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1be found in the fifth principle as they term it, and which is called also the human soul, manas or mind. Mind, though correct in some respects, is, to say the least, a very vague and unsatisfactory term to express in¬ tellectual capacity or the power of thinking and reasoning, and re¬ ducing the objects of thought to a science. For this reason; mind exists as a motive force all the way from the mineral to man, and, surely Buddhists will not say that rocks contain (mind) their fifth principle. It is upon this point in particular where, in the opinion of the student of Hermetic philosophy, that Esoteric Buddhists make a very serious mistake. It is the evolution of this “principle,” we are told, that gives us the power of understanding; without this, we should be upon the plane of the animal and act from mere instinct. When this principle is active, man becomes noble, humane and capable of understanding, or, in other words, instead of being a creature of instinct only, he be¬ comes a reasonable being. We question the whole of such teachings. For instance, a man may be the intellectual giant of his age, so far as mere mental capacity is concerned, and yet at the same time be the most selfish, unjust and immoral. History teems with such examples; while, at the same time, some of Nature’s noblest souls have been those whose intellectual abilities have been very much below the average of the race. There are intellectual animals among mankind, human only in form; while on the other hand, there are many de¬ mented human beings whose souls are akin to the angels. ‘This fifth principle,” we arc told on page 175 of “The Mystery of the Ages," “is the highest principle of the animals." But, Hermetic initiates deny this in toto. They assert that this “principle" is no principle at all, but merely a form; that in real fact, there are only tliree principles in an active state, viz.; animal, human and deifie. The remaining four are merely forms or reactions. It is the action and reaction of these prin¬ ciples which produce every class of mental phenomena in existence, be it vegetable sensitiveness, animal instinct, human reason or deifie perception. They form the three primary colors of the soul's spectrum; while the remaining forms are simply complementary reactions.
2The Hermetic constitution of man consists of tliree active prin¬ ciples, all emanations from the one universal principle, and four second¬ ary reactions. This constitution will correspond to the trinity of the ancient Gnostics and the modem spiritualists, as consisting of body, soul and spirit, in the following manner; Body, (A and B!; Soul, THE HERMETIC CONSTITUTION OF MAN 59 (C and D); Spirit, (E, F and G). It also corresponds to the quater¬ nary or fourfold constitution of the Kabbalists and the Greek specu¬ lators on Egyptian Theosophy, who taught that there is a body, an astral or magnetic body, the animal soul, and the divine soul. Body, (A and B); Astral body, (C); Animal soul, (D); Divine soul, (E, F and G). And so may we proceed with every system of which we have any knowledge. The only contradictions are the appearances upon the surface, chiefly due to an insufficient use, or to a misuse of terms. In reality, there is no difference in any system, when it is traced to its primal source. The same may be said of the Buddhist constitution, when understood in its true spirit. The radical differences are due to their gross misinterpretation of the one fundamental law; one truth, one principle, one agent (law) and one word.
3We must now briefly sketch the Hermetic constitution, and pre¬ sent the four fold teaching of the Western initiates. Man consists of three duads and the Ego, a total of seven, which stand in the relation of Refraction and Reflection to each other. They are as follows; Second duad Third duad C. Astral body. E. Spiritual form. D. Animal soul. F. Divine soul. First duad A. Reflection, Physical body. B. Refraction, Electro-magnetic form. G. The true Ego.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1be found in the fifth principle as they term it, and which is called also the human soul, manas or mind. Mind, though correct in some respects, is, to say the least, a very vague and unsatisfactory term to express in¬ tellectual capacity or the power of thinking and reasoning, and re¬ ducing the objects of thought to a science. For this reason; mind exists as a motive force all the way from the mineral to man, and, surely Buddhists will not say that rocks contain (mind) their fifth principle. It is upon this point in particular where, in the opinion of the student of Hermetic philosophy, that Esoteric Buddhists make a very serious mistake. It is the evolution of this “principle,” we are told, that gives us the power of understanding; without this, we should be upon the plane of the animal and act from mere instinct. When this principle is active, man becomes noble, humane and capable of understanding, or, in other words, instead of being a creature of instinct only, he be¬ comes a reasonable being. We question the whole of such teachings. For instance, a man may be the intellectual giant of his age, so far as mere mental capacity is concerned, and yet at the same time be the most selfish, unjust and immoral. History teems with such examples; while, at the same time, some of Nature’s noblest souls have been those whose intellectual abilities have been very much below the average of the race. There are intellectual animals among mankind, human only in form; while on the other hand, there are many de¬ mented human beings whose souls are akin to the angels. ‘This fifth principle,” we arc told on page 175 of “The Mystery of the Ages," “is the highest principle of the animals." But, Hermetic initiates deny this in toto. They assert that this “principle" is no principle at all, but merely a form; that in real fact, there are only tliree principles in an active state, viz.; animal, human and deifie. The remaining four are merely forms or reactions. It is the action and reaction of these prin¬ ciples which produce every class of mental phenomena in existence, be it vegetable sensitiveness, animal instinct, human reason or deifie perception. They form the three primary colors of the soul's spectrum; while the remaining forms are simply complementary reactions.
2The Hermetic constitution of man consists of tliree active prin¬ ciples, all emanations from the one universal principle, and four second¬ ary reactions. This constitution will correspond to the trinity of the ancient Gnostics and the modem spiritualists, as consisting of body, soul and spirit, in the following manner; Body, (A and B!; Soul, THE HERMETIC CONSTITUTION OF MAN 59 (C and D); Spirit, (E, F and G). It also corresponds to the quater¬ nary or fourfold constitution of the Kabbalists and the Greek specu¬ lators on Egyptian Theosophy, who taught that there is a body, an astral or magnetic body, the animal soul, and the divine soul. Body, (A and B); Astral body, (C); Animal soul, (D); Divine soul, (E, F and G). And so may we proceed with every system of which we have any knowledge. The only contradictions are the appearances upon the surface, chiefly due to an insufficient use, or to a misuse of terms. In reality, there is no difference in any system, when it is traced to its primal source. The same may be said of the Buddhist constitution, when understood in its true spirit. The radical differences are due to their gross misinterpretation of the one fundamental law; one truth, one principle, one agent (law) and one word.
3We must now briefly sketch the Hermetic constitution, and pre¬ sent the four fold teaching of the Western initiates. Man consists of three duads and the Ego, a total of seven, which stand in the relation of Refraction and Reflection to each other. They are as follows; Second duad Third duad C. Astral body. E. Spiritual form. D. Animal soul. F. Divine soul. First duad A. Reflection, Physical body. B. Refraction, Electro-magnetic form. G. The true Ego.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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