As promised, we will now look at the role of a creative actor in the construction of the Antahkarana. What is a creative actor? Let’s start at the very beginning, as the song advises us to do. Our universe somehow got created. We have spoken about the 1st, 2nd and 3rd logos. Whoever these mightiest of monads are, they bring forth the cosmos and oversee all who dwell in it. This is a creative process and they are creative actors in this activity. By analogy, if a disciple sets out to construct their Antahkarana, then they are also engaged in a creative process. The disciple has spent thousands of incarnations and aeons of time, building out its three envelopes of incarnation on the 1st triad, the mental, emotional and etheric bodies. Of course, this is not just done by us, but by our partners in crime, the devas. As Humanity evolved through the root races, there came a time when some monads were able to create upon the Mental Plane. Create what? Anything we see in physical manifestation, be it art, music, science or some other creative pursuit, all starts with construction on the Mental Plane. The monad dreams, it sees a vision, and this seems to connect with some intangible beauty. This is often described as “touching the mind of God”. The persona concerned, then returns to their body, usually after a period of sleep, with an idea. This idea is then given form. The original Mona Lisa does not hang in the Louvre, it exists on the Mental Plane.
Let us now extend this description of creativity to the construction of the Antahkarana. The disciple has to construct the Antahkarana on the Mental Plane. This construction is of such a fine material that none of it can be seen on our material plane of existence. The material of construction is so fine and light that it moves upwards “towards the centre of life”, not downwards “towards the centre of consciousness”. Ok, so that is what is happening. But how does the disciple know that this is, actually, what is happening? They don’t to start with. They are working through faith. The physical brain of the disciple is not refined enough to register the formation of this structure. The disciple is given instructions and has to follow them blindly. It takes a long time for the organic brain to tune itself to be able to receive any signal. However, the disciple does receive flashes of intuition and sudden realisations for the will to do good in the community. This is a difficult process to describe in words. The disciple has to experiment, obey the instructions of their master and then wait patiently for the results to manifest themselves.
Let us now look at the six stages of building the Antahkarana. They are described in six words. All of these words have already been given in previous presentations but how many of you remember them? So, let us look at them again and define them this time from their esoteric perspective, rather than just the words themselves. The disciple is able to penetrate the meaning of these six words in a way that the neophyte does not. Revisiting these words and the methods they reveal, will allow us to gain greater clarity of how the Antahkarana is built.
The words we are talking about cover a range of building techniques and are forms of energy manipulation. This allows the monad to establish a rapport with the persona in its three envelopes of incarnation. Notice here that the monad has been mentioned, alongside the persona, but what about the soul? A simple line in a paragraph is conveying more to the discerning reader the deeper they look into the significance of such a simple statement. We mentioned the monad and the persona. Think of this as a higher and lower divine aspect. We are talking about constructing a bridge between the world of spiritual existence and daily life on the physical plane. This is the highest form of dualism. It is eliminating the threefold expression of divinity, Spirit, Soul and Persona, just leaving Spirit and Persona. Doing away with the “Son” and connecting directly to the “Father” intensifies divine expression and takes Humanity closer to its ultimate goal. The disciple is continually reminded that soul consciousness is just an intermediate stage.
There is another reason that the 2nd triad is dissolved. It is to do with the role that Humanity plays, located as it is in the 4th Kingdom of Nature, in the development of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Kingdoms of Nature. With this higher duality active, Humanity becomes a divine intermediary and the transmitter of spiritual energy to all those monads that are at the level of consciousness below that of self-consciousness. Humanity plays the role toward these three kingdoms in their totality, the same role that the Hierarchy plays towards Humanity. Is this happening today? Clearly not. For a start, if we are supposed to look after our charges, we do not serve them well if we eat them! Here I am speaking of the Animal Kingdom, not the Plants. Plants want to be eaten for reasons that have already been spoken of. To take up the roles that we are destined to play, enough of us have to be able to distinguish that higher duality in our lives. We need to start to become more soul-conscious, not just self-conscious. What is the key to this transition? The building of the group Antahkarana.
Let us, therefore, make a start by looking at the six aspects of the basic building techniques and arrive at their esoteric and creative significance.
- Intention: Intention is not a mental decision or wish, nor is it described by determination. It means the focusing of energy upon the Mental Plane at a point of greatest tension. What the disciple is trying to do here is copy the example of the logos, whether it be of a planetary or solar variety. That should be easy then. The logos concentrates within its ring-pass-not or sphere of influence, the energy-substance needed to carry out the purpose of manifestation. This the disciple must do as well, gathering its forces into the highest point of mental consciousness and holding it there in a state of absolute tension. I do this every day whilst brushing my teeth! If the objective is achieving this mythical state of absolute tension, then such phrases used in mediation practices begin to make sense. Phrases such as “raising the consciousness in the head centre”, “holding the consciousness at the highest possible point” and “endeavouring to hold the mind steady in the light”. You see, just like brushing your teeth; focused concentration. The net result of all this intense concentration is the start of the process of building the Antahkarana.
As an aside, the Catholic church also uses the word “intention” when preparing a candidate for communion. They are not however directing the persona towards the Spirit but towards the Soul. Their objective is to improve the character of the personality. The focus is on the emotional envelope, not that they know it exists. This is a mystical, rather than a spiritual approach, towards the energies focused through the use of one’s intention.
The focused intention of the disciple, who is consciously engaged in building their “Rainbow Bridge”, the Antahkarana, is to initially concentrate on the following five steps.
- The achievement of right orientation: this is a two-stage process: one is focusing direct energy towards the soul and the other is directing energy towards the triad as a whole.
- A mental understanding of the task that is to be carried out: This again involves the use of the mind in two ways: responsiveness to the impression received from Unity consciousness (46). A second way is an act of creative imagination.
- The third step is gathering energy or force absorption. This must be held within a mental ring-pass-not. This will then lead to the later processes of visualisation and projection, which will be discussed next.
- The fourth step is a period of clear thinking, focused on the process at hand and the intention behind it. The dedicated disciple, who is attempting to build their bridge must clearly perceive what is being done.
- All the tension generated must be preserved without putting an undue strain upon one’s brain cells.
When all this is done satisfactorily, the focal point of mental energy, which previously did not exist, will be held in a “steady state of light”. What is the purpose of all of these 5 steps? It is to get the persona to focus its attention towards the soul and the soul to return this focus. You might say, “but surely the soul is always focused on the persona”? No, it is not. The soul, at present, is your solar devas. They live in a world of their own and have their own activities and objectives. You are trying to gain their attention. For Aeons, you have been a mindless moron running around with your knuckles scraping the ground. Now you have decided to up your game and get in touch. You have to alert them to that fact. To your soul, you are just a shadow. How much attention do you pay to your shadow as you go around in your daily routine? When the Antahkarana is being built, the awareness of the soul must be present alongside the intention of the persona. We dwell in our three worlds of the 1st triad. Just like ET, we are trying to phone home. Home is not even the 2nd triad where our soul resides, but it is a stepping stone and Antahkarana is the bridge.
In the next presentation, we will continue to look at the other five building techniques used to construct our Antahkarana.