THE PARTS THAT COMPOSE EACH PRINCIPLE OF MAN EXPLAINED BY GEOFFREY BARBORKA

Here I will analyze what theosophist Geoffrey Barborka said about the different parts that make up each of the seven principles that constitute humans, which are:

    - His divine spirit (Atma)

    - His spiritual soul (Buddhi)

    - His mental (Manas)

    - His body of desires and passions (Kama)

    - His vitality body (Prana)

    - His astral body (Linga-Sarira)

    - His physical body (Sthula-Sarira)

Barborka put the following in the sixth section of chapter nine of his book "The Divine Plan".

--oOo--

THE 49 COMPONENTS

Barborka said:

The Secret Doctrine states that:

« Man needs four Flames and three Fires to be human on Earth, and requires the essence of all forty-nine Fires to be perfect. »

(SD II, p.57)

The four Flames are represented by the perishable quaternary, or the four lower principles: Sthūla-śarīra (the physical body), Linga-śarīra (the model body), Prāna (the life principle), Kāma (the desire principle).

While the three Fires represent the eternal triad, the three higher principles: Manas (the principle of mind); Buddhi (the discerning principle); Ātman (the universal principle).

And the essence of the forty-nine fires can be translated as the seven principles subdivided into seven – seven with seven, 7 x 7 = 49. In other words, the “seven within the seven” represents the seven principles with their septenary aspects, that is, each of the seven principles consists of seven aspects: 7 x 7 = 49.

Observations

Just as each plane of existence is made up of sub-planes, well then under the Law of Correspondence which says that "as above, so below; as in the great, so in the small", also each principle of man is made up of sub-principles.

And since the esoteric structure of the universe is septenary, that implies that each principle is made up of seven sub-principles.

And since we have seven principles in total, that implies that man is composed of 49 sub-principles (which in Theosophy are called "the 49 Fires").  

THE SEVEN COMPONENTS OF ATMA

Barborka said:

To illustrate this point, let us consider the seventh principle, Atman:

Within a sphere, seven spheres can be placed representing the principle of Ātman, each sphere representing an aspect of Ātman.

This is how it is:

Sthūla-śarīra, aspect of Ātman

Linga-śarīra, aspect of Ātman

Prana, aspect of Atman

Kāma, aspect of Ātman

Manas, aspect of Ātman

Buddhi, aspect of Ātman

Ātman, aspect of Ātman

Each principle can be enumerated in the same way, resulting in the forty-nine Fires.

Observations

It is preferable to say Atma and not Atman because Atman is the highest principle of the Universe (The Cosmic Divine Spirit), and Atma (that is, your divine spirit) is a ray of Atman.

Theosophical instructors revealed almost nothing about the 49 sub-principles.

I don't like that Barborka refers to the different parts that make up Atma with the names of the seven principles because that creates confusion, although surely each of those parts is essentially associated with one of those principles.

Using Atma as an example doesn't seem like a good idea to me because we know almost nothing about Atma, and that's why I prefer to use the physical body, which we know much better.

I suspect that the seven sub-principles of the physical body must be the different systems that make up the physical body (the skeletal system, the respiratory system, the nervous system, etc.).

And possibly:

  - the skeletal system is perhaps the physical sub-principle of the physical body,

  - the respiratory system is perhaps the pranic sub-principle of the physical body,

  - the nervous system is perhaps the manasic sub-principle of the physical body,

  - the blood system may be the atomic sub-principle of the physical body,

  - etc.

And based on this illustration, we can consider that the subtle sheaths that make up the human: his astral body, his pranic body, etc., are also composed of their respective systems.

This makes a total of 49 systems (which in Theosophy are called "the 49 Fires").  

However, it should be noted that scientists consider that there are twelve biological systems that make up the human body, not seven.

But this does not contradict the esoteric teaching; rather, it exposes a deeper aspect, since although at first it is pointed out that the hidden structure of the universe is septenary, in a deeper teaching it is revealed that it is also twelve-sided.