Before taking up the subject of the fire of mind under the
schedule already outlined, it might be of profit if certain
facts are here pointed out, and one or two points
clarified. The subject we are undertaking to elucidate is
one of profound mystery, and is the basis of all that is
now seen and known, both objectively and subjectively. We
have somewhat studied that pole of manifestation called
matter. The subject we are now entering upon
concerns several things which might be considered in
general terms as
Consciousness, and in specified
terms as including the following subjects, – hence its
fundamental importance. [224]
- The science of objectivity.
- The manifestation of the Son through the Sun and its
attendant spheres, or the solar system in its
entirety.
- The evolutionary development of consciousness in time
and space, therefore, the evolution of spirit and
matter.
If the above three fundamentals are studied, it will
be noted that they are very comprehensive, and, therefore,
from the immensity of the theme, it will not be possible to
do more than attempt to bring a general clarity of
conception as to the broad outline of the process, and as
to the gradual development of consciousness. For the sake
of an intelligent following of this matter, it might be
wise first to lay down a number of propositions which –
(even if already known and appreciated) – will serve
students as the scaffolding on which to erect the intended
structure of knowledge. If a student of the Wisdom can
grasp the nature of the general theme, he can then more
easily and accurately fit the detailed information into its
appropriate niche. Perhaps the best plan would be to
formulate certain questions, and then proceed to answer
them, – the answers to embody therefore the propositions
that will be laid down. These questions arise naturally to
the student of the
Secret Doctrine, when he has
reached the point where the big plan is becoming visible to
him, but the pile of detailed material to be built in
remains, as yet, inchoate. The questions we might ask and
study are the following:
- What is the relationship of the Son to the Sun?
- What is evolution and how does it proceed?
- Why is this solar system evolving along the lines of
duality?
- What is consciousness and what is its place in the
present scheme of things? [225]
- Is there a direct analogy between the development of
the following factors: a solar system, a planet, a man,
and an atom?
- What is the mind aspect and why is the manasic or
mental principle of such importance? Who are the
Manasaputras, or the Sons of Mind?
- Why is the progress of evolution cyclic?
- Why, as yet, do we consider certain knowledge as
esoteric, and other aspects of knowledge as
exoteric?
- What is the relationship between
- The ten planetary schemes?
- The seven sacred planets?
- The seven globes in a chain?
- The seven rounds in a globe?
- The seven root races and the subraces?
When we have endeavored to answer in brief and concise
fashion these nine questions, and have grasped, through
their replies, something of the purpose lying behind the
evolution of the consciousness of the Son (with all that is
included in that expression) we shall be in a position to
go more intelligently into a consideration of the plan, and
to grasp more accurately the immediate stage ahead to be
attained, working from our present standpoint as a basis.
We must ever remember that a curious interest and a
farseeing grasp of the plan of the Logos is of no
importance to a man unless he correlates the present with
that which he believes to lie in the future, unless he
ascertains the point achieved, and realizes wherein
consists the work immediately to be undertaken in this
gradual process of attaining full consciousness.
Chart of the Plerôma according to Valentinus
(Source: Lucifer, May 1890)
First the • (Point), the
Monad, Bythus (the Deep),
the unknown and unknowable Father. Then the Δ (Triangle),
Bythus and the first emanated pair or Duad, Nous (Mind) and
its syzygy Aletheia (Truth). Then the

(Square), the dual
Duad, Tetraktys or
Quaternary, two males ||, the Logos (Word) and
Anthrôpos (Man), two females, their syzygies, = Zoê (Life)
and Ekklesia (the Church or Assembly),
Seven in all.
The Triangle the
Potentiality of Spirit, the Square
the
Potentiality of Matter; the Vertical Straight
Line the
Potency of Spirit, and the Horizontal the
Potency of Matter. Next comes the Pentagram

, the
Pentad, the mysterious symbol of the Manasaputras or
Sons of Wisdom, which together with their syzygies make 10,
or the
Decad; and last of all, the Hexalpha or
interlaced Triangles

the
Hexad, which with their syzygies
make 12, or the
Dodecad. Such are the Contents of
the Pleroma or Completion, the
Ideas in the
Divine Mind, 28 in all, for Bythus or the Father is
not reckoned, as it is the
Root of all. The two
small circles
within the Pleroma are the syzygy
Christos-Pneuma (Christ and the Holy Spirit); these are
after-emanations, and, as such, from one aspect,
typify the descent of Spirit to inform and evolve Matter,
which
essentially proceeds from the same source; and
from another, the descent or incarnation of the Kumâras or
the Higher Egos of Humanity.
I. What is the Relationship of the Son to the Sun?
This question brings us primarily to a consideration as to
Who is the Son, and what is His function. Two [227] factors
are universally recognized in all systems that merit the
name of philosophy; they are the two factors of spirit and
matter, of purusha and prakriti. There is at times a
tendency to confound such terms as "life and form,"
"consciousness and the vehicle of consciousness" with the
terms "Spirit and matter." They are related, but clarity of
view would be facilitated if it were realized that prior
to manifestation, or to the birth of a solar system, it
is more correct to utilize the words, Spirit and matter.
When these two are interrelated during
manifestation, and after the cessation of the pralayic
interval or interlude between two systems, then the terms,
life and form, consciousness and its vehicles, are more
correct, for during the period of abstraction consciousness
is not, form is not, and life, demonstrating as an actual
principle, is not. There is Spirit-substance but in a state
of quiescence, of utter neutrality, of negativity, and of
passivity. In manifestation the two are approximated; they
interact upon each other; activity supersedes quiescence;
positivity replaces negativity; movement is seen in place
of passivity, and the two primordial factors are no longer
neutral to each other, but attract and repulse, interact
and utilize. Then and only then, can we have form animated
by life, and consciousness demonstrated through appropriate
vehicles.
How can this be expressed? In terms of fire, when the two
electric poles are brought into definite relationship we
have demonstrated, along the line of occult sight and of
occult feeling, both heat and light. This relationship is
brought about and perfected during the evolutionary
process. This heat and light are produced by the union of
the two poles, or by the occult marriage of male and
female, of Spirit (father) and matter (mother). In terms of
the physical, this union produces the objective solar
system, the Son of the Father and the Mother. In terms of
the subjective, it produces the Sun, as the sum total of
[228] the qualities of light and heat. In terms of fire, by
the union or at-one-ment of electric fire (Spirit) and fire
by friction (energized matter) solar fire is produced. This
solar fire will be distinguished above all else by its
evolutionary development, and by the gradual
intensification of the heat to be felt, and of the light to
be seen.
For a clearer comprehension of this abstract matter, we
might consider the microcosm, or man evolving in the three
worlds. Man is the product of the approximation (at present
imperfect) of the two poles of Spirit (the Father in
Heaven) and of matter (the Mother). The result of this
union is an individualized Son of God, or unit of the
divine Self, an exact replica in miniature on the lowest
plane of the great Son of God, the All-Self, who is in
Himself the totality of all the miniature sons, of all the
individualized Selves, and of each and every unit. The
microcosm, expressed in other terms or from the subjective
point of view, is a miniature sun distinguished by the
qualities of heat and light. At present that light is
"under the bushel," or deeply hidden by a veil of matter,
but in due process of evolution it will shine forth to such
an extent that the veils will be lost from sight in a blaze
of exceeding glory. At present the microcosmic heat is of
small degree, or the magnetic radiation between the
microcosmic units is but little felt (in the occult
significance of the term), but as time proceeds, the
emanations of heat, – due to intensification of the inner
flame, coupled with the assimilated radiation of other
units – will increase, and become of such proportions that
the interaction between the individualized Selves will
result in the merging to perfection of the flame within
each one, and a blending of the heat; this will proceed
until there is "one flame with countless sparks" within it,
until the heat is general and balanced. When this is the
case and each Son of God is a perfected Sun, characterized
by perfectly expressed light and heat, [229] then the
entire solar system, the greater Son of God, will be the
perfected Sun.
The system will then be characterized by a "blaze of
refulgent glory," and by a radiation that will link it up
with its cosmic center, and thus effect the liberation of
the Son, and His return to the far distant source from
whence the primal impulse originated. Therefore, bear in
mind:
- First, that the Son is the radiant result of
the union of Spirit and Matter, and may be considered as
the totality of the solar system, the Sun and the seven
sacred planets.
- Second, that the Son manifests through his
qualities of light and heat, as does the solar Sun.
- Third, that the Son is the product of the
electrical union of "fire by friction" and electric fire,
and is Himself "solar fire" or the manifestation of the
other two, hence that which is seen and that which is
felt.
- Finally, that the Son, therefore, is the
middle manifestation, and is produced by that which is
above, and that which is below, in the occult sense.
Therefore, the Son on His own plane (the cosmic mental
plane), is the egoic body of the Logos in the same sense
as the egoic body of the microcosm is the product of the
union of the Monad, or Spirit, and matter. Just as the
body egoic of man (that which is called the causal body)
is only in process of formation, and is not yet
perfected, so we may predicate the same of the solar
system, as it expresses the Life of God. It is in process
of perfecting. The Son, manifesting through the Sun and
its sphere of influence, is yet in a state of gradual
development, and not until each cell within His body is
fully alive and vibrating to a uniform measure, will He
be "full grown" and perfected. Not until His radiation
and His display of light is perfectly seen and felt, will
His place among the heavenly constellations (the Son of
God in a cosmic sense) be fully achieved. [230]
Not until each cell in His body is a sphere of radiant
glory – a blaze of fire and light, and a source of magnetic
radiation or heat, occultly expressed, will the Son in the
Heavens "shine forth." From the cosmic point of view, as we
know, our sun is but of the fourth order, and on the lowest
cosmic plane. When the Son has, through the Sun, attained
full expression (that is, perfected His display of light
and heat) then He will shine forth upon another plane, that
of the cosmic mental. We have the analogy in the microcosm
or man. When a man's light fully shines forth, when his
magnetic radiation has reached the stage of vivid
interaction or group activity, then he has attained full
self-expression, and has included within his sphere of
influence and control the mental plane. He is then
considered a Master. He also is of the fourth order; he is
the quaternary. The etheric plane is the center of his life
in the physical sense, just as we are told that the sun and
the planets esoterically are considered as existing in
etheric matter. As above, so below, is the occult law.
Therefore, the relationship of the Son of the Father, and
of the Mother, is to the Sun the same as man's relationship
to the vehicle through which he functions. It is His mode
of enterprise, His vehicle of expression; it is the form
which His life animates for the specific purpose of
- Gaining experience.
- Making contact.
- Developing full self-knowledge.
- Achieving full mastery or control.
- Attaining "manhood" cosmically. The cosmic Christ
must measure up to the stature "of a full grown man," as
it is expressed in the Christian Bible (Ep., 4:13).
- Expanding His consciousness. [231]
All these stages have to be achieved on cosmic levels,
in exactly the same sense as the microcosm, on systemic
levels, likewise strives for similar ideals.
II. What is Evolution and how does it proceed?
II.1. Life Cycles
I do not propose to deal here with the evolutionary process
in any other way than briefly to indicate that the whole
method of evolution is simply that of adjusting the matter
aspect to the Spirit aspect, so that the former proves
entirely adequate as a body of expression for the latter.
The life cycle of the Son is one hundred years of Brahma in
the same sense as man has a life cycle consisting of a
certain number of years, dependent upon his karma. During
the life cycle of a man, he expresses what is in him at his
particular stage, and gradually develops from the stage of
the antenatal period wherein the Self over-shadows the
matter aspect until the period wherein that Higher Self
takes full possession of the prepared form. This stage
varies with every individual. From that time on fuller
self-consciousness is sought, and the man (if proceeding
normally) expresses himself through the form ever more
adequately. Each life of lesser cycle in the great cycle of
the Ego or Self, sees that expression more complete, brings
the form more under control and develops a conscious
realization of the Self until there comes a culminating
cycle of lives in which the Self within rapidly dominates,
and takes full authority. The form becomes wholly adequate;
the fusion of the two poles of Spirit and matter is fully
brought about; and the light (fire) and heat (radiation) is
seen and felt systemically. Then the form is either
consciously utilized for specific ends or is vacated, and
the man is liberated. Electric fire and fire by friction
are fused, and the consequent solar fire blazes forth in
radiant glory.
Extend this idea from man, an individualized unit of [232]
consciousness, to the great Heavenly Men, in one of Whose
bodies a man forms a cell. The body of expression of each
Heavenly Man is one of the sacred planets, and They aim at
the same goal as man – the attainment, on Their own levels,
of full expression, and the development of Their vehicles
of consciousness to a point where the Spirit may blaze
forth as light divine, and as heat. This heat radiates
consciously and with intense magnetic attraction between
all the seven systemic groups, or planetary schemes. Their
magnetic field of action will include the planetary radius
of one and all. Carry this thought still further to include
the Son, and the entire solar system which He animates; His
attempt is to find full expression therein, so that
eventually and consciously His light may be seen and His
heat, or magnetic radiation, may be felt beyond His
immediate sphere of influence, the logoic ring-pass-not.
Both the light of the Son and the heat of the Son must be
felt by theopposite cosmic pole, that constellation
which is our system's magnetic opposite.
II.2. The objective of the units of consciousness
Thus, the thought of union and of fusion underlies the
entire scheme of evolution; Man, the Heavenly Men, and the
cosmic Man (the Son of the Father and the Mother) have to
- Radiate occult heat beyond their own
individualized ring-pass-not.
- Occultly blaze forth and demonstrate light or fiery
objectivity.
- Expand so as to include that which lies beyond their
own immediate spheres.
- Fuse and blend the two fires so as to produce
perfectly the central fire, solar fire.
- Blend Spirit and matter so that a body is produced
that will adequately express Spirit.
- Merge the essence within the form, which is occultly
[233] qualified during evolution, with the essence
in all forms – humanly, in a planetary sense, and
cosmically.
- Attain human, systemic and cosmic
manhood.
- Achieve mastery on three planes of the solar system,
humanly speaking.
- Achieve mastery on five planes of the solar system,
when speaking of a Heavenly Man.
- Achieve mastery on three cosmic planes when speaking
of the cosmic Christ, the Son, or the Logos manifesting
objectively.
II.3. The Manifesting Units of Consciousness94
94 "Matter, it must be remembered, is that
totality of Existence in the Cosmos which falls within any
of the planes of possible perception.
– S. D., I, 560.
These Existences might be enumerated as follows:
- The Seven Heavenly Men. In their totality they make
up the Body of the Grand Man of the Heavens, the Logos.
Other names for these Beings:
- The seven planetary Logoi or Spirits.
- The Prajapatis.
- The seven Lords of the Rays.
- The Dyhan Chohans.
- The seven Spirits before the Throne.
- The seven Archangels.
- The seven Logoi.
- The seven Builders.
- S. D., I, 115, 130, 152, 535.
They are the informing Entities of the Divine Ray,
the Ray of the second Logos, in much the same sense as
Fohat and his seven Brothers are the totality of the
Primordial Ray. – S. D., I, 100, 108, 155.
- Matter is fecundated by the Primordial Ray
of Intelligence. This is the anima mundi, the soul of
the world.
- The Primordial Ray is the vehicle for the Divine
Ray of Love and Wisdom. The merging of these two is
the aim of evolution.
- The Divine Ray is sevenfold. It brings in seven
Entities.
- These seven are.
- The Logos of Will or Power.
