A Student’s Abridgment of the
AGELESS WISDOM
Volume I - “A Treatise on Cosmic Fire”
This series provides large-format abridgments of the seven core books written by Alice A. Bailey, that together comprise a large portion of that vast body of knowledge known as the Ageless Wisdom.
INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
This abridgment is dedicated to the Tibetan and Alice A. Bailey,
and to all engaged with the work of uplifting the consciousness of humanity.
The work accomplished by Alice A. Bailey and the Tibetan, since revealed as the Master of Wisdom known by the name of Djwhal Khul, can hardly be given too much praise for in the Blue Books they succeeded in delivering a great deal of the Ageless Wisdom to the world. Their seven core books, each masterfully presented with the clarity and order of a textbook, represent the essential current of Truth that runs through the sciences, religions and philosophies of Man, and unites them all under cosmic law. Within their body of work are found the laws and processes that underlie the love of the Christ and the wisdom of the Buddha. Herein are found answers to the true nature of God, the Cosmos, Spiritual and Solar Fire, the not-self and the true Self.
I demonstrate my gratitude for their service by attempting to apply the essential teachings in my life, and this abridgment is just such an attempt. I am confident that the work was overseen not only by my Higher Self, but by both DK and AAB, for I felt their presences throughout the process. The sutratma that they created between themselves and their body of work is strong and alive with vibrancy, and it was their discrimination that I relied upon when selecting text for inclusion. Yet, the karma for errors and omissions between the Treatise and this humble abridgment, must necessarily rest upon my shoulders. I freely offer this abridgment to the world in the spirit of love and intelligent service, and I believe it will, as a thought-form rightfully conceived and constructed, succeed in its purpose.
The purpose of this abridgment is threefold:
1. To coalesce a condensed form of the Ageless Wisdom, and this for three reasons:
a) To assimilate the data and develop an efficient method of studying the essential teachings.
b) To circulate, teach and learn the Ageless Wisdom with friends and family. To create a
study guide and teaching aid.
c) To transmit the essential teachings to those Seekers who may not take the time to read the
full Treatise, with the goal of transmitting 70% of the essential teachings with only 30%
of the study.
2. To promote awareness of the Ageless Wisdom within studious occult circles, such as the Hermetic
Qabalists, Christian Mystics, Ceremonial Magicians and Astrologers. Some within these
groups suffer heavily under dogma and misunderstood tradition, and will benefit greatly by
the study of Cosmic Law.
3. To quantify, demystify and promote awareness of the Ageless Wisdom in the global population.
This has in mind the following four aspects:
a) General psychology and self-improvement: Through a greater perspective of one’s
microcosmic self, as well as Man’s position within the planetary scheme, individuals
will be able to respond to life’s challenges with greater mobility and intelligence.
b) Unification of science, religion and philosophy: Through an understanding of the Law of
Analogy, the scientist who studies the Ageless Wisdom stands to gain much when he considers
the living atom of matter. The orthodox Christian may find illumination as to the nature of
God, the Father and the Son, while philosophers will discover the occult reason behind that
warmth, which is felt as individual, brotherly and group love; all will benefit through
knowledge of the concrete processes and abstract interactions that occur in, and actually
create of their own essence, the seen and unseen worlds around us.
c) Harmlessness, through right thought and speech: Through a proper comprehension of the
power of thought-forms, individuals will come to control the lower impulses, to seek harmlessness in all that they do, and to eventually radiate only the true essence of their Egoic Ray.
d) Intelligent individual and group activity: Societal reforms based on the Ageless Wisdom will promote enhanced unity within the human collective, and the intelligent organization and
activity that will result is the natural flow of evolution, for the Divine Plan works toward the greatest good of all.
In Unity, Love and Light,
Patrick Westfall
INTRODUCTION
by Foster Bailey
The story of the many years of telepathic work by the Tibetan with Alice A. Bailey is revealed in her Unfinished Autobiography, published in 1951. This includes the circumstances of her first contact with him, on the physical plane, which took place in California in November 1919. Thirty years’ work was planned. When this had been accomplished, and within thirty days after that period, Mrs. Bailey gained her release from the limitations of the physical vehicle. The Autobiography also contains certain statements by the Tibetan in regard to his work and some information as to the reasons why it was undertaken.
The spiritual truths dealt with involved in many cases the expression by the lower concrete mind (often with the insuperable restrictions of the English language) of abstract ideas and hitherto quite unknown concepts of spiritual realities.
The present volume, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, first published in 1925, was the third book jointly produced and carries inherent evidence that it will stand as the major and most far-reaching portion of the thirty-year teachings, notwithstanding the profundity and usefulness of the volumes published in the series entitled A Treatise on the Seven Rays or of any other of the books.
In A Treatise on Cosmic Fire the Tibetan has given us what H.P. Blavatsky prophesied he would give, namely, the psychological key to the Cosmic Creation. H.P.B. stated that in the 20th century a disciple would come who would give the psychological key to her own monumental work The Secret Doctrine on which treatise the Tibetan worked with her; and Alice A. Bailey worked in complete recognition of her own task in this sequence.
Tunbridge Wells, December 1950
Foster Bailey
EXTRACT OF A STATEMENT BY THE TIBETAN
I am a brother of yours, who has traveled a little longer upon the Path than has the average student, and has therefore incurred greater responsibilities. I am one who has wrestled and fought his way into a greater measure of light than has the aspirant who will read this, and I must therefore act as a transmitter of the light. My work is to teach and spread the knowledge of the Ageless Wisdom wherever I can find a response, and I also seek to help the Masters M. and the Master K.H. whenever opportunity offers.
If a teaching can bring forth a response from the illumined mind,
a flashing forth of the intuition, then let that teaching be accepted, but not otherwise.
FOREWARD
by Alice A. Bailey
The Treatise on Cosmic Fire has a fivefold purpose:
This book should tend to an expansion of consciousness, and recognition of its adequacy, as it is the result of the Master Minds of all time. The book will seek to form a system of philosophy that links Spirit and Matter, thereby linking Science and Religion.
The student is asked to keep the following four factors in mind while reading:
The teaching which is given in this Treatise on Cosmic Fire might be formulated in the following terms. These postulates are simply extensions of the three fundamentals to be found in the Proem in the first volume of The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky.
First Postulate
There is one boundless immutable Principle, one Absolute Reality behind all Beingness. The universe exists within this one Reality and 3 aspects are conceived:
Each of these is also triple, creating the nine Sephiroth, or the nine Emanations. These, with the totality of manifestation or the Whole, produce the ten of perfect manifestation, or the perfect MAN. These three aspects of the Whole are present in every form.
The solar system is triple, manifesting through the three above mentioned. A human being is equally triple, manifesting as Spirit, Soul and Body, or Monad, Ego and Personality. The atom of the scientist is also triple, being composed of a positive nucleus, the negative electrons, and the totality of the outer manifestation, the result of the relation of the other two.
