Theosophy - Individuality And Personality - by Anon - as published in Theosophical Siftings - Volume 3
INDIVIDUALITY
AND PERSONALITY
by Anon
reprinted
from “Theosophical Siftings” Volume - 3 -
[Page 16] IN the study of Theosophy, which is the synthesis
and ultimate issue of all Science, Philosophy and Religion,
the range of subjects to be considered is so vast and far-reaching,
that the mind of the student is liable to be at first dazzled,
then confused, and finally a feeling of hopelessness sets
in which causes him to withdraw altogether from the pursuit
of the Higher Wisdom. In the face of this discouragement
it is often well, instead of trying to deal at one and the
same time with many new doctrines in seeming opposition to
all one's former teachings, to examine some one point in
detail, to become familiar with its various aspects, and
finally to view it from a distance in order to observe its
relation to the whole.
The neglect of
this latter part of the proposition seems to be one cause
why many abandon further study of the subject in impatience,
and in their failure to see what good it can do, turn away
in disgust at the monstrosity of the view presented. A
fact, for instance, may be put forward for their observation,
the truth of which they cannot well deny, but finding nothing
in their too material consciousness to which it can be linked,
the newly-discovered treasure falls from their grasp, as
they find that they have been truly trying to "hitch
their wagon on to some star", which had (to them) no
existence. The fact fades from their mind like a dream, and
they return to their old materialistic "grind", declaring
that "all is vanity" which cannot be cognised
by the animal senses.
A stranger at one of our meetings for discussion of Theosophical
subjects lately, remarked that some of our arguments were
very good, but why mix up with them sentimental ideas, such
as Karma. Had he patiently examined this doctrine the gentleman
would have found it to be nothing but an exposition of the
fundamental natural law of cause and effect acting on human
lives, and would have seen its reasonableness and its importance
as a basis of Theosophical teaching. He would then probably
have been led on to the consideration of other aspects of
Theosophical truth, till one by one all were conquered.
Among these aspects
there is none the right understanding of which is more
important than the distinction between those two divisions
of man's nature, called in Theosophy, the Individuality
and the Personality. Without a right knowledge of all that
is involved in these terms, no true system of ethics can
be built up, for it is the constant tendency of mankind [Page
17] to cultivate the one at the expense of the other,
and having thus destroyed the balance and harmony of Nature,
he proceeds to attribute to her or to his fellow-beings,
the mischievous results which he has himself brought about.
The relation of the Personality to the Individuality is a
little corner of the field of Theosophic study, which we
may examine with profit in order to obtain a better understanding
of the whole. And as analogy is useful, and since we are
thinking of a field, we may without moving from the spot,
lift up our eyes, and notice the tree whose leaves are beginning
to fall. One by one they fade, and as the sap, the vital
principle, is withdrawn from their cells, they drop off and
die; they are trodden into the soil beneath, their tissues
disintegrate, their gases are dispersed in the atmosphere,
they are gone into the "grave of things". Will
they return again ? no, not with the same bodies, but the
tree will clothe itself anew with other leaves which it will
feed and inform with the sap, the vital principle that is
stored up within itself, and which proceeds from the One
Life which animates all Nature. Year after year this process
is continued, and yet the tree remains always the same individual
oak tree, or lime, or cedar, distinct not only from every
other species, but even from every other tree of the same
species. It is only by these continual changes and renewed
lives that the tree attains its full development. The leaves
are not meant for its adornment only, nor for the mere shelter
of birds, nor to make glad the heart of man, but they are
the means towards a fuller life in the tree itself. They
are its breathing apparatus, and as they lift up their surface
towards the sunlight, they draw in through a thousand pores
the elements which are transmitted in their chemical laboratory
into that colouring matter which gives such beauty to the
forest and the garden, but which has its primary use in the
economy of the tree itself. If the leaves are attacked by
blight or grubs, and do not properly perform this function,
the tree will remain stunted, and make no growth during that
particular year; another year, however, they may shoot forth
with vigour, and the tree will increase in height and girth,
and add to its permanent live stock, to its individuality
as a tree. Without carrying our analogy too far, we may liken
our personality to the leaves of the tree. It is the garb
which our individuality, our incarnating Ego, dons for each
life as the most appropriate expression of its actual state
and needs. Certain physical traits will doubtless be due
to heredity, but even these often become modified or disappear
as the character develops, and the real self comes to the
front. Now, the error of the ordinary human being, especially
one under the influence of the prevalent materialism, is
to mistake the personality for the real man, whereas it is
but as the clothes of the actor, appropriate to the part
he has to play. "Each man in his time plays many
parts", is true [Page 18] even
in our sense, whether Shakespeare intended it so or not, "each
man", standing
for the real Ego, and "many parts" for successive
lives or personalities. The doctrine of Reincarnation, in
itself a wide subject for study, is inseparably bound up
with that of the Individuality and personality, as well as
that of Karma, which determines the course of the Ego throughout
its various lives. But on that we need not dwell just now.
The personality being, to the uninstructed eye, more discernible
than the individuality, men are apt to make it the object
of their whole attention their striving and their love. They
work for its welfare in life, exhausting their best energies
in its behalf, and when it dies, they mourn for its outer
shell with excess of grief, tending with infinite care the
grave which holds it, though its component parts remain even
there but a short time in cohesion. Christians say of course
that the " spirit returns to God who gave it", but
they do not generally behave as though this were their living
belief. Even the religious man's ideas are sorely tinctured
with a scepticism he dares not admit in words. It is because
he does not understand the true relation of the personality
to the individuality.
