Humans whose contact with their spiritual selves has been severed due to a long history of persistent and deliberate evil-doing. Helena P. Blavatsky writes at some length about “Lost Souls” in her E.S. Instruction No. III (CW XII:632 et. seq.). As presented by her the subject is somewhat complicated, but the basic points she makes are as follows:

Essentially, a human being, comprising a number of energy systems known as the subtle bodies used by the higher spiritual Self, has a communication channel known technically in theosophical literature as AntažkaraïA; Blavatsky defines it as the bridge between the higher and lower Manas (the spiritual Ego and the personal soul). This “bridge,” Blavatsky claims, can be interrupted or destroyed by serious and persistent evil practices such as Black Magic or long term debauchery. To destroy the “bridge” is to leave an impassable chasm over which the traveler can never reach the goal on the other side. If antaƒkaraŠa is destroyed then the entity is doomed (according to Blavatsky) to physical life on Earth, suffering karmic torments, and this will continue through life after life as long as the individual continues to live in a debased fashion.

Having, as it were, disassociated itself from the deplorable activities of the Lower Self, the Divine Self (štman) does one of two things: either it recommences immediately, under its own karmic driving force, a new series of incarnations, or it may seek and find Nirvšïa.

The reader wishing for more details about this concept may consult the E.S. Instruction No III referred to above and also Inner Life by Charles W. Leadbeater.

P.S.H.

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