A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  For the sake of clarity, let us take the microcosm for momentary study. It should be realised by all students that man is Spirit or the Self, working through matter or [398] the Not-Self, by means of the intelligence or manas, and it should also be realised that the statement of this fact (which is equally true of a solar Logos, a Heavenly Man, and a human being) involves the admission of certain deductions based on manifestation itself. One of these deductions is that by means of this principle of manas form is built. Therefore, the whole subject of the Builders has to be studied—those entities who are the embodiment of Universal Mind, who are the animating lives within the form, and who are the Divine Manasaputras in their comprehensive totality. In the occult realisation of this lies hid the secret of the close relationship between man and the deva evolution, man being the repository (through the Heavenly Man of Whose body he forms a part) of the purpose of the Logos, and the devas in all their higher grades being the cohesive attractive factor which manipulates matter, and which moulds it into shape. The two are partners, indispensable to each other, and without the two working in close co-operation this objective solar system would immediately disintegrate, just as man’s dense and etheric bodies disintegrate when the Spirit withdraws, and the Builders cease their work.

  Three hierarchies in particular are concerned with objective manifestation in etheric matter, the fourth, or strictly human hierarchy, and the fifth and sixth or the deva hierarchies. The other hierarchies fulfill other purposes connected with the life of the Spirit in the higher forms in the cosmic ethers, but in connection with our present subject these three hierarchies work on the lower levels of the cosmic physical plane the subplanes of which we call the mental, astral, and physical planes. When the five and the four are perfectly blended, we shall have achieved the nine of a major initiation, and when the six is added we shall have the resolution into one of the groups embodied by a Kumara, as has been hinted earlier. [399] This marks the resolution of the six-pointed star finally into the five-pointed star; this is a great mystery, and concerns primarily the Heavenly Man of our scheme, and only incidentally the groups within His body of etheric manifestation.

  It will, therefore, be apparent that if all manifestation is the embodiment in form of a cosmic conception, and the working out of it in concrete shape, manas or intelligence is a basic factor of the process and the means whereby the link is made between the abstract and the concrete. This is already realised to be true in connection with man, and it is equally true of cosmic entities. As man progresses towards the heart of the mystery he awakens to a realisation that the aim of evolution for him is to build consciously the channel between the levels which are to him the planes of the abstract or of the ideal, and the concrete ones whereon he normally functions. This connecting channel has been inadequately called, and is literally “THE PATH” itself. He builds it:

  By means of the manasic principle consciously applied.

  By the process of transcending the karmic limitations of the three lower planes.

  Through the method of dominating matter, or the Personality, considering it as the Not-Self.

  Through the expansion of his consciousness through graded steps until it includes the planes he seeks to reach, and thereby demonstrating the truth of the statement that in order to tread the Path he must become that Path itself, and the accuracy of the occult truth that the antaskarana is itself but illusion. Ponder on this, for it carries illumination for those who have eyes to see.

  In the process of treading that Path and of achieving the goal, man is resolved into the five-pointed star, finally into the triangle of Spirit. Between these two stages is [400] a mysterious esoteric stage wherein he is resolved into the four,—not this time the four of the lower quaternary, but a higher four. He becomes part of the consciousness of that occult group hinted at in various places which stands next to the three Logoi, the four great Maharajahs, the dispensers of karma, the repositories of cosmic purpose, who are reflected (but only reflected) in the logoic Quaternary, or in those four Heavenly Men Who embody (with their synthesising third) logoic manas. These four with the synthesising one are in Themselves the sumtotal of manas, the Brahma aspect, or Intelligence in activity. Karma works through manas, and only as the six-pointed star (or the sumtotal of concrete mind in its various divisions) becomes the five-pointed star, or the synthesis of the lower into the abstract or higher, is the transmutation into the three, or the Spiritual Triad, made possible via the four, or the formless repositories of karmic purpose; thus is liberation achieved, thus is man set free, and the microcosm attains BEING without the necessity of form-taking. A hint here in connection with the microcosm may help: When the microcosm has transcended the three worlds of matter and has become the five pointed star, he passes into the consciousness of the Monad, or pure Spirit, via the fourth plane of buddhi. For him the buddhic plane is the plane of karmic correspondence. On it he enters into the sphere of conscious co-operation in the working out of karma for a Heavenly Man, having completely worked out his personal karma in the lower three spheres. The student whose intuition suffices can work out the planes which correspond to the buddhic plane, for a Heavenly Man and for a solar Logos. This will only be possible if the concept is extended to cosmic levels and beyond the systemic.

  Through the ideas here imparted it may be possible for the student to think out, for himself, some aspects of the [401] place of manas in cosmic evolution. It necessitates a somewhat synthetic viewpoint, and the steady holding of the thought of PURPOSE in all activity, whether cosmic, systemic, planetary, or microcosmic. It is the fire of divine impulse permeating all forms and driving those forms to certain action and achievement.