The three aspects of every form are interrelated and susceptible of intercourse, because energy is in motion and circulates. All forms in the solar system form part of the Whole, and are not isolated units. This is the basis of brotherhood, of the communion of saints, and of astrology.
These three aspects of God, the Solar Logos, and the Central Energy or Force (for the terms are occultly synonymous) demonstrate through seven centers of force, - three major centers and four minor. These seven centers of Logoic Force are themselves so constituted that they form corporate Entities. They are identified in this Treatise as:
The Seven Logoi embody seven types of differentiated force, and in this Treatise are known under the names of Lords of the Rays. The names of the Rays are:
(The above are the major Rays of Aspect. Below are the Rays of Attribute.)
Each Solar System is the form manifestation of the energy and life of a great cosmic Existence that we call a Solar Logos. It can be viewed in 3 aspects:
A human being is also triple:
An atom is triple:
These triplicities demonstrate through seven centers of force forming corporate Entities as the seven Rays and the seven sacred planets/logoi.
Second Postulate
The following Cosmic Laws govern all aspects of Life:
The Laws of the Solar System are:
Third Postulate
All Souls are an identity or aspect of the Oversoul. (Identified with the Oversoul)
Introductory Remarks
We purpose in these few introductory remarks to lay down the foundation for a "Treatise on Cosmic Fire," and to consider the subject of fire both macrocosmically and microcosmically, thus dealing with it from the standpoint of the solar system, and of a human being.
I. Fire in the Macrocosm
The essential nature of Fire is three-fold but is five-fold in manifestation.
First, we have the animating fires of the solar system, which are the fires of the primordial ray of active intelligent matter; these constitute the energy of Brahma, the third aspect of the Logos. Next are to be found the fires of the divine Ray of Love-Wisdom, the ray of intelligent love, which constitutes the energy of the Vishnu aspect, the second aspect Logoic. Finally are to be found the fires of the cosmic mental plane, which are the fires of the cosmic ray of will. They might be described as the rays of intelligent will and are the manifestation of the first aspect Logoic, the Mahadeva aspect. Mahadeva is literally "great Deva." The term is frequently applied to the first Person of the manifested Trinity, to Shiva, the Destroyer aspect, the Creator.
These three expressions of the divine Life may be regarded as expressing the triple mode of manifestation. First, the objective or tangible universe; second, the subjective worlds or form; and thirdly, the spiritual aspect which is to be found at the heart of all.
The internal fires that animate and vitalize show themselves in a twofold manner:
First as latent heat. This is the basis of rotary motion and the cause of the spheroidal coherent manifestation of all existence, from the Logoic atom, the solar ring-pass-not, down to the minutest atom of the chemist or physicist.
Second, as active heat. This results in the activity and the driving forward of material evolution. On the highest plane the combination of these three factors (active heat, latent heat and the primordial substance which they animate) is known as the 'sea of fire,' of which akasha is the first differentiation of pregenetic matter. Akasha, in manifestation, expresses itself as Fohat, or divine Energy, and Fohat on the different planes is known as aether, air, fire, water, electricity, ether, prana and similar terms.
Fohat is divine thought or energy (Shakti) as manifested on any plane of the cosmos. It is the interplay between Spirit and matter. The seven differentiations of Fohat are:
The fires of the mental plane also demonstrate in a twofold manner:
II. Fire in the Microcosm
Fire in the Microcosm is likewise threefold in essence and fivefold in manifestation:
Fire by Friction/Internal Fire: The vibration of the little system in which the monad is the logos and holds the personality in manifestation, thus allowing Spirit to contact dense matter. Governed by the Law of Economy. This is Internal Vitalizing Fire and is the sumtotal of individual kundalini; it animates the corporeal frame and demonstrates also in the twofold manner:
First, as latent heat which is the basis of life of the spheroidal cell, or atom, and of its rotary adjustment to all other cells. Second, as active heat or prana; this animates all, and is the driving force of the evolving form. It shows itself in the four ethers and in the gaseous state, and a correspondence is here found on the physical plane in connection with man to the Akasha and its fivefold manifestation on the plane of the solar system. When the latent fire of the personality blends with Solar Fire and finally merges with the Divine Flame, man/planet/solar system takes the 5th Initiation and completes one of his greater cycles.
Solar Fire/Spark of Mind: There is next the Fire or Spark of Mind which is the correspondence in man to Solar Fire. This constitutes the thinking self-conscious unit or the soul. This fire of mind is governed by the Law of Attraction as is its greater correspondence. Later we can enlarge on this. It is this spark of mind in man, manifesting as spiral cyclic activity, which leads to expansion and to his eventual return to the center of his system, the Monad - the origin and goal for the reincarnating Jiva or human being.
One day out of this long life of Brahma is called Kalpa; and a Kalpa is that portion of time which intervenes between one conjunction of all the planets on the horizon of Lanka, at the first point of Aries, and a subsequent similar conjunction. A Kalpa embraces the reign of fourteen Manus, and their sandhis (intervals); each Manu lying between two sandhis. Every Manu's rule contains seventy-one Maha Yugas, - each Maha Yuga consists of four Yugas, viz. , Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali; and the length of each of these four Yugas is respectively as the numbers, 4, 3, 2 and 1. The number of sidereal years embraced in the foregoing different periods are as follows: | ||||||
Mortal years | ||||||
360 days of mortals make a year | 1 | |||||
Krita Yuga contains | 1,728,000 | |||||
Treta Yuga contains | 1,296,000 | |||||
Dwapara Yuga contains | 864,000 | |||||
Kali Yuga contains | 432,000 | |||||
The total of the said four Yugas constitute a Maha Yuga | 4,320,000 | |||||
Seventy-one of such Maha Yugas form the period of the reign of one Manu | 306,720,000 | |||||
The reign of 14 Manus embraces the duration of 994 Maha Yugas, which is equal to | 4,294,080,000 | |||||
Add Sandhis, i. e. , intervals between the reign of each Manu, which amount to 6 Maha Yugas, equal to | 25,920,000 | |||||
The total of these reigns and interregnums of 14 Manus, is 1,000 Maha Yugas, which constitute a Kalpa, i. e. , one day of Brahma, equal to | 4,320,000,000 | |||||
As Brahma's night is of equal duration, one day and night of Brahma will contain | 8,640,000,000 | |||||
360 of such days and nights make one year of Brahma, equal to | 3,110,400,000,000 | |||||
100 of such years constitute the whole period of Brahma's age, a Maha Kalpa. | 311,040,000,000,000 | |||||
These figures are not fanciful, but are founded upon astronomical facts. | ||||||
Fire and the Aspects (Tabulation I) | ||||||
Fire | Ray | Aspect | Expression | Law | Quality | |
1. Internal | Primordial | Intelligent | Rotary motion | Economy | Fire by Friction | |
2. Of Mind | Love | Intelligent | Spiral cyclic | Attraction | Solar Fire | |
3. Divine Flame | Will | Intelligent | Forward | Synthesis | Electric Fire | |
THE RACES
|
As in the macrocosm, this fire also manifests in a twofold manner.
