A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
Page 132
(68) See S. D., I, 100, 108. Also Stanza III, 7A. (back)
(70) “The moon (our satellite) pouring forth into the lowest globe of our planetary chain (Globe D. “Earth”), all its energy and powers; and having transferred them to a new centre, becoming virtually a dead planet in which, since the birth of our globe, rotation has ceased.”—S. D., I, 179. (back)
(74) “When the last cycle of man-bearing has been completed by that last fecund earth; and humanity has reached in a mass the stage of Buddhahood and passed out of the objective existence into the mystery of Nirvana—then “strikes the hour”; the seen becomes the unseen, the concrete resumes its pre-cyclic state of atomic distribution.
But the dead worlds left behind the onsweeping impulse do not continue dead. Motion is the eternal order of things and affinity or attraction its handmaid of all works. The thrill of life will again re-unite the atom, and it will stir again in the inert planet when the time comes. Though all its forces have remained statu quo and are now asleep, yet little by little it will—when the hour re-strikes—gather for a new cycle of man-bearing maternity, and give birth to something still higher as moral and physical types than during the preceding manvantara. And its “cosmic atoms already in a differentiated state” (differing—in the producing force in the mechanical sense of motions and effects) remain statu quo as well as globes and everything else in the process of formation.” Such is the “hypothesis fully in accordance with (your) (my) note.” For, as planetary development is as progressive as human or race evolution, the hour of the Pralaya’s coming catches the series of worlds at successive stages of evolution; (i.e.) each has attained to some one of the periods of evolutionary progress—each stops there, until the outward impulse of the next manvantara sets it going from that very point—like a stopped time-piece re-wound. Therefore, I have used the word “differentiated.”
At the coming of the Pralaya no human, animal, or even vegetable entity will be alive to see it, but there will be the earths or globes with their mineral kingdoms; and all these planets will be physically disintegrated in the pralaya, yet not destroyed; for they have their places in the sequence of evolution and their “privations” coming again out of the subjective, they will find the exact point from which they have to move on around the chain of “manifested forms.” This, as you know, is repeated endlessly throughout Eternity. Each man of us has gone this ceaseless round, and will repeat it forever and ever. The deviation of each one’s course, and his rate of progress from Nirvana to Nirvana is governed by causes which he himself creates out of the exigencies in which he finds himself entangled.”—From The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, p. 67. (back)
(75) There are seven Kumaras connected with our planetary evolution, of Whom four are exoteric; the four exoteric have vehicles in etheric matter; three Kumaras are esoteric and have their vehicles in subtler matters still.
Sanat Kumara, The Lord of the world, is the representative on earth of the specialized force of the planetary Logos; the other six Kumaras transmit energy from the other six planetary schemes. (back)
(77) The chains of any planetary scheme are frequently called by the names of the seven sacred planets, making the study of the Law of Correspondences easier; similarly, the globes of any chain are called by planetary names, as is the case here. There are planetary schemes called Mars and Mercury. (back)
(79) The seven senses or the avenues of perception.—S. D., I, 489, 490, The third or Indriya Creation.—S. D., III, 567.
Indriya—The control of the senses in yoga practice. These are the 10 external agents; the 5 senses which are used for perception are called ‘Jnana-indriya’ and the 5 used for action ‘karma-indriya.’—Theosophical Glossary.
“Jnana-indriyas”—literally knowledge-senses...by which knowledge is obtained....They are the avenues inward.
“Karma-indriyas”—literally action senses...those producing action. They are the avenues outwards.—Study in Consciousness, pp. 166-167.
1. Sensation is latent in every atom of substance.—S. D., II, 710.
2. The Sun is the heart of the system and sensation emanates from there. It is due to solar radiation.—S. D., I, 590, 662.
3. Knowledge is the end of sense.—S. D., I, 300.
4. There is a double set of senses, spiritual and material.—S. D., I, 582; S. D., II, 307, 308. This finds its reflection in the double set of physical senses noted in defining the indriyas.
5. The senses might be enumerated as follows: S. D., I, 583 and note 123; S. D., II, 600, 674, 675, 676.
6. The elements are the progenitors of the senses....—S. D., II, 112, 113.
a. Aether Hearing Sound .Atmic plane
b. Air Touch Sound, touch Buddhic plane
c. Fire Sight Sound, touch, sight Mental plane
d. Water Taste Sound, touch, sight, taste .Astral plane
e. Earth Smell Sound, touch, sight, taste, smell Physical plane
7. Every sense pervades every other sense....—S. D., III, 569.
There is no universal order.
All are on all planes.—S. D., III, 550.
8. The senses correspond with every other septenate in nature.
See S. D., III, 448. (Compare S. D., III, 497.
Practical reading....—S. D., I, 288 (back)
(80) ...”the chief agency by which Nature’s wheel is moved in a phenomenal direction is sound. Sound is the first aspect of the manifested pentagon since it is a property of ether called Akas and as I already said Vedic recitation is the highest Yagnam containing in itself all minor Yagnams and tending to preserve the manifested pentagon in the proper order. In the opinion of our old philosophers sound or speech is next to thought the highest karmic agent used by man.
