Theos-Talk Archives (November 2004 Message tt00008)

Hi,
Monad book consists of nine chapters and one article is named Monad. 
So one has to remember if he is referring to the whole book or one 
article in that. Passages I gave are from second chapter 'Higher 
Consciousness' Third chapter is 'Buddhic Consciousness' All nine 
chapters are important and they may be read at www.AnandGholap.net in 
book Monad.


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "christinaleestemaker" 
<christinaleestemaker@y...> wrote:
> 
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Anand Gholap" 
<AnandGholap@A...> 
> wrote:
> Hallo Anand;
> 
> from which book do you have that?????
> 
> 
> It can be confused if you mention higher consciousness, while you 
> mean the Intuitive Buddhic consciousness.
> By the way it is a higher than our mental plan, but in the 
> theosophical way we know the plans from fysical-, astral-, 
> lower&higher mental-Buddhic- Atmic- Anapudaka- and final Adi level.
> 
> 
> Leadbeater writes on this in his book the Monad chapterIII
> The Buddhic consciousness:
> The full development of the buddhic vehicle is for most of us still 
> remote, for it belongs to the stage of the fourth or Arhat 
> Initiation, but it is perhaps not entirely impossible for those who 
> are as yet far from that level to gain some touch of that higher 
type 
> of consciousness in quite another way.
> 
> from the book The monad by the Theosophical publishing house 1920.
> 
> 
> 
> There is an article of him on www.theosophique.ca/monad.htm
> published by the theosophist febr 1913.
> and another vision by the liberal catholic church which follows 
here:
> 
> Monad, The
> by Archbishop Charles W. Leadbeater (1847 - 1934)
> Published in 1913
>  
> Liberal Catholic Church
> Mysticism
> Theosophy 
> 
> The information given in Theosophical literature on the subject of 
> the Monad is necessarily scanty. We are not at present in a 
position 
> of supplement it to any great extent; but a statement of the case, 
as 
> far as it is at present comprehended among us, may save students 
some 
> misapprehensions, such as are often manifested in the questions 
sent 
> in to us. 
> 
> That many misconceptions should exist on such a subject is 
> inevitable, because we are trying to understand with the physical 
> brain what can by no possibility be expressed in terms intelligible 
> to that brain. The Monad inhabits the second plane of our set of 
> planes - that which used sometimes to be called the paranirvanic or 
> the anupadaka. It is not easy to attach in the mind any definite 
> meaning to the word plane or world at such an altitude as this, 
> because any attempt even to symbolise the relation of planes or 
> worlds to one another demands a stupendous effort of the 
imagination 
> in a direction with which we are wholly unfamiliar. 
> 
> Let us try to imagine what the consciousness of the Divine must be -
 
> the consciousness of the Solar Deity altogether outside any of the 
> worlds or planes or levels which we ever conceived. We can only 
> vaguely think of some sort of transcendent Consciousness for which 
> space no longer exists, to which everything (at least in the Solar 
> System) is simultaneously present, not only in its actual 
condition, 
> but at every stage of its evolution from beginning to end. We must 
> think of that Consciousness as creating for Its use these worlds of 
> various types of matter, and then we must think of that Divine 
> Consciousness voluntarily veiling Itself within that matter, and 
> thereby greatly limiting Itself. By taking upon Itself a garment of 
> the matter of even the highest of these worlds, It has clearly 
> already imposed upon Itself a certain limitation; and, equally 
> clearly, each additional garment assumed as It involves Itself more 
> and more deeply in matter, must increase the limitation. 
> 
> One way of attempting to symbolise this which has been found 
helpful 
> is to try to think of it in connection with what we call dimensions 
> of space. If we may suppose an infinite number of these dimensions, 
> it may be suggested that each descent from a higher level to a 
lower 
> level removes the consciousness of one of these dimensions, until, 
> when we reach the mental plane or world, the power of observing but 
> five of them is left to us. The descent to the astral level takes 
> away one more, and the further descent to the physical level leaves 
> us with the three which are familiar to us. In order even to get an 
> idea of what this loss of additional dimensions means, we have to 
> suppose the existence of a creature whose senses are capable of 
> comprehending only two dimensions, and then to imagine in what 
> respect the consciousness of that creature would differ from ours, 
> and thus try to obtain an idea of what it would mean to lose a 
> dimension from our consciousness. Such an exercise of the 
imagination 
> will speedily convince us that the two-dimensional creature could 
> never obtain any adequate conception of our life at all; he could 
be 
> conscious of it only in sections, and his idea of even those 
sections 
> must be entirely misleading. This enables us to see how inadequate 
> must be our conception even of the plane or world next above us; 
and 
> we at once see the hopelessness of expecting fully to understand 
the 
> Monad, which is raised by many of these planes or worlds above the 
> point from which we are trying to regard it. 
> 
> It may help us if we recall to our minds the method in which the 
> Deity originally built these planes. We speak with all reverence in 
> regard to His method, realising fully that we can at most 
comprehend 
> only the minutest fragment of His work, and that even that fragment 
> is seen by us from below, while He looks upon it from above. Yet we 
> are justified in saying that He sends forth from Himself a wave of 
> power of influence of some sort, which moulds the primeval pre-
> existent matter into certain forms to which we give the name of 
> atoms. 
