Filename: RC1054.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel
[PAGE 1952]
The student should particularly note that it is because of their con-
nection with the splendidly organized mechanism of the dense body that these
higher vehicles become of value at present. He will thus avoid a mistake
frequently made by people who, when they come into the knowledge that there
are higher bodies, grow to despise the dense vehicle; to speak of it as
"low" and "vile"--turning their eyes to heaven and wishing that they might
soon be able to leave this earthly lump of clay and fly about in their
"higher vehicles."
These people generally do not realize the difference between "higher"
and "perfect." Certainly, the dense body is the lowest vehicle in the sense
that it is the most unwieldy, correlating man to the world of sense with all
the limitations thus implied. As stated, it has an enormous period of
evolution back of it; is in it fourth state of development and has now
reached a great and marvelous degree of efficiency. It will, in time, reach
perfection, but even at present it is the best organized of man's vehicles.
The vital body is in its third stage of evolution, and less completely orga-
nized than the dense body. The desire body and the mind are, as yet, mere
clouds--almost entirely unorganized. In the very lowest human beings these
vehicles are not even definite ovoids; they are more or less undefined in
form.
The dense body is a wonderfully constructed instrument and should be
recognized as such by everyone pretending to have any knowledge of the con-
stitution of man. Observe the femur, for instance. This bone carries the
entire weight of the body. On the outside it is built of a thin layer of
compact bone, strengthened on the inside by beams and cross-beams of
cancellated bone, in such a marvelous manner that the most skilled bridge or
construction engineer could never accomplish the feat of building a pillar
of equal strength with so little weight. The bones of the skull are built
[PAGE 1953]
in a similar manner, always the least possible material is used and the
maximum of strength obtained. Consider the wisdom manifested in the con-
struction of the heart and then question if this superb mechanism deserves
to be despised. The wise man is grateful for his dense body and takes the
best possible care of it, because he knows that it is the most valuable of
his present instruments.
The animal spirit has in its descent reached only the Desire World. It
has not yet evolved to the point where it can "enter" a dense body. There-
fore the animal has no individual INdwelling spirit, but a group-spirit,
which directs it FROM WITHOUT. The animal has the dense body, the vital
body and the desire body, but the group-spirit which directs it is outside.
The vital body and the desire body of an animal are not entirely within the
dense body, especially where the head is concerned. For instance, the
etheric head of a horse projects far beyond and above the dense physical
head. When, as in rare cases it happens, the etheric head of a horse draws
into the head of the dense body, that horse can learn to read, count and
work examples in elementary arithmetic. To this peculiarity is also due the
fact that horses, dogs, cats and other domesticated animals sense the Desire
World, though not always realizing the difference between it and the
Physical World. A horse will shy at the sight of a figure invisible to the
driver; a cat will go through the motions of rubbing itself against invis-
ible legs. The cat sees the ghost, however without realizing that it has no
dense legs available for frictional purposes. The dog, wiser than a cat or
horse, will often sense that there is something he does not understand about
the appearance of a dead master whose hands it cannot lick. It will howl
mournfully and slink into a corner with its tail between its legs. The fol-
lowing illustration may perhaps be of service to show the difference between
[PAGE 1954]
the man with his indwelling spirit and the animal with its group-spirit.
Let us imagine a room divided by means of a curtain, one side of the
curtain representing the Desire World and the other the Physical. There are
two men in the room, one in each division; they cannot see each other, nor
can they get into the same division. There are, however, ten holes in the
curtain and the man who is in the division representing the Desire World can
put his ten fingers through these holes into the other division, represent-
ing the Physical World. He now furnishes an excellent representation of the
group-spirit which is in the Desire World. The fingers represent the
animals belonging to one species. He is able to move them as he wills, but
he cannot use them freely nor as intelligently as the man who is walking
about in the Physical division uses his body. The latter sees the fingers
which are thrust through the curtain and he observes that they all move, but
he does not see the connection between them. To him it appears as if they
were all separate and distinct from one another. He cannot see that they
are fingers of the man behind the veil and are governed in their movements
by his intelligence. If he hurts one of the fingers, it is not only the
finger that he hurts, but chiefly the man on the other side of the curtain.