  The fire of matter earlier dealt with is the dynamic fire of motion, which keeps in activity each atom of matter. The fire of mind is the coherent impulse and purpose, driving the forms (built up of active matter) in a specific direction, and along certain destined paths. It is consequently karmic impulse, originating cause, and operating will. It is likewise the result or the effect of this action in time, and only as the Triad comes into play, via the esoteric four, are the fires of both mind and matter burnt out and the fire of Spirit set free.

  III. THE PRESENT STAGE OF MANASIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE THREE GROUPS

  In the Planets

  In the System

  On Earth

  Literally, should we paraphrase this sentence, we might express it in the form of an enquiry as to the point attained in the active working out of the purposes of the great Entities involved in cosmic and systemic manifestation; we might also enquire if the intelligent will of the cosmic Logos and of the solar Logos and equally (within the system) of the different planetary Logoi, proceeded satisfactorily to a stage where it can be both appreciated and somewhat comprehended. These thoughts are involved in the consideration of this point, and open up for us much of very real interest. It should here be pointed out that the manasic principle (whether cosmic, systemic, or human) manifests in five ways, is transmuted into wisdom after its fivefold manifestation, and eventually is resolved into pure will or power. Herein lies the clue; all the objective display we see around us in connection with the Heavenly Men, and with the cells of Their bodies, [402] lies hidden in this. Herein may be found the mystery of the five Kumaras, Who are awaiting the final resolution, and herein is secreted the knowledge of divine alchemy, which is based on the five elements, and is concerned with their transformation into a primal element through the medium of an intermediate stage.

  1. In the Planets.

  Occult students need, in considering these points, to remember very clearly the distinction between transmutation and the final resolution; between the process of transforming the five elements, esoterically understood, and the final resolution of the transmuted essences into their synthesis. This has a vital bearing upon our subject, for resolution is as yet by no means possible, and the process of transmutation is only just beginning in the majority of cases. In studying these subjects we
have necessarily to confine ourselves to the Heavenly Men, for the human units—as cells in Their body—are of course included in all that is posited about Them, and until it is known which cosmic Logos recognises our solar Logos as a centre in His body, and which six other systems are affiliated with ours, it will not be possible to touch upon the systemic stage of manasic development. But in connection with the Heavenly Men certain facts are possible of theoretical comprehension, even though not as yet demonstrable to the scientific mind. We will, as usual, tabulate our premises, and thus keep clearly in mind, and visualised, the points under investigation:

  First. It might first be said that the third aspect, combined with the second, or Brahma and Vishnu allied, go to the totality of the Divine Manasaputras. They are Will utilising matter, or active intelligent substance, in order to demonstrate Love-Wisdom; all this is based on purpose, and has causation as a fundamental. This [403] Brahma aspect is fivefold and, with the Vishnu aspect, makes the six, or the pentagon, having Mahadeva or Will in the centre of all manifestation.

  Second. This fivefold Brahma aspect or the five Kumaras, are in full manifestation, and, with the reflection of the other two aspects, make the seven of our manifested system.

  Third. Mercury and Venus are in process of transmutation, and the manasic principle in both these schemes, having reached a high stage of development, is being transmuted into Love-Wisdom. When three fifths of the units (deva and human) that go to the composition of the vehicles of any planetary Logos are entering upon the Path, then the process of transmutation is entered upon. The faculty of MIND is then an instrument for creative use, and not the “slayer of the real,” and a barrier to the free life of the Spirit.

  Again, it must be noted that Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Vulcan are as yet developing manas, and the stage achieved in each varies, and is not for exoteric publication. The Heavenly Men of these schemes have not yet succeeded in bringing Their bodies to the stage where transmutation on a large scale is possible. They are approaching it, and when the necessary three fifths is reached, then They will begin to transmute on a larger scale. The Earth scheme has about one fifth in process of transmutation in one or other of the globes at this time and Vulcan has very nearly two fifths.

  We might here point out that though we are concerned primarily with manas in the human cells in the body of a planetary Logos, yet we must remember that the deva units in some schemes preponderate. Although from the standpoint of a human being the devas are in no way considered as coming under the influence of manas, as we understand it, yet from another angle they are manas itself, the active creative force, the fifth and the sixth [404] Hierarchies in full display. We should ponder upon the relationship (a necessarily close relationship) between the fifth deva Hierarchy and the fifth logoic principle, and we should also bear in mind that—viewing the whole matter from the angle of vision of a Heavenly Man—the devas are a corporate part of His nature, and He is a Manasaputra, a creative Builder, and the fivefold aspect of Brahma. The sumtotal of manas is pure deva essence, and it is only as union is made between this fivefold third aspect and the other two aspects that what we understand as MAN—whether Heavenly Man or human—comes into being. The devas are united with these other two factors and the result is:

  a. A solar Logos.

  b. A Heavenly Man.

  c. A human being.

