The Specific Gravity and Content of the Causal Body.
Just what do you mean when you speak of the causal
body? Say not glibly, the body of
causes, for words thus spoken are oft but nebulous and vague. Let us now consider the causal body and find
out its component parts.
On the involutionary path [the fall into matter] you have
what is termed the Group Soul, aptly described (as far as earth words permit)
as a collection of triads [like the case with animals], enclosed in a triple
envelop of monadic essence. On the
evolutionary path, groups of causal bodies correspond and are similarly
composed, three factors entering in.
The causal body is a collection of permanent atoms, three in
all, enclosed in an envelop of mental essence.... What happens at the moment
when animal-man becomes a thinking entity, a human being? The approximation of the self and the
not-self by means of mind, for man is "that being in whom highest spirit
and lowest matter are linked together by intelligence." What do I mean by this phrase? Just this:
that when animal-man had reached a point of adequacy; when his physical
body was sufficiently co-ordinated, when he had an emotional or desire nature
sufficiently strong to form a basis for existence, and to guide it by means of
instinct, and when the germ of mentality was sufficiently implanted to have
donated the instinctive memory and correlation of ideas that can be seen in the
average domesticated animal, then the descending spirit (which had taken to
itself an atom on the mental plane) judged the time ripe for taking possession
of the lower vehicles. The Lords of the
Flame were called in and they effected the transfer of polarisation from the
lower atom of the Triad to the lowest atom of the Personality. Even then, the indwelling Flame could come no
lower than the third subplane of the mental plane. There the two met and became one and the
causal body was formed. All in nature is
interdependent, and the indwelling Thinker cannot control in the three lower
worlds without the aid of the lower self.
The life of the first Logos must be blended with that of the second
Logos and based on the activity of the third Logos.
Therefore, you have at the moment of individualisation,
which is the term used to express this hour of contact, on the third subplane
of the mental plane a point of light, enclosing three atoms, and itself
enclosed in a sheath of mental matter.
The work then to be done consists of:
1. Causing
that point of light to become a flame, by steadily fanning the spark and
feeding the fire.
2. Causing
the causal body to grow and expand from being a colourless ovoid, holding the
Ego like a yolk within the egg-shell, to a thing of rare beauty, containing
within itself all the colour of the rainbow.
This is an occult fact. The
causal body will palpitate in due course of time with an inner irradiation, and
an inner glowing flame that will gradually work its way from the centre to the
periphery. It will then pierce through
that periphery, using the body (that product of millennia of lives of pain and
endeavour) as fuel for its flames. It
will burn all up, it will mount upward to the Triad, and (becoming one with
that Triad) will be re-absorbed into the spiritual consciousness,—will carry
with it—using heat as the symbol—an intensity of heat or quality of colour or
vibration that before were lacking.
Therefore the work of the Personality—for we have to view
all from that angle until egoic vision may be ours,—is first to beautify, build
and expand the causal body; secondly to withdraw within it the life of the
Personality, sucking the good out of the personal life and storing it in the
body of the Ego. We might term this the
Divine Vampirism, for always evil is but the other side of good. Then, having accomplished this, comes the
application of the flame to the causal body itself and the joyous standing by
whilst the work of destruction goes on, and the Flame—the live inner man and
the spirit of divine life—is set free and mounts to its source.
The specific gravity of the causal body fixes the moment of
emancipation and marks the time when the work of beautifying and building is
completed, when the Temple of Solomon is erected, and when the weight (occultly
understood) of the causal body measures up to the standard looked for by the
Hierarchy. Then the work of destruction
supervenes and liberation approaches.
Spring has been experienced, the full verdure of summer has succeeded,
now must be felt the disintegrating force of autumn,—only this time it is felt
and applied on mental levels and not on physical. The axe is laid to the root of the tree, but
the life essence is garnered into the divine storehouse.
The content of the causal body is the accumulation by slow
and gradual process of the good in each life. The building proceeds slowly at first, but
towards the end of incarnation—on the Probationary Path and on the Path of
Initiation—the work proceeds rapidly.
The structure has been reared, and each stone quarried in the personal
life. On the Path, in each of its two
divisions, the work of completing and beautifying the Temple proceeds with
greater rapidity....
Briefly and in conclusion of this matter, I would seek to
point out that the circumference of the causal body varies according to type
and ray. Some egoic bodies are of a form
more circular than others; some are more ovoid, and others more elongated in
shape. It is the content and the
pliability that matter, and above all the occult permeability of the lower auric
egg that permits of contact with other egos, yet retains identity; that merges
itself with its fellows, yet preserves individuality; and that absorbs all that
is desirable, yet keeps ever its own shape.
