A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  Finally, on the three lower planes we have His gaseous, liquid, and dense bodies or sheaths, forming in themselves a unity in one peculiar sense; they are as much a coherent whole as the three higher planes form a unified triple expression of the three persons of the Trinity.

  We have a similar analogy in the subplanes of each plane in the system, and this will become ever more apparent as man achieves a greater clarity of vision, and can consciously ascertain for himself the truth about the subjective life. Let us briefly take these planes and study the life or force manifestation on each, laying the emphasis upon the lower four, and not so much upon the planes which do not concern man so closely.

  The Logoic Plane. The first, the second, and the third subplanes of the first cosmic ether respond specifically to the vibration of one of the three aspects, or to those cosmic Entities Whose influence reaches the matter of the planes from without the system altogether. On the fourth subplane comes a primary blending of the three fiery Lives, producing archetypally that force manifestation of electricity which eventually causes the blazing forth of the Sons of Light on the next plane. In this electrical connotation we have the three higher planes ever embodying the threefold Spirit aspect, the lower [521] three embodying the threefold substance aspect, and then a plane of at-one-ment whereon an approximation is made which, on the path of return, marks the moment of achievement, and the point of triumph. This is succeeded by obscuration. Hence on every plane in the solar system we have a fourth plane whereon the struggle for perfect illumination, and subsequent liberation takes place, the battle ground, the Kurukshetra. Though for man the fourth plane, the buddhic, is the place of triumph, and the goal of his endeavour, for the Heavenly Man it is the battle-ground, while for the solar Logos it is the burning-ground.

  This differentiation of the subplanes of the systemic planes into a higher three, a lower three, and a central plane of harmony is only so from the standpoint of electrical phenomena, and not from the standpoint of either pure Spirit, or pure substance, viewed apart from each other. It concerns the mystery of electricity, and the production of light. The three higher planes concern the central Forces or Lives, the three lower concern the lesser Forces or Lives. We must bear this carefully in mind, remembering that to the occultist there is no such thing as substance, but only Force in varying degrees, only Energy of differentiated quality, only Lives emanating from different sources, each distinctive and apart, and only Consciousness producing intelligent effect through the medium of space.

  I would point out that the Lord Agni shows forth His fiery life on the atomic subplane of each plane; He shows forth as solar fire on the second, third and fourth, and as ‘fire by friction’ on the fifth, sixth and seventh. From the point of view of the microcosm, the Spark in the Flame, man demonstrates as electric fire on the second plane, or the second cosmic ether; as solar fire on the third, fourth and the three higher subplanes of the fifth [522] plane, and as fire by friction on the lower subplanes of the fifth, on the sixth, and seventh planes.

  c. The Planes and the Three Fires. On every plane we have, relatively speaking:

  a. Electric fire demonstrating as the prime condition on the higher three.

  b. Fire by friction as the most significant factor on the lower three.

  c. Solar fire, showing forth as the blaze produced by union on the central plane.

  In the solar system this is to be seen in connection with a Heavenly Man on the buddhic plane, where They blaze forth through Their etheric centres. In connection with man on the mental plane, we have a similar condition: the three higher subplanes concern the Spirit aspect in the causal body, the three lower subplanes concern primarily the mental sheath, or fire by friction; the fourth subplane is that on which the force centres of the mental body are to be found. So it is on the physical plane for man—his etheric centres being located in matter of the fourth ether.

  Each of the three Persons of the Trinity manifests equally as does a man, as Spirit, Soul or Ego, and Substance. In connection with Brahma, we have the Spirit aspect animating the three higher subplanes of every plane, or the first fire aspect. His soul aspect is found on the fourth subplane of each plane whereon are situated the etheric centres of all manifested entities. His substance aspect is primarily contacted on the three lower subplanes. Hence we have the forty-nine fires of matter, or the seven fires of each plane, the union of the higher three and the lower three producing that blaze which we call the wheels of fire or the centres on the fourth subplane of each plane.

  In connection with the second aspect there is a similar [523] condition. Solar fire blazes forth in its electrical aspect on the second plane, and demonstrates thus also on the third and fourth planes, but finds its central demonstration on manasic levels, shining through the causal vehicles of the egoic groups. Only two and a half planes then remain through which the fire by friction aspect may manifest, eighteen subplanes in all which concern the third aspect of the second Person of the logoic Trinity.

  For man, the microcosm, a similar differentiation is possible; His Monad can be studied in its threefold essence on its own plane, his egoic aspect likewise, and the Brahma aspect of the Ego is found within the permanent atoms. Students should therefore study with care:

  1. The Planes. The manifestation of Brahma, the third or substance aspect, and should apply to this Entity the same triple constitution as is apparent in the other two. The planes of electric fire, the planes of his lower nature, and the point of blazing forth or conflagration for him (the etheric centres) must be carefully studied. Brahma is the positive life of matter; He is the revelation of substance and the blaze that can be seen.

