This is the seventh chapter of the book "The Secret
Doctrine of the Rosicrucians."
In the Secret Doctrine of the
Rosicrucians, we find the following Sixth Aphorism:
“As Life
is the Essence of Spirit, so is Consciousness the Essence of Life. Spirit is
One, yet it manifests in many forms of Life. Life is One, yet it manifests in
many forms of Consciousness. While the forms of manifested Consciousness are
innumerable, yet the wise know Consciousness to manifest on Seven Planes: and
these Planes of Consciousness are known to the wise as (1) The Plane of the
Elements; (2) The Plane of the Minerals; (3) The Plane of the Plants; (4) The
Plane of the Animals; (5) The Plane of the Human; (6) The Plane of the
Demi-Gods; (7) The Plane of the Gods.”
In this Sixth Aphorism of Creation,
the Rosicrucian is directed to apply his attention to the concept of
Life-Consciousness manifesting on its seven planes. This concept is represented
by the Rosicrucians by means of the symbol of a linked chain of seven circles,
each link penetrating the one on either side of it.
Figure 10. Symbol of the Seven
Planes of Consciousness
(I suspect this is not a Rosicrucian figure
as I have not seen it before in true Rosicrucian teaching.)
The Sixth Aphorism wisely states
that "Life is the Essence of Spirit." No matter what else Spirit may
be, or may not be, it cannot be denied that Spirit must possess the attribute
of Life, in order to be Spirit.
(It is the reverse:
"the Spirit is the essence of the life", because the Spirit is the
essence of the existence that exists in the Universe and this essence remains
fixed, but when the Spirit is projected towards manifestation there is a dynamization
of its essence which becomes energy. And pranic energy is what
generates life. Therefore "the Spirit is the essence of life" and not
"life is the essence of the Spirit" as William Atkinson claims.)
Likewise, the Aphorism states:
"Consciousness is the Essence of Life," which is also self-evident;
for no matter what else Life may be, or may not be, it cannot be denied that
Life must possess the attribute of Life.
A modern writer has well said that
"Mind is the Livingness of Life," and, of course, Mind is naught but
a term employed to indicate "states of consciousness." Even the
average person implicitly testifies to the fact of the necessary presence of
Consciousness in Life by his distinctions between the various forms of living
things. The higher the manifestation of Consciousness in a living thing, the
higher the degree of "Life" he attributes to it; and when the
indications of Consciousness are lacking, he pronounces the thing
"lifeless." The proof of conscious activity among mineral forms at
once leads to the thought that "then minerals must be alive."
Consciousness, in its essence, manifests as "the attribute of receiving
impressions from outside stimuli, and the power to respond thereto;" and
the student will at once recognize this attribute as the fundamental test of
living substance.
Just as the Rosicrucians hold as a
fundamental doctrine the teaching that "Everything is Alive" (see
preceding chapter), so do they hold as equally fundamental the teaching that
"Everything is Conscious." But, here is where half-knowledge is apt
to fall into a trap, and to attribute to the Rosicrucian beliefs quite foreign to
them. For in the Rosicrucian teachings (and in the most advanced modern
psychology, as well) the term "consciousness" is not restricted to
those phases of consciousness most familiar to us, but, rather, to all forms of
"awareness," whether higher or lower than the "consciousness"
of our everyday lives.
The term "Consciousness"
is one most difficult to define adequately; and this quite naturally, for
Consciousness can be defined and described only in the terms of its own
experiences — there is no other term analogous to it which would serve to
indicate it to one who had not experienced consciousness. The word which
probably best expresses the general idea is the term "awareness."
The Rosicrucian teachings hold that
Consciousness manifests on Seven Planes, each of which planes is interlinked
with and blends into the one on either side of it (see figure illustrating the
symbol). But each plane is composed of seven sub-planes, and each sub-plane of
seven minor planes, and so on until the multiplication is made seven times. Each
of the Seven Planes of Consciousness is named in the following synopsis of the
teaching, and the main characteristics of each plane is given.
1.
The Plane of the Elements
On this Plane of Consciousness is
manifested the actions and reactions between the subtle elements of which all
material forms are composed. Here occurs the play between the atoms, the
electrons, the ions, the corpuscles, and the still more tenuous particles of
substance of which science has as yet no knowledge.
(Here William Atkinson confuses the subtle
with the immensely small, and the consciousness of the elements with the
behavior of atoms.)
And, going still further back, it
may be said that on this plane occurs the play of phases of substance as much
more tenuous and subtle than the electrons as the latter are more tenuous than
the atoms. Little can be said concerning these practically unknown forms and
phases of matter, although the occult teachings are quite full of them.
(This is incorrect since esoteric teaching
has said little about quantum physics.)
In previous quotations from Haeckel,
and other modern scientists, we have seen that advanced modern science recognizes
the presence of "something like consciousness" in the atoms of
matter, and 'ascribes their movements to "likes and dislikes,"
"loves and hates," arising from the perception of certain qualities
in each other, and the response thereto: this means, of course, that the atoms
possess and manifest "feeling" and "will" in an elementary
form, phase, and degree. There are results arising from these manifestations of
consciousness on the part of the atoms, however, which are not usually taken
notice of by writers of the subject, either in the ranks of the occultists, or
those of science. Let us now consider these, briefly.
Science informs us that all forms of
physical energy or force, manifesting as light, heat, electricity, magnetism,
etc., arise from vibrations of the particles of which matter is composed. These
vibrations are, of course, caused by the motion of the particles; and these
motions are caused by the manifestation of attraction or repulsion between the
particles. Proceeding further, we see that the manifestation of attraction and
repulsion between the particles of matter arise from the "likes and
dislikes," the "loves and hates" of the atoms and particles — and
that these, in turn are but manifestations
of elemental consciousness. So we see, here, that even the manifestation
of physical energy and force is but the accompaniment and result of the
presence and activity of elemental consciousness.