If an animal is hurt, it suffers, but not to the degree that the
group-spirit does. The finger has no individualized consciousness; it moves
as the man dictates--so do the animals moves as the group-spirit dictates.
We hear of "animal instinct" and "blind instinct." There is no such vague,
indefinite thing as "blind" instinct. There is nothing "blind" about the
way the group-spirit guides its members--there is Wisdom, spelled with
[PAGE 1955]
capitals. The trained clairvoyant, when functioning in the Desire World,
can communicate with these spirits of the animal species and finds them much
more intelligent than a large percent of human beings. He can see the mar-
velous insight they display in marshaling the animals which are their
physical bodies.
It is the spirit of the group which gathers its flocks of birds in the
fall and compels them to migrate to the south, neither too early nor too
late to escape the winter's chilly blast; that directs their return in the
spring, causing them to fly at just the proper altitude, which differs for
the different species.
The group-spirit of the beaver teaches it to build its dam across a
stream at exactly the proper angle. It considers the rapidity of the flow,
and all the circumstances, precisely as a skilled engineer would do, showing
that it is as up-to-date in every particular of the craft as the
college-bred, technically-educated man. It is the wisdom of the
group-spirit that directs the building of the hexagon cell of the bee with
such geometrical nicety; that teaches the snail to fashion its house in an
accurate, beautiful spiral; that teaches the ocean mollusk the art of
decorating its iridescent shell. Wisdom, wisdom everywhere! So grand, so
great that one who looks with an observant eye is filed with amazement and
reverence.
At this point the thought will naturally occur that if the animal
group-spirit is so wise, considering the short period of evolution of the
animal as compared with that of man, why does not the latter display wisdom
to a much greater degree and why must man be taught to build dams and geom-
etrize, all of which the group spirit does without being taught?
[PAGE 1956]
The answer to that question has to do with the descent of
the Universal Spirit into matter of ever-increasing density. In the higher
Worlds, where its vehicles are fewer and finer, it is in closer touch with
cosmic wisdom which shines out in a manner inconceivable in the dense
Physical World, but as the spirit descends, the light of wisdom becomes tem-
porarily more and more dimmed, until in the densest of all the Worlds, it is
held almost entirely in abeyance.
An illustration will make this clearer. The hand is man's most valu-
able servant; its dexterity enables it to respond to his slightest bidding.
In some vocations, such as bank teller, the delicate touch of the hand be-
comes so sensitive, that it is able to distinguish a counterfeit coin from a
genuine in a way so marvelous that one would almost think the hand were en-
dowed with individual intelligence.
Its greatest efficiency is perhaps reached in the production of music.
It is capable of producing the most beautiful, soul-stirring melodies. The
delicate, caressing touch of the hand elicits the tenderest strains of
soul-speech from the instrument, telling of the sorrows, the joys, the
hopes, the fears and the longings of the soul in a way that nothing but mu-
sic can do. It is the language of the heaven world, the spirit's true home,
and comes to the divine spark imprisoned in flesh as a message from its na-
tive land. Music appeals to all, regardless of race, creed, or other
worldly distinction. The higher and more spiritual the individual the
plainer does it speak to him and even "the savage breast" is not unmoved by
it.
Let us now imagine a master musician putting on thin gloves and trying
to play his violin. We note at once that the delicate touch is less subtle;
the soul of the music is gone. If he puts another and a heavier pair of
[PAGE 1957]
gloves over the first pair, his hand is hampered to such an extent that he
may occasionally create a discord instead of the former harmony. Should he
at last put on, in addition to the two pairs of gloves already hampering
him, a pair of still heavier mittens, he would, temporarily, be entirely un-
able to play, and one who had not heard him play previously to the time he
put on the gloves and the mittens, would naturally think that he had never
been able to do so, especially if ignorant of the hampering of his hands.
So it is with the Spirit; every step down, every descent into coarser
matter is to it what the putting on of a pair of gloves would be to the mu-
sician. Every step down limits its power of expression until it has become
accustomed to the limitations and has found its focus, in the same way that
the eye must find its focus after we enter a house on a bright summer day.
The pupil of the eye contracts to its limit in the glare of the sun and on
entering the house all seems dark; but, as the pupil expands, and admits the
light, the man is enabled to see as well in the dimmer light of the house as
he did in the sunlight.