Let us try to define more exactly what is meant by those
two words : Theosophy teaches that man's nature is sevenfold,
the three higher parts constituting his spiritual and imperishable,
the four lower his material and perishable nature. These
two divisions are linked together during life by the fifth
principle, the Manas or Ego, which on the one side is immersed
in the matter in the lower quaternary, and on the other side
aspires upward to the Divine. Mathematically it may be represented,
the higher triad by an equilateral
triangle:
the lower quaternary by a square:
Placing one over the other the Manas or Ego may be
conceived
of as a double triangle uniting and intersecting the two
with one point turned downwards, the other
heavenwards, thus: The lower
quaternary furnishes to the Manas a personality which is
perishable and variable, and is but the "flowing vestment
of and unchanging reality". But, says the sceptic, of
what use is life on earth ? Is it not the materialist argument
that man's life is blotted out and leaves no trace, and that
even what is called his higher nature perishes with the physical
brain ? Just so; but then the materialist recognises only
the personality, holding that for the entire man, and ignoring
that which Theosophy understands by the Higher Self, the
Immortal Ego, the [Page 19] Individuated Spirit. And how
do we think that pure spirit, which has neither form nor
parts nor differentiation, can become an Individual ? Theosophy
answers: By its descent into matter, by its conjunction
with the human consciousness, which, without its presence,
would be scarcely a degree above that of the higher animals.
The question most
frequently asked in these days is this: "Is life
worth living?" The answers are various,
but are mostly tinged with pessimism. The political economist
tells us that the end of man's being is happiness, the greatest
happiness of the greatest number; but in the face of the
rampant misery of the many, he can scarcely believe even
his own panaceas for their abatement, and his so-called science
is becoming as much discredited as theology itself. Now what
does Theosophy answer to this question ? It tells us that
life on earth is only a phase in the evolution of the individual
by means of the struggle with matter, and of the specific
experience gained through a material personality. It does
not teach that life or happiness is an end in itself, although
right living in, in each successive stage of existence does
induce that harmonious condition which may be called happiness.
But it is at best only a fleeting state, for as soon as the
higher stages of consciousness are reached, happiness can
only be attained in living for the higher by the complete
conquest of the lower, a life which connotes both struggle
and sadness — struggle with the lower principles which,
if they get the upper hand, drag man downwards, and sadness
at the sight of so many who cannot be convinced of the necessity
for the upward striving. The Christ must, of necessity, be
also the Man of Sorrows, he must bear the cross not only
for himself but for others. Well did Jesus teach that man
must lose his life for his sake (the Christos) ere he can
find it; in other words, the riot of the personal must give
way to the grave footsteps of the divine in man. The two
cannot co-exist except in the due subordination of the one
to the other, the lower must minister to the higher. And
by this it is not meant that the personality is to be starved,
or that ascetism, as ordinarily understood, is to be practised.
The personality has a work to perform, and the body must
be maintained in a state of efficiency for action. But the
personality is much more than the mere physical body. It
embraces the affections with all their multiform activities
for good and for evil, the intellectual faculties and their
potentialities, it is concerned in all the relations of social
life, it is concerned with the whole sphere of human duties.
Each one of us in his place has to work out his salvation
by means of his personality. And in accordance with the use
we make of our opportunities will be the future we prepare
for ourselves, so that, though, on the one hand, our position
here is the result of causes formerly set in motion by us,
we are, on the [Page 20] other hand, creating fresh
causes, the effects of which may reach us in this life, or may be
postponed to some future existence. If we realized this to
the utmost, there would be no room for that discontent with
our surroundings which is so rife in the present day; the
thought expressed by the religious poet is correct:
Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident,
It is the very place God meant for thee.
St. Paul says
somewhere: "Art thou a slave, care
not for it". It is of very little importance into what
position we are born, the only important thing is that we
should learn what lesson we can from it, do the duty that
lies nearest to us, and try to teach others, by our sympathy,
to do the same, bearing one another's burdens where we can,
and thus fulfil the law of Christ. Those who hold positions
of great influence in the world, can work for others on a
larger scale, but their work will not be more blessed than
the cup of cold water given by unselfish love. Our personal
surroundings are the channels for the stream of activities
which go to make up what we call our life here; the true
function of the personality is to gather such materials as
our experience affords for the building up of a character,
an individuality which shall endure when the personality,
after due service rendered, shall return to the elements,
leaving behind only the impress of its unselfish deeds, its
truly noble acts of love and self-denial to be incorporated
with the immortal Ego by which those acts were inspired.
And thus " he that loseth his life shall find it", nothing
of good shall die, nothing of high and pure.
What we want is
to separate in our daily life the chaff of that which pertains
merely to the personal or lower self, from the true grain
that is to fortify and build up the enduring fabric of
the individual character. In the present state of society,
artificial and unreal as much of it is, this cannot be
done without making a decided stand in favour of the real
and true. It is a step gained to recognise the position,
a greater gain still to act upon our knowledge. It needs
but that a few should be courageous and act up to their convictions,
for there is a groaning and travailing under the superficiality
from those who would gladly break through the crust if someone
would strike the first blow. Only by the due proportions
being kept between the upper and the lower parts of man's
nature, by training the personality to be the handmaid of
the Higher Self, can man's true emancipation be effected.
It is not for another to prescribe the details; each one
must work out the problem for himself by the study of the
Divine Wisdom —THEOSOPHIA,