We now come to the monad’s attachment to the lower triad. The spiritual Triad—Atma-Buddhi-Manas—is formed, and the warmth of the stream of Logoic life arouses faint signs of responsive life within it. After a long preparation, a tiny thread, resembling a minute rootlet and sheathed in golden-coloured Buddhaic matter (46), emerges from the Triad.
The thread is sometimes called the Sutratma, literally, the Thread-Self, because the permanent particles will be threaded like beads on a string. The term, however, is used in various ways but always to denote the idea of a thread connecting separate particles. Thus, it is applied to the reincarnating soul as the thread on which many separate lives are strung, to the Second Logos as the thread on which beings in His Universe are strung, and so on. It thus denotes a function rather than a special entity or class of entities. Interestingly, the goddess Kali is often portrayed with a necklace of skulls around her neck.
Each spiritual Triad produces one of these threads, initially flowing vaguely in the seven great streams of life. Then, each thread is anchored, just as the Higher Triad was, by the agency of the Devas to a mental molecule, or unit as it is usually called. This unit is a particle of the fourth mental sub-plane, the highest level of the mental plane.
The temporary aggregations of elemental essence from the Second Elemental Kingdom gather around this mental unit, scattering and regathering repeatedly. The vibrations of the essence gradually awaken the mental unit, eliciting faint responses that then stimulate the seed of consciousness in the Triad, causing vague internal movements.
The individual mental unit cannot be said to always have a form of its own because several mental units may present in a given aggregation of essence. In contrast, other aggregations of essence may have only one mental unit or none at all.
Thus, with incredibly slow progression, the mental units gradually obtain certain qualities. They acquire the ability to vibrate in specific ways that are associated with thinking, which will eventually enable the formation of thoughts. This is why it takes so many rounds and globes to get anything off the ground. A lot of preparatory work has to be done to get any life moving as we know it.
In this process, they are assisted by the Devas of the Second Elemental Kingdom. The Devas direct vibrations toward them, to which they gradually begin to respond. Additionally, the Devas surround them with the elemental essence that they emit from their own bodies. Furthermore, each of the seven typical groups is separated from the others by a delicate wall of monadic essence – atomic matter ensouled by the life of the Second Logos—the beginning of the wall of the future Group Soul.
The entire process is then repeated at the next lower level. The thread of life, encased in buddhic matter and with the mental unit attached, extends outward to the emotional plane, where, through identical means, an emotional atom becomes attached. Temporary aggregations of the elemental essence of the Third Elemental Kingdom gather around this emotional permanent atom, dispersing and reassembling as before.
It should be noted that when we talk about a permanent atom, we do not mean an atom in the traditional sense. This so-called atom is made up of countless billions of monads that have a controlling monad of tertiary matter. The tertiary matter itself forms a cluster, which is then called a permanent atom. One thing these atoms have in common is that they are made from monadic substance of the primary subplane of each plane of matter.
Similar results occur when the emotional atoms are gradually awakened to faint responses, which are then passed upwards to the seed of consciousness, once again producing subtle internal movements. In this way, the emotional permanent atoms develop the ability to vibrate in specific ways connected with sensation, which will later make sensation possible. As before, this process is aided by the action of the Devas of the Third Elemental Kingdom.
The wall of each of the seven groups now has a second layer, made of emotional monadic essence, getting closer to the wall of the future Group Soul.
Once again, the process is repeated when the strong wave of life has moved on to the physical plane. The thread of life, covered in buddhic matter, along with its connected mental unit and emotional permanent atom, extends outward and takes hold of a physical permanent atom. Around this atom, etheric matter gathers, just as before. However, the denser physical matter is more stable than the finer matter of the higher planes, so a much longer lifespan is observed.
As the proto-metal particles, and later proton-mental metals, non-metals, and minerals particles are formed, the Devas of the etheric sub-planes submerge the physical permanent atoms into one of the seven etheric types to which they belong. This marks the beginning of the long physical evolution of the permanent atom. On the atomic sub-level of the physical plane, a third layer is added to the separating wall, which will form the envelope of the future Group-Soul. In this way, the Lower Triad is formed, consisting of a mental unit, an emotional permanent atom, and a physical permanent atom.
In the diagram, we can see the current stage we have reached, with the Monad and its three Aspects. The Monad has been given a Higher Triad of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, and the Higher Triad, in turn, has been provided with a Lower Triad of Lower-Manas (47:47), Kama (48)-Sthula (49).
It is important to remember that each plane is made of seven fundamental types of matter based on the dominance of one of the three great attributes – Tamas (inertia), Rajas(mobility), and Sattva(rhythm). Therefore, the permanent atoms can be selected from any of these types. However, it seems that each Monad chooses all of its permanent atoms from the same type of matter. The Monad makes the choice, but the Devas carry out the actual attachment, as we have previously discussed.
