The fourth Creative Hierarchy, that of the human Monads, has to learn to vibrate positively, but the devas proceed along the line of least resistance; they remain negative, taking the line of acquiescence, of falling in with the law. Only the human Monads, and only in the three worlds, follow the positive line, and by resistance, struggle, battle and strife learn the lesson of divine acquiescence. Yet, owing to the increase of friction through that very struggle, they progress with a relatively greater rapidity than the devas. They have need to do this, for they have lost ground to make up.
The Law of Vibration is the law of progress, of movement and of rotation. On the seventh or lowest plane, the vibration is slow, clogged and lethargic from the [576] standpoint of the first, and it is in learning to vibrate or to rotate more rapidly, that we mount the path of return. It involves, therefore necessarily, the building in of finer matter into the vehicles, both deva and human. In this second system, on the five planes of human evolution, we have the five vehicles—physical, astral, mental, buddhic and atmic—which have all to be purified, rarefied, intensified and refined. In the two lowest, the physical and the astral, only matter of the five higher subplanes, of their respective planes, is to be found, for the two lowest subplanes are too low for deva or human bodies; they were dominated in the first system. The mental body is the first in which we find matter of all the subplanes. The aim of evolution for us is love dominated by intelligence—or intelligence dominated by love, for the interaction will be complete. The human race came into the chain at a point where it naturally took bodies of the fifth astral and physical subplanes, and we can see here an analogy to the coming into the fourth root-race of the more advanced Egos.
2. The Law of Cohesion.—This is one of the branch laws of the cosmic Law of Attraction. It is interesting to notice how this law demonstrates in this Love-System in a threefold manner:
On the plane of the Monad, as the law of cohesion, the law of birth, if we might use that term, resulting in the appearance of the Monads in their seven groups. Love the source, and the Monad of love, the result.
On the plane of buddhi, as the law of magnetic control. It shows itself as the love-wisdom aspect, irradiating the ego, and eventually gathering to itself the essence of all experience, garnered, via the Ego, through the personality lives, and controlled throughout from the plane of buddhi. Magnetism, and the capacity to show love, are occultly synonymous.
On the astral plane, as love demonstrating through the [577] personality. All branches of the law of attraction, demonstrating in this system, show themselves as a force that ingathers, that tends to coherence, that results in adhesion, and leads to absorption. All these terms are needed to give a general idea of the basic quality of this law.
This law is one of the most important of the systemic laws, if it is permissible to differentiate at all; we might term it the law of coalescence.
On the path of involution it controls the primal gathering together of molecular matter, beneath the atomic subplane. It is the basis of the attractive quality that sets in motion the molecules and draws them into the needed aggregations. It is the measure of the subplanes. The atomic subplane sets the rate of vibration; the Law of Cohesion might be said to fix the colouring of each plane. It is the same thing in other words. We need always to remember in discussing these abstract fundamentals that words but dim the meaning, and serve but as suggestions and not as elucidations.
In manifestation the cosmic Law of Attraction controls all these subsidiary laws, just as the Law of Synthesis governs pralaya and obscuration, and the law of Economy deals with the general working out, along the line of least resistance, of the logoic scheme. During manifestation we have most to do with the Law of Attraction, and it will be found, on study, that each subsidiary law is but a differentiation of that law.
This second law of the system governs specially the second plane, and the second subplane on each plane. It might be interesting to work this out and trace the underlying correspondence, bearing in mind always that all that can be done is to point out certain things, and indicate lines of thought that may lead, if pursued, to illumination.
Ray Two and Law Two are closely allied, and it is [578] interesting to realise that it is on the second subplane of the monadic plane that the majority of the Monads have their habitat; there are a few Monads of power or will on the atomic subplane, but their numbers are not many, and they simply form a nucleus in evolutionary preparation for System III, the power system. The majority of the Monads are on the second subplane and they are the Monads of love; on the third subplane can be found quite a number of the Monads of activity, but numerically not as many as the Monads of love. They are the failures of System I.
There is a direct channel, as we know, between the atomic subplane on each plane. This is more or less true of each subplane and its corresponding higher subplane numerically, and there is, therefore, a direct and quite expansive channel between the second subplane on all planes, enabling the Monads of love to link up with peculiar facility with all their vehicles when composed of second subplane matter. After initiation, the causal body is found on the second subplane of the mental plane, and monadic control then commences.
The Monads of love return (after life in the three worlds and the attainment of the goal) to their originating second subplane, that being also the goal for the monads of activity who have to develop the love aspect. In the five worlds of human evolution both groups of Monads have to control atomic and molecular matter as well and this is done by the utilisation to the full (as full as may be possible in this second system), of the will or power aspect.
The “Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force,” or by Will or power. It is not Will, as we shall know it in the final system but it is Will as known in this system, and it has to be utilised to the uttermost by the evolving Monad in his struggle to control each atomic subplane. The Monads of power have [579] a much greater struggle, and hence the fact so often apparent that people on what we term the power Ray, have so often a hard time, and are so frequently unlovable. They have to build in on all the six planes the love aspect, which is not prominent in their development.
