Question And Commentary
On The
Period of
Happiness Between Two Lives
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Question:
It is said, in “The Key to Theosophy” and other works
of classical theosophy, that the Devachan, the long and blessed stage between
two physical incarnations of the same soul, is mayavic or illusory.[1]
How can it be both blessed and mayavic?
Commentary:
The wisdom or problem in such statements is in the way
we read them. One should beware of looking at them in one sense only, or as if
they were not referring to a multidimensional reality.
The word “Maya” has been much abused since HPB lived,
and its real meaning must be examined to begin with. Everything in the world is
true in the sense that everything is subject to the One Law, and every mistake
will be corrected in due time. But on the other hand each thing, object and
experience is mayavic or illusory in the sense that it is impermanent in
space-time. [2]
So the elevated and blessed Devachan is “maya”
because, although taking a long time - from 1,000 to 4,000 years according to
the Mahatma Letters - it is still impermanent.
On the other hand, the Devachan has two stages. In the
first one, Rupa Devachan or Devachan with forms, the pure-spiritual version of
one’s personality is surrounded by “eternally pleasant” circumstances.
Rupa Devachan is mayavic, as the classical literature
of Theosophy says. It is so from the point of view of the material and
physical-senses reality. Rupa Devachan shares the nature of dreams. Yet it is
much LESS mayavic than the so-called “waking” life, which is obviously a
“dream” and often nightmarish. Few people are truly awake while their physical
bodies are awake. It is easy to see that most of them follow inaccurate dreams
in their so-called waking lives.
One should not think therefore that Helena Blavatsky
meant to say Devachan is “more mayavic” than physical life. Rupa Devachan is in
fact tremendously true in a deeper sense than the physical “maya” of life.
As to the Arupa Devachan - the Devachan with no images
or forms - it is much harder to call it mayavic: it relates to our dreamless
sleep.
So from what point of view is the Rupa Devachan
mayavic?
It is mayavic for an advanced disciple who has attained
a blessed (if also painful) consciousness of Life during his physical
existence. Advanced disciples don’t need the elementary-school blessings of
Devachan. They can quickly reincarnate to help mankind again and again, as they
expand their relation to the seeds of Nirvana.
Devachan is a sublime and spiritual truth for all
human beings except advanced disciples and Mahatmas.
Devachan is as true as divine parables are, and
metaphors, and symbolic teachings of sacred contents.
The images and “circumstances” present in Rupa
Devachan should not be taken literally, therefore. As symbols of one’s soul
they are true enough to give us the blessings we deserve between one
incarnation and the other. Rupa Devachan prepares the spiritual soul to the
deeper, silent and non-visual blessings of Arupa Devachan.
NOTES:
[1] “The Key to Theosophy”, H. P. Blavatsky, Theosophy
Co., Los Angeles, see p. 146. Also, “The Mahatma Letters”.
[2] See the article “Truth and ‘Maya’ in Theosophy”, by
Carlos Cardoso Aveline. It is published in our associated websites.
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The above article
is reproduced from the March 2015 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.
See more on
Devachan in the article “The Process
Between Two Lives”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline. It is available in our
associated websites.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the
ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by
Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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