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MAN’S THREE ASPECTS - Part 1

MAN'S THREE ASPECTS

One of the main means whereby man arrives at an understanding of that great sum total we call the Macrocosm—God, functioning through a solar system—is by an understanding of himself, and the Delphic injunction "Man, know thyself" was an inspired utterance, intended to give man the clue to the mystery of deity.  Through the Law of Analogy, or correspondences, the cosmic processes, and the nature of the cosmic principles are indicated in the functions, structure, and characteristics of a human being.  They are indicated but not explained or elaborated.  They serve simply as sign posts, directing man along the path whereon future sign posts may be found and more definite indications noted.

The comprehension of that triplicity of spirit, soul, and body lies as yet beyond man's achievement, but an idea as to their relationship and their general coordinated function may be indicated by a consideration of man from the physical side, and his objective functioning.

There are three aspects of man's organism which are symbols, and symbols only, of the three aspects of being.

1. The energy, or activating principle, which withdraws mysteriously at death, partially withdraws in the hours of sleep or of unconsciousness, and which seems to use the brain as its main seat of activity and from there to direct the functioning of the organism.  This energy has a primary direct relation with the three parts of the organism which we call the brain, the heart, and the breathing apparatus.  This is the microcosmic symbol of spirit.

2. The nervous system, with its complexities of nerves, nerve centres and that multiplicity of interrelated and sensitive parts which serve to coordinate the organism, [19] to produce the sensitive response which exists between the many organs and parts which form the organism as a whole, and which serve also to make the man aware of, and sensitive to, his environment.  This entire sensory apparatus is that which produces the organised awareness and coordinated sensitivity of the entire human being, first, within itself as a unit, and secondly, its responsiveness and sensitive reaction to the world within which it plays its part.  This nervous structure, coordinating, correlating, and producing an outer and inner group activity demonstrates primarily through the three parts of the nervous system.

a. Cerebro-spinal system.

b. Sensory system of nerves.

c. Peripheral system of nerves.

It is closely associated with the energy aspect, being the apparatus utilised by that energy to vitalise the body, to produce its coordinated activity and functioning, and to bring about an intelligent rapport with the world in which it has to play its part.  It lies back, if one might use such an expression, of the body-nature proper, back of the mass of the flesh and bone and muscle.  It in its turn, is motivated by and controlled by two factors:

a. The sum total of the energy which is the individual quota of vital energy.

b. The energy of the environment in which the individual finds himself and within which he has to function and to play his part.

This coordinating nervous system, this network of interrelating and sensitive nerves is the symbol in man of the soul, and an outer and visible form of an inner spiritual reality.

3. There is finally what might be described as the body, the sum total of flesh, of muscle, and of bone which the [20] man carries around, correlated by the nervous system and energised by what we vaguely call his "life".

In these three, the life, the nervous system and the body mass we find the reflection and the symbol of the greater whole, and by a close study of these, and a comprehension of their functions and group relation, we can arrive at an understanding of some of the laws and principles which direct the activities of "God in nature"—a phrase, sublimely true and equally finitely false.

The three aspects of divinity, the central energy, or spirit, the coordinating force or soul, and that which these two use and unify are in reality one vital principle manifesting in diversity.  These are the Three in One, the One in Three, God in nature, and nature itself in God.

Carrying the concept, for the sake of illustration, into other realms of thought this trinity of aspects can be seen functioning in the religious world as the esoteric teaching, the fundamental symbology and doctrines of the great world religions and the exoteric organisations; in government it is the sum total of the will of the people whatever that will may be, the formulated laws, and the exoteric administration; in education it is the will to learn, the arts and sciences, and the great exoteric educational systems; in philosophy it is the urge to wisdom, the interrelated schools of thought, and the outer presentation of the teachings.  Thus this eternal triplicity runs through every department of the manifested world, whether viewed as that which is tangible, or as that which is sensitive and coherent, or that which is energising.  It is that intelligent activity which has been clumsily called "awareness"; it is the capacity of awareness itself, involving as it does sensitive response to environment, and the apparatus of that response, the divine duality of the soul; it is finally the sum total of that which is contacted and known; it is that of which the sensitive apparatus [21] becomes aware.  This, as we shall see later, is a gradually growing realisation, shifting ever into more esoteric and inner realms.

These three aspects are seen in man, the divine unit of life.  First he recognises them in himself; then he sees them in every form in his environment, and finally he learns to relate these aspects of himself to the similar aspects in other forms of divine manifestation.  Correct relation between forms will result in the harmonising and right adjustment of physical plane life.  Correct response to one's environment will result in correct rapport with the soul aspect, hidden in every form, and will produce right relations between the various parts of the inner nervous structure to be found in every kingdom of nature, subhuman and superhuman.  This is as yet practically unknown but is rapidly coming into recognition, and when it is proven and realised it will be discovered that therein lies the basis of brotherhood and of unity.  As the liver, the heart, the lungs, the stomach, and other organs in the body are separate in existence and in function and yet are unified and brought into relation through the medium of the nervous system throughout the body, so will it be found that in the world such organisms as the kingdoms in nature have their separate life and functions yet are correlated and coordinated by a vast intricate sensory system which is sometimes called the soul of all things, the anima mundi, the underlying consciousness.

In dealing with the triplicities so often used when speaking of deity, such as spirit, soul, and body,—life, consciousness, and form,—it is of value to remember that they refer to differentiations of the one life, and that the more of these triplicities with which one can familiarise oneself the more one will be in rapport with a wider circle of men.  But when one is dealing with things occult and subjective, and when the subject about which [22] one writes deals with the undefinable, then difficulty is encountered.  It is no difficult matter to describe a man's personal appearance, his clothing, his form, and the things with which he is surrounded.  Language suffices satisfactorily to deal with the concrete and with the world of form.  But when one endeavours to convey an idea of his quality, character, and nature one is immediately faced with the problem of the unknown, with that undefinable unseen part which we sense, but which remains in a large sense unrevealed, and unrealised even by the man himself.  How then shall we describe him through the medium of language?

If this is so of man, how much greater is the difficulty when we seek through words to express that inexpressible sum total of which the terms spirit, soul, and body are regarded as the main component differentiations?  How shall we define that undefinable life that men have (for the sake of understanding) limited and separated into a trinity of aspects, or persons, calling the whole by the name of God?

Yet where this differentiation of God into a trinity is universal and age-long in use, where every people—ancient and modern—employ the same triplicity of ideation to express an intuitive realisation, there is warrant for the usage.  That some day we may think and express the truth differently may indeed be so, but for the average thinker of today the terms spirit, soul, and body stand for the aggregate of divine manifestation, both in the deity of the universe and in that lesser divinity, man himself.  As this treatise is intended for the thinking human being and not for the crystallised theologians or the theoretically biassed scientists we will adhere to the well-used terminology and seek to understand what has lain back of the phrases in which man has sought to explain God Himself.

"God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship [23] Him in Spirit and in Truth," states one of the scriptures of the world.  "Man became a living soul," is to be found in another place in the same scripture.  "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless," said a great initiate of the White Lodge; and the greatest of them all yet present with us in physical form on earth, repeated the words of an earlier sage when He said:  "I have said ye are Gods, and ye are all the children of the most High".  In those words the triplicity of man, his divinity and his relationship to the life in Whom he lives and moves and has his being, is touched upon from the Christian standpoint, and all the great religions deal in analogous phrases with that relationship.

a. Spirit, Life, Energy.

The word spirit is applied to that undefinable, elusive, essential impulse or Life which is the cause of all manifestation.  It is the breath of Life and is that rhythmic inflow of vital energy which manifests in its turn as the attractive force, as the consciousness, or soul, and is the sum total of atomic substance.  It is the correspondence in the great Existence or Macrocosm of that which in the little existence or microcosm is the vital inspiring factor which we call the life of man; this is indicated by the breath in his body, which is abstracted or withdrawn when the life course is run.

What this something is, who shall say?  We trace it back to the soul or consciousness aspect, and from the soul to the spirit (as we call the three aspects of the one breath) but what these words really signify, who has the courage to declare?  We call this unknown something by differing names, according to our particular school of thought; we seek to express it in words, and end by call it Spirit, the One Life, the Monad, Energy.  Again we must remember that understanding as to the nature [24] of this one life is purely relative.  Those who are engrossed in the form side of existence think in terms of physical vitality, of feeling, impulse, or of mental force and do not pass beyond that unified life-consciousness of which all the above are differentiations.  Those again who are interested in the more metaphysical approach and in the soul-life more than in the form aspect express their concept in terms of soul manifestation and—passing beyond the personal selfish reactions of the body nature—think in terms of life, in terms of quality, of group will or power, group coordination or love-wisdom, and of group intelligence or knowledge, covering all by the generic term of brotherhood.

