Reprinted by Blavatsky Study Center

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Atma - as Seventh Principle of Man

Theosophy:   

"'Remember that there is within man no abiding principle' - which sentence I find followed by a remark of yours 'How about the sixth and seventh principles?' To this I answer, neither Atma nor Buddhi ever were within man..." (Mahatma Letters, p. 455, #127)

"First of all, Spirit (in the sense of the Absolute, and therefore, indivisible ALL), or Atma. As this can neither be located nor limited in philosophy, being simply that which IS in Eternity, and which cannot be absent from even the tiniest geometrical or mathematical point of the universe of matter or substance, it ought not to be called, in truth, a 'human' principle at all. Rather, and at best, it is in Metaphysics, that point in space which the human Monad and its vehicle man occupy for the period of every life." (Key to Theosophy, p. 119)

Neo-Theosophy:

"These vehicles, being composed of matter modified by the action of the Planetary Logos of the Chain to which they belong, cannot respond to the vibrations of matter differently modified; and the student must be able to use his atmic body before he can contact the Universal Memory beyond the limits of his own Chain." (Annie Besant, A Study in Consciousness, p. 177)

" ....since the Ego in the causual body gives the fundamental tone or temperment for the incarnation, we may think of the Ego and his three lower vehicles as forming a chord of temperamental tones, the Chord of the Man. But the Individuality in the causal body is only a partial representation of all his qualities; behind his Higher Manas or Abstract Mind exists the Buddhi, the Divine Intuition, and behind that, the Atma or the indomitable Spirit of God in man. But the Atma, Buddhi, and higher attributes of the Monad, 'the Son in the Bosom of the Father.' The fundamental note of the Life of the Logos gives the dominant tone for the Monad, and the three attributes of the Monad, on the Adi, Anupadaka and the higher Nirvanic planes, make the 'Chord of the Monad.'" (C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, p. 110) [15]