There are many myths about the act of creation, how it occurred and why. I wish to look at a few of them so that it gives me a framework into which I can suggest the Hylozoic model. The Hindus’ and Buddhists have an underlying believe that everything is formed from some level of consciousness and we live in a web of illusions.
Let us consider this for a moment:
Imagine in your mind a vision of your house. I suggest that you will not able to do this for very long and the vision you imagine will be quite hazy. Now I ask the question; could an infinite mind hold a vision of the whole universe for its entire existence? Not only is this infinite mind imagining the whole structure of the universe but also the trillions of life forms within it.
Let me ask another question: Is anything real?
The five senses we possess; sight, sound, taste, touch and smell are all real in our minds. But does anything exist outside of our minds?
Ok, let’s now look at something that also exists in our minds; dreams. They are created by the mind and they seem very real to us, at the time. However upon waking we find they are not real at all. Therefore we have to accept that our minds can convince us that something is real, when it may not be.
So where does this leave us? Thinking something is real, does not make it so. However, it may be possible to conceive a whole universe in the mind of infinite consciousness. But don’t forget those pesky monads. The Absolute may have conceived the structure of the universe, but it was the entry of primordial matter into positive existence that gave the Universe its structure. Those monads are very real and they are composed of matter, motion and consciousness. So matter is not an illusion. The next time a brink falls on your head, try to imagine otherwise!
Life as a book
I want you now to entertain the thought that your life can be viewed as a book. You read this book and you identify with the main character in it. When you finish the book, the plot of the storyline falls into place. You can flash your thoughts back to episodes in various parts of the storyline. You can review the plot and in this way, you get the overall theme of the book. It may be the case that you actually learn something useful from reading this book.
Imagine now that the book is so long that it takes you a lifetime to read it. Halfway through the book you actually believe you are the main character in the story. On your death, you realise you are not the main character after all. It has taken you a lifetime to read the book, yet you have experienced nothing directly. You have, having just been a witness to events.
You decide that you had such a good time reading this book that you would like to have the experience of reading more books. You carry on reading new books. Finally, your desire to follow the narrative in the books you have been reading is fulfilled. You may have been reading a book about a musician. In the subsequent books you read, the musician in the book got better at composing and playing music. In the final instalment of the series, the character was an absolute genius called Mozart! The music theme has now played its full course. You aspire now to read books on a different theme.
Virtual Reality Suit
I am presenting the idea to you that although you may be very engaged in your life, to your soul incarnating into that life, it is just one of many books you will read. The point of reading is to ‘enlighten’ yourself and this you can achieve most effectively by reading many books. The books range across a wide range of topics, in which the central character can appear in a variety of roles. To experience the role played by the main character, you have to wear an organic ‘reality‘ suit. We believe we are our bodies. However, I suggest that to you that although your mind and body may be linked, they are in fact independent.
I come back to the theme linking our mind’s to what we think are our bodies. I ask the question, are the Hindus and Buddhists correct that everything is in the mind? Well actually no! The universe is real but it is created and sustained by the imagination of the entity I have previously called the ‘Absolute’.
Why does the universe exist at all?
Esoterics proposes that the universe exists to develop the consciousness of all beings. We identified these beings in an earlier presentation as being called monads. These monads all have three fundamental properties. These are that they composed of matter. They must also be in motion and they are all conscious to a greater or lesser degree.
The Absolute that ‘breaths’ out a universe can be considered as a master trainer and we are all trainees. We are in class 4 out of a possible total of 49 classes. There are in fact more classes than this. For the moment, want to relate our level of consciousness in relation to the 49 planes of matter. These planes of matter exist throughout the universe. I could also use the term 49 planes of consciousness, as you can not have matter without consciousness.
In just two more classes, we graduate from the Solar System. From here we can go on to assume greater responsibilities. We may be responsible for our own planets, solar systems. We may even get to create our own galaxy someday. Finally, we will graduate from this universe and perhaps get to create a universe of our own!
The purpose of creation is simple. It is to create more gods and by gods, I mean more ‘Absolutes’.
In the gospel of John, chapter 10 verse 34, it is written “you are all gods”
The universe is a womb from with fully developed gods emerge. The galaxy we live in is an embryonic ‘absolute’ god. We live within its conscious thought-form, in the same manner, it lives in the conscious thought-form of the ‘Absolute’. You can think of the solar system as an organ within the body of this prototype god. Each conscious being is a cell in that organ. These are just metaphors but underlying them is a very real and profound truth. Existence has a purpose and that purpose is to increase the consciousness of every monad within its boundaries.
The team
The ‘Absolute’ may have initiated the universe but there any many highly conscious beings who design, manage and operate it. This is part of their own evolution. Every monad in the universes is part of this universal consciousness and is, therefore, a co-creator with God.