- The Logos of Love and Wisdom.
- The Logos of Activity.
- The Logos of Harmony.
- The Logos of Concrete Science.
- The Logos of Devotion or Abstract
Idealism.
- The Logos of Ceremonial Law or Order.
- Men, The Monad, The Units of Consciousness.
They, in their totality, make up the Bodies of the seven
Heavenly Men. Each Monad is found upon one of the seven
Rays. - S. D., I, 197, 285, 624; S. D., II, 85, 176,
196.
-
Devas – S. D. I, 308; S. D., II, 107. Such devas
are, for instance:
- The deva Lord of a plane. The sphere of his body
is the entire plane.
- Groups of building devas.
-
Entities involved in the mineral, vegetable, and
animal kingdoms. - S. D., I, 210, 298.
- The life of the third Logos – the atom of
matter.
- The life of the second Logos – groups of atoms
built into forms (plant, animal).
- The life of the first Logos – the forms indwelt
by highest Spirit.
- The spirit of a planet. – S. D., I, 178; S.
D., II, 251, 500. He is the sumtotal of the many
involutionary lives upon a planet.
- The atom. – S. D., I, 559, 620-622.
Summing Up: For the purpose and the goal see S.
D., I, 70, 132.
If these stated aims are carefully considered, it will be
seen how each has its place within the plan, and how [234]
evolution is but a term used to express the gradual
development in time and space of the inherent capacity of a
human being, of a Heavenly Man, and of the Grand Man of the
Heavens. The place and position of one and all to each
other must be borne in mind, for no one can develop without
the other. What, therefore, have we?
- The Son, the Grand Man of the Heavens. He
manifests through the Sun and the seven sacred planets,
each of whom embodies one of His seven principles, just
as He in His totality embodies one of the principles of a
greater cosmic Entity.
- A Heavenly Man. He manifests through a planet,
and embodies one of the principles of the Son, the Logos.
He Himself is likewise developing through seven
principles, which are the source of His essential unity
with all other Heavenly Men. Cosmically considered, the
Son is developing the principle of a greater cosmic
Being, that principle which we call love-wisdom. That is
the fundamental characteristic He has to develop during
His life cycle. Each Heavenly Man, therefore, embodies
predominantly a subsidiary principle of the fundamental
one. In like manner He Himself has six subsidiary
principles, as has the Son.
- A Human Being, Man. He manifests on the
physical [235] plane through form, and has also seven
principles; in each life cycle he works at their
development. He likewise has His primary coloring,
dependent upon the fundamental principle embodied by the
Heavenly Man, Who is his originating source. Thus we
have:
- THE LOGOS
Father-Spirit – Mother-Matter.
producing:
- The Son or the Grand Man of the Heavens, the
conscious logoic Ego
evolving through:
- The Sun and the seven sacred planets
each embodying a:
- Cosmic principle, in six differentiations
by method of:
- Expansion, vibratory stimulation, magnetic
interaction, or the law of attraction and repulsion.
- Cyclic progress, rotary repetition, coupled to
spiraling ascension, and developing:
- The quality of love-wisdom, through the
utilization of form by the means of active
intelligence.
- Full self-consciousness.
- A perfected solar system, or the form, adequate
to the needs of the indwelling spirit.
Here a similar tabulation may be worked out to
demonstrate the similarity of the process in the case of a
Heavenly Man and a human being. If we ask why ten schemes,
and in effect ten planets (seven sacred and three [236]
concealed) it is because the seven sacred planets are
eventually merged into the three, and finally the three are
blended into the one. This can be traced along the line of
analogy as we consider the seven Rays. These seven Rays,
which in manifestation are diverse, are eventually
synthesized. The minor four are blended, we are told, into
the third major ray, and the three major rays are finally
merged into the one synthetic ray, the Love-Wisdom Ray (the
Dragon of Wisdom, the occult serpent swallowing its
tail).
95 This has been pointed out by H. P. B.
We have, therefore, the three crowning rays, but seven seen
during the evolutionary process. In connection with the
Heavenly Men, functioning through the planets, there are,
therefore, three planets which might be considered as
synthesizing planets, and four which are blended
eventually, until the three have absorbed the essence of
the four; finally the one absorbs the essence of the three,
and the work is completed. This process lies many millennia
ahead, during the inevitable period of the gradual
obscuration of our system. Four of the Heavenly Men find
Their magnetic opposites, and fuse and blend. First this
takes place between Themselves, the negative and the
positive rays merging and fusing, forming then the two from
the four. Again the two merge, producing a united whole,
and the one thus produced blends with the major third ray,
the intelligence aspect, – the ray represented in our
planetary Hierarchy by the Mahachohan. So the fusion will
proceed until ultimately unity is reached in the system,
and the Son has accomplished His purpose. He is perfected
love-wisdom; his light shines forth cosmically; His
magnetic radius touches the periphery of His cosmic
opposite, and the marriage of the Son is effected. The two
cosmic units merge.
95 Serpent swallowing its tail. – S. D., I, 704;
II, 531.
96 Students might compare the following
references and then form their own conclusions. – S. D., I,
711 note, 545, 439; II, 811, 830, 581, 582, 426, 454, 654,
371.
If we here naturally ask which is the cosmic unit that is
our solar opposite, we shall be told that that question
[237] lies hid for the present, though it is hinted at in
the Secret Doctrine, and in other sacred books. A hint lies
concealed in the relationship of the Pleiades to our earth,
but not until a further precession of the equinoxes will it
be more fully seen what is the exact relationship
involved.96
III. Why is the Solar System evolving along the lines of
Duality?
III.1. The Problem of Existence
The third question involves one of the most difficult
problems in metaphysics, and covers in its consideration
the whole perplexing mystery of the reason why there is
objectivity at all.
It is one that has been asked under different forms by men
of every school of thought – by religious people who
enquire: – "Why did God create at all? Why is existence
forced upon one and all?"; by scientists in their search
for the ultimate truth and in their endeavor to find out
the motivation of all that is seen, and to account for
sensuous life; by philosophers in their equally diligent
search for that animating subjectivity that is expressing
itself through all the moral and ethical sciences in every
civilization and among every people; by the biologist in
his persistent application to search for the discovery of
the source of life, and in his strenuous endeavor to
account for the principle of life that is seen ever to
evade his investigations; by the mathematician, who,
dealing with the form side of manifestation in all the
grades of mathematics, decides that God geometrizes, that
law and rule pervade universally, that the one exists by
means of the many, and who yet is unable to solve the
problem as to who that geometrizing [238] identity may be.
So the problems persist, and all the many lines of approach
(in the endeavor to find the solution) end in the
cul-de-sac of hypothesis, and in the recognition of an
ultimate something of such an elusive nature, that men are
forced seemingly to predicate a source of energy, of life,
of intelligence, and to call it by diverse names according
to the trend (religious, scientific or philosophical) of
their minds. God, the Universal Mind, Energy, Force, the
Absolute, the Unknown, – these terms and many others are
forced from the lips of those who, by means of the form
side, seek the Dweller within the form, and cannot find Him
as yet. This failure to find Him is due to the limitations
of the physical brain, and to the lack of development in
the mechanism whereby the spiritual may be known, and
whereby He may, and eventually will, be contacted.
The problem of duality is the problem of existence itself,
and cannot be solved by the man who refuses to recognize
the possibility of two occult facts:
- That the entire solar system embodies the
consciousness of an Entity, who originates on planes
entirely without the solar ring-pass-not.
- That manifestation is periodical and that the Law of
Rebirth is the method that evolution takes in dealing
with a man, a planetary Logos, and a solar Logos. Hence,
the emphasis laid in the Proem of the Secret Doctrine on
the three fundamentals (S. D., I, 42-44.),
- The Boundless Immutable Principle and
- The periodicity of the Universe.
- The identity of all souls with the
Oversoul.
When scientists recognize these two facts then their
explanations will take a different line and the truth,
as it is, will begin to illuminate their reason. Few
men are yet ready for illumination, which is simply the
light of the [239] intuition breaking through the barriers
that the rational faculty has erected. The duality of the
solar system will eventually be recognized as dependent
upon the following factors:
- Existence itself.
- Time and space.
- The quality of desire or necessity.
- The acquisitive faculty inherent in life itself. This
faculty, by the means of motion, gathers to itself the
material whereby it achieves its desire, whereby it
fabricates the form through which expression is sought,
and whereby it confines itself within the prison of the
sheath in order to gain experience.
The supposition is correct that this theory takes for
granted a mighty Intelligence who works thus through an
ordered plan, and Who consciously takes shape and
incarnates in order to carry out specific purposes of His
own. But this hypothesis is but the rock bottom fact
underlying the eastern teaching, and is one that is largely
accepted, though diversely expressed and viewed by thinkers
of all schools of thought throughout the globe. Even this
conception is but a partial presentation of the real Idea,
but owing to the limitations of man at this stage of
evolution, it is sufficient as a working basis on which he
may erect his temple of truth.
This Entity, Whom we call the solar Logos, is in no sense
the same as the personal God of the Christian, who is no
more nor less than man himself, expanded into a being of
awful power, and subject to the virtues and vices of man
himself. The solar Logos is more than man, for He is the
sumtotal of all the evolutions within the entire solar
system, including the human, which is an evolution standing
at a middle point in relation to the other evolutions. On
one side of him are ranged hosts of beings who are more
than human, and who, in [240] past kalpas, reached and
passed the stage where man now is; on the other side are
hosts of the subhuman evolutions who in future kalpas will
achieve the stage of humanity. Man stands midway between
the two, and is at the point of balance; herein lies his
problem. He does not partake wholly of the material side of
evolution, nor is he wholly the expression of the third
Logos, the Brahma aspect of the Deity, Who is an expression
of pure energy or intelligence, motivating that tenuous
something which we call substance. He is not wholly Spirit,
the expression of the first Logos, the Mahadeva aspect,
which is an expression of pure will or necessitous desire,
impelling to manifestation. It is the fundamental motive
itself or the great will to be. Man is a product of the
union of the two; he is the meeting place of matter or
active intelligent substance, and of Spirit or the basic
will. He is the child born of their marriage or
at-one-ment. He assumes objectivity in order to express
that which is in each of the two opposites, plus the result
of their merging in himself.
III.2. Its Nature and Duality
In terms of quality what have we? Active
intelligence at one with will or power produces that "Son
of necessity" (as H. P. B. expresses it – S. D., I, 74) Who
embodies intelligence, will or desire, and their united
latent demonstration, love-wisdom.
In terms of Fire how might we express an analogous
thought? The fire latent in matter – itself a product of an
earlier manifestation of the same cosmic Identity, or the
relatively perfected quality worked out by Him in a
previous cosmic incarnation – is set in motion again by the
desire of that same Identity to circle once more the wheel
of rebirth. That "fire by friction" produces heat and
radiation and calls forth a reaction from its [241]
opposite "electric fire" or spirit. Here we have the
thought of the Ray striking through matter, for the action
of electric fire is ever forward, as earlier suggested. The
one Ray "electric fire" drops into matter. This is the
systemic marriage of the Father and the Mother. The result
is the blending of these two fires, and their united
production of that expression of fire which we call "solar
fire." Thus is produced the Son. Active Intelligence and
Will are united and love-wisdom, when perfected through
evolution, will be the outcome.
Electric fire or Spirit, united to fire by friction
(heat) produces solar fire or light. Hence, when the
cosmic Entity takes form, there is added to the active
intelligence which is the product of His earlier
incarnation, a further quality, which is inherent and
potential, that of love-wisdom. This is the ability to love
that which is objective or the not-self, and ultimately to
use with wisdom the form. Pure will is as yet an
abstraction, and will only be brought into full development
in another incarnation of the Logos. Mind or Intelligence
is not an abstraction; it is something that IS. Neither is
love-wisdom an abstraction. It is in process of development
or bringing into manifestation, and is the aspect of the
Son.
What is above stated is in no way new, but these thoughts
on essential duality are gathered together, in order to
convey to our minds the necessity of viewing these things
from the standpoint of their place in the cosmic scheme,
and not from the point of view of our own planetary
evolution and of man himself.
Humanity is that evolution
through which the Son aspect is to express itself most
perfectly in this cosmic incarnation. Man blends the
pairs of opposites, and the three fires meet in him. He is
the best expression of the manasic principle and might be
considered, from one very interesting [242] standpoint, the
chef-d'oeuvre of Brahma. He is the sheath for the
life of God; he is the individualized consciousness of the
Logos, manifesting through the seven divine Manasaputras,
or Heavenly Men, in Whose bodies each unit of the human
family finds place. He is the Vishnu aspect in process of
development through the intelligence of Brahma, impelled by
the will of Mahadeva. Therefore, in a peculiar sense man is
very important, as he is the place of at-one-ment for all
the three aspects; nevertheless, he is very unimportant for
he is not the apex of the triangle, but simply the middle
point, if we view the triangle thus:
- Spirit – Father.
- The Son or man.
- Matter – Mother.
The evolution of the Son, or the cosmic incarnation of
the Christ, is of immense importance in the plans of the
Being greater than the solar Logos, HE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT
MAY BE SAID. The animating principles of allied
constellations and systems watch the progress of the
evolution of the Son with keenest attention.
Just as the planet called the earth is regarded as the
turning point or the battleground between Spirit and
matter, and is therefore, from that very consideration, of
great importance, so our solar system holds an analogous
place in the cosmic scheme. The cosmic man, the solar
Arjuna, is wrestling for His individualized perfected
self-consciousness, and for freedom and liberation from the
form, and from the not-self. So man on this planet battles
for similar ideals on his tiny scale; so battle in heaven
Michael and His Angels, or the divine Heavenly Men, Whose
problem is the same on the higher scale.
Duality, and the interplay between the two produces: [243]
- Objectivity, or the manifested Son or Sun.
- Evolution itself.
- The development of quality.
- Time and space.
The questions we are now engaged in answering embody
certain fundamental aspects of manifestation, viewed
principally from the subjective or psychic angle.
IV. What is Consciousness? What is its Place in the Scheme
of Things?
Consciousness might be defined as the faculty of
apprehension, and concerns primarily the relation of the
Self to the not-self, of the Knower to the Known, and of
the Thinker to that which is thought about. All these
definitions involve the acceptance of the idea of duality,
of that which is objective and of that which lies back of
objectivity.99
99 "Consciousness is the cosmic seed of
supercosmic omniscience. It has the potentiality of budding
into divine consciousness." – S. D., III, 555.
The universe is an aggregate of states of consciousness.
– S. D., II, 633.
Consciousness may be roughly divided into:
- Absolute or God Consciousness – Unmanifested
Logos.
"I am That I am."
- Universal or Group Consciousness – Manifested Logos.
Consciousness of planetary Logos.
"I am That."
- Individual or Self-Consciousness – Human
consciousness.
"I am."
- Consciousness or Atomic Consciousness – Subhuman
consciousness.
The goal of consciousness for:
- A planetary Logos – Absolute Consciousness.
- Man – Group Consciousness.
- Atom – Self-Consciousness.
The Logos is the Macrocosm for Man. – S. D., I, 288,
295. Man is the Macrocosm for the Atom...
Summation: The Life and the Lives. – S. D., I, 281,
282.
