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| A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Div. B - Manas as a Cosmic, Systemic and Human Factor |
| a. The Process of Individualization Perhaps it may help somewhat if we here consider the question of INDIVIDUALIZATION, or the process of intelligent self-realization [345] which so strikingly differentiates men from the animals. At individualization the two poles are approximated, and at their meeting light streams forth, irradiating the cave of matter, and lighting the pathway that must be trodden by the Pilgrim on his way back to his source. This irradiation brings about, in connection with man,
This is equally true of a solar Logos, and of a Heavenly Man. Individualization is literally the coming together (out of the darkness of abstraction), of the two factors of Spirit and matter by means of a third factor, the intelligent will, purpose and action of an Entity. By the approximation of these two poles light is produced, a flame shines forth, a sphere of radiant glory is seen which gradually increases the intensity of its light, its heat and its radiance until capacity is reached, or that which we call perfection. We should note and distinguish the words light, heat and radiance, which are the distinctive features of all individualized entities from Gods to men. Man is beginning to arrive partially at the secret of this phenomenon through his ability to produce through scientific knowledge, that which is called electric light and which is used by man for illumination, heat and healing. As more anent this matter is discovered by physical plane students, the whole question of existence and of creative activity will become clearer. As regards the origin of the fire of mind something [346] more may be learned through studying the various methods of individualization. In connection with man these methods are three in number as far as we can tell, though the probability of there being several other methods which are inconceivable to man's finite comprehension, is quite possible. These methods are: First, the method pursued on the moon-chain (the planetary manifestation previous to ours), when, through innate force and energy, the conjunction of the three fires was brought about and the fire of matter contacted the fire of Spirit through the latent presence of the fiery spark of mind. This spark of mind, working through the instinct, drove the material form or substance, into such activity that it was enabled to reach up to heights where its opposite pole could be contacted. Animal-man aspired; Spirit answered; the vibration of the germ of mentality had permeated the substance like yeast. Thus was consciousness awakened. In the previous solar system, in connection with the Heavenly Men, this was the method pursued by Them, and These advanced cosmic Beings entered into consciousness and mastered the three lower planes of the cosmic physical, - the planes which man is endeavoring to master now. They individualized as the result of work accomplished during incomprehensible aeons of endeavor. 28 The earlier solar system was much longer in duration than this one will be, and force in matter was generated by the progression of the ages. It was the period of the vitalization of the spirillae in the physical permanent atom of the Logos. In this method of individualization, the emphasis is laid on the fact that the principle of manas is a part of the logoic character, and is part of His very nature. It, therefore, has its origin in His Being or Self; it is [347] part of the content of the logoic Causal Body, and therefore permeates all manifestation which originates with Him. Hence the accuracy of the statement that cosmic manas originates on the cosmic mental plane, and is a portion of the fire that animates that plane. Second, in the second solar system, and in connection with the method employed therein, another point merits attention. This fire of mind has its source in a constellation until recently unrecognized by exoteric science as having any relation of an intimate nature to our solar system, owing to its tremendous distance away. The sun "Sirius" is the source of logoic manas in the same sense as the Pleiades are connected with the evolution of manas in the seven Heavenly Men, and Venus was responsible for the coming in of mind in the Earth chain. Each was primary to the other, or was the agent which produced the first flicker of consciousness in the particular groups involved. In every case the method was that of a slow evolutionary growth till the consciousness suddenly blazed forth owing to the interposition of force, apparently from an extraneous source,
This second method therefore is that which is brought about by the hastening of the evolutionary process through influences from outside; these tend to awaken consciousness, and to bring about the merging of the poles. The first method touched upon was that of the earlier solar system. The method we are now considering is the distinctive one of this solar system and will persist till the end of the mahamanvantara. That the earlier method was seen in the moon-chain is only evidence of the steadfastness of the Law of Repetition by which every large cycle includes, in its earlier [348] stages, all the lesser, and repeats the earlier procedure. This is a recognized fact, for instance, in the building of man's physical body, for the fetus reproduces all earlier stages and forms till the human is achieved; again, as we know, the fourth round reproduces briefly the earlier three but has its own distinctive quality. 28 The period of the individualization of a solar Logos goes back further still and need not concern us here, save to remember that the Law of Analogy holds good. |
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