AREAS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness may be termed, simply, "the divine spark," which enters into
every form and phase of manifested life emanating from that one Eternal
Power which materialists designate as "energy" and which Occultists, both
Oriental and Occidental, best define as "Aum," God! The Absolute--The
Divine Mind, and many other terms.
Consciousness, therefore, enters into everything--is the life essence of
everything.
The materialistic hypothesis formerly predicated the axiom that there were
two distinct phases of manifestation, namely organic and inorganic.
Organic life was sentient, or conscious, while inorganic life was
insensate--a structure acted upon from forces outside itself, and dependent
upon an exterior force for its action.
Other names for this differentiation, would be "matter" and "spirit." The
point is, that the old materialistic philosophy failed to recognize the
fact that consciousness, in varying degrees, characterizes all manifested
life.
This fact every phase of Oriental philosophy recognized, and always has
recognized. The assumption of the Christian Science devotee, that there is
anything new in the postulate that "all is spirit," is possible only
because of his ignorance of Oriental philosophy, as will be seen later on
in these pages, when we take up the relative comparison between the
Oriental and the Occidental systems of "salvation."
To resume therefore, we postulate the following recognized axioms of
Universal Occultism.
All life is sentient or conscious.
All life is from the one source, and therefore contains this "divine
spark."
All manifestation expresses degrees or phases of consciousness.
The degree of this consciousness fixes the status of the organism, and
determines its classification, whether it is organic or inorganic; simple,
or complex.
Every cell, each separate cell, in fact, has its own consciousness--that is
each cell is a center of this power that we term consciousness; a group of
cells with this power focalized to a given point, or center, makes an organ
of consciousness, and so on up the scale through many many degrees of
complexity of organism, until we come to man.
Webster defines consciousness as "the ability to know ones mental
operations." But, we do not take this definition in Occultism, for the
obvious reason, that it is not possible to state arbitrarily whether or
not, the cell "knows its operations," and since all operations are
necessarily mental in the final analysis, we assume that there is a phase
of consciousness below that of cognition of "self," which may be termed
"the unconscious consciousness," which again is synonymous with the phrase
"automatic cerebration."
Coming up through the various myriad degrees of sub-conscious life (sub
being here used as below self consciousness) we arrive at the stage of
simple consciousness which characterizes the animal kingdom, remembering
that consciousness in the abstract is not a _condition_, or state of
environment. It is one of the eternal verities. It _is_ just as Aum _is_.
The attainment of a wider and wider area of consciousness, is but the
_uncovering_, or the attracting to a central point or to an individual
organism of _this that is_. Thus consciousness, in the abstract, may say
of itself "before creation was, I am."
That is what is meant when it is said that God is omnipotent, and
omniscient.
The difference between mere power, or energy, and consciousness, whether
considered from the standpoint of the organic or the inorganic kingdom, may
be likened to the difference between a blind force, and a power that knows
itself.
Consciousness is practically the great central light that "lighteth every
man that cometh into the world." Without consciousness, manifestation would
be darkness. Thus it is said, "the light shineth in darkness and the
darkness comprehendeth it not." This applies to that tiny spark of divinity
in which consciousness exists but where there is not realization of its
divinity.
This fact is not applicable to the inorganic, or the animal kingdoms alone.
Many men are not conscious of the light that shineth within them, save as
there is an aggregate of cell consciousness which recognizes its focalized
power as an organism.
Manifestation then, is the vehicle (carrying character) of universal
consciousness, and we may logically assume that manifestation is due to
the necessity of developing individualized entities, who may, through
successive phases of conscious unfoldment, or uncovering of areas of
Being, become gods.
The western writers, and indeed, many Oriental seers prefer to put it thus:
"become fit to dwell with God, in eternal bliss and power."
To dwell with God, must be to become gods. Once more, we must remember that
only gods are immortal. Souls continue to exist after the physical body has
been discarded, for the reason that no body in these days, lives as long as
its psychic counterpart or dweller. But, although the soul continues to
exist on another plane of note of the _scale of vibration_, it does not
argue that the identity shall continue eternally, except in such instances,
as when the soul through numbers of incarnations shall have finally
accomplished the purpose of its pilgrimage and attained to _mukti_
(liberation from the law of change and death).
Returning to a consideration of what may be said to constitute certain
specific phases of consciousness, we will take into consideration the
phase of consciousness, which we see expressed in the mineral kingdom.
