This is the eighth chapter of the book "The Secret
Doctrine of the Rosicrucians."
We have now reached that stage of
our presentation of the subject of the Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians, and
particularly of that phase known as the Seven Planes of Consciousness, in which
we ask the student to consider those phases of Consciousness above the Plane of
Animal Consciousness. Accordingly our present consideration is with those three
great Planes of Consciousness which begin with the Plane of Human
Consciousness, and include the Planes of the Consciousness of the Demi-Gods,
and which find their highest manifestation on the Plane of the Consciousness of
the Gods.
While these three higher Planes of
Consciousness are included in the Rosicrucian symbol of the seven Planes of
Consciousness, i.e., the seven linked circles, the Rosicrucians have also a
special symbol by which they seek to indicate these three wonderful higher
Planes of Consciousness, viz.: the symbol of the three linked circles.
Figure 11. Symbol of the Three
Higher Planes of Consciousness
(What William Atkinson says is incorrect
since in reality that symbol represents the three primary energies from which
everything that exists in the Universe is created, and these energies are found
in all planes of consciousness.)
It will be noticed here, also, that
each of the circles are linked with the two on either side of it, — the
circumference of each circle extending over that of the two others on either
side of it; this indicates that each Plane of Consciousness is blended with the
others, a truth which will be made more apparent as we progress without
commentary on the teaching in this chapter.
5.
The Plane of Human Consciousness
The Plane of Human Consciousness, as
its name indicates, is that plane of conscious activity which is manifested by
human beings, high and low, in varying degrees. This Plane of Consciousness,
like all the others of the Seven Planes of Consciousness, is divided into seven
sub-planes, and each of these into seven, and so on, as
explained in preceding chapters of this book. Moreover, at one pole this plane
is linked with, and blends into the highest sub-planes of the Plane of Animal
Consciousness; while at its other pole it blends into the lower subplanes of
the next highest plane, i.e., the Plane of the Consciousness of the Demi-Gods.
Again, following the symbol of the Three Linked Circles, the same individual
who manifests on the Plane of Human Consciousness is (in a measure) in touch
with the two higher planes, known, respectively, as the Plane of the
Consciousness of the Demi-Gods, and the Plane of Consciousness of the Gods.
The reason that the Rosicrucians
place these three higher planes of consciousness in a trinity of circles,
apparently apart from the lower four planes, is that on these three higher
planes of consciousness the individual soul manifests Self-Consciousness, or
the consciousness of "I Am," in at least a certain degree; while on
the lower four planes this consciousness of "I" is entirely absent,
and the mental activity is more or less automatic and instinctive. This
distinction will be brought out as we proceed.
On the very lowest forms of Human
Consciousness, the man's mental and emotional activity is but little more than
that of the higher animals — in fact, in some cases the animals actually seem
to display a greater degree of intellectual power, though on instinctive lines.
But even in the lowest forms of human life there appears at least a faint
glimmering of Self-Consciousness, or the conviction that "I Am I,"
that form of consciousness by means of which the human individual becomes aware
of himself as an individual entity. This, rather than the degree of
intellectual development, is the characteristic distinguishing mark of the
human being.
It is quite difficult to describe
clearly in words the actual distinction between the highest forms of animal
consciousness, and the lowest forms of the self-consciousness of the human
being, although the difference between the highest animal and the highest man
in this respect is quite marked. Admitting the difficulty of the explanation,
it may be said that while even in the case of the highest animal the
consciousness is always directed outward,
in even the lowest type of man there is at least a faint degree of the inward direction of consciousness.
The animal always thinks of outside things, while even the
primitive man occasionally thinks of himself
— makes himself the object of his own thoughts, in at least the sense of
considering his own feelings, ideas, etc., and comparing them with others
previously had by him. Or again, there is no "inside world," or
"something within," to the animal; while man always (at least in some
degree) is aware of the "inside world," or the "something
within" as distinguished from the "something without."
A favorite illustration of the
psychologists, employed by them to point out the distinction between the
"simple consciousness" of the higher animal, and the "self
consciousness" of the human being is stated by a writer as follows:
« A horse standing out in the
cold sleet and rain undoubtedly feels the discomfort, and possibly the pain,
for we know by observations that the animals feel both. But the horse is not
able to analyze his mental states and to wonder when his piaster will come out
to him; or to think how cruel it is to keep him out of the warm stable; or to
wonder whether he will be taken out in the cold again tomorrow; or to feel
envious of other horses who are indoors; or to wonder why he is compelled to be
out on cold nights, etc., etc. — just as a man would do under the same
circumstances. He is aware of the discomfort, just as is the man and he would
run home if he could, just as would the man. But he is not able to pity
himself, nor to think about his individuality or his personality, as would the
man — nor does he wonder whether such a life is worth living, after all. He “knows,”
but does not “know that he knows,” as does the man. The animal cannot “know
himself. »
But we must not fall into the error
of supposing that the primitive man, or even the less-developed individuals of
modern civilization, possess this faculty of self-conscious to a high degree.
