadwaita, the most tenaciously anthropomorphic in all India.
For we read of the released soul that: -- After reaching Moksha (a state of bliss meaning "release from Bandha" or bondage), bliss is enjoyed by it in a place called P ARAMAPADHA, which place is not material, but made of Suddasatwa (the essence, of which the body of Iswara -- "the Lord" -- is formed).
There, Muktas or Jivatmas (Monads) who have attained Moksha, are never again subject to the qualities of either matter or Karma.
"But if they choose, for the sake of doing good to the world , they may incarnate on Earth."* The way to Paramapadha, or the immaterial worlds, from this world, is called Devayana.
When a person has attained Moksha and the body dies: -- "The Jiva (Soul) goes with Sukshma Sarira** from the heart of the body, to the Brahmarandra in the crown of the head, traversing Sushumna, a nerve connecting the heart with the Brahmarandra.
The Jiva breaks through the Brahmarandra and goes to the region of the Sun (Suryamandala) through the solar Rays.
Then it goes, through a dark spot in the Sun, to Paramapadha.
The Jiva is directed on its way by the Supreme Wisdom acquired by Yoga.*** The Jiva thus proceeds to Paramapadha by the aid of Athivahikas (bearers in transit), known by the names of Archi-Ahas .
.
.
Aditya, Prajapati, etc.
The Archis here mentioned are certain pure Souls, etc., etc." (Visishtadwaita Catechism, by Pundit Bhashyacharya, F.T.S .) No Spirit except the "Recorders" (Lipika) has ever crossed its forbidden line, nor will any do so until the day of the next Pralaya, for it is the boundary that separates the finite -- however infinite in man's sight -- from the truly I NFINITE.
The Spirits referred to, therefore, as those who "ascend and descend" are the "Hosts" of what we loosely call "celestial Beings." But they are, in fact, nothing of the kind.
[[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * These voluntary re-incarnations are referred to in our Doctrine as Nirmanakayas (the surviving spiritual principles of men).
** Sukshma-sarira, "dream-like" illusive body, with which are clothed the inferior Dhyanis of the celestial Hierarchy.
*** Compare this esoteric tenet with the Gnostic doctrine found in "Pistis-Sophia" (Knowledge = Wisdom), in which treatise Sophia Achamoth is shown lost in the waters of Chaos (matter), on her way to Supreme Light, and Christos delivering and helping her on the right Path.
Note well, "Christos" with the Gnostics meant the impersonal principal, the Atman of the Universe, and the Atma within every man's soul -- not Jesus; though in the old Coptic MSS .
in the British Museum "Christos" is almost constantly replaced by "Jesus." [[Vol.
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They are Entities of the higher worlds in the hierarchy of Being, so immeasurably high that, to us, they must appear as Gods, and collectively -- G OD.
But so we, mortal men, must appear to the ant, which reasons on the scale of its special capacities.
The ant may also, for all we know, see the avenging finger of a personal God in the hand of the urchin who, in one moment, under the impulse of mischief, destroys its anthill, the labour of many weeks -- long years in the chronology of insects.
The ant, feeling it acutely, and attributing the undeserved calamity to a combination of Providence and sin, may also, like man, see in it the result of the sin of its first parent.
Who knows and who can affirm or deny?
The refusal to admit in the whole Solar system of any other reasonable and intellectual beings on the human plane, than ourselves, is the greatest conceit of our age.
All that science has a right to affirm, is that there are no invisible Intelligences living under the same conditions as we do.
It cannot deny point-blank the possibility of there being worlds within worlds, under totally different conditions to those that constitute the nature of our world; nor can it deny that there may be a certain limited communication* between some of those worlds and our own.
To the highest, we are taught, belong the seven orders of the purely divine Spirits; to the six lower ones belong hierarchies that can occasionally be seen and heard by men, and who do communicate with their progeny of the Earth; which progeny is indissolubly linked with them, each principle in man having its direct source in the nature of those great Beings, who furnish us with the respective invisible elements in us.
Physical Science is welcome to speculate upon the physiological mechanism of living beings, and to continue her fruitless efforts in trying to resolve our feelings, our sensations, mental and spiritual, into functions of their inorganic vehicles.
Nevertheless, all that will ever be accomplished in this direction has already been done, and Science will go no farther.
[[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The greatest philosopher of European birth, Imanuel Kant, assures us that such a communication is in no way improbable.
"I confess I am much disposed to assert the existence of Immaterial natures in the world, and to place my own soul in the class of these beings.
It will hereafter, I know not where, or when, yet be proved that the human soul stands even in this life in indissoluble connection with all immaterial natures in the spirit-world, that it reciprocally acts upon these and receives impressions from them." (Traume eines Geistersehers, quoted by C.
C.
Massey, in his preface to Von Hartmann's "Spiritismus.") [[Vol.
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Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The passage explicitly critiques 'grossly anthropomorphic allegories of popular religions' and identifies the Visishtadwaita sect as 'the most tenaciously anthropomorphic in all India.'
Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
The Jivatmas (Monads) are described as individual spiritual units that have attained liberation from matter and Karma, functioning as fragments of the divine that can choose to incarnate or remain in the highest realm.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a structured hierarchy of seven orders of purely divine Spirits and six lower hierarchies, with each principle in man having its direct source in those great Beings.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The Jiva is directed on its post-mortem journey 'by the Supreme Wisdom acquired by Yoga,' suggesting that direct experiential knowledge is the operative principle for navigation through spiritual realms.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage contrasts 'exoteric and grossly anthropomorphic allegories of popular religions' with the deeper doctrine embodied in the circle of 'Pass-Not,' implying esoteric meaning beneath outer religious forms.
The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.
The passage affirms 'worlds within worlds, under totally different conditions to those that constitute the nature of our world' and discusses the truly INFINITE beyond all finite boundaries.
A non-physical dimension of reality, interpenetrating the physical world, populated by forces, beings, and forms ordinarily imperceptible to physical senses and instruments, that can affect embodied life without being seen — Dion Fortune's 'mind-side of nature,' the astral plane of Western esotericism broadly construed. Distinct from astral_light (a specific transmitting medium or fluid operating within this realm, not the realm itself), pleroma (the divine fullness at the summit of a cosmic hierarchy, not a parallel plane coextensive with ordinary life), and animism (particular indwelling spirits bound to specific natural objects, not the general unseen dimension itself).
The passage is centrally concerned with invisible worlds, celestial hierarchies, immaterial realms (Paramapadha), and the possibility of 'worlds within worlds under totally different conditions' that communicate with our own.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The passage states that 'each principle in man having its direct source in the nature of those great Beings, who furnish us with the respective invisible elements in us,' making the human a microcosmic reflection of the cosmic hierarchy.
Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms.
The passage provides a detailed account of the Jiva's post-mortem journey through Sushumna, Brahmarandra, solar rays, and to Paramapadha, guided by Athivahikas (bearers in transit) and directed by Supreme Wisdom.
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The Jiva's ascent from the body through the crown to Paramapadha, the immaterial world of Suddasatwa, represents the soul's return to its divine origin beyond matter and Karma.
The passage describes voluntary re-incarnations (Nirmanakayas) of released souls who 'may incarnate on Earth' for the sake of doing good, indicating transmigration across lives.