Students must bear in mind that from the standpoint of the Logos, the solar Angels on the mental plane (the fifth subplane of the cosmic physical plane) are in physical incarnation, and what is called the “second fall” applies to this. The first fall has reference to the taking of a form of cosmic etheric matter, such as is the case with the Heavenly Men, the prototypes of the human jivas. In this latter case the bodies used are called “formless” from our standpoint, and are “vital bodies” animated by cosmic prana. In the case of ourselves and the remaining groups, the forms are composed of substance of the three lower planes (that which the Logos does not regard as principle) and, therefore, matter responding still to the vibration of the earlier system. This means that the four lower hierarchies are links between the life of the past and of the future. They are the present. They had not finished their contacts with the active intelligent principle of the preceding kalpa, and so must continue such contacts in this. They will work out of it in this system, the four will become the three and they will then be the three, higher arupa hierarchies of the next system.
Before continuing our consideration of the particular hierarchies, it is necessary to point out that in these hierarchies, certain of them are termed “dominant hierarchies” and others “subsidiary hierarchies.” By this is meant that certain of them are in this solar system expressing themselves more fully than the others, and this necessarily entails the consequence that their vibration is more to be felt than that of the subsidiary groups. [1203] The dominant groups are the second, fourth and fifth, and this because:
a. The second is the great expression of duality, of the Son as He vitalises the Sun.
b. The fourth is the hierarchy of human Monads who are the mediators or the synthesisers; they express the gain of System 1 and the goal of System 2.
c. The fifth or tenth is closely linked with the five liberated hierarchies, and is an expression of their synthesised life. It might, therefore, be said that the fifth Hierarchy serves as the representative of the five liberated groups and the fourth is the representative group in this system, whilst the second represents (for man, or these two groups united) that which is the Spirit aspect, the Father, the Unknown.
Hierarchy V. The fifth Creative Hierarchy is, as we know from study of the Secret Doctrine, a most mysterious one. This mystery is incident upon the relation of the fifth Hierarchy to the five liberated groups. This relation, in connection with our particular planet, which is not a sacred planet, can be somewhat understood if the history of the Buddha and his work is contemplated. This is hinted at in the third volume of the Secret Doctrine. ( S. D., I, 239; III, Sections 43, 44, 45)
The relation of the fifth Hierarchy to a certain constellation has also a bearing upon this mystery. This is hidden in the karma of the solar Logos, and concerns His relationship to another solar Logos, and the interplay of force between them in a greater mahakalpa. This is the true “secret of the Dragon,” and it was the dragon-influence or the “serpent energy” which caused the influx of manasic or mind energy into the solar system. Entangled closely with the karma of these two cosmic [1204] Entities, was that of the lesser cosmic Entity Who is the Life of our planet, the planetary Logos. It was this triple karma which brought in the “serpent religion” and the “Serpents or Dragons of Wisdom” in Lemurian days. It had to do with solar and planetary Kundalini, or serpent fire. A hint lies in the fact that the constellation of the Dragon has the same relation to the ONE greater than our Logos as the centre at the base of the spine has to a human being. It concerns stimulation, and vitalisation with a consequent co-ordination of the manifesting fires.
A clue to the mystery lies also in the relation of this fifth group to the two contracting poles. They are the fivefold Links, the “Benign Uniters” and “the Producers of the Atonement.” Esoterically, they are the “Saviours of the Race” and from Them emanates that principle which—in conjunction with the highest aspect—lifts the lower aspect up to Heaven.
When these mysteries are carefully studied, and due application made to the lives of the greatest exponents of the at-one-ing principle, it will become apparent how great and all-important is their place in the scheme.
It is for this reason that the units of the fifth Hierarchy are called “The Hearts of Fiery Love”; they save through love, and in their turn these lives are peculiarly close to the great Heart of Love of the solar Logos. These great redeeming Angels, who are the Sons of Men on their own true plane, the mental, are ever, therefore, pictured as taking the form of twelve-petalled lotuses—this symbology linking them up with “the Son of Divine Love,” the manifested solar system, which is said to be a cosmic twelve-petalled lotus, and with the logoic causal lotus, equally of a twelve-petalled nature.
We have, therefore, a direct flow of energy flowing through: [1205]
a. The logoic twelve-petalled egoic Lotus. Cosmic mental plane.
b. The solar twelve-petalled Lotus.
c. The planetary logoic Heart, also a twelve-petalled Lotus.
d. The twelve-petalled human egoic lotus on the mental plane.
e. The twelve-petalled heart centre in a human being.
Or, to word it otherwise, energy flows directly from:
a. The solar Logos via three great cosmic centres:
1. The central spiritual Sun.
2. The heart of the Sun.
3. The physical Sun.
b. The heart centre of the planetary Logos, situated on the fourth cosmic etheric plane (our buddhic plane)
c. The egoic lotus of a human being on the mental plane, which is literally a correspondence to the “heart of the sun.” The monadic point is a reflection in the human system of the “central spiritual sun.”
d. The heart centre of a man on the etheric plane of the physical plane, which is in its turn a correspondence to the physical sun.
