NOW!
THE THEOSOPHY WALES WEBSITE
THAT JUST WONT WAIT
Bangor, Cardiff,
Conwy & Swansea
Swans at Llyn Padarn,
Snowdonia,
Theosophy Wales
has no controlling body
and is made up of
independent groups
Sunset over Gospel Pass in the black
Mountains
in South East Wales near the border with
Herefordshire, England.
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The Seven Principles of Man
By
Annie Besant
Principle IV
The Desire
Body
In building up our man we have now reached the principle sometimes
described as the animal soul, in Theosophical parlance Kāma Rūpa, or the
desire-body. It belongs to in constitution, and functions on, the second or
astral plane. It includes the whole body of appetites, passions, emotions, and
desires which come under the head of instincts, sensations, feelings and
emotions, in our Western psychological classification, and are dealt with as a
subdivision of mind.
In Western psychology mind is divided by the modern school into
three main groups, feelings, will, intellect. Feelings are again divided into
sensations and emotions , and these are divided and subdivided under numerous
heads. Kāma, or desire, includes the whole group of "feelings," and
might be described as our passional and emotional nature.
All animal needs, such as hunger, thirst, sexual desire, come under it;
all passions, such as love (in its lower sense), hatred, envy, jealousy. It is
the desire for sentient experience, for experience of material joys "the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life".
This principle is the most material in our nature, it is the one that
binds us fast to earthly life. "It is not molecularly constituted matter,
least of all the human body, Sthula Sharira, that is the grossest of all our
principles but verily the middle principle, the real animal centre ; whereas
our body is but its shell, the irresponsible factor and medium through which
the beast in us acts all its life" ( Secret Doctrine, vol. I, p. 280-81).
United to the lower part of Manas, the mind, as Kāma-Manas, it becomes
the normal human brain-intelligence, and that aspect of it will be dealt with
presently. Considered by itself, it remains the brute in us, the "ape and
tiger" of Tennyson, the force which most avails to keep us bound to earth
and to stifle in us all higher longings by the illusions of sense.
Kāma joined to Prāna is, as we have seen, the "breath of
life," the vital sentient principle spread over every particle of the
body. It is, therefore, the seat of sensation, that which enables the organs of
sensation to function. We have already noted that the physical organs of sense,
the bodily instruments that come into immediate contact with the external
world, are related to the organs of sensation in the etheric double (ante p.
14).
But these organs would be incapable of functioning did not Prāna make
them vibrant with activity, and their vibrations would remain vibrations only,
motion on the material plane of the physical body, did not Kāma, the principle
of sensation translate the vibration into feeling. Feeling indeed, is
consciousness on the kāmic plane, and when a man is under the domination of a
sensation or a passion, the Theosophist speaks of him as on the kāmic plane,
meaning thereby that his consciousness is functioning on that plane.
For instance, a tree may reflect rays of light, that is ethereal
vibrations, and these vibrations striking on the outer eye will set up vibrations
in the physical nerve-cells ; these will be propagated as vibrations to the
physical and on to the astral centres, but there is no sight of the tree until
the seat of the sensation is reached, and Kāma enables us to perceive.
Matter of the astral plane including that called elemental essence
is the material of which the desire-body is composed, and it is the peculiar
properties of this matter which enable it to serve as the sheath in which the
Self can gain experience of sensation. (The constitution of the elemental
essence would lead us too far from an elementary treatise).
The desire body, or astral body, as it is often called, has the form
of a mere cloudy mass during the earlier stages of evolution, and is incapable
of serving as an independent vehicle of consciousness. During deep sleep it
escapes from the physical body, but remains near it, and the mind within it is
almost as much asleep as the body. It is, however, liable to be affected by
forces of the astral plane akin to its own constitution, and gives rise to
dreams of a sensuous kind.
In a man of average intellectual development the desire-body has become
more highly organised, and when separated from the physical body is seen to
resemble it is outline and features ; even then, however, it is not conscious
of its surroundings on the astral plane, but encloses the mind as a shell,
within which the mind may actively function, while not yet able to use it as an
independent vehicle of consciousness.
Only in the highly evolved man does the desire-body become thoroughly
organised and vitalised, as much the vehicle of consciousness on the astral
plane as the physical body is on the physical plane.
After death, the higher part of man dwells for awhile in the
desire-body, the length of its stay depending on the comparative grossness or
delicacy of its constituents. When the man escapes from it, it persists for a
time as a "shell" and when the departed entity is of a low type, and
during earth life infused such mentality as it possessed into the passional
nature, some of this remains entangled with the shell.
It then possesses consciousness of a very low order, has brute cunning,
is without conscience an altogether objectionable entity, often spoken of as
a "spook." It strays about, attracted to all places in which animal
desires are encouraged and satisfied, and is drawn into the currents of those
whose animal passions are strong and unbridled.
Mediums of low type inevitably attract these eminently undesirable
visitors, whose fading vitality is reinforced in their séance rooms, who catch
astral reflections, and play the part of "disembodied spirits" of a
low order. Nor is this all; if at such a séance there be present some man or
woman of correspondingly low development, the spook will be attracted to that
person, and may attach itself to him or to her, and thus may be set up currents
between the desire-body of the living person and the dying desire-body of the
dead person, generating results of the most deplorable kind.
