Zirkoff B. - EI. Instruction No.5: Difference between revisions

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The Body is not a Principle in strict Esoteric parlance; it is an upadhi rather than a Principle. But it is a vehicle of consciousness, and therefore must be considered in studying Consciousness. Apart from this, it can be regarded as merely a denser aspect of the Linga-Śarîra, for the Body and the Linga-Śarîra are both on the same plane, and the Linga- Śarîra is molecular in its constitution, like the Body. The Earth and its Astral Light are as closely related to each other as the Body and its Linga-Śarîra, the Earth being the upâdhi of the Astral Light. Our plane in its lowest division is the Earth; in its highest the Astral. The terrestrial Astral Light should of course not be confounded with the universal Astral Light.

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The Consciousness which is merely the animal Consciousness is made up of the Consciousness of all the cells in the Body, except those of the Heart. For the Heart is the organ of the Spiritual Consciousness; it corresponds indeed to Prâna, but only because Prâna and the Auric Envelope are essentially the same, and because again as Jîva it is the same as the Universal Deity (p. 672). The Heart represents the Higher Triad, while the Liver and Spleen represent the Quaternary, taken as a whole. The heart is the abode of the Spiritual Man, whereas the Psycho-Intellectual Man dwells in the Head with its seven gateways. It has its seven brains, the upâdhis and symbols of the seven Hierarchies, and this is the exoterically four, but esoterically seven, leaved Lotus, the “Saptaparna,” the “Cave of Buddha” with its seven compartments.

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The Brain, taken as an organ of Consciousness, serves as the vehicle on the objective plane of the Lower Manas, which works upon its material molecules in a way hereafter to be explained. Its subdivisions correspond to, and are the organs of, the subdivisions of the Lower Manas, its convolutions are formed by thought, the activity of the thinking Principle building up more and more complicated convolutions.

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The Liver and Stomach, as said, are the correspondences of Kâma in the trunk of the Body, and with these must be classed the Navel and the Generative Organs. The Liver is closely connected with the Spleen, as is Kâma with the Linga-Śarîra, and both these have a share in generating the blood. The Liver is the General, the Spleen the Aide-decamp. All that the Liver does not accomplish is taken up and completed by the Spleen.

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The Spleen corresponds to the Linga-Śarîra, and serves as its dwelling-place, in which it lies curled up. As the Linga-Śarîra is the reservoir of life for the Body, the medium and vehicle of Prâna, the Spleen acts as the centre of Prâna in the Body, from which the life is pumped out and circulated. It is consequently a very delicate organ, though the physical Spleen is only the cover for the real Spleen.

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The circulation of Life, Prâna, through the Body is by way of the Blood. It is the vital Principle in us, Prânic rather than Prâna, and is closely allied to Kâma and to the Linga-Śarîra. The essence of the Blood is Kâma, penetrated by Prâna, which is universal on this plane. When Kâma leaves the Blood it congeals. So that the Blood may be regarded as Kâma-Rûpa, the “form of Kâma” in a sense. While Kâma {{Page aside|700}}is the essence of the Blood, its red corpuscles are drops of electrical fluid, the perspiration oozing out of every cell of the various organs, and caused to exude by electrical action. They are the progeny of the Fohatic principle.

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The Sympathetic Cords take their rise from a sacred spot above the Medulla oblongata, called the Trideni. From this same spot start Idâ and Pingala, an upper junction of the sympathetic and cerebro-spinal axes being thus formed.

