A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  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] life-cycle, 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 utilised.

  Let us now consider how this question can be expressed in terms of Fire:

  Objectively Subjectively

  1. The sea of fire 1. Our God is a consuming fire Energising will

  2. The akasha 2. The Light of God Form aspect.

  3. The aether 3. The heat of matter Activity aspect.

  4. The air 4. The illumination of the intuition.

  5. Fire 5. The fire of mind.

  6. The astral light 6. The heat of the emotions.

  7. Physical plane electricity 7. Kundalini and prana.

  Spiritually.

  This is hid in a threefold mystery:

  1. The mystery of electricity.

  2. The mystery of the seven constellations.

  3. The mystery of the ONE ABOVE THE LOGOS.

  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 Manasaputras, (113) (114) Who are known in the Secret Doctrine by diverse names, are the Mind-born Sons of Brahma, the third aspect logoic.

  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 vitalises 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 vitalises them with His force. The human being realises 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. 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.

  b. 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.

  c. 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:

  1. He vitalises them by His life and heat.

  2. He animates them.

  3. He is fully conscious through them.

  4. 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.

  d. The Heavenly Men form the seven centres 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.

  e. Human beings, when centred within their groups on causal levels, form one or other of the seven centres in the body of a Heavenly Man.

  f. The solar Logos forms one centre in the body of a still greater cosmic ENTITY. Human beings therefore [273] find their place within one of the forty-nine centres (not groups, for a centre may be made up of many groups, corresponding to the different parts) of the seven Heavenly Men.

  A Heavenly Man, with His seven centres, forms one centre 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 appals 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.

  1. The Idea of Repetition.

  This repetition involves the following factors:

  a. 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.

  b. 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 make-up 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 vitalising 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.

  c. Repetition in space: This con
cept 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:

  a. The solar system repeating its activity....Repetition in Space.

  b. A planetary chain repeating its activity....Repetition in Time.

  c. 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.

  d. 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.

  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 moulding 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:

  a. The period of the domination of the form note is that of involution.

  b. The period of the repulsion of form by Spirit is that of the battlefield of the three worlds.

  c. The period of the attraction of Spirit and Spirit, and the consequent withdrawal from form is that of the Path.

  d. The period of domination of the note of Spirit is that of the higher planes of evolution.

  To the synchronisation of the notes, or to the lack of synchronisation, 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 synchronise and harmonise 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 co-ordinated 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]

  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.

  a. 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.

  b. 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.

  c. 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.

  a. 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.

  b. 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.

  c. In connection with the solar Logos it is the complete revolution of the solar system around its cosmic centre.

  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 recognised 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] a. Logoic consciousness, or the successive states of divine realisation within the solar sphere.

  b. Planetary consciousness, or the consciousness of a Heavenly Man as He cycles successively through the scheme.

  c. Causal consciousness, or the successive expanding of the intelligent awareness of a human being from life to life.

  d. Human consciousness, or the awareness of a man on the physical plane, and progressively on the emotional and the mental planes.

  e. Animal, vegetable and mineral consciousness which differs from the human consciousness in many particulars, and primarily in that it does not co-ordinate, or deduce and recognise separate identity. It resembles human consciousness in that it covers the response to successive contacts of the units involved during their small cycles.

  f. 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 si
milarly either tends to co-operation 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 realisation 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 utilisation of the form, this we call Time, whether in connection with a man, a planetary Logos, or the Deity.