A hint has been given us as to the approximate figures governing the Monads:
35 Thousand million Monads of love
20 Thousand million Monads of activity
5 Thousand million Monads of power
making a total of sixty thousand million human Monads. The Monads of power, though in manifestation, are as yet very rare in incarnation. They came in, in large numbers, at the close of the moon chain, and will come in again in full numerical strength in the last two rounds of the present chain.
We might now briefly trace the correspondence in the second round and the second root-race, showing how the Law of Cohesion was specially active at these periods. A condition of nebulosity of a pronouncedly volatile condition, marked the first round and race. Movement, and the accompaniment of heat, is their distinguishing quality, much as in System I, but in the second round, and also in the second race, a definite cohesion is noticeable, and form is more clearly recognisable in outline. Cohesion is also plainly to be seen as the distinguishing feature of our present system, the second. It is the aim of all things to unite; approximation, unification, a simultaneous attraction between two or more is ever to be seen as a governing principle, whether we look at the sex problem, or whether it demonstrates in business organisation, in scientific development, in manufacture, or in politics. Well might we say that the At-one-ment of the many separated is the keynote of our system.
One more suggestion may be given: On the path of [580] involution this law governs the gathering together and the segregation of matter; on the evolutionary path it controls the building of forms. It has been stated that the matter of the lowest subplane forms the basis of a new plane; therefore we have on the atomic subplane a point where merging takes place, which makes it a plane of synthesis, just as in the same way the firs
t or logoic plane is the plane of synthesis for this system. There takes place the merging of evolution into an inconceivably higher state.
3. The Law of Disintegration.—This is the law that governs the destruction of the form in order that the indwelling life may shine forth in fullness. It is another aspect of the Law of Cohesion—the reverse side (if one might so express it), and is just as much a part of the divine plan as that of attraction. It is one of the laws that ends with the solar system, for the great laws of attraction, cohesion and love last on into that which is to come. The Law of Disintegration has its correspondence in cosmic law, but it is almost incomprehensible to us. The Law of Economy holds the key to this law. When the Monad has circled through all disintegrating forms, and has achieved the sixth Initiation, it is resolved into its primal monadic source, and the five lesser sheaths are destroyed. Later on the Monads themselves are synthesised, not disintegrated. This law controls only from the third plane, and ceases action in this particular fashion when the third plane is transcended.
This law is one of the most difficult for the race to understand. Some of its workings (those on the path of evolution), can be seen and somewhat comprehended, but on the path of involution, or of construction, the working out of the law is not so apparent to the superficial observer.
On the path of involution it controls the process of the [581] breaking up of group souls; it governs the periods when the permanent triads are transferred from one form to another; it works through the great world cataclysms, and we need to remember that it governs, not only the physical plane catastrophes (as we erroneously term them), but the corresponding cataclysms on the astral plane, and the lower levels of the mental plane. It governs physical plane disruptions, especially those affecting the mineral world; it controls the disintegration, on the astral plane, of thought-forms; it dissolves the astral vehicle when left behind, and the mental likewise. The dissipation of the etheric double is the result of its working.
Again we can correlate this law with that of Attraction, for the two interact upon each other. This law breaks up the forms, and the Law of Attraction draws back to primal sources the material of those forms, prior to rebuilding them anew.
On the path of evolution the effects of this law are well known, not only in the destruction of the discarded vehicles touched upon above, but in the breaking up of the forms in which great ideals are embodied,—the forms of political control, the forms in which nature itself evolves, apart from those in which individual consciousness manifests, the great religious thought-forms, the philanthropic concepts and all the forms which science, art, and religion take at any one particular time. All eventually break under the working of this law.
Its workings are more apparent to the average human mind in its manifestations at this time on the physical plane. We can trace the connection between the atmic and the physical plane (demonstrating on the lower plane as the law of sacrifice and death), but its effect can be seen on all the five planes as well. It is the law that destroys the final sheath that separates the perfected Jiva. It has not yet been fully brought out [582] (for the law of correspondences has been little studied, nor is it readily apparent) that on the third subplane of each plane this law works in a special manner, causing a very definite breaking-up of something that is tending to separation. Like all that works in the system, the process is slow; the work of disintegration begins on the third subplane, and is finished on the second, when the Law of Disintegration comes under the influence of the Law of Cohesion, the disintegration having effected that which makes cohesion possible. We can see an illustration of this on the mental plane. The causal body of the average man is on the third subplane, and as a man becomes fit for the merging into the Triad, that causal body has to be discarded and done away with. Under the Law of Sacrifice and Death, the disintegration is begun on the third level and is consummated on the second, when the man merges with the Triad, preparatory to the final merging with the Monad.
Another illustration of the same thing can be found on the physical plane. When a man has reached the point where he can sense and see the fourth ether, he is ready for the burning away of the etheric web, which has its location midway between the third and second subplane matter which composes his physical body. When this disintegration is effected, the man merges with his astral vehicle, establishing a consequent continuity of consciousness. This correspondence, and this disintegration, can be traced on each plane, till finally on the atmic level on its third subplane comes the final disintegration, which results in a merging with the monadic consciousness.
