Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
Septenary Man
By J.A. Anderson
The Higher Triad—Atma, Buddhi, Manas
The of the Higher Triad, including as it necessarily does ^sb that of the Higher Self, is also attended with much difficulty. For the higher, diviner portion of man's being, the true soul, can, as we have seen, hardly be the subject of intellectual analysis by its lower reflection incarnated in these animal bodies. The Higher Ego, also, constitutes a portion of the Triad, and must receive some attention in this relation, so that metaphysical difficulties beset us on every hand.
Perhaps it would be well to preface the subject proper by defining these differing aspects of the One Life as it appears differenti- ated by the differing vehicles of human consciousness. The "I am myself" of each human being is a Ray, or emanation, from Manas, or is that lower thinking Principle which is caused to appear in the human brain by the incarnation of the Higher Ego. The Higher Ego is, as we have seen, the true man. It represents a center of creative thought in the Cosmos, emanating from Mahat, or the Third Cosmic Principle in downward differentiation. Viewed as a distinct center of pure Thought, it is called the Higher Manas, the Reincarnating Ego, etc. But it has the potentiality of union with Buddhic consciousness, and if so conjoined is then known as the Spiritual Ego.* The Higher Self is Atman, and is above all differentiation, and hence is the Higher Self not only of man, but of the Universe and every entity within it. Atman is defined as "the emanating spark from the Uncreated Ray."f It belong to the Unknowable, and all speculation upon it is perhaps unprofitable. Going as deeply as we may , however, into metaphysical analysis, it seems possible to dimly conceive of consciousness which is pure and undifferentiated; which contains in itself the Knower, the thing known, and the act of knowing. All attempts to define it are futile ; we but dwarf it by our conceptions. Like the Absolute, the Higher Self can only be defined by what it is not; and yet, as it must be the All, even this method fails us. This ocean of undifferentiated consciousness, before it can even approach the differentiated states of lower realms, has of necessity to have a vehicle; and this vehicle is the first metaphysical conception of differentiation within Absolute Being. At the door of life stand the dual attributes of the Absolute, Spirit and Matter, or Consciousness and its metaphysically material vehicle known as Buddhi, the Soul of the Cosmos as of man. The conscious- ness of Atman, thus ensouled by Buddhi, is universal, undifferentiated, divine, containing in itself all potentialities of all planes below. It is eternal and unchangeable; and, if not the Infinite or Absolute, is at least the appearance which the Absolute presents when viewed from the finite standpoint of differentiated consciousness. Therefore, being in its nature and essence eternal and unchangeable, if the Higher Ego, even, is to win its immortality, it has to do this by assimilating itself to the nature of this divine Atma-Buddhic consciousness. This consciousness of the Higher Self is One Great Whole; it can not be thought of as differenti- ated. It appears to be differentiated upon lower planes, as the light of a flame, seen through differently colored glasses, mayappear red, blue, green, or an almost infinite variety of differing shades of color. As in the case of Atman, we identify these with the light itself, forgetting that behind them all shines the one white flame. Similarly, Atman is the source of consciousness, and, as we have said, the Higher Self, not only of man but of the Universe. How, then, is this, which appears to be an aspect of the Absolute, related to lower things? Atman is the base and origin of all the human principles; is also the base and origin of all that is within the great manifested universe, the source alike of the atom and of the human soul, of the daisy and of the sun. Herein lies the greatest mystery concerned with manifestation, over which the very highest intellects have pondered in vain, and which seems utterly incapable of explanation. In order to understand it, it would be necessary for the finite to be able to comprehend the Infinite. But, in some manner, this which is Infinite in its totality passes into infinite variation. The only possible method, as has been stated, by which Infinity can manifest finitely would seem to be for it to take on infinite variation. This variation is said by the deepest thinkers to be an illusion. It may be. When analyzed, almost everything concerned with human consciousness is found to be illusive. Yet this illusion is a very, very real one to man. and he has to patiently and carefully study it if he would thread his way through the labyrinths of this ocean of manifested life.
