Section One – The Internal Fires – Fire by Friction
Division A – The Internal Fires of the Sheaths
Division A – The Internal Fires of the Sheaths
A.I. The Three Channels for the Fire
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. We shall not here take up the subject of the sheaths on
the higher planes, but simply deal with the fires that animate the
three lower vehicles – the physical body in its two divisions (etheric
and dense), the emotional or astral body, and the mental sheath. 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.
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. [56]
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.
Hence in the future it will come to be recognized that the spine and
the spleen are of the utmost importance to the physical well-being of
man, and that when the spinal column is duly adjusted and aligned, and
when the spleen is freed from congestion and in a healthy condition,
there will be little trouble in the dense physical body. When the
physical furnace burns brightly and when the fuel of the body (pranic
rays) is adequately assimilated, the human frame will function as
desired.
The subject of the blending of these two fires, which is complete in a
normal and healthy person, should engross the attention of the modern
physician. He will then concern himself with the removal of nerve
congestion or material congestion, so as to leave a free channel for
the inner warmth. This blending, which is now a natural and usual
growth in every human being, was one of the signs of attainment or of
initiation in an earlier solar system. Just as initiation and
liberation are marked in this solar system by the blending of the
fires of the body, of the mind and of the Spirit, so in an earlier
cycle attainment was marked by the blending of the latent fires of
matter with the radiatory or active fires, and then their union with
the fires of mind. In the earlier period the effects in manifestation
of the divine Flame were so remote and deeply hidden as to be scarcely
recognizable, though dimly there. Its correspondence can be seen in
the animal kingdom, in which instinct holds the intuition in latency,
[58] and the Spirit dimly over-shadows. Yet all is part of a divine
whole.
The subject of the radiatory heat of the macrocosmic and microcosmic
systems will be dealt with in detail in a later subdivision. Here we
will only deal with the latent interior fire of the
- Sun.
- Planet.
- Man.
- Atom.
17 "The divine essence that, pervading the entire universe
of millions of solar systems, is caught up by our sun and passed out
in a manifested form to the utmost boundaries of our solar system, so
that this manifested essence may be the basic soil of the growth,
preservation and destruction of our worlds, that divine essence is
simple Nadam of our yogic philosophy and that Nadam or OM subsequently
manifests itself as seven streams. The unmanifested is manifested by
or borne by the subsequent ramifications. These streams are the seven
vowels or seven notes. These seven vowels and notes must have special
correlations with the seven vedic metres, since in the Vishnu Purana,
Parasara describes the vedic metres as the coursers of the solar
essence." – Some Thoughts on the Gita, p. 74.
We must remember that in both the astral and the mental sheaths there
exist the counterparts of the centers as found in the physical body.
These centers concern matter and its evolution. One fundamental
statement can be laid down anent the internal fires of all these four
(sun, planet, man, and atom):
- There exists in the Sun, in the planet, in man, and in the atom, a central point of heat, or (if I might use so limiting and inappropriate a term) a central cavern of fire, or nucleus of heat, and this central nucleus reaches the bounds of its sphere of influence, its ring-pass-not by means of a threefold channel.17
a. The Sun. Within the sun, right at its very heart, is a sea
of fire or heat, but not a sea of flame. Herein may lie a distinction
that perhaps will convey no meaning to some. It is the center of the
sphere, and the point of fiercest internal burning, but has little
relation to the flames or burning gases (whatever terms you care [59]
to use) that are generally understood to exist whenever the sun is
considered. It is the point of fiercest incandescence, and the
objective sphere of fire is but the manifestation of that internal
combustion. This central heat radiates its warmth to all parts of the
system by means of a triple channel, or through its "Rays of Approach"
which in their totality express to us the idea of "the heat of the
sun."
- The akasha, itself vitalized matter, or substance animated by latent heat.
- Electricity, substance of one polarity, and energized by one of the three aspects logoic. To express it more occultly, substance showing forth, the quality of the cosmic Lord Whose energy it is.
- Light Rays of pranic aspect, some of which are being now recognized by the modern scientist. They are but aspects of the latent heat of the sun as it approaches the Earth by a particular line of least resistance.
When the term "channel or ray of approach" is used, it means approach
from the center of solar radiation to the periphery. What is
encountered during that approach – such as planetary bodies, for
instance – will be affected by the akashic current, the electrical
current, or the pranic current in some way, but all of these currents
are only the internal fires of the system when viewed from some other
point in universal, though not solar, space. It is, therefore, obvious
that this matter of fire is as complex as that of the rays. The
internal fires of the solar system become external and radiatory when
considered from the standpoint of a planet, while the internal fires
of the planet will affect a human being as radiation in exactly the
same way as the pranic emanations of his etheric body affect another
physical body as radiatory. The point to be grasped in all these [60]
aspects is that one and all have to do with matter or substance, and
not with mind or Spirit.
b. The Planet. Deep in the heart of the planet – such a planet
as the Earth, for instance – are the internal fires that occupy the
central sphere, or the caverns which – filled with incandescent
burning – make life upon the globe possible at all. The internal fires
of the moon are practically burnt out, and, therefore, she does not
shine save through reflection, having no inner fire to blend and merge
with light external. These inner fires of the earth can be seen
functioning, as in the sun, through three main channels:
- Productive substance, or the matter of the planet vitalized by heat. This heat and matter together act as the mother of all that germinates, and as the protector of all that dwells therein and thereon. This corresponds to the akasha, the active vitalized matter of the solar system, that nourishes all as does a mother.
