{"id":972,"date":"2013-10-05T10:13:44","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T10:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=972"},"modified":"2013-10-05T10:20:38","modified_gmt":"2013-10-05T10:20:38","slug":"the-universal-over-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/the-universal-over-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Universal Over-Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"<style><!--\n<!--\nP.Citaat {\n  margin-left: 40px;\n  margin-bottom: 20px;\n  font-style: italic;\n}\nSPAN.rubyred {\n  color: #a50021;\n}\n-->\n--><\/style>\n<p>The third fundamental proposition of the secret doctrine (SD<br \/>\nI, 17) postulates \u201cthe fundamental identity of all Souls<br \/>\nwith the <b>Universal Over-Soul<\/b>, the latter being an aspect<br \/>\nof the Unknown Root\u201d. We might ask ourselves, what exactly<br \/>\nis this Over-Soul, and how can we relate it to other known<br \/>\nconcepts in the philosopy of <i>The Secret<br \/>\nDoctrine<\/i>?<\/p>\n<p><b>1. The Over-Soul<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The term Over-Soul refers to Ralph Waldo Emerson\u2019s essay<br \/>\n<i>The Over-soul<\/i>, first published in 1841, in which he<br \/>\ndescribes the Over-soul as the source of higher inspiration in<br \/>\nman. From the essay:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Citaat\">The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past<br \/>\nand the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is<br \/>\nthat great nature in which we rest as the earth lies in the soft<br \/>\narms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that Over-soul, within which<br \/>\nevery man&#8217;s particular being is contained and made one with all<br \/>\nother; that common heart of which all sincere conversation is the<br \/>\nworship, to which all right action is submission; that<br \/>\noverpowering reality which confutes our tricks and talents, and<br \/>\nconstrains every one to pass for what he is, and to speak from<br \/>\nhis character and not from his tongue, and which evermore tends<br \/>\nto pass into our thought and hand and become wisdom and virtue<br \/>\nand power and beauty. We live in succession, in division, in<br \/>\nparts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the<br \/>\nwhole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every<br \/>\npart and particle is equally related; the eternal<br \/>\nONE.<\/p>\n<p>In the third fundamental proposition, it is stated that the<br \/>\nUniversal Over-Soul is \u201can aspect of the Unknown<br \/>\nRoot\u201d. The Unknown Root is what we have identified with the<br \/>\nAbsolute, or space, symbolised by the plane or circumference of<br \/>\nthe circle, i.e. the circle without a central point, the<br \/>\nimmaculate white disk from the archaic palmleaf manuscript<br \/>\ndescribed in SD I, 1. An aspect of the Root will be one of three<br \/>\naspects. On the same page the Universal Over-Soul is described as<br \/>\nthe \u201cpure Essence of the Universal Sixth<br \/>\n<b>principle<\/b>\u201d, while the seventh principle is the Root<br \/>\nitself. The principles are counted here from \u201cdense\u201d<br \/>\nto \u201cfine\u201d. On page 19 this sixth principle is<br \/>\nidentified with <b>brahm\u0101<\/b>. On page 13 (footnote), a<br \/>\nfifth universal principle is mentioned, under the name of<br \/>\n<b>\u0101<\/b><b>k\u0101<\/b><b>\u015ba<\/b>, \u201cto which<br \/>\ncorresponds and from which proceeds human Manas\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><b>2. The Universal Soul<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The statements on the Universal Soul in <i>The Secret<br \/>\nDoctrine<\/i> are very confusing, to say the least. In the third<br \/>\nfundamental proposition we find that the Over-Soul is the sixth<br \/>\nuniversal principle. In another location in the Proem, SD I, 9-10<br \/>\nwe find:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Citaat\">The Occultist [&#8230;] regards the Adi-Sakti<br \/>\n[&#8230;], in her A&#8217;kasic form of the Universal Soul &#8212; as<br \/>\nphilosophically a Maya, and cause of human Maya. But this view<br \/>\ndoes not prevent him from believing in its existence so long as<br \/>\nit lasts, to wit, for one Mahamanvantara; nor from applying<br \/>\nAkasa, the radiation of Mulaprakriti,* to practical purposes,<br \/>\nconnected as the World-Soul is with all natural phenomena, known<br \/>\nor unknown to science.<\/p>\n<p>From this we can distill that the Universal Soul is not the<br \/>\nFirst unmanifested Logos, but the Second. In SD I, 420 we find a<br \/>\nmore unequivocal statement on the Universal Soul:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Citaat\">UNIVERSAL SOUL is not the inert Cause of<br \/>\nCreation or (Para) Brahma, but simply that which we call the<br \/>\nsixth principle of intellectual Kosmos, on the manifested plane<br \/>\nof being. It is Mahat, or Mahabuddhi, the great Soul, the vehicle<br \/>\nof Spirit, the first primeval reflection of the formless CAUSE<br \/>\n[&#8230;].<\/p>\n<p>It is clear from this quotation that the Universal Soul is<br \/>\nidentical to the Second Logos, the sixth universal principle,<br \/>\nMahat, the \u201cUniversal Mind\u201d. This means that the<br \/>\nUniversal Soul is none other than the \u201cUniversal<br \/>\nOver-Soul\u201d of Emerson. <\/p>\n<p><b>3. The Anima Mundi or World Soul<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In SD I, 365 and the first footnote on that page, we find<br \/>\nevidence that this principle, which we call here the Second Logos<br \/>\n(here referred to as Brahma), is also identical with Anima Mundi<br \/>\nor the World Soul:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Citaat\">In the Hindu Katakopanishad, Purusha, the<br \/>\ndivine spirit, already stands before the original matter, &#8220;from<br \/>\nwhose union springs the great soul of the world,&#8221; Maha-Atma,<br \/>\nBrahma, the Spirit of Life,* etc., etc.