Atman, then, is the basis of all manifestation. It is that which sustains and upholds manifestation—that which renders it possible and still, built not only upon, but out of this stable something is found the unstable. Yet, as there can be in the Cosmos but one Source of things, whether finite or Infinite, then out of this Infi- nite must come the finite. Therefore, Atman is the basis of all that is, and is the cause of all that is. It is the Eternal, Immutable Unity, underlying all possible differentiation and manifestation ; and, at the same time (mystery of mysteries!) it is Itself those differentiations and manifestations. This was recognized and pointed out ages ago. Plato speaks of it when he declares that this world was formed of " the Same and the Other." Such words fall almost meaningless upon the ear, yet out of the "same" (the Absolute) the "other" (the manifested universe) must have arisen.
Compared with the Macrocosm, Atman represents, in man, the microcosm, the Unmanifested Logos, the Creative Aspect of the Causeless Cause. It is the Unmanifested Verbum.or Word. It represents the conception, to use words which are almost meaningless, within the Infinite mind of those finite phases of itself which are to be enacted upon the stage of the phenomenal Universe. For all phenomena are phases of Deity, and must be philosophically so recognized. From God the Infinite is born God the finite. The one must remain for ever untouched, unapproachable, and inconceivable—an Absolute Causeless Cause. The other is this same Infinite Mind, or Causeless Cause, exhibiting itself in the Infinite Diversity of phenomenal states of consciousness, which Infinite Diversity, as we have seen, represents the only manner in which it would seem possible for an Infinite Power tomanifest itself finitely. It is the strange commingling of these twoaspects of the divine in the Universe which makes Christianity , andindeed all theistic religions, so unphilosophical. Within Jehovah,for example, are blended in the most impossible and inconsistentmanner both finite and infinite attributes.
But this is a digression. At any rate, Atman represents in themicrocosm the Unmanifested Logos; is in man the first ripple ofdifferentiation within the monadic Ray from the Absolute, whichconstitutes the base of all human souls. And just as all the phe-nomena of the Universe are but the finite aspects of the Infinite,so in Atman are held potentially all of the other Principles, whichare, indeed, but differentiations of this, as has been pointed out. It represents the Spirit, or the father, as Buddhi does the matter,or the mother, or as Manas does the differentiated Universe, orSon. These three are as absolutely indissoluble in Man, themicrocosm, as they are in the great Macrocosm, or Universe.It is only for purposes of analysis and study that they are metaphysically divided. But this division is metaphysical, and not real.
Buddhi represents the Substance Aspect of the human soul, beingboth the vehicle of Atma upon the one hand, and the conserverand preserver of the energies of Manas, or the thinking Principle,upon the other. It is as uncreate as is Atman, and we shall blindly err if we associate with it any of the ideas of substance ormatter which we gain from contact with the material universeabout us. The universe, indeed, is but embodied consciousness;and in the Cosmic Principle of Buddhi is recorded and stored theinfinite wisdom resulting from infinite experiences in the past.Similarly, in the human Principle, Buddhi, is stored all the wisdomand power arising from past experiences of the thinking Principlewith matter. For it would seem that, after the first and primaldifferentiation of the Absolute into Spirit and Matter, and thefurther appearance, or differentiation within these two, or fromthese two, of a thinking Principle, the further office of this thinking Principle was to associate itself with all the infinite states offinite consciousness, and to store the results of this experience inthis material, passive, cosmic aspect, or Buddhi. How, then, has the unstable arisen out of the stable? Ordinarily, the answer from Theosophists, as well as scientists, would be, " By evolution." This is not true, if by evolution is understood the ordinary meaning given to the word. For the process is that of a great bestowing—not a pushing up of monads or centers of consciousness by some unconscious power behind or beneath them. It is a bestowing of their own essence by higher entities upon lower entities; and this constitutes the fact and the process of all so-called evolution. All consciousness within the manifested universe is the result and the product of conscious entities. Alone, Atman may be termed a sea of consciousness, as it is the very veil between differentiation and the non-differentiated. The manifested uni- verse lies to the hither side, and in that manifested universe there is no consciousness which is not bestowed by a conscious entity, as there is no thought which is not the result of a thinking entity, ,and no passion which is not the expression of a passionate entity.