That there is a distinct and separate character of consciousness thus
expressed is evident from the fact that there is a law of chemical
affinity, i.e. attraction and repulsion, which causes different minerals
to respond, or to refuse to respond, as the case may be, to certain
conditions or chemical processes, more or less crude in character.
From this to the vegetable kingdom we assume a step in advance, as
vegetable life measured by complexity and refinement, responds with a
greater degree of sensitiveness to the laws of evolution, as expressed in
cultivation, selection and environment.
Even in this phase of manifestation, we find the law of Being, is measured
by the perfection of species. Evolution of inorganic life, is as real, and
as much a part of the plan, (or whatever name we choose), as is organic,
and self-conscious life.
That which is less perfect, measured by the law of beauty and usefulness,
we find gradually being exterminated. That the earth, as a planet, is
obeying this cosmic law of evolution from grossness to refinement; from
crudity to perfection; from the limited to the all-inclusive, is
indisputable. As the motor power of electricity has become general, we find
that beasts of burden are fast disappearing from the earth, according to
the law of the "survival of the fittest," this law, always being subject to
change. The "fittest" means that which is best fitted to the conditions of
the time.
Brute force survives among brutes, in the degree that it is strong or weak;
coming out of that expression of law into the mental areas of
consciousness, we find that the _mentally_ fit survive among those who live
only in the areas of the mind; so on, into the spiritual, we will find the
"survival of the fittest" will be those who are best fitted for spiritual
eternity--for godhood.
Coming again, to our consideration of the term consciousness, we will take
a brief survey of that phase of consciousness which we see manifested in
the forms of life that have the power to move from their immediate
environment; such for instance would include the fish in the sea; insect
life; reptiles; the birds in the air; and all forms of animal life.
While expressing a very limited degree of consciousness, yet there is
evident a certain degree or aggregate of cell consciousness, which
transcends that of the mineral and vegetable life. This apparently
_advanced_ degree of consciousness, does not, as we have stated, presuppose
a nearer approach to immortality, however, for the reason that we apply
the law of the survival of the fittest to all manifestation, and that
which is best fitted for certain stages of the planet's life during the
process of evolvement, may be most unfitted for succeeding stages, and
will, by the inexorable law of survival, be discontinued--discarded, even
as the properties and stage-settings of a drama are thrown aside, when the
play has been "taken off the boards."
It is admitted, therefore, that those forms of life having the power of
locomotion, involve a more complex degree of consciousness, than does that
of the mineral or vegetable.
In that phase of life that we see possessing the power to move, to change
its immediate environment, even though not capable of changing its
_habitat_ we may perceive the beginning of that consciousness expressed as
"free-will." Here, we assume, the organism recognizes its self as distinct
from its environment, and from its counterparts, etc., but this recognition
has not sufficient consciousness to _assert_ that recognition, and so we
say that there is no _self_-consciousness. There is what occultists have
agreed to call simple consciousness, but this does not include a
realization of identity, as apart from environment. This may be better
understood if we separate these degrees or phases of consciousness into
groups, applicable to the human organism, leaving, for a time the
consideration of whether or not some human specimens are higher in the
scales than are some animals.
Physical, or sense consciousness, is shared alike by man and the animals.
Beyond this phase of consciousness we may classify the human species in the
following terms:
Physical self-consciousness.
Mental self-consciousness.
Soul (individual) "I" consciousness.
Spiritual self-consciousness.
Physical self-consciousness is that phase of self-recognition which knows
itself as a body distinct from its neighbors; from its natural environment.
This awareness of the self it is that actuated pre-historic man when he
manifested the blind force that is sometimes called "self-preservation,"
which force has erroneously been termed "the first law of nature."
Preservation of this physical self is the most "primitive" law of nature,
but not "first" in the sense that it is the most important, or the
strongest.
The world's long list of heroes refutes this idea. The pre-historic species
of human, then, in common with his brother, the animal, sought to preserve
this physical self, because he felt that this physical self, his body, was
all there was of him, and he wished to preserve it, even as the _wise_ man
of to-day, sacrifices everything to the preservation of the moral and
spiritual Self which he realizes is the _real_ of him.
To this end, he cultivated physical force, sufficient to overcome his
environment; and as he developed a little of that consciousness which we
term mental (using the term merely as a part of the physical organism
called the brain), he realized that co-operation would greatly enhance his
chances for self-preservation, and therefore, this mental consciousness
impelled him to annex to his forces other physical organisms so that their
united strength might preserve each other.
