We are discussing the soul and the monad. The purpose of the Monad’s descent into matter is to achieve precision and accuracy in material detail. To achieve this, as explained in an earlier presentation on the causal envelope, an atom of each of the planes of Atma, Buddhi, and Manas is attached to the Monad. The distinction of these atoms provides a precision that did not exist in the Monad’s consciousness on its own plane.
One might ask if the Monad is of divine essence at the beginning and returns to divinity at the end of its long journey, and if the Monad is all-wise and all-good, why is it necessary for it to undergo this evolution, including much sorrow and suffering, to return to its source in the end?
The question is based on a misconception of the facts. When what we call the human Monad emerged from the Divine, it was not actually a human Monad, much less an all-wise and all-good Monad. Eventually, it returns in the form of countless mighty Adepts, each capable of developing into a Logos.
Similar to a person who cannot swim being thrown into deep water, at first, the Monad is helpless but eventually learns to swim and move freely in the water. At the end of its journey of immersion in matter, it will be free of the Solar System, able to function in any part of it, create at will, and move at pleasure. Every power that it unfolds through denser matter is retained forever under all conditions; the implicit has become explicit, the potential the actual. The Monad’s Will to live in all spheres, and not in one only, draws it into manifestation.
At first, there was no developed individualisation in the Monad; it was simply a mass of monadic essence. The difference between its condition when emerging and when returning is exactly like that between a great mass of shining nebulous matter and the solar system that eventually formed out of it. The nebula is undoubtedly beautiful but vague and, in a certain sense, useless. The sun formed from it by slow evolution pours forth life, heat, and light upon many worlds and their inhabitants.
The human envelope is made up of countless tiny particles, some of which are constantly being expelled from it. Imagine if each of these particles could undergo evolution and eventually become a human being. We wouldn’t say that because it was somewhat human at the beginning of this process, it hadn’t gained anything by the end.
The essence of the individual Monad emerges as a pure outflow of force, even if it is Divine force. The appearance and evolutionary journey of the Monad can be compared to the appearance of the long day of Brahma, of the Saguna-Brahman Sachchidananda, the Divine Triplicity. This emergence into cosmic manifestation is replicated in our solar system by the Solar Logos, and again by the Monad, who is a fragment of the Logos. After human evolution is complete, the Monad gathers itself again, and superhuman evolution begins. This marks the long arc of life, from the nirvanic to the nirvanic, with the entire human evolution lying between these two points. The cycle is completed with the Initiation of the Jivanmukta, the Master (45), where the superhuman evolution begins.
While the Monad is practically limitless in its own world, at least within our solar system, at every stage of its descent into matter, it not only becomes more deeply veiled in illusion but also loses its powers.
In the early stages of its evolution, we can imagine that the Monad was capable of movement and sight in countless directions in space, which we refer to as dimensions. As it descended, it gradually lost access to these dimensions, ultimately leaving it aware of only three dimensions through the consciousness of the physical brain. The Monad’s perception of even these remaining dimensions is limited. Why? Because it has to waken its conscious perceptions of those dimensions. Those who can comprehend more than three dimensions can get a glimpse of what consciousness on higher planes is like, but it also highlights the impossibility of fully understanding the Monad, who exists on many planes and dimensions beyond our perception. A monad that enters Plane-1 from the Ante-Verse may experience 51 dimensions. Still, it is a non-experience, as it is only potentially conscious at this time, not actually conscious in any way. It takes three complete circuits of all 49 planes of matter before it begins to make up and goes into its second phase of evolution. That of secondary matter, an elemental essence.
The sacrifices and constraints resulting from descending into matter can be seen as causing suffering. However, once the soul comprehends the situation, these sacrifices are willingly embraced, even though the soul, being less perfect than the Monad, may not fully understand at first and needs to learn. Each descent into matter involves a significant limitation, leading to unavoidable suffering as part of manifestation. We must accept this limitation as a necessary step in the Divine Scheme.
Manifested life is sorrowful in two senses unless one knows how to live it. One form of sorrow is, to some extent, inevitable, while the other is a mistake that can easily be avoided. From the perspective of the Monad, all manifested life is sorrowful because it represents a limitation that we, in our physical brain, cannot comprehend, lacking any understanding of the glorious freedom of the higher life.
The Christ, as the Second Person of the Trinity, is said to offer Himself as a Sacrifice when He descends into matter. This is considered a sacrifice because it imposes a great limitation on Him, separating Him from His glorious powers on His own level. Similarly, the Monad of humanity also makes a sacrifice when connecting with lower matter. Over the long ages of its development up to the human level, the Monad puts down a tiny fragment of itself, creating a soul or individual soul.
Another type of sorrow can be avoided, which arises from “desire” in the broad sense, including cravings for power, money, and position. Such desires inevitably cause disturbance and suffering. Therefore, serenity is considered crucial for progress from this perspective. The first two of the Four Noble Truths taught by Lord Buddha are the Existence of Sorrow and the Cause of Sorrow.
Moving on to consider the soul in relation to the Monad, we should understand that the process of individualisation, through which the soul comes into being, does not occur on the spiritual plane. Atma-Buddhi, as perceived through Manas, seems to partake in the individuality of Manas.
Even the soul is not the true, eternal human, as the soul had a beginning at the moment of individualisation, and anything that has a beginning must also have an end. Therefore, even the soul, which has existed since emerging from the animal kingdom, is impermanent. The Monad, and only the Monad, is the true and permanent entity.
We can view the soul as a manifestation of the Monad on the higher mental plane, but we must understand that it is far from being a perfect manifestation. Each descent from plane to plane not only veils the Spirit, but also diminishes the amount of Spirit expressed.
Although speaking of Spirit in terms of quantity is inaccurate and misleading, if we attempt to express these higher matters in human words at all, we cannot wholly avoid such incongruities. The closest we can come, in the physical brain, to a conception of what happens to the Monad when it involves itself in matter is to say that only a part of the monad can be shown. Even that part must be shown in three separate aspects instead of the glorious totality that it really is in its own world.
So, when the second aspect of the triple spirit comes down a stage and manifests as buddhi or intuition (46), it is not the whole of that aspect which manifests, but only a fraction of it. Similarly, when the third aspect descends two planes and manifests as intellect, it is only a fraction of a fraction of what the intellect aspect of the Monad really is. Therefore, the soul is not a veiled manifestation of the Monad but a veiled representation of a minute fraction of the Monad.
This concept has been mentioned before, but it is worth reiterating as it points towards a glorious future for all monads as they return to the Source.