i)
The Advaita Vedanta tradition
ii) The
Platonic tradition
iii) The Modern Esoteric tradition
of H. P. Blavatsky and A. A. Bailey
3bi.
The Advaita Vedanta tradition
The Advaita Vedanta school of Indian
philosophy is known as the Impersonalist school and the school of Non-dualism
within the lager context of Uttara-mimamsa Vedanta - the sixth Indian School of
Philosophy. The metaphysical ontology, epistemology
and psychology of this school or tradition is both implicitly present and
to a certain extent explicitly expanded and continued in the Infinitization
of Selfhood, so some background information on these metaphysical elements
might be valuable for a deeper understanding of the concepts underlying the book.
The Infinitization of Selfhood is in fact dedicated to the main
exponent of this school, “Sankaracharya the greatest of the Esoteric masters of
India...”[xxix]
The dates of Sankaracharya’s birth and death are unknown. Most scholars agree
on 788-820 A.D.,[xxx] however some esotericists
claim that he was born in 510 B.C.[xxxi]
Advaita literally means “not two” and is thus known as the philosophy of
non-dualism. According to Sankaracharya All is “One without a second”, even though
the world seems to consist of multiple parts when perceived through the senses.
The entire universe with all its aspects and planes of existence is One. This
does not just mean that it is a ‘unity’ of many parts making up a whole. It IS
One. This One is Brahman, which Is Atman as well (our Self the One-Self). This
concept is inherent in the Infinitization of Selfhood (and is also the
first proposition of The Secret Doctrine by Madam Blavatsky).
The
Advaita philosophy of Sankaracharya is well summarized by Dasgupta, who states
that the main tenet is: “that the ultimate and absolute truth is the self, which
is one, though appearing as many in different individuals. The world also as apart
from us the individuals has no reality and has no other truth to show than this
self. All other events, mental or physical, are but passing appearances, while
the only absolute and unchangeable truth underlying them all is the self.
While
other systems investigate the pramanas [means of knowing] only to examine how
far they could determine the objective truth of things or our attitude in practical
life towards them, Vedanta sought to reach beneath the surface of appearances,
and enquired after the final and ultimate truth underlying the microcosm and the
macrocosm, the subject and the object.”[xxxii]
Thus
the main theme of Advaita Vedanta parallels the main theme of the Infinitization
of Selfhood, i.e. The One Self being the sole true ontological element in
reality. Both seek to go beneath appearances or unveil the Self-veil, and thus
realize that all the apparently separate objects in reality are the one subject,
i.e. the Self. “The world of Form, per se, is only interesting in as much as it
is REALLY the WORLD OF ABSOLUTENESS in disguise.”[xxxiii]
And again “All things except the SELF are un-REAL except they be considered the
SELF ITSELF.”[xxxiv]
To
some readers the philosophy of the Infinitization of Selfhood might seem
very similar to Buddhism in general[xxxv],
however this is not so because in Buddhism there is no fundamental ontological
principle and thus also no self. In most Buddhist doctrines there is in reality
only nothingness or emptiness, which is fullness in non-being (thus not ontological).
Advaita and Buddhism (in general) thus stand in philosophical and ontological
contrast to each other: whereas Advaita claims the SELF to be the reality beneath
all appearances, Buddhism claims that there is no reality beneath all appearances
- there is only nothingness, which is not.
However, the point
where these two philosophical systems meet is their highest mystical realization
of the common unnamable “that” which is beyond dualism and thought. Thus the Infinitization
of Selfhood is philosophically and ontologically in tradition with Advaita
rather than Buddhism, and in a way continues the long debate between these two
schools of philosophy.
The objective of both Advaita
and the Infinitization of Selfhood is thus the restoration of the illusive
self to the true SELF. Michael Robbins writes
of this true SELF: “By SELF [The ALL-SELF] is meant that IDENITY than which
there is no other - the ONE WITHOUT A SECOND.”[xxxvi]
On
“IDENTITY, the ONE” Robbins writes: “BY the ONE Identity is meant the ONE AND
ONLY BEING in the UTTER ALLNESS, present as the PRESENCE forever.”[xxxvii]
Here we recognize the most fundamental Advaita doctrine of identity between Atman
and Brahman - the ONE SELF WITHOUT A SECOND. (This) Self (Brahman - Atman) is
One, Eternal, Immutable, Changeless Universal and its essence is Consciousness
or in other words Pure-Consciousness which stands without the terms of duality
such as ‘ashraya’ (subject) and ‘visaya’ (object).
SELF is
the One Reality or the only Real. However when we speak of something Real and
something Eternal and Changeless, does this not imply that there is something
Un-real or that the world we know is Un-real because it appears to be changing
all the time?
