The World of Thought is the highest world in which the human Ego functions while still bound to earthly existence. Through thought and the application of will, man will ultimately rule his destiny. Nothing can manifest unless it first exists in thought. The material of this world is often referred to as mind substance or mind stuff.
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Thought force is the most powerful means of obtaining knowledge. If it is properly concentrated upon a subject, it will burn its way through any obstacle and solve any problem. If sufficient thought force is brought to bear, there is nothing beyond the power of human comprehension. So long as we scatter it, little can be accomplished. Thought existed before the brain. It built and is still building the brain for its expression. The four lower divisions of the World of Thought are known as the Region of Concrete Thought, and constitute what is termed the Second Heaven.
In the Region of Concrete Thought, before birth, the Ego, with the help of the Creative Hierarchies, particularly the Lords of Mind, forms the archetype of its future dense body, which is really a thought form — a living vibrating mold. The creative archetypes fashion the forms of the Physical World in their own likeness, each archetype giving part of itself to build the required form.
The Region of Abstract Thought consists of the finest thought substance of the World of Thought. The ideas germinated in the Region of Abstract Thought clothe themselves as thought forms in the mind stuff substance of the Region of Concrete Thought. The three upper divisions of the World of Thought are known as the Region of Abstract Thought, and constitute the Third Heaven.
The Region of Archetypal Forces is the most important in the five Worlds wherein man's entire evolution is carried on. From this Region Spirit works on matter in a formative way, the forms in the lower world being reflections of the spirit in the higher worlds.
1) Region of Passion and Low Desire.
2) Region of Impressionability.
3) Region of Wishes.
4) Region of Feeling.
5) Region of Soul Life.
6) Region of Soul Light.
7) Region of Soul Power.
2. The two great forces that hold sway in the Desire World are Attraction and Repulsion.
3. Anything happening in the Physical World builds its appropriate form in the Desire World. If an untrue account of the same occurrence is given, a form different and antagonistic to the first, or true one, is created. As they deal with the same occurrence, they are drawn together, but as their vibrations are so different they act upon each other with mutual destructiveness. The lie which starts this destruction not only kills the other form (murder) but by the same destructive vibrations destroys itself (suicide).
4. The esotericist always seeks for the good in so-called evil because this increases the number and power of the good forms and thus transmutes evil into good.
6. Interest and Indifference determine the fate of the object or idea which has been presented. Interest starts the forces of Attraction or Repulsion. Indifference withers the object or idea against which it is directed.
7. Art, altruism, and philanthropy are expressed through the higher regions of the Desire World.
Supplemental
Student Material:
I. Machines Versus People
We are in a high technology age in which machines have been developed that
can see (cameras); hear (tape recorders); speak (tape players); plant,
cultivate, water, and harvest food; assist in many manufacturing processes;
move on the ground (cars) and in the air (airplanes); and carry out logical
processes (computers). These accomplishments have led many to ask whether
machines can be constructed that can do everything that humans can do, and
many researchers have been working with the aim of developing machines that
can rival a human. These attempts, although they have resulted in machines
with quite amazing abilities, have also encountered profound problems.
Hubert L. Dreyfus, in his book "What Computers Can't Do," has made an
extensive study of the limitations of computers (and thence also of
computer-controlled machines). He notes that the main areas in which
computers are unable to compete with humans are 1) seeing purpose and acting
with purpose, 2) seeing a whole picture and making all parts fit in with the
whole, 3) filling in unseen or unspecified details based on a sense of the
whole, 4) deciding what is relevant and ignoring irrelevancies, 5) seeing
similarities among situations.
Clairvoyants can give added information as to why machines cannot do
certain things that humans can do. Clairvoyants can see that humans have, in
addition to their dense physical body, a vital body, a desire body, a
concrete mind, a Human Spirit, a Life Spirit, and a Divine Spirit. Machines
do not have these higher bodies and spirits, and man, in his present state of evolution, does not yet have the ability to endow machines with these
bodies and spirits. Thence, machines will not be able to exhibit the
characteristics that result from these bodies and spirits functioning
through the dense body. The action of the vital body in the dense physical
body enables the dense physical body to assimilate food, excrete whatever
substances are not needed, grow heal, and reproduce itself. The vital body
also stores a record of not only everything that a person does, but also
stores the effects that these actions have had on other people. These
effects will, in time, be felt by the person who initiated the actions, and
thus people are held accountable for their actions and develop a feeling of
responsibility. The action of the desire body in the dense and vital bodies
permits feelings of love and hate, sympathy and antipathy, purpose and
devotion. The action of the mind enables one to create an image of a whole
situation in which all the parts are related. The mind can also operate
intuitively (picking up ideas and meanings that have not been explicitly
stated) and creatively.
