27
the signs of its existence or operation can hardly be distinctly realised, up to man, in whom it reaches its highest state of development.
In fact, from the first appearance of life*[1] up to Thureeya Avastha, or the state of Nirvana, the progress is, as it were continuous. We ascend from that principle up to the seventh by almost imperceptible gradations. But four stages are recognised in the progress where the change is of a peculiar kind, and is such as to arrest an observer's attention. These four stages are as follows:—
| (1) | Where life (fourth principle) makes its appearance. |
| (2) | Where the existence of mind becomes perceptible in conjunction with life. |
| (3) | Where the highest state of mental abstraction ends, and spiritual consciousness commences. |
| (4) | Where spiritual consciousness disappears, leaving the seventh principle in a complete state of Nirvana, or nakedness. |
According to our philosophers, the fifth principle under consideration is intended to represent the mind in every possible state of development, from the second stage up to the third stage.
VI. Brahmam and Sakti.—This principle corresponds to your "spiritual intelligence." It is, in fact, Buddhi (I use the word Buddhi not in the ordinary sense, but in the sense in which it is used by our ancient philosophers); in other words, it is the seat of Bôdha or Âtmabôdha. One who has Âtma-bôdha in its completeness is a Buddha. Buddhists know very well what this term signifies. This principle is described in the "Fragments" as an entity coming into existence by the combination of Brahmam and Prakriti. I do not again know
- ↑ * In the Aryan doctrine which blends Brahmam, Sakti, and Prakriti in one, it is the fourth principle, then; in the Buddhist esotericism the second in combination with the first.—Ed.