Consciousness expresses that which might be regarded as the
middle point in manifestation. It does not involve entirely
the pole of Spirit. It is produced by the union of the two
poles, and the process of interplay and of adaptation that
necessarily ensues. It might be tabulated as follows, in an
effort to clarify by visualization: [244]
First Pole |
The Point of Union |
Second Pole |
First Logos |
Second Logos |
Third Logos. |
Mahadeva |
Vishnu |
Brahma. |
Will |
Wisdom-Love |
Active Intelligence. |
Spirit |
Consciousness |
Matter. |
Father |
Son |
Mother. |
Monad |
Ego |
Personality. |
The Self |
The relation between |
The Not-Self. |
The Knower |
Knowledge |
The Known. |
Life |
Realization |
Form. |
One could go on piling up terms, but the above suffices
to demonstrate the relationship between the threefold
Logos, during manifestation. Emphasis must be laid upon the
above fact: The solar system embodies the above logoic
relationship during evolutionary objectivity, and the whole
aim of progressive development is to bring the Son of the
Father and the Mother, to a point of full realization, of
complete self-consciousness, and to full and active
knowledge. This Son is objectively the solar system,
inherently will or power, and subjectively He is
love-wisdom. This latter quality is in process of
development through the utilization of active
intelligence.
The three manifested Persons of the logoic Triad seek full
development by means of each other. The will to be, of the
Mahadeva aspect, seeks, with the aid of the intelligence of
Brahma, to develop love-wisdom, or the Son aspect, the
Vishnu aspect. In the microcosmic system, the reflection of
the threefold Logos, the man is endeavoring through the
three vehicles to attain the same development on his own
plane. On higher planes the Heavenly Men (through
atma-buddhi-manas) aim at a similar progression. These two,
the Heavenly Men plus the units in Their bodies, which are
composed of deva and human monads form, in their totality,
the Grand Heavenly Man. When man achieves, then the
Heavenly Men likewise achieve; when They reach Their full
growth and knowledge, [245] and are self-conscious on all
planes, then the Son achieves, and the solar system (His
body of manifestation and experience) has served its
purpose. The Son is liberated. Extend the idea of this
threefold development of consciousness to the Logos in a
still larger cycle (to that of the three solar systems of
which this is the middle one) and we have repeated on
cosmic levels in connection with the Logos, the process of
the development of man in the three worlds.
THE MACROCOSM
- The first solar system – embodied – the "I am"
principle,
- The second solar system – is embodying – the "I am
that" principle.
- The third solar system – will embody – the "I am that
I am" principle.
THE MICROCOSM
- The first manifestation, the Personality, embodies
the "I am" principle.
- The second manifestation, the Ego, is embodying the
"I am that" principle.
- The third manifestation, the Monad, will embody the
"I am that I am" principle.
Thus the different factors play their part in the
general scheme of things, and all are interrelated, and all
are interested parts and members one of the other.
V. Is there a direct Analogy between the Development of a
System, a Planet, a Man and an Atom?
If by this question the desire exists to demonstrate exact
similarity, the answer must be: No, the analogy is never
exact in detail but only in certain broad basic
correspondences. In all the four factors, there will be
found unchangeable points of resemblance, but in
development the stages of growth may not appear the same in
detailed evolution, viewed from the standpoint of a man in
the [246] three worlds, handicapped as he is by limited
apprehension. The points of resemblance between the four
might be summed up as follows, taking the atom on the
physical plane as our starting point, and developing the
concept from stage to stage:
V.1. An Atom100
- An atom consists of a spheroidal form containing
within itself a nucleus of life.
- An atom contains within itself differentiated
molecules, which in their totality form the atom itself.
For instance, we are told that the physical atom contains
within its periphery fourteen thousand millions of the
archetypal atoms, yet these myriads demonstrate as
one.
- An atom is distinguished by activity, and shows forth
the qualities of:
- Rotary motion.
- Discriminative power.
- Ability to develop.
- An atom, we are told, contains within itself three
major spirals and seven lesser101 which ten
are in process [247] of vitalization, but have not yet
attained full activity. Only four are functioning at this
stage, and the fifth is in process of development.
- Am atom is governed by the Law of Economy, is coming
slowly under the Law of Attraction, and will eventually
come under the Law of Synthesis.
- An atom finds its place within all forms; it is the
aggregation of atoms that produces form.
- Its responsiveness to outer stimulation:
- Electrical stimulation, affecting its objective
form.
- Magnetic stimulation, acting upon its subjective
life.
- The united effect of the two stimulations,
producing consequent internal growth and
development.
100 In connection with the
Atom, the
Secret Doctrine says:
- Absolute intelligence thrills through every atom. –
S. D., I, 298.
- Wherever there is an atom of matter, there is life. –
S. D., I, 245, 269, 279.
- The atom is a concrete manifestation of the Universal
Energy. – S. D., I., 201.
- The same invisible lives compose the atoms, etc. – S.
D., I, 281.
- Every atom in the universe has the potentiality of
self-consciousness. – S. D., I, 132; II, 742.
- Atoms and souls are synonymous in the language of
Initiates. – S. D., I., 620, 622.
- The atom belongs wholly to the domain of metaphysics.
– S. D., I, 559.
- Deity is within every atom. – S. D., I, 89, 183.
- Every atom is doomed to incessant differentiation. –
S. D., I, 167.
- The object of the evolution of the atom is Man. – S.
D., I, 206.
- A germ exists in the center of every atom. – S. D.,
I, 87; II, 622.
- There is heat in every atom. – S. D., I, 112.
- Every atom has 7 planes of being. – S. D., I,
174.
- Atoms are vibrations. – S. D., I, 694.
101 Inner Life: Vol. II, 177-179.
Occult Chemistry, p. 22. Occult Chemistry,
Appendix II and III. Babbitt's Light and Color, pp.
97-101.
An atom therefore is distinguished by:
- Its spheroidal shape. Its ring-pass-not is definite
and seen.
- Its internal arrangement, which comprises the sphere
of influence of any particular atom.
- Its life-activity, or the extent to which the life at
the center animates the atom, a relative thing at this
stage.
- Its sevenfold inner economy in process of
evolution.
- Its eventual synthesis internally from the seven into
the three.
- Its group relation.
- Its development of consciousness, or
responsiveness.
Having predicated the above facts of the atom, we can
extend the idea now to man, following the same general
outline:
V.2. A Man
- A man is spheroidal in form, he can be seen as a
circular ring-pass-not, a sphere of matter with a nucleus
[248] of life at the center. In predicating this we are
considering the true man in his fundamental position as
the Ego, with his sphere of manifestation, the causal
body, – that body which forms the middle point between
Spirit and matter.
- A man contains within himself differentiated atoms,
which in their totality make up the objective form of the
man on the planes of his manifestation. All are animated
by his life, by his persistent will-to-be; all vibrate
according to the point reached by the man in evolution.
As seen from the higher planes man demonstrates as a
sphere (or spheres) of differentiated matter, vibrating
to a certain measure, tinctured by a certain color, and
rotating to a fixed key – the key of his life cycle.
- A man is distinguished by activity on one or more
planes in the three worlds, and shows forth the qualities
of:
- Rotary motion, or his particular cycling on the
wheel of life, around his egoic pole.
- Discriminative capacity, or the power to choose
and gain experience.
- Ability to evolve, to increase vibration and to
make contact.
- A man contains within himself three major principles,
– will, love-wisdom, active intelligence or adaptability
– and their differentiation into the seven principles.
These, making the eventual ten of perfected
manifestation, are in process of vitalization, but have
not yet attained full expression. Only four principles in
man are active, and he is in process of developing the
fifth, or manasic principle. Note how perfect is the
analogy between man, viewed as the lower quaternary
developing the principle of mind, and the atom with its
four spirillae active, and the fifth in process of
stimulation.
- A man is governed by the Law of Attraction, is [249]
evolved through the Law of Economy, and is coming under
the Law of Synthesis. Economy governs the material
process with which he is not so much consciously
concerned; attraction governs his connection with other
units or groups, and synthesis is the law of his inner
Self, of the life within the form.
- Man finds his place within the group form. Egoic
groups and the Heavenly Men are formed by the aggregate
of human and of deva units.
- His responsiveness to outer stimulation:
- Electrical stimulation, affecting the outer form,
or pranic response.
- Magnetic stimulation, acting upon his subjective
life. This emanates from his egoic group, and later
from the Heavenly Man, in Whose body he is a
cell.
- The united effect of these two stimulations,
inducing steady growth and development.
A man is distinguished therefore by:
- His spheroidal shape. His ring-pass-not is definite
and seen.
- His internal arrangement; his entire sphere of
influence is in process of development. At present that
sphere is limited and his range of activity is small. As
the body egoic is developed, the nucleus of life at the
center increases its radius of control until the whole is
brought under rule and government.
- His life activity or the extent to which at any given
time he demonstrates self-consciousness, or controls his
threefold lower nature.
- His sevenfold inner economy; the development of his
seven principles. [250]
- His eventual internal synthesis under the working of
the three laws from the seven into the three and later
into the one.
- His group relation.
- His development of consciousness, of responsiveness
to contact, involving therefore the growth of
awareness.
V.3. A Heavenly Man102
102 These Heavenly Men are:
- The sumtotal of consciousness – S. D., I, 626,
- The Creators – S. D., I, 477, 481-485. Compare S. D.,
II, 244.
- They are the seven primary creations, or the
taking of the etheric body by a Heavenly Man.
- They are the seven secondary creations, or the
taking of the dense physical body.
Trace this in the Microcosm, and the work of the
devas of the ethers in building the body.
- The aggregate of divine intelligence – S. D., I,
488,
- The mind-born Sons of Brahma – S. D., I, 493, S.
D., II, 610, 618.
They are the logoic Quaternary, the Five, and the
Seven.
- The seven Rays – S. D., I, 561, S. D., II,
201.
They are the seven paths back to God – Spirit.
They are the seven principles metaphysically.
They are the seven races physically.
- The Lords of ceaseless and untiring devotion – S.
D., II, 92.
- The failures of the last system – S.D., II,
243.
- The polar opposites to the Pleiades – S. D., III,
579, 581.
Our system is masculine occultly and the Pleiades is
feminine.
A Heavenly Man in His planetary scheme creates in a
similar manner. See S. D., II, 626.
- Each Heavenly Man is likewise to be seen as
spheroidal in shape. He has His ring-pass-not as has the
atom and the man. This ring-pass-not comprises the entire
planetary scheme; the dense physical globe of any one
chain being analogous in His case to the physical body of
any man, and to the atom on the physical plane. Each
scheme of seven chains is the expression of the life of
an Entity, Who occupies it, as does a man his body, for
purposes of manifestation and in order to gain
experience. [251]
- A Heavenly Man contains within Himself that which
corresponds to the cells within the vehicles of
expression of a human being. The atoms or cells in His
body are made up of the aggregate of the deva and human
units who vibrate to His key note, and who respond to the
measure of His life. All are held together and animated
by His will to be, and all vibrate according to the point
achieved by Him in evolution. From the cosmic standpoint
a Heavenly Man can be seen as a sphere of wondrous life,
which includes within its radius of influence the
vibratory capacity of an entire planetary scheme. He
vibrates to a certain measure, which can be estimated by
the activity of the life pulsating at the center of the
sphere; the entire planetary scheme is tinctured by a
certain color, is rotating to a fixed key which is the
key of His life cycle within the still greater
mahamanvantara or logoic cycle.
- A Heavenly Man is distinguished by His activity on
one or other of the planes which we call the Triadal, or
Atma-Buddhi-Manas, in the same way as a man is
distinguished by his activity on one of the planes in the
three worlds, mental-astral-physical. Eventually a man is
self-conscious on all three. Eventually a Heavenly Man is
fully self-conscious on the higher three. Every forward
movement or increased vitality in the aggregate of men in
the three worlds, is paralleled by an analogous activity
on the three higher planes. The action and the
interaction between the life animating the groups or the
Heavenly Men, and the life animating the atoms or men who
form the units in groups is both mysterious and
wonderful. A Heavenly Man on His own planes likewise
shows forth the qualities of:
- Rotary motion, or His particular cycling activity
around His life wheel, a planetary scheme, and thus
around His egoic pole. [252]
- Discriminating capacity, or the power to choose
and thereby gain experience. They are the embodiments
of manas or the intelligent faculty (hence Their
title of Divine Manasaputras) which comprehends,
chooses and discards, thus attaining knowledge and
self-consciousness. This manasic faculty They
developed in earlier kalpas or solar systems. Their
purpose is now to utilize that which is developed to
bring about certain specific effects and to attain
certain specific goals.
- Ability to evolve, to increase vibration, to gain
knowledge, and to make contact. This increased
vibration is of a gradual and evolutionary order and
proceeds from center to center as it does in man, and
as it does in the case of the atomic spirillae. Their
aim is to achieve uniformity of contact with each
other, and to merge eventually Their separated
identities in the One Identity, retaining
simultaneously full self-consciousness or
individualized self-apprehension.
- A Heavenly Man contains within Himself three major
principles – will, love-wisdom, intelligence, and their
manifestation through the seven principles so often
discussed in our occult literature. These make the ten of
His ultimate perfection, for the seven are resolved into
the three, and the three into the one.
Each Heavenly Man has, of course, His primary
coloring or principle as has man and the atom. Man has
for his primary coloring or principle that of the
Heavenly Man in Whose body he is a unit. He has also
the other two major principles (as has the Heavenly
Man), and their differentiation into the seven as
earlier said. The atom has for primary coloring or
principle, that of the egoic ray of the human being for
instance in whose body it finds place. This, of course,
is in connection with the [253] physical atom in a
man's body. This coloring manifests as the vibration
setting the measure of the major three spirillae and
the minor seven.
Only four principles in the Heavenly Men are as yet
manifesting to any extent, though One of Them is rather
in advance of the others, and has the fifth principle
vibrating adequately, while certain others are in
process of perfecting the fourth. The Heavenly Man of
our chain is vibrating somewhat to the fifth principle,
or rather is in process of awakening it to life. His
fourth vibration or principle in this fourth round or
cycle, and on this fourth globe, is awakened, though
not functioning as it will in the fifth round. Much of
the trouble present in the planet at this time arises
from the coming into activity of the higher or fifth
vibration, which will be completed and transcended in
the next or fifth cycle. The analogy, as in man and the
atom, again holds good but not in exact detail.
- A Heavenly Man is governed by the Law of Attraction,
has transcended the Law of Economy, and is rapidly coming
under the Law of Synthesis. Note therefore the gradual
stepping-up of the control and the fact that:
- First. The Law of Economy is the primary
law of the atom. The Law of Attraction is coming into
control of the atom. The Law of Synthesis is but
slightly felt by the life of the atom. It is the law
of life.
- Second. The Law of Attraction is the
primary law of man. The Law of Economy is a secondary
law for man. It governs the matter of his vehicles.
The Law of Synthesis is steadily beginning to be
felt.
- Third. The Law of Synthesis is the primary
law of a Heavenly Man. The Law of Attraction has full
sway. The Law of Economy is transcended.
The dense physical body is not a principle for a
Heavenly Man, hence the Law of Economy is transcended.
[254] The Law of Attraction governs the material
process of form building. The Law of Synthesis is the
law of His Being.
- A Heavenly Man is finding His place within the logoic
groups, and is seeking to realize His position among the
seven and by realization to approximate unity.
- His responsiveness to outer stimulation. This viewed
from the limited human standpoint touches on realms
unattainable by man's intellect as yet. It deals with:
- Electrical stimulation, and concerns the response
to solar radiation, and to paralleling planetary
radiation.