Man has seven principles; and, in seeking their origin, Theosophy declares that each of these principles was bestowed upon him by an entity higher than he. There is no postulating the stream as rising higher than its source. His passionate nature he gets • by association with entities full of passion, out of which are con- structed hisbody ; and he, mistaking that passionate consciousness for his pwn, identifies himself with it Destroy the body, and the passionate consciousness 'after a time ceases, although the ^thinkingrentity.does, not peris-h; .showing at once the illusion of such an assertion. His thinking principle, again, is the result of _the bestowing of a, portion of their own thinking essence upon him by higher beings; and. so on, throughout; all,h)s principle?. Similarly, the earth is bufcthe clothing of a great, divine, conscious entity, who assumes its matter as his vestments. That matter is full of countless millions of, lower .entities, upon every one of whom the higher entity bestows by emanation .a portion of his own consciousness, and. so lifts it a little, in the scale of universal life. Alter having experienced the consciousness of the mineral kingdom, for example, for untold ages, the individualizing monads in that kingdom assimilate its consciousness, and are fitted for the reception of a higher. At the next Round there, is bestowed upon them the consciousness of the vegetable kingdom, and theyassume all the great wilderness of form, design, and beauty ofthat kingdom.
They then pass on into the animal kingdom, and finally into the human; each successive step having been due to a bestowingof its own essence by a divine progenitor. Last of all come ourHigher Egos to perfected animal bodies'bestowing upon each mind;for the bestowing, at first diffuse and general, has at every stageof the process become more definite and specific, until it ends bythe specific incarnation of each Higher Ego in a separate animalbody. But in all this there is no upward pushing. The law ofcompassion roots at the very basis of nature; and if the ascentthrough matter seems a blind pushing, the descent of spirit is adivine, intelligent compassion. Our minds are so warped bymaterialistic teachings, have become so accustomed to its mentalformula, that we unconsciously think in these channels, and sospeak of a blind force pushing up life almost as ignorantly as ourmaterialistic opponents. There can be no such thing. It is adivinely compassionate bestowing, and there is no break in this law of compassionate help, from the lowest form of life to thehighest god, or Dhyani. Each receives from some entity higherthan itself. As far as we can think, as wide as our imaginationscan expand, the process reaches, until the mind itself reels andlets the burden fall.
Buddhic consciousness may, perhaps, be spoken of a little moredefinitely; although, as stated, its conception must be largely metaphysical. Man is unable to analyze it from his present standpoint because it is so greatly higher than himself. And yet this, which is at the basis of all manifestation upon the material side ofnature, which is the vehicle of the Divine Atman, or UniversalConsciousness, can be thought of with less effort, it seems, thancan Atman. It is the soul of the universe, the physical basis ofthe entire Cosmos. But it must not be thought of as substance;although it is the basis of substance. It is, rather, divine consciousness, taking substantial form. It corresponds very nearlywith the human brain in many of its aspects. Upon the physicalmolecules of the brain is written the physical history of man's entire life. There is no thought which has ever entered the mind; there is no sensation which has ever penetrated any of the avenues of the senses; no vision, however minute; no fancy, however trivial, which is not registered upon these substance cells, and which is not capable of being recalled and brought again within the consciousness at any time before the brain cells are finally destroyed. So, upon an infinitely higher plane, this which represents the material aspect of the Cosmos becomes the brain of that Cosmos. Upon its divine tablets is recorded the history of all that has ever transpired; not, perhaps, in all its minute detail, but the effects of all that has ever taken place within this Cosmos is here conserved. Buddhi, or, as it is termed in some schools, "Mulaprakriti," changes as the worlds and universes change. Just as a man may modify his brain by his thought, so this Great Oversoul of the universe is hourly modified by the thought of all differentiated entities within it, and is ever ready to respond to this eternal modification; for force cannot be annihilated, energy is ever conserved, and this which lies at the very base of all energy must give back that which it receives.
