One day Nasreddin Hoca, the sage of the Sufi stories, went to the bank to cash a check. When the teller asked him to identify himself, he took a mirror out of his pocket, looked into it and said, "Yes, that's me."
We might take out our driver's license instead of a mirror; but our sense of who we are may not be much deeper than Nasreddin Hoca's. We seldom ask ourselves: Who am I? What does it mean to be human?
Know Thyself
The Ageless Wisdom called Theosophy has long offered an understanding of the full variety of human nature more precise and detailed than modern psychology has yet even imagined. Yoga philosophy, Tibetan Buddhism and the teachings of ancient Egypt are only a few of the traditional sources of this broad view of the human being in modern Theosophy.
In the Theosophical description of human nature you can easily recognize many aspects of yourself, and also discover other aspects you have only dimly sensed. For example, many people have what the poet William Wordsworth called "intimations of immortality"; they feel deep down that they are more than their everyday selves. Within each of us there is a core, an eternal spark: Atman or the Self; the Christ within, the Buddha Nature that is one with the divine Ground of Being we call God. We express this inner core in the world through powers that our life experiences gradually set in motion.
In Theosophical literature these powers, capacities and abilities that enable us to express our innermost Self are called principles. We can think of them in two groups: the personality, largely directed toward the outer world and more transient, and the individuality, deeper, more inward-looking and more lasting. Expressions such as "I wasn't myself" or "I was carried away" show that we know intuitively that we have both an outer or "lower" and an inner or "higher" self. The Ageless Wisdom sets out this insight clearly.
The Personality
In the first set of principles, the personality, you can easily recognize yourself, because it is what we usually call "myself" and is made up of the most familiar aspects of our nature. The personality is sometimes called the "lower" self; but the personality is no more inferior to the other parts than low C on the piano is inferior to high C. Both are necessary parts of a whole. The personality is made up of the physical body (both the dense part we all know and the subtler part, called the "vital double," associated with the energy that flows through it), the emotions and a part of the mind.
The body, the double and vitality
When you feel tired or "low in energy," your flow of vital energy is weak; when you feel energetic and alive, that flow is strong. Surrounding the body and permeating every part of it is an energy field called the vital or "etheric" double (the etheric body). This field is fed by the life force that Hindus call "prana," the Chinese "chi," and Western psychologists "libido." This force is a universal energy present in all living things, and its proper flow is essential for life and health.
The emotions
Emotions, feelings, desires and passions can be very powerful forces, and they tend to fluctuate widely. Sometimes we are enthusiastic and excited about life; at other times depressed and listless. Within a short time we can be angry, sad, affectionate and joyful. Besides the vital double, our body is also surrounded by a field made up of emotional energies, and this field interpenetrates the body. Emotions circulate in this field and at times threaten to overwhelm us.
The personal mind
The aspect of the mind that belongs to the personality is closely connected with the physical brain. That is why it is called the "brain-mind"; it is called the "concrete mind" because it sees details and is realistic and practical, and the "lower mind" because it is closer to the world around us. By its power we make plans, find our way, solve practical problems and organize our daily lives.
The personal mind is also, as you have probably noticed if you have tried to meditate, the "monkey mind" that keeps jumping from one thing to another. It is the center of stereotyped thoughts, automatic defenses, rigid reactions that take no account of the uniqueness of a situation, and conditioning of every kind. For example, if someone of another race or culture treats us badly, we may feel hostility toward the whole group with which we identify that person. We act from such habits and conditioning far more than we realize.
The Individuality
Can you think of yourself without your body, your emotions and your "monkey mind"? Does anything remain? We constantly use the energies and powers of the personality, and much of the time we think we are nothing but these. But sometimes, for example when we are inspired and carried out of ourselves, we touch another, deeper layer of our being.
While contemplating nature, when we lose ourselves in a work of art or music, or in a state of intense concentration, we can rise to a higher sense of who we are. This state, which means stepping outside our everyday self (the Greek ekstasis, root of the English word ecstasy, means precisely "standing outside"), can also arise as the result of selfless love, compassion and empathy. The spiritual will or intention that gives us a sense of direction is also an aspect of the individuality. One of the ways of opening to this aspect of ourselves is through experiences of meditation and contemplation, in which the mind, instead of drawing us outward, settles and turns within.
