A Collection of Esoteric Writings of T. Subba Row/Thoughts on Kama-Loka
THOUGHTS ON KAMA-LOKA.
Suggested by Mr. Sinnett's paper on the same subject.*[1]
In considering this subject we must, above all things, take care to realise that the seven principles in man are not several entities or substances that can be separated and each considered as a distinct individuality having definite characteristics peculiar to itself. In Sanskrit the different principles are called Upadhis, i. e., the sheaths or seats of the different states of existence of the One Life.
The seat of consciousness which gives rise to the feeling of individuality and the sense "I am I" is in the fifth principle.
If there is no fifth principle, i. e., if there is no consciousness of individuality, all the other states of existence are non-existent, for without a percipient ego there can be neither perception nor any object of perception. Hence it is said, that without the son (the germ of consciousness in the Logos roused into activity at the time of Cosmic evolution) there is no Father or Mother. The Father and the Holy Ghost come into existence when the Son is born, and this is the true occult explanation of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity. Perhaps it may be objected that animals can take cognisance of existence although they have no fifth principle; but the reason of this is that, although the fifth principle is not united to the lower principles of the animals, it yet overshadows them. Thus, properly speaking, it is the fifth principle only which plays a prominent part in the various states of man in life and after death. By its association (no matter how, for the present) with the lower principles, it generates earthly and material tendencies which attract it downwards. At the same time, being overshadowed by its father, the sixth and seventh principles, it generates higher aspirations which attract it upwards. After physical death, when the entity passes into Kama-Loka, the real struggle is confined to the fifth principle alone, that is, to the seat of consciousness, together with the affinities generated in it during its earthly incarnation. In Kama-Loka, therefore, the fourth principle or Kama-Rupa, which is the Upadhi or seat of all earthly desires and passions, &c., drags towards itself those affinities of the fifth principle which are of a material nature, while the higher aspirations are attracted towards the sixth and the seventh principles. The conception may be made clear by remembering that the seventh principle is the source of energy, while the sixth principle is merely the energy radiated by the seventh. The states of existence of man may be divided into three which can be again divided into seven. The first three are:—physical life, astral life and spiritual life. The seven states are:—(1) Physical life, (2) the state between physical and astral life, (3) the astral life, (4) the state between the astral life and the spiritual life, and (5, 6, 7,) the three states of spiritual life. In physical life, all the physical activities are strong while the astral life is exhibited in the temporary cessation of the functions of physical activities, as takes place in sleep, &c. Each life manifests itself only on those spheres to which its organisation is adapted. Thus for manifesation on this physical world a physical organism is essential, and without its help no activity can be manifested in this sphere. In this life we have, as it were, brought with us such an accretion of principles as has been produced by the effects of the causes generated in a previous incarnation. At the same time we have an organisation which enables us to generate new causes. When the physical body is worn out by the activities manifested through it, the cohesive force which held its particles together becomes weaker and weaker until physical death takes place. We do not therefore die at once (except in cases of sudden death caused by accidents, &c.), but are gradually dying every moment of our lives. The vital principle, finding its present Sthulasariram unfit for habitation, leaves it, to animate some other Sthulasariram. The third principle, which is the agglomeration of the magnetic emanations of the physical body, cannot but die at the death of the latter. The fourth principle, however, by its contact with the third in physical life, has gathered round itself some of its essence. But this essence is like the smell of a rose, which lingers only for a time after the rose has been destroyed. Hence it is that the so-called astral body is seen at a distance by the friends or relatives of a dying man. The concentrated thought, an intense desire to see a friend, &c., clothes itself in the fourth principle, which, by the essence of the third gathered around itself, makes itself objective to the distant friend. And such a manifestation is possible, only so long as this essence is still retained. This is the reason for the Hindu custom of burning the dead, for when the body is once burnt, no more astral essence can be drawn out of it. But a buried body, although in the process of decomposition, still furnishes the aura, however feeble it may be, through which the dead entity finds itself able to manifest itself. In the dying man the struggle between the physical and the astral man goes on till it ends in physical death. This result produces a shock stunning the astral man who passes into a state of unconscious sleep until he re-awakens into the Kama-Loka. This sleep is the second state of existence. It will thus become apparent why it is that "apparitions" are seen at the time of death. Sometimes it so happens that these "apparitions" are seen some time after the suppossed death of the man. But on careful examination it may be found that the man only appears to be dead; and although the medical faculty may not be able to detect any signs of life in him, still, in reality, the struggle between the physical and the astral man is not yet ended.