Active fire or prana, and latent fire or bodily heat.
Mental energy in the mental body, purely mental thought-forms, animated by self-engendered fire, or by the fifth principle, and therefore part of the sphere, or system of control, of the Monad.
Electric Fire/Monadic Flame Divine: This embodies the highest vibration of which the Monad is capable, is governed by the Law of Synthesis, and is the cause of the forward progressive movement of the evolving Jiva.
When the latent fire of the personality or lower self blends with the fire of mind, that of the higher self, and finally merges with the Divine Flame, then the man takes the fifth Initiation in this solar system, and has completed one of his greater cycles. When the three blaze forth as one fire, liberation from matter, or from material form is achieved. Matter has been correctly adjusted to spirit, and finally the indwelling life slips forth out of its sheath which forms now only a channel for liberation.
These terms, Lower Self, Higher Self, Divine Self, are apt to be confusing until the student apprehends the various synonyms connected with them. The following table may be found helpful: | ||
Father | Son | Mother |
Spirit | Soul | Body |
Life | Consciousness | Form |
Monad | Ego | Personality |
Divine Self | Higher Self | Lower Self |
Spirit | Individuality | Personal Self |
The Point | The Triad | The Quaternary |
Monad | Solar Angel | Lunar Lords |
III. Fire in Manifestation
1. Spiritual/Electric Fire: Little can be said about the evolution of Spirit as yet it can only be expressed in terms of the evolution of matter, except that it is the cause of forward progressive motion which, in its totality, is rotary, cyclic and progressive.
2. Solar Fire/Mental Fire: The expression of the evolution of manas, the vitality and evolution of the soul results in consciousness that is spiral cyclic in nature.
3. Fire by Friction: Concerns the axial rotary activity and eventual evolution of matter. The 3 fires blaze forth producing perfected consciousness, resulting in the purification and eventual destruction of the form upon the lower planes.
The internal fires of the system, of the planet, and of man are threefold:
SECTION ONE - Division A
The Internal Fires of the Sheaths
From the very use of the term "sheath" it will be noted that we are considering those fires which manifest through the medium of those externalities, of those veils of substance which hide and conceal the inner Reality. It is frequently overlooked by the casual student that both the astral and the mental bodies are material, and just as material in their own way, as is the dense physical body, and also that the substance of which they are composed is animated by a triple fire, as is the physical.
I. The Three Channels (Sheaths)
In the physical body, we have the fires of the lower nature (the animal plane) centralized at the base of the spine. They are situated at a spot which stands in relation to the physical body as the physical sun to the solar system. This central point of heat radiates in all directions, using the spinal column as its main artery, but working in close connection with certain central ganglia, wherever located, and having a special association with the spleen.
In the etheric body, which is an exact replica of its denser counterpart, we have the organ of active or radiatory fire, and, as is well known, the vehicle of prana. Its function is to store up the rays of radiatory light and heat which are secured from the sun, and to transmit them, via the spleen, to all parts of the physical body.
The Man: At the base of the spine lie hid the fires of the human system, or the internal fires of the Microcosm. The center is located there, and from it the radiations go forth along the three channels, recognizable in the spine.
Bodily warmth: The channel along which the heat radiates and which finds the goal of its attention to be the heating of the corporeal frame. This vitalization of the dense matter of the body finds its correspondence in the systemic akasha, and in planetary productive substance.
Nervous response: This is the vitalizing tenuous fluid which applies itself to the stimulation of the nervous centers, and which creates electrical response to contact between the nerves and the brain. It should now be more closely studied. It corresponds to systemic electricity, and to planetary electricity.
Pranic emanation: The emanation, via the etheric body, which corresponds in man to solar prana and to planetary prana. This demonstrates principally in the health aura and has naught to do with magnetic qualities, as generally interpreted when considering a personality, or man as a unit. I make this repetition as it is very necessary that no mental confusion exists between that magnetism which is a spiritual emanation and that which is purely animal.
It might be wise here to point out that this triple manifestation of fire demonstrates in the astral and mental bodies likewise, having to do with the substance of those bodies. The fire of Spirit is the essential fire of the first Lord of Will plus the fire of the second Logos of Love. These two cosmic Entities blend, merge, and demonstrate as Soul, utilizing for purposes of manifestation the aid of the third Logos. The three fires blend and merge. In this fourth round and on this fourth globe of our planetary scheme, the fires of the third Logos of intelligent matter are fusing somewhat with the fires of cosmic mind, showing as will or power, and animating the Thinker on all planes. The object of Their cooperation is the perfected manifestation of the cosmic Lord of Love.
II. Fire Elementals and Devas
The fundamental fact that should here be emphasized is that AGNI, the Lord of Fire, rules over all the fire elementals and devas on the three planes of human evolution, the physical, the astral, and the mental, and rules over them not only on this planet, called the Earth, but on the three planes in all parts of the system. He is one of the seven Brothers Who each embody one of the seven principles, or Who are in Themselves the seven centers in the body of the cosmic Lord of Fire, called by H.P.B. "Fohat."
He is that active fiery Intelligence, Who is the basis of the internal fires of the solar system. On each plane one of these Brothers holds sway, and the three elder Brothers (for always the three will be seen, and later the seven, who eventually merge into the primary three) rule on the first, third and the fifth planes, or on the plane of adi, of atma and of manas. It is urgent that we here remember that They are fire viewed in its third aspect, the fire of matter. In Their totality these seven Lords form the essence of the cosmic Lord, called in the occult books, Fohat.
Lord Agni is one of the seven Lords of Fire which constitute the chakra centers of Fohat in the same way that the seven Heavenly Men (sacred planets) form the centers of our Solar System, the 7 Chohans of earthly Hierarchy form the centers of our planet, our seven chakra centers form the essence of our incarnated selves.
Physical Plane Elementals:
1. The Physical Plane
2. The Astral Plane-Agnisuryans
The fiery essences of this plane are more difficult for us to comprehend, having not, as yet, the seeing eye upon that plane. They are in themselves the warmth and heat of the emotional body, and of the body of feeling. They are of a low order when upon the path of desire, and of a high order when upon the path of aspiration, for the elemental is then transmuted into the deva.
Their grades and ranks are many, but their names matter not save in one instance. It may be of interest to know the appellation applied to the devas of fire whose part it is to tend the fires that will later destroy the causal body. We need to remember that it is the upspringing of the latent fire of matter and its merging with two other fires that causes destruction. These elementals and devas are called the Agnisuryans, and in their totality are the fiery essences of buddhi, hence their lowest manifestation is on the sixth plane, the astral.
SECTION ONE - Division B
The Personality Ray and the First Fire
I. The Work of the Three Rays
Each body or form wherein Spirit functions has, for its focal point on each plane, an atom composed of matter of the atomic subplane of each plane. This serves as a nucleus for the distribution of force, for the conservation of faculty, for the assimilation of experience, and for the preservation of memory. These atoms are in direct connection with one or other of the three great rays in connection with the microcosm:
Each of these rays has a connection with one or other of the permanent atoms in the lower threefold man, and has a direct action upon the spirillae found within the atom.
