A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
Page 75
Another factor might be termed the karmic results of seeds sown in days long past, and hidden in the mysteries of the earlier system, scheme, or chain as the case may be. All these three groups of manifestation follow karmic impulse, and this impulse it is which controls the time period, and method of the appearance in any group of planetary egos, of newly born lotus buds, or of lotuses which are termed “mystically transplanted.” These latter are probably of a high degree of unfoldment. This is possible in individual cases and in the case of entire groups.
A third factor has to do with the transference of Egos or lotuses from one sphere of activity to another and this necessarily produces conditions calling for the appearance of similar centres to take their place. Energy transmitted must be supplied from elsewhere, and this is another predisposing factor for the appearance of egoic lotuses in any scheme. The law of the conservation of force holds good on any plane.
This whole question of the transference of egoic lotuses from any one scheme to another, or from chain to chain, on the mental plane is one of very real intricacy, and cannot be elucidated to the unpledged disciple. Only these general indications are in any way possible.
It must also be remembered in connection with our planet that Egos appear in those groups whose lotuses are not produced as the result of the Law of Attraction working between the animal kingdom of the globe and the higher Triads, but which are Egos who have individualised elsewhere, and who therefore come in with their petals already organised, and perhaps with several [853] petals unfolded. This has necessarily a profound effect both upon the groups in which they appear, and upon the type of man who will make his appearance subsequently in physical plane incarnation. This is touched upon in the Secret Doctrine when the question of the early teachers and divine kings who occupied the ill-favoured bodies of the early humanity, is broached. (See early part of S.D. Vol II.) (273)
To continue with our consideration of egoic groups: It might be briefly stated that the egoic groups in connection with our planet may be roughly grouped according to the stage of lotus organisation, as follows:
a. Egos who were produced through the individualisation process in Lemurian days. They are the true Earth humanity, along with the second group.
b. Egos who have individualised during the Atlantean root-race until the door was shut.
c. Egos who have “come-in” from the moon chain and who are much more evolved than the earth humanity.
d. Egos who have been swept in since Atlantean days to take the place of those Egos who have achieved liberation, and whose causal bodies have disappeared, or whose lotuses have “died out” leaving a vacuum in force substance which must be supplied and filled. They usually come in from one of two schemes:
1. From the scheme embodied by the polar opposite of our planetary Logos.
2. From that scheme which is allied with these two in forming a systemic triangle. [854]
These cases are necessarily rare at present but will become more frequent as more and more of the human race take the fourth Initiation.
e. Certain rare Egos or lotuses from schemes not enumerated in the above triplicity. They are usually only brought in so that they may perfect certain developments in their own nature, to carry out experimental work in connection with the deva kingdom, or to produce certain group results desired by the planetary Logos. They frequently do not descend into dense physical incarnation but work primarily on mental and astral levels, returning to their own spheres eventually for the final stages of liberation.
All these lotuses in their myriad differentiations have specific effects upon each other on mental levels, and these effects are as yet utterly unrealised by man. Nevertheless, they are the basis of the true psychology, and the grounds of all true activity. The student would do well to ponder upon the effect any advanced Ego would be likely to have upon:
a. Other Egos in his group.
b. The solar Pitris who are the substance of the group.
c. The lunar Pitris, who are linked with the solar Pitris through the permanent atoms.
We have enumerated above certain classifications of groups of Egos to be found on the causal levels of the mental plane, so as to give students some idea of the vastness of the subject, and the complexity of the problem. It must be remembered that on the third subplane of the mental plane there is no individual separation such as we find when in physical manifestation, but nevertheless group separation is to be seen. These groups are far too many to enumerate in detail. We have outlined and named five of the larger groups as catalogued under [855] one scheme of tabulation in the Hall of Records. Other methods of enumeration exist, and even under the one here used, these five groups are each subdivided into ten groups, and these again are broken up into lesser units, all of them being known and portrayed under certain symbols.
When we come to the second subplane of the mental plane (the plane whereon the egoic bodies of advanced humanity, of disciples, and of initiates are found) the method of grouping will be according to:
a. Ray.
b. Subray.
c. Department (whether under the Manu, the Mahachohan or the Bodhisattva on our earth scheme or their analogies on other schemes).
d. The Master’s group.
These egoic lotuses are all organised, and have a number of petals unfolded whilst some are in the final stages of development.
They have also been grouped under the following three heads:
Lotuses of revelation. Those in which the “jewel” is just about to be revealed.
Lotuses with perfume. Those whose occult “smell” or aroma is permeating their environment. They are those Egos who have not yet completely unfolded the final tier of petals, but whose lives are of magnetic force in the three worlds, and whose careers are distinguished by altruistic service.