The Human Spirit (which operates in the region of abstract thought) can
give direction as to what rules of action should be used under what
circumstances. For example, the "rules" of action that one uses in the
workplace may be quite different from the "rules" of action one uses at a
party. What is appropriate in one place may not be appropriate in the other
place. (Computer robots generally have to be set up to operate under a very
specific and limited set of conditions, and cannot operate outside the
conditions for which they were constructed.)
The Life Spirit provides an intuitive feeling of what is right and what
is wrong, and of what is good and what is bad, and what is valuable and what
is useless. The wisdom stored in the Life Spirit is the extracted essence of
the experiences of many lifetimes on earth. The Divine Spirit gives the
ability to say "I will" and to act self-consciously and with initiative.
When they read the plan for the future evolution of mankind,
clairvoyants tell us that in the Jupiter Period, men will develop the
ability to give vital bodies to the machines that they create. In the Venus Period, men will develop the ability to also give a desire body to the
machines that they create. In the Vulcan Period, men will develop the
ability to add a mind to the machines that they create. Then the current
dreams of creating living, feeling, and thinking bodies will be fulfilled.
The spirits that inhabit these bodies will not, however, be created by man.
They already exist and will simply be using the bodies as habitations in
which to work and evolve.
The main pitfall of people in a technological age does not lie in the
creating of super machines. The intellectual exercise is good for people's
minds, and the machines can take over tasks that would be quite boring for
humans to do. The main pitfall lies in seeing the machines take over (some)
human tasks and inferring that humans are nothing more than machines, and
then proceeding to treat humans as one would treat a machine. We must strive
always to keep in mind the fact that humans are sparks of God, and are
deserving of our respect and even wonder. All humans, however intellectually
and spiritually blind they appear at present, have infinite potential, and
will through the evolutionary process some day become as all-loving and all-
wise and as creative as the Christ.
Reference:
— Dreyfus, Hubert L. What Computers Can't Do New York: Harper and Row, 1979
II. Aging
Material scientists have observed that human bodies, in time, go through a
process of aging. The body becomes clogged with earthy deposits. Cells in
the various organs (heart, kidneys, brain, etc.) break down so that the
capacity of the organs to function diminishes. The artery walls become
inelastic and thicken, which makes it more difficult for blood to flow. The
bones tend to lose strength.
Material scientists have studied means of slowing the aging process. To
slow down the clogging of the body with mineral deposits, one can use foods
and drinks that contain little earthy material, such as distilled water,
milk, fresh vegetables and fruits. One also needs to maintain good
elimination, so earthy matter taken in can be eliminated as readily as
possible. In slowing down the cellular breakdown process, pantothenic acid,
vitamin C, and vitamin E are important. Pantothenic acid is found in brewer's
yeast, potatoes, peas, brown rice, sunflower seeds, and whole wheat. Vitamin
C is found in all fresh fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E is found in whole
grains, leafy green vegetables, nuts, beans, and peas. Also other B
vitamins, selenium, and the amino acids cysteine, methionine, and ornithin
aid in preventing cell breakdown. Unsaturated fats (because they contain
free radicals) may promote cell breakdown. To slow down the hardening and
thickening of the artery walls, one needs to avoid taking in too much
cholesterol and fat. To do this, one should limit one's intake of milk fat,
meat fat, egg yolks, coconut oil, coca, margarine, and oils. Skim milk may
be used in place of whole milk. Grains, nuts, and legumes may be used in
place of flesh foods. Exercise also helps keep cholesterol levels low.
