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[6:18:07 PM] Thuan Thi Do: CHAPTER XXVIII

THE EGO AND THE PERSONALITY: SACRAMENTAL AIDS

( Page 227 ) The sacraments of the Christian religion, and also the ceremonies of Freemasonry, have such an intimate bearing on the relationship between the ego and the personality, as to justify a separate chapter being devoted to considering this important aspect of our subject.

We will consider first the sacraments of Christianity, as they are performed in the Liberal Catholic Church.

The Christian Church sets out to meet the soul or ego, as soon as he comes into his new set of bodies, offering him welcome and assistance: this is achieved through the ceremony of baptism.

As it is not practicable to get at the ego himself, his vehicles are dealt with on the physical plane. As we have seen, what the ego most needs is to get his new set of vehicles in order, so that he can work through them. Coming, as he does, laden with the results of his past lives,he has within him seeds of good qualities, and also seeds of evil qualities. Those seeds of evil have often, been called "original sin", and quite wrongly connected with the fabled action of Adam and Eve.

It is obviously of great importance to the child that everything possible should be done to starve out the germs of evil, and to encourage those of good: it is to this end that the sacrament of baptism is especially designed. The water used is magnetised, with a special view to the effect of its vibrations upon the higher vehicles, so that all the germs of good qualities, in the unformed astral and mental bodies of the child, may thereby receive a strong stimulus, while at the same time the germs of evil may be isolated and deadened.

( Page 228 ) The ceremony has also another aspect, that of consecrating and setting apart the new vehicles to the true expression of the soul within, and when it is properly and intelligently performed, there can be no doubt that its effect is a powerful one, which may affect the whole future life of the child.

The baptismal ceremony brings a new force into activity, on the side of the ego, in order to influence his vehicles in the right direction. Underlying the belief, that at baptism a guardian angel is given to the child, is the fact that a new thought-form, or artificial elemental is built,which is filled by the divine force, and also ensouled by a higher kind of nature-spirit known as a sylph. This remains with the child as a factor on the side of good, so that to all intents and purposes it is a guardian angel. Incidentally, through this work the sylph becomes individualised, and grows from a sylph into a seraph, through its association with a thought-form, permeated by the life and thought of the Head of the Church Himself.

The sacrament of baptism cannot alter the disposition of the man, but it can make his vehicles a little easier to manage. It does not suddenly make a devil into an angel, or a very evil man into a good one, but it certainly gives the man a better chance. This is what it is intended to do, and that is the limit of its power.

In addition, and more specifically, the baptismal ceremony is intended to open up the chakrams, or force-centres, and to set them moving much more rapidly. When this has been done [for details the student is referred to The Science of the Sacraments], and the "guardian angel" thought form has been built, the pouring in of the triple spiritual force takes place at the actual baptism itself, through the medium of consecrated water.

As the names of the Trinity are invoked, the force unquestionably flows from the Three Persons of the Solar Deity Himself, though it reaches us through the intermediate stages of the Christ, Who is the Head of the Church, ( Page 229 ) and the ordained priest. The thought which fills the guardian angel thought-form is, in fact really that of the Christ Himself.

Baptism is primarily intended for infants, and its commission in infancy cannot be fully supplied by baptism is later life. This adult has necessarily long ago verified the matter of his vehicles for himself, and his currents are flowing much in the same way as baptism would have caused them to flow; but it will usually be found that the "corners" are not cleaned up, much of the aura seems unvivified, and there is a large amount of indeterminate matter, with which nothing is being done; it has, therefore, a tendency to get out of the general circulation, to settle and form a deposit, and so gradually to clog the machinery and interfere with its efficient working. Baptism in infancy obviates much of this unpleasant result.

In the case of older people, quite a different type of sylph is given, a more worldly-wise entity, capable of development into a keener intelligence. About him there is something half-cynical: he has unwearying patience, but he does not seem to be expecting much, while the angel of the baby is optimistic - vaguer , it may be,than the other, but full of love and hope, and schemes for the future.

Still, a wholesome and beneficent influence is exercised by the baptism of adults; the anointing with the sacred chrism is not without its use, in cleansing the gateway through which the man passes in and out of his body in sleep, and even in the making of the shield, before and behind, is good, especially for those who are young and unmarried.

In the sacrament of Confirmation, the bishop pronounces a preliminary blessing, which is intended to widen out the connection between the ego and his vehicles, in order to prepare the way for what is coming. We might say that the object is to stretch both soul and vehicles to their utmost capacity, that they may be able to receive more of the Divine outpouring.( Page 230 )

As he makes the sign of the cross, at the appropriate places, the bishop pours into the candidate power, which is definitely that of the Third Person of the Trinity. This comes in three waves, and acts at the three levels, upon the principles of the candidate.