- Magnetic stimulation, acting upon His subjective
life. This radiation emanates from sources outside
the system altogether. We might note the following
facts:
- Magnetic stimulation of the physical atom
emanates from man on astral levels, and later
from buddhic levels.
- Magnetic stimulation of man emanates from the
Heavenly Men on buddhic, and later on monadic
levels.
- Magnetic stimulation of a Heavenly Man
emanates extra-systemically, from the cosmic
astral, the united effect of these stimulations
inducing steady internal development.
A Heavenly Man is distinguished therefore by:
- His spheroidal shape. His ring-pass-not, during
objectivity, is definite and seen.
- His internal arrangement and His sphere of influence,
or that activity animating the planetary chain.
- His spiritual life control at any given period. It is
the power whereby He animates His [255] sevenfold nature.
Note the increase of influence as compared to man's
threefold radius.
- His eventual ultimate synthesis from the seven into
the three and from thence into one. This covers the
obscuration of the globes, and the blending into unity of
the seven principles which each globe is evolving.
- His evolution under Law and consequent
development.
- His group relation.
- His development of consciousness and of
awareness.
Finally, we must extend these ideas to a solar Logos,
and see how completely the analogy persists. The paragraphs
dealing with stimulation, magnetic and electric, inevitably
brings us back to the contemplation of fire, the basis and
source of all life.
V.4. A Solar Logos
- A solar Logos, the Grand Man of the Heavens, is
equally spheroidal in shape. His ring-pass-not comprises
the entire circumference of the solar system, and all
that is included within the sphere of influence of the
Sun. The Sun holds a position analogous to the nucleus of
life at the center of the atom. This sphere comprises
within its periphery the seven planetary chains with the
synthesizing three, making the ten of logoic
manifestation. The Sun is the physical body of the solar
Logos, His body of manifestation, and His life sweeps
cycling through the seven schemes in the same sense as
the life of a planetary Logos sweeps seven times around
His scheme of seven chains. Each chain holds a position
analogous to a globe in a planetary chain. Note the
beauty of the correspondence, yet withal the lack of
detailed analogy. (S.D., I 136.)
- A solar Logos contains within Himself, as the atoms
in His body of manifestation, all groups of every kind,
[256] from the involutionary group-soul to the egoic
groups on the mental plane. He has (for the animating
centers of His body) the seven major groups or the seven
Heavenly Men, who ray forth Their influence to all parts
of the logoic sphere, and who embody within Themselves
all lesser lives, the lesser groups, human and deva
units, cells atoms and molecules.
Seen from cosmic levels, the sphere of the Logos can
be visualized as a vibrating ball of fire of supernal
glory, containing within its circle of influence, the
planetary spheres likewise vibrating balls of fire. The
Grand Man of the Heavens vibrates to a steadily
increasing measure; the entire system is tinctured by a
certain color, – the color of the life of the Logos,
the One Divine Ray; and the system rotates to a certain
measure, which is the key of the great kalpa or solar
cycle, and revolves around its central solar pole.
- The solar Logos is distinguished by His activity on
all the planes of the solar system; He is the sumtotal of
all manifestation, from the lowest and densest physical
atom up to the most radiant and cosmic ethereal Dhyan
Chohan. This sevenfold vibratory measure is the key of
the lowest cosmic plane, and its rate of rhythm can be
felt on the cosmic astral, with a faint response on the
cosmic mental. Thus the life of the logoic existence on
cosmic levels, may be seen paralleling the life of a man
in the three worlds, the lowest of the systemic planes.
On His own planes the Logos likewise shows
forth:
- First. Rotary motion. His life as it
cycles through a day of Brahma, can be seen spiraling
around His greater wheel, the ten schemes of a solar
system.
-
Second. Discriminatory capacity. His first
act, as we know, was to discriminate or choose the
matter he needed for manifestation. That choice was
controlled by: [257]
- Cosmic Karma.
- Vibratory capacity.
- Responsive coloring or quality.
- Numerical factors involved in cosmic
mathematics.
He is the embodiment of cosmic manas, and
through the use of this faculty He seeks – by means
of animated form – to build into His cosmic causal
body, a paralleling quality of love-wisdom.
- Third. Ability to progress, to increase
vibration, and to gain full self-consciousness on
cosmic levels.
- The solar Logos contains within Himself the three
major principles or aspects, and their differentiation
into seven principles. These make the ten of His ultimate
perfection and are eventually synthesized into the one
perfected principle of love-wisdom. This ultimate
principle is His primary coloring. Each principle is
embodied in one of the schemes, and is being worked out
through one of the Heavenly Men. Only four principles are
as yet manifested to any extent, for the evolution of the
Logos parallels that of the Heavenly Men.
- The solar Logos is governed by the Law of Synthesis.
He holds all in synthetic unity or homogeneity. His
subjective life is governed by the Law of Attraction; His
material form is governed by the Law of Economy. He is
coming under another cosmic law as yet incomprehensible
to men, which law is but revealed to the highest
initiates.
- The solar Logos is in process of ascertaining His
place within the greater system in which He holds a place
analogous to that of a Heavenly Man in a solar system. He
seeks first to find the secret of His own existence, and
to achieve full Self-Consciousness; secondly to ascertain
the position and place of His polar opposite; thirdly to
[258] merge and blend with that polar opposite. This is
the cosmic marriage of the Logos.
- A solar Logos is distinguished by His responsiveness
to outer stimulation. This concerns itself with:
- Electrical stimulation or His response to
electrical fohatic force emanating from other stellar
centers, and controlling largely the action of our
system and its movements in space in relation to
other constellations.
- Magnetic stimulation, acting upon His subjective
Life, and emanating from certain cosmic centers
hinted at in the Secret Doctrine. These find
their source on cosmic buddhic levels.
- It is their united effect which induces steady
development.
The solar Logos is distinguished
- By the spheroidicity of His manifesting existence.
His solar ring-pass-not is definite and seen. This can
only be demonstrated as yet by the endeavor to ascertain
the extent of the subjective control, by the measure of
the solar sphere of influence, or the magnetic attraction
of the Sun to other lesser bodies which it holds in
circular motion around itself.
- By the activity of the life animating the ten
schemes.
- By the extent of the control exerted by the Logos at
any given period.
- By the ultimate synthesis of the seven schemes into
three and thence into one. This covers the obscuration of
the schemes and the unification of the seven principles
which they embody.
- By His subjection to the Law of His Being.
- By His group relation.
- By His unfoldment of Consciousness, the time factor
[259] being controlled by the measure of the unfoldment
of all the conscious units in His body.
Here we have traced very briefly some of the analogies
between the four factors earlier mentioned, and have in a
cursory way answered the question. These points, if dwelt
upon, will be found of real assistance in developing the
mental appreciation of the student, and in increasing his
apprehension of the beauty of the entire solar scheme.
VI. What is the Mind Aspect? Why is the Manasic Principle
of such Importance? Who are the Manasaputras?
We are now to touch upon the profoundest mystery of the
whole manifested solar system – the mystery spoken of by H.
P. B. as the mystery of electricity. (S. D., I, 439, 221,
107.) It is intimately connected with the life of God as
demonstrated through His seven Centers, the seven Heavenly
Men, the Divine Manasaputras. This problem is not soluble
as yet exoterically and but little can be revealed to the
general public. This is for three reasons:
First, the stage reached by man does not permit of
his correct apprehension of these abstractions.
Second, the greater part of the possible explanation
is only revealed to initiates who have passed the third
Initiation, and even to them in a carefully guarded manner.
Third, the revelation of the close connection
between mind and fohat or energy, or between thought power
and electrical phenomena – the effect of fohatic impulse on
matter – is fraught with peril, and the missing link (if so
it might be termed) in the chain of reasoning from
phenomena to its initiatory impulse, can only be safely
imparted when the bridge between higher and lower mind, is
adequately constructed. When the lower is under the control
of the higher, or when the quaternary is merging into the
triad, then man can be trusted with the [260] remaining
four fundamentals. Three of these fundamentals are laid
down for us in the Proem of the Secret Doctrine, (S.
D., I, 42-44.) and with the evolving concept of psychology,
make the revealed three and the dawning fourth. The other
three are esoteric and must remain so until each man has
for himself worked at his spiritual development, built the
bridge between the higher and the lower mind, prepared the
shrine in the temple of Solomon for the Light of God, and
turned his activities into altruistic helping of the
evolutionary plans of the Logos.
When these qualities are assuming a foremost place and when
man has demonstrated the thoroughness of his will to serve,
then the clue will be put into his hands and he will find
the method whereby electrical impulse, demonstrating as
heat, light and motion, is controlled and utilized – he
will discover the source of the initial impulse from
extra-systemic centers, and discover the basic rhythm.
Then, and only then, will he be a truly intelligent
cooperator, and (escaping from the control of the Law in
the three worlds) wield the law himself within the lower
spheres.
VI.1. The Nature of Manifestation
Here are three important questions to be dealt with as one,
all bearing on the same subject, and all concerned with the
fact of intelligent objectivity itself. Perhaps if we
paraphrased the threefold query, and brought it down to
microcosmic objectivity, the problem might not appear so
complex. We might express it thus: What is the thought
aspect of a human being? Why is his mind and mental process
of such importance? Who is the Thinker? Man, in essential
essence, is the higher triad demonstrating through a
gradually evolving form, the egoic or causal body, and
utilizing the lower threefold personality [261] as a means
to contact the lower three planes. All this has for purpose
the development of perfect self-consciousness. Above the
triad stands the Monad or the Father in Heaven – a point of
abstraction to man as he views the subject from the
physical plane. The Monad stands to him in the position of
the Absolute, in the same sense as the undifferentiated
Logos stands to the threefold Trinity, to the three Persons
of logoic manifestation. The parallel is exact.
- The Monad.
- The threefold Triad, Atma-Buddhi-Manas, or spiritual
will, intuition, and higher mind.
- The body egoic or the causal body, the shrine for the
buddhic principle. This body is to be built by the power
of the mind. It is the manifestation of the three.
- The threefold lower nature, the points of densest
objectivity.
- This threefold lower nature is in essence a
quaternary – the etheric vehicle, animating life or
prana, kama-manas, and lower mind. Manas or the fifth
principle, forms the link between the lower and the
higher. (S. D., I, 107.)
We have, therefore, our lower four, our higher three,
and the relation between them, the principle of mind. Here
we have the seven formed by the union of the three and the
four, and another factor, making eight.
The ultimate
seven will be seen when buddhi and manas are merged.
Much has been hinted at in certain of our occult books
about the eighth sphere. I would suggest that in this
linking factor of intelligent mind, we have a clue to the
mystery. When mind becomes unduly developed and ceases to
unite the higher and the lower, it forms a sphere of its
own. This is the greatest disaster that can overtake the
human unit. [262]
Therefore we have:
- Monad, the microcosmic absolute.
Pure Spirit.
The one and only.
- The monadic trinity.
First aspect – Atma or spiritual will.
Second aspect – Buddhi, the Christ principle.
Third aspect – Manas, or higher mind.
- The Son aspect in objectivity.
The body egoic or causal body.
-
The lower quaternary.
- 1. The mental body.
- 2. The astral or emotional
body.108
- 3. Prana, or vital energy.
- 4. Etheric body.
The microcosm reproduces the solar system in
miniature. The above deals with the objective forms,
corresponding to the sun and the seven sacred planets. But
the exoteric form is paralleled by a psychic development
which we call the seven principles. Man develops seven
principles, which might be enumerated as follows:
Microcosmic Principles109
Two higher principles:
- Active intelligence.
- Latent love-wisdom. [263]
108 Kama-manas – That blending of the mental and
desire element that forms the personality or common
brain-intelligence of the man.
"The energies that express themselves through the lower
kinds of mental matter are so changed by it into slower
vibrations that are responded to by astral matter that the
two bodies are continually vibrating together, and become
very closely interwoven."
- The Ancient Wisdom by Mrs. Besant
109 Principles:
- "There are two main cosmic principles in nature:
- Active and passive, male and female. – S. D., II,
556. I, 46.
- Buddhi and mahat. See also S. D., I, 357. II,
649. III, 273.
- These higher principles united produce the three and
the seven. – S. D., I, 46.
- They are called the three Rays of Essence and the
four Aspects. – S. D., I, 147.
- They can be called the three Vehicles with their
three Aspects and Atma. – S. D., I, 182.
- They are also called the three-tongued Flame of the
Four Wicks, – S. D., I, 257.
This is true cosmically and humanly.
- The Principles of the Logos – the seven Planetary
Logoi. – S. D., I, 358, 365.
- The Principles of the planetary Logos – The
vehicle called a chain. – S. D., I, 194, 196. II,
626.
- The Principles of man – The different
vehicles.
- Note also: – S. D., I, 176, 177. II, 630, 631. I,
189.
- Summation: – S. D., III, 475.
- Cosmic Ideation, focused in a principle results as
the consciousness of the individual. – S. D., I, 351.
- Appropriation by the individual of a vehicle
produces a display of energy of any particular plane.
This energy will be of a peculiar color and quality,
according to the plane involved.
- The seven principles are the manifestation of the one
Flame. – S. D., I, 45. III, 374.
Note also the function of the Gods in furnishing man with
his principles. – S. D., I. 308.
(The psychic nature of the Monad is twofold.)
- The principle of atma. Spiritual nature. Will.
- The principle of buddhi. Love nature. Wisdom.
- The principle of manas. Intelligence nature,
Activity.
Note here that the three principles in terms of the
Triad with the two synthesizing principles on the plane of
the Monad, make five principles and give the key to
H.P.B.'s numbering in certain places. We might express it
thus:
I. |
The Absolute – The Monad. |
II. |
1. |
Prakriti – Active intelligence. The Divine
Manasaputra. |
|
2. |
Purusha – Love-Wisdom. The Vishnu aspect. |
|
On the plane
of objectivity – The Triad: |
III. |
3. |
Atma. |
|
4. |
Buddhi. |
|
5. |
Manas. |
From the standpoint of evolution we regard the higher two
and the highest one as the correspondence to the Absolute
as He manifests in duality. This is prior to objectivity,
which requires the presence of the three. In manifestation
we might regard the principles as follows: [264]
- First Principle – The sphere of manifestation, the
monadic egg.
- Second Principle – Atma – Will.
- Third Principle – Buddhi – Pure reason, wisdom.
- Fourth Principle – Manas – Pure mind, higher
mind.
- Fifth Principle – Manas – Lower mind.
- Sixth Principle – Kama-manas.
- Seventh Principle – Pure emotion, or feeling.
These are the principles for the microcosm viewed as
having transcended the physical bodies altogether, and thus
the tabulation deals entirely
with the subjective life,
or the development of the psyche or soul.
This should be borne carefully in mind else confusion will
ensue. In our enumeration we are here dealing with
subjectivity and not with form. We have, therefore,
considered:
- Sevenfold objectivity – the material forms.
- Sevenfold subjectivity – the psychic evolution.
- Sevenfold spirituality – the life of the Entity.
We will note also that in the tabulation of the
spiritual life of the Monad we considered it as fivefold.
This was necessarily so in this fivefold evolution, but the
remaining two principles might be considered as:
- The life of the Heavenly Man in Whose body the human
Monad finds a place.
- The life of the Logos in Whose body the Heavenly Man
finds place.