The individuality has also been called the "higher" or immortal Self, the soul, and the reincarnating Ego. The individuality is made up of another group of principles, one of which is the abstract aspect of the mind. This aspect of the mind is called abstract because it deals with generalizations and universals.
The impersonal mind
The personal or "lower" brain-mind is conditioned by our experiences and changes constantly under the influence of our experiences in the world. The impersonal, "higher" or abstract mind, on the other hand, is concerned not with sense data but with the universal principles underlying our responses to those data. Mathematics, and symbols that stand for a whole class of objects, require this higher and impersonal thought. Yet the impersonal mind and the personal mind are not separate entities. The personal mind shows how the impersonal mind works through the brain during an incarnation. Both are aspects of a single mind, called in Sanskrit Manas.
Intuition
You have probably puzzled over a problem or an idea for a long time. Then you set it aside, and at a moment when you least expect it, insight appears. This is an example of intuition working through the mind. Sudden insight or illumination is a characteristic of intuition, called in Sanskrit Buddhi. Buddhi also gives rise to a sense of unity: whether with another person, with nature, the planet, the cosmos or the Divine.
Spiritual intention
The principles of intuition and abstract mind are directed by spiritual intention or will. This will is an aspect of Atman, the Self or divine spark; it focuses our energies on long-range spiritual goals and gives us a sense of direction that comes from deep within. We feel this function of the Self when we sustain a strong intention over a long time: as when a student of the path postpones personal gratifications, or when we persevere in our spiritual practices for years.
The principles are not separate parts of us; they are aspects of the one Self within us, ways in which the whole expresses itself in the world. They are like the colors of the rainbow born of the white light of the spirit, or Atman, the inner spark that is one with the Divine.
Our Long Journey
"Atman is Brahman" is an Eastern saying that, like the Great Teacher's words "I and my Father are one," expresses the idea that we are one with the Divine. Atman, the Divine within us, is the essence of our being; all the principles spring from it. It is also the Divine Ground that sustains and supports the universe. We set out from our home in Atman into the world in order to gain experience and to return enriched by the journey. Myths and fairy tales of journeys often tell of this journey we make into the personality and the body, and of our return to our home in Atman. The story of Tom Thumb (known in Turkish as "Parmak Çocuk") is one of them.
Tom's father was a tailor, and his mother spun thread. The thread represents the as yet unformed matter of which the cosmos is woven, and the cloth the tailor shapes represents the forms made from that thread. Tom's parents thus symbolize Atman, the divine essence from which all things are born, with its complementary masculine and feminine aspects. In the Upanishads Atman is described both as "greater than the great," that is, universal, and as "smaller than the small," a divine point buried in the heart of every living being. Tom is born before his time, just as we set out on our spiritual journey unformed and inexperienced. He is eager to leave his home and family and see the world, just as we are eager to plunge into a life full of experience.
In the course of his adventures Tom is first swallowed by a cow, an earthy symbol representing the taking on of a physical body. Then he falls among thieves and is swallowed by a fox or a wolf, traditional symbols of greed and gluttony that stand for excessive attachment to the physical world. But Tom also guides a horse by whispering in its ear, which tells how in time he gains control of the physical body. In the end he returns to his home and family a wiser child than when he left.
The wandering spirit within us that travels through the material worlds is Atman clothed in a subtle sheath of Buddhi, a point in the Divine. The union of these two is called the Monad. When they set out on the journey, they become embedded in the field of Manas, the impersonal mind. Throughout this long pilgrimage the three remain in unity as the individuality and are reflected into the world. Like Narcissus in the Greek myth, the individuality too falls in love with its own reflection, the personality, and forgets who it really is.
As the individuality, that is, Atma-Buddhi-Manas, we project many personalities over long periods of time. Through these personalities we meet challenges and opportunities that develop our principles and capacities more and more. The capacities we unfold persist in our individuality as we evolve and express them in the world. Nothing we gain is lost; it may only lie dormant for a while.
Eventually we begin to sense the purpose of this long journey that stretches over many lives. People who seek the meaning of life through a study such as Theosophy have set out on the way home. The desire to work together with our spiritual purpose awakens; we feel moved to develop ourselves consciously and to live more in harmony with what is highest within us. Like Tom Thumb, we turn toward our home in Atman.