The divine power rushes through the ego of the bishop, into the higher mind of the candidate: then itpushes upward into Buddhi and finally presses upwards into the Âtma. In each case, it is through the Third-Person aspect of each of these principles that the work is done.

Some candidates are, of course, far more susceptible to the process of opening-up than others.

Upon some the effect produced is enormous and lasting; in the case of others, it is often but slight, because as yet that which has to be awakened is so little developed as to be barely capable of any response.

When the awakening, so far as it may be, has been achieved, there comes what may be called thefilling and sealing of Âtma., buddhi and manas. The effect on Âtma. is reflected in the etheric double, so far as the development allows, that on buddhi is reproduced in the astral body, and that on higher manas is mirrored in the mental body.

The intention of Confirmation is thus to tighten the links all the way up, to bring about a closer connection between the ego and the personality, and also between the ego and the monad. The result is not merely temporary; the opening up of the connections makes a wider channel, through which a constant flow can be kept going. Confirmation arms and equips a boy or girl for life, and makes it easier for the ego to act on and through his vehicles.

Passing to the Minor Orders, we find the Cleric is intended to aim at the control of his physical body: the Doorkeeper to purify and control his astral body; the Reader has to learn to wield the forces of his mind: the ordination of the Exorcist is aimed at the causal body, and is intended to develop the will, and to give the ego fuller control of the lower vehicles. The degree of Acolyte ( Page 231 ) is intended to help the man to quicken his intuition, the buddhic faculty.

In this series of diagrams, the following symbols are employed:( Page 232..
[6:18:21 PM] Thuan Thi Do: http://thongthienhoc.net/English/causal/images/Arthur_E_Powell_-_The_Causal_Body___The_Ego_img_39.jpg
[6:58:58 PM] Thuan Thi Do: In this series of diagrams, the following symbols are employed:( Page 232 ) In Diagram XXXI we have illustrated the condition of an intelligent and cultured, layman. The true man, the Monad, is shown on his own plane, that of Anupadaka. He expresses, ormanifests himself in his three aspects on the plane of Âtma.: these we will term Âtma. [1], Âtma. [2]and Âtma. [3], and have marked on the diagrams as A1, A2 and A3 respectively.
[7:13:38 PM] Thuan Thi Do: http://thongthienhoc.net/sach/GLBT-NTH/GiaoLyBiTruyen-NTH_Page_236.jpg
[7:54:44 PM] Thuan Thi Do: http://www.slideshare.net/Huongclass/hpblavatsky-gio-l-b-nhim-q1-the-secret-doctrine
[7:58:36 PM] Thuan Thi Do: http://www.anandgholap.net/Story_Of_Atlantis_And_The_Lost_Lemuria-W_Scott-Elliot.pdf
[8:03:49 PM] Thuan Thi Do: http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA011/English/TPS1911/GA011_index.html
[8:21:17 PM] Thuan Thi Do: The Submerged Continents of Atlantis and Lemuria