The third Ray, that of adaptability or activity, has a close connection with this law. It is through activity (or the adaptation of matter to need), that the form comes into being; through activity it is employed, and through that very adaptation it becomes a perfect form, [583] and at the moment of perfection loses its usefulness; it crystallises, breaks, and the evolving life escapes to find for itself new forms of greater capacity and adequacy. It is so in the life of the reincarnating Ego; it is so in the rounds and races of humanity; it is so in the solar system; it is so in all cosmic processes.
In the third chain, the moon chain, we have an interesting related fact. On the moon chain the point of attainment for the individual was the arhat or fourth Initiation,—the initiation which marks the final breaking with the three worlds, and the disintegration of the egoic body.
At the end of the third root-race came the first of the great cataclysms that broke the race form, and inaugurated a new one, for it was the first definitely human race as we now know it. The analogy will be found to hold good no matter from what angle the subject may be studied. In the third subrace a correspondence can be traced, though it is not yet apparent to the circumscribed vision which characterises most of us. Close proximity to an effect often veils a cause.
4. The law of Magnetic Control (182)—This law is the basic law controlling the Spiritual Triad. Through this law, the force of evolution drives the Ego to progress through the cycle of reincarnation back to union with his kind. Through separation he finds himself, and then—driven by the indwelling buddhic or Christ principle—transcends himself, and finds himself again in all selves. This law holds the evolving lower self in a coherent form. It controls the Ego in the causal body, in the same way that the Logos controls the Monad on the second plane. It is the law of the buddhic plane; the [584] Master is one Who can function on the buddhic levels, and Who has magnetic control in the three worlds. The lower is always controlled from above, and the effect the buddhic levels have on the three lower is paramount, though that is scarcely yet conceded by our thinkers. It is the Law of Love, in the three worlds, that holds all together, and that draws all upward. It is the demonstration, in the Triad, of the Law of Attraction.
On the path of involution this law works with the permanent atoms in the causal body. It is the buddhic principle, and its relation with the lower permanent atom of the Triad is the mainspring of the life of the Ego. On the path of descent it has much to do with the placing of the permanent atoms, but this matter is very abstruse, and the time has not yet come for further elucidation. At the third outpouring, (in which the fourth kingdom, the human, was formed), it was this Law of Magnetic Control that effected the juncture of astro-animal man, and the descending Monad, using the spark of mind as the method of at-one-ment. Again we can see how it works. The monadic plane, the buddhic plane, and the astral plane are all three closely allied, and we find there the line of least resistance. Hence the facility with which the mystic contacts the buddhic and even higher planes. The lines of least resistance in the three systems are:
System I. Physical, mental, and atmic.
The atmic was the highest point of achievement in that system.
II. Astral, buddhic and monadic.
III. Mental, atmic and logoic
Note the correspondence therefore to be seen between the fourth kingdom and the working of this, the fourth law. It is of vital moment in this fo
urth chain.
As regards human evolution, this fourth law is of prime importance at this time. The aim of human endeavour [585] is both to be controlled by this law, and likewise to wield it in service. It is the law whereby sex expression, as we know it, is transmuted and elevated; sex is only the physical plane demonstration of the Law of Attraction; it is the working out of that law in the human kingdom, and in all the lower kingdoms, too. The love of all that breathes, and the attraction that works out in service, is the same thing as demonstrated in the Triad. Sex expression, the coming together of two, becomes transmuted into the coming together of many for acts of service, which will give birth to new ideals, and to a new race—the spiritual.
Here I might point out a numerical fact that may be of interest in connection with the fourth hierarchy. This human hierarchy is the fourth, as we know, yet if we count the five hierarchies that have passed on, it is in reality the ninth. Nine is the number of initiation, the number of the adept, and of the man who functions in his buddhic vehicle.
The fourth Ray also operates in close connection with the fourth Law. It is the Ray of Harmony or Beauty—Harmony through control, that control entailing the knowledge of wisdom. It is the harmony of similarity; it is the equilibrising of all through the realisation of the laws of magnetism that produce the co-ordination of the many diverse into the one homogeneous; magnetism governs the synthesis of the many aspects into a form of unity. This harmony is reached through the fifth plane, and the fifth Ray of Concrete Knowledge acts as a step to the fourth, for many who work on the fifth Ray pass eventually to the fourth. In this system the fifth Ray is of paramount importance in the development of all egos. Each must pass some time on it before definitely remaining on his monadic Ray. In many incarnations much time is spent on the fifth subplane of each plane, which is governed principally by the fifth Ray. All pass [586] then on the fourth subplane governed by the fourth Ray, and in this particular period of the fourth round in the fourth chain, more time is spent on the fourth subplane by evolving Egos than on any other. Many come into incarnation directly on to this plane, and it is here that they begin to think harmoniously.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire Page 50