But even that is found to be separative, through the separation into larger units than the lower is capable of grasping.  Therefore the initiate, especially after the third initiation, begins to think even more synthetically and to express truth to himself in terms of Spirit, Life, the One.  These terms mean to him something significant, but something so far removed from the concept of ordinary thinking humanity that it is needless for me to enlarge further upon it.

This brings me to a point, that should be dealt with here, prior to any further expansion of our subject.  In the Treatise on Cosmic Fire and in the above passage it frequently appears that teaching is carried forward to a certain point and then dropped with the statement that, owing to the point in evolution of the average man, his reaction to truth and the reaction of the disciple-student or the initiate will differ.  This is necessarily so; each will read into the words his own state of consciousness; each will fail to interpret in terms of the more advanced reaction of those on a higher stage of the ladder of evolution.  The average reader, however, objects to being forced to recognise wider points of view than his own, and the phraseology which says:  "It is needless to enlarge on [25] this for it would only be understood by the initiate", serves only to aggravate him, tends to make him believe that evasion is intended, and that the writer (having got out of his depth) is seeking to save his face by some such statement.  Just as a scientific treatise would prove meaningless and a mere jumble of words to the average grammar school child, but would carry a clear definition and meaning to experts in the subject owing to training and mental development, so there are those to whom the subject of the soul and its nature as dealt with in such an instruction as this is as clear and lucid as current literature is to the average reader, and the best sellers, as you call them, to the general public.  Equally, though fewer in number, there are those advanced souls to whom the spirit and its nature is also a rational and understandable subject, to be appreciated and comprehended through the medium of the soul and its powers just as it is possible to arrive at an understanding of the soul through the medium of the mind, correctly employed.  On a lower level altogether, we know it is easy to understand the nature of the physical body through a study and right use of the desire nature.  It is a form of pride, and a refusal to recognize one's temporary limitations that awakens in readers a dislike for phrases which aptly and truly say:  "When you are further developed, you will understand the above."  This should be made clear.

To the Master of the Wisdom, the nature of the spirit, or that positive centre of life which every form hides is no more a mystery than is the nature of the soul to the esoteric psychologist.  The source of the one life, the plane, or state from which that life emanates is the great Hidden Mystery to the members of the hierarchy of adepts.  The nature of spirit, its quality and type of cosmic energy, its rate of vibration and its basic cosmic differentiations are the study of initiates above the third degree and the subject of their investigations.  They [26] bring to that study a fully developed intuition, plus that mental interpretive capacity which their cycle of incarnation has developed.  They employ the awakened and developed inner light of their souls to interpret and comprehend that life which (divorced from the world of form) persists on the higher levels of consciousness and penetrates into our solar system from some exterior centre of being.  They throw this light (which is in them and which they manipulate and use) in two directions therefore, standing as they do in the midmost state and functioning as they choose to function on the plane of the intuition or of buddhi.  They cast that light into the world of form and know all things, interpreting all with correctness; they cast that light into the formless realms of the higher three planes (formless from the standpoint of man in the three worlds below the intuitional plane) and seek to understand, through steady expansive growth, the nature and purpose of that which is neither body nor soul, neither force nor matter, but which is the cause of both in the universe.