It might be useful here to consider another
enumeration of the principles of man
110 as he
manifests in the [265] three worlds, the planes whereon the
subjective and the objective are united. What have we
there? Let us begin where man begins, with the lowest:
7. The etheric body. |
1. The vital body. |
6. Prana. |
2. Vital force. |
5. Kama-manas. |
3. Desire Mind. |
4. Lower mind |
4. Concrete Mind. |
3. Manas |
5. Higher or abstract mind. |
2. Buddhi |
6. Wisdom, Christ force, intuition. |
1. Atma |
7. Spiritual Will. |
This is the lowest enumeration for little evolved man at
the present time.
110 Enumeration of the Principles – S. D., II,
627, 631.
- 1st Principle – Dense physical body. Sthula
Sharira.
- 2nd Principle – Etheric body. Linga Sharira.
- 3rd Principle – Prana. Vital energy.
- 4th Principle – Kama-rupa. The energy of desire. – S.
D., I, 136.
(These are the lower four principles.)
- 5th Principle – Manas. The energy of thought. The
middle principle. – S. D., II, 83, 84. II, 332. S. D.,
II, 669.
- 6th Principle – Buddhi The energy of love. – S. D.,
II, 649, 676. S. D., III, 58.
- 7th Principle – Atma. The synthetic principle. – S.
D., I, 357, 201. S. D., III, 142.
See S. D., III, 201, note.
- Buddhi is the vehicle for atma.
- Manas is the vehicle for buddhi.
- Kama-rupa is the vehicle for manas. – S. D., II,
171.
- The etheric body is the vehicle for prana.
Remember also:
- That the physical body is not a principle. – S. D.,
II, 652. III, 445. III, 652.
- That atma is not a principle. See also S. D., III,
62, 63. III, 293.
(Other enumerations, differing in certain particulars
will be found: – S. D., I, 177, 181, 685. II, 669. III,
476, 560. The latter is more esoteric.)
From the standpoint of the Ego what can be seen?
- The Absolute – Atma. Pure will-to-be.
-
The Duad.
- Buddhi – Pure reason, wisdom.
- Manas – Pure mind.
- The Triad.
- The causal body.
- Lower mind. [266]
- Kama-manas.
- Prana.
- The etheric body.
In these various enumerations of the principles we are
dealing with them (as H. P. B. has pointed out they must be
dealt with)
111, 112 from differing standpoints,
dependent upon the stage reached and the angle of vision.
We have considered them thus in answering question six
because we have sought to emphasize and to impress clearly
upon our minds that the three lines of development must be
remembered when considering the evolution of the
Manasaputras.
VI.2. The Objective Development
This is sevenfold in evolution and in time, ninefold during
obscuration, and tenfold at dissolution.
111 H. P. Blavatsky says in the Secret Doctrine
in connection with the Principles,
- That mistakes in the classification are very
possible. – S. D., II, 677.
- That we must seek the occult meaning. – S. D., II,
652.
- That there are really six not seven principles.
- That there are several classifications. – S. D., III,
374, 446.
- That the esoteric enumeration cannot be made to
correspond with the exoteric – S. D., III, 476.
- That the numbering of the principles is a question of
spiritual progress. – S. D., III, 456, 460.
112 S. D., III, 456.
Macrocosmic
- The seven sacred planets of the solar system.
- The two which are hid, which are the synthesizing
planets.
- The one final synthesizing planet – the Sun. Seven
added to two added to one make ten.
There are ten centers in the Grand Heavenly Man.
A Heavenly Man
- The seven chains of a scheme.
- The two synthesizing chains.
- One ultimate chain. [267]
There are ten centers in a planetary Logos.
Microcosm
- The seven vehicles employed:
- The atmic sheath.
- The buddhic vehicle.
- The causal or egoic body.
- The mental body.
- The astral body.
- The etheric body.
- The dense physical.
- Two synthesizing bodies:
- The causal body.
- The physical body.
- One synthesizing body:
- The monadic sheath.
There are seven centers in the physical vehicle which
correspond to these bodies, with the synthesizing centers
at the heart and throat; the head is then the ultimate
synthesizer. This tabulation deals entirely with the form
side, and with the vehicles indwelt by the Logos, the
Manasaputras and by Man.
VI.3. The Subjective Development
This is also sevenfold:
- Astral – pure desire, emotion, feeling.
- Kama-manas – desire-mind.
- Manas – lower concrete mind.
- Higher manas – abstract or pure mind.
- Buddhi – pure reason, intuition.
- Atma – pure will, realization.
- Monadic – Will, love-wisdom, intelligence.
This deals with the sevenfold development of inherent
love-wisdom by the aid of mind. This proceeds
macrocosmically through the seven Heavenly Men, Who are
[268] actively intelligent, inherently love, and are
objectively seen through Their forms, the planetary
schemes. In Their totality They are the Logos, the Grand
Man of the Heavens. In the case of a Heavenly Man the
development proceeds through the seven groups of human
entities who form Their psychic centers. These groups are
on their own plane developing intelligence, are inherently
love, and can be objectively contacted on the seven chains
of a scheme. In the case of individual man, the development
proceeds through his seven centers, which are the key to
his psychic evolution. A man is also developing
intelligence, is inherently love, and is objectively seen
through one or other of his bodies.
What I seek to emphasize is the fact of the psychic
development, and also that subjective evolution is the
main enterprise of the Logos, of a planetary Logos and
of a man. Active intelligent love (the bringing forth from
latency of the inherent quality of love by the intelligent
application of the mind faculty) will be the result of the
evolutionary process. Just as objectivity is dual,
life-form, so subjectivity is dual, mind-love, and the
blending of the two produces consciousness. Spirit alone is
unity, and is undivided; the development of Spirit (or its
assumption of the fruits of evolution) is only to be
realized and brought about when the dual evolution of the
form and the psyche is consummated. Then Spirit garners the
fruits of evolution and gathers to itself the qualities
nurtured during manifestation, – perfect love and perfect
intelligence showing forth then as active intelligent
love-wisdom.
We might, therefore, answer the questions: "What is the
Mind aspect and why is it so important?" by saying that the
mind aspect is in reality the ability or capacity of the
logoic Existence to think, to act, to build, and to evolve
in order to develop the faculty of active love, When the
Logos, Who is active intelligence, has run His [269]
lifecycle, He will be also love fully manifested throughout
Nature. This can be likewise predicated of a Heavenly Man
in His sphere and of a man in his tiny cycle. Thus the
importance of manas can be fully seen. It is the means
whereby evolution becomes possible, comprehension is
achieved, and activity is generated and utilized.
Let us now consider how this question can be expressed in
terms of Fire:
Objectively |
Subjectively |
- The sea of fire
|
- Our God is a consuming fire – Energizing
will.
|
- The akasha
|
- The Light of God – Form aspect.
|
- The aether
|
- The heat of matter – Activity aspect.
|
- The air
|
- The illumination of the intuition.
|
- Fire
|
- The fire of mind.
|
- The astral light
|
- The heat of the emotions.
|
- Physical plane electricity
|
- Kundalini and prana.
|
Spiritually
This is hid in a threefold mystery:
- The mystery of electricity.
- The mystery of the seven constellations.
- The mystery of the ONE ABOVE THE LOGOS.
VI.4. The Heavenly Men and Man
The final part of question six is: Who are the
Manasaputras?
This will be dealt with in greater detail in connection
with our planet when taking up the subject of the coming of
the Lords of Flame. It is desirable now to make certain
facts clear which must form the basis of any thought upon
this subject. [270] The Divine Manasaputras113,
114 Who are known in the Secret Doctrine by
diverse names, are the Mind-born Sons of Brahma, the third
aspect logoic.
113 In the Secret Doctrine the Heavenly Men are
spoken of as:
- Agents of creation. They are the totality of
manifestation. – S. D., I, 470.
- They are precosmic. – S. D., I, 470.
- They are the sumtotal of solar and lunar entities. –
S. D., I, 152, 470. Compare II, 374.
- They are the seven Biblical Archangels.
They are the seven Forces or creative Powers.
They are the seven Spirits before the Throne.
They are the seven Spirits of the Planets – S. D., I,
472, 153.
- In Their totality They are the Secret Unpronounceable
Name. – S. D., I, 473.
- They are the collective Dhyan Chohans. – S. D., I,
477.
- They are the seven Kumaras. The seven Rishis. – S.
D., I, 493. III, 196, 327.
- They are the Sons of Light – S. D., I, 521, 522.
- They are the Hierarchy of creative Powers – S. D., I,
233.
- They are the veiled synthesis. – S. D., I, 362.
- They are our own planetary deities. – S. D., I,
153.
- They are all men, the product of other worlds. – S.
D., I, 132.
- They are closely connected with the seven stars of
the Great Bear. – S. D., I, 488. S. D., II, 332. II 579,
668. S. D., III, 195
- They are symbolized by circles – S. D., II, 582. I
They are collectively the fallen Angels. – S. D., II,
284, 541.
114 The Sons of Mind: are known by various
terms, such as: "The Manasaputras, the Prajapatis, the
Kumaras, the Primordial Seven, the Rudras, the Heavenly
Men, the Rishis, the Spirits before the Throne.
They are the seven planetary Logoi, and are the Lords of
the Rays, the seven Heavenly Men. They developed the mind
aspect in the first solar system, that in which Brahma was
paramount, and in Himself embodied objective existence.
This He did in the same sense as that in which the second
aspect (the Vishnu or Dragon of Wisdom aspect) is the
sumtotal of existence in this the second system.
The cells in Their bodies are made up of the units of the
human and deva evolutions in the same manner (only on a
higher turn of the spiral) as the bodies of human beings
are made up of living organisms, the various animated
cells, or the lesser lives. This is a basic fact in
occultism, and the relationship between the cells in the
human vehicles, and the cells in the bodies of a Heavenly
[271] Man, will be productive of illumination if carefully
studied.
Just as a human being has an originating source, the
Monad, and a semi-permanent vehicle, the causal body, but
manifests through his lower principles (of which the dense
physical is not one) so a Heavenly Man has an originating
source, His Monad, a semi-permanent body on the monadic
levels of the solar system, but manifests through three
lower sheaths, our atmic, buddhic, and manasic levels. He
is extraneous to the astral and physical planes just as a
human being is to the physical. Man vitalizes the
physical vehicle with his force or heat but he does not
occultly count it as a principle. So the Heavenly Man is
extraneous to the two lower planes of manifestation though
He vitalizes them with His force. The human being realizes
his relationship (as a cell in the body) to a Heavenly Man
only when he is developing the consciousness of the Ego on
its own plane. If it might be so expressed, the groups of
causal bodies are the lowest forms through which a Heavenly
Man manifests, just as the physical body is the lowest
through which a human being manifests, and this in its
etheric connotation.
It should be borne in mind that the manifesting Existences
embody certain planes, and have Their points of deepest
involution on diverse levels:
- A Man originates on the monadic level, has his
main focal point on the fifth level, the mental, but is
seeking full conscious development on the three lower
planes, the mental, the astral and the physical.
- A Heavenly Man has His source outside the
solar system (as man outside the three worlds of his
endeavor), has His main focal point on the second plane
of the system, the monadic, and is seeking consciousness
on the Planes of the Triad – this in relation to all the
cells in His body. He developed consciousness on the
three [272] lower planes of the three worlds during the
first solar system, again in relation to the cells in His
body. Man is repeating His endeavor up to the fifth
Initiation which will bring him to a stage of
consciousness achieved by a Heavenly Man in a much
earlier mahamanvantara. In connection with the
initiations this should be carefully borne in mind.
-
A solar Logos has His origin on a still higher
cosmic level, has his main focal point on the cosmic
mental plane but is expressing Himself through the
three lower cosmic planes just as man is seeking
self-expression in the three worlds. Therefore, the
seven major planes of the solar system are in the same
relation to Him cosmically as the physical plane is to
a human being. They form His etheric and dense bodies.
It might be stated that:
- He vitalizes them by His life and heat.
- He animates them.
- He is fully conscious through them.
- The etheric is in time His lowest
principle, but the dense physical is not counted. The
dense cosmic physical body is composed of matter of
the three lower planes of the solar system, the
mental, the astral and the physical. The buddhic
plane is consequently the fourth cosmic
ether.
- The Heavenly Men form the seven centers in the body
of the Logos. Therefore, They are the spheres of fire
which animate His body, and each of Them expresses one
form of His force manifestation, according to Their place
within the body.
- Human beings, when centered within their groups on
causal levels, form one or other of the seven centers in
the body of a Heavenly Man.
- The solar Logos forms one center in the body of a
still greater cosmic ENTITY. Human beings therefore [273]
find their place within one of the forty-nine centers
(not groups, for a center may be made up of many groups,
corresponding to the different parts) of the seven
Heavenly Men. A Heavenly Man, with His seven centers,
forms one center in the body of the solar Logos. I would
here point out to you the close connection existing
between the seven Rishis of the Great Bear and the
seven Heavenly Men. The seven Rishis of the Great Bear
are to Them what the Monad is to the evolving human
unit.
VII. Why is the Progress of Evolution Cyclic?
This question is one which necessarily appalls us and makes
us wonder.
Let us, therefore, deal with it as follows: Certain ideas
are involved in the thought of cyclic progression, and
these ideas it might pay us well to contemplate.
VII.1. The Idea of Repetition
This repetition involves the following factors:
- Repetition in time: The thought of cyclic
activity necessitates periods of time of differing length
– greater or lesser cycles – but (according to their
length) of uniform degree. A manvantara, or Day of
Brahma, is always of a certain length, and so is a
mahamanvantara. The cycles wherein an atom of any plane
revolves upon its axis are uniform on its own plane.
- Repetition in fact: This involves the idea of
a key measure, or sound of any particular group of atoms
that go to the composition of any particular form. This
grouping of atoms will tend to the makeup of a particular
series of circumstances and will repeat the measure or
sound when an animating factor is brought to bear upon
them. When the vitalizing force is contacting at stated
periods a certain set of atoms, it will call forth from
them a specific sound which will demonstrate objectively
as environing circumstances. In other words, [274] the
interplay of the Self and the not-self is invariably of a
cyclic nature. The same quality in tone will be called
forth by the Self as it indwells the form, but the key
will ascend by gradual degrees. It is similar to the
effect produced in striking the same note in different
octaves, beginning at the base.
- Repetition in space: This concept is involved
deep in the greater concept of karma, which is really the
law that governs the matter of the solar system, and
which commenced its work in earlier solar systems. We
have, therefore, cycles in order, and repetition in an
ever-ascending spiral, under definite law.
The thoughts thus conveyed might be expressed likewise
as follows:
- The solar system repeating its activity –
Repetition in Space.
- A planetary chain repeating its activity –
Repetition in Time.
- The constant consecutive reverberation of a plane
note, of a subplane note, and of all that is called into
objectivity by that note – Plane Repetition.
- The tendency of atoms to perpetuate their activity,
and thus produce similarity of circumstance, of
environment, and of vehicle – Form
Repetition.
When we carry these ideas on to every plane in the
solar system, and from thence to the cosmic planes, we have
opened up for ourselves infinitude.
VII.2. Repetition of Cyclic Action is Governed by Two Laws
Perhaps it is more accurate to say that it is governed by
one law, primarily, and a subsidiary law. This leads [275]
to two general types of cycles, and is involved in the very
nature of the Self and of the not-self. The interplay of
the two by the aid of mind produces that which we call
environment or circumstance.