(This is incorrect since the movements and
reactions of the particles are not caused by their consciousness, but by
electromagnetic forces and other forces that interact on them.)
On this plane of consciousness are
operated many of those forms of "magic" known to all occultists. The
occultist moves Matter not by exerting a physical force upon it by means of his
mind and will, but, instead, by acting upon the consciousness of the material
atoms by the power of his own consciousness! This is no place, of course, to go
into detail concerning this phase of occultism, but it has been thought well to
indicate here the source and nature of the power underlying occult phenomena of
this kind, and the "why and wherefore" of its manifestation.
(This is also incorrect since the occultist
influences on a subtle level, and when he is powerful that influence ends up
manifesting on the physical plane as well.)
The Plane of Elemental
Consciousness, like all the great Planes of Consciousness, contains seven
sub-planes, and each of these seven minor planes, and so on until the
multiplication has been made seven times. The sub-plane we have just briefly
considered is but one of the seven, and the remaining six are equally
important. In these unmentioned subplanes there are manifestations utterly
unknown to modern science and to the uninformed person, but of which the occult
masters have made a careful and thorough study.
(This is false, and the proof is that I
have not seen studies in occultism of “the sub-planes and the sub-sub-planes of
the plane of the elements.” Instead what I have seen are studies on the different types of elementals. But that is different since atoms
and particles are not being studied there, but subtle beings that deal with the
elements that make up nature.)
2.
The Plane of the Minerals
On this Plane of Consciousness are
manifested the actions and reactions of the molecules of which the minerals are
composed, and of the masses of mineral matter as well.
(This is called chemistry and it is not a
plane of consciousness.)
Just as the atoms of matter manifest
attraction and repulsion, arising from "like and dislike" of
consciousness, so do the molecules of matter manifest a similar "like and
dislike," resulting in the attraction and repulsion between molecules and
masses of matter. The molecules or particles of which a piece of steel, for instance,
is composed, hold together by reason of the attractive power of
"cohesion," and not because they are "fastened together" by
any mechanical means employed by nature. In the same way, gravitation manifests
its attractive force.
(True, but those forces are not conscious
and do not correspond to mineral consciousness.)
Moreover, on some of the higher
minor planes of this Plane of the Minerals, there is manifested the
crystallization of the mineral particles according to a definite principle of
design embedded in the consciousness of its particles. The crystal is built
upon a definite plane, just as truly as is the acorn or the oak — and in all of
these cases the pattern is but an "idea" in the consciousness of the
combined particles.
(These processes are not carried out by the
consciousness of the minerals. To give you an analogy it is like when you eat.
You do not put your consciousness in your stomach for it to digest food, but it
is your body that carries out that work, while you may be unconscious sleeping. And in fact
that is what happens with mineral consciousness, it is sound asleep.)
The Universal Builder works through
the consciousness of the mineral particles just as truly and as wonderfully as
through the particles of humanity which we call individual men. The study of
crystals, and their formation will open up a new world of thought to the
average person, and will give him a peep into the workshop of the Universal
Builder in which he will see things heretofore unsuspected and undreamt.
The common opinion is that crystals
are formed by mechanical causes, such as outside pressure, etc., but the
careful student of science, as well as the occultist, knows that the formation
of a crystal is a growth, and is
as much the result of stored-up psychical ideas in the particles, as is the
growth of plant substance or animal bodies. The student of crystallography soon
becomes convinced of the presence of Life and Consciousness in the world of
crystals.
(This is incorrect; the formation of the
crystals is due to purely physical causes.)
In the contemplation of the Plane of
Mineral Consciousness, the student must remember that there are forms of
minerals far more gross than those visible to us on this earth; and also, that
there are forms and phases of mineral life far finer and higher than those with
which we are familiar here. The occult teachings contain some very interesting
info ration concerning (these to us) unknown mineral forms and manifestation.
It may be mentioned here that the
ancient alchemists (and some of the true modern alchemists) have found in the
fact of mineral consciousness the missing-link of their science. The occultist
having a comprehensive understanding of the consciousness of a metal or mineral
will be able to work transformations upon and through it which would be
impossible by means of chemistry or mechanical methods of treating metals. Here
again, is given a passing hint regarding a subject of tremendous importance.
3.
The Plane of the Plants
On this plane of Consciousness are
manifested the actions and reactions of the protoplasmic cells of which the
plants are composed. And on this plane, as all the other planes of
Consciousness, there are to be found high and low sub-planes and subdivisions
of the latter.
At the lower pole of this plane we
find plant-life which is scarcely distinguishable from the higher forms of
mineral life — in fact, as we have seen previously, it is almost impossible to
draw a fixed line separating the two great plane-divisions, for all planes
blend into each other and are linked one with the other on the lower and higher
poles of their activity. We have mentioned the Diatoms, or "living
crystals" which the best authorities regard as the "missing
link" between the two great kingdoms of Life and Consciousness, but which
really are plants rather than minerals. The Diatoms belong to an order of
flowerless plants, a genus of the Algols. They are covered by a siliceous
covering which gives them a crystalline appearance. They present the appearance
of crystalline fragmentary particles, generally bounded by right lines, flat,
stiff and brittle, usually nestling in slime in which they unite into various
forms and combinations, and from which they often again separate. They multiply
and reproduce themselves by division and conjugation.
