Anthony first conceived of the double nature of soul and the double knower from Plotinus. But when the Notebooks of Paul Brunton came to Hector in fall 1981, Anthony avidly read all he could of the 35000+ paras. When he began to hold classes on the notes, in 1982, one could sense that his whole view, and experience, seemed to undergo a radical transformation. In one particular direction, Anthony found a focus and deepening of his ideas: the double non-dual nature of Soul or, in PB’s language, Overself. Here he found a deep sympathy, in the explanation of the purpose of life as a human evolutionary journey, a fabulous view of the double nature of Soul and intelligence, and a grand view of the flowering of humanity as the philosopher-sage. [quote PB on Philosophy and Philosopher: I want the philosopher to be identified with the man of insight.”]

From spring1983 to March 9, 1984, Anthony had a series of deepening and unifying visions of the double nature of Soul. In 4/27/83 we discussed a few of the essential paras from The Notebooks of Paul Brunton on “… the paradoxically dual nature which the Overself possesses… “ : especially 22:3.390 22.3.386

The Overself is truly an eternal image of World‑Mind. There­fore it is written in the Bible that God made man in his own image. The reference here could never have been to the lower aspect of man, the petty creature who frets and fumes his way through life. The phrase fits finely however to the immeasurably higher aspect of this two‑fold species. The fact that people have turned round and denied their person, nay even sacrificed their person, points to the presence within them of something which is dif­ferent from the person, points indeed toward the Overself. Each person therefore has two faces. One is downturned toward the earth but the other is upturned toward World‑Mind. The first is the ‘person’ and the second is the Overself. The Wisdom of the Overself

Because of the paradoxically dual nature which the Overself possesses, it is very difficult to make clear the concept of the Overself. Human beings are rooted in the ultimate mind through the Overself, which therefore partakes on the one hand of a relationship with a vibratory world and on the other of an existence which is above all relations. A difficulty is probably due to the vagueness or confusion about which standpoint it is to be regarded from. If it is thought of as the human soul, then the vibratory movement is connected with it. If it is thought of as transcending the very notion of humanity, and therefore in its undifferentiated character, the vibratory movement must disappear.22:3.390

The mysterious character of the Overself inevitably puzzles the intellect. We may appreciate it better if we accept the paradoxical fact that it unites a duality and that therefore there are two ways of thinking of it, both correct. There is the divine being which is entirely above all temporal concerns, absolute and universal, and there is also the demi-divine being which is in historical relation with the human ego. 22.3.386

From there, for the next 10 months, culminating in a class of 03/09/84, Anthony was immersed in this powerful presentation of double nature of Soul. But the seeds were there in Plotinus. Anthony wrote a paper based on a quote from The Notebooks “what is the use.” He presented this synthetic view in a class of May 27 1983. Anthony refined this view in June and July, perhaps best in a class of June 18 1983 [check date!].

Anthony then gave a 10 day seminar in Sweden to a group of PB students, that later was published as “Looking Into Mind.” Although he focused on Meditation and Mentalism during the seminar, he explained what he wanted to do with cosmology-astrology. [Quote here from LIM]

During this time, Anthony was continuing to apply and unfold his grand vision of Philosophy to and with the cosmology of Astrology. When he returned from Sweden, he presented some classes on his detailed re-vision of cosmic epistemology: the details of the arisal of our experience as mirrored by the cosmos: how “The World-Mind thinks its ideas into our mind.” See especially classes of Sept. 14 October 14 1983 nov 11,16.

During the later fall, he found a tremendous parallel between PB ideas of philosophy and Plotinus’ ideas of the Nous and the “double knower” of 5.3. The philosopher was the person of “insight” which was for Plotinus “noesis,” or the presence of the Nous in the Soul. The soul had two essential directions: reason or dia-noia and insight, or noesis. These paralleled its double nature: “that the soul is both inviolable and becoming something is extraordinarily beautiful.”

He explained the relation of the Soul—Overself of PB, Atma of Vedanta—and the World-Idea as an interdependent arising characterized by Buddhism. “Our way is to teach the soul…” showed him that the soul was learning from the cosmic intelligence, the World-Idea. From this journey unfolds the true flowering of humanity as expression of divine ideas, and the double nature of Insight and understanding as Knowing, Willing and Feeling. Classes of dec 7 1983 January 4 and 25 of 1984 were particularly powerful in unfolding this vision of Philosophy and the double nature of soul in PB.

I remember one day visiting the Rochester Museum of Art, after a session the double nature. I suddenly came upon this pair of Japanese Buddhist tangkas of the Vajra (below left) and Womb (below right) mandalas. I was suddenly flashed by the realization that the “double nature” is a divine idea or deity itself, not a concept.

Over the winter of 1983-84, Anthony wrote a final series of papers on his cosmological view of soul presented in classes Jan 6, Jan 13, January 27, Feb 3 and culimating in the in the class of March 9, 1984. “Deliberate repetition and Emphasis”; “Omnipresence of the authentic existence” and “Our venerable guide…” [These papers are incorporated into Astronoesis -- on Plotinus and Cosmology:.] 

What he visioned in the deep philosophical meanings, he also wanted to find in the astrological horoscope, and thus in our lives. Thus, the exploration of the lives of great beings deepened greatly during this period. See especially the series of works on the horoscopes of great people.

Soul Double Nature: Class Excerpts