The relationship between these three rays and the permanent atoms might be summarized as follows:
Each body in which a Spirit functions has a focal point upon each plane called a Permanent Atom. The Physical atom is linked to the Personality Ray, the Astral atom to the Egoic Ray and the Mental to the Monadic Ray.
II. The Personality Ray and the Permanent Atoms
The Personality Ray concerns the first four spirillae, Egoic the fifth and sixth, Monadic the 7th. By life upon the physical plane (that life wherein the physical permanent atom has its full demonstration) the matter is arranged and separated that must eventually be built into the Temple of Solomon, the egoic body, through the agency of the egoic life, the second aspect. In the quarry of the personal life are the stones prepared for the great Temple. In existence upon the physical plane and in the objective personal life is that experience gained which demonstrates as faculty in the Ego.
III. The Personality Ray and Karma
The karma of matter itself is an abstruse subject and has as yet scarcely been hinted at. It is nevertheless indissoluble mixed up with the karma of the individual. It involves a control of the evolution of the monadic essence, the elemental essence and of the atomic matter of the plane; it is concerned with the development of the four spirillae, with their activity, with their attachment to forms when atomic, and with the development of the inner latent heat and its gradual fiery increase until we have within the atom a repetition of what is seen within the causal body: the destruction of the periphery of the atom by the means of burning.
Every thing is, in its totality, the result of action taken by cosmic Essences and Entities in earlier solar systems which is working out through the individual atoms, and through those congeries of atoms which we call forms The effect of the personality Ray upon the internal fires is therefore, in effect, the result of the influence of the planetary Logos of whatever ray is implicated, as He works out that portion of Karma which falls to His share in any one cycle, greater or lesser. He thus brings about and eventually transmutes, the effects of causes which He set in motion earlier in relation to His six Brothers, the other planetary Logoi.
SECTION ONE - Division C
The Etheric Body and Prana
I. The Nature of the Etheric Body
In days to come it will be realized that the health of man is dependent upon the health of all allied evolutions, and upon the cooperative action and full expression of the matter of the planet and of the planetary elemental who is himself a composite manifestation of the physical elementals of all manifested nature.
In the study of the etheric body and prana lies the revelation of the effects of those rays of the sun which we will call "solar pranic emanations." These solar pranic emanations are the produced effect of the central heat of the sun approaching other bodies within the solar system by one of the three main channels of contact, and producing on the bodies then contacted certain effects differing somewhat from those produced by the other emanations.
Emanative prana does little in connection with form-building; that is not its province, but it conserves the form through the preservation of the health of its component parts. Other rays of the sun act differently, upon the forms and upon their substance. Some perform the work of the Destroyer of forms, and others carry on the work of cohering and of attracting; the work of the Destroyer and of the Preserver is carried on under the Law of Attraction and Repulsion. Some rays definitely produce accelerated motion, others produce retardation.
The ones we are dealing with here - pranic solar emanations - work within the four ethers, that matter which (though physical) is not as yet objectively visible to the eye of man. They are the basis of all physical plane life considered solely in connection with the life of the physical plane atoms of matter, their inherent heat and their rotary motion. These emanations are the basis of that "Fire by Friction" which demonstrates in the activity of matter.
Finally, in the study of the etheric body and prana comes comprehension of the method of Logoic manifestation, and therefore much of interest to the metaphysician, and all abstract thinkers. The etheric body of man holds hid the secret of his objectivity. It has its correspondence on the archetypal plane, - the plane we call that of the divine manifestation, the first plane of our solar system, the plane Adi.
1. Its Purpose and Description
The etheric body has been described as a network, permeated with fire, or as a web, animated with golden light. It is spoken of in the Bible as the "golden bowl." It is a composition of that matter of the physical plane which we call etheric, and its shape is brought about by the fine interlacing strands of this matter being built by the action of the lesser Builders into the form or mould upon which later the dense physical body can be molded.
Under the Law of Attraction, the denser matter of the physical plane is made to cohere to this vitalized form, and is gradually built up around it, and within it, until the interpenetrating is so complete that the two forms make but one unit; the pranic emanations of the etheric body itself play upon the dense physical body in the same manner as the pranic emanations of the sun play upon the etheric body. It is all one vast system of transmission and of interdependence within the system. All receive in order to give, and to pass on to that which is lesser or not so evolved. Upon every plane this process can be seen.
Thus the etheric body forms the archetypal plane in relation to the dense physical body. The thinker on his own plane stands, in relation to the physical, as the Logos to His system. In the synthesis of thought it might be expressed thus: The thinker on the astral plane, the plane of desire and of necessity, stands to the physical body as the Logos on the cosmic astral plane stands to His system.
It is with the etheric bodies of all we are dealing, and with their vivification by prana (whether cosmic, solar, planetary or human), with the organs of reception and with the basis of emanations. Here, therefore, we can arrive at certain dicta anent the etheric body which for purposes of clarity might well be enumerated:
Eight Statements
PHYSICAL SUBPLANES | SOLAR SYSTEM PLANES | CORRESPONDENCES |
1. First ether - Atomic plane | Adi | Sea of Fire First cosmic ether |
2. Second ether - Subatomic | Anupadaka | Akasha |
3. Third ether - Super-etheric | Atmic | Aether |
4. Fourth ether - Super-gaseous | Buddhic | Air |
DENSE PHYSICAL | PLANES OF HUMANITY | |
5. Gaseous - Subetheric | Mental | Fire |
6. Liquid | Astral | Water |
7. Earthly | Physical | Earth |
PRANA OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM THE SOLAR SYSTEM | |
Entity manifesting | The Solar Logos |
Body of manifestation | The solar system |
Receptive center | Pole of the Central Sun |
Surface radiation or emanation | Solar prana |
Movement produced | Systemic rotation |
Distributive effect | Solar etheric radiation |
THE PLANET | |
Entity manifesting | A planetary Logos |
Body of manifestation | A planet |
Receptive center | The planetary pole |
Surface radiation or emanation | Planetary prana |
Movement produced | Planetary rotation |
Distributive effect | Planetary etheric radiation |
A HUMAN BEING | |
Entity manifesting | The thinker, A Dhyan Chohan |
Body of manifestation | Physical body |
Receptive center | The spleen |
Surface radiation or emanation | Health aura |
Movement produced | Atomic rotation |
Distributive effect | Human etheric radiation |
THE ATOM OF MATTER | |
Entity manifesting | An elementary life |
Body of manifestation | The atomic sphere |
Receptive center | Pole of the atom |
Surface radiation or emanation | Contribution of atom to the |
Movement produced | Atomic rotation |
Distributive effect | Atomic etheric radiation |
We have seen that the etheric body formed the foundation of the dense physical form, and in itself constituted a most important link between:
We might now narrow the subject down to the consideration of the etheric body of the human being and not touch upon correspondences to things systemic or cosmic at all, though it may be necessary to remind ourselves that for the wise student the line along which wisdom comes is the interpretative one; he who knows himself (in objective manifestation, essential quality, and comprehensive development) knows likewise the Lord of his Ray, and the Logos of his system. It is only then a matter of application, conscious expansion, and intelligent interpretation, coupled to a wise abstention from dogmatic assertion, and a recognition that the correspondence lies in quality and method more than in detailed adherence to a specified action at any given time in evolution.