In 1886, Professor Van Schrom, of
Naples, Italy, was experimenting with the bacilli of the Asiatic cholera, and
was examining the same under his high-power microscope. He was attracted by the
formation of double pyramids of bacilli in the shape and general appearance of
true crystals. These "living crystals" manifested growth and
movement, and seemed to be alive and conscious. From these experiments he
arrived at the conclusions that all bacteria produce living crystals, and his
continued experiments seemed to verify his contention.
These bacteria-crystals are composed
of homogeneous albuminous matter, which at first is colorless and
structureless, and which at a certain stage of their life history seem to lose
their life qualities and to become, to all intents and purposes, "dead"
crystals. These living crystals seem to be impelled by some inherent force akin
to vital action to assume a geometrical figure. And while possessing these
indications of elementary vegetable life they also exhibit the characteristic
qualities of crystals, viz., refraction, inclusion, absorption, and
polarization. Later investigations have revealed the presence of similar living
crystals in the secretions of living organisms.
That Life is present in plant-life
scarcely anyone is disposed to question, though there seems to be a desire to
deny Consciousness and intelligent activity in the case on the part of the
orthodox scientist. But the more advanced of the workers in the ranks of modern
science do not hesitate to positively assert the presence of conscious
intelligent activity in plant-life, and vigorously support their contention by
logical argument backed up by incontrovertible facts gleaned in their
laboratory experiments. These scientists hold that the presence of the
phenomena of nutrition, reproduction, and of physical and chemical change due
to adaptation is proof positive of the presence of vital intelligence within
the organism in which the former are manifested.
Professor Bieser says:
« Adaptation, after all, is the best evidence of the presence of
intelligence or life in forms or units of matter. Adaptation, also called 'physiological adaptation,' but best
called 'psychological
adaptation,' is the one weapon by which living organisms fight against the
destructive forces of conditions of nature. In all its forms, adaptation is the
more or less successful co-operation of living organisms with the laws of
nature — it is not the disregard of natural laws. In taking adaptation as our
criterion by which the presence of intelligence is determined, we find no
difficulty in settling the question of the presence of life. The most perfect
automatic machinery has no life, because it cannot adapt itself in the least to
the changing environmental conditions and thus save itself from annihilation,
when necessity arises, by the performance of simple intelligent acts. »
(In fact, the lower kingdoms: vegetable and
animal, also do not have the intelligence to adapt to environmental changes,
and these modifications are largely carried out by subtle intelligent beings
who take care of those kingdoms and that fundamentalist Darwinists call " random".)
In their consideration of the
question of the presence of consciousness in the kingdom of plant-life, the
writers divide the manifestations of intelligence into three classes, namely: Trophoses, or acts pertaining to
nutrition; Neuroses, or acts
pertaining to the nervous system; and Psychoses,
or acts pertaining to thought processes.
The manifestation of Trophoses, or
acts pertaining to nutrition, is apparent even in the case of the lowest forms
of plant-life. Even the lowliest vegetable cell takes nourishment and replaces
the waste products of its system by fresh material taken into its system. These
activities require a very simple nervous system, often practically no nervous
system at all. But, nevertheless, in every act of nutrition there is manifested
not only the presence of Life, but also conscious activity of a certain degree.
Even the lowest forms of plants are able to distinguish perfectly between
nutritive and non-nutritive particles of matter. Most plants possess no nervous
system, at least none yet discovered by science, but, nevertheless, they
manifest characteristic Trophoses corresponding
in degree with their necessities, but seldom exceeding those
necessities.
Other plants, however, have a
comparatively highly developed nervous system, or something corresponding to
it, and manifest Neuroses, or acts pertaining to the nervous system, of a
comparatively high degree. This is true of the "sensitive plants,"
and certain other plants of a high development in this direction. Some of the
orchids, and a few other plants, manifest Neuroses indicating clearly the
presence of consciousness and a degree of intelligent activity.
Still higher in the scale we find
certain species of plants manifesting true Psychoses, or acts pertaining to thought processes,
although the latter are of a comparatively low order as compared to those
manifested by the higher forms of animal life. With this class of manifestation
the average student is not so well informed, and, therefore, it has been
thought well to direct your attention in the following pages to these
fascinating phenomena of plant-life. We think that a careful consideration of
the facts now about to be presented to the student will bring to him a clear realization
of the presence of actual conscious activity in the kingdom of the plants, and
will cause him to accept the statement of that eminent authority, Professor
Bieser, who has said:
« While we believe that the
intelligence of man, animals and plants is essentially the same in kind, we
know that it differs enormously in degree and form. Even among men this degree
of intelligence varies, but this is because some individuals by nature see but
a little more clearly their needs than others, and live under more favorable
circumstances — that is all! »
Dr. J.E. Taylor, an authority on the
subject of plant-psychology says:
« Perhaps one reason why plants
are usually denied consciousness and intelligence is because in the structure
of even the highest developed species we find no specialized nervous track
along which sensations may travel, or where they can be registered as in the
case of the ganglia and brains of the higher animals. But it should be
remembered that none of the creatures sub-kingdom of the Protozoa (the lowest
of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom) possess nervous structures,
whilst many of the next more highly organized animal sub-kingdom, the
Coelenterata, have no trace, and the rest but a feeble development. Yet we do
not deny these lowly organized animals a dim and diffused consciousness, or
even the possibility of their structures being so modified that they can profit
by experience, and thus develop that accumulated experience of their kind that
we call “instinct.” »
Darwin, speaking of the wonderful
sensitiveness of the root-tip of plants says:
« It is hardly an exaggeration
to say that the tip of the radicle thus endowed, and having the power of
directing the movements of the adjoining parts, acts like the brain of one of the lower animals; the brain being
seated within the anterior end of the body, receiving impressions from the
sense organs, and directing the general movements. »
Professor Cope says:
« We can understand how by
parasitism, or other means of getting a livelihood without exertion, the
adoption of new and skillful movements would become unnecessary, and
consciousness itself would be seldom aroused. Continued repose would be
followed by subconsciousness, and later by unconsciousness. Such appears to be
the history of the entire vegetable kingdom. »
Dr. J.C. Arthur, in his interesting
work entitled "The Sagacity and Morality of Plants," says:
« I have tried to show that all
organisms, even to the very simplest, whether plant or animal, from the very
nature of life and the struggle for its maintenance, must be endowed with
conscious feeling, pleasure and pain being its simplest expression. I have been
told in Java, as one walks through a tangle of sensitive plants, they will drop
down in their deprecating way for yards on either side, as if suddenly aroused
into life, only to be again transformed into lifeless sticks by some unseen
power.