This side of the story of man's evolution in consciousness is not however a
part of our present work, and we will therefore leave it, for a brief
consideration of the successive steps in attainment of consciousness,
leading through devious paths, and through millions of relative time called
years, into the present state of man's consciousness which in so many
instances presages the oncoming of that state, called liberation, or
illumination--mukti.
Through mental self-consciousness the way has been long and arduous. There
are many, many degrees of this phase of consciousness, and to this phase we
owe what is called our present civilization.
The true occultist, whether viewing manifestation from the standpoint of
Oriental or of Occidental ideals, realizes that everything is right which
makes for human betterment, and that _dharma_ (right-action) consists in
acting in accordance with the highest motive of which one's consciousness
is capable.
That our present civilization is most _uncivilized_ in many respects, will
be admitted by all whose range of consciousness has touched in any degree,
the infinite areas of wisdom expressed in altruistic action.
But, though the path be long, and thorny, the cycle is closing, and many
have reached the goal through its zigzag course.
But, underlying, as it were, and upholding and uplifting the expression of
sense consciousness in which so many persons seem lost to-day, there are
evidences of a consciousness which _observes the effects_, of this
tremendous mental activity, and knows itself as something apart from, and
superior to this manifestation.
This, we define as soul--individualized expression of the spiritual
consciousness--the central light, which as we previously quoted, "lighteth
every man that cometh into the world."
Many there are who merely _perceive_ this. To them there is a vague and
indefinable _something_ which seems to realize that the operations of the
mind are something phenomenal and apart from the _real_ Self. Psychology,
even so empirical a psychology as is possible of demonstration in western
schools and colleges, evidences the fact that there is a far greater field
of mental operation than is covered by the outer, or _mental_
consciousness.
The outer, or objective action of the mind, considers but one subject, one
question, one problem at a time. Many varied _phases_ of this problem may
present themselves, but the mental forces are focalized upon one subject at
a time. And yet to state that but one idea, thought-concept, or desire, can
enter the mind at a time, is not a safe assumption.
After many centuries of material strife, with the object of satisfying the
demands of human life, the conviction is forcing itself upon people in all
walks of life, that wealth, ambition, power and possessions, do not give us
the answer to the eternal unescapable and insistent question of the way to
happiness.
This means that there is awakening in the human race more generally than at
any other time in recorded history, a realization that the human organism
is not merely a physical aggregate of cells, nor yet that it is mind
individualized and in operation for the purpose of exercising new powers.
The fact is becoming apparent that all discovery is but an uncovering of
those vast areas of consciousness which are limitless; and which include
not only all life on this planet, but all life in the Cosmos. In short,
cosmic consciousness is becoming _perceived_, by a vast majority, and is
being _realized_ by not a few.
But in the immediate future of the race, we find the next step, for the
majority to be that of soul-consciousness.
Back of thought, like a guardian angel stands the desire of the soul,
stimulating and directing; back of action stands thought, as the master
directs the servant, or as the captain decides the course of the ship.
Spiritual evolution may be understood, or at least _perceived_, from a
study of physical and mental evolution. From the crude to the perfect is
the law; if this perfection of species, or of phases, could be attained
without pain, it were well. Pain comes from lack of wisdom to realize that
out of the lower the higher inevitably springs, as the butterfly springs
from the cocoon; as the flower springs from the seed; "as above so below"
is a translation of an old Sinto saying, which also bids us "trust in Kami
and keep clean."
Again it is said "to him who overcometh, will I give the inheritance."
_Overcoming_ may be variously interpreted. In the past, it has been
presented to the initiate, as sacrifice. If so it be, then is it because of
lack of that wisdom which knows that there is no sacrifice in exchanging
the physical for the spiritual--the ephemeral for the abiding.
Says the ancient manuscripts:
"The body is purified by water, the mind by truth, the soul by knowledge
and austerity, the reason by wisdom."
But as the groping, undeveloped soul struggles for consciousness, it
reaches out for the gratification of mental desires. The soul is moved by
desire for perfect happiness. The mind seeks to satisfy this craving for
happiness in increased activities; in accumulation; in so-called pleasure,
i.e. always looking outside--thinking outside, living in the outside--the
_maya_. But the soul has but one answer to this quest for happiness. It is
love, because only love and wisdom give immortality--which is
self-preservation in the true sense.
It is written in the Shruti: "Brahman is wisdom and bliss."
No higher text can be given the disciple.
Wisdom comes from reflection upon the results of Experience, in the search
for happiness.