The purpose of man's evolution here is to enable him to find his focus
in the Physical World, where at present the light of wisdom seems obscured.
But when in time we have "found the light," the wisdom of man will shine for
forth in his actions, and far surpass the wisdom expressed by the
group-spirit of the animal.
Besides, a distinction must be made between the group spirit and the
virgin spirits of the life wave now expressing itself as animals. The
group-spirit belongs to a different evolution and is the guardian of the
animal spirits.
The dense body in which we function is composed of numerous cells, each
having separate cellconsciousness, though of a very low order. While these
cells from part of our body they are subjected to an dominated by OUR
[PAGE 1958]
consciousness. An animal group-spirit functions in a SPIRITUAL BODY, which
is its lowest vehicle This vehicle consists of a varying number of virgin
spirits imbued for the time being with the consciousness of the
group-spirit. The latter directs the vehicles built by the virgin spirits
in its charge, caring for them and helping them to evolve their vehicles.
As its wards evolve, the group-spirit also evolves, undergoing a series of
metamorphoses, in a manner similar to that in which we grow and gain experi-
ence by taking into our bodies the cells of the food we eat, thereby also
raising their consciousness by enduing them with ours for a time.
Thus while a separate, self-conscious Ego is within each human body and
dominates the actions of its particular vehicle, the spirit of the separate
animal is not yet individualized and self-conscious, but forms part of the
vehicle of a self-conscious entity belonging to a different evolution--the
group-spirit.
The group-spirit dominates the actions of the animals in harmony with
cosmic law, until the virgin spirits in its charge shall have gained
self-consciousness and become human. Then they will gradually manifest
wills of their own, gaining more and more freedom from the group-spirit and
becoming responsible for their own actions. The group-spirit will influence
them, however (although in a decreasing degree), as race, tribe, community,
or family spirit until each individual has become capable of acting in full
harmony with cosmic law. Not until that time will the Ego be entirely free
and independent of the group-spirit, which will then enter a higher phase of
evolution.
The position occupied by the group-spirit in the Desire World gives to
[PAGE 1959]
the animal a consciousness different form that of man, who has a clear,
definite waking consciousness. Man sees things OUTSIDE of himself in sharp,
distinct outlines. Owing to the spiral path of evolution, the higher domes-
tic animals, particularly the dog, horse, cat and elephant see objects in
somewhat the same way, though perhaps not so clearly defined. All other
animals have an internal "picture consciousness" similar to the dream-state
in man. When such an animal is confronted by an object, a picture is im-
mediately perceived WITHIN, accompanied by a strong impression that the ob-
ject is inimical or beneficial to its welfare. If the feeling is one of
fear, it is associated with a suggestion from the group-spirit how to escape
the threatened danger. This negative state of consciousness renders it easy
for the group-spirit to guide the dense bodies of its charges by suggestion,
as the animals have no will of their own.
Man is not so easily managed from without, either with or without his
consent. As evolution progresses and man's will develops more and more, he
will become non-amenable to outside suggestion and free to do as he pleases
regardless of suggestions from others. This is the chief difference between
man and the other kingdoms. They act according to law and the dictates of
the group-spirit (which we call instinct), while man is becoming more and
more a law unto himself. We do not ask the mineral whether or not it will
crystallize, nor the flower whether it will or will not bloom, nor the lion
whether it will or will not cease to prey. They are all, in the smallest as
in the greatest matter, under the absolute domination of the group-spirit,
being without free will and initiative which, in some degree, are possessed
by every human being. All animals of the same species look nearly alike,
[PAGE 1960]
because they emanate from the same group-spirit, while among the fifteen
hundred millions of human beings who people the Earth no two look exactly
alike, not even twins when adolescent, because the stamp that is put upon
each by the indwelling individual Ego makes the difference in appearance as
well as in character.
That all oxen thrive on grass, and all lions eat flesh, while "one
man's meat is another man's poison" is another illustration of the
all-inclusive influence of the group-spirit as contrasted with the Ego which
makes each human being require a different proportion of food from every
other. Doctors note with perplexity the same peculiarity in administering
medicine. Its acts differently upon different individuals, while the same
medicine will produce identical effects on two animals of the same species,
owing to the fact that animals all follow the dictates of the group-spirit
and Cosmic Law--always act similarly in identical circumstances. Man alone
is, in some measure, able to follow his own desires within certain limits.