On-line since: 15th August, 2011

VIII
MAN'S FIRST ANCESTORS
THE observations of the Âkâshic Record, which will be described in the following pages, date from a period immediately preceding the incidents related in the previous chapter. In view of the materialistic tendency of thought at the present day, the risk attending the publication of the following facts is even greater than that incurred by the descriptions given in the preceding chapters. One is so liable in these days, when dealing with matters of this kind, to be dubbed fantastic, or accused of groundless speculation, that nothing but the conviction that the information we offer with regard to spiritual experience is true and accurate could induce us to publish these statements, knowing, as we do only too well, that any one who is versed in the teachings of Physical Science, as accepted by the present generation, will be unable even to approach the matter in a serious attitude of mind. Nothing is herein stated, but what has been carefully tested according to the methods employed by Spiritual Science; and all we ask of the ordinary scientist is that he shall accord to the student of the Higher Science the same tolerance as the latter shows to the mode of thought of Physical Science. (See my Welt- und Lebensanschauungen im Neunzehnten Jahrhundert, where I think I have shown my appreciation of the views held by materialistic Science.)
Nevertheless, for the benefit of any who may be sympathetically inclined towards the teachings of the Higher Science, I would add a further special remark with reference to the present expositions: we shall here touch upon matters of very great significance, pertaining to an age now long past, matters which, portrayed by the Records of Âkâsha, it is by no means an easy task to decipher. The writer, indeed, makes no claim on blind faith; he merely sets forth the results of investigations on which the utmost care has been bestowed, and any correction, if based on a practical knowledge of such matters, would be welcomed. The signs of the times are such as to impress him with a sense of duty, nay, urgency, in making known these events in the evolution of mankind. Moreover, we shall first have to sketch briefly an extensive period of existence, in order to gain at the outset a good general idea. Many things, therefore, which are now merely indicated, will receive a more detailed exposition in later chapters.
It is, however, difficult to translate the inscriptions of the Âkâshic Records into everyday language. It were easier to decipher the occult language of symbolical signs used in occult schools, but this is not yet permitted in our time. The reader is therefore begged to give a hearing to much that may seem obscure and hard to understand, to make a valiant endeavour to grasp their meaning, as the author, on his part, has striven to devise a mode of interpretation capable of being understood by all. The trouble expended in mastering many a difficult passage will be rewarded by the insight gained into the profound mysteries, the momentous problems of humanity herein revealed. These Âkâshic Records — which, for the occult investigator, are as much an undeniable reality as mountains and rivers are for the physical eye — constitute for man the basis of a true knowledge of self. An error of perception is, of course, as possible for the one as for the other.
It must be remembered that the present chapter relates only to the evolution of man. As a matter of course, the other kingdoms of Nature, the mineral, the plant, and the animal, are evolving side by side with humanity, and these other evolutions will be dealt with in future chapters. In these we shall discuss certain other subjects destined to illumine and to render more comprehensible the details given concerning man's evolution. On the other hand, we shall not be able to study the evolution of the other terrestrial kingdoms from the occult standpoint until the gradual development of man has been shown.
When we retrace still further the earth's evolutionary history — further back even than we have done in the foregoing pages — we find our celestial globe composed of ever finer conditions of matter. The matter which later became solid was, at a previous stage, liquid; before that, gaseous and of the nature of vapour; while at a still remoter period we find it in its finest form, that is to say, as ether. The decrease of temperature, however, caused the gradual solidification of matter.
In our present studies we shall go back to the time when our earthly dwelling-place was composed of matter in its finest etheric state. In that epoch of the earth's evolution man began his earthly career. In earlier times he had lived in other worlds, which will be the subject of study elsewhere. [See An Outline Of Occult Science, by Rudolf Steiner, Ph.D.] We will here only say a word or two about the existence which immediately preceded his earth-life. It was what we should call an astral or spiritual world, peopled with beings who had no outer, that is to say, no physical, corporeal existence. Neither had man. He had by that time perfected the picture-consciousness, or dream-consciousness, which was described in a foregoing chapter. He possessed feelings and desires, but all confined in a soul-body: a human being at that stage would only have been visible to clairvoyant sight.
It is true that the more highly evolved human beings of that period possessed such sight, though it was of a rather vague and dreamy description; it was not self-conscious clairvoyance. These astral beings are, in a certain sense, man's ancestors; for what to-day we call “Man” contains an indwelling, self-conscious Spirit. This Spirit became united to the being which descended from that ancestor about the middle of the Lemurian phase of civilisation. (This union of the Soul-Ancestor with the Physical-Ancestor has already been mentioned in earlier chapters. The subject will be taken up again, and treated more explicitly, after we have followed the evolution of man's ancestors up to that point.)
The astral or Soul-Ancestors of man were transplanted to the subtle matter of the etheric world. They absorbed this subtle matter into themselves — roughly putting it — something after the manner of a sponge. Thus, by permeating themselves with etheric matter their etheric bodies were formed. They were elongated, and elliptic in form; yet subtle differentiations of matter, tendencies to form limbs and other organs to be developed at a later period, were even then perceptible. The whole process perceptible in the mass of etheric matter was, however, purely physico-chemical, though regulated and controlled by the soul.
When one of these ovoids of matter had reached a certain size, it split into two, forming two new masses each resembling the one which gave it birth, and reproducing the same activities which were at work in the parent form. Every one of these new forms possessed a soul similar to that of the mother-being. The reason of this was that not only a definite number of human souls incarnated on the physical plane, but there was what we might call a Soul-Tree (or Group Soul), which was able, as it were, to give off innumerable individual souls, sprung from its common root. Just as a plant springs up again and again from numberless seeds, so did the soul-life reincarnate in the countless offshoots which were created as the result of these continual cleavings. (Of course, there existed from the beginning a very limited number of soul species, but within these species, evolution proceeded in the manner described, every soul species putting forth innumerable scions.)
With incarnation in physical matter a most important change came over the souls themselves. As long as the souls remained unconnected with the material world, no outward material..

 

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