The way Sankaracharya deals with this question
is to state that things which appear to be changing are real as long as they appear
to be so, however when they are perceived to be the Un-changing Self they will
cease to be perceived as changing. This means that as long as one perceives changeable
things to be real (due to Ignorance or Avidya - Maya) they are real to the perceiver.
However when one is awakened to the realization of the One Self, then all one
perceives is the One Self which is absolutely Real, while changing phenomena are
only relatively real.
The phenomenal world is only relatively
real since it is on the one hand the One Self in essence, however not in appearance.
The aspects of change are only superimposed upon the real by ignorance. This means
that Sankaracharya does not deny the Reality of the world as such; however, he
denies the reality of its false perception.
This false perception
of the world as a separate manifestation is what the Infinitization of Selfhood
seeks to destroy through several methods Philosophical, meditative and mantric,
as well as through counsel. (See the sections of the book with these respective
titles). The world of phenomena is thus relatively Real (Vyavaharika Satta), however
its appearances other than Self are from a higher point of view false or Unreal
appearances. Brahman is the only Absolute Real (Paramarthika Satta) and identical
with the true Identity of the SELF. It is only through Maya (or Avidya) that the
unchanging Brahman-Nirguna, appears subject to change. Maya itself is not real
because it disappears when you attain knowledge of the Self, and it is not unreal
either because it exists until the knowledge of Brahman is attained.
This
is in general the foundation of Sankaracharya’s Vivarta-Vada or theory of superimposition
(Adhyasa). During the night you might believe you see a real snake, yet in the
light of day you see that it is only a piece of rope. The snake is a phenomenon,
the night brings ignorance, the morning realization. Light is knowledge of the
Real and the rope is Brahman from the standpoint of the Absolute, since from that
standpoint Brahman (the rope) is the only reality. However from another point
of view Brahman is all of the parts i.e. Maya, phenomena, ignorance etc.
On
this highest Identification between Maya or Samsara and Brahman, Robbins writes:“The
Universe Is BRAHMAN. That which is before our eyes is the Living Miracle (Child
of THAT, and, also, THAT ITSELF). This is true because the BOUNDLESS IMMUTABLE
PRINCIPLE is indivisible and IS all things without exception. The
apparent divisibility before us is illusory, but what the divisibility
REALLY and ESSENTIALLY IS, IS REAL, for there cannot be anything that is
ESSENTIALLY un-REAL.
As we look around ourselves at
all the amazing variety of color and form, hear the blending of many sounds and
voices, and in general receive the multifarious testimony of the sense, we must
realize that all this is THAT - the ONE AND ONLY REALITY. OF EVERY
SINGLE THING 8 See, 8 may say of it, “This very thing is the ONE
SELF in fullness, for there are no 'parts'. This IS the ABSOLUTENESS. This
IS the INESCAPABLE. It makes no difference what is presented. The ABSOLUTENESS
cannot be escaped.”... MayaIS PARABRAHNMAN.”[xxxviii]
3bii.
Platonism
There are several Platonic concepts which play
a significant role in the Infinitization of Selfhood. Actually in this
book many of these concepts gain a new light and life.
Thus
it might be useful to provide here a brief background in some of
these Platonic concepts so that the reader of the Infinitization of Selfhood
is able to understand and make a distinction between the original meaning of the
concepts and the way Robbins uses them.
In Platonism
there is generally a strict distinction between what Plato (427-347 B.C.) calls
“The World of Being” and “The World of Becoming”. In other words Plato seeks to
make a distinction between “what that is which is always real being, but
is without generation; and what that is which is generated indeed, or consists
in a state of becoming to be, but which never really is.”[xxxix]
The World of Being
According
to Plato the world of Being is a transcendental realm constituted by what he calls
Ideas (eidos) - also called ‘Archetypes’ because they are the first and
primary forms or patterns constituting Reality. These ideas are ontological entities
in themselves independent of phenomena or human consciousness and play the role
of universals. That is, they are those concepts which are common to many or unite
the many; a genus so to speak.
For example, there are many
particular human beings but we all have in common the fact that we are human.
Humanness is the idea or universal in which we participate. The archetype humanness
will never change according to Plato, but all the particular human beings will.
Thus the idea of ‘humanness’ is eternal and changeless. This also makes ideas
the real objects of true knowledge for they are permanent.
Michael
Robbins uses the same terminology - i.e. ‘the world of being’,
‘archetypes’ and ‘ideas’ - however, the way he uses these terms is slightly different,
since he expands the context in which these concepts are used from their traditional
role in Platonic cosmology.
