Even European Orientalists agree that all the systems in India assign to
the human body: (a) an exterior or gross body (sthula-sarira); (b) an
inner or shadowy body (sukshma), or linga-sarira (the vehicle), the two
cemented with--(c), life (jiv or Karana sarira, "causal body").** These
the occult system or esotericism divides into seven, farther adding to
these--kama, manas, buddhi and atman. The Nyaya philosophy when
treating of Prameyas (by which the objects and subjects of Praman are to
be correctly understood) includes among the 12 the seven "root
principles" (see IXth Sutra), which are 1, soul (atman), and 2 its
superior spirit Jivatman; 3, body (sarira); 4, senses (indriya); 5,
activity or will (pravritti); 6, mind (manas); 7, Intellection
(Buddhi). The seven Padarthas (inquiries or predicates of existing
things) of Kanada in the Vaiseshikas, refer in the occult doctrine to
the seven qualities or attributes of the seven principles. Thus: 1,
substance (dravya) refers to body or sthula-sarira; 2, quality or
property (guna) to the life principle, jiv; 3, action or act (karman)
to the Linga, sarira; 4, Community or commingling of properties
(Samanya) to Kamarupa; 5, personality or conscious individuality
(Visesha) to Manas; 6, co-inherence or perpetual intimate relation
(Samuvuya) to Buddhi, the inseparable vehicle of Atman; 7,
non-existence or non-being in the sense of, and as separate from,
objectivity or substance (abhava)--to the highest monad or Atman.
-------
* Upa-ni-shad means, according to Brahminical authority, "to conquer
ignorance by revealing the secret spiritual knowledge." According to
Monier Williams, the title is derived from the root sad with the
prepositions upa and ni, and implies "something mystical that underlies
or is beneath the surface."
** This Karana-sarira is often mistaken by the uninitiated for
Linga-sarira, and since it is described as the inner rudimentary or
latent embryo of the body, confounded with it. But the Occultists
regard it as the life (body) or Jiv, which disappears at death; is
withdrawn--leaving the 1st and 3rd principles to disintegrate and
return to their elements.
----------
Thus, whether we view the ONE as the Vedic Purusha or Brahman (neuter)
the "all-expanding essence;" or as the universal spirit, the "light of
lights" (jyotisham jyotih) the TOTAL independent of all relation, of the
Upanishads; or as the Paramatman of the Vedanta; or again as Kanada's
Adrishta, "the unseen Force," or divine atom; or as Prakriti, the
"eternally existing essence," of Kapila--we find in all these impersonal
universal Principles the latent capability of evolving out of themselves
"six rays" (the evolver being the seventh). The third aphorism of the
Sankhya-Karika, which says of Prakriti that it is the "root and
substance of all things," and no production, but itself a producer of
"seven things, which produced by it, become also producers," has a
purely occult meaning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account