. . .
The physical basis of life,
Protoplasm, is the same for plants as for animals. The first differentiated or
modified form of this we meet is the curious animalcule called Amoeba. As we
watch its movements we cannot refrain from ascribing to it some dim
consciousness of the life it leads. But amoeboid structure is common even in
the lowest kinds of plants, and amoeboid movements can be seen in some of its
tissues. Witness also the habits and intelligent movements of the zoospores of
sea-weed and many other Algae, and the locomotion of the antherozoa of mosses,
ferns, etc. Not many years ago these objects were classed as animals, and
nobody doubted these so-called animals behaved consciously and intelligently.
. . .
Nothing can be more marked than the
likes and dislikes of plants. Human beings can hardly express the same feelings
more decidedly. There is perhaps even a “messmateship” among plants, which
inclines species to prefer to grow in company. Hosts of common plants perform
actions which, if they were done by human beings, would at once be brought into
the category of right and wrong. There
is hardly a virtue or a vice which has not its counterpart in the actions of
the vegetable kingdom. As regards conduct in this respect, there is
small difference between the lower animals and plants. »
One of the most elementary
manifestations of consciousness, and conscious action, in plant life is what
has been called "the gravity sense," or the sense by which the plant
recognizes the "up and down" direction of growth. The germinating
seed always sends its roots downward, no matter how the seed may be placed in
the ground. This cannot be held to result merely from the action of
gravitation, for the sprouts move upward and away from the centre of gravity
just as truly as the roots move downward and toward it. Experiments have proven
that this "sense of direction" is as much a true sense as that of any
of the special senses of the lowly animal life-forms. The experiment has been
tried of turning around a sprouting seed, the result being that in a day or so
the roots will be again found to be turning downward and the sprouts turning
upward.
A French botanist, named Duhamel,
once placed some beans in a cylinder filled with moist earth. After they had
begun to sprout, he turned the cylinder a little to one side. The next day he
turned it a little further in the same direction. Each day he would turn it a
little more, until finally it had described several full circles. Then he took
out the plant, and shaking off the clinging earth, he found that the beans’
roots and sprouts had described circles — two perfectly formed spirals being
shown, one of the tiny roots and the other of the tiny sprouts. The roots in
their constant endeavor to move downward had formed one perfect spiral, while
the sprouts in the constant effort to rise upward had described another perfect
spiral. No amount of effort will cause the roots of a plant to grow upward, or
its sprouts to grow downward.
Each, root and sprout, has its own
"sense of direction" to which it faithfully and invariably responds.
In the same way, and from a similar cause, the tendrils of climbing plants will
faithfully move toward the nearby support, and if they are untwined they will
return during the next night to the old support, if possible. Moving pictures,
carefully prepared, and taken over a long period, show that the movements of
these tendrils to be akin to the movements of the limbs of an animal — the
feelers and graspers of the octopus for example.
Not only have the roots of plants
the general "sense of direction" which causes them to grow downward
in spite of all attempts to prevent them, but they have also the "sense of
moisture," which causes them to seek the direction of water. Many plants
also turn their leaves and blossoms to the light, no matter how often they are
turned in the opposite direction. Potatoes in dark cellars will often send
forth their sprouts twenty or thirty feet in the direction of light which shows
through a tiny crack in the wall. Likewise, plants possess the "sense of
taste" to a very high degree in some cases. By means of this sense they
are able to detect differences in substances, and to choose those substances
which are conducive to their nutrition. They are able to distinguish between
poor and rich soil, and also between different chemicals of differing nutritive
values.
They always move their roots in the
direction of the best food supply, and also toward moisture. Not only do the
roots of plants move in the direction of water, but instances have been cited
in which the leaves of plants will bend over during the night and dip
themselves in a vessel of water several inches away. Insect-eating plants
recognize the difference between living animal substance and bits of inorganic
matter or vegetable substance, casting off the latter two as if in disgust.
Experiments have been made of placing a bit of cheese in the reach of such
plants, when, though cheese is of course unfamiliar to them, they will seem to
recognize its nitrogenous nature and will devour it as readily as they will a
piece of flesh or the body of an insect.
Many students are doubtless familiar
with the instance of the "sensitive plants" which exhibit a marked
degree of sensibility to touch. Many insect-eating plants manifest an equally
high degree of sensitiveness, though of course in a different direction. The
leaves of the Venus' Fly Trap fold upon each other and thus capture the
unfortunate insect which has been tempted into the trap by the sweet juice
which appears upon the leaf as a dainty bait. The folding of the leaves follows
the alarm given by the three sensitive bristles or hairs which act as feelers
which sense the presence of the insects. Bits of earth, or raindrops, are
recognized as "not-food" by these feelers, and no closing of leaves
result from their presence on the leaves.