Science, as we know, is fast reaching the point where it will be forced to admit the fact of the etheric body, because the difficulties of refusing to acknowledge it, will be far more insuperable than an admission of its existence. Phenomena are occurring all the time which remain in the domain of the supernatural unless accounted for through the medium of etheric matter, and in their anxiety to prove the spiritualists wrong, scientists have aided the cause of the true and higher spiritism by falling back on reality, and on the fact of the etheric body, even though they consider it a body of emanative radiation - being concerned with the effect and not having yet ascertained the cause.
1. Solar Prana
This is that vital and magnetic fluid which radiates from the sun, and which is transmitted to man's etheric body through the agency of certain deva entities of a very high order, and of a golden hue. It is passed through their bodies and emitted as powerful radiations, which are applied direct through certain plexi in the uppermost part of the etheric body, the head and shoulders, and passed down to the etheric correspondence of the physical organ, the spleen, and from thence forcibly transmitted into the spleen itself. These golden hued pranic entities are in the air above us, and are specially active in such parts of the world as California, in those tropical countries where the air is pure and dry, and the rays of the sun are recognized as being specially beneficial. These solar devas take the radiatory rays of the sun which reach from its center to the periphery along one of the three channels of approach, pass them through their organism and focalize them there.
Relations between man and this group of devas are very close, but fraught as yet with much danger to man. These devas are of a very powerful order, and, along their own line, are further evolved than man himself. Unprotected man lies at their mercy, and in this lack of protection, and man's failure to understand the laws of magnetic resistance, or of solar repulsion comes, for instance, the menace of sunstroke.
2. Planetary Prana
This is the vital fluid emanated from any planet, which constitutes its basic coloring or quality, and is produced by a repetition within the planet of the same process which is undergone in connection with man and solar prana. The planet (the Earth, or any other planet) absorbs solar prana, assimilates, what is required, and radiates off that which is not essential to its well-being in the form of planetary radiation. Planetary prana, therefore, is solar prana which has passed throughout the planet, has circulated through the planetary etheric body, has been transmitted to the dense physical planet, and has been cast off thence in the form of a radiation of the same essential character as solar prana, plus the individual and distinctive quality of the particular planet concerned. This again repeats the process undergone in the human body. The physical radiations of men differ according to the quality of their physical bodies. So it is with a planet.
Planetary emanative prana (as in the case of solar prana) is caught up and transmitted via a particular group of devas, called the "Devas of the Shadows," who are ethereal devas of a slightly violet hue. Their bodies are composed of the matter of one or other of the four ethers, and they focalize and concentrate the emanations of the planet, and of all forms upon the planet. They have a specially close connection with human beings owing to the fact of the essential resemblance of their bodily substance to man's etheric substance, and because they transmit to him the magnetism of "Mother Earth" as it is called.
Therefore we see that there are two groups of devas working in connection with man:
We might ask: What causes the apparent deadness of the Moon? Is there deva life upon it? Does solar prana have no effect there? What constitutes the difference between the apparently dead Moon, and a live planet, such as the Earth? Here we touch upon a hidden mystery, of which the solution lies revealed for those who seek, in the fact that human beings and certain groups of devas are no longer found upon the Moon. Man has not ceased to exist upon the Moon because it is dead and cannot therefore support his life, but the Moon is dead because man and these deva groups have been removed from off its surface, and from its sphere of influence.
3. The Prana of Forms
It must first be pointed out that forms are necessarily of two kinds, each having a different place in the scheme:
There is also the still simpler form embodied in the substance of which all the other forms are made. This matter is strictly speaking the atomic and molecular matter, and is animated by the life or energy of the third Logos.
In dealing with the first group of forms, it must be noted that the pranic emanations given off by units of the animal and vegetable kingdom (after they have absorbed both solar and planetary prana) are naturally a combination of the two, and are transmitted by means of surface radiation, as in solar and planetary Prana, to certain lesser groups of devas of a not very high order, who have a curious and intricate relationship to the group soul of the radiating animal or vegetable.
In dealing with the second group, the human form transmits the emanative radiations to a much higher grade of deva. These devas are of a more pronounced hue, and after due assimilation of the human radiation, they transmit it principally to the animal kingdom, thus demonstrating the close relationship between the two kingdoms. If the above explanation of the intricate interrelation between the sun and the planets, between the planets and the evolving forms upon them, between the forms themselves in ever descending importance demonstrates nothing more than the exquisite interdependence of all existences, then much will have been achieved.
Lastly, all work with fire. Fire internal, inherent and latent; fire radiatory and emanative; fire generated, assimilated and radiated; fire vivifying, stimulating and destroying; fire transmitted, reflected, and absorbed; fire, the basis of all life; fire, the essence of all existence; fire, the means of development, and the impulse behind all evolutionary process; fire, the builder, the preserver, and the constructor; fire, the originator, the process and the goal; fire the purifier and the consumer.
THE MACROCOSM (subjective expression) | ||
First Logos | Fire - Electric | The will to live or to be. |
Second Logos | Heat - Solar | Duality, or love between two. |
Third Logos | Motion - Fire by Friction | The fire of mind, the relation between. |
(objective expression) | ||
The Sun | Will or Power | |
Venus-Mercury | Love and Wisdom | |
Saturn | Activity or Intelligence | |
(subjective expression) | ||
The Monad | Electric Fire | Will or Power |
The Ego | Solar Fire | Love and Wisdom |
The Personality | Fire by Friction | Activity or Intelligence |
(objective expression) | ||
The Mental body | Will or Power | Fire |
The Astral body | Love-Wisdom | Heat |
The Physical body | Active Intelligence | Motion |
| ||
The brain | Monad | Will or Power |
The heart | Ego | Love-Wisdom |
Lower organs | Personality | Active Intelligence |
The God of Fire and the fire of God interacting upon each other, till all fires blend and blaze and till all that exists, is passed through the fire - from a solar system to an ant - and emerges as a triple perfection. Fire then passes out from the ring-pass-not as perfected essence, whether essence emerging from the human ring-pass-not, the planetary ring-pass-not or the solar. The wheel of fire turns and all within that wheel is subjected to the threefold flame, and eventually stands perfected.
III. The Function of the Etheric Body
We will now continue with the discussion of the etheric body, and take up the consideration of its function and its relation to the physical body. The two may wisely be considered together, for the interrelation is so close that it is not possible to discuss them separately. Primarily the functions of the etheric body are three in number:
1. The Receiver of Prana
The etheric body may therefore be described as negative or receptive in respect to the rays of the sun, and as positive and expulsive in respect to the dense physical body. The second function - that of assimilation - is strictly balanced or internal. The main center for the reception of prana at present is a center between the shoulder blades.