- Electrical fluid, a fluid which is latent in the planet though as yet but little recognized. It is perhaps better expressed by the term "animal magnetism." It is the distinctive quality of the atmosphere of a planet, or its electrical ring-pass-not. It is the opposite pole to the solar electrical fluid, and the contact of the two and their correct manipulation is the aim – perhaps unrealized – of all scientific endeavor at this time.
- That emanation of the planet which we might term Planetary Prana. It is that which is referred to when one speaks of the health-giving qualities of Mother Nature, and which is back of the cry of the modern physician, when he wisely says "Back to the Earth." It is the fluidic emanation of this prana which acts upon the physical body, though in this case not via the etheric body. It is [61] absorbed through the skin purely and the pores are its line of least resistance.
c. 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.
18 T. Subba Rao says on page 20, of Esoteric Writings: As a
general rule, whenever seven entities are mentioned in the ancient
occult science of India in any connection whatsoever, you must suppose
that those seven entities came into existence from three primary
entities and that these three entities again are evolved out of a
single entity or monad. To take a familiar example, the seven colored
rays in the solar ray are evolved out of three primary colored rays;
and the three primary colors coexist with the four secondary colors in
the solar ray. Similarly the three primary entities which brought man
into existence coexist in him with the four secondary entities which
arose from different combinations of the three primary entities."
In Christian terminology these are the three Persons of the Trinity, and the seven Spirits which are before the Throne. Compare "Our God is a consuming fire." Heb:12.29.
19 "I have already said in speaking of this Logos, that it was quite possible that it was the Logos that appeared in the shape of the first Dhyan Chohan, or planetary Spirit, when the evolution of man was recommenced after the last period of inactivity on this planet, as stated in Mr. Sinnett's book, Esoteric Buddhism, and after having set the evolutionary current in motion, retired to the spiritual plane congenial to its own nature, and has been watching since over the interests of humanity, and now and then appearing in connection with a human individuality for the good of mankind. Or you may look upon the Logos represented by Krishna as one belonging to the same class as the Logos which so appeared. In speaking of himself Krishna says, (chap. x, verse 6):
- "The seven great Rishis, the four preceding Manus, partaking of my nature were born from my mind: from them sprang, was (born) the human race and the world."
2O The following tabulation should be borne in mind:
- Seven branch races make one subrace
- Seven subraces make one root-race
- Seven root-races make one world period
- Seven world periods make one round
- Seven rounds make one chain period
- Seven chain periods make one planetary scheme
- Ten planetary schemes make one solar system
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. We might express this fire in
its triple manifestation as the sumtotal of the essential fire, or
life activity of the third Logos. It should be carefully borne [62] in
mind that the manifestation of the work of the three Logoi is the
expression of the mind of some cosmic Entity. In the same way, the
seven planetary Entities, the seven Heavenly Men, are seven Logoi
(likewise cosmic Beings) Who in Their totality form the Body of the
threefold Logos. We have, therefore:
- The undifferentiated Logos – a cosmic Entity.
-
The Logos, threefold in manifestation:
- The cosmic Lord of Will Power.
- The cosmic Lord of Love and Wisdom.
- The cosmic Lord of Active Intelligence.
- The triple Logos, sevenfold in manifestation., i.e. The seven planetary Logoi. 18, 19, 20
The Lord of Cosmic Love now seeks union with His Brother, and, in
point of time, embodies all the Present. He is the sumtotal of all
that is embodied; He is conscious Existence. He is the Son divine and
His life and nature evolve through every existent form. The Lord of
Cosmic Will holds hid the future within His plans and consciousness.
They are all three the Sons of one Father, all three the aspects of
the One God, all three are Spirit, all three are Soul, and all three
are Rays emanating from one cosmic center. All three are substance,
but in the past one Lord was the elder Son, in the present another
Lord comes to the fore, and in the future still another. But this is
so only in Time. From the standpoint of the Eternal Now, none is
greater nor less than another, for the last shall be first, and the
first last. Out of manifestation time is not, and freed from
objectivity states of consciousness are not.
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 [64] 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.
This should be pondered upon for it reveals a mystery. The blending of
the three fires, the merging of the three Rays, and the cooperation of
the three Logoi have in view (at this time and within this solar
system) the development of the Essence of the cosmic Lord of Love, the
second Person in the logoic trinity. Earlier it was not so, later it
will not be, but now it is. When viewed from the cosmic mental plane
these Three constitute the PERSONALITY OF THE LOGOS, and are seen
functioning as one. Hence the secret (well recognized as fact,
though not understood) of the excessive heat, occultly expressed, of
the astral or central body of the triple personality. It animates and
controls the physical body, and its desires hold sway in the majority
of cases; it demonstrates in time and space the correspondence
of the temporary union of spirit and matter, the fires of cosmic love
and the fires of matter blended. A similar analogy is found in the
heat apparent in this second solar system.