It is because this struggle is sliently going on that the ancients enjoined solemn silence in the awful presence of death. When the man awakens into the Kama-Loka, he begins his third state of existence. The physical organisation, which alone enables man to produce causes, is not there, and he is, as it were, concerned only with those affinities which he has already engendered. While this struggle in the fifth principle is going on, it is almost impossible for the entity to manifest itself upon earth. And when a dweller on this earth tries to establish a connection with that entity, he only disturbs its peace. Hence it is that the ancients prohibited these practices, to which they gave the name of necromancy, as deadly sin. The nature of the struggle depends upon the tendencies engendered by the individual in his physical life. If he was too material, too gross, too sensual, and if he had hardly any spiritual aspirations, then the downward attraction of the lower affinities causes an assimilation of the lower consciousness with the fourth principle. The man then becomes a sort of astral animal, and continues in that state until, in process of time, the astral entity is disintegrated. The few spiritual aspirations that he might have had are transferred to the monad; but the separate consciousness being dragged into the animal soul, dies with it and his personality is thus annihilated. If a man, on the other hand, is tolerably spiritual, as most of our fellowmen are, then the struggle in Kama-Loka varies according to the nature of his affinities; until the consciousness being linked to the higher ones is entirely separated from the "astral shell," and is ready to go into Devachan. If a person is highly spiritual, his Kama-Loka is of a very short duration, for the consciousness is quickly assimilated to the higher principles and passes into Devachan. It will thus be seen that in any case intercourse with the Kama-Loka entities is detrimental to the progress of those entities and also injurious to the persons indulging in such intercourse. This interruption is just as bad and even far worse than the disturbance in the death-chamber on this physical plane. When it is remembered that the fourth principle by its contact with the fifth has assimilated to itself the essence of the latter, it becomes an easy matter to account for those rare phenomena in which a high degree of intelligence has been exhibited by the Kama-Loka entities dragged into mediumistic seances. Of course there are cases in which an "astral shell" acts merely as a mirror through which the intelligence of the "medium" is reflected, as there are others in which "elementals" make use of these "astral shells." But in those cases where the Kama-Loka entities actually appear and exhibit a rare intelligennce, it is on account of the essence absorbed by the fourth principle during its connection with the fifth. There are again cases in which the Kama-Loka entities of "suicides" and of persons dying unnatural and accidental deaths may appear and exhibit rare intelligence, because those entities have to live in Kama-Loka the period they would have passed on earth if those accidents had not carried them away—before the struggle between the astral and spiritual affinities commences. The causes engendered by them during earth-life are not yet ripe for fruition and they must wait their natural time. But to recall these into "mediumistic" circles is equally dangerous as in the above-mentioned cases, and for the very same reasons. It may not be positively injurious in all cases, but at any rate the process is fraught with danger and should not be undertaken by inexperienced persons. As regards those good persons, who, it is apprehended, may on account of some unsatisfied desire linger on earth, the Hindus have a peculiar custom which is generally relegated to the limbo of exploded superstitions, because its scientific rationale is not properly understood. If the desire be of a spiritual nature, then of course it is only concerned with the spiritual affinities set up in the Manas. But if it be of a material nature, such as some act to be done for the welfare of a friend or family, &c., &c., then only need it be taken into account. In ancient times, an initiate or adept was always present in a death chamber, and attended to the necessary conditions and thus released the dying man from his earthly attractions. This is the real origin of "extreme unction" in the Roman Catholic Church and the custom oi having a priest near the dying man in other religions. Gradually as a meterializing tendency began to assert itself, the Hindus invented a ceremony which is the next best thing they could do under the circumstances. It is a general belief among them that after physical death, the entity lingers on the earth for a period of ten days before passing into any other state of existence. During this period they perform a regular daily ceremony in which they prepare some rice balls and put them before crows. The belief is that crows are so sensitive as to detect any astral figure they see. If the man dies, having some unsatisfied desire, then his astral figure covers the rice balls which the crows cannot touch. If the balls are immediately touched, then it is concluded that the man having no unsatisfied desire is no longer earth-bound. But if they are not, then the relatives of the dead person go on recounting all the wishes of the latter, that they can possibly think of, promising at the same time to fulfil them. When the right thing is hit on, then it is believed the entity immediately goes off to its sphere, and the crows touch the balls. Whatever it may be, the Hindus have a horror of those elementaries, and instead of dragging them into séances they try by every possible means to release them from the earth's atmosphere. When the struggle between the lower affinities and the higher aspirations of the man is ended in Kama-Loka, astral death takes place in that sphere as does physical death on this earth. The shock of death again throws the entity into a state of unconsciousness before its passage into Devachan. The "shell" left behind may manifest itself until it is disintegrated, but it is not the real spiritual man; and the rare intelligence exhibited by it, occasionally, is the radiation of the aura caught by it during its connection with the spiritual individuality. From its fourth state of existence, it re-awakens in Devachan, the conditions of which, according to Hindu books are, Salokata, Samipata and Sayujata. In the lowest state, i.e., of Salokata the entity is only under the influence of the sixth and the seventh principle, while in the second state, i. e., of Samipata, it is fully overshadowed by the latter. It is in the Sayujata state only that it is fully merged into its Logos to be thrown again into re-incarnation when it has fully enjoyed the effects of the spiritual aspirations created by it. It is only very highly spiritualised entities that reach this highest state of Devachan. Of course, the cases of adepts are here entirely left out of consideration, for as the Bhagavat Gita says, the Gnyani reaches that state from which there is no re-birth and which is called Moksha or Mukti. The period of gestation between the Devachanic condition and the physical re-birth may be called the eighth state; but in the Hindu books the physical life being the basis of the seven after-states is not included in the category of the Sapta higher lokas, just as in the septenary principles, Parabrahma is not taken into account for the very same reason. From the subjective stand-point, the Parabrahman, and from the objective stand-point the Sthulasariram, are not included in the septenary division, as the former is the basis upon which the whole structure is built.
- ↑ * Vide the Theosophist, February 1885, page 106.