2. The Assimilator of Prana
The process of assimilation is carried on in this triangle, and the prana which enters into either center, circulates three times around the triangle before being transmitted to all parts of the etheric vehicle and from thence to the dense physical body. The main organ of assimilation is the spleen - the etheric center and the dense physical organ. The vital essence from the sun is passed into the etheric spleen, and is there subjected to a process of intensification or devitalization, according to the condition, healthy or not, of that organ. If the man is in a healthy state the emanation received will be augmented by his own individual vibration, and its rate of vibration will be keyed up before it is passed on into the physical spleen; or it will be slowed down and lowered if the man is in a poor condition of health.
These three centers are in the form that all centers take, of saucer-like depressions, resembling somewhat the appearance of small whirlpools, and which draw within their sphere of influence the currents that come their way. The centers should be pictured as whirling vortices with a closely woven threefold channel passing from each center to the other, and forming an almost separate circulatory system. This finds its point of departure for the entire system at the further side of the spleen to that at which the prana entered.
The vital fluid circulates through and between these three centers three times, before it finally passes out from them to the periphery of its little system. This final circulation carries the prana, via the fine interlacing channels, to every part of the body, which becomes entirely impregnated by these emanations, if it might be so expressed. These emanations find their way finally out of the etheric system by means of surface radiation. The pranic essence escapes from the circumference of its temporary ring-pass-not as emanative human prana, which is the same prana as earlier received, plus the peculiar quality that any single individual may convey to it during its transitory circulation. The essence escapes, plus individual quality.
3. The Transmitter of Prana
Certain facts need emphasis and consideration as we study this static ring and its circulating fires. Let me briefly recapitulate for the sake of clarity:
Prana, therefore, which is active radiatory heat, varies in vibration and quality according to the receiving Entity. Man passes the prana through his etheric vehicle, colors it with his own peculiar quality, and so transmits it to the lesser lives that make up his little system Thus, the great interaction goes on, and all parts blend, merge and are interdependent; and all parts receive, color, qualify and transmit. An endless circulation goes on that has neither a conceivable beginning nor possible end from the point of view of finite man, for its source and end are hid in the unknown cosmic fount.
We might here note a fact of interest, though of a mystery insoluble as yet to most of us, and that is, that these destructions by fire are part of the tests by fire of an initiation of that one of the Heavenly Men Whose karma is bound up with our earth. Each destruction of a portion of the web results in a greater facility of exit, and is in reality (when seen from the higher planes) a step forward and an expansion. A repetition of this takes place likewise in the system at the stated cycle.
4. Disorders of the Etheric Body
We will now study the etheric body, and its ills and also its after death condition. This matter can be only briefly touched upon. All that may now be indicated is a general idea of the fundamental ailments to which the etheric may be subject, and the trend which applied medicine may later take when occult laws are better understood. One fact must here be brought out - a fact but little comprehended or even apprehended. This is the significant fact that the ills of the etheric vehicle, in the case of the microcosm, will be found likewise in the Macrocosm. Herein lies the knowledge that oft-times explains the apparent miseries of nature. Some of the great world evils have their source in etheric ills, extending the idea of the etheric to planetary conditions and even to solar. As we touch upon the causes of etheric distress in man, their planetary and solar correspondences and reactions may perhaps be realized.
We will need to bear carefully in mind when studying this matter, that all the diseases of the etheric body will appertain to its threefold purpose and be either:
a) Microcosmic Functional Disorders
These arise from either an inability or overability to tap into pranic currents, whether through poor living conditions or larger collective evolutionary choices.
b) Microcosmic Organic Disorders
c) Microcosmic Static Disorders
This concerns the etheric body in its connection with the work of providing a ring-pass-not between the physical and the astral bodies.
IV. Macrocosmic and Microcosmic Ethers
1. The Planetary Logos and the Ethers: Man, the indwelling thinker, passes at night from out of his etheric ring-pass-not and functions elsewhere. Therefore, under the law, the planetary Logos likewise can pass His ring-pass-not at stated seasons which correspond in the planet to the hours of man's temporary repose, or pralaya. The Solar Logos likewise does the same during stated cycles, which are not the cycles succeeding those which we term solar pralaya, but lesser cycles succeeding the "days of Brahma" or periods of lesser activity, periodically viewed. All these are governed by karma.
A further link in this chain which is offered for consideration lies in the fact that the four rays of mind (which concern the karma of the four planetary Logoi) in their totality hold in their keeping the present evolutionary process for Man, viewing him as the Thinker. These four, with the karmic four, work in the closest cooperation.
Therefore, we have the following groups interacting:
The fourth plane of Buddhi is the one on which the planetary Logoi begin to make Their escape from Their planetary ring-pass-not, or from the etheric web that has its counterpart on all the planes. When man begins in a small sense to coordinate the buddhic vehicle or, to express it otherwise, when he has developed the power to contact ever so slightly the buddhic plane, then he begins simultaneously and consciously to achieve the ability to escape from the etheric web on the physical plane.
Later he escapes from its correspondence on the astral plane, and finally from the correspondence on the fourth subplane of the mental plane, this time via the mental unit. This leads eventually to causal functioning, or to the ability to dwell, and to be active in, the vehicle of the Ego, who is the embodiment of the love and wisdom aspect of the Monad.
When a man takes the fourth Initiation, he functions in the fourth plane vehicle, the buddhic, and has escaped permanently from the personality ring-pass-not, on the fourth subplane of the mental. There is naught to hold him to the three worlds. At the first Initiation he escapes from the ring-pass-not in a more temporary sense, but he has yet to escape from the three higher mental levels, which are the mental correspondences to the higher ethers, and to develop full consciousness on these three higher subplanes.
This fourth earth chain is in this connection one of the most important, for it is the appointed place for the domination of the etheric body by the human monad, with the aim in view of both human and planetary escape from limitations. This earth chain, though not one of the seven sacred planetary chains, is of vital importance at this time to the planetary Logos, who temporarily employs it as a medium of incarnation, and of expression. This fourth round finds the solution of its strenuous and chaotic life in the very simple fact of the shattering of the etheric web in order to effect liberation, and permit a later and more adequate form to be employed.
Sutratma: The "silver thread" which incarnates from the beginning of a period of manifestation until the end, stringing upon itself the pearls of human existence. It is the line of energy which connects the lower personal man with his Father in Heaven via the ego, the mediating middle principle. Upon it are found those focal points of energy we call the permanent atoms.
THE PLANES | ||
Physical Plane | Systemic Planes | Cosmic Planes |
1. Atomic plane, 1st ether | Divine | Atomic plane |
2. Subatomic | Monadic | Subatomic |
3. Super-etheric | Spiritual, Atmic, Ether | 3rd ether |
PLANE OF UNION OR AT-ONE-MENT | ||
4. Etheric | Intuitional, Buddhic, Air | 4th cosmic ether |
THE LOWER THREE WORLDS | ||
5. Gaseous | Mental | Gaseous subetheric |
6. Liquid | Astral | Liquid |
7. Dense physical | Physical plane | Dense physical |
2. Cosmic and Systemic Ethers
The fourth etheric plane holds the key to the dominance of matter, and it might be noted that:
On the fourth physical ether man begins to coordinate his astral, or emotional body, and to escape at ever more frequent intervals into that vehicle. Continuity of consciousness is achieved when a man has mastered the four ethers.