It is said that a Ray from this great sea of consciousness and substance constitutes the human monad, because it is at the base of every human soul. But this must not be taken too literally, because, as pointed out in the beginning, this is undifferentiated consciousness—is impossible of differentiation. That which seems to differentiate it, which causes it to appear as though it were separate, is the Thinking Princip'e; and the soul will perceive, as the lower nature is overcome, and it penetrates by its purified sight into those higher realms, the real Unity underlying all that is. It is this Unity which makes possible the emanation, or the emanating, of its own substance or essence by a higher entity upon a lower. It is this Unity which makes it possible for all men to become gods; because each man has at the base of his being that divine substance and that, if possible, still diviner consciousness; and it is in the power of each one to unite himself to this universal, eternal, monadic consciousness by maintaining a firm hold upon the truly spiritual portion of his nature, the Higher Ego, and assimilating this consciousness which stands back of and is himself. So shall he, if he succeeds in doing this, some time in the eons to come, firmly establish his own divine being upon these divine, immortal planes, and he will indeed find that that which' is at the basis of his seemingly mortal nature is the Creator, the Preserver, and Regenerator, of this great Divine Universe. It is- our own efforts in assimilating this higher consciousness which enable us to pass, step by step, higher in the process of universal becoming; and which becoming, though now it may seem to be the process of a blind "evolution," will some day be found to' have been divine compassion deliberately lifting lower entities to' higher planes.
But the subject, as stated, passes human comprehension. It leads us into the very abysses of metaphysical speculation, and perhaps conjecture. We can not be sure of our footsteps. Ofonly one thing we may be certain, and that is that as it is possible (and we can prove this every day of our lives) to lift this lower, passionate, striving, sinning, consciousness to higher planes, and thus secure as our own more divine states of consciousness in the scale of being, so it seems reasonable and logical that it is possi- ble for us, step by step, by overcoming all that is low and passionate, to slowly but surely win our way to the land of the gods, from whence we came and to which we must return. Because the process of the human monad (to speak in terms which mean almost nothing) seems a beginning at the very lowest rung of the ladder of evolution. In some mysterious way, life from the great Fount of Life descends to the differentiated aspect of existence, and begins as a center of differentiated, but pure, consciousness. It is lifted up to a certain point by a great Manifested Hierarchy bestowing upon it their own essence; and so, step by step, it returrrs to the great Source from which it emanated. But in this journey, which has been termed the Cycle of Necessity, something wonderful, grand, and divinely beautiful has been accomplished. That which descended conscious from the great sea of consciousness and unreasoning bliss reascends self- conscious; and this it is the mission of all human souls to accomplish, and is the object of this journey of the Soul through the Cycle of Necessity bound upon the Wheel of Rebirth. For as near as mortal may understand the Infinite, this seems to be the object of existence —the winning of self-consciousness. Consciousness is infinite. It is at the basis of all that we can possibly conceive, and yet there seems to be an added bliss to know that we are conscious, to realize that we are divinely conscious beings. So that it would seem that the object of all this trouble and travail in these lower states of material environments was to hammer out of that Divine Spark which illumines all of us the spark of self-consciousness; that, having indeed descended, conscious, we will reascend with all the glories of self-consciousness, and be able to act a divinely self-conscious part in the great harmony which is rehearsed throughout nature during its inconceivable eternities. We are creating unconsciously now, but then we shall do so consciously; we shall change and modify the globe that we live upon into a divinely glorious habitation. At that time we will take a conscious part in all that creation which we now attribute to the highest gods. We, by virtue of having this Divine Ray from the Absolute at the basis of our natures, have within us this divine potentiality, because there is no force within the Cosmos which may not be raised to its divine potency; and the fact that we have these aspirations shows that they are potentialities, and that we may realize them if we will. The question is, Shall we accomplish this or not? Shall we make the fight and win for ourselves this our divine heritage or shall we go through almost countless ages of misery, and perhaps lose our souls in the end?
The way is plain. We have to control and govern the consciousness which is in our passion-tossed bodies, and when that is done we are ready to take another step higher, and so, step by step, win our way back to the immortal mansions of the gods.
