The Universe is made out of the Tattva, it is sustained by the Tattva, and it disappears into the Tattva,
says Shiva, as quoted from the Shivâgama in Nature's Finer Forces. This settles the question; if Prakriti is septenary, then the Tattvas must be seven, for, as said, they are both Substance and Force, or atomic Matter and the Spirit that ensoule it.
This is explained here to enable the student to read between the lines of the so-called Occult articles on Sanskrit Philosophy, by which they must not be misled. The doctrine of the seven Tattvas (the principles of the Universe and also of man) was held in great sacredness and therefore secrecy, in days of old, by the Brâhmans, who have now almost forgotten the teaching. Yet it is taught to this day in the Schools beyond the Himâlayan Range, though now hardly remembered or heard of in India except through rare Initiates. The policy has, however, been changed gradually; Chelâs began to be taught the broad outlines of it, and at the advent of the T. S. in India in 1879, I was ordered to teach it in its exoteric form to one or two. I now give it out Esoterically.
Knowing that some students try to follow a system of Yoga in their own fashion, guided only by the rare hints they find in Theosophical books and magazines, which must naturally be incomplete, I chose one of the best expositions upon ancient Occult works, Nature's Finer Forces, in order to point out how very easily one can be misled by their blinds.
The author seems to have been himself deceived. The Tantras read Esoterically are as full of wisdom as the noblest Occult works. Studied without a guide and applied to practice, they may lead to the production of various phenomenal results, on the moral and physiological planes. But let anyone accept their dead-letter rules and practices, let him try with some selfish motive in view to carry out the rites prescribed therein, and—he is lost. Followed with pure heart and unselfish devotion merely for the sake of experiment, either no results will follow, or such as can only throw back the performer. But woe to the selfish man who seeks to develop Occult powers only to [pg 493] attain earthly benefits or revenge, or to satisfy his ambition; the separation of the Higher from the Lower Principles and the severing of Buddhi-Manas from the Tântrist's personality will speedily follow, the terrible Karmic results to the dabbler in Magic.
In the East, in India and China, soulless men and women are as frequently met with as in the West, though vice is, in truth, far less developed there than it is here.
It is Black Magic and oblivion of their ancestral wisdom that lead them thereunto. But of this I will speak later, now merely adding: you have to be warned and know the danger.
Meanwhile, in view of what follows, the real Occult division of the Principles in their correspondences with the Tattvas and other minor forces has to be well studied.
About “Principles” And “Aspects.”
Speaking metaphysically and philosophically, on strict Esoteric lines, man as a complete unit is composed of Four basic Principles and their Three Aspects on this earth. In the semi-esoteric teachings, these Four and Three have been called Seven Principles, to facilitate the comprehension of the masses.