> 
> Into that world or plane or level, so made, comes a second life-
wave 
> of divine energy, and to it those atoms already existing are 
> objective, outside of itself, and it builds them into forms which 
it 
> inhabits. Meantime the first down-flowing wave comes yet again, 
> sweeping through that newly-formed plane or level, and makes yet 
> another, lower, plane with atoms a little larger and matter 
therefore 
> a little denser - even though its density may as yet be far rarer 
> than our finest conception of matter. Then into that second world 
> comes the second outflowing, and again in that finds matter which 
to 
> it is objective, and builds of that its forms. And so this process 
is 
> repeated and the matter grows denser and denser with each world, 
> until at last we reach this physical level; but it will help us if 
we 
> bear in mind that at each of these levels the ensouling life of the 
> second outpouring finds matter already vivified by the first 
> outpouring, which it regards as objective, of which it builds the 
> forms which it inhabits. 
> 
> This process of ensouling forms built out of already vivified 
matter 
> is continued all through the mineral, vegetable and animal 
kingdoms, 
> but when we come to the moment of individualisation which divides 
the 
> highest animal manifestation from the lowest human, a curious 
change 
> takes place; that which has hitherto been the ensouling life 
becomes 
> itself in turn the ensouled, for it builds itself into a form into 
> which the ego enters, of which he takes possession. He absorbs into 
> himself all the experiences which the matter of his causal body has 
> had, so that nothing whatever is lost, and he carries these on with 
> him through the ages of his existence. He continues the process of 
> forming bodies on lower planes out of material ensouled by the 
first 
> outpouring from the Third Aspect of the Deity; but he finally 
reaches 
> a level in evolution in which the causal body is the lowest that he 
> needs, and when this is attained we have the spectacle of the 
Monad, 
> which represents the third outpouring from the First Aspect of the 
> Deity, inhabiting a body composed of matter ensouled by the second 
> outpouring. 
> 
> At a far later stage the earlier happening repeats itself once 
more, 
> and the ego, who has ensouled so many forms during the whole of a 
> chain-period, becomes himself the vehicle, and is ensouled in his 
> turn by the now fully active and awakened Monad. Yet here, as 
before, 
> nothing whatever is lost from the economy of nature. All the 
manifold 
> experiences of the ego, all the splendid qualities developed in 
him, 
> all these pass into the Monad himself and find there a vastly 
fuller 
> realisation than even the ego could have given them. 
> 
> Of the condition of consciousness of the Solar Deity outside of the 
> planes of His system, we can form no true conception. He has been 
> spoken of as the Divine Fire; and if for a moment we adopt that 
time-
> honoured symbolism, we may imagine that Sparks from that Fire fall 
> into the matter of our planes - Sparks which are of the essence of 
> that Fire, but are yet in appearance temporarily separated from it. 
> The analogy cannot be pushed too far, because all sparks of which 
we 
> know anything are thrown out from their parent fire and gradually 
> fade and die; whereas these Sparks develop by slow evolution into 
> Flames, and return to the Parent Fire. This development and this 
> return are apparently the objects for which the Sparks come forth; 
> and the process of the development is that which we are at the 
> present moment concerned to try to understand. 
> 
> It seems that the Spark as such cannot in its entirety veil itself 
> beyond a certain extent; it cannot descend beyond what we call the 
> second plane, and yet retain its unity. One difficulty with which 
we 
> are confronted in trying to form any ideas upon this matter is 
that, 
> as yet, none of us who investigate are able to raise our 
> consciousness to this second plane; in the nomenclature recently 
> adopted we give to it the name of Monadic because it is the home of 
> the Monad; but none of us have yet been able to realise that Monad 
in 
> his own habitation, but only to see him when he has descended one 
> stage to the plane or level or world below his own, in which he 
shows 
> himself as the triple Spirit, which in our earlier books we call 
the 
> Atma in man. Even already he is incomprehensible, for he has three 
> aspects which are quite distinct and apparently separate, and yet 
> they are all fundamentally one and the same. 
> 
> It has been described in other books how one of these three aspects 
> (or it would be more correct to say the Monad in his first aspect) 
> cannot or does not descend below that spiritual level; while in his 
> second aspect he does descend into the matter of the next lower 
world 
> (the intuitional), and when that aspect has drawn round itself the 
> matter of that level we call it divine wisdom in man, or the 
> intuition. Meanwhile, the third aspect (or rather the Monad in his 
> third aspect) descends also to that intuitional plane and clothes 
> itself in its matter, and adopts a form to which as yet no name has 
> been attached in our literature; but it also moves forward or 
> downward one more stage, and clothes itself in the matter of the 
> higher mental world, and then we call it the intellect in man. When 
> that threefold manifestation on the three levels has thus developed 
> itself, and shows itself as Spirit, intuition and intellect, we 
give 
> to it the name of the ego, and that ego takes upon himself a 
vehicle 
> built of the matter of the higher mental plane, to which we give 
the 
> name of the causal body. This ego so functioning in his causal body 
> has often been called in our earlier literature the higher self, 
and 
> sometimes also the soul. 