The general law, which produces cyclic effect, is the Law
of Attraction and Repulsion, of which the subsidiary law is
the Law of Periodicity, and of Rebirth. Cyclic evolution is
entirely the result of the activity of matter, and of the
Will or Spirit. It is produced by the interaction of active
matter and molding Spirit. Every form holds hid a Life.
Every life constantly reaches out after the similar life
latent in other
forms. When Spirit and matter sound
the same note evolution will cease. When the note sounded
by the form is stronger than that of Spirit, we have
attraction between forms. When the note sounded by Spirit
is stronger than that of matter and form, we have Spirit
repelling form. Here we have the basis for the battlefield
of life, and its myriads of intermediate stages, which
might be expressed as follows:
- The period of the domination of the form note is that
of involution.
- The period of the repulsion of form by Spirit is that
of the battlefield of the three worlds.
- The period of the attraction of Spirit and Spirit,
and the consequent withdrawal from form is that of the
Path.
- The period of domination of the note of Spirit is
that of the higher planes of evolution.
To the synchronization of the notes, or to the lack of
synchronization, may be attributed all that occurs in the
world cycles. Thus we have the production of harmony;
first, the basic note of matter, then the note of Spirit
gradually overcoming the lower note and usurping attention
[276] till gradually the note of Spirit overpowers all
other notes. Yet it must be borne in mind that it is the
note of the life that holds the form together. The note of
the Sun, for instance, holds in just attraction the
circling spheres, the planets. The notes synchronize and
harmonize till the stage of adequacy is reached and the
period of abstraction. Cyclic evolution proceeds. A human
being, similarly, holds (by means of his note) the atoms of
the three bodies together, being to them as the central sun
to the planets. Primarily, nevertheless, it may be posited
that the Law of Attraction is the demonstration of the
powers of Spirit, whilst the Law of Repulsion governs the
form. Spirit attracts Spirit throughout the greater cycle.
In lesser cycles, Spirit temporarily attracts matter. The
tendency of Spirit is to merge and blend with Spirit. Form
repulses form, and thus brings about separation. But –
during the great cycle of evolution – when the third factor
of Mind comes in, and when the point of balance is the
goal, the cyclic display of the interaction between Spirit
and form is seen, and the result is the ordered cycles of
the planets, of a human being, and of an atom. Thus,
through repetition, is consciousness developed, and
responsive faculty induced. When this faculty is of such a
nature that it is an inherent part of the Entity's working
capital, it has to be exercised on every plane, and again
cyclic action is the law, and hence rebirth again and again
is the method of exercise. When the innate conscious
faculty of every unit of consciousness has become
coordinated as part of the equipment of the Logos on every
plane of the solar system, then, and only then, will cyclic
evolution cease, will rotary movement on every plane of the
cosmic physical plane be of such a uniform vibration as to
set up action on the next cosmic plane, the astral. [277]
VII.3. The third idea involved is that of the Two Types of
Cycles
1.
Rotation on the axis: This is to be seen whether
we are dealing with a minute atom of substance, with a
planet revolving on its axis, with the rotation of the
causal body, or with the rotation of a solar system.
- In relation to the human being, this might be
considered as the rotation of the various sheaths around
the central consciousness during any one
incarnation.
- In relation to a Heavenly Man it might be considered
as the rotation of a globe within a chain, or the period
of one incarnation.
- In relation to a solar Logos it might be considered
as one complete revolution of the Sun in space, with all
that is included within the ring-pass-not.
2. Rotation around an orbit. This is the revolution
of a sphere of life, not only on its axis, but along a
spheroidal path or orbit around a central point.
- In connection with man this might be considered as
the revolution of the wheel of life, or the passage of an
entity through the three lower planes down into
incarnation and back again.
- In connection with a Heavenly Man it might be
considered as the cycle which we call a round in which
the life of the Heavenly Man cycles through all the seven
globes.
- In connection with the solar Logos it is the complete
revolution of the solar system around its cosmic
center.
It is to be noted at this point that the ideas dealt
with in connection with cyclic evolution cannot be posited
apart from the concept of consciousness. The ideas of [278]
time, of space, and of activity (from the point of view of
the occultist), can only be conceived as relative to some
conscious entity, to some Thinker.
Time to the occultist is that cycle, greater or lesser, in
which some life runs some specific course, in which some
particular period begins, continues, and ends, in
connection with the awareness of some Entity, and is
recognized only as time when the participating life has
reached a considerable stage of awareness. Time has been
defined as a succession of states of
consciousness,115 and it therefore may be
studied from the point of view of [279]
115 The Secret Doctrine says:
- The Universe is in reality but a huge aggregation of
states of consciousness. – S. D., II, 633. I, 70,
626.
- Spirit and consciousness are synonymous terms. – S.
D., I, 43, 125, 349, 350, 592, 593.
- Every atom in the universe is endowed with
consciousness, – S. D., I, 105. II, 709, 742.
- Six types of Consciousness as embodied in the Kingdom
of Nature on the five planes of Human Evolution. – S. D.,
II 123. II, 678.
- The Mineral Kingdom 1.
Intelligent activity. All atoms show ability to select,
to discriminate intelligently under the Law of Attraction
and Repulsion. – S. D., I, 295.
- Vegetable Kingdom 2.
Intelligent activity plus embryo sensation or
feeling.
-
Animal Kingdom 3.
Intelligent activity, sensation plus instinct, or
embryo mentality. – S. D., III, 573, 574.
These three embody the subhuman consciousness.
-
Human consciousness 4.
Intelligent activity, love or perfected feeling or
realization and will, or intelligent purpose. The three
aspects. S. D., I, 215, 231.- S. D., II, 552. III, 579.
This is Self Consciousness – the middle point. – S.
D., I, 297.
- Spiritual Consciousness 5.
Buddhic realization. The unit is aware of his group. The
separated unit identifies himself with his ray or type. –
S. D., III, 572. I, 183, 623.
-
Atmic Consciousness 6.
The consciousness of the unit of the Septenary solar
system. – S. D., II, 673. II, 741.
These two embody superconsciousness.
The seventh type embraces them all and is God
Consciousness. – S. D., II, 740 note. Study also S. D., I,
300, 301, 183, 221, 623. S. D., II, 32 note, 741, 552 note.
– S. D., III, 573, 574, 558, 557, 584.
- Logoic consciousness, or the successive states of
divine realization within the solar sphere.
- Planetary consciousness, or the consciousness of a
Heavenly Man as He cycles successively through the
scheme.
- Causal consciousness, or the successive expanding of
the intelligent awareness of a human being from life to
life.
- Human consciousness, or the awareness of a man on the
physical plane, and progressively on the emotional and
the mental planes.
- Animal, vegetable and mineral consciousness which
differs from the human consciousness in many particulars,
and primarily in that it does not coordinate, or deduce
and recognize separate identity. It resembles human
consciousness in that it covers the response to
successive contacts of the units involved during their
small cycles.
- Atomic consciousness, demonstrating through
successive states of repulsion and attraction. In this
last definition lies the key to the other states of
consciousness.
An atom revolves upon its axis. In its revolution it
comes within the field of activity of other atoms. These it
either attracts and swings into its own field of operation,
or it repulses and drives them outside its range of
activity, causing separation. One thing to be borne in mind
in the concept of mutual attraction is the preservation of
identity in cohesion.
A human being in objective manifestation likewise
revolves upon his axis, or around his central point, his
mainspring of animation; this brings him within the range
of activity of other men, other human atoms. This similarly
either tends to cooperation or cohesion, or to separation
or repulsion. Again it must be borne in mind that even in
cohesion identity is preserved. [280]
A Heavenly Man, through the form of a planetary
chain, similarly revolves upon His axis, and a like
phenomenon may be observed. A planet repulses a planet
similarly charged, for it is a known law that like
particles repel each other, but occultly it is a known law
that they will eventually attract each other as the
vibration becomes sufficiently strong. A negative planet
will be attracted by a positive, and so on through all
forms. This is the manifestation of SEX in substance of
every kind, from the tiny atom in the body to the vast
planetary chains, and this is the basis of activity.
Radiatory activity is simply the interplay between male and
female, and this can be seen in the physical atom of the
scientist, among men and women, and in the vaster atom of a
solar system as it vibrates with its cosmic opposite.
We might, therefore, consider time as that process
of activity, or that progression in development, wherein
the indwelling Consciousness is seeking its opposite, and
coming under the Law of Attraction, which leads to atomic,
human, planetary, spiritual, solar and cosmic marriage.
This idea is comparatively simple in relation to a human
being, and can be seen in daily demonstration in his
contacts with other men; these contacts are governed, for
instance, very largely by his likes and dislikes. All these
attractions and repulsions are under law, and their cause
exists in form itself. The emotion of like or of
dislike is nothing else but the realization by the
conscious entity of the swinging into his magnetic radius
of an atomic form which he is led, by the very law of his
own being, to either attract or repulse. Only when the form
is transcended, and Spirit seeks out Spirit, will the
phenomena of repulsion cease. This will be the inevitable
finale at the cessation of solar evolution, and it will
bring about pralaya. The duration of the interplay, the
period of the search of Spirit for Spirit, and [281] the
vibratory process necessitated by the utilization of the
form, this we call Time, whether in connection with a man,
a planetary Logos, or the Deity.
Space, again, is included in the idea of consciousness, and
its utilization of matter. Space, for the Logos, is
literally the form wherein His conscious activities and
purposes are worked out – the solar ring-pass-not. The
space wherein a planetary Logos works out His plans is
similarly as much of solar space as His consciousness is
developed enough to use. Man again repeats the process and
his ring-pass-not is included in the radius of his
consciousness, and may be very circumscribed as in the case
of the little evolved, or may be inclusive of a portion of
planetary space of great extent, and even in the case of
the very highly evolved may begin to touch the periphery of
the sphere of influence of the planetary Logos in Whose
body he is a cell.
Space for the atom (for instance, the atom in the physical
body of man) will be the radius of the form in which is
found the greater center of consciousness of which it is a
part and it will be both attracted and repulsed – attracted
and built into the form of the greater Life, yet repulsed
and thereby prevented from moving from a certain point
within that form.
We have here dealt a little with time and space in their
relation to a specific center of consciousness; we have
seen that they are simply forms of ideas to express the
cyclic activity of an entity. The subject is
exceedingly abstruse, due to the low stage of the human
intelligence, which is as yet so occupied with the
objective or material side of manifestation that the
attraction existing between Spirit and Spirit is little
more than a concept. When more of the human family have
their center of consciousness in the Ego and hence are busy
with the work of repulsing matter, and with the withdrawal
of [282] Spirit from form, then only will the transmutative
process be comprehended, then only will time (as known in
the three worlds) be transcended, and then only will space
(as manifested to man through the three lower planes or the
eighteen subplanes) be found to be a barrier. This same
statement can be predicated of the seven Logoi and of the
solar Logos, extending the idea to other planes, solar and
cosmic. So also can it be narrowed down to the subhuman,
and to the involutionary lives, remembering ever that as
the consciousness is more confined and restricted so
inertia, lack of response, and limitation of radiation will
be seen.
By a close scrutiny of chart V, it will be apparent wherein
lies the problem of the Logos, and wherein lies the
accuracy of the correspondence between Him and His
reflection Man.
- First. Both are in objective manifestation on
the physical plane.
- Second. Both are at their point of deepest
involution.
- Third. Both are trammeled by matter, and are
developing consciousness (egoic consciousness) on the
physical plane – man on the solar physical, and the Logos
on the cosmic physical plane.
- Fourth. Man has to bring down into conscious
full control, the God within. Through that control he
must dominate circumstance, make his environment his
instrument and manipulate matter. On cosmic levels the
Logos does likewise. Both are far from achievement.
- Fifth. Both work in, with, and by, electrical
force.
- Sixth. Both come under the laws governing
forms and hence both are controlled in time and space by
KARMA, which is the Law of forms. It has to do with
quality, as force has to do with vibration.
-
Seventh. Both work through forms made up of:
[283]
- Three main types of forms: A mental form,
one aspect of manifestation; an astral form, a second
aspect; and a physical form, the third aspect. The
mental vibration sets the key measure and seeks to
utilize and coordinate the physical body at Will. It
deals with or links up the consciousness to the three
forms in one direction; it repulses and causes
separation in another. The astral vibration deals
with the quality, with the attractive measure. It is
the psychic element. The physical is the meeting
ground of consciousness with the material form. This
last is the result produced by the union of the key
measure and the quality of tone.
- Seven centers of force which hold the
three forms in one coherent whole, and cause their
vitalization and their coordination. They put the
triple unit into correlation with their main center
of consciousness on the higher planes, whether that
center is the causal body of man, of a planetary
Logos, or of a solar Logos.
- Millions of infinitesimal cells, each
embodying a lesser life, each in a condition of
constant activity, and each repulsing other cells so
as to preserve individuality or identity, yet each
held to each by a central attractive force. Thus we
have produced the objective form of a crystal, a
vegetable, an animal, a man, a planet, a system.
- Finally, both work, therefore, in a dual
manner and each demonstrates both attraction and
repulsion.
Attraction of matter to Spirit and the building of a
form for the use of Spirit is the result of electrical
energy in the universe, which in each case brings the
lesser lives or spheres into its range of influence. The
magnetic force, the life of the Logos gathers together His
body of manifestation. The magnetic force of the Heavenly
Man, the planetary Logos, gathers out of the solar
ring-pass-not that which He needs for each incarnation.
[284] The magnetic force of the Ego gathers, at each
rebirth, matter within the particular sphere or scheme
within which the Ego has place. So on down the scale, we
find the lesser pursuing its round ever within the greater.
Therefore we have (during a period of Attraction and
Repulsion, or a life cycle) that which we call Time and
Space, and this holds equally true in the life cycle of a
Logos or an ant, or a crystal. There are cycles of activity
in matter, due to some energizing Will, and then Time and
space are known. There are cycles of non-being when Time
and Space are not, and the energizing Will is withdrawn.
But we must not forget that this is purely relative, and
only to be considered from the standpoint of the particular
life or entity involved, and the special stage of awareness
reached. All must be interpreted in terms of consciousness.
The first type of cycle, or the period involved in one
entire revolution of a sphere around its own center of
consciousness, is to the particular Entity involved (be he
God or man) a lesser cycle. The second type of cycle or the
period involved in the complete circling of an orbit, or
the revolution of a sphere around the center of which it is
an integral part, we can consider as a greater cycle. The
third type of cycle has not so much to do with the
transition of the form through a certain location in space
but as the cycle which includes both the greater and the
lesser cycles. It has to do with the response of the
ENTITY, to Whom our solar Logos is but a center in His
Body, to the contacts made on that center and on its cosmic
opposite. These two centers, for instance, our solar system
and its cosmic opposite, in their interaction create a
cycle period which has a relation to the "ONE WHO IS ABOVE
OUR LOGOS." This is, of course; beyond human conception,
but must be included in our enumeration of cycles if
exactitude is to be achieved. [285]
VIII. Why is Knowledge116 both Exoteric and
Esoteric?
116 In the
Secret Doctrine we are told
that there are
seven branches of knowledge mentioned in
the Puranas. – S. D., I, 192.
Correspondences can here be worked out in connection
with:
- The seven Rays, the Lords of Sacrifice, Love and
Knowledge.
- The seven states of consciousness.
- The seven states of matter or planes.