That his mistakes are many and grievous, is granted, and to many it might
seem better if he were forced into the right way, but if this were done, he
would never learn to do right. Lessons of discrimination between good and
evil cannot be learned unless he is free to choose his own course and has
learned to eschew the wrong as a veritable "womb of pain." If he did right
only because he had no choice, and had no chance to do otherwise, he would
be but an automaton and not an evolving God. As the builder learns by his
mistakes, correcting past errors in future buildings, so man, by means of
his blunders, and the pain they cause him, is attaining to a higher (because
self-conscious) wisdom than the animal, which acts wisely because it is im-
pelled to action by the group-spirit. In time the animal will become human,
[PAGE 1961]
have liberty of choice and will make mistakes and learn by them as we do
now.
Diagram 4 shows that the group-spirit of the plant kingdom has its low-
est vehicle in the Region of Concrete Thought. It is two steps removed from
its dense vehicle and consequently the plants have a consciousness corre-
sponding to that of DREAMLESS SLEEP. The group-spirit of the mineral has
it slowest vehicle in the Region of Abstract Thought and it is, therefore,
three steps removed from its dense vehicle; hence it is in a state of deep
unconsciousness similar to the TRANCE condition.
We have now shown that man is an individual indwelling spirit, an Ego
separate from all other entities, directing and working in one set of ve-
hicles from WITHIN , and that plants and animals are directed from WITHOUT
by a group-spirit having jurisdiction over a number of animals or plants in
our Physical World. They are separate only in appearance.
The relations of plant, animal and man to the life currents in the
Earth's atmosphere are symbolically represented by the cross. The Mineral
Kingdom is not represented, because as we have seen, it possesses no indi-
vidual vital body, hence cannot be the vehicle for currents belonging to the
higher realms. Plato, who was an Initiate, often gave occult truths. He
said "The World-Soul is crucified."
The lower limb of the cross indicates the plant with its root in the
chemical mineral soil. The group-spirits of plants are at the center of the
Earth. They are (it will be remembered) in the Region of Concrete Thought,
which inter-penetrates the Earth, as do all the other Worlds. From these
group-spirits flow streams or currents in all directions to the periphery of
[PAGE 1962]
the Earth, passing outward through the length of plant or tree.
Man is represented by the upper limb; his is the INVERTED PLANT. The
plant takes its food through the root. Man takes his food through the head.
The plant stretches its generative organs towards the sun. Man, the in-
verted plant, turns his towards the center of the earth. The plant is sus-
tained by the spiritual currents of the group-spirit in the center of the
earth, which enter into it by way of the root. Later it will be shown that
the highest spiritual influence comes to man from the sun, which sends its
rays through man, the inverted plant, from the head downwards. The plant
inhales the poisonous carbon-dioxide exhales by man and exhales the
life-giving oxygen used by him.
The animal, which is symbolized by the horizontal limb of the cross, is
between the plant and the man. Its spine is in a horizontal position and
through it play the currents of the animal group-spirit which encircle the
Earth. No animal can be made to remain constantly upright, because in that
case the currents of the group-spirit could not guide it, and if it were not
sufficiently individualized to endure the spiritual currents which enter the
vertical human spine, it would die. It is necessary that a vehicle for the
expression of an individual Ego shall have three things--an upright walk,
that it may come into touch with the currents just mentioned; an upright
larynx, for only such a larynx is capable of speech (parrots and starlings
are examples of this effect of the upright larynx); and, owing to the solar
currents, it must have warm blood. The latter is of the utmost importance
to the Ego, which will be logically explained and illustrated later. These
requisites are simply mentioned here as the last words on the status of the
four kingdoms in relation to each other and to the Worlds.