On the contrary, with both of these types this form of consciousness may be
said to exist merely in a "dawn state" — and yet the "dawn"
is a distinct advance upon the darkness of the mental night. A modern
psychologist says of the comparatively higher forms of self-consciousness:
"Many persons never have more than a misty idea of such a mental attitude.
They always take themselves for granted, and never turn the gaze inward."
The development of the higher forms
of self-consciousness may be noted in the gradual unfoldment of the mind of the
young child — for on the mental, as well as on the physical plane, the young of
the human being rapidly passes through and reproduces the stages of the
evolution of its ancestral forms. At a certain stage of the mental evolution or
development of the young child there comes a particular period at which the
child seems to awaken to a dawning realization that it is an individual,
instead of being merely a bunch of feelings and desires. Up to a certain point
the young child speaks of itself in the third person, i.e., as
"Johnny," "Mary," etc. Then all of a sudden it begins to
employ the terms "I" or "Me" in speaking of itself — though
it may make grammatical errors in using these pronouns, nevertheless, there is
never any doubt left that the child knows just what they stand for: it knows
"I am I."
Some psychologists call attention to
the fact that many children experience a feeling of something akin to terror
when they first reach this sense of "I," or individuality. Some
writers have testified to having felt a strange sense of Aloneness, and
detachment from all other things, when this sense of individuality first burst
upon them in early childhood. In some cases the fuller dawn of
self-consciousness is accompanied by a newly developed bashfulness, shyness, or
that more or less morbid state known by the common name "self
conscious." With the faculty of introspection, there often comes the
tendency to employ the same too freely, and thus to become morbid on the one
hand, or else foolishly egotistical and vain on the other hand.
A writer well says of this
particular state of newly awakened consciousness:
« Although this feeling of
separateness and apartness grows less acute as the man grows older, yet it is
always present to a greater or less degree until a still higher stage is
reached, when it disappears. And this self-conscious stage is painful to many.
Many find themselves entangled in a mass of mental states which one thinks is
himself, or inextricably bound up with himself, and the struggle between the
awakening Ego and its confining sheaths is very painful in some cases. And this
becomes more painful as the individual advances in self-consciousness and nears
the end at which he is to find deliverance. Man eats of the Tree of Knowledge
and begins to suffer, and is driven out of the garden of Eden of the child
consciousness in which the individual has lived like the birds, concerning not
himself about the affairs of his higher nature. Man pays dearly for the gift of
Self-Consciousness — yet it is worth it all, for finally he reaches heights of
higher consciousness and is delivered from his burden. »
With the dawning awareness of one's
own mental states, one comes to the realization that other human beings possess
similar states, and one begins to speculate and reason about the working of
these states in others. Then comes the desire to communicate one's ideas to the
mind of the others, and to appeal to his feelings or reason. All this promotes
the development of Intellect and logical thought, which is a marked
characteristic of evolving human consciousness. Man begins to seek for an
answer to the many "whys" which are presenting themselves to him, and
he seeks to reason from the known to the unknown. He proceeds to invent
appliances conducive to the accomplishment of things which lie desires. He
harnesses his Intellect to the chariot of his Desires, and drives it along by
command of Will, the chariot-driver.
Man, indeed, pays a price for this
advanced consciousness, as we have said. He pays a constantly increasing price
as he advances into the new territory of conscious existence and experience.
The more he knows, the more he desires; and the more he desires, the more does
he suffer from the pain of not having. Capacity for pain is the price man pays for
his advance in the scale; but he has a corresponding capacity for pleasure
accompanying it. He has not only the pain of unsatisfied desires for possession
of material things, and physical wants, but also the pain arising from the lack
of intelligent answers to the ever-increasing volume of problems presenting
themselves for solution to his evolving intellect; and lie also has pain of
unsatisfied longings, disappointments, frustrated aims and ambitions, and all
the rest of the list.
The animal lives its life and is
contented —for it knows no better. If it has enough to eat, a place to sleep, a
mate, it is satisfied, and asks no more— it has few needs, and, while its
degree of happiness is not great, it lacks the capacity for mental and
emotional pain possessed by those higher in the scale. And many men are but
little above this stage — they are easily satisfied; they are ignorant of the
unsatisfied desires which render others unhappy. They have no unanswered
questions — they do not even dream of the existence of such questions. But as
man progresses, his wants multiply, and his pain increases. New wants are but
partly satisfied, and the unsatisfied remainder bring pain to him. Civilization
becomes more and more complex, and new wants and lacks manifest themselves.