- The seven types of forces.
- The seven Initiations and many other septenates.
The Gnosis, the hidden Knowledge, is the seventh
Principle, the six schools of Indian philosophy are the six
principles – S. D., I, 299.
These six schools are:
- The school of Logic – Proof of right perception.
- The atomic school – System of particulars. Elements.
Alchemy and chemistry.
- The Sankhya school – System of numbers. The
materialistic school. The theory of the seven states of
matter or prakriti.
- The school of Yoga – Union. The rule of daily life.
Mysticism.
- The school of Ceremonial Ritual. – Religion. Worship
of the devas or Gods.
- The Vedanta school – Has to do with non-duality. Deal
with the relation of Atma in man to the Logos.
The Gnosis or hidden knowledge is the same as Atma
vidya, or Theosophy, and includes the other six.
We can now take up the question next in order, which was
worded:"Why do we consider certain aspects of knowledge
esoteric and other aspects as exoteric?"
The answer to this practically involves the realization
that some knowledge deals with the subjective side of life,
and the other type of knowledge with the objective side;
that one type of knowledge is concerned with energy and
force (hence the danger of undue hasty revelation) and
another with that which is energized. Therefore it will be
apparent that until the faculty of ascertaining subjective
information is achieved, whole ranges of facts will remain
outside the scope of the consciousness of the majority.
As we have been told, the goal of evolution is the
attainment of consciousness on all planes; owing to the
small evolutionary attainment of the race only the physical
plane is as yet in any way brought under conscious
control. The knowledge which deals with that plane, [286]
the information which is concerned with densest
objectivity, the sumtotal of facts connected with the five
lower subplanes of the physical plane are (from the occult
standpoint) considered exoteric. During the next two races
the other two subplanes will be mastered, and the entire
mass of knowledge concerned with physical and etheric
matter, with energy, form and experience on the physical
plane, will be easily available to man, and concern only
his five physical senses.
Information and knowledge of the life evolving through the
forms will for a considerably longer time be considered
esoteric, as also will the apprehension and comprehension
of the matter aspect, and the laws governing energy on the
astral and the mental planes. This is stated in connection
with average man, the rank and file of humanity. Objective
or exoteric information is largely that obtained or
ascertained by men in the Hall of Learning by means of the
five senses, and by experiment. Experiment in due course of
time and after many cycles of incarnation is transmuted
into experience, and this produces eventually that which we
call instinct, or the habitual reaction of some type of
consciousness to a given set of circumstances, or of
environment. These two factors of the senses and of
experimental contact can be seen working out in the animal
and human kingdoms; the difference between the two exists
in the ability of the man consciously to remember,
apprehend, anticipate, and utilize the fruits of past
experience, and thus influence the present and prepare for
the future. He employs the physical brain for this purpose.
An animal likewise has an instinctual memory, apprehension,
and an embryo anticipation, but (lacking mind) he is unable
to adjust them to circumstances in the sense of
prearrangement, and lacks the capacity consciously to
utilize, and thus reap, the benefit of past events, and to
learn from experience in the manner which a man does. The
[287] animal uses the solar plexus in the same way that a
man uses the brain; it is the organ of instinct.
All that can be acquired by instinct and by the use of the
concrete mind functioning through the physical brain can be
considered as dealing with that which we call exoteric. It
is thus evident how the range of fact will differ according
to:
- The age of the soul.
- Experience developed and used.
- Condition of the brain and the physical body.
- Circumstances and environment.
As time progresses and man reaches a fair state of
evolution, mind is more rapidly developed, and a new factor
comes gradually into play. Little by little the intuition,
or the transcendental mind, begins to function, and
eventually supersedes the lower or concrete mind. It then
utilizes the physical brain as a receiving plate, but at
the same time develops certain centers in the head, and
thus transfers the zone of its activity from the physical
brain to the higher head centers, existing in etheric
matter. For the mass of humanity, this will be effected
during the opening up of the etheric subplanes during the
next two races. This is paralleled in the animal kingdom by
the gradual transference of the zone of activity from the
solar plexus to the rudimentary brain, and its gradual
development by the aid of manas.
As we consider these points, it will become apparent that
the esoteric aspects of knowledge are really those zones of
consciousness which are not yet conquered, and brought
within the radius of control of the indwelling Entity.
The point to be emphasized is that when this is realized
the true significance of the esoteric and the occult will
be appreciated, and the endeavor of all KNOWERS will be
to draw within the zone of their knowledge other [288]
units who are ready for a similar expansion of
consciousness. In this thought lies the key to the work
of the Brotherhood. They attract by Their force into
certain fields of realization and endeavor and by that
attraction and the response of those human atoms who are
ready, the group soul on the upward arc, or a particular
center of a Heavenly Man, is coordinated.
In the same way the animal is brought at a certain stage
into the zone of influence of the lesser sons of mind –
human beings who are the elder brothers of the animals, as
the Masters of the Wisdom are the Elder Brothers where
humanity is concerned. So the interlocking proceeds and the
division of responsibility.
IX. What is the Relation between:
- The ten planetary schemes?
- The seven sacred planets?
- The seven chains in a scheme?
- The seven globes in a chain?
- The seven rounds on a globe?
- The seven root-races and the seven subraces?
We have in this question a vast quantity of matter to deal
with and it will be impossible for us to do more than to
get a broad and general idea.
The subject is so vast and the comprehensiveness of the
interrelated points is so great that we shall only attain
lucidity if we confine our attention to certain broad
general conceptions, leaving the subsidiary points for more
detailed elucidation at some later period.
IX.1. The Interrelated Parts
Primarily I would suggest that we consider this subject
only as it concerns a Heavenly Man, that we omit
from our immediate calculations the consideration of the
cellular composition of His body (those separated units of
consciousness which we call deva and human [289] beings),
and that we view the matter from what is to the human
being, the group concept, and not the individual.
The entire middle section of this treatise on the Fires has
to do with the development of the consciousness of a
Heavenly Man, and the application by Him of the knowledge
gained (through the aid of manas or mind) in a previous
solar system, to the acquisition of wisdom through
objectivity, and to the transmutation of the earlier
acquired faculty into applied Love. This is His work in the
same sense that the work of the cells within His body is to
develop the mind principle. When through experience in the
three worlds the human units have accomplished this, they
can then gain – through the final initiations – something
of the group concept, or the conscious realization of
place, and of energized activity within the ring-pass-not
of their particular planetary Logos., Therefore, we might
consider the following points:
First: The work of the units who go to the makeup of
a particular planetary Logos. This is of a threefold
nature:
- To attain the consciousness of the realized control
of their own individual ring-pass-not, or of their own
sphere of activity. This covers the period of evolution
up to the first Initiation, or their entrance upon the
Path, and thus into the spiritual kingdom. It concerns
the awakening of consciousness on the three lower
planes.
- To attain the consciousness of the particular center
in the body of one of the planetary Logoi – which center
embodies their group activity. This carries them to the
fifth Initiation, and covers the period wherein
consciousness is awakened on the five planes of
evolution.
- To attain to the consciousness of the center in the
Body of the Logos of which any particular planetary [290]
Logos is the sumtotal. This carries them to the seventh
Initiation and covers the period of the awakening of
consciousness on the seven planes of the solar
system.
These expansions are attained by the aid of mind,
transmuted in due course of time into love-wisdom, and
entail the conscious control of the entire seven planes of
the solar system, or of the lowest cosmic plane.
Second: The work of the Heavenly Men Who in their
totality are the seven centers in the body of the Logos.
This work is again threefold:
- To attain to full self-consciousness, or to
individual consciousness on the five planes; to vibrate
with conscious activity within Their Own ring-pass-not, a
planetary scheme. This covers a period in the scheme of
involution, and of that period during the evolutionary
stage which is comprised within the first three rounds up
to the entrance upon the fourth round.
- To attain to the consciousness of the solar Logos,
within Whose body They form the centers. It entails the
attainment by a Heavenly Man of a group consciousness of
a sevenfold nature, or the achievement of accurate
vibratory relationship with the other Heavenly Men Who
form the other centers. It carries with it the capacity
to have full conscious control on the seven planes of the
solar system, and covers that period of development which
is undergone in a planetary chain during the fourth,
fifth, and sixth rounds. It should be borne in mind that
a paralleling recognition should here be given to the
fact that the solar Logos holds an analogous position in
the body of a cosmic Entity to that held by a Heavenly
Man in the body of a solar Logos.
- To attain to the consciousness of a greater center on
cosmic levels. This covers the period of the seventh
round, and gives to a Heavenly Man (when these rounds are
viewed in the light of the Eternal Now, and not from the
standpoint of time and of space) the consciousness of
[291] the cosmic astral, or the second lowest plane of
the cosmic planes. A great deal of the problem to be seen
slowly working out at this time to a solution is due to
the fact that the control of the Heavenly Man, Whose body
our scheme may be, is as yet but partial, and His cosmic
experience is as yet but imperfect. This necessarily
affects the cells in His body in the same way that lack
of astral control in the case of a human being, affects
his vehicle. It might here be pointed out that the
evolution of the Heavenly Men is unequal, and that our
planetary Logos has not the control, for instance, that
the Heavenly Man of the Venus chain has achieved. In each
round one subplane of the cosmic astral plane is brought
under control, and the consciousness of the Heavenly Man
expands to include one subplane more. The planetary Lord
of Venus has dominated and controlled the five subplanes
and is working on the sixth, Our planetary Logos is
engaged in a similar work on the fourth and fifth. The
work, as in all cycles, overlaps and it might be
explained thus:
- He is perfecting the control of the fourth
subplane on the cosmic astral plane, and has nearly
completed it. He is beginning to work at the control
of the fifth subplane – a control which will be
perfected in the fifth round.
- He is sensing and responding to the vibration of
the sixth subplane, but is not as yet fully conscious
on that subplane.
- We have a corresponding reflection to this in the
fourth and fifth root-races on this planet, in which
the astral consciousness of the Atlantean cycle is
being perfected, the fifth principle is being
developed, and the sixth is being gradually sensed.
This deserves thoughtful consideration.
Third: The work of a solar Logos is again of a
corresponding nature: [292]
- He has to attain to the full consciousness of His
entire ring-pass-not, or of the seven planes of the solar
system. This covers a period wherein five of the Heavenly
Men, or five of His centers, and therefore, five schemes,
reach a stage of accurate response to contact and
stimulation.
- He has to attain to the consciousness of the cosmic
Logos within Whose body He is a center. He must find by
experience His place within the cosmic group of which He
is a part, in much the same way as a planetary Logos
pursues a similar course. This is achieved when all the
Heavenly Men or each of the seven centers are awakened
and functioning consciously and freely, with their
systemic interrelation adjusted and controlled by the Law
of Action and Reaction. It brings within His control not
only the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane
(our seven major planes) but necessarily also the cosmic
astral plane.
- To attain to the consciousness of the center in the
body of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NOUGHT MAY BE SAID. This
center is formed by the sphere of influence of a cosmic
Logos. In the body of a cosmic Logos, a solar Logos is a
center.
We must bear in mind that this enumeration is given
from the standpoint of the
present, and from the
angle of vision (relatively limited) of the Heavenly Man of
our particular scheme, and that it is therefore
circumscribed by His peculiar conditions, which govern the
intelligence of the cells in His body; it is given from the
point of view of differentiation and not of synthesis. A
synthetic absorption proceeds eventually in connection with
all these Entities, and each undergoes a process,
paralleling on His Own level that undergone by the
Microcosm; in the case of the Microcosm the causal body or
the body of the Ego acts as the synthesizer of the energy
of the Quaternary or lower Self, and the spiritual [294] or
monadic sheath as the synthesizer of the seven principles,
making thus the three, the seven, and the ten.
In closing I would point out that the mind must carefully
be kept from reducing all these ideas into a rankly
materialistic concept. It must be rigidly borne in mind
that we are dealing with the subjective life, and not with
the objective form, and that we are considering, for
instance, the synthesis of the principles or the
qualitating energies and not the synthesis of form.
Evolution in the Universe (Tabulation II)
Entity |
Vehicle |
Center |
Space |
Time |
The Unknown |
7 constellations |
cosmic Logos |
5 cosmic planes. |
A cosmic Logos |
7 solar systems |
solar Logos |
4 cosmic planes. |
A solar Logos |
7 planetary schemes |
Heavenly Man |
3 cosmic planes. |
Period of 3 solar systems. |
A Heavenly Man |
7 planetary chains |
Chohans and groups |
2 cosmic planes. |
Period of 1 solar system. |
A Man |
7 etheric centers |
a Principle |
1 cosmic plane. |
Period of 1 planetary scheme. |
- Through each etheric center man is bringing to
perfect vibration some one principle or quality through
which the subjective life may express itself.
- Through each chain in a scheme a Heavenly Man is
endeavoring to do the same.
- Through each scheme in a system, a solar Logos
working at the same thing; the goal is synthetic quality
and not primarily the perfection of the form. The
response of the energized form to the qualitative life is
naturally – under the law – equal to the demand, but this
is of secondary importance and is not the object in
view.
We have seen that the work to be accomplished in all
the above cases is necessarily threefold:
- First. The development of individual
consciousness.
- Second. The development of group
consciousness.
- Third. The development of God consciousness,
of that consciousness in each case which represents the
highest spiritual Source, and which is recognized as the
same in essence as the God within the individual, whether
man or solar Logos.
This concept must be meditated upon by all thinkers
and its synthesis emphasized. The relation of the cell to
the group, of the group to the aggregate of groups, and of
them all to the indwelling Entity Who holds them in
synthetic correlation by means of the Law of Attraction and
Repulsion is of vital moment. Two main ideas must always be
borne in mind: [295]
- That the terms "cell, group, or congery of groups"
relate entirely to the form of vehicle, and thus to the
matter aspect.
- That the idea of an Entity Who synthesizes the groups
and is the animating life of the cell has to do with the
Spirit aspect.
These two concepts lead necessarily to a third, that
of the development of consciousness, which is the gradual
expansion of the realization of the Indweller in the form,
the apprehension by the Self of the relation of the form to
Itself, and of its slow utilization and control. This
persists until that Realization includes the cell, the
group, and the totality of groups. These ideas can be
applied to the three grades of consciousness referred to.
As follows:
- Man, the lowest type of coherent consciousness (using
the word "consciousness" in its true connotation as the
"One who knows") is but a cell, a minute atom within a
group.
- A Heavenly Man represents a coherent conscious
group.
- A solar Logos on His Own plane holds an analogous
place to that of a Heavenly Man in a solar system, and
from a still higher standpoint to that of a man within
the solar system. When the place of the solar planes
within the cosmic scheme is duly apprehended it will be
recognized that on cosmic levels of a high order the
solar Logos is an Intelligence as relatively low in the
order of cosmic consciousness as man is in relation to
solar consciousness. He is but a cell in the body of the
ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID. His work parallels on
cosmic levels the work of man on the solar planes. He has
to undergo on the three lower cosmic planes a process of
developing an apprehension of His environment of the same
nature as man in the three worlds. This fact should be
remembered by all students [296] of this central division
of our subject; above all the analogy between the cosmic
physical planes and the solar physical planes must be
pondered upon. It holds hid the fourfold mystery:
- The mystery of the Akasha.
- The secret of the fifth round.
- The esoteric significance of Saturn, the third,
planet.
- The occult nature of cosmic kundalini, or the
electrical force of the system.