  This is a great mystery and is allied to the mystery of electricity (or of fohatic life) which H. P. B. (S.D., I, 107) refers to. The Messengers, the Builders, the devas, are flaming fire, radiant electric matter, and only in time and space, only during manifestation and only through the cycles of objectivity, is such an entity as man possible, or can a Heavenly Man come into existence. Outside a solar ring-pass-not, for instance, and as far as our evolution is concerned, we have radiant electric substance, active, intelligent ether, ensouled by the deva evolution. (143) These [405] work blindly and under the laws of cosmic electricity. (We must differentiate with care between cosmic electricity, and the electrical akasha of the system, which is electrical substance confined and brought under another set of laws through the instrumentality of another factor, that of pure Spirit.) Outside the ring-pass-not, we have that abstraction which we call pure Spirit. This “pure Spirit,” or abstract, conscious Being, through conscious karma periodically seeks to manifest, and wills to work out a purpose under the laws of Its Own being, and is thus impelled by the attractive quality of its opposite pole, intelligent substance, to blend with it. The meeting of these two polarities, and their point of merging, causes that flash in the cosmic universe which we call a sun, and results in light or objectivity. Within the ring-pass-not, therefore, the electric fire of pure Spirit can only manifest through merging or union with electrical substance, and is, therefore, during evolution and for the major portion of the process, limited by it. In fact, little as it is realised, the deva evolution controls for the greater portion of manifestation up to the beginning of the transmutative process. They build incessantly the confining form.

  When the process of transmutation is effected by the five Heavenly Men, then the whole system is reaching a very high stage of evolution, and with the two schemes which will be entering into the stage of obscuration, the resolving process will commence. The plan, viewed largely, will be as follows:

  The four schemes which form the logoic Quaternary [406] will merge into their synthesising scheme, that of Saturn, while Venus and Mercury will merge into Uranus and Neptune. No importance need be attached to the sequence of these names. The dual fact is all that is necessary to grasp.

  Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn will, therefore, have absorbed the essence of manifestation and (in connection with the solar Logos) they correspond to the three permanent atoms in the causal body of a man. We say “correspond” for the analogy is not in detail. Uranus and Neptune are reflections of the logoic astral and mental permanent atoms. Saturn is in fact the correspondence to the logoic physical permanent atom. This is an occult mystery and must not be separated from its allied truth in the cosmic scheme.

  Viewing manas as the vibratory activity of all atoms and narrowing our concept down to our own scheme it is interesting to note that some correspondences can be traced as we study this fifth principle during the present round, the fourth. The manasic principle is the basis of the coming into activity and the mental recognition of the following facts in nature.

  The fifth spirilla within the atom of matter will become active. This fifth spirilla is beginning faintly to vibrate, while the fourth spirilla in this fourth round is assuming a vibration that will cause the intense vitalisation of the vehicles, and eventually bring about the shattering of the form, and the subsequent escape of the Spirit into a form composed of matter which responds to the vibration of the fifth spirilla.

  The fourth ether is coming into recognition, and along with it will come the knowledge of the lives which it embodies. Hence the success of spiritualistic endeavour, for the larger number of the average discarnate entities at this stage who are willing to make contact with the physical plane are clothed in matter of this ether. The devas [407] of this ether will also come to be known before the end of this round, and alliance will be made between the fourth Creative Hierarchy of men, and the devas of the fourth ether.

  The fourth plane, the buddhic, by the aid of manas, will gradually be realised. This will be done as manas is transmuted into wisdom. By a few in this round the fifth principle will be superseded by the principle of buddhi. Right on from now till the middle of the next round there will be an overlapping of the four and the five—manas and the buddhic principle—thus making the nine, or perfected man, the initiate.

  It might also be remarked that more and more will the control of the fourth Kumara be evidenced and felt. On this I cannot enlarge, being only permitted to make the statement.

  The consciousness of the mass of the human family will gradually pass on to the fourth subplane of the mental plane, and be more and more controlled by pure
ly concrete mind. Unless this is paralleled by a steady influx of egos on to the buddhic plane in conscious activity, and thus out of the control of manas pure and simple, a very serious condition will have to be handled by the Hierarchy.

  The work of the four Maharajahs who apportion karma within the ring-pass-not will reach its culminating point during the fourth round. In the next round, the work of the Lipikas who handle affairs in connection with our system outside the ring-pass-not will become more prominent. This is necessarily so, as the Lipika Lords dispense the law to those who have merged themselves with their divine principle, and are no longer held by the material forms of the three worlds. The Lords of Karma, or the Maharajahs, work with the sons of men in the three worlds, and through manasic principle. [408]

  2. In the System.

  We have now for consideration some further points on the subject of manasic development within the system and then we can proceed to discuss the future of manas, our final subheading.

  It will be apparent to all of us that the vastness of the subject and the enormous cycles of time involved tend to obscurity and lack of definiteness. Only the high lights stand out, and only broad general concepts, and the impartation of fundamental facts (to the exclusion of detail) are in any way possible in this treatise. Certain ideas stand out clearly against the background of intricate plans, against the apparent confusion caused by the overlapping of cycles, both great and lesser, and against accumulation of chaotic detail. This apparent chaos, and even seeming contradiction, is the result of our imperfect evolution, the result of our entire lack of perspective incident upon our place in the planetary scheme, and the result of the shortness of our vision. Broad outstanding generalisations are all that we can appreciate at our present state, and they might be summed up as three in number: