At death the higher vehicles — vital body, desire body, and mind — are seen to leave the dense body with a spiral movement, but are still connected with it by a slender, glistening, silvery cord shaped much like two figure sixes reversed. This cord is composed of ether, desire stuff and mind stuff, being fastened to the dense seed atom in the heart, to the seed atom of the vital body in the solar plexus, to the seed atom of the desire body in the liver, and to the seed atom of the mind in the frontal sinus at the root of the nose. During life the seed atom of the dense body is situated in the left ventricle of the heart, near the apex. At death the forces of this atom rise to the brain by way of the pneumo-gastric nerve.
Question 1:
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When the silver cord is loosened in the heart a time of vital importance comes to the Ego. The whole of his past life passes before his sight like a panorama, the events being presented in reverse order. This record is etched into the desire body, providing the basis for the purgatorial existence.
After death the collapse of the vital body terminates the panorama and forces the man to withdraw in the Desire World. If the dying man could leave all his desires behind him, the desire body would very quickly fall away from him, leaving him free to proceed into the heaven world, but unfortunately, in most cases his interest and desires bind him to the Desire World.
From the First Heaven man, leaving the desire body behind, enters the Second Heaven, clad in the sheath of mind containing the three seed atoms with the quintessence of the three discarded vehicles.
Having assimilated the fruits of the last life, the Spirit ascends into the Third Heaven for a period of rest and strengthening. After a time there comes a desire for new experiences, and a new birth is contemplated. Panoramas of the different lives offered are shown by the Recording Angels and the Ego makes its choice.
1. The names of man's four bodies are: Dense or physical body, vital body, desire body and mind or mental body.
The dense body is correlated to the chemical region of the Physical World.
The vital body is correlated to the etheric region of the Physical World.
The desire Body is correlated to the Desire World.
The mind or mental body is correlated to the concrete thought region of the World of Thought.
2. The Human Spirit power is correlated to the abstract thought region of the World of Thought.
The Life Spirit power is correlated to the World of Life Spirit.
The Divine Spirit power is correlated to the World of Divine Spirit.
3. From its specialized portion of the Region of Abstract Thought the Ego views the impressions made by the outer world upon the vital body through the senses, together with the feelings and emotions generated by them in the desire body and mirrored in the mind. From these mental images we form our ideas.
4. a) It may be projected against the desire body in an endeavor to arouse feeling which will lead to immediate action.
b) Where no immediate action is called for, the image may be projected directly against the reflecting ether for future use.
c) The image may be projected toward another mind to act as suggestion, to carry information, etc.
5. The conscious memory is the result of sense perceptions and to which we have conscious access. The subconscious memory is made by means of the etheric record. These are the pictures that have been inspired and transmitted to the blood and thence to the negative atoms of the vital body. The superconscious memory is the record of past lives engraved on the Life Spirit.
6. When the desire body does not fully withdraw from the dense and vital bodies the axis of perception is askew and the recuperation which results from the restoration of rhythmic harmony in the desire body in the Desire World is prevented.
7. The Divine Spirit works on the dense body to bring the Conscious Soul into being; the Life Spirit upon the vital body to produce the Intellectual soul, the Human Spirit upon the desire body to produce the Emotional Soul. The addition of this threefold soul, or pabulum, in turn enhances the consciousness of the threefold Spirit.
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
— Galatians 5:18
The creation of laws for the governing of people is a Piscean concept.
Individual freedom is the Aquarian ideal. As we make the transition from the
Piscean to the Aquarian Age, we need to consider the role of laws in society
and to give serious thought as to the degree to which we are ready to get
along without laws.
Laws may save people the trouble of thinking. Perhaps this is why people
consult books on rules of etiquette in order to learn how to give a wedding
reception or a baby shower, or to determine what to do at a funeral. Saving
people from thinking may, however, be equivalent to stagnating their
intellectual growth. Just as a person's muscles and bones would deteriorate
if their body were encased in a plaster cast, so also will a person's
creative, reasoning, and problem-solving powers deteriorate if their actions
are bounded on all sides by laws.