> 
> We see the ego then to be a manifestation of the Monad on the 
higher 
> mental plane; but we must understand that he is infinitely far from 
> being a perfect manifestation. Each descent from plane to plane 
means 
> much more than a mere veiling of the Spirit; it means also an 
actual 
> diminution in the amount of Spirit expressed. To use terms denoting 
> quantity in speaking of such matters is entirely incorrect and 
> misleading; yet if an attempt is to be made to express these higher 
> matters in human words at all, these incongruities cannot be wholly 
> avoided; and the nearest that we can come, in the physical brain, 
to 
> a conception of what happens when the Monad involves himself in 
> matter of the spiritual plane, is to say that only part of him can 
> possibly be shown there, and that even that part must be shown in 
> three separate aspects, instead of in the glorious totality which 
he 
> really is in his own world. So when the second aspect of the triple 
> Spirit comes down a stage and manifests as intuition, it is not the 
> whole of that aspect which so manifests, but only a fraction of it. 
> And so when the third aspect descends two planes and manifests 
itself 
> as intellect, it is only a fraction of a fraction of what the 
> intellect-aspect of the Monad really is. Therefore the ego is not a 
> veiled manifestation of the Monad, but a veiled representation of a 
> minute portion of the Monad. 
> 
> As above, so below. As the ego is to the Monad, so is the 
personality 
> to the ego. So that, by the time you have reached the personality 
> with which we have to deal in the physical world, the 
fractionisation 
> has been carried so far that the part we are able to see bears no 
> appreciable proportion to the reality which it so inadequately 
> represents. Yet it is with and from this ridiculously inadequate 
> fragment that we are endeavouring to comprehend the whole! Our 
> difficulty in trying to understand the Monad is the same in kind, 
but 
> much greater in degree, as that which we find when we try really to 
> grasp the idea of the ego. In the earlier years of the Theosophical 
> Society there were many discussions about the relations of the 
lower 
> and the higher self. In those days we did not understand the 
doctrine 
> even as well as we understand it now; we had not the grasp of it 
> which longer study has given us. I am speaking of a group of 
students 
> in Europe, who had behind them the Christian traditions, and the 
> vague ideas which Christianity attaches to the word 'soul'. 
> 
> The ordinary Christian by no means identifies himself with 
> his 'soul', but regards it as something attached to himself in some 
> kind of indefinite way - something for the saving of which he is 
> responsible. Perhaps no ordinary man among the devotees of that 
> religion attaches any very definite idea to the word, but he would 
> probably describe it as the immortal part of him, though in 
ordinary 
> language he talks of it as a possession, as something separate from 
> him. In the Magnificat, the Blessed Virgin is made to say: "My soul 
> doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my 
> Saviour." She may here be drawing a distinction between the soul 
and 
> the spirit, as S. Paul does; but she speaks of them both as 
> possessions, and not as the I. She does not say: "I as a soul 
> magnify; I as a spirit rejoice." This may be merely a question of 
> language; yet surely this loose language expresses an inaccurate 
and 
> ill-defined idea. That idea was in the air all about us in Europe, 
> and no doubt we were influenced by it, and at first to some extent 
we 
> substituted the term 'higher self' for 'soul'. 
> 
> So we used such expressions as 'looking up to the higher 
> self', 'listening to the promptings of the higher self', and so on. 
I 
> remember that Mr. Sinnett used sometimes to speak a little 
> disparagingly of the higher self, remarking that it ought to take 
> more interest than it seemed to do in the unfortunate personality 
> struggling on its behalf down here; and he used jokingly to suggest 
> the formation of a society for the education of our higher selves. 
It 
> was only gradually that we grew into the feeling that the higher 
self 
> was the man, and that what we see down here is only a very small 
part 
> of him. Only little by little did we learn that there is only one 
> consciousness, and that the lower, though an imperfect 
representation 
> of the higher, is in no way separate from it. We used to think of 
> raising 'ourselves' till we could unite 'ourselves' with that 
> glorified higher being, not realising that it was the higher that 
was 
> the true self, and that to unite the higher to the lower really 
meant 
> opening out the lower so that the higher might work in it and 
through 
> it. 
> 
> It takes time to become thoroughly permeated by Theosophical ideas. 
> It is not merely reading the books, it is not merely hard study 
even, 
> that makes us real Theosophists; we must allow time for the 
teaching 
> to become part of ourselves. We may notice this constantly in the 
> case of new members. People join us, people of keen intelligence, 
> people of the deepest devotion, truly anxious to do the best they 
can 
> for Theosophy, and to assimilate it as rapidly and perfectly as 
> possible; and yet with all that, and with all their eager study of 
> our books, they cannot at once put themselves into the position of 
> the older members; and they will sometimes show that, by making 
some 
> crude remark which is not at all in harmony with Theosophical 
> teaching. I do not mean to suggest that the mere efflux of time 
will 
> produce these effects, for obviously a man who does not study may 
> remain a member for twenty years and be but little forwarder at the 
> end of that time than he was at the beginning; but one who 
patiently 
> studies, one who lives much with those who know, enters presently 
> into the spirit of Theosophy - or perhaps it might be better said 
> that the spirit of Theosophy enters into him. 
