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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals
The lesser Builders 95 are the negative aspect and are swept into action in group formation through the play [614] of positive force upon them, or through the action of the conscious Minds of the system. At the present stage of evolution - during the period of Light - it is difficult for the human being (until he has attained the consciousness of the Ego) to differentiate between the types of force, and to work consciously with these dual aspects. An Adept of the Light works with force in substance, viewing substance as that which is negative, and therefore occultly to be moved, and He can do this because He has (in the three worlds of His endeavor) achieved unity, or the point of balance and equilibrium, and can therefore balance forces and deal with positive and negative energies as appears best in the interests of the plan of evolution. The Brother of Darkness, knowing himself to be positive force in essence, works with negative substance, or with the lesser Builders to bring about ends [615] of his own, incited thereto by selfish motive. The Brothers of Light cooperate with the positive aspect in, and of, all forms - the building devas of evolutionary intent - in order to bring about the purposes of the Heavenly Man Who is the sumtotal of planetary physical manifestation.

It can be seen, therefore, how necessary it is that the functions of the devas of all grades be comprehended. It is however equally important that man should refrain from the manipulation of these forces of nature until such time as he "knows" himself, and his own powers, and until he has fully unfolded the consciousness of the ego; then, and only then, can he safely, wisely, and intelligently cooperate in the plan. As yet, for the average man or even the advanced man this is dangerous to attempt and impossible to accomplish.

Now, let us add a few more statements upon which the student can ponder before we pass on to study specifically the three main groups of building devas on the three planes in the three worlds which most intimately concern man.

The building devas 96 are the Ahhi, or Universal Mind. They contain within their consciousness the plan logoic, [616] and inherently possess the power to work it out in time and space, being the conscious forces of evolution.

They not only embody the Divine Thought but are that through which it manifests, and its actuating activity. They are essentially motion. The lesser builders are more particularly the material form which is actuated, and in their cohorts are the substance of matter (considering substance as that which lies back of matter).

They are that which produces concretion and which gives form to the abstract. The terms "rupa" and "arupa" devas are relative, 97 for the formless levels and the formless lives are only so from the standpoint of man in the three worlds; the formless lives are those which are functioning in and through the etheric body of the Logos, formed of the matter of the four higher planes of the system. From this point of view the mental plane provides an interesting consideration: its three higher subplanes are positive, and centralize the positive force of the plane. This focusing of the positive affects the negative substance of the four lower planes and brings about likewise:

  1. The formation of force centers on the causal levels, those force centers being egoic groups in their various divisions.
  2. The concretion of substance, or the building of the dense physical body of the Logos.

On the physical plane of the solar system an analogous process can be seen taking place as regards the physical [617] body of man, or his concrete manifestation. In his case, the fourth subplane is the focal point of positive force. On that plane are located the etheric centers of man, which have, in the evolutionary process and in the work of force direction, a relationship to his physical body similar to the relationship which groups of Egos on the mental plane have to the dense physical body of the Logos. This is a profound occult hint.

95 Pitris - The ancestors or creators of mankind. They are of seven classes, three of which are incorporeal and four corporeal. These are usually called the Lunar Pitris or Ancestors and must not be confounded with the Solar Pitris or Angels, who give mind to man, and create the relatively permanent body of the ego, or Higher Self.

96 Devas ...he would have (1) divided the Devas into two classes - and called them the "Rupa-devas" and the "Arupa-devas" (the "form" or objective, and the "formless" or subjective Dhyan Chohans; and (2) would have done the same for his class of "men" since there are Shells and "Mara-rupas" - i.e. bodies doomed to annihilation. All these are:

  1. "Rupa-devas" - Dhyan Chohans, having forms (Ex-men).
  2. "Arupa-devas" - Dhyan Chohans, having no forms (Ex-men).
  3. "Pisachas" - (two-principled) ghosts.
  4. "Mara-rupa" - Doomed to death (three principled).
  5. Asuras - Elementals - having human form (Future men).
  6. Beasts - Elementals second class - animal elementals (Future men).
  7. Rakshasas - (Demons) Souls or Astral Forms of sorcerers; men who have reached the apex of knowledge in the forbidden art. Dead or alive they have, so to say, cheated nature; but it is only temporary - until our planet goes into obscuration, after which they have nolens volens to be annihilated.

It is these seven groups that form the principal divisions of the Dwellers of the subjective world around us." - Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, 107.

97 Rupa, with form or body. Arupa, formless or bodiless.

Generally speaking, the term rupa is applied to all forms in the three worlds whilst the term arupa is applied to all forms through which existences manifest on the four higher levels of the solar system and the abstract levels of the mental plane.
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