Another problem with laws is that they are set up to govern certain
situations, and if the situations change, the laws may no longer be
suitable. This is illustrated in the story of Epaminandas.
One day Epaminandas was sent to the market to buy butter. The day was
very hot and on the way home the butter melted. When he got home his mother
said, "When you bring butter from the market you should wrap it in cool
leaves, and when you pass the stream on the way, dunk it in the stream to
cool it."
The next week his mother sent him to market to get a puppy dog. He
bought the puppy dog, wrapped it in leaves, and when he got to the stream,
he dunked it in the stream and almost drowned it. When he got home his
mother said, "That is no way to treat a puppy dog. You should tie a string
around its neck and lead it home."
The next week she sent him to market to get a loaf of bread. Epaminandas
bought the loaf of bread, tied a string around it, and dragged it home.
If a child is taught only laws, and not how to think for himself, what
will he do when he grows up and encounters an ever-changing world which
contains situations and problems which his parents and teachers never
dreamed of?
Another problems with laws is that those who make the laws may sometimes
be mistaken. Tennyson described such a situation in his poem "Charge of the
Light Brigade," the first two stanzas of which are:
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward the Light Brigade!"
"Charge for the guns!" he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do or die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
If one person commands six hundred people, and that one makes a mistake,
then the mistake is repeated six hundred times. If each person thinks for
himself, at least each mistake is done only once.
Laws can give direction to the ignorant. If a child does not understand
the dangers of a hot stove, it can be given the law, "Don't touch," to keep
it from burning itself. If, however, the ignorance is removed, the law is no
longer needed. Once the child understands what excessive heat can do to
human flesh, commands are no longer needed to keep it away from a hot stove.
In the Aquarian Age, people will be expected to develop the Light within so
that they will not need laws to guide them.
Another problem with laws is that laws can produce right action, but
they cannot generate right feeling. A manager in a store can require his
employees to say polite things to the customers, but he cannot make the
employees put love and meaning into their words. Laws can require people to
fulfill contracts, but they cannot make people put devotion into their work.
Laws can make people behave properly in situations in which they think they
may get caught and punished, but they cannot make people feel responsible
for their own actions. Laws can keep people from stealing from one another
and may even force them to give to one another (through taxation and welfare
programs), but laws cannot force people to love, respect, and care about one another. In fact, laws may hinder the development of right feeling. If we
have our attention focused on obeying laws, we may not let our hearts lead
the way. If a law forces us to contribute to some worthy cause, the heart
may not bother developing any true concern or sympathy for the cause. J.
Krishnamurti wrote (in "The First and Last Freedom," p. 92): "A mind that
conforms to any pattern of authority, inward or outward, cannot be sensitive."
A baby cannot learn to walk if it is kept tied in bed due to fear that
it might fall down. If the baby is to learn to walk it must practice, and
practice will involve many stumbling efforts and many falls. In the Aquarian
Age, all will be expected to develop the Light within to guide their own
lives. People can only learn to guide their lives if they are free to make
their own choices and if they can see the consequences of their choices, and
thence learn from their experiences. People, given freedom, may make
mistakes. But this is the only way to learn how to exercise choice and to
grow. Only as the people within a society grow will the society as a whole
grow.
Henry David Thoreau had aligned himself with a Aquarian ideal when he
wrote (in "Civil Disobedience," 1849): "I heartily accept the motto — `That
government is best which governs least'; and I should like to see it acted
up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, if finally amounts to
this, which I also believe — `That government is best which governs not at
all'; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government
which they will have."
References
— Krishnamurti, J. The First and Last Freedom, Wheaton, Illinois: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1968.
— Newbrough, Michael, Liberty and Consciousness, San Marcos, California: Palomar College, 1984
II. Copying Versus
Exploring
Tie two birds together.
They will not be able to fly, even though they now have four wings."