> 
> Evidently, therefore, new members should never intermit their 
> studies, but try to understand the doctrines from every point of 
> view. Year by year we are all growing into the attitude of those 
who 
> are older than ourselves, and it comes chiefly by association and 
> conversation with those older students. The Masters know almost 
> infinitely more than the highest of Their pupils, and so those 
> highest pupils continue to learn from association with Them; we who 
> are lower pupils know much less than those who stand above, and so 
we 
> in turn learn by association with them; and in the same way those 
who 
> are not yet even at our level may learn something from similar 
> association with us. So always the older members can help the 
> younger, and the younger have much to learn from those who have 
> trodden the road before them. It was in this gradual way that we 
came 
> to understand about the higher and the lower self. 
> 
> If we try to express the relation of the personality to the ego, we 
> can best put it by saying that the former is a fragment of the 
> latter, a tiny part of him expressing itself under serious 
> difficulties. We meet a person on the physical plane; we speak to 
> him; and we think and say that we know him. It would be a little 
> nearer the truth if we said that we knew a thousandth part of him. 
> Even when clairvoyance is developed - even when a man develops the 
> sight of his causal body, and looks at the causal body of another 
> man - even then, though he sees a manifestation of the ego on his 
own 
> plane, he is still far from seeing the real man. I have tried, by 
> means of the illustrations in Man, Visible and Invisible, to give 
> some indication of one side of the aspect of these higher vehicles; 
> but the illustrations are in reality absolutely inadequate; they 
can 
> give only faint adumbrations of the real thing. When any one of our 
> readers develops the astral sight, he may reasonably say to us, as 
> the Queen of Sheba said to King Solomon: "The half was not told 
me." 
> He may say: " Here is all this glory and this beauty, which 
surrounds 
> me in every direction and seems so entirely natural; it should be 
> easy to give a better description of this." But when, having seen 
and 
> experienced all this, he returns to his physical body and tries to 
> describe it in physical words, I think he will find much the same 
> difficulties as we have done. 
> 
> Yet remember that when, using the sight of the causal body, a man 
> looks at the causal body of another, it is not even then the ego he 
> sees, but only matter of the higher mental plane which expresses 
the 
> qualities of the ego. Those qualities affect the matter, cause it 
to 
> undulate at different rates and so produce colours by observing 
which 
> the character of the man can be distinguished. This character, at 
> that level, means the good qualities which the man has developed, 
for 
> no evil qualities can express themselves in matter so refined. In 
> observing the causal body we know that it has within it all the 
> qualities of the Deity - all possible good qualities, therefore; 
but 
> not all of them are developed until the man reaches a very high 
> level. When an evil quality shows itself in the personality, it 
must 
> be taken to indicate that the opposite good quality is as yet 
> undeveloped in the ego; it exists in him, as in everyone, but it 
has 
> not yet been called into activity. So soon as it called into 
activity 
> its intense vibrations act upon the lower vehicles and it is 
> impossible that the opposite evil can ever again find place in 
them. 
> 
> Taking the ego for the moment as the real man, and looking at him 
on 
> his own plane, we see him to be indeed a glorious being; the only 
way 
> in which we down here we can form a conception of what he really 
is - 
> is to think of him as some splendid angel. But the expression of 
this 
> beautiful being on the physical plane may fall far short of all 
this; 
> indeed, it must do so - first, because it in only a tiny fragment; 
> and secondly, because it is so hopelessly cramped by its 
conditions. 
> Suppose a man put his finger into a hole in the wall or into small 
> iron pipe, so that he could not even bend it; how much of himself 
as 
> a whole could he express through that finger in that condition? 
Much 
> like this is the fate of that fragment of the ego which is put down 
> into the dense body. It is so small a fragment that it cannot 
> represent the whole; it is so cramped and shut that it cannot even 
> express what it is. The image is clumsy, but it may give some sort 
of 
> idea of the relation of the personality to the ego. 
> 
> Let us suppose that the finger has a considerable amount of 
> consciousness of his own, ant then, being shot off the body, it 
> temporarily forgets that it is part of that body; then it forgets 
> also the freedom of the wider life, and tries to adopt itself to 
its 
> hole, and to gild its sides and to make it enjoyable hole by 
> acquiring money, property, fame and so on - not realising that it 
> only really begins to live when it withdraws itself from the hole 
> altogether, and recognizes itself as a part of the body. When we 
draw 
> ourselves out of this particular hole at night and live in our 
astral 
> bodies, we are much less limited and much nearer to our true 
selves, 
> though we still have two veils - our astral and mental bodies - 
which 
> prevent us of being fully ourselves, and so fully expressing 
> ourselves. Still, under those conditions we are much freer, and it 
is 
> much easier to comprehend realities; for the physical body is the 
> most clogging and confining of all, and imposes upon us the 
greatest 
> limitations. 
> 
> It would help us much if we could suppose our limitations one by 
one; 
> but it in not easy. Realise how in the astral body we can move 
> quickly through space - not instantaneously, but still quickly; for 
> in two or three minutes we might move around the world. But even 
then 
> we cannot get anywhere without passing through the intervening 
space. 
> We can come into touch in that level with other men in their astral 
> bodies. All their feelings lie open to us, so that they cannot 
> deceive us about them, although they can do so with regard to their 
> thoughts. We see in that world many more of the earth's 
inhabitants - 
> those whom we call the dead, the higher nature-spirits, the angels 
of 
> desire, and many others. The sight of that plane enables us to see 
> the inside of every object, and to look down into the interior of 
the 
> earth; so that in many ways our consciousness is greatly widened. 
