We do not have any active mystery schools today, despite what may be advertised. However, echoes can be found in the practices of some fraternities. In the ancient tradition of Freemasonry, the Entered Apprentice (E.A.) stage corresponds to the probationary pupil entering the Path. During this stage, the individual is expected to practice three essential qualities: discrimination, desirelessness, and good conduct or self-control (known as Viveka, Vairagya, and Shatsampatti). Discrimination will help develop mental power, desirelessness will foster emotional strength, and self-control will build willpower.
Discrimination allows the candidate to pass through the lower levels of the emotional world, as symbolised in the First Symbolical Journey in Freemasonry.
Desirelessness allows the candidate to move beyond the temptations of the higher emotional world, represented in the Second Symbolical Journey.
Good conduct will enable the candidate to master the highest part of the emotional world at the threshold of the heavenly realm, as represented in the Third Symbolical Journey.
The goal of the First Degree indicates the necessity of conquering the desire nature. The general impact of the First Degree is to slightly broaden the connection between the soul and the candidate’s personality. The primary colour associated with the First Degree is crimson. The degree of Entered Apprentice in Freemasonry corresponds to the role of Sub-Deacon in the Christian Church.
The passage between the First and the Second Degree indicates the necessity of conquering the entanglement of the lower mind in the meshes of desire known as Kama-Manas.
In the Second Degree, the concept of illumination is presented to the candidate. The focus is on developing intellectual, artistic, and psychic faculties, as well as gaining control over the lower mind. The degree results in a more pronounced strengthening of the connection between the soul and the personality. The goal of the Second Degree indicates the need for full control of the lower mind.
The primary colour associated with the Second Degree is yellow. In Freemasonry, the Fellow Craft (F.C.) is analogous to the role of deacon in the Christian Church. Just as the F.C. is preparing for the duties of a Master Mason (M.M.), the deacon is preparing for the responsibilities of the priesthood.
The passage between the Second and the Third Degree indicates the necessity of gaining some mastery over the strange intermediate tract beyond the lower mind, which in a certain school of thought is denominated the subliminal consciousness.
In the Third degree, the focus is mainly on the higher mental plane. The dominant colour is a bluish tinge. The Master Mason corresponds to the Priest in the Church.
In the First Degree, the Ida, which is the feminine aspect of the etheric force, is stimulated. This stimulation makes it easier for a person to control passion and emotion. The Ida starts from the base of the spine on the left side of a man and on the right side of a woman and ends in the medulla oblongata. It is crimson in colour.
In the second degree, the Pingala, or masculine aspect of the force, is strengthened, facilitating the control of the mind. Pingala starts from the base of the spine on the right side of a man and the left side of a woman, ending in the medulla oblongata. It is yellow in colour.
In the third degree, the Sushumna, the central energy itself, is aroused, thus opening the way for the influence of the pure spirit from on high. It is deep blue in colour.
The Entered Apprentice, as a personality, should organise his physical life for higher use. As a soul, he should be developing active intelligence in his causal envelope. To achieve this, he must use his will – the First Person of the Trinity, the power of Shiva (using Hindu terminology) reflected by his outward-turned power, or Shakti. Devi Girija or Parvati represents this power, giving self-control and blessing the physical envelope to make its powers holy.
The Fellow Craft is organising his emotional life as a person and unfolding intuitive love in his spiritual envelope. He does this with the power of the Second Person of the Trinity, which is the love that comes from Vishnu through Lakshmi. Lakshmi fulfils desires, enriches life, sanctifies material prosperity, and transforms the emotions in the spiritual envelope.
The Master Mason, as a personality, is organising his mental life; as a soul, he is strengthening his spiritual will, called atma. To overcome the indecisive mind, he must utilise the power of thought, or kriyashakti, which is the divine activity of the Third Person of the Trinity, Brahmi, reflected by Saraswati, the patroness of learning and practical wisdom.
At the same time, the Entered Apprentice should also be learning to control his emotions, the Fellow Craft should be mastering his mind, and the Master Mason should be developing on higher planes.
To summarise the facts just mentioned, here is a table along with some extra information:
In the various Degrees in Freemasonry, the link between the personality and soul is widened. The changes induced are somewhat of the same nature as those that occur in the Christian Church.