— Jalaludin Rumi
In the the Piscean Age, people tend to seek to copy what others have
done. They follow traditions and customs. Once they have established a
pattern of behavior, they continue in this pattern out of habit. In the
Aquarian Age, people will break away from the past and explore new
territory. As we move toward the Aquarian Age, we need to give consideration
as to when we should copy what other have done or repeat what we have done
in the past, and when we should break away from the past and find new ways
of doing things.
One situation in which people sometimes copy others is when they feel
subordinate to another and are trying to gain favor with their superior.
Shakespeare illustrated this in his play "Hamlet" in which the following
conversation occurs:
Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in the shape of a camel? Polonius: By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed. Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel. Polonius: It is backed like a weasel. Hamlet: Or like a whale. Polonius: Very like a whale.
Hamlet was the Prince of Denmark, and Polonius, no doubt, thought that he
could win Hamlet's favor by being agreeable. As the Aquarian Age approaches,
people will be less likely to play the subordinate-superior game, as each
begins to feel his own self-worth and to respect the self-worth of others.
In the Aquarian Age, people will not feel that they need to agree with one
another in order to be on good terms, and all will seek to hear new ideas
and gain new perspectives.
Another situation in which people may tend to copy others is when they
have no comprehension of a situation and have no basis for deciding for
themselves what to do. Such blind copying is, however, dangerous. The
student who has no comprehension of a given subject may try to copy an
answer written by another student, only to find later that the other student
was answering a different question. Different people are in different
situations in life and what is suitable for one may not be suitable for
another. Also, people frequently find in life that the ones they have chosen
to copy from do not have any more comprehension of the situation than they
do, so that it ends up with the blind leading the blind. The only safe
procedure in determining a line of action is to first gain a comprehension
of the situation for ourselves and then decide for ourselves what to do.
If we only copy from others, then we can never go where others have not
gone. We cannot become leaders who explore new territory and show others the
way unless we are willing to step out from the crowd and try new things and
travel untrodden ways. If we only repeat what we have done in the past, we
cannot evolve or grow or reach new goals.
If we cease copying and start trying that which is new, we must be
prepared for an adventure. In Tolkien's story The Hobbitt, the wizard, Gandalf, told Bilbo that he was having difficulty finding someone to go on
an adventure, and Bilbo responded, "I should think so — in these parts! We
are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing
uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody
sees in them." In time, however, Bilbo was persuaded to go on an adventure.
One thing that helped persuade him was a song sung by the dwarves, which
went in part,
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere the break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
This is, ultimately, what usually persuades people to go on an adventure:
They are seeking something which they do not have and which cannot be found
in the corner grocery store or on other well-trodden paths.
Besides making us late for dinner, adventures may make us feel insecure
and unsafe. There is a Sufi saying (Idries Shah, The Way of the Sufi, p.
89):
Deep in the sea are riches
beyond compare
But if you seek safety,
it is on the shore.
One who recognizes the goodness and omnipresence of God will be more
willing to enter unknown regions than one who does not have this
realization. Christ encouraged his disciples, as they set out to preach the
Gospel to a hostile world, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul." (Matt. 10:28) Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the
Galatians, "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap." (Gal. 5:7) If we align ourselves with the forces of
Light and serve the Light, then the forces of evil cannot hurt us. Wherever
we go, even if we make our bed in Sheol or "take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea" (Ps. 139:9), God is present,
and his love, justice, and mercy prevail.
References
— Shah, Idries, The Way of the Sufi, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1970
— Tolkien, J.R.R, The Hobbit, New York: Ballantine Books, 1966
III. Personal Initiative
In The Aquarian Age
In the world's broad field of battle
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife.
— Longfellow
Sometimes external forces may induce us to act in certain ways. Other
people may tell us to do something, or ask us to do something, or expect us
to do something, or praise or blame us for doing certain things. The weather
or astrological radiations may stimulate us to do certain things rather than
other things. People, however, need not be like leaves blown in the wind.
People do not have to move in the direction in which the external forces
push, but they rather can choose whether they will respond to the external forces, and how they will respond. People may even choose to act when no
external forces are present. Whenever someone initiates an action which is
not a response to an external force, that person is said to exhibit
initiative.