Of the various karmic agencies wielded by man in the way of moulding himself and surroundings, sound or speech is the most important, for, to speak is to work in ether which of course rules the lower quaternary of elements, air, fire, water and earth. Human sound or language contains therefore all the elements required to move the different classes of Devas and those elements are of course the vowels and the consonants. The details of the philosophy of sound in its relation to the devas who preside over the subtle world, belong to the domain of true Mantra Sastra which of course is in the hands of the knowers.”—Some Thoughts on the Gita, p. 72. (back)
(81) Astral-buddhic consciousness is the term applied to the basic consciousness in our solar system. It is characterised by emotion, by feeling, sensation, which have eventually to be transmuted into intuition, spiritual perception and unity. (back)
(82) Sensations aroused by sense objects are experienced by means of the outer instruments of the Lord of the Body or senses (Indriya) which are the pathways through which the Jiva receives worldly experience. These are ten in number, and are of two classes:
a. The five organs of sensation . . . . .Jnanendriya
1. . . . . .The Ear . . . . .Hearing.
2. . . . . . Skin . . . . . . .Feeling by touch.
3. . . . . . Eye . . . . . . . Sight.
4. . . . . .Tongue . . . . .Taste.
5. . . . . . Nose . . . . . . Smell.
b. The five organs of action . . . . . . . .Karmendriya
1. . . . . . Mouth . . . . . Speaking.
2. . . . . . Hands . . . . . Grasping.
3. . . . . . Legs . . . . . . .Walking.
4. . . . . . Anus . . . . . . .Excretion.
5. . . . . . Genitals . . . . Procreation.
The organs of sensation are the reactive response which the Self makes to sensation. The organs of action are those through which effect is given to the Jiva’s desires.
“The Indriya or sense is not the physical organ, but the faculty of mind operating through that organ as its instrument. The outward sense organs are the usual means whereby on the physical plane the functions of hearing and so forth are accomplished. But, as they are mere instruments and their power is derived from the mind, a Yogi may accomplish by the mind only
all that may be done by means of these physical organs without the use of the latter....
“The three functions of attention, selection and synthesising the discreet manifold of the senses, are those belonging to that aspect of the mental body, the internal agent, called Manas. Just as manas is necessary to the senses, the latter are necessary for manas....Manas is thus the leading indriya, of which the senses are powers.”—Serpent Power, by Arthur Avalon. (back)
(83) The line of the Bodhisattva is that of Love-Wisdom, and of the detailed science of the soul; it is the teaching line and the path upon which all must eventually pass. (back)
(84) The Initiations spoken of in this Treatise are the major Initiations which bring about those expansions of consciousness which lead to liberation; these are taken in the causal body and from thence reflected into the physical; the Initiate never proclaims his initiation. (back)
(85) Manasaputras: These are the Sons of Mind, the individual principle in man, the Ego, the solar Angel, in his own body on the abstract levels of the mental plane. (back)
(86) The Fire of the manifested cosmos is Septenary.
The Threefold God manifests through the seven Fires:
1. Electric fire . . . The seven Heavenly Men.
2. Solar fire . . . Evolution of the seven Entities through their vehicles developing the seven principles.
3. Fire by friction . . . The seven chains.
They are the seven centres of the Logos.
A Heavenly Man manifests through a chain.
1. He is electric fire . . . The seven solar entities who inform each globe.
2. He is solar fire . . . Evolution of the life through the forms, developing the seven principles.
3. He is fire by friction . . . The seven globes.
Each Heavenly Man has seven principles.
A Man, the Microcosm, manifests through his vehicles:
1. He is electric fire . . . The monad, a solar entity.
2. He is solar fire . . . Evolution of the life through the vehicles in order to develop the seven principles.
3. He is fire by friction . . . The seven sheaths:
1. Atmic
2. Buddhic.
3. Causal
4. Mental body.
5. Astral body
6. Etheric body.
7. Physical body.
Physical Plane man manifests in the three worlds:
1. Electric fire . . . The higher self.
2. Solar fire . . . The seven centres.
3. Fire by friction . . . The sheaths. (back)
(87) The Planetary Chains:
The seven Heavenly Men . . . . . . .Form, the sun and the seven sacred planets.—S. D., I, 100, 155.
Some of their names and qualities.
a. The seven planetary Logoi, or the seven Spirits before the throne.
b. The seven Kumaras . . . . S. D., III, 59, 327.
c. Seven solar deities . . . .S. D., I, 114; I, 228; II, 92, 257.
d. The primordial seven . . . .S. D., I, 116.
e. The seven Builders . . . .S. D., I, 152, 153.
f. Seven intellectual Breaths . . . .S. D., II, 332, note.
g. The seven Manus . . . . S. D., I, 488.
h. The Flames . . . . S. D., II, 258.
They came from previous kalpas . . . S. D., II, 99.
Their nature is knowledge and love . . . . S. D., II, 275; S. D., II, 619.