  2. Vibration. The manifestation of the second aspect. These vibrations of consciousness are the major three words which are the sumtotal of egoic life, the minor three which govern the third aspect of the Ego, and the chord of at-one-ment which is that which is sounding forth now.

  The three aspects of Spirit as they are seen can only be expressed in terms of the other two in this solar system, and of their nature extra-systemically nought can profitably be said at this stage of cognition.

  The above thoughts upon the planes, and the ninefold nature of all that is, take one into regions as yet almost beyond the grasp of man; yet only when the substance [524] aspect is studied by the scientist in its triple nature will truth be approximated, and the true nature of electrical phenomena be comprehended; then and only then will electricity be harnessed and utilised by man as a unity, and not just in one of its aspects as at present; the negative electricity of the planet is all that is as yet contacted for commercial purposes. It must be remembered that this term is used in the sense of negative in relation to solar electricity. When man has found out how to contact and utilise positive solar electricity in combination with negative planetary electricity, we shall have a very dangerous condition brought about, and one of the factors which will eventually manifest in the destruction of the fifth root race by fire. At that great cataclysm—as the Bible says “the Heavens will melt with fervent heat.” (Bible. II Peter, 3:10.) This will be seen in a still greater degree in the next round, and will cause that destruction by fire of the forms of the men who have failed, which will liberate the lives on a stupendous scale, and thus temporarily ‘purify’ the Earth from elements which would tend to hinder the evolutionary process. As the cycles pass away, the balancing of these fiery currents will be gradually brought about, and will result in a planetary condition of harmony, and of esoteric equality, which will provide ideal environment for harmonious man.

  Only when the soul aspect is studied by the psychologist in its threefold essential nature will the mystery of consciousness become apparent, and the nature of the three magnetic groups, in their various subdivisions with their consequent effectual radiation become a factor in the public life. This concerns itself with the definite development of the psyche under law, with the scientific expansion of the consciousness, and will eventually bring about conditions wherei
n the work, preliminary to the first initiation, will be purely exoteric, and no longer[525] part of an esoteric process. In due course of time, it will be found that the self-induced efforts whereby a man consciously prepares his centres for the application of the Rod of Initiation at the first Initiation, will be the subject of books, and of lectures, and form part of the ordinary thought of the masses. This again will eventuate in a cleavage between the two groups in the middle of the fifth round. It must be remembered that this cleavage will be part of a natural process, and not a drastic ruling, imposed upon an unwilling people. The KNOWERS and the students of the Knowledge—actuated by group consciousness, and working consciously—will separate themselves in group formation from those who know not, and from those who care not. This cleavage will be self-induced, and a natural outgrowth of the group life; it will in itself be of a temporary nature for the fundamental aim in view will be the bringing about of an eventual closer merging; it will mark primarily the line of demarcation between the lower four Rays of consciousness, and the higher three. It is also a mystery hid in the relationship between the four exoteric Kumaras, (S.D., I, 116, 493; II, 112, 149) and the esoteric three, and from the point of view of man separates those who are developing the consciousness of the Triad from those who as yet are living the life of the Quaternary. It concerns those who respond to the solar Lords, distinguishing them from those who recognise as yet only the control of the lunar Lords. In terms of Fire: those who warm themselves by means of fire by friction and respond not to the heat of solar fire remain within the cavern, thus living in the dark; whilst those whose being is irradiated by the Sun of Wisdom, and who bask in the rays of solar heat dwell in the light, and enjoy an ever increasing freedom, and vital existence.

  The true significance of the three aspects of Spirit is only becoming apparent to the initiate of high degree, [526] and cannot be expressed in words, nor comprehended by man before he has passed out of the human kingdom into the spiritual. Therefore, it is needless for us to pause here to consider it at greater length.

  We might sum up the matter in terms of the Old Commentary from which source H. P. B. quoted so often:

  “The Blessed Ones hide Their threefold nature, but reveal Their triple essence by means of the three great groups of atoms. Three are the atoms, and threefold the radiation. The inner core of fire hides itself and is known only through radiation and that which radiates. Only after the blaze dies out and the heat is no longer felt can the fire be known.”

  We can now resume our consideration of the mystery of the mental unit, and note wherein it differs from the other permanent atoms; we might then briefly summarise a mass of esoteric information anent the permanent atoms, which will suffice for many years to come as the basis of investigation for occult students. The permanent atoms, and their internal economy, will remain a mystery for a long time, and only a few general indications can here be given.