Other plants are very sensitive to
degrees of light, and they close at certain hours, the time varying according
to the species of the plant. It was formerly held that this sensitiveness to
light was merely a chemical response to the presence of light, but recent
experiments have shown that such plants, when placed in a dark room, will
continue this closing for several days, in a gradually lessening degree, thus
indicating the presence of a "habit" within their consciousness,
which "habit" indicates the presence of "mind" even more
forcibly than does the closing itself. Certain ferns will wither if their
fronds are touched too often.
In the case of seeds, the presence
of consciousness and mental operations are manifested. Not only in the process
of sprouting, but also in other processes, does the seed show signs of life and
mind. Certain seeds are carried to their future abode by means of running
streams along which they work their way to congenial soil by means of tiny
projecting filaments which they move as legs, and thus propel themselves to shore.
A botanist has said regarding a certain species of these "swimming
seeds":
« So curiously lifelike are
their movements that it is almost impossible to believe that these tiny
objects, make good progress through the water, are really seeds and not insects. »
Certain plants prey upon other
plants, twining bands around another plant or tree, which bands work their way
through the outer covering of the bark and thus act as suckers through which
the parasitic plant draws nourishment from the larger plant, the latter
succumbing in time and being literally killed for food by the clinging plant.
In South America there are varieties of these climbers which will mount to the
top of a tall tree in this way, and after killing their support they will wave
long tendrils in the breeze until they fasten hold of another tree which in
turn is depleted of its vitality and nourishment, and so on until the parasite
is surrounded by a large circle of ruined victims. Other parasites content
themselves with boring into a tree trunk and then absorbing enough of the sap
of the latter to enable them to live without other work on their own part. In
some species, the habit of parasitism is known to have been acquired during the
history of the plant, just as some animals (and human beings) have acquired
similar habits.
Other plants prey upon animals, and
are equipped with mental faculties enabling them- to efficiently capture their
prey. We have typical illustrations of the adaptation of means to end in the
case of the insect-eating plants previously referred to, but there are certain
forms of plant-life which trap and devour much large animals; which forms are
found principally in tropical countries.
Dunstan, the naturalist, reported
finding on the banks of Lake Nicaragua a particularly vicious plant of this
class which by the natives is called the Devil's Noose. This bush-like plant is
equipped with long tendrils, or whip-like feelers, flexible, strong, black,
polished, and without leaves, which secrete a viscid fluid. These tendrils are
employed by the plant to entangle small animals passing under its bush, and to
then drain their blood and absorb their flesh. The naturalist one day passing
along the banks of this lake was aroused by the shrieks and cries. of his small
dog.
Pushing forward through the
underbrush he found the little animal tightly enmeshed in a number of these
black, slimy, bandlike tendrils which were cutting into its flesh by chafing
and rubbing, the bleeding-point have been reached in a number of places. He
found that these bands were the tendrils or branches of this particularly
carnivorous plant, which he described as virtually "a land octopus." The
natives of the tropics have weird legends of man-eating plants or trees of this
kind, but so far science has not discovered an actual specimen of this kind,
though it is admitted that the same is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
Other plants have roots which
capture and kill small burrowing animals like moles, and then slowly absorb the
nourishment from their blood and flesh. The plant kingdom has its Thugs and
stranglers, as well as its vampires, according to the best authorities.
Professor Bieser says:
« Another plant showing
irritability when touched, and possessing the faculty of finding and raising
water by means of a long, slender, flat stem or tube, is a variety of orchid
discovered by E.A. Suverkrop, of Philadelphia, several years ago. This plant
grows upon the trunks of trees hanging over swampy places along the bank of the
Rio de la Plata and streams of the neighborhood. When this orchid is in want of
water, the slender stem gradually unwinds until it dips into the water. Then
the stem slowly coils around and winds up to discharge upon the part of the
plant from which the roots spring the water which it has sucked up into its
hollow space or tube within its interior.
Sometimes when water is absent from
directly under this plant, the stem moves first in this direction and then in
another, in its search for water, and finally finding the water it performs the
process above described. If this plant is touched while the stem is extended it
acts much like the sensitive plant (mimosa), and the stem coils up into a
spiral more rapidly than when it is lifting water. »
The experiments of that wizard of
plant-life, Luther Burbank, give us many illustrations of the manner in which
the "mind" in the plant will respond to changed environment, and to
take advantage of improved conditions thereof in the direction of adapting
itself thereto. No one can study the works of modern botanists, or work long
among plants, without discovering for himself many facts serving to prove that
there is not only Life among the plants, but also sufficient mind to serve the
purposes and needs of the existence of the plant. Some scientists have thought
it possible that by changing the environment of the plant sufficiently, in the
direction of calling out latent possibilities of mental action, it is probable
that plants may be evolved which would approach in their mental activity that
of the lower forms of animal life, if not indeed exceed the latter.
4.
The Plane of the Animals
Here, once more, we discover that
there is no fixed dividing line between the adjoining Planes of Consciousness.
Just as the Mineral Consciousness is closely blended into the Plant
Consciousness, as we have seen, so is the Plant Consciousness closely blended
into the Animal Consciousness. In fact, in the lowly forms of animal life it is
almost impossible, at times, to state positively whether the particular form
under consideration is a plant or an animal. Forms which science formerly
considered "animal" are not placed in the category of
"plant-life;" and other forms which science once held to belong to
the plant-kingdom are now placed in the category of animal-life. The occultist
recognized that these disputed forms dwell in the region in which the two
respective planes blend and intermingle as has been stated before in these
pages.