Man attaches himself to
"things," and creates for himself artificial wants which he must
labor to meet. His intellect often fails to lead him upward, and too often
merely enables him to invent new and subtle means and ways of gratifying his
senses in a way impossible to the animals or primitive man. Some men make a
religion of the gratification of their sensuality and their appetites, and sink
below the level of the beasts in this respect. Others become vain, conceited,
and filled with an inflated sense of the importance of their personality.
Others become morbidly introspective, and spend their time analyzing and
dissecting their moods, motives, and feelings. Others exhaust their capacity
for pleasure and happiness, by looking outside of themselves for happiness,
instead of within. These are the dark shadows cast by the bright light of Human
Consciousness, however — the shadows always found as the "opposite"
of all real evolutionary progress.
As man progresses in the scale of
Self Consciousness, however, he finds himself gradually detaching his sense of
the Self from its sheaths and working tools. He begins to realize that there is
an "I Am" within his being, to which all the feelings, the emotions,
the desires, and even the thoughts and ideas, are but incidents. In this high
stage he perceives himself to be an "I Am" surrounded by his mental
and emotional tools and belongings — a Sun surrounded by its whirling worlds
and activities. He realizes that the Ego is not only superior to the body, but
also to the "mind" and feelings; and he learns now only how to master
and intelligently use his body, but also how to intelligently master and use
his Intellect and his Emotions.
A well known writer has said of Man
in this advanced stage:
« If we are willing to believe
in this mastery over the body, we must be prepared to believe in the mastery
over our own inner thoughts and feelings. That a man should be a prey to any
thought that chances to take possession of his mind is commonly among us
assumed as unavoidable. It may be a matter of regret that he should be kept
awake all night from anxiety as to the issue of a lawsuit on the morrow, but
that he should have the power of determining whether he should be kept awake or
not seems an extravagant demand. The image of an impending calamity is no doubt
odious, but its very odiousness (we say) makes it haunt the mind all the more
pertinaciously and it is useless to expel it.
Yet this is an absurd notion — for
man, the heir of all the ages: hag ridden by the flimsy creatures of his own
brain. If a pebble in our boots torments us, we expel it. We take off the boot
and shake it out. And once the matter is fairly understood it is just as easy
to expel an intruding and obnoxious thought from the mind. About this there
ought to be no mistake, no two opinions. The thing is obvious, clear and
unmistakable. It should be as easy to expel an obnoxious thought from the mind
as it is to shake a stone out of your shoe; and till a man can do that it is just
nonsense to talk about his ascendancy over Nature, and all the rest of it. He
is a mere slave, and prey to the bat-winged phantoms that flit through the
corridors of his own brain. Yet the weary and careworn faces that we meet by
thousands; even among the affluent classes of civilization, testify only too
clearly how seldom this mastery is obtained. How rare indeed to meet a man. How common rather to discover a
creature hounded on by tyrant thoughts (or cares or desires), cowering, wincing
under the lash — or perchance priding himself to run merrily in obedience to a
driver that rattles the reins and persuades him that he is free — whom we
cannot converse with in a careless tete-a-tete because that alien presence is
always there, on the watch.
It is one of the most promising
doctrines of certain schools of occult philosophy that the power of expelling
thoughts, or if need be, killing them dead on the spot, must be attained. Naturally the art requires practice, but like
other arts, when once acquired there is no mystery or difficulty about it. And
it is worth practice. It may indeed fairly be said that life only begins when
this art has been acquired. For obviously when, instead of being ruled by
individual thoughts, the whole flock of them in their immense multitude and
variety and capacity is ours to direct and dispatch and employ where we list,
life becomes a thing so vast and grand compared with what it was before, that
its former condition may well appear almost antenatal. If you can kill a
thought dead, for the time being, you can do anything with it that you please.
And therefore it is that this power is so valuable. And it not only frees a man
from mental torment (which is nine-tenths at least of the torments of life),
but it gives to him a concentrated power of handling mental work absolutely
unknown to him before. The two things are correlative to each other.