On the fourth subplane of the mental plane, man begins to control his causal or egoic body, and to polarize his consciousness therein until the polarization is complete. He functions then consciously on it when he has mastered the correspondences to the ethers on the mental plane.
On the buddhic plane (the fourth cosmic ether) the Heavenly Men (or the grouped consciousness of the human and deva Monads) begin to function, and to escape eventually from the cosmic etheric planes. When these three cosmic ethers are mastered, the functioning is perfected, polarization is centered in the monadic vehicles, and the seven Heavenly Men have achieved Their goal.
3. The Protective Purpose of the Etheric Body
V. Death and the Etheric Body
The study of Pralaya, which is the withdrawal of the life from out of the etheric vehicle, is the same for a human, planetary or solar etheric double. Withdrawal is brought about by the following causes:
“The heartbeats of the Logos are the source of all cyclic evolution and hence the importance of the heart or love aspect. Underlying all the physical sense attached to rhythm, vibration, cycles and heart-beat, lie their subjective analogies-love, feeling, emotion, desire, harmony, synthesis and ordered sequence. Behind all of these lie the source of all.”
SECTION ONE - Division D
Kundalini and the Spine
Very briefly, owing to the impossibility of revealing much on this necessarily dangerous subject, we will consider the subject of kundalini and the spine. We must remember here that we are dealing with the etheric counterpart of the spine, and not with the bony structure which we call the spine or spinal column. These channels are important in connection with the nervous system of the man, but in relation to the matter in hand, they are not primarily so important as the etheric channel, which is the unit enclosing these three.
Therefore, we must strictly remember that we are dealing with:
I. Kundalini and the Three Triangles
II. The Arousing of Kundalini
How this fire can be aroused, thereby blending the pranic triangle with kundalini, are fortunately the work of the past, which was achieved without conscious effort by the race.
Scarcely have men directed the fire up more than one channel of the threefold column; only when the fire has circled unimpeded up another channel is the complete merging with the fire of manas effected. Only when it progresses geometrically up all three, with simultaneous action and at uniform vibration, is the true kundalini fire fully aroused.
He who directs his efforts to the control of the fires of matter is literally playing with a fire that may destroy him. He should not cast his eyes backwards but should lift them to a plane where dwells his immortal Spirit, then by self-discipline, mind-control and the refining of his material bodies, fit himself to be a vehicle for the divine birth.
SECTION ONE - Division E
Motion on the Physical and Astral Planes
I. Preliminary Remarks
The 1st Logos: The Ray of Cosmic Will, His mode of action is a literal driving forward of the solar ring-pass-not through space. His goal is the synthesis of Spirits who are gaining consciousness through manifestation, and gaining in quality as a result. His function is, by means of will, to hold them in manifestation for the desired period and later abstract them back to their spiritual source. His work is controlled by the Law of Synthesis, governing the tendency to unification of the 7 into the 3 and into the 1. His mode of action is a progressive forward will.
The 2nd Logos: Vishnu, seeking to blend with the principle of Intelligence, characterized by Love. His motion is spiral cyclic. Availing Himself of the rotary motion of all atoms, He adds to that His own form of motion, of spiraling periodical movement and by circulation along a spheroidal path, bringing two results: a) He gathers the atoms into forms b) By these forms, He gains the needed contact, develops consciousness on the five planes of human development, refining the forms as the Spirit of Love spirals closer to its source. These actions are governed by the Law of Attraction.
The indweller of the form eventually feels the attractive pull of its own Self, the Ego, which stands to it as the Logos of its own system. Later, this process is repeated as the Ego responds to the call of the Monad. Therefore: a) the goal of the second Logos is consciousness, achieved in cooperation with the 3rd Logos. b) His function is the building of forms to be His instruments of experience. c) His mode of action is cyclic and spiral.
The 3rd Logos: The motion considered in this section is that due to the fire latent in matter itself, a motion that is the prime characteristic and basic quality of the 3rd Ray. His goal is the perfect blending of Spirit and matter. His function is the manipulation of matter so as to make it adequate to the demands of the Spirit. His motion is rotary, this revolution making the material more pliable. All of these are governed by the Law of Economy.
The Ego: Man on the physical plane is what the Logos is to His system, and is likewise the animating will, destroyer of forms and producer of pralaya. The Ego is extra-cosmic as far as the human being on the physical plane is concerned.
II. The Effects of Rotary Motion
Every sphere in the macrocosm rotates which produce certain effects:
1. Separation: The repulsion effect is produced by rotary movement causing the differentiations of a solar system, the planes and the Rays. The planes rotate latitudinally (east to west) while the Rays rotate longitudinally.
2. Momentum: Resulting in an internal effect, which prevents atoms from directly contacting other atoms by keeping them at fixed points in space.
3. Friction: The environmental frictional effect produces: a) vitality of the atom b) coherence of the atom c) ability to function d) Heat is supplied to the unit e) Final combustion or disintegration of form (not matter).
4. Absorption: The receptive or attractive effect occurs through the depression at the top of all whirling spheres. Every atom is both positive and negative; receptive where inflowing force is concerned and radiatory where its own emanations are concerned.
a) The sun Sirius b) The Pleiades c) The Great Bear
III. The Qualities of Rotary Motion
Every rotating sphere of matter is characterized by the three qualities of inertia, mobility and rhythm.
1. Inertia: The state of every atom at the dawn of manifestation, at the beginning of a solar cycle or mahamanvantara, at the commencement of a chain, a globe, or any spheroidal form whatsoever without exception. Inertia is the result of lack of activity of the fires of matter. These fires are latent (free from the stimulations of form-life) during pralaya.
Where form exists, the Laws of Attraction/Repulsion make radiation possible. Then comes stimulation, emanative effect, and a gradual acceleration by which the atom itself, by its own rotary movement, produces the next (higher) quality.
2. Mobility: Rotation eventually produces radiation, and in the case of matter, effects other atoms in its environment, whether that is cosmic, system, or the physical sphere of a single man. This eventually produces coherence of form for a period of time until rhythm is recognized.
3. Rhythm: The attainment of the point of perfect balance and equilibrium produces certain effects:
IV. Rotary Motion and Symbolism
Every rotating sphere of matter can be pictures using the same general cosmic symbols as those used for the portrayal of evolution.
1 2 3 4 5
V. Motion and the Centers
A word of warning is here sounded; let a man apply himself to a life of high altruism, to a discipline that will refine and bring his lower vehicles into subjection, and to purify and control his sheaths. When he has thus raised and stabilized his vibration, he will find that the development of the centers has pursued a parallel course. Much danger and dire calamity attends the man who arouses these centers by unlawful methods. It is not the part of a coward, concerning careful and cautious movements in these matters; it is the part of discretion.