Consciousness in animal-life varies
from the first faint glimmerings in the single-cell creatures in the slime of
the ocean bed to the full dawn in the highest forms of animal-life like the
horse, the dog, the elephant, etc. In each and every case, however, it will be
found that each creature is endowed with a sufficient degree of intelligence to
meet its needs and requirements — to adapt it to its environment. As the
environment increases in complexity, the form of animal life has either adapted
its consciousness to meet the requirements, or else has perished in the course
of evolution.
Both science, and the occult
teachings, inform us that animal life had its origin in the slime of the
primeval ocean beds, and took the form of the "single cell"
creatures. The best known form of single-cell animal is the Moneron (plural,
monera), which is composed of but a single cell, and is like a tiny drop of
glue. It belongs to the lowest class of animal-life, known as the Protozoa. The
Moneron lives in water, and is a very minute shapeless, colorless, slimy,
sticky, drop of protoplasmic substance. It has no organs of any kind, and all
of its parts are similar — it lacks the separate organs or parts with which to
perform the offices of the living creature as found in the higher forms of
life. And yet this organless creature performs the processes of like known,
respectively, as nutrition, reproduction, sensation, and will-action.
Every part of the Moneron is capable
of absorbing food and oxygen — it is all stomach and all lungs. Moreover, it is
all reproductive organism. It envelops its prey by enclosing the latter as a
drop of glue encloses a tiny gnat; and it then absorbs the nourishment from its
food through every portion of its surface coming in contact with the food. It
moves by prolonging a portion of itself outward, like a tiny tail or finger — this
constitutes the "false foot" by which it propels, pushes, or pulls
itself forward or backward, or sidewise. When it gets ready, it pulls back the
"false foot" into its general substance, and is the same as before.
It has no distinction of sex, but reproduces itself by simply growing larger
and then dividing itself into two — and the process is over, there being two
Monera where only one Moneron was the moment before. And yet this simple
creature receives impressions from outside, and responds thereto. It seeks its
food, and escapes its enemies. It has all the mind it needs.
Next in the rising scale of animal
life we find the Amoeba. This creature also is a one-celled animal. It
progresses by a continuous projection of "false feet" and a
subsequent drawing-in of the same, which gives it the appearance of a
many-fingered, or many-footed thing. This creature has the beginning of
"parts" and "organs." In the first place it has a
"nucleus" at its centre, and also an expanding and contracting cavity
within itself which it uses for holding, digesting, and distributing its food —
a rudimentary stomach, so to speak. It also has something like a
"skin" on its surface, and it cannot be turned "inside out"
like its brother the Moneron without disturbing its life.
Let us pause here for a moment,
before passing on to the consideration of the higher forms of animal-life. The
purpose of the pause is to call your attention to the resemblance of the Monera
and the Amoebae to the cells of which the human body is composed. The ordinary
cells of the higher animal, and mankind, closely resemble the Monera in many
ways, while the white corpuscles of the blood of animals and men bear a
striking resemblance to the Amoebae, so far as is concerned their size, general
structure, and movements — in fact, science classes them as
"amoeboids." The white corpuscles of our blood —these
"amoeboids"— change their shape, take food in an intelligent manner,
and live an apparently independent life, with movements showing undoubted
"thought" and "will."
The cells of which the bodies of
animals and men are composed are really independent living creatures, each of
which is possessed of sufficient "mind" to enable it to perform its
necessary life-work and offices. By means of the operation of what occultists
know as the "group mind" by which a number of independent cells
coordinate their activities, these cells perform the coordinated work of the
organism. Each of these cell-minds manifests a perfect adaptation for its
particular work.
The work of those cells, in
extracting from the blood the exact amount of nourishment needed by it, is but
a minor evidence of the presence of such mind in them. The process of
digestion, assimilation, etc., is another instance of the intelligence of the
cells and cell-groups. In the healing of wounds, in which the cells rush to the
points at which their services are needed, we have a striking instance of the
selective intelligence of the cells. The cells of the body are constantly at
work, performing the multitudinous offices of the organism, working separately,
in small groups, and in great groups, according to the nature of the work to be
done.
Some of the cells of the body are
active workers, manufacturing the secretions and fluids needed in the varied
work of the system. Others belong to "the reserves," and are kept
under "waiting orders" awaiting the call to duty in the case of an
accident or other emergency. Some are stationary, others remain stationary
until they are called into motion to meet some requirement, others are
constantly moving about, some making regular trips and others being rovers.
Some of the moving cells perform the work of carriers, some move from place to
place doing odd jobs, others perform scavenger work, and a large number are
employed on the police-force of the body, or else constitute the cell-army.
The carrier cells —the
red-corpuscles of the blood— travel in the arteries and veins, carrying a load
of oxygen on the outward arterial trip, and bringing back a return cargo of the
waste products of the system to be burned up in the lungs. Other cells force
their way through the walls of the arteries and veins, and through the tissues
of the body, on repair work. The police cells, and the soldier-cells, in the
blood protect the system from the attacks of germs, bacteria, and other harmful
visitors or invaders. One of the protecting cells coming in contact with an
intruder of this kind will enmesh it, and then proceed to devour it; if the
task be too heavy for one cell it will call the assistance of others, and the
combined force will seize the intruder and try to eject it from the system.
The work of the cells in repairing a
wound furnishes one of the most striking in illustrations of the presence of
intelligence in the cells. When a portion of the body is wounded, it is found
that the tissues, lymphatic and blood vessels, glands, muscles, nerves, and
sometimes even the bone are severed. The alarm is sounded by the nervous
system, and the repair-cells rush to the spot in great numbers. The flowing
blood washes away the dirt and foreign substances — or at least endeavors to do
so. Then the blood coagulates and forms a scab to protect the wound. By this
time millions of blood cells have arrived on the scene, and the repair work
begins at once.
