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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Introductory Questions
IV. What is Consciousness? What is its Place in the Scheme of Things?

Consciousness might be defined as the faculty of apprehension, and concerns primarily the relation of the Self to the not-self, of the Knower to the Known, and of the Thinker to that which is thought about. All these definitions involve the acceptance of the idea of duality, of that which is objective and of that which lies back of objectivity. 99

Consciousness expresses that which might be regarded as the middle point in manifestation. It does not involve entirely the pole of Spirit. It is produced by the union of the two poles, and the process of interplay and of adaptation that necessarily ensues. It might be tabulated as follows, in an effort to clarify by visualization: [244]
First Pole The Point of Union Second Pole
First Logos Second Logos Third Logos.
Mahadeva Vishnu Brahma.
Will Wisdom-Love Active Intelligence.
Spirit Consciousness Matter.
Father Son Mother.
Monad Ego Personality.
The Self The relation between The Not-Self.
The Knower Knowledge The Known.
Life Realization Form.
One could go on piling up terms, but the above suffices to demonstrate the relationship between the threefold Logos, during manifestation. Emphasis must be laid upon the above fact: The solar system embodies the above logoic relationship during evolutionary objectivity, and the whole aim of progressive development is to bring the Son of the Father and the Mother, to a point of full realization, of complete self-consciousness, and to full and active knowledge. This Son is objectively the solar system, inherently will or power, and subjectively He is love-wisdom. This latter quality is in process of development through the utilization of active intelligence.

The three manifested Persons of the logoic Triad seek full development by means of each other. The will to be, of the Mahadeva aspect, seeks, with the aid of the intelligence of Brahma, to develop love-wisdom, or the Son aspect, the Vishnu aspect. In the microcosmic system, the reflection of the threefold Logos, the man is endeavoring through the three vehicles to attain the same development on his own plane. On higher planes the Heavenly Men (through atma-buddhi-manas) aim at a similar progression. These two, the Heavenly Men plus the units in Their bodies, which are composed of deva and human monads form, in their totality, the Grand Heavenly Man. When man achieves, then the Heavenly Men likewise achieve; when They reach Their full growth and knowledge, [245] and are self-conscious on all planes, then the Son achieves, and the solar system (His body of manifestation and experience) has served its purpose. The Son is liberated. Extend the idea of this threefold development of consciousness to the Logos in a still larger cycle (to that of the three solar systems of which this is the middle one) and we have repeated on cosmic levels in connection with the Logos, the process of the development of man in the three worlds.

THE MACROCOSM

  • The first solar system - embodied - the "I am" principle,
  • The second solar system - is embodying - the "I am that" principle.
  • The third solar system - will embody - the "I am that I am" principle.

THE MICROCOSM

  • The first manifestation, the Personality, embodies the "I am" principle.
  • The second manifestation, the Ego, is embodying the "I am that" principle.
  • The third manifestation, the Monad, will embody the "I am that I am" principle.

Thus the different factors play their part in the general scheme of things, and all are interrelated, and all are interested parts and members one of the other.

99 "Consciousness is the cosmic seed of supercosmic omniscience. It has the potentiality of budding into divine consciousness." - S. D., III, 555.

The universe is an aggregate of states of consciousness. - S. D., II, 633.

Consciousness may be roughly divided into:

  1. Absolute or God Consciousness - Unmanifested Logos.
    "I am That I am."
  2. Universal or Group Consciousness - Manifested Logos. Consciousness of planetary Logos.
    "I am That."
  3. Individual or Self-Consciousness - Human consciousness.
    "I am."
  4. Consciousness or Atomic Consciousness - Subhuman consciousness.

The goal of consciousness for:

  1. A planetary Logos - Absolute Consciousness.
  2. Man - Group Consciousness.
  3. Atom - Self-Consciousness.

The Logos is the Macrocosm for Man. - S. D., I, 288, 295.
Man is the Macrocosm for the Atom...

Summation: The Life and the Lives. - S. D., I, 281, 282.
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