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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division A - Manas or Mind and its Nature
We have seen that electrical manifestation on the first plane caused initial vibration, and on the second its activity resulted in the archetypal form of all manifestation from a God to man, and an atom. On the third plane, which is primarily the plane of Brahma, this electrical force showed itself in intelligent purpose. The will-to-be, and the form desired, are correlated by intelligent purpose underlying all. This intelligent purpose, or active will, utilizing an instrument, brings us to that most difficult of metaphysical problems, the distinction between will and desire. It is not possible [317] here to handle this delicate subject, save simply to point out that in both will and desire, intelligence or manas is a fundamental factor, and must be recognized. This permeating principle of manas - coloring as it does both the will aspect and the desire aspect - is the cause of much confusion to students, and clarity of thought will eventuate only as it is realized: First, that all manifestation emanates, or is electrified, from the cosmic mental plane. Second, that the Universal Mind, or the divine thinker, is the intelligent Principle which makes Itself known as the Will-to-be, Desire or Love-of-Being, and that active intelligent purpose which animates the solar system. Third, that Mahadeva, or the Divine Will, Vishnu, the Wisdom aspect, or the manifested "Son of Necessity," and Brahma or active purpose are the sumtotal of intelligent consciousness, and are (to the manifesting cosmic Entity) what the mental body, the desire body, and the physical body are to man, the thinker in the three worlds, functioning in the causal body. We must not forget that the causal body contains the three permanent atoms or the three spheres which embody the principle of intelligence, of desire, and of physical objectivity. Always must the analogy be held between the threefold Logos and threefold man, and definiteness of thought and of concept results when the one likeness between these is pondered on. Man is a unit, functioning as a unit in the causal body. He is a triplicity functioning under the will aspect, or mental body; under the desire or wisdom aspect, the astral body; and under the activity aspect, the physical body. He electrifies or vitalizes all three bodies or aspects, unifying them into one, and bringing about - by means of the Intelligence He is - coherency of action, simultaneity of purpose, and synthetic endeavor. [318] Finally, therefore, it is apparent that, no matter from what angle we study, the threefold Logos (or His reflection, the microcosm) through the Manasic principle, intelligently reduces matter to form, and utilizes that form for the fulfilment of the will, desire and purpose of the indwelling Existence; this principle can be seen underlying all three aspects. There is no need here to point out the different triplicities which can be built up on the basic idea of Spirit and Matter, linked by Intelligence. This has often been done. I but seek to emphasize that INTELLIGENCE is the main quality of the Logos; that it shows as will, as desire or wisdom, and as activity; and that the reason for this is due to the work earlier accomplished by the cosmic Entity, involving cycles which have passed into the dim mist of retrospect, even from the angle of vision of a solar Logos. This developed manasic principle is the intelligent purpose that is bringing about at-one-ment on each plane of the solar system in connection with the subplanes. It will eventually bring about the synthesis of all the planes, and thus bring the cosmic physical plane, as a unified whole, under the complete control of that cosmic Entity Who is seeking expression through that threefold manifestation we call a solar system, or the body logoic. On this third plane that intelligent principle demonstrates as coherent activity, either systemic, planetary, or monadic, and also as the triple vibration of spirit-matter-intelligence, sounding as the threefold Sacred Word, or electricity manifesting as sound. We have here an interesting sequence or inversion, according to the angle of vision, involving the planes, as we know them: Electricity as vibratory impulse. This causes the aggregation of matter, and its activity within certain bounds, or its awakening to activity within the [319] solar-ring-pass-not. This is the first syllable of the Sacred Word. Electricity as Light, causing spheroidal objectivity. This is the birth of the Son. It covers the enunciation of the second syllable of the Sacred Word. 23 Electricity as Sound. Here we have the completed, threefold Sacred Word. 23 "Through perfectly concentrated meditation on the light in the head comes the vision of the Masters who have attained." "The tradition is that there is a certain center of force in the head, perhaps the 'pineal gland', which some of our Western philosophers have supposed to be the dwelling of the soul, - a center which is, as it were, the doorway between the natural and the spiritual man. It is the seat of that better and wiser consciousness behind the outward looking consciousness in the forward part of the head; that better and wiser consciousness of "the back of the mind," which views spiritual things, and seeks to impress the spiritual view on the outward looking consciousness in the forward part of the head. It is the spiritual man seeking to guide the natural man, seeking to bring the natural man to concern himself with the things of his immortality. This is suggested in the words of the Upanishad already quoted. "There, where the dividing of the hair turns, extending upward to the crown of the head"; all of which may sound very fantastical, until one comes to understand it." "It is said that when this power is fully awakened, it brings a vision of the great Companions of the spiritual man, those who have already attained, crossing over to the further shore of the sea of death and rebirth. Perhaps it is to this divine sight that the Master alluded, who is reported to have said: 'I counsel you to buy of me eye salve, that you may see.' " - Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III, 32. (C. Johnston's Edition.)
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