The World of Being is used by
Robbins as the world in which the Archetypes reside, however this World of Being
is not absolutely Absolute or “non relative” as it is with Plato, since it is
incorporated into the framework of the teachings of A. A. Bailey which argues
that the World of Being in a larger sense is a part of the World of Becoming.
For instance the seven great planes of existence in the Bailey
doctrine together form the Cosmic physical plane, and there is a ‘bigger’ World
of Being on still higher and higher cosmic levels ad infinitum. A World of Being
is the world of being within the respective ring-pass-not of the animating entity
using it as a vehicle of Being.
However, in the Infinitization
of Selfhood there is also another conceptual variation of the World of Being
spelled out in capitals: WORLD OF BEING. This WORLD OF BEING is absolute; it is
“the DOMAIN of the INFINITE SELF, the ETERNAL BE-NESS.”[xl]
The concept of Ideas or Archetypes is also expanded
from the traditional Platonic use; indeed also from the Neoplatonic use of the
terms. In the Infinitization of Selfhood they serve a distinctly occult
function (in the sense of subtle energies and forces) since they become “a compelling
pattern of subtle energies fundamental to a given system ... in conformity to,
and in reflection of which, the design of certain derivative patterns of less
subtle energy appears upon the lower dimensions of that system.”[xli]
This definition is of archetype with a small ‘a’, to be understood
here in relation to the basic Theosophical doctrine of the seven planes, which
are ordered ‘vertically’ according to perfection and reflection. The objects of
the lower planes are in a sense a less perfect reflection of their archetype on
the higher planes striving through involution and evolution to return or (re)become
perfect.
Since in occultism all that exists is regarded as
different vibrations of energy, an archetype is here regarded as an energy pattern.
Archetype with a capital ‘A’ is “an Entity of a high order”, or “Patterned Relationships
of Energies that control the patterning of all energies and forces vibratorily
“below” them.”[xlii] All particulars or lower
energy patterns are determined by the larger Archetypical energy pattern in which
they are a holographical part.
The word ‘idea’ (also IDEA)
is used in a slightly different way than archetype/Archetype. Ideas in the Infinitization
of Selfhood are not necessarily archetypes which have been the fundamental
energy pattern of an entity from the beginning of a systemic involution – evolution,
but a new energy pattern emerging into manifestation when its ‘time has come’.
Latent or new ideas emerge or are activated during specific periods of history
and thus manifest themselves by forming matter around their nature or pattern.
This can take place on various levels, thus the variation of the author’s use
of ‘idea’ and ‘IDEA’. Thus Infinitization of Selfhood
uses the Platonic concepts ‘Archetype’ and ‘Idea’ in a slightly different manner
than traditional Platonism; they are perhaps just placed in a new system or context.
The World of Becoming
In the Platonic
tradition the ‘world of becoming’ is the world of particular or phenomena, meaning
the world of appearances. It is only a world which appears to be something
and not a world which is something as the world of Being or the world of
Ideas is.
The world of becoming is always becoming
something else and is thus never really ‘identical with it self’; it is constantly
undergoing change and is fundamentally relative. In reality it is a shadow world
only reflecting the world of ideas or archetypes. In the Infinitization of
Selfhood building upon the tradition of H. P. Blavatsky and A. A. Bailey,
the ‘world of becoming’ is viewed as comprising the physical/etheric, astral and
mental worlds, or the three worlds of human evolution; or at times the cosmic
physical plane in its entirety.
The world of becoming is constituted
in the occult doctrine of that matter-substance which yet needs to be perfected
or structured after the Archetype of the present system of evolution. It is thus
in a constant process of becoming that which it needs to be upon the final day
when Pralaya begins. When the term ‘World of Becoming’ with capitals is used it
refers to the entire cosmos.
The Epistemology
of Anamnesis
Plato’s epistemological concept of anamnesis
or re-membering is also present to some extent in the Infinitization
of Selfhood but again in another variation. In Plato’s theory knowledge of
the eternal forms or the Real is inherent within the soul because the soul itself
is a part of the world of being, but since the soul has descended into a corporeal
body it has forgotten the Real and its own true nature.
The
whole project of Plato is thus to restore the soul to its own true nature or make
it remember the Good, the True and the Beautiful so that man can slowly climb
out of the cave of ignorance and see the Light of the Good and Real. In
the philosophy of Michael Robbins, building on the tradition of H. P. Blavatsky
and A. A. Bailey, we are essentially a Monad, which is the ONE SELF. However during
the period of universal activity or the Manvantara, the Monad has extended itself
into physicality, which is the world of becoming, from the world of being and
has thus forgotten itself through false (but necessary) objectification (Identification).