When the mind has sounded the depths of its resources, and the urge forward
can not be appeased, when the voice of the inner self--the soul, cannot be
silenced; the disciple pauses to ask _the way_. He wants to know what it is
all about, and why it is that all he has so striven and struggled for fails
to satisfy. He wants to know how to avoid pain; and how to find the most
direct road to that satisfaction which endures; and which is not synonymous
with the so-called "pleasures" of the senses.
When this stage of development has been reached, the disciple is ready for
another phase of Experience which shall extend his consciousness into
those areas of knowledge, in which the Real is distinguishable from the
Illusory.
Experience will then teach him that only Love is real.
That which is for the permanent good of all, as opposed to that which is
transitory and only seemingly satisfying to the few, may be said to
constitute the perception of the Real, and the avoidance of Illusion.
To exchange a present seeming advantage to the physical environment, for a
future and permanent satisfaction of the soul is the prerogative of the
wise--the soul that has discovered itself and its mission.
In all organisms below the scale of the human, there is a constant growth
in complexity of organism, with specialization of functions.
When we come to this last-mentioned stage of human development, we find
that there is no more specialization in the way of development of the
physical functions. Instead, there is a determined effort at perfecting
the higher functions, through the gradations of consciousness, until the
spiritual consciousness of the individual entity has been awakened.
Then, indeed, has been awakened the "divine man" and the path to
immortality is henceforth comparatively short, although by no means strewn
with roses, judged from the limited standard of Relativity.
A man's karma simply and mathematically, proves the direction of his former
desires. Karma does not punish or reward, as is frequently imagined.
The general impression that one is reaping "good or bad karma" according as
his life is one of pleasure or of pain, is not the solution of the problem
of karma, and has no relation to the law of karmic action.
If a soul has in a previous life outgrown or outworn that evolutionary
phase of development, in which the mind seeks temporary pleasures, and has
come to the place where he wants to distinguish the Real from the Illusory,
his karma, in compliance with the law of desire, will bring him in relation
to those conditions which will teach him to know the Real from the
Illusory, and in those conditions he will experience pain because he will,
if he remain in the activities of the world, be acting contrary to the
ideas of the _average_.
Thus, to the onlooker, and in accordance with the general misinterpretation
of the law of karma, he will be thought to have reaped a "bad" karma, while
as a matter of reality, he will be making very rapid strides on the path to
godhood. Said a famous Japanese high priest:
"Desire is the bird that carries the soul to the object in which his mind
is immersed, and thus his future actions are the result."
This means that by the law of desire, acting in accordance with the
evolutionary pilgrimage of the soul, the karma is produced. The American
poet, Lowell, says: "No man is born into the world whose work is not born
with him." However, whether or not this applies to man in the first stages
of his upward climb to the goal of attainment of conscious godhood, it most
assuredly applies to those souls who have become aware of their purpose,
and who have made a _conscious_ choice of their karma. And of this class of
souls, the world to-day has a goodly number.
The end of a kalpa finds many avatars, and angels on earth, and however
obscured the mind of these may become in the fog of Illusion, the inner
light guides them through its mists to the safe accomplishment of their
mission.
There is a story of a Buddhist priest, who when dying, was comforted by his
loving disciples with the reminder that he was at last entering upon a
state of bliss and rest. To which the earnest one replied:
"Never so long as there is misery to be assuaged, shall I enter Nirvana. I
shall be reborn where the need is greatest. I shall wish to be reborn in
the nethermost depths of hell, because that is the place that most needs
enlightenment; that is the place to point out the path to deliverance; that
is the place where the light will shine most brightly."
Thus it will be seen we may not readily determine what is "good" and what
is "bad" karma, by judging from external conditions.
As we are told that we may entertain "angels unawares," so we may pass the
world's avatars upon the street, and judging from the external, the
physical environment, we may not know them from the vampire souls that
contact them.
The point of our present consideration is that this "year of grace,"
meaning not the mere twelve months of the calendar year, but the century,
is the end of the present _kalpa_ (cycle), and demonstrates that period of
evolution has terminated, and the era is at hand when spiritual alchemy
shall transform the old into the new, and that the desire, which has so
long ministered to the wants of the physical body, shall be turned
(converted) into the channels that lead to spiritual consciousness.
The undefined, instinctive urge that has actuated so many intrepid souls,
is becoming recognized for what it is--the awakening of the inner Self; the
blind groping in the dark will cease and there shall arise a race of human
beings liberated; free; aware of their spiritual origin and their inherent
divinity.
All who have conformed their life activities to the divine law of action,
which may be tersely stated as "Not mine, but thine, dear brother," will
have achieved the goal of the soul's purpose--will have found Nirvana.