[PAGE 1963]
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION:
ACTIVITIES OF LIFE; MEMORY AND SOUL-GROWTH:
Our study thus far of the seven Worlds or states of matter has shown us
that each serves a definite purpose in the economy of nature, and that God,
the Great Spirit, in Whom we actually and in fact "live and move and have
our being," is the Power that permeates and sustains the whole Universe with
Its Life; but while that Life flows into and is immanent in every atom of
the six lower Worlds and all contained therein, in the Seventh--the
highest--the Triune God alone IS.
The next highest or sixth realm is the World of Virgin Spirits. Here
those sparks from the divine "Flame: have their being before they commence
their long pilgrimage through the five denser Worlds for the purpose of de-
veloping latent potentialities into dynamic powers. As the seed unfolds its
hidden possibilities by being buried in the soil, so these virgin spirits
will, in time, when they have passed through matter (the school of experi-
ence), also become divine "Flames," capable of bringing forth universes from
themselves.
The five Worlds constitute the field of man's evolution, the three lower
or denser being the scene of the present phase of his development. We will
now consider his as related to these five Worlds by means of his appropriate
vehicles, remembering the two grand divisions into which two of these Worlds
are divided, and than man has a vehicle for each of these divisions.
[PAGE 1964]
DIAGRAM 4A:
THE SEVENFOLD CONSTITUTION OF MAN:
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WORLD OR REGION: | CORRESPONDING VEHICLE: |
|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|5] World of Divine Spirit | Divine Spirit>| |
|---------------------------------------| | The>>>>>| The |
|4] World of Life Spirit | Life Spirit>>>|> Threefold>|>> |
|---------------------------------------| | Spirit>>>| Ego |
| | World >|> Region of Abstract | Human Spirit>>| |
|3]<<| of >|>> Thought | |
| |Thought >|> Region of Concrete | Mind [The Mind is the mirror |
| Thought | through which the threefold |
| | spirit reflects itself in the |
| | threefold body; the focussing- |
| | point. See Diagram 1] |
|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|2] Desire World | Desire Body>| |
|---------------------------------------| | The Three-fold |
|1] Physical World: | |>> Body; the Shadow |
| Etheric Region | Vital Body>>| of the Three-fold |
| Chemcial Region | Dense Body >| Spirit. |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
In the waking state these vehicles are all together. They
inter-penetrate one another as the blood, the lymph, and other juices of the
body inter-penetrate. Thus is the Ego enabled to act in the Physical World.
We ourselves, as Egos, function directly in the subtle substance of the
Region of Abstract Thought, which we have specialized within the periphery
of our individual aura. Thence we view the impressions made by the outer
world upon the vital body through the senses, together with the feelings and
emotions generated by them in the desire body, and mirrored in the mind.
From these mental images we form our conclusions, in the substance of
the Region of Abstract Thought, concerning the subjects with which they
deal. Those conclusions are ideas. By the power of will we project an idea
through the mind, where it takes concrete shape as a thought-form by drawing
mind-stuff around itself from the Region of Concrete Thought.
[PAGE 1965]
The mind is like the projecting lens of a stereopticon. It projects the
image in one of three directions, according to the will of the thinker,
which ensouls the thought-form.
(1) It may be projected against the desire body in an endeavor to
arouse feeling which will lead to immediate action.
(a) If the thought awakens Interest, one of the twin forces, Attraction
or Repulsion, will be stirred up.
If Attraction, the centripetal force, is aroused, it seizes the thought,
whirls it into the desire body, endows the image with added life and clothes
it with desire-stuff. Then the thought is able to act on the etheric brain,
and propel the vital force through the appropriate brain centers and nerves
to the voluntary muscles which perform the necessary action. Thus the force
in the thought is expended and the image remains in the ether of the vital
body as memory of the act and the feeling that caused it.
(b) Repulsion is the centrifugal force and if that is aroused by the
thought there will be a struggle between the spiritual force (the will of
the man) within the thought-form, and the desire body. This is the battle
between conscience and desire, the higher and the lower nature. The
spiritual force, in spite of resistance will seek to clothe the thought-form
in the desire-stuff needed to manipulate the brain and muscles. The force
of Repulsion will endeavor to scatter the appropriated material and oust the
thought. If the spiritual energy is strong it may force its way through to
the brain centers and hold its clothing of desire-stuff while manipulating
the vital force, thus compelling action, and will then leave upon the memory
a vivid impression of the struggle and the victory. If the spiritual energy
is exhausted before action has resulted, it will be overcome by the force of
[PAGE 1966]
Repulsion, and will be stored in the memory, as are all other thought-forms
when they have expended their energy.