Eventually, when the initiate has undergone the higher solar initiations and can function in the full consciousness of the monad, awareness of that which is divorced even from group form and from those nebulous sheaths which veil and hide the One, becomes possible.  The highest types of consciousness work from the plane of the monad as the initiate of lower degree works from the plane of the soul and uses the organs of perception (if such an unsatisfactory phrase is legitimate) and means of knowledge of which average man has no idea; they penetrate or include within their radius of awareness that sum total of life, consciousness and form which we designate God.  These initiates of high degree then begin to be aware of a vibration, a revealing light, a note or directional indicating sound which emanates from outside our solar system altogether.  The only way in which [27] we can get an appreciation of the process followed in the expansion of the divine consciousness in man is to study the relation of the mind and the brain and note what follows when the brain becomes the intelligent instrument of the mind; then study the relation of the soul to the mind and what eventuates when man is directed by his soul and utilises the mind to control the physical plane activities through the medium of the brain.  In these three—soul, mind and brain—we have the analogy and the clue to the understanding of spirit, soul and body, and their mutual functions.  This was the subject matter of the book, The Light of the Soul.  Upon the perfecting of the conditions dealt with in that book there follows still another expansion when the spirit aspect, man's emanating source of energy, begins to use the soul (via the intuition) and to impress upon the soul-consciousness those laws, knowledges, forces and inspirations which will make the soul the instrument of the spirit or monad, just as the personal man became, at an earlier stage (via the mind), the instrument of the soul.  In that earlier stage the development was two-fold.  As the soul assumed control, via the mind, so the brain became responsive to the soul.  Man was awakened to a knowledge of himself as he really was and to the three worlds of his normal evolution; later he became group conscious and was no longer a separated individual.  As the soul is brought under the dominance of the spirit, an analogous two stages are likewise seen:

First, the disciple becomes aware not only of his group and allied groups, but his consciousness is expanded until it might be called planetary consciousness.

Secondly, he begins to merge that planetary awareness into something more synthetic still, and gradually develops the consciousness of the greater life which [28] includes the planetary life as man includes in his physical expression such living organisms as his heart or brain.  When this takes place, he begins to comprehend the significance of spirit, the one life back of all forms, the central energy which is the cause of all manifestation.

The first reaction of the average student on reading the above is to think immediately of the body nature as it expresses some type or other of energy.  Thus the duality is the thing noted, and that which employs the thing is present in his mind.  Yet one of the main necessities before occult aspirants at this time is to endeavour to think in terms of the one reality which is energy itself and nothing else.  Therefore, it is of value to emphasise in our discussion of this abstruse subject, the fact that spirit and energy are synonymous terms and are interchangeable.  Only in the realisation of this can we arrive at the reconciliation of science and religion and at a true understanding of the world of active phenomena by which we are surrounded and in which we move.

The terms, organic and inorganic, are largely responsible for much of the confusion and the sharp differentiation existing in the minds of many people between body and spirit, between life and form, and have led to a refusal to admit the essential identity in nature of these two.  The world in which we live is regarded by the majority as really solid and tangible, yet possessing some mysterious power (lying concealed within it) which produces movement, activity and change.  This is of course putting it crudely, but it suffices to sum up the unintelligent attitude.

The orthodox scientist is largely occupied with structures and relationships, with the composition of forms and with the activity produced by the component form parts and their interrelations and dependencies.  The [29] chemicals and elements, and the functions and parts they play, and their mutual interactions as they compose all forms in all the kingdoms of nature, are the subject of their investigation.  The nature of the atom, of the molecule, and the cell, their functions, the qualities of their force manifestations and the varying types of activity, the solving of the problem as to the character and nature of the energies—focalised or localised in the differing forms of the natural or material world—demand the consideration of the ablest minds in the world of thought.  Yet, the questions, What is Life? or What is Energy? or What is the process of Becoming and the nature of Being? remain unanswered.  The problem as to the Why and the Wherefore is regarded as fruitless and speculative and almost insoluble.

Nevertheless, through pure reason, and through the correct functioning of the intuition these problems can be solved and these questions answered.  Their solution is one of the ordinary revelations and attainments of initiation.  The only true biologists are initiates of the mysteries, for they have an understanding of life and its purpose and are so identified with the life principle that they think and speak in terms of energy and its effects, and all their activities in connection with the work of the planetary hierarchy are based on a few fundamental formulas which concern life as it makes itself felt through its three differentiations or aspects:—energy, force, matter.

It should be noted here, that only as a man understands himself can he arrive at an understanding of that which is the sum total that we call God.  This is a truism and an occult platitude but when acted upon leads to a revelation which makes the present 'Unknown God' a recognised reality.  Let me illustrate.

Man knows himself to be a living being and calls death that mysterious process wherein something which he [30] commonly designates as the breath of life is withdrawn.  On its withdrawal, the form disintegrates.  The cohesive vitalising force is gone and this produces a falling apart into its essential elements of that which has hitherto been regarded as the body.

