4. The Central Triangle of Energies. This central triangle indicates unmistakably the three rays which condition a man’s “periodical vehicles,” as H.P.B. expresses it. These are: the monadic ray, the soul ray and the personality ray. To the watching and attentive Master it is also apparent which ray is the controlling ray, but this is not possible to anyone below the grade of Master. Disciples and other onlookers must form their conclusions from the “nature of the sphere of radiation.” An element of error can creep in at this point, which is not possible to a Master; it must, however, be remembered that until the sixth Initiation of Decision, “the Monad guards two secrets, but loses three [176] when it takes control and the soul fades out.” This, I may not further elucidate.
I have here given a somewhat new slant or picture of the centres. It is one of great value to students could they but realise it, because it is not truly in line with the information given to them in the occult books. An understanding of what I have said will lead the earnest student to a more practical application of his attitude to the centres, and also to a fixed endeavour to make his sphere of radiatory activity more useful to his fellowmen. The reason for this will be that his attitude will express the quality of the subjective spirit and not the quality—hitherto rampant—of objective matter. Forget not that the etheric body is a material and substantial body, and is therefore an integral part of the physical plane; forget not that it is intended, first of all, to carry the energies of the emotional and of the mental plane in the unconscious experimental stage of incarnation; that it is also intended to carry the threefold energies of the soul in the stage of consciously gaining experience; and that also, as the antahkarana is built, it is intended to carry the energies of the Monad in the stage of consciously expressed divinity. See you, therefore, the beauty of the spiritual process, and the planned aid given to the sons of men at all stages of their return to the centre from whence they came? [177]
V. THE NATURE OF SPACE
Certain wide generalisations anent the etheric body should be recalled at this point. The existence of an etheric body in relation to all tangible and exoteric forms is accepted today by many scientific schools; nevertheless the original teaching has been amended in order to bring it into line with the usual theories of energy and its forms of expression. Recognition is given today, by thinkers, to the factual nature of energy (and I am using that word “factual” most advisedly); energy is now regarded as all that IS; manifestation is the manifestation of a sea of energies, some of which are built into forms, others constitute the medium in which those forms live and move and have their being, and still others are in process of animating both the forms and their environing substantial media. It must also be remembered that forms exist within forms; this is the basis of the symbolism which is to be found in the intricate carved ivory balls of the Chinese craftsmen where ball within ball is to be discovered, all elaborately carved and all free and yet confined. You—as you sit in your room—are a form within a form; that room is itself a form within a house, and that house (another form) is probably one of many similar houses, placed the one on top of another or else side by side, and together composing a still larger form. Yet all these diverse forms are composed of tangible substance which—when coordinated and brought together by some recognised design or idea in the mind of some thinker—creates a material form. This tangible substance is composed of living energies, vibrating in relation to each other, yet owning their own quality and their own [178] qualified life. I dealt with much of this in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire and you would find it profitable to reread what I there said. I will not repeat it here as I am seeking a different approach.
It might be profitable to point out that the entire universe is etheric and vital in nature and of an extension beyond the grasp of the greatest mind of the age, mounting into more than astronomical figures—if that statement even conveys sense to your minds. This extent cannot be computed, even in terms of light years; this cosmic etheric area is the field of untold energies and the basis of all astrological computations; it is the playground of all historical cycles—cosmic, systemic and planetary—and is related to the constellations, to the worlds of suns, to the most distant stars and to the numerous recognised universes, as well as to our own solar system, to the many planets, and to that planet upon which and in which we move and live and have our being, as well as to the smallest form of life known to science and perhaps covered by the meaningless term “an atom.” All are found existing in Space—Space is etheric in nature and—so we are told in the occult science—Space is an Entity. The glory of man lies in the fact that he is aware of space and can imagine this space as the field of divine living activity, full of active intelligent forms, each placed in the etheric body of this unknown Entity, each related to each other through the potency which not only holds them in being but which preserves their position in relation to each other; yet each of these differentiated forms possesses its own differentiated life, its own unique quality or integral colouring, and its own specific and peculiar form of consciousness.
This etheric body—vast and unknown as it is, as to its extent—is nevertheless limited in nature and static (relatively speaking) in capacity; it preserves a set form, a form [179] of which we know absolutely nothing, but which is the etheric form of the Unknown Entity. To this form the esoteric science gives the name of SPACE; it is the fixed area in which every form, from a universe to an atom, finds its location.
We speak at times of an expanding universe; what we really mean is an expanding consciousness, for this etheric body of the Entity, Space, is the recipient of many types of informing and penetrating energies, and it is also the field for the intelligent activity of the indwelling Lives of the Universe, of the many constellations, of the distant stars, of our solar system, of the planets within the system, and of all that constitutes the sum total of these separated living forms. The factor which relates them is consciousness and nothing else, and the field of conscious awareness is created through the interplay of all living intelligent forms within the area of the etheric body of that great Life which we call SPACE.
Every form within the etheric body is like a centre in a planet or in the human body, and the resemblance—based upon what I gave you herein in relation to the human centres—is correct and recognisable.
Each form (because it constitutes an aggregated area of substantial lives or atoms) is a centre within the etheric body of the form of which it is a constituent part. It has, as the basis of its existence, a living dynamic point which integrates the form and preserves it in essential being. This form or centre—large or small, a man or an atom of substance—is related to all other forms and expressing energies in the environing space, and is automatically receptive to some, and repudiates others through the process of non-recognition; it relays or transmits other energies, radiating from other forms, and it thus becomes in its turn an impressing agent. You see, therefore, where differentiated truths approach each other and blend, forcing us to use the [180] same terminologies in order to express the same factual truths or ideas.
Again, each point of life within a centre has its own sphere of radiation or its own extending field of influence; this field is necessarily dependent upon the type and the nature of the indwelling Consciousness. It is this magnetic interplay between the many vast centres of energy in space which is the basis of all astronomical relationships—between universes, solar systems and planets. Bear in mind, however, that it is the CONSCIOUSNESS aspect which renders the form magnetic, receptive, repudiating and transmitting; this consciousness differs according to the nature of the entity which informs or works through a centre, great or small. Bear in mind also that the life which pours through all centres and which animates the whole of space is the life of an Entity; it is, therefore, the same life in all forms, limited in time and space by the intention, the wish, the form and the quality of the indwelling consciousness: the types of consciousness are many and diverse, yet life remains ever the sa
me and indivisible, for it is the ONE LIFE.
The sphere of radiation is conditioned always by the point of evolution of the life within the form; the correlating, integrating factor, relating centre to centre, is life itself; life establishes contact; livingness is the basis of every relation, even if this is not immediately apparent to you; consciousness qualifies the contact and colours the radiation. Thus again we are returned to the same fundamental triplicity to which I gave the names of Life, Quality, Appearance in an earlier book (A Treatise on the Seven Rays Volume I). A form is therefore a centre of life within some aspect of the etheric body of the Entity, Space, where a living animated existence, such as that of a planet, is concerned. The same is true also of all lesser forms, such as those found upon and within a plane.
[181] This centre has within it a point of life and is related to all surrounding energies; it has its own sphere of radiation or of influence which is dependent upon the nature or strength of its consciousness and upon the dynamic conditioning factor of the ensouling entity’s thought life. These are points worthy of your most careful consideration. Finally, every centre has its central triangle of energies; one of these energies expresses the ensouling life of the form; another expresses the quality of its consciousness, whilst the third—the dynamic, integrating life which holds form and consciousness together in one expressive livingness—conditions the radiation of the form, its responsiveness or non-responsiveness to the environing energies and the general nature of the informing life, plus its creative ability.
Much that I have given you here will serve to elucidate that which I have written upon esoteric astrology (A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Volume III. The Destiny of the Nations); it will give you the key to that science of relationships which is essentially the key to astrology and also to the science of Laya Yoga. This latter science has (fortunately for the Aryan race) fallen into disrepute since later Atlantean days; it will, however, be restored and used upon a higher turn of the spiral, during the next five hundred years. When correctly and rightly restored, its emphasis will not be upon the nature of the centre involved, but upon the quality of the consciousness which distinguishes any particular centre and which will then necessarily condition its sphere of radiation. Under the great Law of Correspondences, all that I have here given or indicated can be applied by the student to all forms of life: to a universe, to a solar system, to a planet, to a human being, to any subhuman form and to the tiniest atom of substance (whatever you may mean by that last term!). [182]
VI. THE PLANETARY LIFE — A CENTRE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
We shall now endeavour to apply whatever knowledge is available to you at this time in relation to the planetary Life, expressing itself as a centre in the solar system. We shall also study its secondary expression through the medium of three major centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity.