We are collectively responsible for our environment. This is something that humanity is becoming painfully aware of on a daily basis. We may not have created the planet but we do create towns, networks and ‘civilisations’. Our consciousnesses will eventually span the galaxy. We will become gods in our own right. This occurs initially within the safety of this universe. Eventually, we will go into the ‘real’ world, as fully liberated and self-realised gods. You note that I use the term ‘real’ world. In our entire evolution, through the universe we have evolved. We have gone from being unconscious monads to being fully conscious monad, capable of creating galaxies. We have been living inside the thought-form of another much vaster consciousness, called for our purposes, the ‘Absolute’. Once we strip off all the envelopes of creation, we finally see ourselves for who we are. This is something we can not even being to imagine at present.
The Big Picture
I have spoken about 49 planes of existence before. How do these planes relate to one another? I am going to lay out a scheme before you that outlines the entire structure of the universe! That is a bold statement to make. In a simplistic manner, I feel it is possible to visualise how a coherent model can be outlined. The reason I wish to do this now is because throughout this series of presentations, I will be referring to this or that cosmic or solar systemic plane. I may also refer to various levels of consciousness. Planes of matter correspond to levels of consciousness. There is a difference though. Planes of matter have definite boundaries. Consciousness may function on a particular plane, but it can also move between planes. Giving you the map now will aid clarity in future. Fear not if it all seems overwhelming at present.
Forty-nine planes of existence
We start with one universe. Within this ball of consciousness and matter is contained the whole of positive existence. The presentation of the various planes of existence is seen in a linear manner, but I want you to realise that in fact, each plane penetrates the next. The reason one plane does not interfere with the next is because of the rate of vibration of that plane, relative to the one below or the one above it.
The entire universe is divided into seven cosmic planes. The explanation of the names of these planes will be revealed over time. Just remember one very important axiom, “As above, so below”. Once I got a grasp of that fact, my understanding of things became a lot easier. What we see down here on Earth, is often repeated again on higher levels. I finally got to understand the patterns and cycles that govern our lives and the complexity within the whole universe.
Starting from the first and highest plane, we have the Cosmic Monadic plane. This is sub-divided into 7 subplanes. The same sub-divisions are repeated on the Cosmic Divine plane, then the Cosmic Spiritual, the Cosmic Unity, Cosmic Mental, Cosmic Emotional and finally the Cosmic Physical. Each of these major divisions also has seven subdivisions. Notice the numbering system. You have the designation of the cosmic plane and then which sub-plane you are dealing with. This subdivision, numbering one at the top and seven at the bottom, has significance when we come to consider Ray Energies. This will be in the future. The naming system I use is not universally accepted. The Theosophist use slightly different names. I do not even follow that naming convention of Henry Laurency, who is the source of the Hylozoic system of cosmology. I am using the terminology suggested by Lee Bladon in his excellent book The Science of Spirituality. To confuse matters further, I stick with the Laurency numbering system. For the purposes of putting forward a coherent scheme of creation, I will explain everything I describe. When you meet definitions within other systems, I hope you see the complementarity.
So now to the famous 49 planes. These are the cosmic planes already presented, one to seven, with seven sub-planes each. They have just been numbered sequentially, 1 to 49. This terminology is the easiest to deal with when describing what is going on and where. Be patient, you will eventually see it all makes sense….well at least to me it does! Plane 1 is where it all begins, with the entry of monads into the universe from the anti-verse. Plane 49 is solid matter as you think it exists. I hope you were not lulled into the thinking it was going to end there. The lowest plane of matter, plane 49, can itself be divided into 7 sub-planes. Oh, so can all the other 48 planes. This leaves us with a grand total of 343 planes in total. Further subdivisions are possible but not relevant to our discussions.
Remember the saying, “as above, so below”? You see this occurring on plane 49. You have the 7 sub-divisions and for the first time I can point out the three lowest divisions. You can actually touch, taste and smell these divisions. The lowest three represent solid matter (49:7), liquids (49:6) and gases (49:5). Take some time to familiarise yourself with the diagram and the repeating patterns.
The Solar System
Our time will be spent, during the course of the presentations, within the seven planes of the Solar system. This is our home. Our evolutionary processes are contained within this solar system. We as humans, exist on the three lowest sub-planes, the Mental (47), the Emotional (48) and the Physical (49), were we exist at the moment. These three sub-planes are themselves divided into five groups. The physical plane being partitioned between the Etheric plane and the Physical plane. It is important to note that although these are considered as two distinct sub-sets, they are both physical from an esoteric point of view. Quite why will be elucidated in a later presentation. The Mental plane is also divided into two divisions. The Causal plane and the Mental plane. Sometimes the causal plane is called the Abstract mental plane and the mental plane is called the Concrete mental plane. What is important to hold in your mind at the moment, is that both sub-divisions make up a single unit. How we function in the present and in the future hinges on how we unite these two divisions.
Thanks 🙂