Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tl00389)

>Martin comments: if we view swabhava as operating on all planes of
>existence, then their would be a spiritual swabhava too.
	We don't view swabhava as operating on all planes.
At least, I and Buddhism don't.  It only operates on the lower
four planes (physical, astral, mental, and causal).  Above the
Abyss, the sense of oneness obliterates all swabhavic tendencies.

>Martin comments: if it is a circle, then what about progressive evolution,
>a key concept in theosophy?
	"Progressive evolution" is an illusion, a maya, just like
swabhava.  Both are very real on the lower four planes, but do not
exist on the higher planes.

>Martin comments> But most of us (all?) need several lifetimes to
>complete this circle. Every next life we get closer to this unity
>of Self with Not-Self (if we tread the spiritual path).
>So, don't we see a spiral here instead of a circle?
	Yes, there is a spiral, but it exists within an overall
circle.  In order to understand reincarnation, go back to its
very beginnings and ask yourself where it all starts.  There
cannot logically be any "beginning" as such.  This is exactly
what gets Christianity into so much logical hot water.  We
only get out of this delimna by assuming a circle--we begin
as spiritual, go through countless manvantaras of spirals
both downward and upward, and then wind up spiritual
again--a big circle, without beginning or end, and without
logic problems.

	Jerry S.
	Member, TI