The Lord Buddha was once asked by a disciple to sum up the whole of His teaching in one verse. He replied:
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do well,
Cleanse your own heart;
This is the religion of the Buddha.
There is a correspondence between the Masonic system, as well as with other systems. The teaching of the First Degree is about purification. The Second Degree is about acquiring knowledge. The Third degree instructs the person to rise to a higher level and to consider not only the outward action but also the inner condition, of which all outer manifestations should be an expression.
CONCLUSION
A few words are needed to conclude this study of the human mind and the lower mental plane. It might be helpful to review the ground we have covered and try to gain a broader understanding of the importance and significance of our subject matter in the context of our knowledge of modern esoterics.
The student is struck by the significant difference between the “atmosphere” of the Mental World and that of the Emotional World, not to mention that of the Physical World. Compared to the Mental World, the Emotional World feels heavy, crude, dense, and ultimately unsatisfying, even at its highest levels. No matter how pure and refined the state of feeling it may evoke in us, we still sense that we are far from our true home. The dignity of the human soul requires more than just feeling, no matter how pure and selfless.
The mental plane, even its four lower levels, conveys the impression that we are distinctly nearer to “home.” Here, there is more freedom, and we feel that we are more in control of our own consciousness and less constrained by our physical bodies. The Mental World appears to be a cleaner and more wholesome place where we can shape our destiny closer to our will than seems possible in the worlds below us. Consciousness is more free to wander where it pleases, far less restricted by the limitations of space and time.
However, mastering only the lower Mental World, which encompasses concrete thinking in its entirety, still leaves us feeling unsatisfied. We can sense that there are even greater worlds beyond this level of understanding.
While concrete thinking represents the extent of our capabilities within the lower planes, we can acknowledge that there are still higher realms to be explored. By firmly grounding ourselves in the realm of concrete thought and reaching towards the abstract realms of thought, we can position ourselves at the threshold of a world that is not only higher and purer in degree but fundamentally different from any of the lower worlds.
Through these abstractions, we will ascend to the spiritual realm and come significantly closer to the consciousness of God from which we believe and know ourselves to be temporarily separated.
However, we must not underestimate the immense importance of the lower mental realm, especially at this particular moment in human psychological history. Therefore, let’s summarise the key features that highlight the significance of the mind and the mental realm for human evolution in the briefest way possible.
In the Scheme of seven Chains to which we belong, each Chain has globes on the lower mental plane. Additionally, six of the seven Chains have globes on the higher mental plane. Out of the forty-nine globes in total, twenty-four, or roughly half, are located on the mental plane. The diagram illustrates these facts clearly, with the mental globes highlighted in dark blue for emphasis. The soul, or the Thinker, which endures throughout all reincarnations, resides on the higher mental plane (light blue).
The mental plane serves as the meeting point between the Higher and Lower Selves. It involves the projection of the “Ray” by the higher or divine part of humanity into the lower worlds to facilitate the purposes of evolution. This ray is a manifestation of the lower mind emerging from the higher mind.
The battlefield of life today, for most people, is the union of the mind with desire.
The awareness of most people today is focused on their feelings and their emotions. Therefore, the next step for them is to learn how to control their feelings to manage their emotions. As we have seen, this can only be accomplished by using the mind from a higher plane.
The next step is to elevate the centre of consciousness from the emotional realm to the mental realm. The very term “human” denotes the thinker, the being with a mind.
Humanity, in Occultism, has been defined as that being in the universe, wherever they may be, in whom the highest Spirit and lowest Matter are joined together by Intelligence.
The development of the human mind has been accelerated significantly by the influence of the Lords of the Flame. In the next round, the Fifth, the progress in mental development must be incredibly significant and, to our current limited minds, unimaginably lofty.
The following considerations are believed to be a formidable array and hardly require further comment. They emphasise the crucial importance of the mind and the mental envelope to humanity at its present stage. These are not a final achievement but a necessary stepping-stone to the future of humanity, which, in the words of a Master, “is the future of a thing whose growth and splendour have no limit.”
The time has now come to make the jump across the divide that separates the 1st from the 2nd triad. This will be the theme of the last in the series of presentations that have looked at the envelopes of the human monad.