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The Spinal Column is called Brahmadanda, the rod or stick of Brahmâ, and it is this which is symbolized by the bamboo rod carried by ascetics, the seven-knotted wand of the Yogi. The seven knots are the seven Nâdîs along the spinal cord. The Yogis beyond the Himâlayas, who assemble regularly at Lake Mânasasarovara carry a triple-knotted bamboo stick and are called Tridandas. The three knots signify the three vital airs that play in the Spinal Column, symbolized also in the triple Brâhmanical thread. The triple cord has other meanings, it may be observed in passing; as, for instance, it symbolizes the three initiations of a Brâhmana. The first takes place at birth when he receives his mystery name––that a Hindu would die rather than reveal––from the family astrologer, who is supposed to have received it from the Devas. The child is thus said to be initiated by the Devas. The second initiation occurs when he is seven years old, and he then receives his thread. The third is the initiation into his caste, a ceremony that is performed when he is eleven or twelve years of age. But this by the way.

The latter would be of little use to a student who has not already attained the power of concentrating his Mind and Will. This power should be cultivated and trained in the Lower Degrees, and it is to this end that the Rule ordering daily meditation was laid down. There is no other way of attaining the power of concentration, and without this power, largely developed, no progress can be made in Practical Occultism, no beginning even of it being possible.

The Sthûla-Śarîra is made up of molecules, informed and ensouled by Atoms. The molecule has in it the Seven Principles, in their Prâkritic manifestation. As man, as a whole, contains every element that is found in the universe, and as there is nothing in the Macrocosm that is not in the Microcosm; so every molecule is, in its turn, the mirror of its universe, Man. It is this which renders man alone capable of conceiving the universe on this plane of existence; he has in him the Macrocosm and the Microcosm.

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The Linga-Śarîra, as often said before, is the vehicle of Prâna, and supports life in the Body. It is the reservoir or sponge of life, gathering it up from all the natural kingdoms around, and it is the intermediary between the kingdoms of Prânic and physical life. Life cannot pass immediately and directly from the subjective to the objective, for nature passes gradually from sphere to sphere, overleaping none. The Linga-Śarîra serves as the intermediary between Prâna and Sthûla-Śarîra, drawing life from the ocean of Jîva, and pumping it in the physical Body as Prâna. For life is, in reality, Divinity, Parabrahman, the Universal Deity. But in order that it may manifest on the physical plane it must be assimilated to the matter of that plane; this cannot be done directly, as the purely physical is too gross, and thus it needs a vehicle––the Linga-Śarîra.

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Although the student can no longer look on Prâna as one of the Seven Principles, since it is the Universal Life, he must not forget that it vivifies all, as Prânic energy. Every Principle is a differentiation of Jîva, and the life-motion in each is Prâna, “the Breath of Life.” It is Nephesh: and Jîva becomes Prâna only when the child is born. Thus Kâma depends on Prâna, without which there would be no Kâma. Prâna wakes the Kâmic germs to life, and it makes all desires vital and living.

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The Lower Manas is, in many respects, most difficult to understand. There are enormous mysteries connected with it. We shall here consider it as a Principle, taking later the workings of Consciousness in the Quaternary, and in each member of it.

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When the Ray is thus shot forth, it clothes itself in the highest degree of the Astral Light, and is then ready for incarnation; it has been spoken of at this stage as the Chhâyâ, or shadow, of the Higher Mind, as indeed it is. This clothing of itself in a lower form of Matter is necessary for action in the Body; for as an emanation of the Higher Manas and of the same nature, it cannot, in that nature, make any impression on this plane nor receive any. An archangel, having no experience, would be senseless on this plane, and could neither give nor receive impressions. Hence the Lower Manas clothes itself with the essence of the Astral Light, and this Astral Envelope shuts it out from its Parent, except through the Antaskarana. The Antaskarana is therefore that portion of the Lower Manas which is one with the Higher, the essence, that which retains its purity; on it are impressed all good and noble aspirations, and in it are the upward energies of the Lower Manas, the energies and tendencies which become its Devachanic experiences. The whole fate of an incarnation depends on whether this pure essence, Antaskarana, can restrain the Kâma-Manas or not. It is the only salvation. Break this and you become an animal.

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The workings of Consciousness in each member of the Quaternary and the question of the Skandhas will be dealt with in future Instructions.

{{Style P-Signature|WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.}}

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