Biblioteca Esoterica Esonet.ORG http://www.esonet.ORG 1

Biblioteca Esoterica Esonet.ORG
http://www.esonet.ORG
The Structure and Transformation of the Total Person - 2
To clarify the situation, I refer the reader to the diagram from Chapter Eight — "The
Physical and the Psychic Bodies". But I must stress that any kind of listing is analytical and
far too separative. All the factors listed interact and interpenetrate to some extent.
Separating them is like dissecting a corpse and describing the different tissues one finds:
the livingness of the body when alive inevitably escapes the analyst. Because he
concentrates on parts, the wholeness of the whole eludes the searcher. Nevertheless,
analytical procedures are necessary if experience and knowledge (or intuition) are to be
communicated.
The physical body of a human being can be considered a trinity of factors. (1) In its dense
material aspect it is the aggregation of an immense number of cells, which in turn are
made up of a myriad of molecules and atoms. (2) A planetary life force (prana or chi)
animates this body. (3) The operations of the life force are structured by two factors: a
generic-racial web of lines of force exteriorizing the archetype of Man as a biological
species and subspecies, and a composite set of karmic factors. Some of the latter refer to
the collective karma of a series of ancestors and the particular culture or cultures to which
they belonged; others refer to what I have called an at least relatively individual past.
At the level of psychism and the "astral body" or "body of desires," three factors also
are operative. (1) The energy factor here is the power of desire, kama, which like prana
(the life force) to which it is related also has a nonindividual, planetary character. The
energy of desire is given a more or less definite and concrete form by (2) the "lower mind."
The operations of this concretizing mind are directed by (3) a set of karmic factors to
which the skandhas of Buddhist doctrine presumably refer. They are factors which
constitute the remains of a previous personality (or a previous series of personalities).
The basic problem is how to define and interpret the interaction between the
concretizing mind and these karmic factors. According to the prevailing popular
interpretation, behind these karmic factors stands a definite psychospiritual entity, a
"reincarnating soul." The generally accepted Buddhist teaching, on the other hand, is that
what reappears in a new human being is only the "karmic deposits" once generated by a
previous human being. This doctrine is called the anatma doctrine, the term literally
meaning "no atma," atma or atman in the tradition of India referring to the highest aspect
of the spiritual entity in Man. While in one sense this universal principle, atman, pervades
everything, it also is said to be nowhere in particular. Thus to speak of atman
"reincarnating" makes no real sense.
For the modern theosophist following the teachings of H. P. Blavatsky, the
"reincarnating principle" is not atman but an aspect of the "higher mind." "Something"
within yet beyond this higher mind involves itself in a new attempt at uniting a spiritual
Quality with a new personality. This "something" is what I call the principle of
individualization (the spiritual will). It seeks to exteriorize the spiritual Quality in answer
to the pressure of the power of Compassion.
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