In trying to understand the nature of the Antahkarana we have a problem. Why? Because we have no objective knowledge of it. The work we have been doing on this structure, as we have slowly been evolving, has been done unconsciously. So how do we begin to do creative work with this structure? How to construct the Rainbow Bridge, if we do not even have the terminology to describe its attributes, let alone know its true functions? If you think of the new terminologies that have been evolved by science, the same needs to be done for the Science of the Antahkarana.
All is not lost; we will get there eventually. An understanding will be synthesised. Currently what happens is that snippets of information filter up from our subconscious as a reflex action. This is the start of a process that eventually will lead to the establishment of the continuity of consciousness that we all seek. The path of the disciple is to link the conscious mind to the superconscious memory. This is a slow process that involves the integration of all polarities and proves to the disciple that all conscious life is one of revelation. It is not some innate brilliance, as we think it is. Original thought is not possible in the Human Kingdom.
There is something else to consider, which goes by the title of the “conscious unfoldment of the divine recognitions”. This is quite a mouthful but what is being alluded to here is true awareness, not what we have come to think of as knowledge. We have a tendency to materialise everything, including knowledge. This is hardly surprising as we live in dense matter. What we learn, we apply. But we root it in the world of natural phenomena and natural processes. We fail to recognise the Self, the Knower, the Beholder and the Observer. This means that the probationer when entering upon the Path must reeducate themselves. Knowledge must now be used in reference to conscious self-aware identity, or to the self-contained, self-initiating individual. It is in this manner that knowledge is transmuted to wisdom.
Let us digress into the concepts surrounding knowledge and wisdom. These words are synonymous with force and energy. When knowledge is applied, it is force expressing itself. When wisdom is brought to bear, it is energy in action. These are no mere idle concepts. These are the expressions of a great spiritual law. Knowledge and its expression as a force are linked to the persona and the 3 envelopes of the 1st triad. It is therefore expressed in the world of material values. Wisdom, expressed through energy, arrives via the consciousness thread and the creative thread. They are a woven duel strand, something we have not talked about yet. So what are they as a unit? They are and here we are talking about a disciple, a fusion of the past, represented by the consciousness thread and the present, represented by the creative thread. It is together that they form, what has already been mentioned, as the “Path of Return”, the now-famous Antahkarana. I wish it were that simple, but esoteric knowledge seldom is. The wisdom-energy thread is the Sutratma or Life Thread. When this is blended with the consciousness thread, the resultant structure is also called the Antahkarana. Confused? Well, maybe this explanation will help. These two threads eternally exist in time and space and appear separate until the stage of the Probationary Disciple. At this stage, the monad becomes conscious of itself and of the not-self. That is a flowery way of saying that you no longer identify with your physical form as being who you really are.
We know of the life thread and the consciousness thread. The former is anchored in the heart, the latter in the head. In the last few centuries, the creative thread, in one of its three aspects, has been slowly woven by humanity. This has been exemplified by the astonishing increase in human output in the last two centuries. This indicates that the creative thread in humanity, as a whole and the disciple in particular, is now formed in a closely woven thread upon the mental plane. So we have the life thread, the consciousness thread and the creativity thread. Is that all? No, because as has been mentioned, the creative thread comes in three variants, so we are effectively talking about five threads. All these threads can now be referred to as the Antahkarana. Phew, I am glad I got that off my chest. This bundle of threads represent our past and present experiences. However, it is only upon the Path that the term “building the Antahkarana” becomes appropriate. Where we can get confused is by our designation of the energy streams relating to the Sutratma, the consciousness thread and the creative thread, as three separate entities. They essentially function as a single unit. I wish they would make their minds up. Are they three or one? This is why it is more appropriate to think of them as the process by which the Antahkarana forms. It is also equally arbitrary to call the rainbow bridge, which the disciple is building from the lower planes of matter, via the causal lotus, the Antahkarana.
I hope you are not losing the will to live. It was mentioned at the start of this presentation that we were not blessed with all the forms of expression that are required to accurately define what exactly the Antahkarana is. But here goes with a final stab at what we have been talking about. The Antahkarana is an extension of a threefold tread. This thread has been woven unconsciously, through life experimentation and the response of consciousness to its environment. The thread has been woven by projecting the triple-blended energies of the persona. This process is triggered by impulses received from the causal envelope, from the soul or to put it more accurately, from the solar devas. These impulses cross a gap in consciousness, which is what separates us from our higher mental envelope, which we call the causal envelope, located on the 2nd triad.
How does this all unfold? A magnetic response is generated in the 2nd triad, known to some as atma-buddhi-manas. This triad is the expression of the monad and it is evoked. A triple stream of energy is slowly projected towards the causal lotus and from there towards the persona, operating on the 1st triad. The next stage occurs when the persona begins to bridge the gap between the 47:1 permanent atom and the 47:4 permanent molecule. This is the gap that exists between the higher abstract mind and the lower concrete mind.
Now we are finally getting to a real understanding of what the Antahkarana is. When the disciple enters upon the path, the bridge between the three aspects of the persona, namely the mental, emotional and etheric envelopes, and the three aspects of the second self, 45:4-7, 46:1-7and 47:1-3 envelopes are constructed. This is what is truly meant by the term “Antahkarana”. This structure comes about because of the efforts of our solar devas, our soul and our persona, working consciously to produce this bridge. When this is complete, there is clear alignment between the monad, as it is currently conscious in the 2nd triad and its physical planes of expression, i.e., the persona. This is how the initiate expresses itself in the outer world. This process completes when the (i3) is taken. The (i4), the next major milestone comes later. This later initiation is the complete realisation of the monad to not only control it’s physical but its consciousness expression. There is still one whole triad left to conquer, but I think we can leave it there for the moment. The initiate can now say “I and my Father are one”. Now you know what that Gnostic term really means. Not that Jesus was the only begotten son of God. Remember, the 3rd triad here represents the “Father”, not some all-mighty god as is presumed by those that do not realise the origins of such terms.
Carrying on with this Gnostic theme, as I have got started on the subject, this is where the imagery of the crucifixion comes from. It is called the “Great Renunciation” by gnostics. The soul is crucified. But what is the soul? It is a collection of memories. It is the very essence and identity of the disciple, as it has worked its way through the Human Kingdom. The disciple, represented by Jesus does not die, but Christ in the disciple. The causal body is vaporised. It serves no useful purpose anymore. Unity consciousness is achieved. This is often called Christ consciousness, but remember we are only on the 46th plane at the moment. So what is left after this conflagration of all that we thought we were? It is the Sutratma that is left, qualified by consciousness. The Consciousness and Creative threads are burnt up and reconstructed as needed. The consciousness that is left still has its identity. Remember, we are individual monads, not some amorphous blob of spiritual nothingness, often described as nirvana. We, the monad, now merge into the collective consciousness of all life.
Let’s leave it there for today and next time we will continue our look at the transformation of the monad along its path and visually represent the Antahkarana.