> 
> Let us go a step further. If we learn to use the powers of the 
mental 
> body, we do not therefore lose those of the lower, for they are 
> included in the higher. We can then pass from place to place with 
the 
> rapidity of thought; we can then see the thoughts of our fellowmen, 
> so that deception is no longer possible; we can see higher orders 
of 
> the angels, and the vast host of those who, having finished their 
> astral life, are inhabiting the heaven-world. Rising yet another 
> step, and using the senses of the causal body, we find further 
> glories awaiting our examination. If then we look at a fellow-man, 
> the body which we see within his ovoid is no longer a likeness of 
his 
> present or his last physical body, as it is on the astral and 
mental 
> planes. What we now see is the Augoeides, the glorified man, which 
is 
> not an image of any one of his past physical vehicles, but contains 
> within itself the essence of all that was best in each of them - a 
> body which indicates more or less perfectly, as through experience 
it 
> grows, what the Deity means that man shall be. By watching that 
> vehicle we may see the stage of evolution which the man has 
reached; 
> we may see what his past history has been, and to a considerable 
> extent we can also observe the future that lies before him. 
> 
> Students sometimes wonder why, if this be so, the evil qualities 
> which a man shows in one life should so often persist in later 
lives. 
> The reason is not only that because the opposing good quality is 
> undeveloped there is an opportunity for evil influences to act upon 
> the man in that particular direction, but also that the man carries 
> with him from life to life the permanent atoms of his lower 
vehicles, 
> and these tend to reproduce the qualities shown in his previous 
> incarnations. Then, it may be asked: "Why carry over those 
permanent 
> atoms?" Because it is necessary for evolution; because the 
developed 
> man must be master of all the planes. If it were conceivable that 
he 
> could develop without those permanent atoms, he might possibly 
become 
> a glorious archangel upon higher planes, but he would be absolutely 
> useless in these lower worlds, for he would have cut off from 
himself 
> the power of feeling and of thinking. So that we must not drop the 
> permanent atoms, but purify them. 
> 
> The task before most of us at present is that of realising the ego 
as 
> the true man, so that we may let him work, instead of this false 
> personal self with which we are so ready to identify ourselves. It 
is 
> so easy for us to feel: "I am angry; I am jealous"; when the truth 
is 
> that which is pushing us to anger or to jealousy is merely the 
desire-
> elemental, which yearns for strong and coarse undulations, which 
help 
> him on his downward way into grosser matter. We must realise that 
the 
> true man can never be so foolish as to wish for such vibrations as 
> these - that he can never desire anything but that which will be 
good 
> for his own evolution, and helpful for that of others. A man says 
> that he feels impelled by passion. Let him wait and think: "Is it 
> really I?" And he will discover that it is not he at all, but 
> something else that is trying to get hold of him and make him feel 
> thus. He has the right and the duty to assert his independence of 
> that thing, and to proclaim himself as a free man, pursuing the 
road 
> of evolution which God has marked out for him. 
> 
> Thus it is at present our business to realise ourselves as the ego; 
> but when that is fully accomplished, when the lower is nothing but 
a 
> perfect instrument in the hands of the higher, it will become our 
> duty to realise that even the ego is not the true man. For the ego 
> has had a beginning - it came into existence at the moment of 
> individualisation; and whatever has a beginning must have an end. 
> Therefore even the ego, which has lasted since we left the animal 
> kingdom, is also impermanent. Is there then nothing in us that 
> endures, nothing that will have no end? There is the Monad, the 
> Divine Spark, which is verily a fragment of God, an atom of the 
> Deity. Crude and inaccurate expressions, assuredly; yet I know of 
no 
> other way in which the idea can be conveyed even as well as in 
words 
> such as these. For each Monad is literally a part of God, 
apparently 
> temporarily separated from Him, while he is enclosed in the veils 
of 
> matter, though in truth never for one moment really separated. 
> 
> He can never be apart from God, for the very matter in which he 
veils 
> himself is also a manifestation of the Divine. To us sometimes 
matter 
> seems evil, because it weighs us down, it clogs our faculties, it 
> seems to hold us back upon our road; yet remember that this is only 
> because as yet we have not learned to control it, because we have 
not 
> realised that it also is divine in its essence, because there is 
> nothing but God. A Sufi sage once told me that this was his 
> interpretation of the cry which rings out daily in the call of the 
> muezzin from the minaret all over the Muhammadan world: "There is 
no 
> God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God." He told me that 
in 
> his opinion the true mystical meaning of the first part of this cry 
> was: "There is nothing but God." And that is eternally true; we 
know 
> that all comes from Him, and that to Him all will one day return, 
but 
> we find it hard to realise that all is in Him even now, and that in 
> Him it eternally abides. All is God - even the desire-elemental, 
and 
> the things which we think of as evil, for many waves of life come 
> forth from Him, and not all of them are moving in the same 
direction. 
> 
> We, being Monads, belonging to an earlier wave, are somewhat fuller 
> expressions of Him, somewhat nearer to Him in our consciousness 
than 
> the essence out of which is made the desire-elemental. In the 
course 
> of our evolution there is always a danger that a man should 
identify 
> himself with the point at which he is most fully conscious. Most 
men 
> at present are more conscious in their feelings and passions than 
> anywhere else, and of this the desire-elemental craftily takes 
> advantage, and endeavours to induce the man to identify himself 
with 
> those desires and emotions. 