(c) If the thought-form meets the withering feeling of Indifference it
depends upon the spiritual energy contained in it whether it will be able to
compel action, or simply leave a weak impress upon the reflecting ether of
the vital body after its kinetic energy has been exhausted.
(2) Where no immediate action is called for by the mental images of im-
pacts from without, these may be projected directly upon the reflecting
ether, together with the thoughts occasioned by them, to be used at some fu-
ture time. The spirit, working through the mind, has instant access to the
storehouse of conscious memory and may at any time resurrect any of the pic-
tures found there, endue them with new spiritual force, and project them
upon the desire body to compel action. Each time such a picture is thus
used it will gain in vividness, strength and efficiency, and will compel ac-
tion along its particular line grooves, and produces the phenomenon of
thought, "gaining" or "growing" upon us by repetition.
(3) A third way of using a thought-form is when the thinker projects it
toward another mind to act as a suggestion, to carry information, etc., as
in thought-transference, or it may be directed against the desire body of
another person to compel action, as in the case of a hypnotist influencing a
victim at a distance. It will then act in precisely the same manner as if
it were the victim's own thought. If in line with his proclivities it will
act as per paragraph 1a. If contrary to his nature, as described in 1b or
1c.
When the work designed for such a projected thought-form has been ac-
complished, or its energy expended in vain attempts to achieve its object,
[PAGE 1967]
it gravitates back to its creator, bearing with it the indelible record of
the journey. It success or failure is imprinted on the negative atoms of
the reflecting ether of its creator's vital body, where it forms that part
of the record of the thinker's life and action which is sometimes called the
sub-conscious mind.
This record is much more important than the memory to which we have con-
scious access, for the latter is made up from imperfect and illusive
sense-perceptions and is the voluntary memory or conscious mind.
The involuntary memory or sub-conscious mind comes into being in a dif-
ferent way, altogether beyond our control at present. As the ether carries
to the sensitive film in the camera an accurate impression of the surround-
ing landscape, taking in the minutest detail regardless of whether the pho-
tographer has observed it or not, so the ether contained in the air we in-
spire carries with it an accurate and detailed picture of all our
surroundings. Not only of material things, but also the conditions existing
each moment within our aura. The slightest thought, feeling or emotion is
transmitted to the lungs, where it is injected into the blood. The blood is
one of the highest products of the vital body as it is the carrier of nour-
ishment to every part of the body, and the direct vehicle of the Ego. The
pictures it contains are impressed upon the negative atoms of the vital
body, to serve as arbiters of the man's destiny in the POST MORTEM state.
The memory (or so-called mind), both conscious and sub-conscious, re-
lates WHOLLY to the experiences of this life. It consists of impressions of
events on the vital body. These may be changed or even eradicated, as noted
in the explanation concerning the forgiveness of sins which is given a few
[PAGE 1968]
pages further on, which change or eradication depends upon the elimination
of these impressions from the ether of the vital body.
There is also a superconscious memory. That is the storehouse of all
faculties acquired and knowledge gained in previous lives, though perhaps
latent in the present life. This record is indelibly engraven on the life
spirit. It manifests ordinarily, thought not to the full extent, as con-
science and character which ensoul all thought-forms, sometimes as counsel-
lor, sometimes compelling action with resistless force, even contrary to
reason and desire.
In many women, in whom the vital body is positive, and in advanced
people of either sex where the vital body has been sensitized by a pure and
holy life, by prayer and concentration, this superconscious memory inherent
in the life spirit is occasionally, to some extent, above the necessity of
clothing itself in mind stuff and desire matter in order to compel action.
It does not always need to incur the danger of being subjected to and per-
haps overruled by a process of reasoning. Sometimes, in the form of intu-
ition or teaching from within, it impresses itself directly upon the re-
flecting ether of the vital body. The more readily we learn to recognize it
and follow its dictates, the oftener it will speak, to our eternal welfare.