This life principle, this basic essential of Being, and this mysterious elusive factor is the correspondence in man of that which we call spirit or life in the macrocosm.  Just as the life in man holds together, animates, vitalises and drives into activity the form and so makes of him a living being, so the life of God—as the Christian calls it,—performs the same purpose in the universe and produces that coherent, living, vital ensemble which we call a solar system.

This life principle in man manifests in a triple manner:

1. As the directional will, purpose, basic incentive.  This is the dynamic energy which sets his being functioning, brings him into existence, fixes the term of his life, carries him through the years, long or short, and abstracts itself at the close of his life cycle.  This is the spirit in man, manifesting as the will to live, to be, to act, to pursue, to evolve.  In its lowest aspect this works through the mental body or nature, and in connection with the dense physical makes itself felt through the brain.

2. As the coherent force.  It is that significant essential quality which makes each man different, which produces that complex manifestation of moods, desires, qualities, complexes, inhibitions, feelings, and characteristics which produce a man's peculiar psychology.  This is the result of the interplay between the spirit or energy aspect and the matter or body nature.  This is the distinctive subjective man, his colouring, or individual note; this it is which sets the [31] rate of vibratory activity of his body, produces his particular type of form, is responsible for the condition and nature of his organs, his glands, and his outer aspects.  This is the soul and—in its lowest aspect—is to be seen working through the emotional or astral nature and, in connection with the dense physical body, through the heart.

3. As the activity of the atoms and cells of which the physical body is composed.  It is the sum total of those little lives of which the human organs, comprising the entire man, are composed.  These have a life of their own and a consciousness which is strictly individual and identified.  This aspect of the life principle works through the etheric or vital body and, in connection with the solid mechanism of the tangible form, through the spleen.

Therefore let us remember that the definition of spirit is not possible of accomplishment, nor is the definition of God.  When one says that spirit is the inexpressible, undefinable cause, the emanating energy, the one life and source of being, the totality of all forces, of all states of consciousness and of all forms, the aggregate of life and that which is actively manifested of that life, the self and the not-self, force, and all that force motivates, one is in reality evading the issue, attempting the impossible and hiding truth behind a form of words.  This cannot however be avoided until such time as the soul-consciousness is touched and known and the formless One can be perceived through the clear light of the intuition.

One of the first lessons we need to learn is that our minds, being as yet unresponsive to the hidden intuitions, make it impossible for us to say with assurance that such a condition is this, that or the other; that, until we can function in our soul-consciousness, it is not for us to say what is or what is not; that until we have submitted ourselves [32] to the needed training we are in no position to deny or affirm anything.  Our attitude should be that of reasonable enquiry and our interest that of the investigating philosopher, willing to accept an hypothesis on the basis of its possibility, but being unwilling to acknowledge as proven truth anything until we know it for and in ourselves.  I, an aspirant to the higher mysteries, and one who has searched into them for a longer period than has been possible as yet to many, may write of things as yet impossible of demonstration to you or to the public who may read these instructions.  To me they may be and are truth and proven fact and for me that may suffice.  For you they should be regarded as significant possibilities and hints as to the direction in which truth may be sought, but beyond that you should not permit yourself to go.  The value of these instructions lies in their sum total and is to be found in the underlying structure or skeleton of coordinated and correlated statements which must be considered as a whole and not in detail and this for two reasons:

1. Language, as earlier said, hides truth and does not reveal it.  If truth is recognised, it is because the investigating student has found a point of truth in himself which serves to illumine his steps as he slowly and gradually presses forward.

2. There are many types of minds, and it is not to be expected that the information given, for instance, in this Treatise will appeal to all.  It should be remembered that all people are units of consciousness breathed forth on one of the seven emanations from God.  Therefore, even their monads or spiritual aspects are inherently different just as in the prism (which is one) there are the seven differentiated colours.  Even this is so only because of the nature and point of view and the perceiving apparatus of the man whose eye [33] registers and differentiates the varying rates of vibratory light.  These seven subsidiary groups again produce a varying outlook, mentality, and approach, all equally right, but all presenting a slightly different angle of vision.  When the above realisation is coupled to such factors as the different points in evolution, varying nationalities and characteristics, the inherent distinctions brought about through the interplay between the physical body involved and the environment, it will be apparent that no approach to such abstruse subjects as the nature of spirit and soul could have a general definition and submit themselves to a universal terminology.

b. The Soul, the Mediator or Middle Principle.