> 
> So when the man rises to a somewhat higher level, and his principal 
> activity becomes mental, there is danger lest he should identify 
> himself with the mind, and it is only by realising himself as the 
> ego, and making that the strongest point of his consciousness, that 
> he can fully identify himself with it. When he has done that, he 
has 
> achieved the goal of his present efforts; but immediately he must 
> begin his effort over again at that higher level, and try gradually 
> to realize the truth of the position we laid down at the beginning, 
> that as the personality is to the ego, so is the ego to the Monad. 
It 
> is useless at our present stage to endeavour to indicate the steps 
> which he will have to take in order to do this, or the stages of 
> consciousness through which he will pass. Such conceptions as can 
be 
> formed of then may be arrived at by applying the ancient rule that 
as 
> is below is but a reflection of that which exists in higher worlds, 
> so that the steps and the stages must to some extant be a 
repetition 
> upon a higher level of those which have already been experienced in 
> our lower efforts. 
> 
> We may reverently presume (though here we are going far beyond the 
> actual knowledge) that when we have finally and fully realized that 
> the Monad is the true man, we shall find behind that again a yet 
> further and fuller and more glorious extension; we shall find that 
> the Spark has never been separated from the Fire, but that as the 
ego 
> stands behind the personality, as the Monad stands behind the ego, 
so 
> the Solar Deity himself stands behind the Monad. Perhaps, even 
> further still, it may be that in some way infinitely higher, and so 
> at present utterly incomprehensible, a greater Deity stands behind 
> the Solar Deity, and behind even that, through many stages, there 
> must rest the Supreme over all. But here even thought fails us, and 
> silence is the only true reverence. 
> 
> For the time, at least, the Monad is our personal God, the God 
within 
> us, that which produces us down here as a manifestation of him on 
> these all but infinitely lower levels. What his consciousness is on 
> his own plane we cannot pretend to say, nor can we fully understand 
> it even when he has put upon himself the first veil and become the 
> triple Spirit. The only way to understand such things is to rise on 
> their level and to become one with them. When we do that we shall 
> comprehend, but even then we shall be utterly unable to explain to 
> anyone else what we know. It is at that stage, the stage of the 
> triple Spirit, that we can first see the Monad, and he is then a 
> triple light of blinding glory, yet possessing even on that stage 
> certain qualities by which one Monad is somehow distinct of 
another. 
> 
> Often a student asks: "But what have we to do with it while we are 
> down here - this unknown glory so far above us?" It is natural 
> question, yet in reality it is reverse of what should be; for the 
> true man is the Monad, and we should rather say: "What can I, the 
> Monad, do with my ego, and through it with my personality?" This 
> would be correct attitude for this would express the actual facts; 
> but we cannot truthfully take it, because we cannot realize this. 
Yet 
> we can say to ourselves: "I know that I am the Monad, though as yet 
I 
> cannot express it: I know that I am the ego, a mere fraction of 
that 
> Monad, but still out of all proportion greater than what I know of 
> myself in the personality down here. More and more I will try to 
> realize myself as that higher and greater being; more and more I 
will 
> try to make this lower presentation of myself worthy of its true 
> destiny; more and more will I see to it that this lower self is 
ever 
> ready to catch the slightest hint or whisper from above - to follow 
> the suggestions from the ego which we call intuitions - to 
> distinguish the Voice of the Silence and to obey it". 
> 
> For the Voice of the Silence is not one thing always, but changes 
as 
> we ourselves evolve; or perhaps it would be better to say that it 
is 
> in truth one thing always, the voice of God, but it comes to us at 
> different levels as we ourselves rise. To us now it is the voice of 
> the ego, speaking to the personality; presently it will be the 
voice 
> of the Monad, speaking to the ego; later still the voice of the 
> Deity, speaking to the Monad. Probably between these last two 
stages 
> there may be an intermediate one, in which the voice of one of the 
> seven great Ministers of the Deity may speak to the Monad, and then 
> in turn the Deity Himself may speak to His Minister; but always the 
> Voice of the Silence is essentially divine. 
> 
> It is well that we should learn to distinguish this voice - this 
> voice which speaks from above and yet from within; for sometimes 
> other voices speak, and their counsel is not always wise. A medium 
> finds this, for if he has not trained himself to distinguish, he 
> often thinks that every voice coming from the astral plane must 
> necessarily be all but divine, and therefore to be followed 
> unquestioningly. Therefore discrimination is necessary, as well as 
> watchfulness and obedience. 
> 
> Does the Monad, in the case of the ordinary man, ever do anything 
> which affects or can affect his personality down here? I think we 
may 
> say that such interference is most unusual. The ego is trying, on 
> behalf of the Monad, to obtain perfect control of the personality 
and 
> to use it as an instrument; and because that object is not yet 
fully 
> achieved, the Monad may well feel that the time has not yet come 
for 
> him to interfere from his own level, and to bring the whole of his 
> force to bear, when that which is already in action is more than 
> strong enough for the required purpose. But when the ego is already 
> beginning to succeed in his effort to manage his lower vehicles, 
the 
> real man in the background does sometimes interfere. 
