Biologia

CHAPTER -6- [BOOK -II-]

ELEMENTS AND ELEMENTALS


The Elements come into being as a result of the process of differentiation that accompanies manifestation. From the One, the Many: from homogeneity, diversity:
Primordial matter, then, before it emerges from the plane of the never-manifesting, and awakens to the thrill of action under the impulse of Fohat [see Chapter 1 and Glossary], isbut "a cool Radiance, colourless, formless, tasteless, and devoid of every quality and aspect".

From this originating matter are produced
the seven primal "Centres of Forces", or atoms, that develop later into the great Cosmic "Elements", now divided into the seventy or so sub-elements known to science. [The Secret Doctrine -I, 82 /I, 110 /I, 147]

(This was written, of course, before 1888.Science today recognizes many more such sub-elements.)

We now have to consider another aspect of differentiation relating closely to the Elements - the Tattvas. A useful explanation of the term is given by Geoffrey Barborka in The Divine Plan :
Tattva is a Sanskrit word which is generally rendered "reality", although the literal meaning of the word is "that-ness", since it is derived from thepronominal particle tat with the suffix tva . It may also be rendered "element", in the sense of the underlying reality behind the outward appearance or physical manifestation. [The Divine Plan - 174]

Further help is given to the reader in a description of the idea associated with the word Tattva:
Tattva conveys the idea that there is a "force-side" or "spirit-side" to the elements ... It is theforce, or "spirit-side" of an element that enables it to "change", that is, develop or unfold, as the cyclic periods progress, since each era requires a different aspect - because of the various planes - in which the Element-Principle must manifest in order to accomplish its evolutionary advancement or unfoldment. [The Divine Plan - 173]

Like everything else in Nature, the Tattvas are seven innumber, although some Indian systems give only five (for reasons which are explained in the relevant passage). In instructions to her circle of students in London, Mme Blavatsky pointed out that in Nature
... we find seven Forces, or Seven Centres of Force, and everything seems to respond to that number, as for instance, the septenary scale in music, or Sounds, and the septenary spectrum inColours. [The Secret Doctrine -III, 497 /V, 474 /The collected writings of HPBlavatsky -XII, 610 /The esoteric writings of HPBlavatsky - 395]

There follows here a list of the seven Tattvas, each with its distinguishing name according to its characteristic nature or function; Adi (the primordial universal Force), Anupadaka (the first differentiation on the plane of being), Akasha (the Creative Forceof the Third Logos), Vayu (the aerial plane where substance is gaseous), Taijasa (the plane of our atmosphere, from tejas , luminous), Apas (watery or liquid substance or force) and Prithivi (the terrestrial spirit or force).
All these correspond to our principles, and to the seven senses and forces in man. According to the Tattva or Force generated or induced in us, so will our bodies act. [TheSecret Doctrine -III, 498 /V, 475 /The collected writings of HPBlavatsky -XII, 612 /The esoteric writings of HPBlavatsky -, 396]

The correspondences between the Esoteric Principles, Tattvas or Forces, and the Human Body, States of Matter and Colour are set out in the comprehensive table below which should be studied at this point in conjunction with the text.

Estamos familiarizados con laidea de la evolución en los reinos visibles de la naturaleza que nos rodea. Occultism recognizes the universality of the evolutionary principle which brings into existence and develops the Elements one after the other in the sequence of the Rounds (a Round being defined by one of the Mahatmas as "the passage of a monad from globe A to globe Z ... through the encasement in all and each of the four...