Therefore, the disciple has three tasks:
1. The Nature of the Centers
At the close of his long pilgrimage, man will have passed through each of the five kingdoms of nature on his way back to Source: 1) Mineral 2) Vegetable 3) Animal 4) Human 5) Spiritual
Man will develop full consciousness upon: 1) Physical Plane 2) Astral Plane 3) Mental Plane
4) Buddhic Plane 5) Spiritual Plane.
He accomplishes this by the use of the five corresponding senses:
1) Hearing 2) Touch 3) Sight 4) Taste 5) Smell
The Treatise deals only with five centers:
The Lotuses of the Centers:
The evolution of these centers can be shown using the same five symbols:
2. The Centers and the Rays:
All teachers of the wisdom follow the method of imparting a fact and then of leaving the pupil to follow his own deductions, thus developing discrimination, which is the main method whereby Spirit effects its liberation from matter and discerns between illusion and that which it veils.
The life of the Pilgrim can be divided into three main periods: a) Period influenced by the Personality Ray b) Period under the Ray of the Ego c) Period under the Monadic Ray
Venus corresponds to the heart center in the Logoic body and has a inter-relationship therefore with all other centers in the solar system wherein the heart aspect is the one of greatest prominence. Saturn corresponds to the throat center, the creative activity of the third aspect. Our solar system, with the Pleiades and one of the stars of the Great Bear, form a cosmic triangle of three centers in the larger body. The seven stars in the Great Bear correspond to the seven head centers in that same Being, Who is even greater than our logos.
3. The Centers and Kundalini
1) With the radiatory fires of the body, or prana.
2) With the fires of mind at the top of the spine .
3) With the fire of Spirit at a point where these two united fires of matter and mind issue from the top of the head.
4. The Centers and the Senses
The senses might be defined as the means whereby the Thinker comes in contact with his environment, whereby he makes investigation and buys his experience and thus expands his consciousness.
The senses in the animal kingdom are ‘group faculty’ and demonstrate as racial instinct. The senses in man are his individual asset and demonstrate as:
a) The separate realization of self-consciousness
b) Ability to assert that individualization
c) A valuable means to self-conscious evolution
d) A source of knowledge
e) The transmuting faculty towards the close of life in the three worlds.
Each of the five senses has a definite connection with one of the planes and also has a correspondence on all planes.
Physical: Hearing | Astral: Touch or feeling | Mental: Sight | Buddhic: Taste | Atmic: Smell
We might here, for the sake of clarity, tabulate the five different aspects of the five senses on the five planes, so that their correspondences may be readily visualized:
1. The First Sense - Hearing
2. The Second Sense - Touch or feeling
3. The Third Sense - Sight
Hearing is the first sense to be manifested, revealing eventually the mystery of:
essence as himself.
Cosmic Symbology of the Senses:
The Circle with the Point: Consciousness and the not-self where sound alone is descriptive.
The Divided Circle: Consciousness aware of the not-self through a dual recognition.
5. The Centers and Initiation
The application of the Rod of Initiation brings certain results:
Microcosmic Sensory Evolution | ||
Physical plane | 1. Hearing | 5th - gaseous |
Astral plane | 1. Clairaudience | 5th |
Mental plane | 1. Higher clairaudience vibration, Spiritual telepathy. | 7th (form) |
Buddhic plane | 1. Comprehension | 7th |
Atmic plane | 1. Beatitude | 5th |
It can be noted that we have not summed up the two planes of abstraction on the atmic and the buddhic planes, the reason being that they mark a degree of realization which is the property of initiates of higher degree than that of the adept, and which is beyond the concept of the evolving human unit, for whom this treatise is written. |
SECTION ONE - Division F
The Law of Economy
I. Its Effect in Matter
The Law of Economy governs the matter aspect of manifestation and characterizes the work of the 3rd Logos. It follows the line of least resistance and is the basis of the separative action of atomic matter, the opposite pole of Spirit.
II. The Subsidiary Laws
These are four in number, dealing with the lower quaternary:
Every atom of matter can be studied in 4 aspects:
These general rules relating to atomic bodies can be extended to include all spheroidal bodies within the system, and including the system itself, which is regarded as a cosmic atom. Initiates must learn to manipulate matter and work with energy or force in matter under this law; they have to utilize matter and energy in order to achieve the liberation of Spirit.
SECTION TWO - SOLAR FIRE: THE FIRE OF MIND
The goal of this section is to establish a general clarity of conception as to the broad outline of the process of consciousness development in regards to:
I. What is the relationship of the Son to the Sun?
Man is the approximation of the two poles of Spirit (Father-Ray 1) and matter (Mother-Ray 3). The result of this union is an individualized unit of the divine Self, the Son; an exact replica in miniature scale of the All-Self who is in Himself the totality of all units, including the Sons of God.
The Son is the radiant result of the union of Spirit and matter, and may be considered macrocosmically to be the totality of the solar system. The Son manifests through light and heat, as does the solar Sun. The Son is the product of the electrical union of Fire by Friction and Electric Fire, is Himself Solar Fire, hence that which is seen and felt. The Son is the middle manifestation, produced by that which is above and below.
When the Son has attained full expression, through the sun (perfect light and heat), then He will shine forth upon another plane, the Cosmic Mental. When a man’s light shines forth and his magnetic radiation has reached the stage of vivid interaction and group activity, he will also shine forth upon another plane.
II. What is Evolution and how does it proceed?
The whole method of evolution is simply that of adjusting the matter aspect to the Spirit aspect, so that the Spirit has an adequate body for expression. During the life cycle of a man, he expresses what is in him at his particular stage and gradually arrives at the period wherein the Self overshadows the matter aspect until the Higher Self takes full possession of the prepared form.
Extend this idea to one of the Heavenly Men, in which man forms but a cell, and the goal is the same; the attainment of full expression and the development of their vehicles of consciousness to a point where the Spirit may blaze forth as divine light and heat. Carry this thought further to include the Son, the solar system; His attempt to find full expression may be felt beyond His immediate ring-pass-not.
The Objective of the Units of Consciousness:
The Manifesting Units of Consciousness: All have their place within the plan:
III. Why is the solar system evolving along the lines of duality?
This involves one of the most difficult problems in metaphysics and covers the whole mystery of why there is objectivity at all. The failure to comprehend is linked to the limitations of the physical brain and the lack of development of the mechanism whereby Spirit may be known and eventually contacted.
The problem of duality is the problem of existence itself and requires an understanding that:
Man must realize that he stands midway between evolutionary stages: He is not wholly an expression of the 3rd Logos, but it is part of him. He does not recognize himself wholly as the Spirit of the 1st Logos. Man is a product of the two, assuming objectivity in order to express that which is in each of the two opposites, plus the result of their merging within himself.
The Nature of Duality
The evolution of the Son, or the cosmic incarnation of the Christ, is of immense importance in the plans of the Bei