Radiant lotuses, or those whose light is beginning to shine forth as lights in a dark place.
They are grouped also according to primary colour, to subsidiary colouring, according to key or tone, and one tabulation is entirely numerical. It might be of interest [856] to the student if we here pointed out that in the Hall of Records in connection with the human Egos certain of the records under symbological terminology keep a minute account of the following facts concerning each unit:
The lunar record. This deals with all the lower vehicles and forms, employed by the human Monads and concerns itself with:
a. Their rate of vibration,
b. Their type,
c. Their key number,
d. The particular group of lunar Lords who are concerned with those bodies,
e. The detailed history of the elemental lives who construct the bodies.
This information is employed by the karmic official responsible for the production of a new set of vehicles at each incarnation, in order to assist the working out of karma. The history of the lunar bodies is stored up in the permanent atoms.
The solar record. This deals with the more permanent egoic vehicle, and concerns itself with:
a. The rate of vibration.
b. The history of the petal unfoldment.
c. The history of any particular group of solar Angels concerned with the formation of the lotus.
d. The activity of the deva substance out of which the lotus is constructed.
e. Group relationships.
This information is used by the Master Who has made Himself responsible for the stimulation and the growth of any particular series of Egos, and also by advanced Egos who are consciously working with their group.
The consciousness record. This concerns the response of the indwelling Entity to its surroundings. It deals [857] with the utilisation of knowledge by the knower, and is in many ways the most intricate and the most lengthy of the records.
These records are mostly used by the Lord of the World and His pupils to ascertain information in connection with the planetary centres. They are arranged in such a way that the entire record of any group, however vast and extensive, is e
mbodied in seven sheets of symbols, each containing forty-nine symbols. These sheets are changed and corrected once every seven years, and are precipitated on astral matter by an effort of will by the Chohan responsible for the particular group involved.
(d.) The Petals and the Etheric Centres. It remains now to point out the close connection between the unfoldment of the petals in the egoic lotuses and the etheric centres in man. It is through the centres that psychic energy flows. Students should carefully bear in mind the two following facts: First, the etheric body is vitalised, as we know, by prana. Pranic energy is the stimulator of animal activity, and of physical plane development. Its effect is primarily upon the atoms of the physical body and it has a triple effect upon the substance of the physical body:
a. It preserves the animal health of the body.
b. It constructs and builds in the body, through its energy and force currents, what is needed to replace the daily wear and tear.
c. It is the medium whereby man comes into physical touch with his brother man. Physical magnetism is largely, even if not wholly, dependent upon prana.
The etheric centres are the force vortices formed in etheric matter by astral impulse, transmitted via the [858] astral centres. These astral centres in their turn are the transmitters of still higher energy, and thus the statement is technically true that the etheric centres are the source of man’s psychic energy, and are therefore affected by the unfoldment of the petals. Every petal is in its turn a type of force centre, and the energy emanating from it affects the etheric centres, and produces every type of psychic energy of the true kind.
The energy flowing from the Ego is but little felt in the early stages of development. Man follows his allotted path through animal and racial instinct, and can be safely left to the stimulation emanating from his group centres, and to the ordinary driving force inherent in form, and to the earlier life waves. It is only when he has reached a comparatively advanced stage (in comparison with that of animal man) that egoic or psychic force pours through his centres in such a way as to produce results in consciousness—of these he will eventually become profoundly aware within his physical brain. I do not here refer to the ordinary animal psychism displayed by the higher animals, and found among certain of the post Lemurian races. This is a type of consciousness inherent in the atoms, and is a constituent part of the “soul of the world.” It is unconscious and uncontrolled and has no part in this teaching. I refer to the conscious psychism which is displayed by advanced humanity, by disciples and initiates of all grades. This kind is the result of the pouring in of egoic energy through the etheric centres (mainly through five of them) in such a way that the consciousness of the physical brain becomes aware of it, and also aware of:
a. Its purpose,
b. Its technique,
c. The effects produced within the lower self of the man himself and also upon others, [859]
d. His ability to employ it or not as he may desire. It is under his control.
The centres with which the student is concerned are, as we know, four in number:
a. The head,
b. The heart,
c. The throat,
d. The base of the spine.