While at work your thought is to be
actually concentrated in it, undistracted by anything whatever irrelevant to
the matter in hand —pounding away like a great engine, with giant power and
perfect economy— no wear and tear of friction, or dislocation of parts owing to
the working of different forces at the same time. Then when the work is
finished, if there is no more occasion for the use of the machine, it must stop
equally, absolutely —stop entirely— no worrying
(as if a parcel of boys were allowed to play their devilments with a locomotive
as soon as it was in the shed) — and the man must retire into that region of
his consciousness where his true self dwells. I say that the power of the
thought-machine itself is enormously increased by this faculty of letting it
alone on the one hand, and of using it singly and with concentration on the
other. It becomes a true tool, which a master-workman lays down when done with,
but which only a bungler carries about with him all the time to show that he is
the possessor of it. »
(The writer William Atkinson mentions is himself,
and the three citations above are excerpts from his book "Raja Yoga")
If the student will master the idea
expressed in the above several quoted paragraphs, he will indeed become a
Master of Mind. And if he will extend the idea to the field of his Emotions,
and will put into practice there the same idea and method, he will also become
a Master of his Emotions — an accomplishment of inestimable value. But, before
doing either of these things he will find it necessary to come to a full
realization of the fact that his Self —his real "I"— is a Something
superior to and transcending both his Thought and his Emotions. He must enter
into a vivid realization of the "I AM," before he may hope to be able
to say "I Do" regarding these accomplishments. As the old Rosicrucian
masters were wont to say: "When the 'I' knows itself to be the Self and
Master, then only is it able to take its throne and enforce its will upon its
subjects in the world of its thoughts, desires, feelings, and emotions."
Not only may the enlightened
"I" manifest its power along the lines above indicated, but it may
also work its will in that region which popular modern psychology has chosen to
call "The Sub-Conscious Mind." The latter is merely that great region
of mind outside of the limits of the concentrated field of attention. In that
great region a great part of the thinking of the average man is performed, the
results being flashed into the field of his attention in a more or less
haphazard way.
Without going deeply into the
subject, we would say here that the man who has grasped the reality and power
of the "I" is able to issue positive commands to this part of his
mental machinery, and not only cause it to perform the work of thought classification,
induction and deduction, for him, but also to present the report of such work
to his conscious attention at any specified time and place. The Masters of Mind
relieve themselves of much of the drudgery of ordinary intellectual processes
in this way, and obtain results logically perfect and ready for use, according
to the measure of training and direction which they have been able to impose
upon the aforesaid regions of their mind.
In conclusion, it should be called
to the attention of the student that the average man "consciouses"
only on some of the lower subplanes and subdivisions of The Plane of Human
Consciousness; and that there are wonderful regions within that great plane
awaiting the exploration of the wise of the race, and the generations of the
distant future. The wise of the race are not waiting for the centuries-long
slow evolution of the bulk of the race, but are taking the "short
cut" to the higher sub-planes by means of careful training along the lines
indicated by capable teachers who have demonstrated the virtue and value of the
methods which have been known to and taught by the advanced occultists for
thousands of years, the Rosicrucian Teachings being splendid examples of such
achievements.
Even without calling upon the two still
higher Planes of Consciousness, the enlightened race may reach heights of
mental achievement which are so far above those dreamed of by the average
person of the race as to appear like the wildest fiction.
6.
The Plane of the Consciousness of the Demi-Gods
There is a Plane of Consciousness so
much higher than even the Plane of Human Consciousness —of even the highest
sub-planes of that great plane— that the Rosicrucians have applied to it the
somewhat fanciful term of "The Plane of Consciousness of the Demi-Gods."
This, because the individual who attains these heights, and is able to
"conscious" on this plane is so much higher than mere Man that he
seems to be "almost as the gods." The Rosicrucians teach that on this
high plane of being dwell certain very advanced souls —once men, but now almost
as gods when compared to men— who aid in the great work of the advancement of
the race of men in the general course of spiritual evolution.
The teaching is that the race as a
whole is slowly evolving on to the said higher Plane of Consciousness, and long
ages from now will "conscious" normally on it. In the meantime,
however, certain advanced souls have transcended the Human Plane, and have passed
on to the higher plane, where they aid and assist the rest of the race.
Moreover, to the individual whose unfoldment is rapid, from one or more of many
well-known causes, there come at times "flashes of consciousness"
from the higher plane aforesaid, which at least for the time being bring the
individual into conscious contact with that plane.
The pages of the mystic records are
filled with statements of experiences of this kind. In certain forms of poetic
fervor, religious exaltation, and mystic experience, these flashes come and are
then recorded by the individual experiencing them — the record, however,
usually being given in the terms of the philosophy, religion, or general belief
of the person experiencing the contact or "illumination," the person
not fully realizing from just what source the flash of Truth has come.
In recent years many of these
experiences have been classified and included in works of writers, under the
general name of "Cosmic Consciousness." In most cases the persons
having attained these experiences, and those who have recorded them, are of the
opinion that the flash of consciousness realized is the highest possible. But,
as wonderful as are these experiences, they are in most cases but flashes of
insight of the light of some of the lower sub-planes of the great Plane of the
Demi-Gods — countless higher planes being existent and awaiting the unfoldment
of being to experience their light and glory, and beyond all of such there
existing the highest plane of all, the Plane of the Gods, to which all the rest
is as but a faint shadow of the reality.