To keep the bones from losing strength, one needs exercise, and
appropriate amounts of vitamin C and calcium. Good sources of calcium are
milk, soybeans, leafy green vegetables, sesame seeds, almonds, and sunflower
seeds. Vitamin D (in eggs, milk, sprouted seeds, mushrooms, sunflower seeds,
and sunshine) and the amino acid lysine aid calcium absorption.
Material science can only give suggestions for slowing the aging
process. it still cannot stop the aging process. We still find ourselves in
the situation noted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when he wrote,
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
Material scientists have noted that not only human bodies undergo aging,
but also animal and plant bodies age and eventually die. The Earth ages as
its deposits oc coal, oil, gas, and minerals are mined and used, and as its
mountains wear down and are carried by running water into the sea, and as
its interior gradually cools. The sun ages as it radiates heat and light
into space. To replenish the heat and light lost, it steadily burns nuclear
fuel in its interior. Each day, our sun burns 10 to the 13th power of its 10
to the 27th power tons of fuel in its center. The fuel supply is limited.
Eventually, after about 10 billion years from the time when it started
burning fuel (about 5 billion years from now), the sun will exhaust its
nuclear fuel. Then it will ultimately cool and cease to shine.
Material scientists have, in fact, observed that all irreversible
processes in the universe lead to the aging of the universe. This is
summarized in what is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states
that, "In every irreversible process, the entropy of the universe
increases." Entropy is a technical term that has a somewhat complicated
mathematical definition, but roughly, entropy is a measure of the physical
disorder in the universe. When a sheet of paper is torn into bits, the torn
paper is more disordered than the whole sheet. The Second Law notes that we
may start with a whole sheet and tear it up, but we cannot start with a torn sheet and put it back together again unless something else sacrifices its
order to accomplish the process. If a human being expends energy in putting
the paper back together, the increase in order of the paper will be less
than the decrease in order caused by the consumption of plants (and
sometimes animals) in order to have the energy to put the paper together.
Thus the disorder of the universe increases and the universe has aged.
Clairvoyants can give added insight into the process of aging. They see
that while earthly activities of humans cause aging of the dense body, they
also cause growth of the human soul. The record of earthly activities is
stored in the vital body. This record contains both what we did and what
effects our actions had on others. In time, the spirit reviews these records
either voluntarily during life in the exercise of retrospection, or automatically after death. (The exercise of retrospection involves reviewing the events of each day
after retiring for the night before falling asleep. The events are reviewed
in reverse order from that in which they occurred so that effects are seen
first, then the causes are seen afterward. As the events are reviewed, one
is supposed to try to feel what effects one's actions have had on other
people, and to evaluate whether one's actions were right or wrong.) When the record is reviewed, the actions are
noted and their effects are felt, and the spirit extracts from the total
experience conclusions about what is right and wrong, what is good and bad,
and what is valuable and worthless. The spirit stores these conclusions and
thence grows in wisdom and power. The aging process, which appears to be a
continuous decline from the physical point of view, is seen to be one of
continuous growth and improvement from the spiritual point of view. As Paul
said (1 Cor. 15:44), "What is sown a physical body is raised a spiritual
(soul) body," and (2 Cor. 4:16), "Though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed every day."
The clairvoyant can also see that, although the dense body ages, the
pattern according to which the dense body was constructed remains unharmed
by time. When the dense body has aged to the point that it is uninhabitable,
the spirit leaves the dense body, but takes with it the pattern according to
which the dense body was made. The spirit may make changes in the pattern if it has noticed any defects, and then it uses this pattern for building a new
body within the womb of a new mother. Although bodies decline during a
lifetime on Earth, the trend from lifetime to lifetime on earth is one of
continued improvement.
Similarly, the Solar System can withdraw from manifestation when it
"runs down" and needs to get a new start with renewed impetus and order.
Because physical things appear to be in a continuous state of decline,
one may become pessimistic and lacking in hope if one focuses one's
attention only on the physical. Let us therefore strive to always keep in
mind that the spirit is in a continuous state of growth, and that we are
step-by-step moving toward a state of glory beyond all comparison.
