AM-196 WHAT IS THE SELF? (3)

In this presentation we are going to look at the other four exoteric problems that one finds if you are constrained by ideas of the self that have been propagated by esoteric teachings, given by schools of thought other than Hylozoics. The Hylozoic concept of the monad, as the smallest indestructible unit of matter in the Universe, alone affords the solution to the problem of the immortality of the self. This has sometimes been formulated as the immortality of the “soul” or of “spirit”. However, the “soul”, namely the causal envelope, is not immortal, because it is dissolved when the monad leaves the human kingdom definitively and enters the Fifth Natural Kingdom. Nor is “spirit” immortal, for what is meant by that is the 45-envelope of the second self, and it is dissolved, at the very latest, as the monad passes to the Seventh Natural Kingdom or First Cosmic Kingdom, worlds 36–42. I wish to point out here the use of certain nomenclature. The kingdoms of nature refer to the six kingdoms found in our solar systems, on worlds 43 to 49. This collection of kingdoms is also known as the 1st or 7th comic kingdom, depending how you are counting. For some esotericists, the six kingdoms of nature are not to be considered as cosmic and that designation is only given to the six higher kingdoms. A small technicality but one worth remembering. 

Back to our story; how does the self, the permanent individuality, survive these dissolutions? If the individual self, self-awareness, self-identity, the perception of one’s own presence, or “I am”, has no material basis limiting it against the rest of existence and all other individuals, it must dissolve when its envelope dissolves and merge with the “all”, thus be lost as an individual self with a self-identity. This fate is indeed what is proffered in the concept of “Nirvana” found in exoteric pantheism. Alas, these systems of thought no nothing of the monad, or at least are not prepared to talk about it in public. The concept of the “self” merging with the “universal soul” would imply the nullification of the self’s evolution. Only an indissoluble primordial atom can be a permanent material basis of self-consciousness. Remember where the monad ultimately resides, on the 1st Plane of Matter. This makes it the highest kind of matter found in the Universe. Consequently, there is no limit to its potential consciousness expansion. It has the potential to embrace the consciousness bound up with all the lower kinds of atoms (2-49). Another way to look at it is to say that the monad can put off all the envelopes it has resided in as it has evolved through the Cosmos. If you make the mistake of equating the self with any envelope, whatsoever, you then have to accept that that no evolution is possible beyond the capacity of that envelope. If, for you, that envelope is your physical organism, it would be a hugely disappointing state of affairs, as the only certainty you have in life is that your virtual reality suit is finite and does decay before your very eyes!

This leads us to the second problem which is solved by accepting that the monad is an immortal unit of matter. That problem is one of God being immanent and also transcendent. In esoterics, and also in new age mysticism, it is an axiom that “all is divine in essence” or “all is inherently divine”. Hylozoics explains this in a very simple way. All is divine in essence, since all, in all worlds, is matter consisting of atoms and, in the last analysis, of indestructible primordial atoms. These atoms are what Pythagoras called the monad and it possesses consciousness, even if as a primary atom that consciousness is just a potential and not realised yet. Since memory is indestructible, the monads cannot avoid collecting experiences and thereby develop their consciousness and ability. Consciousness development of an indestructible self must, as time goes by, reach ever higher stages and finally the very highest one – cosmic omniscience and omnipotence. The monads that have already reached this highest stage, collectively make up “god transcendent”. The monads that are still on their way to reach it – all of them, at all stages – collectively make up “god immanent”.

Now we get to the third problem that needs solving. This concerns the worlds of the Cosmos (1-49). To a materialist, there is only matter and we can see, feel, touch, smell and taste it. This is not unsurprising as this is our current physical reality. Esoterics teaches that there are further realities that are invisible to us at present and these realities are as real at their frequency ranges, as our reality is to us at present. Furthermore, esoterics teaches us that this invisible reality is divided into several different states. In mysticism, sharing a similar view, those states are one-sidedly described as levels of consciousness only, as being “spiritual” in nature, as opposed to visible reality as “material”. Hylozoics, on the other hand, affords an all-round description, clarifying that this “spiritual” reality has a matter aspect and motion aspect as well as a consciousness aspect.

Another problem to be dealt with is how to explain that on the one hand, each world has matter, consciousness and motion, which we can think of as a series of vibrations or as will, which is different in each world. There is also space and time, which has perceptions, which are characteristic for each plane of matter; totally different from those of the other worlds. All these worlds together make up a continuum, a unity that is held together and known collectively as the cosmos. This unity is most clearly manifested in the fact that all the kinds of consciousness belonging to the ever-higher worlds and embrace and include all the lower kinds. On a point of order, I wish to mention that the concept of the Universe and the Cosmos are one and the same thing and again I use the words interchangeably. 

This problem is solved by explaining that all the worlds of the cosmos are material and of an atomic nature, just like the physical world. Every world is made up of its own atoms, which are different from all the others. Consciousness and motion are always limited in their possibilities and modes of expression by the matter that is the necessary basis of these two aspects. The coarser and more massive the atoms, the more sluggish the motion, as well as the slower the vibrations, resulting in a duller, more mechanical consciousness. The finer the atoms, the swifter, the more intensive the vibrations, and the clearer and more focused the consciousness, results in a much more “evolved” monad.

Every atom, functioning on a specific plane of matter, is comprised of atoms from the next higher plane, which in turn is comprised of matter from even higher planes. This eventually leads all the way up to Plane -1, where ultimately the monad resides. Remember here, I use the term world and plane interchangeably, although Lars would disapprove of this sloppiness. This of course implies that each atomic kind contains all the higher kinds or, expressed differently, higher atoms penetrate all the lower atoms. The monads, being the smallest unit of matter, therefore penetrate and build all matter in the cosmos. In consequence, all the atomic kinds have an inner connection with one another. Energies of a higher atomic kind affect all the lower kinds. Atoms of the same atomic kind have the same kind of consciousness, and from the consciousness point of view, they form a collective with a common consciousness. This collective also includes the collective consciousnesses of all the lower atomic kinds, since atoms of lower kinds consist of nothing but atoms of higher kinds. Can you see the logic here? On the other hand, lower consciousness cannot apprehend higher consciousness, a fact that we can all realise when we accept that by sense perceptions, found in the lowest three subplanes of the 49th plane, our senses such as vision, hearing, touch, etc. cannot apprehend desires and feelings found in the Emotional World (48) or thoughts present in World 47. In the same vein, our desires and feelings cannot grasp thoughts; whereas by desires and feelings, we can apprehend sense perceptions found on the physical plane, so that we can, for instance, sort them into agreeable and disagreeable ones. Using our mental capacity, we can grasp, understand and judge, desires and feelings, as well as physical sense perceptions.

We have covered three of the four problems that current views in esoteric teachings have difficulty resolving if you do not bring matter fairly and squarely into the equation. There is one more problem to deal with and that concerns the genesis of the cosmos. 

See you at the next presentation.

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