June 16, 1920.
Condition of the Causal Body.
The fourth factor underlying the choice of a method of
meditation is our subject today and consists of the condition of the causal
body.
We have dealt with the causal body in its relationship to
the Personality or lower self, showing the interplay between the two and their
interdependence. Through steady
application to occult meditation, and through the gradual stilling of the lower
mind, through concentration and the wise following of the egoic ray meditation,
balanced by the personality ray mediation, we found that the relationship of
the causal body to the Personality became ever closer and the channel
connecting the two became ever more clear and adequate. This resulted eventually, we saw, in a
shifting of polarisation from the lower to the higher and later to complete
emancipation from both,—centralisation ensuing then in the spiritual
consciousness. We dealt with the matter
from the lower point of view, seeing it from the standpoint of a man in the
three worlds.
Today we will deal with the matter from the standpoint of
the Higher Self, from the egoic level, and consider the relationship of that
Self to the Hierarchy, to surrounding egos, and to the Spirit. It will be difficult to do more than give
some few hints, for much that I could say would be little comprehended, and
much be too occult and dangerous for general communication.
Three things may be imparted, which—when wisely meditated
upon—may lead to illumination:
The Ego on its own plane, realises consciously its
relationship to the Master, and seeks to transmit that consciousness to the
Personality.
The Higher self on its own plane, is not trammelled by time
and space, and (knowing the future as well as that which is past) seeks to
bring the desired end nearer and make it more rapidly a fact.
The Higher Self or Ego on its own plane has direct
relationship with other egos on the same ray, and on a corresponding concrete
or abstract ray, and—realising that progress is made in group formation—works
on that plane at the helping of his kind.
These facts are already half apprehended among students but by a slight
elaboration I may make it clearer.
All the Monads are, as you know, under the control, or
rather form part, of the consciousness of one of the [7] Planetary
Spirits. On egoic levels, the egos are
in a similar condition. An Adept of
their ray supervises their general evolution, dealing with them in groups. These groups are formed under three
conditions:
a—As to
sub-ray of the egoic ray. [One of seven.
b—As to
period of individualisation or of entrance into the human kingdom.
c—As to
point of attainment.
The Adept of their ray handles the general supervision but
under Him work the Masters each on His own ray, and with Their own individual
groups, who are affiliated with Them through period, through karma and through
point of vibration. Under the Masters
work the disciples who have the consciousness of the Higher Self, and are
therefore able to work on causal levels and aid in the development of those
egos whose causal bodies are less developed than their own.
All is beautifully subject to law, and as the work of
developing the egoic body is dependent upon the progress made in the threefold
personality, the Ego is consequently aided on lower levels by two different
disciples, one working on emotional levels and reporting to another disciple
who works upon the mental vehicle. He in
his turn reports to the disciple with causal consciousness, who reports again
to the Master. All this is done with the
co-operation of the indwelling consciousness in the causal body. This, as you see, entails five factors
concerning themselves with the aiding of the Ego in his evolutionary
development:
l—The Adept of
his Ray.
2—The Master of
his group.
3—A disciple with
causal consciousness.
4—A disciple on
the mental plane.
5—A helper on the
emotional plane.
For a long period of lives the Ego remains practically
unconscious of the Personality. The
magnetic link exists, but that is all until the time comes when the personal
life reaches a point where it has somewhat to add to the content of the causal
body—a body at first small, colourless and insignificant. But the hour comes when the stones are first
brought perfected from the quarry of the personal life, and the first colours
are painted in by the man, the builder and the artist. Then the Ego begins to give attention, rarely
at first, but with increasing frequency, until lives come around in which the
Ego definitely works at the subjugation of the lower self, at the enlargement
of the communicating channel, and at the transmission to the physical brain
consciousness of the fact of its existence and the goal of its being. Once that is accomplished, and the inner fire
is freer in its passage, lives are then given to the stabilising of that
impression, and to the making of that inner consciousness a part of the
conscious life. The flame radiates
downward more and more until gradually the different vehicles come into line,
and the man stands on the Probationary Path.
He is ignorant yet of what lies ahead, and is conscious only of wild and
earnest aspiration and of innate divine longings. He is eager to make good, longing to know,
and dreaming always of someone or something higher than himself. All this is backed by the profound conviction
that in service to humanity will the dreamed-of goal be reached, will the
vision become reality, the longing fructify into satisfaction, and aspiration
be merged in sight.