There are two angles or points of view from which the nature of the soul must be grasped:  one is the aspect of the soul in relation to the fourth kingdom in nature, i.e. the human, and the other that of the subhuman kingdoms in nature, which, it must be remembered, are reflections of the three higher.

It should be borne in mind that the soul of matter, the anima mundi, is the sentient factor in substance itself.  It is the responsiveness of matter throughout the universe and that innate faculty in all forms, from the atom of the physicist, to the solar system of the astronomer, which produces the undeniable intelligent activity which all demonstrate.  It can be called attractive energy, coherency, sentiency, aliveness, awareness or consciousness, but perhaps the most illuminating term is that the soul is the quality which every form manifests.  It is that subtle something which distinguishes one element from another, one mineral from another.  It is the intangible essential nature of the form which in the vegetable kingdom determines whether a rose or a cauliflower, an elm [34] or a watercress shall come into being; it is a type of energy which distinguishes the varying species of the animal kingdom and makes one man different from another in his appearance, nature and character.  The scientist has tabulated, investigated and analysed the forms; names have been selected and given to the elements, and the minerals, the forms of vegetable life and the varying species of animals; the structure of the forms and the history of their evolutionary progress have been studied and deductions and conclusions have been reached, but the solution of the problem of life itself still eludes the wisest, and until the understanding of the "web of life" or of the body of vitality which underlies every form and links every part of a form with every other part is recognised and known to be a fact in nature, the problem will remain unsolved.

The definition of the soul may be regarded as somewhat more feasible than that of spirit owing to the fact that there are many people who have experienced at sometime or another an illumination, an unfoldment, an uplifting, and a beatitude which has convinced them that there is a state of consciousness so far removed from that normally experienced as to bring them into a new state of being and a new level of awareness.  It is something felt and experienced, and involves that psychic expansion which the mystic has registered down the ages, and which St. Paul referred to when he spoke of being "caught up to the third Heaven," and of hearing things there which it is not lawful for man to utter.  When hearing and sight on those levels are both producing registered experience then we have the occultist plus the mystic.

1. The soul, macrocosmic and microcosmic, universal and human, is that entity which is brought into being when the spirit aspect and the matter aspect are related to each other.

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a. The soul therefore is neither spirit nor matter but is the relation between them.

b. The soul is the mediator between this duality; it is the middle principle, the link between God and His form.

c. Therefore the soul is another name for the Christ principle, whether in nature or in man.

2. The soul is the attractive force of the created universe and (when functioning) holds all forms together so that the life of God may manifest or express itself through them.

a. Therefore the soul is the form-building aspect, and is that attractive factor in every form in the universe, in the planet, in the kingdoms of nature and in man (who sums up in himself all the aspects) which brings the form into being, which enables it to develop and grow so as to house more adequately the indwelling life, and which drives all God's creatures forward along the path of evolution, through one kingdom after another, towards an eventual goal and a glorious consummation.

b. The soul is the force of evolution itself and this was in the mind of St. Paul when he spoke of the "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

3. This soul manifests differently in the various kingdoms of nature, but its function is ever the same, whether we are dealing with an atom of substance and its power to preserve its identity and form, and carry forward its activity along its own lines, or whether we deal with a form in one of the three kingdoms of nature, held coherently together, demonstrating characteristics, pursuing its own instinctual life and working as a whole towards something higher and better.

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a. Therefore the soul is that which gives distinctive characteristics and differing form manifestations.

b. The soul plays upon matter, forcing it to assume certain shapes, to respond to certain vibrations and to build those specified phenomenal forms which we recognise in the world of the physical plane as mineral, vegetable, animal and human,—and for the initiate certain other forms as well.

