The Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception
by Max Heindel
(Part 5)
Part II
Cosmogenesis and
Anthropogenesis
V. The Relation
of Man to God
In the preceding sections we have been considering man in relation to
three of the five Worlds which form the field of his evolution. We have
partly described these Worlds and noted the different vehicles of consciousness
by means of which he is correlated to them. We have studied his relation to
the other three Kingdoms — mineral, plant and animal — noting the difference
in vehicles, and consequent difference in consciousness, between man and each
of these Kingdoms. We have followed man through one life cycle in the three
Worlds and have examined the operation of the twin laws of Consequence and
Rebirth in their bearing upon the evolution of man.
In order to understand further details as to the progress of man, it now
becomes necessary to study his relation to the Grand Architect of the
Universe — to God and to the Hierarchies of Celestial Beings which stand upon
the many different rungs of the Jacob's ladder of attainment that stretches
from man to God and beyond.
This is a task of the utmost difficulty, rendered still more so by the
indefinite conceptions of God which exist in the minds of the majority of
the readers of literature dealing with this subject. It is true that names, in
and of themselves, are not important, but it matters greatly that we know what
we mean by a name; otherwise misunderstanding will result, and
if a common nomenclature is not agreed upon by writers and teachers, the
present confusion will be worse confounded. When the name "God" is used it
is always uncertain whether The Absolute, the One Existence, is meant; or
The Supreme Being, Who is the Great Architect of the Universe; or God, Who
is the Architect of our Solar system.
The division of the Godhead into "Father," "Son" and "Holy Ghost" is
also confusing. Although the Beings designated by these names are immeasurably
above man and worthy of all the reverence and worship he is capable of
rendering to his highest conceptions of Divinity, yet They are different
from one another in actual fact.
Diagram 6 and
Diagram 11 will perhaps make the subject clear.
It must be kept in mind that the Worlds and Cosmic Planes are not one above
another in space, but that the seven Cosmic Planes inter-penetrate each other
and all the seven Worlds. They are states of spirit-matter, permeating one
another, so that God and the other great Beings who are mentioned are not far
away in space. They pervade every part of their own realms and realms of
greater density than their own. They are all present in our world and are
actually and de facto "nearer than hands and feet." It is a literal
truth when we say " in Him we live and move and have our being." For none of
us could exist outside these great Intelligences Who pervade and sustain our
world with Their Life.
It has been shown that the Etheric Region extends beyond the
atmosphere of our dense Earth; that the Desire World extends out into space
further than the Etheric Region; also that the World of Thought extends
further into inter-planetary Space than either of the others. Of course, the
Worlds of rarer substance occupy a larger space than the denser World, which
has crystallized and condensed, thus occupying less space.
The same principle is operative in the Cosmic Planes. The densest of
them is the seventh (counting from the top downward). It is represented in
the diagram as larger than any of the others, the reason being that it is
the plane with which we are most intimately concerned, and it was desired to
indicate its principle subdivisions. In reality, however, it occupies less
space than any of the other Cosmic Planes, although it must be borne in mind
that, even with this comparatively restrictive qualification as to its
extent, it is still immeasurably vast, far beyond the utmost power of the
human mind to conceive, comprising within its limits millions of Solar Systems
similar to our own, which are the fields for the evolution of many grades of
beings of approximately our own status.
Of the six Cosmic Planes above our own we know nothing, save that we are
told they are the fields of activity of great Hierarchies of Beings of
indescribable splendor.
Proceeding from our Physical World to the inner and finer worlds and up
through the Cosmic Planes, we find that God, the Architect of our Solar System,
the Source and goal of our existence, is found in the highest division of the
seventh Cosmic Plane. This is His World.
His realm includes the systems of evolution carried on in the other
planets which belong to our system — Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth,
Venus, Mercury, and their satellites.
The great Spiritual Intelligences designated as the Planetary Spirits,
which guide these evolutions, are called the "Seven Spirits before the
Throne." They are His Ministers, each presiding over a certain department of
the Kingdom of God — which is our solar System. The Sun is also the field
of evolution of the most exalted Beings in our Cosmos. They alone can endure
and advance by means of the terrific solar vibrations. The Sun is the
nearest approach we have to a visible symbol of God, yet it is but a
veil for That which is behind. What That is cannot be uttered publicly.
When we try to discover the origin of the Architect of our Solar System, we
find that we must pass to the highest of the seven Cosmic Planes. We are then
in the Realm of the Supreme Being, Who emanated from the Absolute.
The Absolute is beyond comprehension. No expression nor simile
which we are capable of conceiving can possibly convey any adequate
idea. Manifestation implies limitation. Therefore, we may at best
characterize the Absolute as Boundless Being; as the Root of Existence.
From the Root of Existence — The Absolute — proceeds the Supreme Being, at
the dawn of manifestation. This is The One.
In the first chapter of John this Great Being is called God. From this
Supreme Being emanates The Word, the Creative Fiat "without whom was not
anything made," and this Word is the alone-begotten Son, born of His father
(the Supreme Being) before all worlds — but positively not Christ.
Grand and glorious as is Christ, towering high above mere human nature, He is
not this Exalted Being. Truly "the Word was made flesh," but not in the
limited sense of the flesh of one body, but the flesh of all that is, in this
and millions of other solar Systems.
The first Aspect of the Supreme Being may be characterized as power.
From this proceeds the Second Aspect, the Word; and from both of these
proceeds the Third, Aspect, motion.
From this threefold Supreme Being proceed the seven Great Logoi. They
contain within Themselves all the great Hierarchies which differentiate more
and more as they diffuse through the various Cosmic Planes. (See diagram
6). There are forty-nine Hierarchies on the second Cosmic Plane; on the
third there are 343 Hierarchies. Each of these is capable of septenary
divisions and subdivisions, so that in the lowest Cosmic Plane, where the
Solar System manifest, the number of divisions and subdivisions is almost
infinite.
In the Highest World of the seventh Cosmic Plane dwells the God of our
Solar Systems in the Universe. These great Beings are also threefold in
manifestation, like The Supreme Being. Their three aspects are Will, Wisdom
and Activity.
Each of the seven Planetary Spirits which proceeds from God and has
charge of the evolution of life on one of the seven planets, is also threefold
and differentiates within itself Creative Hierarchies which go through a
septenary evolution. The evolution carried on by one Planetary Spirit
differs from the methods of development inaugurated by each of the others.
It may be further stated that, at least in the particular planetary
scheme to which we belong, the entities farthest evolved in the earliest
stages, who had reached a high stage of perfection in previous evolutions,
assume the functions of the original Planetary Spirit and continue the
evolution, the original Planetary Spirit withdrawing from active
participation, but guiding its Regents.
The foregoing is the teaching relative to all the Solar Systems, but
coming down to the particular System to which we belong, the following is
the teaching which the sufficiently trained Seer can obtain for himself by
personal investigation of the memory of nature.
Reference: The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, by Max Heindel (1865-1919)
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