The project of the Infinitization of Selfhood is thus
to contribute to the evolutionary process of true Identification in order for
the forgetting self to ‘re-member’ itself and thus re-become Itself - which essentially
is the One Self. It is the Epistemological process of the Infinitization of
Selfhood to make the self remember it-Self, and it is thus in its general
lines of thought very similar to the conceptual and ‘Gnostic’ project of Plato. “Descending,
8 forget, and yet 8 remember. 8 Am always what 8 Am.
The forgetting “part” of MySelf thinks it is “something”, something Real and distinct,
but it is not.”[xliii]
Thus the Infinitization of Selfhood builds on many of the concepts
of Platonism and uses them in the context of modern esotericism thus bringing
them into new light.
Modern
esotericism and occultism as it has been revealed by Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-1891)
and Alice. A. Bailey (1880-1949) form the general and predominant cosmological
and traditional framework within which the Infinitization of Selfhood is
written. It is thus primarily the concepts of this cosmology which are expanded
and philosophically discussed in this book, which is very much part of this tradition.
The aim here is to provide a very short but essential overview
of the relationship between the Infinitization of Selfhood and this general
tradition. In the works of H. P. Blavatsky a great cosmological and cosmogonical
panorama with all its historical and cultural implications is set forth in a highly
complex, systematic and synthetic manner which extends beyond what can be considered
here in this prolegomena.
In The Secret Doctrine Blavatsky
gives the principal essence of the cosmology and philosophy in three fundamental
propositions:
1. “An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless,
and Immutable Principle on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends
the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression
or similitude.”[xliv]
2.
“The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane; periodically “the
playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing,”[xlv]
3.
“The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul”.[xlvi]
These
three propositions are presented on page XX of the Infinitization of Selfhood,
and then expanded into twenty two propositions which provide a solid basis underpinning
this book, and indeed the whole future of Esotericism, Occultism and Theosophy.
Read them carefully, for they provide a great key.
The
approach of the Infinitization of Selfhood towards the three propositions
of The Secret Doctrine is a great philosophical supplement to the works
and approaches of A. A. Bailey and H. P. Blavatsky. In the Infinitization of
Selfhood the nature of the unthinkable Omnipresent Immutable Principle is
discussed in relation to the Self and to finite appearances. This has the philosophical
consequences that the Boundless Immutable Principle is shown to be the only absolute
reality because it is the All. Whereas the world of appearances is real only as
an actuality. ‘New’ thought on this Boundless Immutable Principle is given most
extensively and brilliantly in the Infinitization of Selfhood, this book
being to this day in my opinion, the absolute best on the subject since H. P.
Blavatsky.
The second proposition and the problems concerning
it are also extensively discussed: What is space, what is cosmos - is it infinite
or finite? What is time, how does creation or emanation proceed? etc. All such
questions or doctrines of esotericism are discussed philosophically with new and
powerful insight. Excellent tabulations and lists are provided which contribute
greatly to the tradition of modern esotericism. The Infinitization
of Selfhood stands as a milestone in the history of esotericism for its insights
and contributions to esoteric philosophy.
The third
proposition is also a major theme in the Infinitization of Selfhood, for
the book aims to show the identity of all souls with the ONE OVER SOUL; and is
one of few books written in modern times to have extensively succeeded in this
task. The doctrine of the great evolutionary process found in the writings
of H. P. Blavatsky is expanded and elaborated in the works of A. A. Bailey to
provide insight into the evolution of the consciousness of the individual man.
The whole science of Initiation is exposed to us in a psychological and detailed
fashion.
The Infinitization of Selfhood is also a
valuable contribution to the science of Initiation, both practically and theoretically.
On a practical level it is a highly stimulating force for the building of the
antahkarana - for organizing and utilizing the full capacity of the human mental
constitution, bringing it to its outermost limit: the point of contradiction between
two ideas that appear to be equally true. This must eventually result in the recognition
that the mind is the great slayer of the Real, and this in turn results in an
entry into synthesis, into Being or Oneness. On the theoretical level it demonstrates
a highly developed state of consciousness in a living manner.
As
mentioned in the section on abstract Tradition, the Infinitization of Selfhood
can be viewed as a demonstration of a specific state of consciousness upon the
way of discipleship through which most disciples must pass on their path to the
Absolute. Much of the theoretical material on certain initiations (as set forth
in the works of A. A. Bailey) is well demonstrated in a philosophical manner in
the Infinitization of Selfhood. Its practical living application is also
described and advised upon in the “Counsel” section of the book.