4. The qualities, vibrations, colours, and characteristics in all the kingdoms of nature are soul qualities, as are the latent powers in any form seeking expression, and demonstrating potentiality.  In their sum total at the close of the evolutionary period, they will reveal what is the nature of the divine life and of the world soul,—that oversoul which is revealing the character of God.

a. Therefore the soul, through these qualities and characteristics, manifests as conscious response to matter, for the qualities are brought into being through the interplay of the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter, and their effect upon each other.  This is the basis of consciousness.

b. The soul is the conscious factor in all forms, the source of that awareness which all forms register and of that responsiveness to surrounding group conditions which the forms in every kingdom of nature demonstrate.

c. Therefore the soul might be defined as that significant aspect in every form (made through this union of spirit and matter) which feels, registers awareness, attracts and repels, responds or denies response and keeps all forms in a constant condition of vibratory activity.

d. The soul is the perceiving entity produced through the union of Father-Spirit and Mother-Matter.  It is that which in the vegetable world, for instance, produces [37] response to the sun's rays, and the unfolding of the bud; it is that in the animal kingdom which enables it to love its master, hunt its prey, and follow out its instinctual life; it is that in man which makes him aware of his environment and his group, which enables him to live his life in the three worlds of his normal evolution as the onlooker, the perceiver, the actor.  This it is which enables him eventually to discover that this soul in him is dual and that part of him responds to the animal soul and part of him recognises his divine soul.  The majority however, at this time will be found to be functioning fully as neither purely animal nor purely divine, but can be regarded as human souls.

5. The soul of the universe is—for the sake of clarity—capable of differentiation or rather (owing to the limitations of the form through which that soul has to function) capable of recognition at differing rates of vibration and stages of development.  The soul nature in the universe therefore manifests in certain great states of awareness with many intermediate conditions, of which the major can be enumerated as follows:

a. Consciousness, or that state of awareness in matter itself, due to the fact that Mother-Matter has been fecundated by Father-Spirit and thus life and matter have been brought together.  This type of consciousness concerns the atom, molecule and cell of which all forms are constructed.  Thus the form of the solar system, of a planet, and of all that is found upon or within a planet is produced.

b. Intelligent sentient consciousness, i.e. that evidenced in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms.  It is this which is responsible for the quality, shape, and colouring of the vegetable and mineral forms and for their specific natures.

c. Animal consciousness, the awareness of soul response [38] of all forms in the animal kingdom, producing their distinctions, species and nature.

d. Human consciousness, or self-consciousness, towards which the development of the life, form and awareness in the other three kingdoms has gradually tended.  This term concerns the individual consciousness of man; and in the early stages is more animal than divine, owing to the dominance of the animal body with its instincts and tendencies.  H.P.B. defines man accurately as "an animal plus a God".  Later it is more strictly human, neither purely animal nor entirely divine, but fluctuating between the two stages, thus making the human kingdom the great battleground between the pairs of opposites, between the urge or pull of spirit and the lure of matter or mother-nature, and between that called the lower self and the spiritual man.

e. Group consciousness, which is the consciousness of the great sum totals, is arrived at by man through the development, first of all, of his individual consciousness, the sum total of the lives of his animal, emotional and mental natures, plus the spark of divinity dwelling within the form which they make.  Then comes awareness of his group, as specified for him in that group of disciples, working under some one Master who represents to him the Hierarchy.  The Hierarchy might be defined as the sum total of those sons of men who are no longer centered in the individualised self-consciousness, but who have entered into a wider realisation, that of the planetary group life.  There are stages in this realisation, mounting all the way from that tiny group recognition of the probationary disciple up to the completed group awareness of the life in Whom all forms have their being, the consciousness of the planetary Logos, that "Spirit before the Throne" Who manifests through the form of a planet, [39] as man manifests through his form in the human kingdom.

The soul therefore may be regarded as the unified sentiency and the relative awareness of that which lies back of the form of a planet and of a solar system.  These latter are the sum total of all forms, organic or inorganic, as the materialist differentiates them.  The soul, though constituting one great total, is, however, limited in its expression by the nature and quality of the form in which it is found and there are consequently forms which are highly responsive to and expressive of the soul, and others which—owing to their density and the quality of the atoms of which they are composed—are incapable of recognising the higher aspects of the soul or of expressing more than its lower vibration, tone or color.  The infinitely small is recognised, the infinitely vast is assumed; but it remains as yet a concept until such time as the consciousness of man is inclusive, as well as exclusive.  This concept will be understood when the second aspect is contacted and men understand the nature of the soul.  It must be also remembered that just as the basic triplicity of manifestation worked out symbolically in man as his quota of energy (physical energy), his nervous system and the body mass, so the soul can also be known as a triplicity, the higher correspondences of the lower.