III. Evolution
Based on their observations of the nature of nuclear decay processes,
material scientists have deduced various laws of nuclear decay. Applying
these laws to various materials, it is possible to deduce how long the
nuclear-decay processes have proceeded in an undisturbed manner within the
material. In this manner the time since a rock solidified or the time since
a plant or animal died can be determined from a sample of the rock, plant,
or animal. Using these procedures, scientists have found that moon rocks are
between five and six billion years old and the oldest earth rocks are
between three and five billion years old. Fossils of plant and animal bodies
have been found that have ages of up to about 560 million years. When these
fossils are ordered according to the time when they were formed, it is
observed that in earlier times only the simpler forms of life were present,
and as time progressed more and more complex forms appeared. The oldest
fossils are algae, jellyfish, soft corals, and primitive worms. Later the
first shelled marine animals appeared, then later the first fish, then the
first amphibians, then the first reptiles, then the first birds, then the
first mammals, then later the first humans appeared.
The material scientist learns about the past by making present
observations and then extrapolating backward according to scientific laws as
he understands them. This method obviously has limitations as to how far
back it can go and as to its accuracy. The clairvoyant can study the past with greater accuracy and can go further back than the material scientist
because he can read the record of the past, which is stored in the
superphysical worlds. The material scientist cannot see the superphysical
powers that directed the development of the physical processes, but the
clairvoyant can see what these powers did, and thus can help complete the
picture.
The clairvoyant Max Heindel gives a detailed account of the evolution of
the earth and life forms on it and of the spirits working in these life
forms in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception. He starts his account at a time
that precedes even the existence of the present Solar System. He tells how
present humanity, in the far distant past, were spiritual beings within God,
and had no dense body or feelings or thoughts as we do now. We had no self-consciousness and no ability to exercise initiative. To help us develop
self-consciousness, various creative hierarchies within God helped us build
bodies through many lengthy steps, which involved many times construction of
bodies, working through the bodies for a time, and then leaving those
bodies, modifying the body plans, and then reconstructing the bodies. This
had gone on for long ages even before the present earth came into existence.
The spirits inhabiting present-day animal bodies had also been helped to
start learning to build bodies prior to the present earth, but they
generally started later than present humanity. The spirits inhabiting
present-day plant bodies had also been helped to start learning to build
bodies prior to the existence of the present earth, but they generally
started later than the present animals.
The clairvoyants say that the steps in the construction of the life
forms on the present earth were as follows: First humans (with the help of
the various creative hierarchies) built mineral forms (various atomic and
molecular combinations and crystal forms). Then the humans left the mineral
forms and built (with help) plant forms and worked in and through these.
Then they left the plant forms and built (with help) animal forms, and
finally they built (with help) human forms, and are still building and improving these forms. Once a form has been constructed, it can be
reproduced (by generation) and other spirits can inhabit the form than
originally designed it. Thus the animal and plant spirits started
functioning on earth by entering into the forms constructed originally by
and for the humans. Being less advanced, the animals and plants could not do
as well in body building as the humans had, so under the care of the animal
and plant spirits (and the higher spirits who guide them, the forms that
they had taken over from the humans sometimes initially degenerated. For
example, after an "early ape" body had been formed by humans, some of these
body forms (inhabited by human spirits) were improved to the present-day
human form, and others (inhabited by animal spirits) degenerated to the
present-day ape forms. In time, of course, as the animal spirits continue to
work through their ape forms, they will gradually learn to improve them.
Material scientists have observed that the genetic pattern of the
offspring is sometimes different than the genetic pattern of the parents.
Material scientists are not able to see the powers that direct the changes
in genetic patterns, because these powers have their origin in the
superphysical worlds. Max Heindel describes in detail the many creative
hierarchies who have directed and who are directing the
body-building
processes. These creative hierarchies build with purpose. They try to make
the bodies capable of being more and more responsive to the Will of the
Spirits that inhabit them. We, as humans, are among the creative hierarchies
and we work both at improving the designs of animal and plant bodies. Most
of this design work is done between earth lives, when our consciousness is
focused in the higher worlds.
Some new body-forms are made and some go into extinction, some advance
and some degenerate. The important thing to keep in mind, however, is that
spirits never go into extinction and that they continually evolve (in
general). The basic law of evolution is "Onward and Upward Forever."
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