> 
> In the course of various investigations it has come in our way to 
> examine some thousands of human beings; but we found traces of such 
> interference only in a few. The most prominent instance is that 
given 
> in the twenty-ninth life of Alcyone, when he pledged himself before 
> the Lord Gautama to devote himself in future lives to the 
attainment 
> of the Buddhahood in order to help humanity. That seemed to us then 
a 
> matter of such moment, and also of such interest, that we took some 
> trouble to investigate it. This was a promise for the far-distant 
> future, so that obviously the personality through which it was 
given 
> could by no means keep it; and when we rose to examine the part 
borne 
> in it by the ego, we found that he himself, though full of 
enthusiasm 
> at the idea, was being impelled to it by a mightier force from 
> within, which he could not have resisted, even had he wished to do 
> so. Following this clue still further, we found that the impelling 
> force came forth unmistakably from the Monad. He had decided, and 
he 
> registered his decision; his will, working through the ego, will 
> clearly have no difficulty in bringing all future personalities 
into 
> harmony. 
> 
> We found some other examples of the same phenomenon in the course 
of 
> the investigations into the beginnings of the Sixth Root Race. 
> Looking forward to the life in that Californian Colony, we 
recognised 
> instantly certain well-known egos; and then arose the 
> question: "Since men have free-will, is it possible that we can 
> already be absolutely certain that all these people will be there 
as 
> we foresee ? Will none of them fall by the way?" Further 
examination 
> showed us that the same thing was happening here as with Alcyone. 
> Certain Monads had already responded to the call of the higher 
> Authorities, and had decided that their representative 
personalities 
> should assist in that glorious work; and because of that, nothing 
> that these personalities might do during the intervening time could 
> possibly interfere with the carrying out of that decision. 
> 
> Yet let no one think, because this is so, that he is compelled from 
> without to do this or that; the compelling force is the real you; 
> none else than yourself can ever bind you at any stage of your 
> growth. And when the Monad has decided, the thing will be done; it 
is 
> well for the personality if he yields gracefully and readily, if he 
> recognises the voice from above, and co-operates gladly; for if he 
> does not do this, he will lay up for himself much useless 
suffering. 
> It is always the man himself who is doing this thing; and he, in 
the 
> personality, has to realise that the ego is himself, and he has for 
> the moment to take it for granted that the Monad is still more 
> himself - the final and greatest expression of him. 
> 
> Surely this view should be the greatest possible encouragement to 
the 
> man working down here, this knowledge that he is a far grander and 
> more glorious being in reality than he appears to be, and that 
there 
> is a part of him - enormously the greater part - which has already 
> achieved what he, as a personality, is trying to achieve; and that 
> all that he has to do down here is to try to make himself a perfect 
> channel for this higher and more real self; to do his work and to 
try 
> to help others in order that he may be a factor, however 
microscopic, 
> in forwarding the evolution of the world. For him who knows, there 
is 
> no question of the saving of the soul; the true man behind needs no 
> salvation; he needs only that the lower self should realise him and 
> express him. He is himself already divine; and all that he needs is 
> to be able to realise himself in all the worlds and at all possible 
> levels, so that in them all the Divine Power through him may work 
> equally, and so God shall be all in all. 
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> ----------
> 
> This document is part of the library of the The Liberal Catholic 
> Church International. 
> Except for the case of official documents and liturgies, 
> no individual speaks for the Liberal Catholic Church as a whole. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > Following passages are taken from the book Monad.
> > Fraternally,
> > Anand Gholap
> >  
> > 
> > 46.  
> > STUDENTS who have not yet experienced the buddhic consciousness - 
> > consciousness in the intui­tional world - frequently ask us to 
> > describe it. Efforts have been made in this direction, and many 
> > references to this consciousness and its character­istics are to 
be 
> > found scattered through our literature; yet the seeker after 
> > knowledge finds these unsatisfactory, and we cannot wonder at it.
> > 
> > 47.  
> The 
> > truth is that all description is necessarily and essentially 
> > defective; it is impossible in physical words to give more than 
the 
> > merest hint of what this higher consciousness is, for the 
physical 
> > brain is incapable of grasping the reality. Those who have read 
Mr. 
> > Hinton's remarkable books on the fourth dimension will remember 
how 
> > he tries to explain to us our own limitations with regard to 
higher 
> > dimensions, by picturing for us with much careful detail the 
> position 
> > of an entity whose senses could work in two dimensions only. He 
> > proves that to such a being the simplest actions of our world 
must 
> be 
> > incomprehensible. A creature who has no sense of what we call 
depth 
> > or thickness could never see any terrestrial object as it really 
> is; 
> > he could observe only a section of it, and would therefore obtain 
> > absolutely wrong impressions about even the commonest objects of 
> > everyday life, while our powers of motion and of action would be 
> > utterly incomprehensible to him.
> > 
> > 48.  
> The 
> > difficulties which we encounter in trying to understand the 
> phenomena 
> > even of the astral world are precisely similar to those which Mr. 
> > Hinton supposes to be experienced by his two-dimensional entity; 
> but 
> > when we try to raise our thoughts to the intuitional world we 
have 
> to 
> > face a state of existence which is lived in no less than six 
> > dimensions, if we are to continue at that level to employ the 
same 
> > nomenclature. So I fear we must admit from the outset that any 
> > attempt to comprehend this higher consciousness is foredoomed to 
> > failure; yet, as is but natural, the desire to try again and 
again 
> to 
> > grasp something of it arises perennially in the mind of the 
> student. 