The Hierarchy begins to take action and his instruction is
carried out as aforesaid.... Until now the Teachers have only watched and
guided without definitely dealing with the man himself; all has been left to
the Ego and the life divine to carry out the plan, the attention of the Masters
being directed to the Ego on his own plane.
The Ego bends every effort to quicken vibration, and to force the
oft-rebelling lower vehicles to respond and measure up to the rapidly
increasing force. It is largely a matter
of increased fire or heat, and consequent intensification of vibratory
capacity. The egoic fire waxes ever
greater until the work is done, and the purificatory fire becomes the Light of
Illumination. Ponder on this
sentence. As above, so below; on each
rung of the ladder the process is repeated; the Monad, at the third Initiation,
begins itself to be conscious of the Ego.
The work, then, is more rapid owing to the rarity of the material and to
the fact that resistance is a factor in the three worlds but not elsewhere.
Hence, pain ceases for a Master. That is, pain as we know it on earth, which
is largely pain in matter. The pain that
lies hid in comprehension, not resistance, is felt to the highest circles, yea,
it reaches to the Logos Himself. But
this is beside the point and well-nigh incomprehensible to you who are yet
trammelled by matter.
1—By
definite work on abstract levels. It
aspires to contact and enclose the permanent atom, its first direct approach to
the Triad.
2—By definite work on colour and sound with
the aim in view of stimulation and vivification, working thus in groups and
under the guidance of a Master.
3—By
frequent attempts to definitely control the lower self, a thing distasteful to
the Ego, whose tendency is to rest content with consciousness and aspiration on
its own plane. Forget not that the Ego
itself has somewhat to wrestle with. The
refusal to incarnate is not found only on spiritual levels, but is found also
on that of the Higher Self. Certain
developments also, incidental to the factors of time and space (as understood
in the three worlds) are aimed at by the Ego, such as the increase of the
causal periphery through the study of divine telepathy, systemic psychology and
the knowledge of the law of fire.
3. Relationship of the Ego to other egos.
The factor of periodicity.
Egos that are in incarnation, and egos that are out of incarnation are
differentiated and capable of different work.
Egos whose reflections are in incarnation are more limited than those
who are not. It is almost as if the
Higher Self were directed downwards, or willingly circumscribing itself to
three-dimensioned existence, whereas the egos out of incarnation are not so
limited but work in another direction or dimension. The difference lies in the focusing of
attention, during physical plane life.
The matter is hard for you to grasp, is it not so? I scarcely know how to express the difference
more clearly. It is perhaps as if the
incarnating egos were more positive, and the non-incarnating egos more negative.
The factor of activity.
This is largely a matter of ray, and affects closely the relationship
between egos. Those on similar rays
coalesce and vibrate more readily to each other than those on different rays,
and it is only as the second or wisdom aspect is developed that synthesis becomes
possible.
On the third subplane of the mental plane egos are separated
into groups—individual separation exists not, but group separation can be felt,
incidental to ray and point in evolution.
On the second subplane the groups become merged and blend,
and from their forty-nine groups [7 times 7] are formed (by merging)
forty-two. The process of synthesis
might be tabulated as follows:
Mental plane (1st subplane 35 groups, 7 x 5
(2nd subplane 42 groups, 7 x 6
(3rd subplane 49 groups, 7 x 7
Buddhic plane (3rd subplane 28 groups, 7 x 4
(1st subplane 21 groups, 7 x 3
Atmic plane Atomic subplane 14 groups, 7 x 2
Monadic plane 7 great groups
I have given a few hints here. It is so little, compared with what will
later be known when those of you now studying expand the consciousness still
further, but it is all I can as yet impart, and only this has been given with
the intent of showing how much has to be considered, when meditation forms are
duly set by a Master. He has to take
into wise consideration the egoic ray, and the condition of the causal body in
its relationship to the lower self and to the Hierarchy. The state of the body must be known, and its
content; its relationship to other egos must be duly considered, for all is in
group formation. Meditation must
therefore be given which is in line with the group to which the Ego is
assigned, for as each man meditates he contacts not only his own Ego but also
his egoic group, and through that group the Master to Whom he is consequently
linked, though the efficacy of a meditation depends upon the work being done in
an occult manner and under law. The
group significance of meditation is little understood, but the above thoughts
are commended to you for your wise study.
June 17, 1920