There is first of all what might be called the spiritual will,—that quota of the universal will which any one soul can express, and which is adequate for the purpose of enabling the spiritual man to co-operate in the plan and purpose of the great life in which he has his being.  There is also the second soul quality which is spiritual love, the quality of group consciousness, of inclusiveness, of mediatorship, of attraction and of unification.  This is the paramount soul characteristic, for only the soul has [40] it as the dynamic factor.  The spirit, or monad is primarily the expression of will with love and intelligence as secondary principles, and the body nature, the personality, is paramountly distinguished by intelligence, but the soul has outstandingly the quality of love which demonstrates as wisdom also when the intelligence of the body nature is fused with the love of the soul.  The following tabulation may make the thought clearer.

 

Monad .................... Will .................... Purpose

1st Aspect

Will, enabling the Monad to participate in the universal purpose.

2nd Aspect

Love, the energy which is poured forth into the soul, making it what it is.

3rd Aspect

Intelligence, transmitted via the soul and brought into manifestation through the medium of the body.

Soul .................... Love .................... the Method

1st Aspect

Will, held in abeyance but expressing itself through the mind aspect of the personality and through Kundalini, which when aroused correctly makes possible the final initiations into the consciousness of the Monad.

2nd Aspect

Love, the dominating force of the soul life; through this possession and this type of energy, the soul can be en rapport with all souls.  Through the emotional body, the soul can be in touch with all animal or subhuman souls, through its work on its own plane, with the meditating souls of all men; and through the principle of buddhi, with the second aspect of the Monad.

3rd Aspect

Knowledge.  This aspect is brought into touch with the intelligence of all cells in the threefold body mechanism.

 

By a close study of the above it becomes apparent in what way the soul acts as the mediator between the monad and the personality.

The personality hides within itself, as a casket hides [41] the jewel, that point of soul light which we call the light in the head.  This is found within the brain, and is only discovered and later used when the highest aspect of the personality, the mind, is developed and functioning.  Then the union with the soul is made and the soul functions through the lower personal nature.

The soul hides within itself, as the "jewel in the lotus," that faculty of dynamic energy which is the manifested attribute of the monad, the will.  When the soul has unfolded all its powers and has learnt to include within its consciousness all that is connoted by the "myriad forms that Being takes," then in turn a higher or more inclusive state becomes possible and soul life is superseded by monadic life.  This involves an ability to know, to love, and to participate in the plans of a life which has the power to include within its radius of consciousness not only the sum total of the lives and consciousness of the life of the Logos of our planet, but all the lives and consciousnesses within our solar system.  The nature of this awareness is only possible of comprehension by the man who has arrived at soul-knowledge.  The great need at this time is for experts in the life of the soul and for a group of men and women who, undertaking the great experiment and transition, add their testimony to the truth of the statements of the mystics and occultists of the ages.

c. The Body, the Phenomenal Appearance.

Not much need be written here anent this, for the body nature and the form aspect have been the object of investigation and the subject of thought and discussion of thinking men for many centuries.  Much at which they have arrived is basically correct.  The modern investigator will admit the Law of Analogy as the basis of his premises and recognise sometimes the Hermetic theory that "As above, so below" may throw much light on the [42] present problems.  The following postulates may serve to clarify:—

1. Man, in his body nature, is a sum total, a unity.

2. This sum total is subdivided into many parts and organisms.

3. Yet these many subdivisions function in a unified manner and the body is a correlated whole.

4. Each of its parts differs in form and in function but all are inter-dependent.

5. Each part and each organism is, in its turn, composed of molecules, cells, and atoms and these are held together in the form of the organism by the life of the sum total.

6. The sum total called man is roughly divided into five parts some of greater importance than others, but all completing that living organism we call a human being.

a. The head.

b. The upper torso, or that part which lies above the diaphragm.

c. The lower torso, or that part lying below the diaphragm.

d. The arms.

e. The legs.

7. These organisms serve varied purposes and upon their due functioning and proper adjustment the comfort of the whole depends.

8. Each of these has its own life which is the sumtotal of the life of its atomic structure and is also animated by the unified life of the whole, directed from the head by the intelligent will or energy of the spiritual man.

9. The important part of the body is that triple division, the head, upper and lower torso.  A man can function and live without his arms and legs.