The cells display the most wonderful
activity and intelligence in this work. The cells of the tissues, nerves,
blood-vessels, etc., on each side of the wound begin to reproduce themselves
very rapidly, and gradually form a bridge over the space between the two sides
of the wound, bringing each side together. In this bridge work they display
intelligence, purpose and system. The cells of the blood-vessels connect with
the same kind of cells on the opposite side of the wound, forming new tubes
through which the blood may flow. The cells of the connective tissues do
likewise, and so do the cells of each of the other kinds of bodily substance.
Then after the "inside work" is complete, new epidermis cells form a
new skin over the healed wound. The above gives you but a passing glimpse of
the wonderful intelligent work of the cells in performing their offices in the
body — what has not been told is equally as wonderful. To all intents and
purposes the cells of the body are like the individual bees in the hive, i.e.,
intelligent, independent living creatures working together for the common good.
The above digression was made in
order to acquaint you with the wonderful intelligence which is possible of
manifestation by the counterparts of the Monera and the Amoebae — those lowly
forms of one-cell life which we have been considering on the preceding pages.
An understanding of the facts above related will bring home to each student the
full perception and appreciation of the truth of the statement previously made,
i.e., that each living creature, from
highest to lowest, is endowed with a degree of consciousness and intelligence
proportionate to its requirements in its life-work and activities.
Some of the Amoebae —the Diatoms, for
instance— secrete solid matter from the water, and build themselves tiny houses
or shells to protect themselves from their enemies. These shells have tiny
openings through which the creature may project its "false feet" for
purposes of movement, and for securing food. The skeletons of these minute
creatures form the deposits of chalk found in many parts of the world.
Next higher in the scale come the
Infusoria, which are distinguished by having tiny vibrating filaments, or
thread-like appendages, which they employ for purposes of motion and grasping
their food. These filaments are permanent, and are the beginning of the
manifestation of permanent limbs in the animal world. These elementary
creatures have also evolved rudimentary mouth-openings, and also a short gullet
which is a rudimentary throat, windpipe, and food-passage.
Then come the Sponges, slimy
creatures employing a spongy, soft skeleton (the latter being what we commonly
call "sponges"). This creature also employs whip-like filaments with
which to gather its food. Then come the Polyps, which fasten themselves to
floating objects, mouth downward, with tentacles serving to seize their food.
The Jellyfishes which belong to this family also have rudimentary muscles, the
contraction of which enables the creature to "swim." They also
possess a rudimentary nervous system, and rudimentary eyes and ears.
Next in the ascending scale come the
Star-Fish, Sea-Urchin, and their kind, some of which possess a well defined
nervous system, a true stomach, and eyes. Then come the Annulosa, or jointed
creatures, comprising the various families of Worms, Crabs, Spiders, Ants, etc.
This great family of creatures comprises nearly four-fifths of the known
life-forms of the animal kingdom. Their bodies are well formed, and they have
quite well-developed nervous systems, eyes, and other sense organs, and in some
of the higher forms a circulatory system distributing a fluid akin to blood,
which distributes the blood and oxygen to all parts of the body of the
creature.
Highest in the scale of this great
family are the Insects, with their many varieties, the characteristics of which
need not be described here, all being familiar with them. The wonders of
spider-life, of ant-life, of bee-life, have been depicted by great naturalists,
and the student will need no additional assurance of the presence of
intelligence within the being of these tiny creatures and their relations in
the insect world. Darwin once said that "the brain of the ant, although
not much larger than a pin-point, is one of the most marvelous atoms of matter
in the world, perhaps more so than the brain of man." Then come the
Mollusca, which group includes the oyster, clam, snail, etc. Some of the higher
forms of this family show signs of a rudimentary vertebra, and may be
considered as possibly the "connecting link" between the
invertebrates and the Vertebrates.
Next in the ascending scale come the
Vertebrates, so called by reason of the presence in them of a vertebra or
spinal column, or "backbone," and an internal skeleton as contrasted with the external skeleton of the
lower forms of life. At the lowest end of the scale of the vertebrates are
found the great family of Fishes, with high and low species. Then come the
Reptiles, with its species of snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, etc. There
are many "connecting links" between the family of Fishes and that of
the Reptiles; and also many between the family of Reptiles, and the family of
Birds which is next highest in the scale. Among the birds, particularly in the
Crow family, we find examples of a high degree of intelligence.
Next above the Birds come the
Mammals, which is connected with the family of Birds by several strange
"connecting links" — for instance the Australian Duck-Bill, which
strange creature lays eggs, and then when her eggs are hatched nourishes them
with milk from her breast. In the great family of Mammals, are the following
sub-families of animals, viz.: The Monotremes,
or half-bird, half-mammal creatures; the Marsupials, or milk-giving, pouched animals, which carry their
imperfectly developed young in an extended pouch until maturity — such as the
opossum and kangaroo; the Placentals,
or creatures having the placenta or appendage through which the young is
nourished in the womb before birth — that is the Royal Line through which the
higher forms of the Mammals proceeded.
Among the Placentals, are found the following sub-families: The Edentata, or toothless creatures, such
as the sloths, ant-eaters, armadillos, etc.; the Sirena, or sea cows, manatees, dugongs, etc.; the Cetacea, or whales, dolphins,
porpoises, etc., which resemble fishes but which are true mammals, bringing
forth matured young which are nourished at the breast; the Ungluta, or hoofed animals, such as
the horse, the cow, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the pig, the camel, the
deer, the sheep, etc.; the Hyracoidea,
or family of the coney, rock, rabbit, etc.; the Proboscidea, or trunked animals, such as the elephants; the Carnivora, or flesh-eaters, including
the seal, the bear, the dog, the wolf, the lion, the tiger, the leopard, etc.