The characteristic feature of the
Plane of Consciousness of the Demi-Gods is that of Oneness with Universal Life —
the consciousness of the Life of All-Manifestation. Varying in many degrees and
forms, of course, this is the characteristic feature of all experiences of this
great plane of conscious activity. On this plane, the individual feels in close
touch with all the rest of Creation — a united part of (not apart from) the
ALL.
(You can experience that unity on a human
level without the need to ascend to the "Plane of Consciousness
of the Demi-Gods.")
The experience of even a slight
momentary contact with this plane of being constitutes the common "mystic
experience," of which sages, seers, poets, and illumined souls of all ages
have sung, and regarding which they have tried to inform us in words inadequate
to the task. The study of these mystic reports throw much light on the subject,
and is well worth the time and attention of all true students of the
Rosicrucian teaching. But the student must always remember that these
experiences are not the end of all thought on the subject, nor the final word
of Truth. As valuable as is this part of the teaching, it must never be
mistaken for the highest peak of the Mountain of Truth.
To those who have experienced the
flashes of Illumination, or the glimpse of the Fire of Cosmic Consciousness —both
of which classes of phenomena belong to the Plane of the Consciousness of the
Demi-Gods— there has come a realization of the actual Oneness of Life in the
Universe, and an actual awareness that the Universe is animated by One Life
which is diffused among and permeates every portion of its extent and
manifestation. To such has come an assurance that there is nothing
"dead" in the Universe — that every part and portion, individual and
collective, is instinct. with Life. Not only this, but for at least the time of
the experience there has come a sense of absolute certainty that the individual
is in touch with this One Life, and is an actual centre of activity within its
presence.
It should be pointed out, moreover,
that in such experiences there is not merely the intellectual conviction of the
certainty of the facts just stated, but that, on the contrary, there is
manifested an actual. "knowing," direct and immediate, of such facts.
The person having the experience knows
these things just as he knows that he himself is alive and present in the
universe. It is impossible to convey the exact nature of this consciousness to
any who have not had at least a faint flash of it. It can be described only in
its own terms.
In most of these cases, while the
actual consciousness has passed away after a few moments, there has been left a
memory which abides ever with the individual, and which gives to him such a
certainty of the truth of which he has been a witness that nothing can ever
shake his conviction thereof. It must be remembered that these flashes of
consciousness are prophecies of the stage of consciousness which at some future
time will become the normal state of consciousness of the race.
Moreover, it must not be forgotten
that there exist certain advanced souls on this earth to whom this stage or
state of consciousness is the normal and habitual one — and in whom there
always exists a realization in actual consciousness of At-One-Ment with the
Universal Life. Such beings are indeed Demi-Gods, as compared to the average
human being. Some of the great world leaders — the founders of great religions,
and others of their kind, were filled with this consciousness and strove to
make it manifest in a veiled form to their followers who were not strong enough
to bear the full truth. Many of these great souls are still present on the
earth-plane in the flesh, in newly incarnated forms, continuing their work and
striving to uplift the race.
A modern poet expressing the
conviction of Universal Oneness of Life uses terms which will be recognized by
all who have had flashes of Cosmic Consciousness, as follows:
"For the All is One, and all
are part,
And not apart as they seem to be;
And the blood of Life has a single heart,
Beating through God, and clod, and Me!"
And not apart as they seem to be;
And the blood of Life has a single heart,
Beating through God, and clod, and Me!"
Walt Whitman, who himself had experienced Cosmic Consciousness, says of
the experience:
"As in a swoon, one instant
Another sun, ineffable, full dazzles me,
And all the orbs I knew, and brighter, unknown orbs,
One instant of the future land, Heaven's land."
Another sun, ineffable, full dazzles me,
And all the orbs I knew, and brighter, unknown orbs,
One instant of the future land, Heaven's land."
* * * * * * * * * *
"I cannot be awake, for nothing looks to me as it did before,
Or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep.
Or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep.
* * * * * * * * * *
"When I try to tell the best
I find, I cannot;
My tongue is ineffectual on its pivots,
My breath will not be obedient to its organs,
I become a dumb man."
My tongue is ineffectual on its pivots,
My breath will not be obedient to its organs,
I become a dumb man."
Tennyson, according to his friends had glimpses and flashes of Cosmic
Consciousness, and in many of his poems he has given expression to the thoughts
and feelings which had come to him at that time. The following is a good
illustration of the latter:
"For knowledge is the
swallow on the lake
That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there,
But never yet hath dippt into the abysm,
The Abysm of all Abysms, beneath, within
The blue of sky and sea, the green of earth,
And in a million-millionth of a grain
Which cleft and cleft again for evermore
And ever vanishing, never vanishes * * *
And more, my son, for more than once when I
Sat all alone, revolving in myself
That word which is the symbol of myself,
The mortal symbol of Self was loosed,
And passed into the Nameless, as a cloud
Melts into Heaven. I touched my limbs, the limbs
Were strange, not mine—and yet no shadow of doubt,
But utter clearness, and through loss of Self
The gain of such large life as matched with ours
Were Sun to spark, unshadowable in words,
Themselves but shadows of a shadow-world."