These are the only ones which should receive consideration. His work is to transfer the force or energy out of the two lower—the spinal and the solar plexus—into the three higher. It is presumed that he has already transferred, or is in process of transferring, the energy of the generative organs into the centre of desire, the solar plexus, with the aim in view of guiding it still higher to the throat centre. The splenic centre, being the vehicle of prana, is specially developed under evolutionary law, and its energy is not transferred to another centre, but is consciously diffused. When its correspondence in the head centre is awakened, this becomes the organ of occult healing; through it the healer (by an act of will), absorbs prana and vitality from the ethers, and then breathes it out again upon the object to be healed by an act of compassionate healing.
In connection with the etheric centres, we should note the fact that the major head centre is twofold in structure, and consists of a lotus of ninety-six petals between the eyebrows, and of a twelve-petalled lotus at the top of the head, with ninety-six petals in a subsidiary whorl. The significance of these figures is profound. In every case the figure twelve is met with, showing a definite relation to the basic psychic lotuses on egoic levels. Twelve multiplied by eight stands for the twelve petals in each case, while in the figure eight lies hidden the idea of duality: [860]
a. The four of the quaternary,
b. The four of the egoic auric egg (the three aspects, and the ring-pass-not.)
We must note also, that the idea of twelve in connection with the centres is found in three of them:
a. The higher head centre,
b. The secondary head centre,
c. The heart centre.
If the student studies this condition, and links up the idea of the three tiers of petals in the twelve-petalled lotus, he may find illumination. More it is not possible to give at this stage.
It is only when the etheric centres—the two head centres and the heart centre—are fully active with their twelve petals completely unfolded that the central circle of petals in the egoic lotus (the fourth or inner circle) unfolds. The significance of the four circles in the egoic lotus, and the eight circles of twelve petals each in the etheric lotuses on the mental plane is of great importance.
The centres with which man has to deal are necessarily five at this stage owing to the following facts, which must be studied if a man desires to awaken his centres according to plan, and if he wishes safely to follow along the line of the true psychic unfoldment:
The fact that the energy starts from the fifth plane, the mental, where man is concerned,
The fact that it is through the agency of the fifth principle that man can consciously work at his own unfoldment,
The fact that the path of evolution is for man a fivefold one, covering the five planes of human unfoldment; and is divided into five stages as regards the Ego,
The fact that although this is the second solar system from the standpoint of the egoic cycles of the Logos, [861] or His second major egoic cycle, yet it is the fifth when viewed from another angle, that of the lesser cycles. It corresponds to the fifth period in human evolution, that in which man treads the Path. The Logos is now treading the cosmic Path.
The fact that the fifth spirilla is in process of awakening. This has to be effected before the interplay of energy between the egoic lotus and the etheric centres becomes so powerful as to awaken man’s physical brain, and cause him to become aware of the inner currents. This takes place usually when the fifth petal is organised.
This whole question can also be viewed in a larger manner from the standpoint of the five Kumaras. It must be remembered that the aggregate of the etheric centres of any particular group of men form the force centres or minute “energy units” in the larger petals of their group centre. These again form petals in some particular planetary centre, and the aggregate of these petals form those larger centres of energy which we call “planetary centres.” These in their turn form centres of force for the Logos.
Yet the mystery in connection with this is so profound that unless the student carefully guards himself from too mathematical and material a concept, he will go astray. The etheric centres of man are not on the same plane as the etheric centres of a planetary Logos. His centres are on the plane of the fourth cosmic ether, the systemic buddhic plane, and it is only when man has taken the final initiation that his energy becomes incorporated into that of the planetary centre on its own plane. The etheric centres of the planetary Logos are transmitters and transmuters of force, and bear the same relation to Him as do the physical centres to a human being. All the dense physical centres, such as the mouth, for instance, [862] are transmitters of some type of energy arising in the human brain or will.
The understanding of force, of force trans
mission, and of the effects of liberated force upon the higher planes is the secret of occult knowledge. Force or energy flows in from the Ego. It works through the etheric centres and produces results on the three planes, varying according to the age of the soul. As yet, through lack of alignment, this egoic force does not reach the physical brain as fully as it later will, but it does reach the astral centres, and is frequently the cause of much of that lack of emotional control everywhere to be seen. The astral substance is as yet insufficiently organised, and when aroused by egoic energy moves violently. Astral substance is played upon by two counter streams of force: first, the egoic, and secondly, that vibration set up through countless ages on the physical plane, which is latent in substance itself, and is the result of an earlier solar system. This it is which produces the violent action and reaction to be seen in every life.
It is not possible to give more data concerning the unfoldment of the petals and their connection with the etheric centres. Three hints of practical import anent this stupendous subject may however be given which, if duly pondered upon, may carry illumination to those who are ready.
The first is that the etheric centres become active in a fourth dimensional sense (or become wheels turning upon themselves) when the aspirant has complied with certain details.