  The fundamental difference between the mental unit and the other two atoms consists in the fact that it contains only four spirillae instead of seven. This is brought about by the very facts of evolution itself, for the mental unit is the first aspect of the personality triad, or of man functioning, in the human kingdom on the three lower planes. At his transference into the spiritual kingdom, these three aspects—the mental body, the astral body, and the physical body—are synthesised into the higher by a dual process:

  1. His polarisation shifts from out of the lower three atoms into the Triadal atoms.

  2. The force which these atoms generate and embody is merged and blended into the higher force points.

  [527] A permanent atom is the positive nucleus or germ substance to the sheath wherein it is found. It is that which is the basis of form-building, and it is literally a vibrant point of force, emanating from the second aspect of the Monad, which aggregates to itself, and subsequently builds into form, the negative or third aspect. But it must here be remembered that this second aspect is itself dual, and that in considering the permanent atoms we are dealing with the feminine aspect of the second Person. The spirillae therefore are but streams of force, or second aspect vitality which circulates geometrically within the circumscribing wall of substance, composed of third aspect force or substance. What has been said of objectivity, or of the cosmic atom can be equally well predicated of the permanent atom of man the microcosm:

  “The primordial ray is the vehicle of the divine Ray.” (S.D., I, 108) Negative force forms a receptacle for positive force. Atoms are but force centres, and the centres as we know of them are but aggregates of force points which have reached a specific point in evolution, and are responding to the first great aspect in some degree, or to electric fire.

  This sentence, is one to be seriously pondered, for it holds hid much information for the student, and when duly comprehended will result in the light of knowledge being shed upon the problems of manifestation. It concerns the secret of the position of the different kingdoms of nature within the logoic body, and their place and part, for all depends upon the type of force which animates, upon the interplay of that force in substance, upon the dual, triple, or united aspect of force, and upon its septenary demonstration in form-building.

  Every atom is a focal point of force, the force of substance itself, the life or vitality of the third aspect, the [528] life of that cosmic Entity Who is to the Logos the negative aspect of electricity.

  Every form (173) and aggregate of atoms, is simply a force centre produced by the action of positive force and its interaction with negative energy. It is the vitality of the second aspect working in conjunction with the third, and producing—in time and space—that illusion or maya which temporarily blazes forth, and attracts attention, creating the impression that matter is a concrete something. There is no such thing as concretion in reality; [529] there is only force of different kinds, and the effect produced on consciousness by their interplay.

  Back of all forms and of all substances (as yet but little contacted and realised) lies a third type of force, which utilises these two other factors to produce eventual harmony, and which is itself on its own plane the sumtotal of the second. It can be called:

  a. The one synthesising Life.

  b. Electric fire.

  c. The point of equilibrium.

  d. Unity or harmony.

  e. Pure Spirit.

  f. Dynamic Will.

  g. Existence.

  It is a Force, working through a dual manifestation of differentiated force, through the energy of matter, the coherency of forms, through force centres, and force points. It is FOHAT in triple demonstration, of which the final or third is as yet unknown and inconceivable.

  This brings me to the consideration of the fact earlier stated that the mental unit possesses but four of the streams of force. Each of the streams of force in the permanent atoms vibrates to the note of a particular subplane, and serves as the medium for the vitalisation of the matter of the subplane, which is built into any particular body around a permanent atom. It is the force of the Heavenly Man as it animates the cells of His form, and holds them as a coherent unity. Here it must be remembered that, from the point of view of the microcosm, the aspect of pure Spirit or of Electric Fire remains in this solar system as an abstraction. A man can attain group consciousness; he can vibrate to the note of the Heavenly Man in Whose body he is a cell; he can demonstrate in relative perfection fire by friction and solar fire, but it remains for a later mahamanvantara to reveal [530] the true nature of Spirit. Therefore in man, functioning in the human family, this fact is apparent and the correspondence to be seen. Until he passes out of the three worlds, and until he becomes a Master of the Wisdom, he has this truth concealed in these three aspects. The mental is not a septenary permanent atom, but only responds to four types of force, and not to the entire range of vibrations. Herein lies a reason for tolerance. Until a man is coming consciously under the control of the Ego and is beginning to sense the vibration of the manasic permanent atom, it is useless to
expect him to respond to certain ideals, or to grasp certain aspects of truth. The mental unit suffices for his need, and no bridge exists between it and the manasic permanent atom.

  Two and a half planes are concerned with the evolution of man, per se, in the fourth kingdom, and he only begins to transcend them as he nears the Path and treads it. From the standpoint of average man in physical incarnation, the egoic consciousness, within the causal periphery, is as abstract as is the Logos viewed as the Dweller within the system. These two and a half planes are of peculiar interest to the Logos, as they embody:

  That which, for Him, lies below the threshold of consciousness.

  Those centres from which logoic kundalini is turning.

  That which is not considered a principle.

  That which is gradually passing into obscuration.

  It is impossible to enlarge further upon this mystery.

  4. Summary.

  Before proceeding further, however, it might be well to sum up some of the facts anent the spirillae and the atom, and then we can take up the subject of the causal body and man, the individual. [531]

  1. The four lower spirillae are definitely under the influence of the personality Ray.

  2. The fifth and sixth spirillae are more specifically under the egoic Ray, whatever that Ray may be.

  3. The fifth spirilla has a peculiar value inasmuch as it synthesises the lower four. It is the third when counting the streams of spiral force from the standpoint of the atomic pole. It vibrates to five types of force.

  4. The spirillae are literally ten in number, three major and seven minor. But from the unity point of view, they are the four and the major three, the remaining lesser three being counted as one with their major, inasmuch as they are direct reflections.