That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there,
But never yet hath dippt into the abysm,
The Abysm of all Abysms, beneath, within
The blue of sky and sea, the green of earth,
And in a million-millionth of a grain
Which cleft and cleft again for evermore
And ever vanishing, never vanishes * * *
And more, my son, for more than once when I
Sat all alone, revolving in myself
That word which is the symbol of myself,
The mortal symbol of Self was loosed,
And passed into the Nameless, as a cloud
Melts into Heaven. I touched my limbs, the limbs
Were strange, not mine—and yet no shadow of doubt,
But utter clearness, and through loss of Self
The gain of such large life as matched with ours
Were Sun to spark, unshadowable in words,
Themselves but shadows of a shadow-world."
Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke, of
Toronto, Canada, a number of years ago published a book entitled "Cosmic
Consciousness," in which he grouped together a number of very interesting
experiences along these lines which had been related by those experiencing
them; Dr. Bucke himself, as well as his friend Walt Whitman, and several other
close friends, had experienced flashes of this same stage of consciousness. He
deduces the following general idea from the consideration of these experiences:
« Superimposed upon
self-consciousness as is that faculty upon simple-consciousness, a third and
higher form of consciousness is at present making its appearance in our race.
This higher form of consciousness, when it appears, occurs as it must, at the
full maturity of the individual, at about the age of thirty-five, but almost
always between the ages of thirty and forty. There have been occasional cases
of it for the last two thousand years, and it is becoming more and more common.
In fact, in all appearances, as far as observed, it obeys the laws to which
every nascent faculty is subject. Many more or less perfect examples of this
new faculty exist in the world today, and it has been my privilege to know
personally and to have had the opportunity of studying, several men and women
who have possessed it.
In the course of a few more millenniums
there should be born from the present human race, a higher type of man,
possessing this higher type of consciousness. This new race, as it may well be
called, would occupy toward us a position such as that occupied by us toward
the simple conscious 'alulus homo.' The advent of this higher, better and
happier race would simply justify the long agony of its birth through countless
ages of our past. And it is the first article of my belief, some of the grounds
for which I have endeavored to lay before you, that a new race is in course of
evolution. »
In another part of his book, Dr.
Bucke gives the following general characteristics of the special type of
experiences recorded by him in the book:
« I have, in the last three
years, collected twenty-three cases of this so-called cosmic consciousness. In
each case the onset or incoming of the new faculty is always sudden,
instantaneous. Among the unusual feelings the mind experiences is a sudden
sense of being immersed in flame or in a brilliant light. This occurs entirely
without worrying or outward cause, and may occur at noonday or in the middle of
the night, and the person at first may feel that he is becoming insane. Along
with these feelings comes a sense of immortality; not merely a feeling of
certainty that there is a future life —that would be a small matter— but a
pronounced consciousness that
the life now being lived is eternal, death being seen as a trivial incident
which does not affect its continuity. Further, there is an annihilation of the
sense of sin, and an intellectual competency, not simply surpassing the old
plane, but on an entirely new and higher plane. ... The cosmic conscious race
will not be the race that exists today, and more than the present is the same
race that existed prior to the evolution of self-consciousness. A new race is
being born from us, and this new race will in the near future possess the earth. »
(Theosophy says there is a long way to go before
the new race appears.)
Emerson is his wonderful essay on
"The Over-Soul" clearly indicates his knowledge of the experiences
mentioned herein in connection with what has been called "Cosmic
Consciousness." The following quotations therefrom will serve to disclose
his general thought on the subject:
« Always, I believe, by the
necessity of our constitution, a certain enthusiasm attends the individual's
consciousness of that divine presence. The character and duration of this
enthusiasm varies with the state of the individual, from an ecstasy and trance
and prophetic inspiration —which is its rarer appearance— to the faintest glow
of virtuous emotion, in which form it warms, like our household fires, all the
families and associations of men, and makes society possible.
A certain tendency to insanity has
always attended the opening of the religious sense in men, as if 'blasted with
excess of light.' The trances of Socrates; the 'Union' of Plotinus; the vision
of Porphyry; the conversion of Paul; the aurora of Behmen; the convulsions of
George Fox and his Quakers; the illumination of Swedenborg are of this kind.
What was in the case of these remarkable persons a ravishment has in
innumerable instances in common life been exhibited in a less striking manner.