Thus the tiny atom man is linked with the great central Life of the solar system.
This Fifth Hierarchy is equally, under the law, a distributor of energy to the fifth subplane of each plane in the system, only it must be borne in mind that in the three worlds, it is the fifth subplane counting from above downward whilst in the worlds of superhuman evolution, it is the fifth counting from below upwards. This hierarchy wields, as we know, the dual aspects of manas, one in the three worlds and one which makes itself felt in higher spheres.
[1206] It is necessary to bear in mind that all these groups are (even when termed “formless”) the true forms of all that persists, for all are in the etheric body of the solar Logos or planetary Logos. This is a point requiring careful emphasis; students have for too long regarded the form as being the dense physical body, whereas to the occultist the physical body is not the form, but a gross maya, or illusion, and the true form is the body of vitality. Therefore, these hierarchies are the sumtotal of the vital lives and the substratum or the substance of all that is. We might regard the subject as follows:
a. The four superior groups are the hierarchies expressing themselves through the three cosmic ethers, the second, third and fourth.
b. The two lowest groups are the lives which are found functioning as the involutionary matter (organised and unorganised) of the logoic dense physical body, the liquid and gaseous, with the living substance of the four higher subplanes of the systemic dense physical body.
c. The fifth Hierarchy has an interesting position as the “mediating” body between the higher four and those which are found on the lower three subplanes. There is a vital and significant correspondence to be found between the seven head centres and the seven groups of Egos on the mental plane, and there is an occult analogy between the three head centres (pineal gland, pituitary body, and the alta major centres) and the expression of these seven groups of Egos in the three worlds. This is a most important esoteric fact, and all students of meditation upon the laws of at-one-ment must take this analogy into consideration.
It is useful to remember the place of these hierarchies in the scheme, a
nd to realise that upon the sumtotal of these vital bodies is gradually gathered the dense manifestation which we regard as the evolutionary matter. The forms are built (from the form of all atoms to the [1207] body of the Ego, from the form of a flower to the vast planetary or solar lotus) because the hierarchies exist as the aggregate of germ lives, giving the impulse, providing the model, and procuring, through their very existence, the entire raison d’être of all that is seen on all planes.
Hierarchies VI and VII. These sixth and seventh Hierarchies which provide the substance forms of the three worlds have a vital use and a most interesting place. From the logoic standpoint, they are not regarded as providing principles, but from the standpoint of man they do provide him with his lowest principles. They hold the same relation to the Logos as the dense physical body does to man, and all that concerns the evolution of man must (in this particular place) be studied as going on within the physical, logoic vehicle. They deal with the display of physical energy; with the working out in the physical vehicle, of all divine purposes, and with the physical organisation of a certain great cosmic Life.
Particularly is this so when we view the two hierarchies under consideration. They are the lowest residue of the previous system, and the energy of that matter (liquid, gaseous and dense) which the vibration of the logoic permanent atom (on the plane adi) attracts to itself in the building of the divine form. For purposes of clarification and of generalisation, it might be noted that the seventh Hierarchy is the life or energy found at the heart of every atom, its positive aspect, and the sixth Hierarchy is the life of the forms of all the etheric bodies of every tangible object. The function of this Hierarchy is well described in the words of the old Commentary:
“The devas hear the word go forth. They sacrifice themselves and out of their own substance they build the form desired. They draw life and the material from themselves, and yield themselves to the divine impulse.”
[1208] It is not possible to say much more anent these two last Hierarchies. Much that concerns them has been covered in the section of this Treatise which deals with the fire of matter. I would only point out that just as we teach in the occult wisdom that there is a definite progression from one kingdom into the next higher above, so there is a similar activity in the realm of the hierarchies. The lives which compose a Hierarchy pass in ordered cycles into the next above, though the word “above” but serves to mislead. It is consciousness and realisation which must be considered as being transferred and the consciousness of one hierarchy expands into that of the next higher.
This can also be viewed in terms of energy. The negative lives of a hierarchy follow the following sequence:
1. Negative energy.
2. Equilibrised energy.
3. Positive energy.
The positive lives of one hierarchy become the negative lives of another when they pass into it, and this it is which leads to the general confusion of ideas under which the average student labours. If he is to comprehend the matter with accuracy, he must study each hierarchy in a threefold manner, and view it also in its transitional state, as the negative blends and merges into the positive, and the positive becomes the negative pole of a higher vibratory stage. There are, therefore, nine states of consciousness through which each hierarchy has to pass, and some idea of the significance of this and their relativity can be gained by a consideration of the nine Initiations of the fourth Creative Hierarchy. Within these nine distinct expansions through which each life in each hierarchy must pass, are to be found lesser expansions and it is here that the main difficulty for the student of divine psychology lies. The whole subject concerns the [1209] psyche, or second aspect, of every life—superhuman, human and subhuman—and only when the true psychology is better understood will the subject take on its true importance. Then the nine unfoldments of each hierarchy will be somewhat comprehended, and their relative importance assigned.