By their activities during waking hours the desire body and the mind are
constantly destroying the dense vehicle. Every thought and movement breaks
down tissue. On the other hand, the vital body faithfully endeavors to re-
store harmony and build up what the other vehicles are tearing down. It is
not able, however, to entirely withstand the powerful onslaughts of the im-
pulses and thoughts. It gradually loses ground and at last there comes a
[PAGE 1969]
time when it collapses. Its "points" shrivel-up, so to say. The vital
fluid ceases to flow along the nerves is sufficient quantity; the body be-
comes drowsy, the Thinker is hampered by its drowsiness and forced to with-
draw, taking the desire body with him. This withdrawal of the higher ve-
hicle leaves the dense body interpenetrated by the vital body in the
senseless state we call sleep.
Sleep, however, is not by any means an inactive state, as people gener-
ally suppose. If it were, the body would be no different on awakening in
the morning from its condition when it went to sleep at night; its fatigue
would be just as great. On the contrary, sleep is a period of intense ac-
tivity and the more intense it is the greater its value, for it eliminates
the poisons resulting from tissue destroyed by the mental and physical ac-
tivities of the day. The tissues are re-built and the rhythm of the body
restored. The more thoroughly this work is done the greater the benefit ac-
cruing from sleep.
The Desire World is an ocean of wisdom and harmony. Into this the Ego
takes the mind and the desire body when the lower vehicles have been left to
sleep. There the first care of the Ego is the restoration of the rhythm and
harmony of the mind and the desire body. This restoration is accomplished
gradually as the harmonious vibrations of the Desire World flow through
them. There is an essence in the Desire World corresponding to the vital
fluid which permeates the dense body by means of the vital body. The higher
vehicles, as it were, steep themselves in this elixir of life. When
strengthened, they commence work on the vital body, which was left with the
sleeping dense body. Then the vital body begins to specialize the solar
[PAGE 1970]
energy anew, rebuilding the dense body, using particularly the chemical
ether as its medium in the process of restoration.
It is this activity of the different vehicles during sleep which forms
the basis for the activity of the following day. Without that there would
be no awakening, for the Ego was forced to abandon his vehicles because
their weariness rendered them useless. If the work of removing that fatigue
were not done, the bodies would remain asleep, as sometimes happens in
natural trance. It is just because of this harmonizing, recuperative activ-
ity that sleep is better than doctor or medicine in preserving health. Mere
rest is nothing is comparison with sleep. It is only while the higher ve-
hicles are in the Desire World that there is a total suspension of waste and
an influx of restoring force. It is true that during rest the vital body is
not hampered in its work by tissue being broken down by active motion and
tense muscles, but still it must contend with the wasting energy of thought
and it does not then receive the OUTSIDE recuperative force from the desire
body as during sleep.
It happens, however, that at times the desire body does not fully with-
draw, so that part of it remains connected with the vital body, the vehicle
for sense perception and memory. The result is that restoration is only
partly accomplished and that the senses and actions of the Desire World are
brought into the physical consciousness as dreams. Of course most dreams
are confused as the axis of perception is askew, because of the improper re-
lation of one body to another. The memory is also confused by this incon-
gruous relation of the vehicles and as a result of the loss of the restoring
force, dream-filled sleep is restless and the body feels tired on awakening.
During the life the threefold spirit, the Ego, works on and in the
[PAGE 1971]
threefold body, to which it is connected by the link of mind. This work
brings the threefold soul into being. The soul is the spiritualized product
of the body.
DIAGRAM 5:
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| >--->THE DIVINE SPIRIT>----->---->----->---->--->THE DENSE BODY>-----> |
| /|\ | |
| | >-->THE LIFE SPIRIT>-->---->---->---->THE VITAL BODY>--> \|/ |
| /|\ /|\ | | |
| | | >->THE HUMAN SPIRIT>-->THE DESIRE BODY>--> | | |
| | | | | \|/ \|/ |
| | /|\ /|\ \|/ | | |
| | | | | | | |
| /|\ | | |-------------| | | \|/ |
| | | | | MIND: | | \|/ | |
| | /|\ /|\ | the link or | \|/ | | |
| | | | | focus | | | | |
| | | | |-------------| | | \|/ |
| /|\ | | | \|/ | |
| | /|\ /|\ \|/ | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | <----<----
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