**[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"Citaat\">* The latter appellations are all identical<br \/>\nwith Anima Mundi, or the &#8220;Universal Soul,&#8221; the astral light of<br \/>\nthe Kabalist and the Occultist, or the &#8220;Egg of<br \/>\nDarkness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Then in SD I, 49 (and other locations), we find the statement<br \/>\nthat \u0101laya is the Universal Soul and Anima<br \/>\nMundi:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Citaat\">In the Yogacharya system of the contemplative<br \/>\nMahayana school, Alaya is both the Universal Soul (Anima Mundi)<br \/>\nand the Self of a progressed adept.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever HPB uses \u0101laya, she refers to the Second Logos<br \/>\n(unless otherwise indicated), although on the same page (SD I,<br \/>\n49) she states that the word \u0101laya has \u201ctwo or even<br \/>\nthree meanings\u201d. In our discussion on <i>\u0100laya in the<br \/>\nLa\u1e45k\u0101vat\u0101ras\u016btra Pt. II<\/i>, we have argued<br \/>\nwhat the two or three meanings might be, namely the j\u0101ti,<br \/>\nprav\u1e5btti and karman aspects of \u0101laya.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. Corrections to Earlier Findings<\/b><\/p>\n<p>So, we have to correct two errors in our earlier posts. Part<br \/>\nof the table in <i>\u0100laya in the<br \/>\nLa\u1e45k\u0101vat\u0101ras\u016btra Pt. II<\/i><br \/>\nwas:<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"3\" width=\"70%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Aspect of<\/b> <b>\u0101laya<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n1. j\u0101ti\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n2. prav\u1e5btti\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Corresponds to<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nremaining in its original nature\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nevolving\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Cosmic<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<span class=\"rubyred\">Universal Soul<\/span>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nMahat [called Maha-Buddhi], Universal Mind, <span class=\"rubyred\">[Universal<br \/>\nSpiritual Soul]<\/span>, Emerson\u2019s Over-Soul, Anima<br \/>\nMundi\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>with the remark: \u201cIt may be noted that these conclusions<br \/>\ndo not in every respect meet the ones from <i>The Three<br \/>\nLogoi<\/i>. The differences concern the terms Universal Soul and<br \/>\nAnima Mundi. It will be necessary to clear up these differences<br \/>\nin a later stage.\u201d We know now, that this part of the table<br \/>\nshould have looked like:<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"3\" width=\"70%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Aspect of<\/b> <b>\u0101laya<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n1. j\u0101ti\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n2. prav\u1e5btti\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Corresponds to<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nremaining in its original nature\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nevolving\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Cosmic<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<span class=\"rubyred\"><s>Universal Soul<\/s><\/span>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nMahat [called Maha-Buddhi], Universal Mind, <span class=\"rubyred\">Universal Soul<\/span>,<br \/>\nEmerson\u2019s Over-Soul, Anima Mundi\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In the post entitled <i>The Three Logoi (3)<\/i>, the Universal<br \/>\nSoul is categorized under the Third Logos, while it should have<br \/>\nbeen under the Second. The corrected text would<br \/>\nbe:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>First Logos, the One, the Ever Unmanifest, represented by<br \/>\nM<\/i><i>\u016b<\/i><i>laprak<\/i><i>\u1e5b<\/i><i>ti, the Plotinic<br \/>\nand Orphic Hen, Hyparxis, Universal Good, the Christian<br \/>\nFather-aspect, Divine Will.<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Second Logos, the manifested Logos, the Logos proper, the<br \/>\nVerbum, the Plotinic Nous, the Demiurge, HPB\u2019s Anima Mundi,<br \/>\nCreative Intelligence, Mahat, Universal Mind, <span class=\"rubyred\">Universal Soul<\/span>,<br \/>\nUniversal Intelligence, Divine Mind, Divine Wisdom, the<br \/>\nSon-aspect, the Christ, Brahm\u0101, \u012a\u015bvara,<br \/>\nAvalokite\u015bvara (manifested).<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Third Logos, the Light of the Logos, Fohat,<br \/>\nDaiviprak\u1e5bti, the Plotinic Psuch\u0113, <span class=\"rubyred\"><s>Universal Soul<br \/>\n(the Plotinic Anima Mundi)<\/span>,<\/s> the Nous of Anaxagoras, Divine<br \/>\nActivity, the Holy Ghost.