The longer or shorter persistence of the desire-body as a shell or a
spook depends on the greater or less development of the animal and passional
nature in the dying personality. If during earth-life the animal nature was
indulged and allowed to run riot, if the intellectual and spiritual parts of
man were neglected or stifled, then, as the life-currents were set strongly in
the direction of passion, the desire-body will persist for a long period after
the body of the person is dead.
Or again, if earth-life has been suddenly cut short by accident or by
suicide, the link between Kāma and Prāna will not be easily broken, and the
desire-body will be strongly vivified. If, on the other hand, desire has been
conquered and bridled during earth-life, if it has been purified and trained
into subservience to mans higher nature, then there is but little to energise
the desire-body and it will quickly disintegrate and dissolve away.
There remains one other fate, terrible in its possibilities, which may
befall the fourth principle, but it cannot be clearly understood until the
fifth principle has been dealt with.
____________________________
Annie Besant with Mahatma Gandhi
___________________________
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Cardiff
Theosophical Society meetings are informal
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The Cardiff Theosophical Society Website
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Wales Theosophy Website
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Links to Free Online Theosophy
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The main criteria
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lightweight, amusing or entertaining.
Topics include
Quantum Theory and Socks,
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A selection of
articles on Reincarnation
Provided in
response to the large
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Punch &
Judy Show, Llandudno.
The same family
has run this show since 1860
The Voice of the Silence Website
Rhayader
Mid
Cader Idris, Mid Wales.
A Winter View
This is for everyone, you dont have to live
in Wales to make good use of this Website
The Old Severn
Bridge at night
If you are
travelling to Wales along the M4, you can cross on the
Old Severn
Bridge (opened 1966) by taking the M48, which will take
you over the
bridge and back on to the M4. You can also cross this
bridge on foot,
horse or bike by using the service roads on
either side.
Dont try this on the new Severn Bridge
Port
Meirion,
Setting
of the cult 1960s TV series,
The
Prisoner
Cardiff
Theosophists on an outing to
Caerleon in Gwent, South Wales.
No Aardvarks were harmed in the
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A B C D EFG H IJ KL M N OP QR S T UV WXYZ
Complete Theosophical Glossary in Plain Text Format
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______________________
Quick Explanations with Links to
More Detailed Info
What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis
Anthropogenesis
Root Races
Karma
Ascended Masters After Death States Reincarnation
The Seven Principles of Man Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical Society
History of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical Society Emblem
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
The Tabernacle, Efail Isaf,
Mid-Glamorganshire,
______________________
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
Coleg
Menai Performing Art students
as
human statues in Bangor High Street.
This idea began in Covent Garden and spread
round Britain.
____________________
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The Constitution of Man After Death Reincarnation
The Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The Result of Theosophical Study
An Outline of Theosophy
Charles Webster Leadbeater
Theosophy - What it is How is it Known? The Method of Observation
General Principles The Three Great Truths The Deity
Advantage Gained from this
Knowledge The Divine Scheme
The Constitution of Man The True Man Reincarnation
The Wider Outlook Death Mans Past and Future
Cause and Effect What Theosophy does for us
The Unity Underlying all Religions
The Physical
Plane The Astral Plane
Kamaloka The Mental Plane Devachan
The Buddhic and
Nirvanic Planes Reincarnation Karma
The Three Kinds of Karma Collective Karma
The Law of
Sacrifice Mans Ascent Building a
Cosmos
Annotated Edition Published
1885
Preface to the Annotated Edition Preface to the Original Edition
Esoteric Teachers The Constitution of Man The Planetary Chain
The World Periods Devachan Kama Loca
The Human Tide-Wave The Progress of Humanity
Buddha Nirvana The Universe The Doctrine Reviewed
A Juggler in action on Colwyn Bay beach
at the 2009 Welsh Juggling convention
held on the pier.
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Your Own Theosophy
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A Guide to
starting your own
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These are
suggestions and pointers for forming
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independent Theosophy Group and
not instructions on
how to form a branch of a
larger Theosophical
Organisation.
The subject of
affiliation to a larger body is
covered but as
affiliation may mean compromise
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Theosophy anyway, we leave
that decision
entirely up to you
_____________________
Tekels Park to be Sold to a Developer
Concerns are raised about the fate of
the wildlife as
The Spiritual Retreat, Tekels Park in
Camberley,
Surrey, England is to be sold to a
developer.
Tekels Park is a 50 acre woodland
park, purchased
for the Adyar Theosophical Society in England
in 1929.
In addition to concern about the
park, many are
worried about the future of the Tekels Park
Deer
as they are not a protected species.
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The
The Menai Bridge links the Island of
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General pages
about Wales, Welsh History
and The History
of Theosophy in Wales
Wales is a
Principality within the United Kingdom and has an eastern
border with
England. The land area is just over 8,000 square miles.
Snowdon in North
Wales is the highest mountain at 3,650 feet.
The coastline is
almost 750 miles long. The population of Wales
as at the 2001 census is 2,946,200.
________________
Bangor Conwy
& Swansea Lodges are members
of the Welsh
Regional Association (Formed 1993).
Theosophy Cardiff
separated from the Welsh Regional
Association in
March 2008 and became an independent
body within the Theosophical Movement in March 2010
High Drama & Worldwide Confusion
as Theosophy Cardiff Separates from the
Welsh Regional Association (formed 1993)
Theosophy Cardiff cancels its Affiliation
to the Adyar Based Theosophical Society