The wolf and similar animals belong to the sub-family of dogs; while the lion,
tiger, and similar animals belong to the sub-family of cats; the Rodentia, or gnawers, including the
rat, the hare, the beaver, the squirrel, the mouse, etc.; the Insectivora, or insect-feeders, such
as the mole, the shrew, the hedgehog, etc.; the Cheiroptera, or wing-fingered animals, including the great
families of bats, etc.; the Lemuroidea,
or Lemur family, the individuals of which resemble a monkey in general
appearance, but have in addition a long bushy tail and a sharp muzzle like a
fox — they are like a small fox having hands and feet like a monkey; the Primates, or family of creatures like
the monkey, baboon, man-apes, gibbons, gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-outang, and
finally, the "connecting links" between the apish forms and Man.
In this ascending scale of animal
life the student will perceive countless varieties and species, subspecies and
variations among species. And in each there will be perceived some slight
difference in the degree and quality of the intelligence manifested by the
creature. Even among the individuals of the same species there is found a great
variation in such manifestations. But throughout it all, there is perceived to
be a certain general plane of consciousness which may be called "The
Animal Plane" as distinguished from "The Mineral Plane" on the
one hand, and "The Human Plane" on the other hand.
(This chapter looks more like a biology
lesson than an esoteric teaching.)
The
Plane of the Human
Passing from the Plane of Animal
Consciousness to that of the Plane of Human Consciousness, we soon become
cognizant of the presence of a new element of consciousness. This element is
known as "Self Consciousness," or the consciousness which enables Man
to say, knowingly, of himself "I am I" — to identify himself as the
Thinker, apart from the thoughts; the Actor apart from the action; the Feeler,
apart from the feelings; the Willer, apart from the voluntary activities; the
Conscious Subject, apart from the phenomena of the senses. It is true that in
the primitive forms of human life this new consciousness exists but as a faint
dawn, but it is latent there; and as the ascent of Man progresses this new
conscious flames out in higher and still higher forms. What this new element of
Self-Consciousness is, we shall see presently.
In thinking of Man, we must remember
that primitive human beings — little removed from the apes — are as much Man as
is the highest individual of the race today, or as will be his still higher
descendant of tomorrow. And we must not forget that the Plane of Human
Consciousness is closely linked to, and blended with, the Plane of Animal
Consciousness, at one of its sides. The best scientific, and the best occult
teaching hold that the man and the ape descended from some common ancestral
form in the long ages past; the common ancestor was the trunk from which the
Man branch sprung on one side and the ape branch sprung on the other.
It must not be forgotten that the
lowest races of Man known to us today are as far removed in degree of
intelligence from the highest known types of mankind as from the highest apes
or man-apes. In fact, many think that evolution from the highest apes to the
Kaffir, Hottentot, or Digger Indian is no more difficult than would be the
evolution of those lowly types of human life up to the types of Emerson,
Shakespeare, Huxley, Darwin, Edison and other high types of cultured man.
Huxley has shown us that the brain structure of Man as compared with the Chimpanzee
shows differences but slight as compared to the differences between that of the
Chimpanzee and that of the Lemur. He also shows us that in the important
feature of the deeper brain-furrows, and intricate convolutions, the chasm
between the highest civilized man and the lowest savage is far greater than
between the lowest savage and the highest man-ape. Darwin, in his description
of the very low type of human beings found among the Fuegian savages, says:
« Their very signs and
expressions are less intelligible to us than those of the domesticated animal.
They are men who do not possess the instinct of those animals, nor yet appear
to boast of human reason, or at least of the arts consequent upon that reason. »
Professor Clodd, in his description
of the Primitive Man says:
« Doubtless he was lower than
the lowest of the savages of today — a powerful, cunning biped, with keen sense
organs always sharper, by virtue of constant exercise, in the savage than in the
civilized man (who supplements them by science), strong instincts, uncontrolled
and fitful emotions, small faculty of wonder, and nascent reasoning power;
unable to forecast tomorrow, or to comprehend yesterday, living from hand to
mouth on the wild products of Nature, clothed in skin and bark, or daubed with
clay, and finding shelter in trees and caves; ignorant of the simplest arts,
save to chip a stone missile, and perhaps to produce fire; strong in his needs
of life and vague sense of right to it and to what he could get, but slowly
impelled by common perils and passions to form ties, loose and haphazard at the
outset, with his kind, the power of combination with them depending on sounds,
signs and gestures. »
The consideration of that
characteristic phase of Consciousness known as the Self-Consciousness of Man
will be pursued further in the succeeding chapter, in which chapter will also
be taken up the consideration of the two still higher Planes of Consciousness
known as "The Plane of the Demi-Gods," and "The Plane of the
Gods," respectively.
OBSERVATIONS
That there are great differences in
the level of consciousness of the different beings that inhabit the Earth, that
is not a Rosicrucian teaching since everyone knows that.
Sadly William Atkinson makes confusion
between the different kingdoms of life (vegetable, animal, human, etc.) with
the different planes of existence (physical, astral, mental, etc.) since the
kingdoms are divided between classes, families, species, etc.; and the planes are
divided into sub-planes, sub-sub-planes, etc.
And although it is true that the
planes of existence are also called planes of consciousness, this is because to
change from one plane to another requires a change of consciousness (such as to
travel to the astral plane), but this does not mean that in this plane there is
only one type of consciousness, since for example, on the physical plane,
minerals, plants, animals and humans coexist; each of them with their different
levels of consciousness.
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