The Monad belongs to one of the seven fundamental types, each with its own defining characteristic, such as “colour”, “keynote”, or “temperament”.
The Monad may choose to use his new pilgrimage for the strengthening and increasing of this special characteristic, in which case, the Devas will attach to his Sutratma permanent atoms belonging to the group or type of matter corresponding to the type of the Monad. Such a choice would result in the secondary colour – that of the permanent atoms – emphasising and strengthening the first: in the later evolution, the powers and weaknesses of that doubled temperament would show themselves with great force.
On the other hand, the Monad may choose to use its new journey to explore a different aspect of its nature. In this case, the Devas will connect its Sutratma atoms to a different matter group that predominantly represents the aspect the Monad wants to develop. This choice would result in the secondary “keynote” or “temperament” modifying the first one, leading to corresponding results in later evolution. This latter choice is more common and leads to greater complexity of character, especially in the final stages of human evolution, when the influence of the Monad becomes more strongly felt. Note that this process is repeated for each permanent unit of the three planes of matter, resulting in the ray-type of an ensouling monad for that incarnation.
The permanent atoms of both the Higher and Lower Triads are of the same type. The bodies of the Higher Triad are relatively permanent and reproduce the keynote of their permanent atoms. However, the bodies of the Lower Triad are influenced by various factors when it comes to the choice of materials for these bodies.
The Monad cannot directly act on the permanent atoms until the Higher Triad has evolved to a high stage. However, the Monad can influence the Higher Triad, and through this influence, it indirectly and continuously affects the permanent atoms. However, it must be reiterated that when we talk about the monad at this stage of our evolutionary cycle, we are effectively talking about our solar devas. They are the ones making these decisions for us.
The Higher Triad primarily draws its energy and directive capacity from the Second Logos. However, its specific function is not involved in the shaping and building work of the Second Logos but rather focuses on the evolution of the atoms in conjunction with the Third Logos. This energy from the Higher Triad is limited to the atomic sub-planes and is mainly directed towards the permanent atoms until the Fourth Round.
The use of permanent atoms preserves within themselves the results of all experiences as powers of vibration. The physical permanent atom illustrates this process. If an object experiences a physical impact, it will create vibrations within itself. In all cases, these vibrations will be transferred through direct impact, if it’s forceful, or through the Buddhic (46) life-web, to the physical permanent atom.
The atom is forced to vibrate from external forces, and this vibration becomes a power within the atom, causing it to want to repeat the vibration. Throughout the lifespan of the physical envelope, each impact leaves an impression on the physical permanent atom. By the end of the physical envelope’s life, the physical permanent atom has stored countless vibrational frequencies in this way.
The same process occurs with the permanent atom or unit in each human body. The student should already be familiar with the fact that the permanent atoms, as their name suggests, remain with human beings throughout their many lifetimes. They are the only parts of the various bodies that survive and stay permanently with the evolving soul in the causal envelope.
The vortex, known as the atom, is the life force of the Third Logos. The wall of the atom, gradually formed on the surface of this vortex, is created by the descent of the life force of the Second Logos. However, the Second Logos only faintly outlines the spirals as delicate channels and does not animate them. The Monad’s life force of the Monad flows down and enlivens the first of the spirals, making it a functional part of the atom. This occurs in the First Round. Similarly, another of the spirals is enlivened in each successive round and becomes active. These spirals are what we have termed spirillae in other presentations.
The prana uses the first set of spirillae, which affects the dense envelope. The etheric envelope uses the second set with the prana. The prana uses the third set, affecting the emotional envelope, thus developing the power of sensation. The fourth set is used by the prana of kama manas, making it fit to be used for building a brain as the instrument of thought.
In the Fourth Round, the usual number of spirillae at work is four in both permanent and ordinary unattached atoms. However, in the case of a highly evolved individual, the permanent atom may have five or even six spirillae at work. Typically, the fifth set of spirillae would develop in the Fifth Round. Still, advanced individuals can, through certain Yoga practices, develop both the fifth and sixth sets of spirillae even now.
The Monad not only works on the permanent atoms themselves but also affects other atoms that are drawn around the permanent atom in a similar way. However, this process of bringing these other atoms to life is only temporary. When the physical envelope disintegrates, these atoms return to the general pool of atomic matter. They may then be taken up and used by another Monad. Due to their prior experience, they can be more easily brought to life again.
This work occurs with all the permanent atoms of the Monad, and these atoms evolve more rapidly due to their association with the Monad.
Getting one’s head around the concept of how atoms get attached to form a triad unit is not easy to comprehend. You will need to go back and recap the last few presentations on the attachment of atoms in both the higher and lower triads. In the following presentation, we will look at the Creative Hierarchies.