> > I do not venture to think that I can say anything to satisfy this 
> > craving; the utmost that one can hope is to suggest a few new 
> > considerations, and perhaps to approach the subject from a some­
what 
> > different point of view.
> > 
> > 49.  
> The 
> > Monad in its own world is practically with­out limitations, at 
least 
> > as far as our solar system is concerned. But at every stage of 
its 
> > descent into matter it not only veils itself more and more deeply 
> in 
> > illusion, but it actually loses its powers. If in the beginning 
of 
> > its evolution it may be supposed to be able to move and to see in 
> an 
> > infinite number of these directions in space which we call 
> > dimensions, at each downward step it cuts off one of these, until 
> for 
> > the consciousness of the physical brain only three of them are 
> left. 
> > It will thus be seen that by this involution into matter we are 
cut 
> > off from the knowledge of all but a minute part of the worlds 
which 
> > surround us; and furthermore, even what is left to us is but 
> > imperfectly seen. Let us make an effort to realise what the 
higher 
> > consciousness may be by gradually supposing away some of our 
limita­
> > tions; and although we are labouring under them even while we are 
> > thus supposing, the effort may possibly suggest to us some faint 
> > adumbration of the reality.
> > 
> > 50.  
> Let 
> > us begin with the physical world. The first thing that strikes us 
> is 
> > that our consciousness, even of that world, is curiously 
imperfect. 
> > The student need feel no surprise at this, for he knows that we 
are 
> > at present only just beyond the middle of the fourth round, and 
> that 
> > the perfection of conscious­ness of any plane will not be attained 
> by 
> > normal humanity until the seventh round. The truth is that our 
> whole 
> > life is imprisoned within limitations which we do not realise 
only 
> > because we have always endured them, and because the ordinary man 
> has 
> > no conception of a condition in which they do not exist. Let us 
> take 
> > three examples; let us see how we are limited in our senses, our 
> > powers and our intellect respectively.
> > 
> > 51.  
> > First, as to our senses. Let us take the sense of sight for an 
> > example, and see how remarkably imperfect it is. Our physical 
world 
> > consists of seven sub-planes or degrees of density of matter, but 
> our 
> > sight enables us to perceive only two of these with anything 
> > approaching perfection. We can usually see solid matter, if it is 
> not 
> > too finely sub­divided; we can see a liquid that is not absolutely 
> > clear; but we cannot see gaseous matter at all under ordinary 
> > conditions, except in the rare instances in which it has an 
> > especially brilliant colour (as in the case of chlorine) or when 
it 
> > happens to be dense, to be much compressed, and to be moving in a 
> > parti­cular way - as in the case of the air which may sometimes be 
> > seen rising from a heated road. Of the four etheric subdivisions 
of 
> > physical matter we remain absolutely unconscious so far as sight 
is 
> > concerned, although it is by means of the vibration of some of 
> these 
> > ethers that what we call light is conveyed to the eye.
> > 
> > 52.  
> Let 
> > us then commence the imaginary process of removing our 
limitations 
> by 
> > considering what would be the effect if we really possessed fully 
> the 
> > sight of the physical world. I am not taking into con­sideration 
the 
> > possibility of any increase in the power of our sight, though no 
> > doubt that also will come in due course, so that we shall be able 
> so 
> > to alter the focus of the eye as to make it practically a 
telescope 
> > or a microscope at will. I am think­ing for the moment only of the 
> > additional objects that would come into our view if our sight 
were 
> > perfected.
> > 
> > 53.  
> > Nothing would any longer be opaque to us, so that we could see 
> > through a wall almost as though it were not there, and could 
> examine 
> > the contents of a closed room or of a locked box with the 
greatest 
> > ease. I do not mean that by etheric sight a man could see through 
a 
> > mountain, or look straight through the earth to the other side of 
> it; 
> > but he could see a good way into the rock, and he could see down 
to 
> a 
> > considerable depth in the earth, much as we can now see through 
> many 
> > feet of water to the bottom of a clear pool.
> > 
> > 54.  
> One 
> > can readily see a score of ways in which the possession of such a 
> > faculty would be practically valuable, and it would manifestly 
add 
> to 
> > our know­ledge in many directions. All surgical work could be 
> > performed with an ease and certainty of which at present we have 
no 
> > conception, and there would be fewer cases of inaccurate 
diagnosis. 
> > We could see the etheric bodies of our friends, and so we should 
be 
> > able to indicate unfailingly the source and cause of any nervous 
> > affection. A whole fresh world would come under the observation 
of 
> > the chemist, for he would then be able to deal with ethers as he 
> now 
> > deals with gases. Our sight would instantly inform us as to the 
> > healthiness or other­wise of our surroundings, just as even now 
our 
> > noses warn us of the presence of certain forms of putrefaction. 
We 
> > could see at once when we were in the presence of undesirable 
germs 
> > or impurities of any kind, and could take our precau­tions 
> > accordingly. We could study the great hosts of the fairies, of 
the 
> > gnomes and the water-spirits, as readily as now we can study 
> natural 
> > history or entomology; the world would be far fuller and far more 
> > interesting with even this slight augmentation of our sense.