Everywhere the history of religion
betrays a tendency to enthusiasm. The rapture of the Moravian and Quietist; the
opening of the internal sense of the Word, in the language of the New Jerusalem
Church; the revival of the Calvinistic Churches; the experiences of the
Methodists, are varying forms of that shudder of awe and delight with which the
individual soul always mingles with the universal soul. The nature of these
revelations is always the same; they are perceptions of the absolute law. They
are solutions of the soul's own questions. The soul answers never by words, but
by the thing itself that is inquired after. * * *
We live in succession, in division,
in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise
silence; the universal beauty to which every part and particle is equally
related; the eternal One. And this deep power in which we exist, and whose
beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in
every hour, but the act of seeing, and the thing seen, the seer and the
spectacle, the subject and the object, are One. We see the world piece by
piece, as the sun and moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these
are the shining parts, is the soul. It is only by the vision of that Wisdom
that the horoscope of the ages can be read, and it is only by falling back on
our better thoughts, by yielding to the spirit of prophesy which is innate in
every man that we can know what it saith.
Every man's words, who speaks from
that life, must sound vain to those who do not dwell in the same thought on
their own part. I dare not speak for it. My words do not carry its august
sense; they fall short and cold. Only itself can inspire whom it will, and
behold, their speech shall be lyrical and sweet, and universal as the rising of
the wind. Yet I desire, even by profane words, if sacred I may not use, to
indicate the heaven of this deity, and to report what hints I have collected of
the transcendent simplicity and energy of the Highest Law. »
So such are the general reports of
the nature and character of these glimpses of this Universal Consciousness
which men here and there have experienced in all times. Let us now consider the
powers kindled in those to whom
glimpses (or more) of this consciousness has come. For an increase in
"knowing" always brings with it an increase in power, according to
the law of cause and effect.
In the first place, the possession
by an individual of even a faint dawn of this Universal Consciousness, by
whatever name it may be known, endows him with a certain "in
touchness" with all the rest of Life. By a subtle intuition he may, under
favorable circumstances, speak, write, paint, act, or produce music
representing phase of vital, mental, and emotional activity transcending any
actual experience on his own part. Such an individual becomes "en
rapport" with, or "in tune" with, the manifold variety of living
forms, and is able to produce a representation thereof through his own
expression.
This is the secret of the
"genius" of great artists, writers, musicians, poets, and others who
express through their own respective mediums or vehicles the messages they
receive from the other forms of life with which they are connected by subtle
filaments of unity. Such a one can "enter into" (in imagination) the
life experiences of any and all forms of life, and to then represent them in
visible or audible form in a degree depending upon their own development.
Moreover, such individuals are
"universal" in their sympathies, and can feel with any form of life
with which they come in contact. And as a consequence of the latter, they tend
to inspire in other persons and living creatures a "liking,"
fellowship, and understanding. Many of the great illumined souls of the race,
having this consciousness in at least some degree, find themselves "at
home" with all manners and conditions of mankind, and in many cases with
the lower life forms as well.
Sympathy has been defined as "a
fellow feeling," and it may be seen at once that when one has a feeling of
fellowship with all Life (and such individuals have this to some degree), then
there are created certain bonds and links of sympathy and unity which serve to
unite the individual more or less strongly to all living things. In the case of
the great teachers of the race, such as the founders of the great religions and
similar souls, we find that universal sympathy with and understanding of all
life which sets such individuals apart as marked and distinguished men, and
imparts to them a universality which makes them citizens of all countries and
dwellers in all time.
Again, we find that in the case of
many individuals of this type there exists a certain power of attraction for
other forms of life and things, which enables them to attract to themselves
those conditions, environments, and persons best adapted to their wellbeing and
happiness; and which also gives them certain so-called "miraculous"
powers over Nature. He who is consciously identical with Nature is able to work
"miracles" with Nature. We cannot go deeper into this subject at this
time and place, for several very good reasons, but the above is a strong hint
to those who are prepared to hear and understand the truth concerning certain
phases of Life and Nature.
What we have said so far in our
consideration of the individuals manifesting flashes or glimpses
of this phase of consciousness, applies in a much greater degree to those who
have penetrated fully into the
higher sub-planes of this great Plane of Consciousness. On this planet, and on
others, dwell Beings so fully awakened and unfolded in this phase of
consciousness that they are as Supernatural Beings to the ordinary human being.
Many of such beings are performing important offices in the unfoldment of the
race, and the betterment of mankind. Many of these people have been regarded as
Angels or Demi-Gods by ordinary people with whom they have come in contact in
the past, and many of them are the Invisible Helpers of whose presence many of
the race have been made aware by actual experiences.
Many of the White Magicians of the
race belong to the higher phases of this great Plane of Consciousness. And,
alas, some who are what is known as Black Magicians have managed to "break
into the Kingdom of Heaven" on these planes, and have prostituted their
power; but to such inevitably comes punishment by Nature herself, and are
either forced into the legions of Light or else are disintegrated and destroyed
by the very forces of Nature which they have set into operation for selfish and
ignoble purposes.