21 "It should be remembered that the mere scale does not
matter, for greatness and smallness are essentially relative. The
destiny of each atom is to create a brahmanda. Brahmandas like or
smaller or larger than ours, held together by a sun, are present in
every atom. Vishvas, great world-systems, exist in an atom, and atoms
again exist in these vishvas. This is the significance of 'many from
one'; wherever we see the one we should recognize the many also, and
conversely. After securing the ability of, and then actually, creating
a brahmanda, the next step is the creation of a jagat, then a vishva,
then a mahavishva and so on, till the status of mahavishnu is
reached."
- Bhagavan Das in the Pranava Vada, p. 94.
- Bhagavan Das in the Pranava Vada, p. 94.
d. The Atom. The inner fires of the atom can likewise be seen
functioning along similar lines, their demonstration being already
somewhat recognized by science. This being so there exists no
necessity for further elaboration. 21 [65]
A.II. Fire Elementals and Devas
We might now briefly consider the subject of the fire elementals and
devas, and then deal with the relation of the Personality Ray to this
internal fire of the system in its threefold manifestation.
Certain facts are known in connection with the fire spirits (if so
they may be termed). 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 (to use an expression
familiar to students of the Secret Doctrine) 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
22 and of manas. It is urgent that we here remember that They are fire
viewed [66] 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.23
23 Atma means as you all know the self or the ego or an
individualized center of consciousness around which all worldly
experiences in their dual aspect of subjective and objective cluster
and arrange themselves. It is as it were one of the foci from which
emerge rays of light to illumine the cosmic waters and in which also
converge the rays sent back by those waters. In Theosophical writings,
it is called the self-conscious individuality or the Higher Manas.
From this point of view, you will see that the Higher Manas is the
most important principle or the central pivot of the human
constitution or the true soul. It is the thread which ought to be
caught hold of by one who wants to know the truth and lift himself out
of this conditioned existence. To this it may be objected that Atma
represents the seventh principle of the theosophical septenary and
that the Manas is far lower in the scale. But the plain answer is that
the seventh principle is the ultimate state attainable by the self
after crossing the ocean of conditioned existence or samsara."
- Some Thoughts on the Gita, p. 26.
- Some Thoughts on the Gita, p. 26.
Fohat, or electricity, is an Entity.
- He is the primordial electric Entity S. D., 1, 105.
- He is Will S. D., 1, 136.
- He is Love-Wisdom S. D, 1, 100, 144, 155.
- He is Active Intelligence S. D., 1, 136.
- Therefore He is God S. D., 1, 167.
- He is the sumtotal of the energy of the seven Spirits, Who are the sumtotal of the Logos. S. D., 1, 169.
25 The seven Brothers. See S. D., 1, 105. These seven are the seven differentiations of primordial electric energy.
Plane. As used in occultism, the term denotes the range or extent of some state of consciousness or of the perceptive power of a particular set of senses or the action of a particular force, or the state of matter corresponding to any of the above.
This is so in the same sense as the seven Chohans,
24 with Their affiliated groups of pupils, form the essence
or centers in the body of one of the Heavenly Men, one of the
planetary Logoi. These seven again in Their turn form the essence of
the Logos.
Each of the seven Lords of Fire 25 are differentiated into
numerous groups of fire entities, from the Deva-Lords of a plane down
to the little salamanders of the internal furnaces. We are not dealing
with the fiery essences of the higher planes at this stage in our
discussion. We will only enumerate somewhat briefly some of the better
known groups, as contacted in the three worlds.
1. Physical Plane
Salamanders, those little fire elementals who can be seen
dancing in every flame, tending the fires of the hearth and the home,
and of the factory. They are of the same group as the fire spirits who
can be contacted deep in the fiery bowels of the planet.
Fire spirits, latent in all focal points of heat, who are
themselves the essence of warmth, and can be contacted [67] in the
heat of the bodily frame, whether human or animal, and who are
likewise the warmth terrestrial.
The Agnichaitans, a higher grade of fire spirit, who form a
vortex of fire when viewed on a large scale, such as in volcanoes and
large destructive burnings. They are closely allied to a still more
important group of devas, who form the fiery envelope of the sun.
The pranic elementals, those minute fiery essences who have the
ability to permeate the texture of the human body, of a tree, or of
all that may be found in the human, vegetable and animal kingdoms, and
who blend with the fires of the microcosmic systems.
Certain of the deva kingdom who may be described as ensouling
certain of the great light rays, and Who are in Themselves the essence
of those rays. Other forms of such elemental lives and of deva groups
might be enumerated, but the above tabulation will suffice for our
present purpose.
2. The Astral Plane
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 [68] their totality are the
fiery essences of buddhi, hence their lowest manifestation is on the
sixth plane, the astral.
Further information concerning these deva lives will be found further
on in the Treatise, where they are dealt with at some length. [69]