Study of the matter in each kingdom will not as yet bring full enlightenment regarding the constitution of the elements of the human kingdom and its principles, which are the manifestations of the different hierarchies. The true revelation will only come as the following points are recognised:
1. The triple nature of man.
2. The distinctions between the vehicle and that which utilises the vehicle.
3. The distinction between a Ray which is the expression of logoic energy and a positive emanation, and a hierarchy which is a negative emanation of the Logos, upon which His positive energy impresses itself, driving that hierarchy on to self expression and forcing the “marriage of the poles.”
The whole subject is very involved and difficult but light will begin to dawn before long when science recognises the nature, place and responsibility of the etheric body in man, or of his vital body, and its position as the true form, and basic unit of the dense physical body. When this has been admitted, and the illuminating facts recorded and known, when the connection between the two is grasped, and the necessary deductions and correlations are made, the whole subject of logoic manifestation and the work of the Lives on the four higher planes, with their effect upon the Logoic dense physical plane (our three worlds of expression) will take on a new colouring. The thoughts of men will be revolutionised on the subject of creation; [1210] the terms and expressions now used will be corrected, and all will be expressed in terms of form-building energy, and the three modes of electrical phenomena. This realisation is rapidly on its way but only the generation after the one which the children of the present age are expressing, will see it demonstrated to such an extent as to place etheric electrical phenomena beyond all dispute. This will be done by the coming in of egos who are fully conscious on the etheric levels and who can see all that which is now the subject of speculation. They—from their great numbers and high stage of intellectuality—will rescue the whole matter from the realm of controversy and demonstrate the facts.
The work of building forms will never be understood till the true function of the etheric body is realised. It is the attractive agent for those lives which are so low an order as to be occultly inert. These lives, which are not included in the list of hierarchies, are acted upon by the sixth and seventh groups and by the energy emanating from them. They are stirred from the inertia in which they have rested, and are driven to take their place, and to form the concrete vehicles of all that is. They are the lowest manifestation of that which is abstract; they are the densest concretion of Spirit; they are the failures of the system preceding this, and their failure is so complete (from the standpoint of consciousness) that all the response they can make to the positive vibration of the seventh Hierarchy is simply to be attracted. They can be occultly drawn into place but only at the close of this solar system will they be in a condition to pass into and become the seventh Hierarchy of the next solar system.
The goal for that which is not a principle is that it shall become a vital principle through the play of energy upon it. We are dealing here with that mysterious something which has been called “the refuse of that which earlier [1211] was seen,” with that latent energy which hid the lowest vibration of the system before ours, and which was so heavy, and so inert, as to be regarded beyond the ken of the Logos. He was unaware of it, and the object before these peculiar lives which live (and yet are occultly dead) is that they must force themselves into the range of His conscious control by response to those lives which are consciously directed by Him, and who are, therefore, the Saviours of the lowest.
4. Group Unity.
Group unity must be viewed somewhat from the mystical standpoint. It is a truism in occultism to say that nothing stands alone, yet it is a fact that each infinitesimal part of the whole has three relations:
1. To those units which form its body of manifestation.
2. To its own unitary life.
3. To that greater unit of which it forms a part.
One of the main things which, it has been said, underlies logoic purpose, is the working out of ways which will
result in true group unity. All that is to be seen might be regarded as a gigantic endeavour on the part of a great Intelligence to produce a group, and evolution is to be regarded, therefore, as a vast experiment with this objective in view.
This triple responsibility above referred to exists for the atom or for the solar Logos, and the trend of the evolutionary process is to make each unit, microcosm and macrocosm, an intelligent co-operator, responsive to forces impinging upon it externally, and aware of its own internal economy and of the latent forces and energies which it has to contribute to the good of the whole. Man, standing as he does at the middle point in evolution, and marking the stage in the evolution of consciousness where a triple awareness is possible,—awareness of individuality, awareness of the forces which are subhuman and [1212] which must be controlled, and awareness of a place within the plan and purpose of a greater Man—must, therefore, rightly be regarded as the most important of the evolutions, for through him can be worked out intelligently the laws of group unity for all the three groups, superhuman, human, and subhuman.
Above him stand those who are too pure or, as it is called, “too cold” to be immersed in the matter of the three worlds, below him are found those lives which are too impure (occultly understood) or “too full of burning matter and veiled in smoke” to be able to mount of themselves into regions where stand the unveiled sons of God. Man, therefore, acts as the mediator, and in him and through him can be worked out group methods and laws which—in a later solar system—can form a basic law for unified work. It is this fact which brings about so much of the peculiar trouble and nature of the human kingdom, and it might here be said that on our planet, which is, it must be remembered, one of the “profane” planets, certain experiments in connection with this problem have been undertaken by our planetary Logos. These (if successful) will result in a great expansion of the knowledge of the planetary Logos regarding the laws governing all bodies, and masses. Our planetary Logos has been given the name of the “experimenting divine Physicist.” It is this condition which makes the humanity of this planet unique in some respects, for they may be regarded as working out two main problems:
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