One hint on this fourth point may be given for wise
consideration. When the electrical interplay between the
planets is better ascertained (and by this I mean their
negative or positive interplay), then it will be revealed
which are related or connected, and which are nearing the
point of balance. I would here point out very briefly
certain facts, not pausing to elaborate or to elucidate,
but simply making various statements which – as the
knowledge of man progresses – will assume their rightful
place in the ordered scheme. They will then be seen as
enlightening and revealing the necessary sequence of
development.
IX.2. The Work of the Atomic Units
- The seven Heavenly Men, considered in relation to the
Entity of Whom the solar Logos is a reflection, are as
the seven centers in the physical body of a human being.
This will be realized as the correspondence between the
cosmic physical plane and the systemic physical plane is
studied.
- Three of these centers, therefore
- Concern the lower centers of the cosmic
Being.
- Have their analogies on the dense, liquid and
gaseous planes.
- Are at present the object of the attention of
cosmic, kundalini. [297]
- One of these centers corresponds to the solar plexus
and is the synthesizer of the lower three, thus making a
quaternary.
- The center which is analogous to that at the base of
the spine, or the reservoir of kundalini, has a
permanence which is not seen in the other two lower
centers. The Heavenly Man Who embodies this principle and
is the source of generative heat to His Brothers, must be
sought for by the aid of the intuition. Concrete Mind
will not here avail.
- The three higher centers, or the Heavenly Men Who
correspond to the head, the heart and the throat of the
solar Logos, have Their etheric analogies on the three
higher etheric levels of the cosmic physical plane, just
as the Heavenly Man Who embodies the logoic solar plexus
finds His manifesting source on the fourth etheric.
- This Heavenly Man, with His etheric vortex or wheel
of force on the fourth cosmic ether, is in this fourth
round, a vital factor in planetary evolution.
- When the Heavenly Man, Who is at present
demonstrating through the Earth scheme, has succeeded in
vitalizing His middle center, or in directing the force
of planetary kundalini away from the lower centers to the
solar plexus center, a new cycle will be reached, and
much of the present distress will be ended. His work is
as yet in an embryonic condition, and two and a half more
cycles must transpire before He has accomplished the
necessary work. When that is done, the result in
connection with the human units in incarnation will be
threefold:
- Sex stimulation, as now understood, will be
showing a tendency to manifest in creation, not so
much on the physical plane, as on the astral and
mental, demonstrating in the creations of art and
beauty, and the objective work of the
scientists.
- Crime, as now seen, based largely on the sex
emotion, [298] will be a thing of the past, and
physical plane license, orgy and horror will be
reduced seventy-five per cent.
- The interplay between the three dense physical
planets will be perfected and man will pass at will
from on to another.
I would here point out the inadvisability of the
method whereby the names of the globes in a chain, just as
the names of a chain in a scheme, follow the planetary
nomenclature. This has led to confusion.
A clue tending towards the correct understanding lies hid
in the words: "Venus is the Earth's primary." (S.D., II,
33. I, 323.)
It is not permissible to say much about this mystery, that
"Venus is the Earth's alter ego," nor is it
advisable, but certain ideas may be suggested which – if
brooded on – may result in a wider grasp of the beauty of
nature's synthesis, and of the wonderful correlation of all
that is in process of evolution.
Perhaps some idea may be gained if we remember that, in an
occult sense, Venus is to the Earth what the higher Self is
to man.
The coming of the Lords of Flame to the Earth was all under
law and not just an accidental and fortunate happening; it
was a planetary matter which finds its correspondence in
the connection between the mental unit and the manasic
permanent atom. Again, as the antahkarana is built by
individual man between these two points, so – again in a
planetary sense – is a channel being built by collective
man on this planet to its primary, Venus.
In connection with these two planets, it must be remembered
that Venus is a sacred planet and the Earth is not. This
means that certain of the planets are to the Logos what the
permanent atoms are to man. They embody principles. Certain
planets afford only temporary [299] homes to these
principles. Others persist throughout the mahamanvantara.
Of these Venus is one.
Three of the sacred planets, it should be remembered, are
the home of the three major Rays, of the embodied forms of
the three logoic aspects or principles. Other planets are
embodiments of the four minor rays. We might consider –
from the standpoint of the present – that Venus, Jupiter
and Saturn might be considered as the vehicles of the three
super-principles at this time. Mercury, the Earth and Mars
are closely allied to these three, but a hidden mystery
lies here. The evolution of the inner round has a close
connection with this problem. Perhaps some light may be
thrown upon the obscurity of the matter by the realization
that just as the Logos has (in the non-sacred planets) the
correspondence to the permanent atoms in the human being,
so the middle evolution between these two (God and man) is
the Heavenly Man, whose body is made up of human and deva
monads, and Who has likewise His permanent atoms. Always
the three higher principles can be distinguished in
importance from the four lower.
The key is hidden in the fact that between the number of a
globe in a chain and its corresponding chain lies a method
of communication. The same is true likewise of the
correspondence between a chain of globes and a scheme of
analogous number. The connection between Venus and the
Earth lies hid in number, and it took a moment of
mysterious alignment between a globe, its corresponding
chain and the scheme of allied number to effect the
momentous occurrence known as the coming of the Lords of
Flame. It occurred in the third root-race in the fourth
round. Here we have an analogy between the quaternary and
the Triad, carrying the interpretation up to a Heavenly
Man. The chain was the fourth chain and the globe, the
fourth. The fourth [300] chain in the Venus scheme and the
fourth globe in that chain were closely involved in the
transaction.
- The progress of development of the Heavenly Men is by
no means uniform. One point has not been emphasized
hitherto, and that is, that the problem before each of
Them is dissimilar, and, therefore, it is not possible
for man correctly to gauge the work done by Them and
Their relative point of attainment. It has been said that
as Venus is in the fifth round, the Venusian Lord is
further progressed than His brothers. This is not
altogether so. Just as in the development of humanity
three main lines may be seen with four lesser lines
merging into one of the three main lines, so in
connection with the Heavenly Men, there are three main
lines of which the Venusian is not one. The Lord of Venus
holds place in the logoic quaternary, as does the Lord of
Earth.
The main idea underlying the question we have been
endeavoring to answer has to do with the relationship
between the schemes, chains, rounds, and races, and it
should be borne in mind that these manifestations bear
the same relationship to a Heavenly Man as incarnations
do to a human being. This gives the opportunity here to
bring out perhaps a little more clearly the place of
cycles in the evolution of all these Entities from a
man up to a cosmic Logos, via a Heavenly Man and a
solar Logos. (S. D., I, 258.) Just as it is pointed out
in the Secret Doctrine that there are greater and
lesser cycles in the evolution of a solar system, so it
can be predicated equally of a Heavenly Man, of a human
being, and of an atom This brings us, therefore, to
another statement:
- The cycles in the evolutionary process of all these
Entities may be divided mainly into three groups, though
necessarily these groups can be extended into septenates
and into an infinity of multiples of seven. [301]
In connection with a solar Logos the cycles might be
called:
- One hundred years of Brahma.
- A year of Brahma.
- A day of Brahma.
These periods have been computed by the Hindu students
and are the sumtotal of
time as we understand it or
the duration of a solar system.
In connection with a Heavenly Man we have the
corresponding cycles to those of the Logos:
- The period of a planetary scheme.
- The period of a planetary chain.
- The period of a planetary round.
Within these three divisions, which are the
differentiations of the three great cycles of incarnation
of a planetary Logos, are numerous lesser cycles or
incarnations but they all fall within one or other of the
three main divisions. Such lesser cycles might be easily
comprehended if it were pointed out that they mark such
periods as:
- The period of manifestation on a globe.
- The period of a root-race.
- The period of a subrace.
- The period of a branch race.
In order to apprehend even cursorily the identity of
manifestation of a planetary Logos in a root-race, for
instance, it must be remembered that the sumtotal of human
and deva units upon a planet make the
body vital of
a planetary Logos, whilst the sumtotal of lesser lives upon
a planet (from the material bodies of men or devas down to
the other kingdoms of nature) form His
body
corporeal, and are divisible into two types of such
lives:
- Those on the evolutionary arc, such as in the animal
kingdom. [302]
- Those on the involutionary arc, such as the totality
of all elemental material forms within His sphere of
influence. All the involutionary lives, as earlier
pointed out, form the vehicles for the spirit of the
planet, or the planetary entity, who is the sumtotal of
the elemental essences in process of involution. He holds
a position (in relation to a Heavenly Man) analogous to
that held by the different elementals that go to the
makeup of man's three bodies, physical, astral and
mental, and he is – like all manifesting beings –
threefold in his nature, but involutionary. Therefore,
man and devas (differentiating the devas from the lesser
Builders) form the SOUL of a Heavenly Man. Other lives
form his BODY, and it is with body and soul that we are
concerned in these two divisions of our thesis ON FIRE.
One group manifests the fire of matter, the other group
the fire of mind, for the devas are the personification
of the active universal mind, even though man is
considered manasic in a different sense. Man bridges in
essence; the devas bridge in matter.
In connection with Man the cycles are equally
threefold:
- The Monadic cycle, which corresponds in man to the
100 years of Brahma, and to a planetary scheme.
- The Egoic cycle.
- The Personality cycle.
In these thoughts on cycles we have opened up a vast
range of thought, especially if we link the idea of egoic
and personality cycles to the vaster periods in connection
with a planetary Logos. The idea is capable of vast
expansion, and is governed by certain fundamental ideas
that must be carefully considered and contemplated. [303]
The cycles in a man's
personality manifestation
demonstrate in groups of fours and sevens, and follow the
usual evolutionary sequence, as:
- Differentiation, the involutionary process, or
the one becoming the many, the homogeneous becoming the
heterogeneous.
- Balance, or the process of karmic
adjustment.
- Synthesis, or spiritualization, the many again
becoming the One.
- Obscuration, or liberation, the end of the
evolutionary process, or the freeing of Spirit from the
limitations of matter.
By this we must understand that all incarnations on
the physical plane are not of equal importance, but some
are of more moment than others; some, from the point of
view of the Ego, are practically negligible, others count;
some are to the evolving human Spirit of importance
analogous to the incarnation of a planetary Logos in a
globe, or through a root-race, whilst others are as
relatively unimportant to him as the manifestation of a
branch-race is to a Heavenly Man.
As yet, owing to the small point of development of the
average man, the astral incarnations or cycles count for
little, but they are by no means to be discounted, and are
oft relatively of more importance than the physical. In due
course of time the astral cycles will be better
comprehended and their relation to the physical. When it is
realized that the physical body is not a principle but that
the kama-manasic principle (or desire-mind principle) is
one of the most vital to man then the period or cycle in
which a man functions on the fifth subplane of the astral
(the fundamentally kama-manasic plane) will assume its
rightful place. It is so again with the mental cycles and
so with the causal. The causal cycles or the egoic cycles,
which include all the groups of lesser [304] cycles in the
three worlds correspond to a complete round in the cycles
of a Heavenly Man. There are seven such cycles, but the
number of lesser cycles (included within the seven) is one
of the secrets of Initiation.
The egoic cycles proceed in groups of sevens and of threes,
and not in groups of fours and sevens as do the personality
cycles, and the same ratio must be predicated of the
central cycles of a Heavenly Man and of a solar Logos.
The monadic cycles proceed in groups of ones and of threes
as do the basic cycles of those great Entities of which man
is the microcosmic reflection. If the general concept here
laid down is studied in relation to the schemes, and other
forms of manifestation to each other and, if the microcosm
himself is studied as the clue to the whole, some idea will
begin to permeate the mind as to the purpose underlying all
these manifestations. It should be borne also in mind that
just as the average man in each incarnation achieves three
objects:
- The development of consciousness or the awakening of
the faculty of awareness,
- The achievement of a certain proportion of permanent
faculty, or the definite increase of the content of the
causal body,
- The making of karma, or the setting in motion (by
action) of causes which necessitate certain unavoidable
effects,
so a Heavenly Man at one stage of His evolution does
the same. As man progresses and as he enters upon the
Probationary Path and the subsequent Path of Initiation, he
succeeds in bringing about some further noticeable
developments.
- As before, his consciousness expands, but he begins
to work intelligently from above and does not work
blindly on the lower planes. [305]
- The building of the causal body is carried to full
completion, and he begins next to shatter what he earlier
wrought, and to destroy the Temple so carefully
constructed, finding it too to be a limitation.
- He ceases to make karma in the three worlds, but
begins to work it off, or, literally, to "wind up his
affairs."
So do the Heavenly Men, for They likewise have a
cosmic
path to tread, analogous to that trodden by
man, as he nears the goal of his endeavor.
Again we can with exactitude carry the concept further
still, and predicate action of a similar nature by the
solar Logos.
The consideration of this question is nearly concluded and
it must be apparent that the relation between the
aforementioned manifestations is of a psychic nature
(using the word psychic in its true sense, as having
reference to the psyche, or soul, or consciousness) and
deals with the gradual expansion of Soul-Knowledge in a
Heavenly Man. A word of warning should here be sounded.
Though all these cosmic Beings find in man a reflection of
Their Own Nature, yet the analogy of resemblance must not
be pushed to extremity. Man reflects, but he reflects not
perfectly; man is evolving, but he is not occupied with the
same problems in exact detail as are the perfected
Manasaputras.
Man aims at becoming a Divine Manasaputra, or
perfected Son of Mind showing forth all the powers inherent
in mind, and thus becoming like unto his monadic source, a
Heavenly Man. A Heavenly Man has developed Manas,
and is occupied with the problem of becoming a Son of
Wisdom, not inherently but in full manifestation. A
solar Logos is both a Divine Manasaputra and likewise a
Dragon of Wisdom, and His problem concerns itself [306]
with the development of the principle of cosmic Will which
will make Him what has been called a "Lion of Cosmic Will."
Throughout all these graded manifestations the law holds
good, and the lesser is included in the greater. Hence the
need for the student to preserve with care a due sense of
proportion, a discrimination as to time in evolution, and a
just appreciation of the place of each unit within its
greater sphere. Having sounded this note of warning we can
now proceed with the concluding remarks anent this final
question.
It has been stated that a mystery lies hid in the 777
incarnations. This figure provides room for much
speculation. (S. D., I, 191.) It should be pointed out that
it does not hold the number of a stated cycle of
incarnations through which a man must pass, but holds the
key to the three major cycles previously mentioned.
Primarily this number applies to the planetary Logos of our
scheme and not so much to other schemes. Each Heavenly Man
has His number and the number of our Heavenly Man lies hid
in the above three figures, just as 666 and 888 holds the
mystery hid of two other Heavenly Men. This number 777
is also the number of transmutation, which is the
fundamental work of all the Heavenly Men. The basic work of
man is accumulation and acquisition, or the acquiring of
that which must later be transmuted. The work of
transmutation, or the true cycle of 777 commences on the
Probationary Path, and is definitely the activity of a
Heavenly Man being realized and responded to by the cells
in His Body. Only when His Body has reached a certain
vibratory movement can He truly influence the individual
cells. This work of transmuting cell activity was
begun on this planet during the last root-race, and the
divine alchemy proceeds. The progress made is as yet but
small, but each transmuted [307] conscious cell increases
the speed and the accuracy of the work. Time alone is
needed for the completion of the work. In connection with
this matter of transmutation comes the legend of the
Philosopher's Stone, which is literally the application of
the Rod of Initiation in one sense. [308]