We will finish off our look at the buddhic/Unity plane (46) today. On the buddhic plane, there is a completely new way of perceiving objects, which is different from how we perceive things on lower planes. Instead of recognising objects through external vibrations, a person on this plane becomes one with the object and studies it from the inside rather than from the outside. An analogy was given in a previous series about how the perception of time differs depending on how many dimensions you function in. The same analogy could be applied to how we see another entity from within rather than from without.
This method of perception makes many familiar objects unrecognisable. Even with emotional sight, one can see objects from all sides, as well as from above and below. In addition, the entire inside of the envelope is visible, with each particle appearing as though placed separately on a table. Furthermore, while observing these particles, one is simultaneously within each particle, looking through it. As a result, it becomes impossible to recognise any resemblance to the object as known in the physical world. While the intuition of the causal envelope recognises the outer, the intuition of buddhi recognises the inner. Intellectual intuition allows one to understand something outside oneself, while buddhic intuition allows one to perceive something from the inside.
Therefore, when working in the causal envelope and seeking to understand another person in order to help them, one focuses on the other person’s causal envelope to study its characteristics, which are clearly visible but always seen from the outside. However, by raising consciousness to the buddhic level, one finds the consciousness of the other person as part of oneself. One can enter into the other person’s consciousness and see everything precisely as they see it, from inside them instead of from outside. This deep level of understanding and empathy is facilitated by this method of perception. This raises one’s appreciation of an event. Mental consciousness facilitates viewing an event. Causal consciousness allows you to scan back in time to understand what prior events led to this one. Unity consciousness allows the viewer to understand why the event or a person’s decisions occurred, viewed from inside the event. This is true unity.
It has been said that despite the unusual progress, there is no loss of individuality, although the sense of separateness is completely lost. This may sound paradoxical, but it is true. A person remembers all their past experiences and still remains the same, except that now they are much more than they were before and feel that they encompass many other manifestations as well. If a hundred of us could simultaneously raise our consciousness to the buddhic world, we would all share one consciousness. However, to each individual, that consciousness would seem unchanged, except that it now includes all others as well.
Buddhic vision reveals a person not as an enclosure but as a Star radiating out in all directions. The rays of that star penetrate the consciousness of the observer, making it feel like a part of themselves, but not completely so. All observers agree that it is impossible to describe the buddhic state of consciousness except through a series of contradictions.
On the buddhic plane, the power of identification extends not only to people’s consciousness but to everything else. Everything is learned from the inside rather than from the outside. The object of examination becomes a part of ourselves; we examine it as a kind of symptom within ourselves. This characteristic marks a fundamental difference. Complete selflessness must be attained before the power of identification can be achieved because as long as there is any personal element in the disciple’s perspective, they cannot make progress with buddhic consciousness, which requires the suppression of the personality.
H.P. Blavatsky explains that “Buddhi is the faculty of cognition, the channel through which divine knowledge reaches the Soul, the discernment of good and evil, divine conscience, and the spiritual Soul, which is the vehicle of Atma”. It is often referred to as the principle of spiritual discernment.
In the Yoga system, turiya, a high state of trance, is associated with Buddhic consciousness, just as sushupti is related to mental consciousness, svapna to the emotional, and jagrat to the physical. However, these terms are also used with other meanings, being relative rather than absolute, as mentioned in the presentations on The Mental Envelope.
In the Six Stages of Mind, as described in The Mental Envelope, niruddha, or Self-control, corresponds to activity on the buddhic plane.
In the physical envelope, the green prana that enters the heart chakra, or force centre, represents the principle of Buddhi. Even though, at the buddhic level, a person still has a definite envelope, their consciousness seems to be equally present in vast numbers of other bodies. The web of life, which is made of buddhic matter, is extended to include these other people so that instead of many small separate webs, there is one vast web that encompasses them all in one common life.
Many individuals may be completely unaware of this change. To them, their own small part of the web will continue to appear just as separate as always—or would if they were aware of the interconnectedness of all life. From this perspective, it seems that all of humanity is connected by invisible threads, forming a complex unity, no longer just individuals but part of a larger whole.
On the buddhic plane, past, present, and future exist simultaneously in a way that is naturally incomprehensible to the physical brain. On this plane, individuals are no longer bound by the same limitations of space as on the physical plane. Therefore, when reading the Akashic Records on this plane, there is no need to review a series of events as on the mental plane since the past, present, and future are all present at once.
With fully developed consciousness on the buddhic plane, perfect foresight is possible, although the individual may not be able to fully bring the entire result into their lower consciousness. Nevertheless, a great deal of clear foresight is within their power whenever they choose to exercise it. Even when not actively using it, frequent flashes of foreknowledge come through into their ordinary life, providing instantaneous intuition about future events.
The buddhic plane is so expansive that the buddhic bodies of the different planets of our chain intersect, forming one collective buddhic envelope for the entire chain. Thus, it is possible for an individual in their buddhic envelope to move from one planet to another within this chain.
A person who can elevate their consciousness to the atomic level of the buddhic plane becomes completely united with all other individuals. If they want to locate another person, they simply need to extend their awareness along the line of that individual to find them.
The following example illustrates how buddhic consciousness operates. All beauty, whether in form or colour, in nature or in the human envelope, in great works of art or in the simplest household item, is an expression of the One Beauty. Therefore, in even the most humble, beautiful thing, all beauty is implicitly present, and through it, all beauty can be realised, leading to the attainment of He Who embodies Beauty. Understanding this fully requires buddhic consciousness, but the idea can still be useful and fruitful even at lower levels.
As one Master has expressed it: “Do you not see that there is only One Love, just as there is only One Beauty? Anything beautiful on any plane is so because it is a part of that Beauty, and if its origins are traced far enough, its connection will become evident. All Beauty is of God, just as all Love is of God; and through these qualities, the pure in heart can always reach Him.”
The full development of the buddhic vehicle is associated with the stage of the Arhat (46). However, even those who are far from reaching that level can experience glimpses of buddhic consciousness in various ways. Buddhi in the human spirit represents pure and compassionate Reason, which is the Wisdom Aspect or the Christ within humanity.
As part of the normal course of evolution, the buddhic consciousness will gradually unfold in the sixth sub-race of the Fifth Root Race and even more so in the Sixth Root Race itself. The emergence of the sixth sub-race can be observed in the scattered people of the fifth sub-race, who exhibit tenderness as a sign of strength. The sixth sub-race is characterised by a unifying spirit, enabling its members to bring together diverse opinions and personalities, uniting the most dissimilar elements into a cohesive whole. They have the ability to integrate diverse qualities, harmonise them, and form a strong, unified entity.
Compassion is a prominent trait, demonstrated through a deep sensitivity to weakness, responding with patience, tenderness, and protection. The sense of unity and compassion will serve as a source of strength and power used for the purpose of service. The strength of this unity will be measured by the level of responsibility and duty upheld.
Unity consciousness is a distant but realisable goal for all of humanity. What about the link between the soul and the monad itself? That will be the topic of the following presentation.