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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section One - Introductory Remarks - Fire in the Macrocosm |
I. Fire in the Macrocosm In its essential nature Fire is threefold, but when in manifestation it can be seen as a fivefold demonstration, and be defined as follows: [38]
This threefold fire may be expressed in ray terms as follows: First, we have the animating fires of the solar system, which are the fires of the primordial ray of active intelligent matter; these constitute the energy of Brahma, the third aspect of the Logos. Next are to be found the fires of the divine Ray of Love-Wisdom, the ray of intelligent love, which constitutes the energy of the Vishnu aspect, the second aspect logoic.4 Finally are to be found the fires of the cosmic mental plane, which are the fires of the cosmic ray of will. They might be described as the rays of intelligent will and are the manifestation of the first aspect logoic, the Mahadeva aspect.5 Therefore we have three cosmic rays manifesting: 4 "That whereinto all enter, vishanti, is Vishnu; he who covers up, envelopes, surrounds, undertakes all, is Brahma; he who sleeps, shete, in everything, is Shiva. Shiva sleeps, lies hidden, in all and everything as the nexus, the bond, and this is the nature of desire. Vrinite signifies the envelopment, the covering with an envelope, the demarcation of the limiting bounds or the periphery, and so the formation or creation (of all forms); and this is action presided over by Brahma. Vishanti sarvani indicates that all things enter into It and It into all, and such is the Self, connected with cognition and Vishnu. The summation or totality of these is Mahavishnu. "Mahavishnu, 'the overlord of all this world-system, is described as the Ishvara, white-colored, four-armed, adorned with the conch, the discus, the mace, the lotus, the forest-wreath, and the kanstubha-gem, shining, vestured in blue and yellow, endless and imperishable in form, attributeless yet ensouling and underlying all attributes. Here, the epithet Ishvara indicates the rule; the four arms, the four activities of cognition, etc.; the white resplendence is the illumination of all things; the shankha, conch [39] or shell, indicates all sound, and the chakra, wheel or discus, all time, there being a connection between the two; gada, the (whirling) mace, is the spiral method of the procession of the world and the lotus-flower is the whole of that procession; the vana-mala, the wreath of forest flowers, indicates the stringing together of all things into unity and necessity; the nila-pit-ambara, blue and yellow vestures, are darkness and light; the kaustubha jewel indicates inseparable connection with all; Nirguna, attributeless, shows the presence of the nature of Negation; while saguna, attributeful, implies possession of name and form. The World-process (as embodied in our world-system) is the result of the ideation of Mahavishnu." - Pranava-Vada, pp. 72-74, 94-95. 5 Mahadeva is literally "great Deva." The term is frequently applied to the first Person of the manifested Trinity, to Shiva, the Destroyer aspect, the Creator. |
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