. . . when the sun is set, Yajnavalkya, and the moon is also set, and the fire sinks down, and the voice is stilled, what is then the light of the spirit of man?
 The Soul then becomes his light, he answered . . . . What is the Soul?  It is the Consciousness in the Life-Powers.  It is the Light within the heart . . . .

There is a third thing in the universe [in addition to force and matter], to wit, consciousness, which . . . I can not see to be matter or force, or any conceivable modification of either . . . .

The student of nature, who starts from the axiom of the universality of the law of causation, can not refuse to admit an eternal existence; if he admits the conservation of energy, he cannot deny the possibility of an eternal energy; if he admits the existence of immaterial phenomena in the form of consciousness, he must admit the possibility, at any rate, of an eternal series of such phenomena.

“The Soul” is indeed a vague conception and the reality of the thing to which it refers cannot be demonstrated.  But consciousness is the most self-evident of all facts . . . . Biologists have sometimes referred to origin of life as “an improbable accident.”  But is not the assumption of an “improbable chemical accident” which results ultimately in something capable of discussing the nature of “improbable chemical accidents” a staggering one?  Is it not preposterous?  Is it not far easier to believe that thought in some potential form must be as primary as matter itself?

The plain truth is that one may conceive the mental world behind the veil in as individualistic a form as one pleases, without any detriment to the general scheme by which the brain is represented as a transmissive organ.  If the extreme individualistic view were taken, one’s finite mundane consciousness would be an extract from one’s larger, truer personality, the latter having even now some sort of reality behind the scenes.  And in transmitting it . . . one’s brain would also leave affects upon the part remaining behind the veil; for when a thing is torn, both fragments feel the operation.

Since then in the course of our existence we find the origin of a part only of the contents of subconsciousness, it is at least permissible to seek the remainder of anterior experiences . . . . If in place of a single existence, we include a series of successive existences, the acquisition of consciousness by the primitive unconsciousness can readily be understood . . . .

Would the principle of continuity which exists even for the so-called inorganic matter, for a floating atom, be denied to the spirit, whose attributes are consciousness, memory, mind, love!  Really, the very idea is preposterous . . . .

                                                            Theosophical Glossary

“Noetic” is an adjective of Nous, a platonic term for the Higher Mind or Soul.  It means Spirit as distinct from anima soul –psyche.  It is the “divine consciousness” or mind in man.

                                                                      The Secret Doctrine

. . . the nature of the . . . “First Cause” which . . . derives from the “causeless cause,” the “Eternal” and the “Unknowable,” may be essentially the same as that of the Consciousness which wells up within us: in short . . . the impersonal reality pervading the Cosmos is . . . pure thought.

Spirit (or consciousness) and Matter are . . . to be regarded not as independent realities, but as two facets or aspects of the Absolute.

Thus from Spirit, or Cosmic Ideation, comes our consciousness; from cosmic substance the several vehicles in which that consciousness is individualized and attains to self- or reflective-consciousness . . . .

Then everything becomes one, all individualities are merged into one, yet each knowing itself, a mysterious teaching indeed.  But then, that which to us now is non-consciousness or the unconscious, will then be absolute consciousness.

. . . you yourselves are physically composed of conscious cells that carry within themselves the realization of their own identity, that cooperate willingly to form the corporeal structure that is yout physical body.

The Soul or entity is highly individualized spiritual energy.  It forms whatever being you now wear and is the motive power behind your physical survival, for from it you derive your vitality.  Consciousness can never be still but seeks further creativity.

With each . . . judgment the experience of pure hearing becomes fainter and fainter, until one no longer hears the sound but hears only his thoughts about it.