The fundamental concept of hylozoism underlies all the esoteric teaching upon the theme of manifesting life. All forms are composed of many forms, and all forms—aggregated or single in nature—are the expression of an indwelling or ensouling life. The fusion of life with living substance produces another aspect of expression: that of consciousness. This consciousness varies according to the natural receptivity of the form, according to its point in evolution, and to its position also in the great chain of Hierarchy.
However, dwarfing every other concept, is the concept of life itself. There is—as far as we have ever been permitted to know—only one Life, expressing itself as Being, as responsive consciousness, and as material appearance. That One Life knows itself (if such a term can be used) as the will-to-be, the will-to-good, and the will-to-know. It will be obvious to you that these are only terms or methods organised to convey a better picture than heretofore.
This is also a brief preamble to another statement, which can be worded as follows: The planetary Logos, the One in Whom we live and move and have our being, is the informing, ensouling life of this planet, the Earth; it is His life which integrates the planet as a whole, and His life which pours through all forms—great or small—which, [183] in their aggregate, constitute the planetary form. Preserve, therefore, in your conscious imagination and by means of the innate symbol-making faculty which all men possess, the concept of our planet as a great lotus composed of many interweaving energies, located within the greater form of the solar system which is, as we know, esoterically portrayed as a twelve-petalled lotus. This lotus, the Earth, is responsive to the many entering energies with which I dealt at some length in my book upon Esoteric Astrology. (A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Vol III)
At the heart of this vast sea of energies is to be found that cosmic Consciousness to Whom we give the name of Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days. It is His Will-to-Be which brought His manifested form into the tangible arena of life; it is His Will-to-Good which activates the Law of Evolution and carries His Form, with the myriad lesser forms of which it is composed, on to the ultimate glory which He alone visions and knows. It is His consciousness and His sensitive response to all forms and to all states of being and to all possible impacts and contacts which guarantees the developing consciousness of all the many lives within or upon this Earth of ours.
This great Centre of Existence works through a triangle of energies or through lesser centres, each of which is brought into active expression by one of the three major Rays or Energies. The Centre which is created by the Ray of Will or Power is called Shamballa and its major activity is bequeathing, distributing and circulating the basic principle of life itself to every form which is held within the planetary ring-pass-not of the planetary Life or Logos. This energy is the dynamic incentive at the heart of every form and the sustained expression of the intention of Sanat Kumara—an intention working out as the planetary Purpose which is known only to Him.
[184] The second Centre is created by the Ray of Love-Wisdom; this is the basic energy which brought into being the entire manifested universe, for it is the energy of the Builder Aspect. To it we give—as far as humanity is concerned—the name of Hierarchy, for it is the controlling factor of the great chain of Hierarchy. The prime activity of this Centre is related to the unfolding consciousness of the planet, and therefore of all forms of life within or upon the planet; it is not related to the life aspect in any sense.
The task of the “units of Energy” who constitute the personnel of this Centre is to awaken and arouse the sense of awareness and of consciousness which is sensitive in its response to the life within all forms. Just as the basic mode of activity in and through Shamballa could be called the Science of Life or of dynamic livingness, so the basic science by means of which the Hierarchy works could be called the Science of Relationships. Consciousness is not only the sense of identity or of self-awareness, but it concerns also the sense of relation of that recognised self or the “I” to all other selves. This consciousness is progressively developed, and the Members of this second Centre, the Hierarchy, have the major and important task, in this particular solar systemic cycle, of bringing all the units in each kingdom of nature to an understanding of place, position, responsibility and relationships. This probably sounds entirely meaningless in relation to those conditions where the units of life are, for instance, in the vegetable or the animal kingdom, but a glimmering of understanding may come when you remember that the seed or germ of all states of consciousness is latent in every form, and of this the instinct to perpetuate and the instinct to mate are the major incubating areas.
The third Centre is that of the Human Kingdom, which is brought into being by means of the energy of the third [185] Ray of Active Intelligence. Its major function is intelligent creation; but it has nevertheless a secondary activity which is to relate the second and the third Centres to each other and to assume progressive control of the subhuman kingdoms and relate them to each other. This secondary function is only now assuming proportions which can be recognised and noted.
The Central Triangle of Energies
> Each of these three Centres has a governing and controlling Triangle or central Triangle of Energies. In relation to Shamballa, this Triangle is composed of the three Buddhas of Activity Who represent conscious intelligent life, conscious, intelligent and active wisdom, and conscious, intelligent and active creation.
Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle Page 17