In the Piscean Age, people were not expected or encouraged to exhibit
initiative. The leaders told people what to do and the people did as they
were told without question. In the Aquarian Age, however, initiative is to
be developed. Aquarius is ruled by the planet Uranus, one of whose
characteristics is outreach." As people reach out to new ideas, they will
think up new ways of doing things and thence will initiate new actions.
In any age the constellation opposite the constellation of the age shows
the esoteric ideals which will be striven for in the age. Thus, Leo (which
is opposite Aquarius) shows the esoteric ideals for the Aquarian Age. Leo is
ruled by the Sun, which stimulates people to develop the power to say, "I
will." In the Aquarian Age, the constellation of Leo will help awaken the
Spirit within man to the point where it can exert the willpower to make
people self-motivated.
If we would respond to the Aquarian radiations, we must strive to
develop initiative in ourselves. As we do so there are several things we
need to keep in mind.
1) As we break away from imitating friends, following leaders, and
accepting customs and begin to make our own decisions, we need some inner
Light to guide us. We must awaken the Light of Truth and Love within
ourselves so that we can distinguish truth from falsehood and right from
wrong.
2) We must always think before we act. Regardless of what others say or
do, or what we feel like doing (due to our habits or to astrological force patterns), we must have well-considered reasons for everything we do.
3) We must be committed to finding for ourselves ways to serve, and to
serving others whenever the opportunity arises. Max Heindel notes ("Letters
to Students," p. 53) that we must learn to work without leadership; each
being prompted by the Spirit of Love from within to strive for the physical,
moral, and spiritual uplift of all the world. He further notes ("Questions
and Answers," Volume II) that the Elder Brothers who guide the
spiritual growth of the pupils in the Western Mystery Schools "never urge,
never praise, and never blame. The urge must come from within the pupil, and
they teach him to judge himself...In every respect they educate him to stand
upon his own feet without leaning on them or anyone else."
We need to continuously examine the circumstances we find ourselves in,
decide what needs to be done, and then initiate those actions which will
lead to the desired goals.
Public opinion is a vulgar, impertinent tyrant who deliberately makes
life unpleasant for anyone who is not content to be the average man.
— Dean W. R. Inge
Radiations from Aquarius stimulate creativity. We will be able to
respond to these radiations most effectively if we make a conscious effort
to do so. Let us, therefore, give some attention to the attitudes and
techniques which facilitate creativity.
The creative person has the courage to be different and to try something
new. As long as someone feels that he has to think and act like everyone
else, he will not be creative. As long as one is afraid to do anything
different because someone might laugh at him, he will not be creative. The
creative person generally has a sense of humor and enjoys putting ideas
together in unusual and playful ways and often will laugh along with others
at the novelty of his creations.
The creative person views common things from new perspectives, asks
questions that others would not think of asking, and then seeks answers. He
clears old ideas out from his mind and looks at the world with the eyes of a
child. He lets himself forget that he has been told that shoes could be put
on the feet and starts wondering what would happen if he put on the feet and
starts wondering what would happen if he put them on his hands. He lets
himself forget that when you write, the pen should move and the paper moved.
He is not satisfied with the statement learned in school that, "It is
gravity which pulls things toward the Earth," and he starts wondering what gravity is and how the pulling is really accomplished. He has seen clothes
hung out to dry many times, but he can still look at them with wonder and
ask how the water manages to jump off the clothes.
The creative person can imagine something he has not seen or which he
has only partially seen. He can imagine how the room would look if the
furniture were rearranged, or how a new tool could make a job easier to do,
or what chain of events could have produced some observed end results.
The creative person is flexible in his thinking. He is willing to change
his thinking as the situations change. He is willing to consider many
different solutions to a given problem. When one proposed solution is shown
not to work, he is willing to try some other.
The creative person judges his creations by his own standards, not by
what others think. He is guided by his inner vision, not by external praise
or criticism.
Supplemental Student
Material Reference: The Aquarian Age,
Elsa M.Glover, PhD
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