The Theosophical Seal - Canadian Theosophical Association

The Theosophical Seal by Arthur M. Coon
with that manifestation there appears on all levels an infinite host of dualities. And yet, all of these
dualities, from the original duality "spirit-matter", are incomplete in themselves. If we examine these
dualities we shall see that they are also triplicities; for on every level of manifestation we can think of no
duality which does not possess a third quality or characteristic. Let us start with that first fundamental
duality- so easy to talk about,so difficult to comprehend- spirit-matter. By the term matter we mean that
primordial substance, which the scientist calls "aether"" or "source material", distributed everywhere
throughout space. The ancient Aryans called it Mulaprakriti (Sanskrit), meaning "the root principle of
matter". By the term spirit we mean that ultimate reality or life principle which we may only call "God"
The human mind can conceive of neither spirit nor matter as not possessing some kind of form or
shape,however etherial that may be. Between these two poles of being there exists every conceivable
type of living forms. It must be accepted that every form is the product of this union of spirit and matter,
and without such union form could not exist. Occult science has taught, and modern science now
confirms, that there is no form, however minute or dense, that does not contain some degree of spirit, in
the form of energy or force. On the other hand, we can hardly think of life except that life be embodied in
some form.
If we go through the entire gamut of dualities we find that each is complete only as it is seen as a
triplicity. Take the dual concept of matter-motion. Each would be inconceivable without the third idea of
space. And again, space-matter brings with it the idea of time. Again uniting the twin concepts spacetime
we have the relationship of measure. And the measure of time-motion must be expressed by a
threefold definition as distance-direction-duration. We mentioned a while back that the duality, spiritmatter,
becomes the triplicity spirit-matter-form. We have suggested that the union of spirit-matter,
produces life. Now we have another duality, life-form. It is true that we cannot recognise or know life
unless that life manifests through some form. It is only through the union of life and form that growth and
evolution are possible. It is by the constant interplay of matter and energy or matter and spirit, that all
substances become known to man. On the lower levels of manifestation the union of matter and energy
produces awareness; on the higher levels the union of life and form produces the triplicity: life-formconsciousness.
The phenomenon of electricity illustrates this principles, requiring the union of its positive and negative
polarities for its manifestation. Or again, the twin forces of attraction and repulsion or contraction and
expansion result inequilibrium or law throughout the physical universe. In a later chapter, many of the
triplicities both in Nature and in the spiritual realm are catalogued. The threefold pattern is repeated in the
realm of consciousness. We say, "I am I", or "I am the Self"; and we see that world outside of us which
we know as the "not-Self", between the "Self" and the "not Self", there is a continuous relationship which
is "consciousness".
If we extend this idea to the realm of religion, we find that our highest concept of God fulfils this threefold
pattern. The Trinity concept of Deity is as old as man's thoughts. However, since this idea will be the
subject of a detailed study in a later chapter, we shall pass it by for the moment with the observation that
when the Creator put down fragments of Himself into this world of manifestation to become the seeds of
a future humanity, there was inherent within each of those "fragments" the desire or urge to reunite with
its parental Source. In the early ages of the race this urge was but dimly felt and was expressed in
primitive religious rites. In time this urge, this desire to unite with God, became an absorbing passion and
the theme of every religion. The word "religion" itself (re-ligare) means to "bind back", and suggests the
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