(Here William Atkinson
made a tremendous mess as he mixes the masters with the celestial hierarchy,
and the divine planes of consciousness with inspiration; and contrary to what
he says, black magicians cannot break into the kingdom of heaven because then
they would be destroyed, and it is from the dark areas of Nature that they hide
and draw their powers.)
7.
The Plane of the Consciousness of the Gods
If, as we have seen, it is most
difficult to speak in understandable terms concerning the phases of life and
activity on the last mentioned Plane of Consciousness
(But he didn't talk
about this plane, instead he talk about the enlightenment that some people
experience.)
What must be the difficulty of even
hinting at the life and activities of the highest plane of all — the Plane of
the Consciousness of the Gods!
On this highest of all Planes of
Consciousness, however, dwell beings so high in the scale of knowledge, power,
life, and bliss that even the imagination of the advanced student or teacher
can scarcely grasp the idea. This is the Plane of the Gods, in verity — of
being so far advanced that they are practically akin to the conception of the
Gods created by man to account for the Universe, and to serve as objects of
worship.
On this Plane are Personal Gods —many
of them— but none of them, alone, may be regarded as GOD, in the sense of the
Eternal Parent or Infinite Reality. For even the highest of them have their
limitations and restrictions, and all are but Manifestations of the Infinite
Unmanifest. Each of these exalted Beings has had its beginning or birth in
Manifestation, and each will finally have its ending and disappearance into the
Infinite Unmanifest, where all sense of separateness and personality will
disappear.
The highest authorities inform us
that the characteristic element of this highest form of all consciousness is
the conscious realization of the individual that he IS identical with the
Infinite, and is only apparently
separated there from by the most tenuous and subtle veil of illusion.
Strange as it may appear to one not
acquainted with the subject, glimpses and flashes of this consciousness, in
rare instances, filter down into the consciousness of individuals on this earth
at the present time, and have done so in the past. Many of the brave souls and
keen minds of the Illumined have actually pierced the veil of this plane, and
have been almost blinded by the light that has flashed upon them.
(This is false because Blavatsky pointed
out that only the most advanced masters can ascend to the higher divine planes
of existence.)
The consideration of this Plane of
Consciousness must be closed here, for reasons which the advanced occultist
will at once realize, and which the less advanced student must be told are
adequate. Many, not prepared for the full Light must be protected from
spiritual and mental blindness by being exposed to rays before they have become
accustomed to the lesser lights of the Truth. Rest assured, however, O student,
that when your eyes are ready to gaze upon the Sacred Flame, it will no longer
be hidden from you.
The
Truth in Symbols
There are certain truths which
cannot be well expressed in words, but which may be at least partially expressed
in symbols. To those who feel a desire to penetrate rather more deeply into the
Mystery of. the Three Higher Planes of Consciousness, we call attention to the
symbol accompanying this particular chapter of this book.
There is a wealth of knowledge and
important information hidden in this symbol, undiscoverable to the many but at
least partially discoverable by the few. To the Few, we offer the following
suggestions concerning this Symbol.
Your attention is called to the fact
that each circle in the symbol is called to and blended with the one on either
side of it. Accordingly in the circular extent of each circle there is to be
found FOUR different spaces or regions, as follows:
1) Its own unblended space or region.
2) The space or region in which its own space or region is blended with
that of one of the neighboring circles, which constitutes a shield-shaped space.
3) The space or region in which its own space or region is blended with
that of the other neighboring circle, constituting a shield-shaped space; and
4) The space or region in the very centre of the symbol, in which the
space or region of each circle is blended with that of both of the other two — thus
producing a Triune Region.
This arrangement, again, furnishes
us with SEVEN distinct regions, as follows (giving each circle the name of a
letter, as A, B, or C, respectively):
·
Circle
A
·
Circle
B
·
Circle
C
·
Space
A-B
·
Space
A-C
·
Space
B-C
·
Region
A-B-C, at the centre.
There are thus three unblended
areas; also three blended areas of two elements; and finally one blended area
of three elements; the latter combining within itself all three elements in
equal proportion.
Let him who wishes for the Light
solve this Riddle of the Symbol!
OBSERVATIONS
This symbol represents at an
exoteric level the combination of the three primary colors:
At an esoteric level it represents
the combination of the three pristine energies that arise from the Logos and
whose different combinations produce the following four energies; and all of
them are known as “the seven rays of creation”.
And as you can see, that has nothing
to do with the "three higher planes of consciousness" of which
William Atkinson spoke in this chapter and where, as in the previous chapter,
he continues to mix the different levels of consciousness with the different
planes of existence.
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