The seven sacred planets are:
1. Saturn
2. Jupiter.
3. Mars
4. Sun (substitute for another).
5. Venus
6. Mercury.
7. Moon (substitute for another).
Neptune and Uranus are not here enumerated, nor Vulcan.
The orbit of Neptune includes apparently the entire ring-pass-not.
Vulcan is within the orbit of Mercury.
Each one of the Heavenly Men manifests through a chain of seven globes.
All the seven Logoi influence a chain, but one of Them is the incarnating Entity. They influence:
a. Some globe in chain
b. Some plane
c. Some round.
d. Some world period
e. Some rootrace
f. Some subrace.
g. Some branch race
h. Some group
i. Some human unit. (back)
(88) In the Secret Doctrine, the Sons of Mind are spoken of as flames. In Stanza VII, 4, “These are the three-tongued flame of the four wicks. The wicks are the sparks, that draw from the three-tongued flame shot out by the seven flames. The spark hangs from the flame by the finest thread of Fohat.” (back)
(89) Shamballa—The Sacred Island in the Gobi desert. The centre in central Asia where the Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days, has His Headquarters. H. P. B. says it is “a very mysterious locality on account of its future associations.”—S. D., II, 413.ery mysterious locality on account of its future association (back)
(90) The World Teacher—takes office cyclically. His cycles do not coincide with those of the Manu as the Manu holds office for the entire rootrace. The World Teacher gives out the keynote for the various religions and is the emanating source for periodical religious impulses. The duration of his cycles are not given out. The Buddha held office prior to the present World Teacher and upon his Illumination His place was taken by the Lord Maitreya whom the Occidentals call the Christ. (back)
(91) The inner round is a mysterious cycle of which little can be told. It is not concerned with manifestation through the seven schemes or globes, but has to do with certain aspects of the subjective Life or the soul. (back)
(92) ...”the Veda, the world song in human sound that was given to man for his use metaphysically from the standpoint of its meaning, and magically from the standpoint of its proper recitation. The world song obeying certain laws of proportions or the Pythagorean arithmetic and imparting its thrilling effect to the domain of cosmic substance, has induced the latter into a crystallisation process that the philosopher Plato called the geometry of the cosmos. The various forms that are observed from a molecule of salt crystal to the wonderfully complex organism of the human body are all the structures of the great cosmic geometriser known as Viswakarma, the deva carpenter in our Puranic writings. The revealed Veda whose function is to trace out the cosmos from one basic sound substance symbolised as Om, necessarily split itself into a primal three, a subsequent seven vowels and then into seven notes and then into seven combinations of the seven notes on a basic three and then into hymns. All these falling into the material field of the consonants, gradually produced the manifested crystallised forms which are collectively taken as the universe. The world to a thinker is the magic motion produced by the Orphean singer or the Hindu Saraswati....”
“In the Vishnu Purana, second part, you will see that the power that resides in the sun is represented as the three-sided Vedic power, that the power as Rik creates, as Yajus preserves and as Sama destroys. Rik is therefore the creative song of the Devas in the Sun. Yajus the song of preservation and Sama the song of destruction of the Devas in the sun and construction of the Devas in the moon. Rik therefore is the song of the Devas and Sama the song of the Pitris and Yajua the intermediate song. The functions of the Vedas must of course vary according to the standpoint. If you take the Pitris, Sama is their constructive song, and Rik is their destructive note. The three Vedas correspond to every trinity in Nature and I request you will search for further information in the much abused Puranas....”
“Of the various karmic agencies wielded by man in the way of moulding himself and surroundings, sound or speech is the most important, for, to speak is to work in ether which of course rules the lower quaternary or elements, air, fire, water and earth. Human sound or language contains therefore all the elements required to move the different classes of Devas and those elements are of course the vowels and the consonants. The details of the philosophy of sound in its relation to the devas who preside over the subtle
world, belong to the domain of true Mantra Sastra which of course is in the hands of the knowers.”—From Some Thoughts on the Gita. (back)
(94) “Matter, it must be remembered, is that totality of Existence in the Kosmos which falls within any of the planes of possible perception.”—S. D., I, 560.
These Existences might be enumerated as follows:
1. 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:
a. The seven planetary Logoi or Spirits.
b. The Prajapatis.
c. The seven Lords of the Rays.
d. The Dyhan Chohans.
e. The seven Spirits before the Throne.
f. The seven Archangels.
g. The seven Logoi.
h. 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.
a. Matter is fecundated by the Primordial Ray of Intelligence. This is the anima mundi, the soul of the world.
b. The Primordial Ray is the vehicle for the Divine Ray of Love and Wisdom. The merging of these two is the aim of evolution.
c. The Divine Ray is sevenfold. It brings in seven Entities.
d. These seven are:
1. The Logos of Will or Power.
2. The Logos of Love and Wisdom.
3. The Logos of Activity.
4. The Logos of Harmony.
5. The Logos of Concrete Science
6. The Logos of Devotion or Abstract Idealism.
7. The Logos of Ceremonial Law or Order.
2. 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.