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>5. The Sacred Four<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In stanza IV, \u015bloka 5 (SD I, 98) the four highest<br \/>\nuniversal principles are described. Here, the seventh (first)<br \/>\nprinciple is called darkness, the sixth (second) adi-sanat, the<br \/>\nfifth (third) sv\u00e2bh\u00e2vat, the fourth (fourth) the<br \/>\nformless square. The first three are \u201cenclosed within the<br \/>\nboundless circle\u201d, and together they are called the<br \/>\n<b>sacred four<\/b> or the <b>tetraktis<\/b>. <\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/absolute-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/absolute-8-300x230.jpg\" alt=\"absolute - 8\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-974\" height=\"230\" width=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/absolute-8-300x230.jpg 300w, http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/absolute-8.jpg 386w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<br style=\"clear: none;\" \/><br \/>\nIn the following table, the four highest Universal<br \/>\n(\u201cCosmic\u201d) principles are summarized, as described in<br \/>\nvarious sources.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"3\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Principle<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>7th<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>6th<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>5th<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>4th<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Proem to the SD<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nthe ONE principle, the Absolute, THAT, Sat, Be-ness, SPACE,<br \/>\nthe Root, Parabrahman, Brahman (neutrum)\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nUniversal Over-Soul, Universal Soul,<br \/>\nBrahm\u0101\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n\u0101k\u0101\u015ba\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n\u00a0\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>SD I, 98 (st. IV \u015bl. 5)<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\ndarkness\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nadi-sanat\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nsv\u00e2bh\u00e2vat\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nformless square\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>SD II, 596<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nThe Unmanfested Logos\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nUniversal (latent) Ideation\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nUniversal (or Cosmic) active Intelligence\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nCosmic (Chaotic) Energy\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"3\" valign=\"top\">\n<b>Cosmological Notes in BL p. 378; spelling cf.<br \/>\nBlavatsky\u2019s Secret Books, p. 64<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nsvayambhuva\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nn\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nyaj\u00f1a\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nv\u0101c\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nsnyugs\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\ndkon mchog\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nnam &#8216;mkha (Skt. \u0101k\u0101\u015ba)\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n&#8216;od (Skt. prabh\u0101, \u0101loka)\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nLatent Spirit Ensoph\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nUniversal Mind\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nVir\u0101j, Universal Illusion\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nCosmic Will\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<b>Additional terms<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nMother-space, the Eternal Parent, Eternal Mother (1886 Ms),<br \/>\nFirst Logos\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nSecond Logos\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\nFather-Mother, Fire-Mist\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n\u00a0\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"attachments\"><dl class=\"attachments attachments-small\">\r\n\t<dt class=\"icon\">\r\n\t\t<a title=\"Universal Over-Soul - 1\" href=\"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/the-universal-over-soul\/universal-over-soul-1\/?pid=972&aid=973&sa=1\" >\r\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/eg-attachments\/img\/flags\/document.png\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\"  alt=\"Universal Over-Soul - 1\" \/>\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t<\/dt>\r\n\t<dd class=\"caption\">\r\n\t\t<a title=\"Universal Over-Soul - 1\" href=\"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/the-universal-over-soul\/universal-over-soul-1\/?pid=972&aid=973&sa=1\" >universal-over-soul-1.pdf<\/a> (178 KB)\r\n\t<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl><p><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The third fundamental proposition of the secret doctrine (SD I, 17) postulates \u201cthe fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, the latter being an aspect of the Unknown Root\u201d. We might ask ourselves, what exactly is this Over-Soul, and how can we relate it to other known concepts in the philosopy of The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,44,50,34,46,40,42,92,102,21,43,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alaya","category-anima-mundi","category-brahma","category-cosmogenesis","category-darkness","category-logos-logoi","category-mahat","category-rootless-root","category-space","category-svabhavat","category-universal-mind","category-world-soul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=972"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions\/1010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}