This Being radiates and shines forth, like the sun. It is the One Light.
Most esoteric students look at the constitution of the human being and imagine that there are several distinct items. "There is a personality, and there is a soul, and there is a Monad. The personality is composed of the physical, etheric, emotional, and mental attributes." And so forth. It is considered an agglomeration of separate things. From the standpoint of the separative ego this may indeed seem an accurate assessment, but from the standpoint of Reality, it is not.
In the awareness of the illumined disciple there is only Being, and nothing else. There is nothing seen but this Being, this Spirit, this Divinity, throughout the entire cosmos. Within this Being, there is an awareness that one exists, but at the same time there is no sense of separation. There is an awareness of one's own presence within the universe, but at the same time there is no "self" or ego. There is an awareness of duration within the universe, but no experience of time. There is awareness of bliss, but no awareness of a self that is an experiencer of bliss. This is an awareness where there is neither duality nor non-duality, neither unity nor non-unity, neither inside nor outside, and neither distance nor closeness.
This Being is our true nature, our essence. But to say this is to imply that there is a "self" that has a true Being or an essence. This is not the case. The "self" or ego has nothing, and it does not exist in Reality, as the separative human consciousness expects a self to exist. There is no aspect of the constitution of the human being that can "have" something else. In Reality, therefore, there is no "self" that evolves and grows. Nevertheless there is awareness of existence and of identification with Being.
There is an awareness that this is the way we always were, and is the way we always will be. This is our true nature, our true home, and our true life. There was never a time when we were truly separate from this Being, and there could never be such a time, save in some illusory image of self, some material manifestation, which cannot co-exist with this Reality.
In this Being, this Spirit, this Divinity, and this Life there is no awareness of the personality nature whatsoever. There is no awareness of body, nor emotions, nor separative concrete mind. Within the awareness of one's existence there is the capacity to think and to know, a capacity for Love, and a capacity for spiritual realization or apprehension. Perhaps we might accurately call these abstract mind, intuition, and spiritual will, but they cannot be considered distinct from one another except in terms of their motion. Sometimes they are in movement, and sometimes they are not, but this does not make them separate from one another.
This Being radiates and shines forth, like the sun. It is the One Light.
As the light of the Moon is the guarantee that the light of the Sun exists, so the light of the Sun is the guarantee, did you but know it, of a still greater light.
Glamour: A World Problem Alice A. Bailey, page 180
This radiance fills all space, even as the Being that radiates also fills all space; nevertheless there is an awareness of Being and the visual image of the radiance of Being. Thus to put it into separative, human terms, this One Light shines and rays emanate from it. We register these rays as "consciousness" or "soul." From the standpoint of the illuminated awareness, this cannot be considered separate from Being, as this is simply the radiance of Being. To consider the soul separate from Spirit or Being is like considering the light that radiates form the sun to be somehow separate from the sun. While the radiance is distinct in activity, it is not distinct in origin.
When this radiance of consciousness makes its impact upon cosmic substance, we have what we call appearances, manifestation, or the form nature. The radiance brings this substance into activity, or motion, and the result is the appearance of what we call a human being. This primarily has reference to the four etheric subplanes. The original human being in Lemurian times was an etheric creature, and the development of that human being was the building in of etheric substance. That Light of consciousness, therefore, illumines an etheric, or subtle world which in these dark times is the subtle world that is the most blocked off from human consciousness.
Without the radiance of Being, the Light would not shine forth, and form would not manifest. Being, like the sun, radiates light, which is consciousness, or the middle or intermediary principle. What that light reveals is the form nature. It is, to speak in material terms as a funnel, with one end having the Radiance of Being, and the other the outer manifestation. Consciousness, or soul, links the two together.
We might, therefore, say that as personalities we experience a world of duality — of good and evil, right and wrong, of spirituality and materiality. Again speaking in human terms, this personal duality is replaced by a cosmic duality of Being and manifestation. But in truth there is no separateness in this higher duality, which in human terms would be experienced as an absolute Unity.
The problem of good or evil, light or darkness, right or wrong, was enunciated solely for the benefit of humanity, and to enable men to cast off the fetters which imprisoned spirit, and thus achieve spiritual freedom. This problem exists not in the kingdoms below man, nor for those who transcend the human. Man has to learn through experience and pain the fact of the duality of all existence. Having thus learnt, he chooses that which concerns the fully conscious spirit aspect of divinity, and learns to centre himself in that aspect. Having thus achieved liberation he finds indeed that all is one, that spirit and matter are a unity, naught existing save that which is to be found within the consciousness of the Planetary Logos, and — in wider circles — within the consciousness of the Solar Logos.
Initiation Human and Solar Alice A. Bailey pages 34-35
We may see, therefore, that the initial impact of this radiance was the creation or manifestation of human beings on etheric levels in Lemurian days. As the millennia wore on, this etheric human, under the impact of the radiance, gradually evolved the attributes of emotions and separative thought. An awareness was brought forth that imagined that there was a human being, and upon that human being, or within it was built a soul, and on top of that or within it a spirit. This can only be considered true form the standpoint of the separative mental consciousness of the concrete mind.
The one item in the whole constitution of the human being that has nothing at all to do with this Divine Being is the physical body, and consequently the physical world. It is the one attribute that is wholly immersed in separateness from Being and from Reality. The dense physical is, as it is said in the esoteric teachings, "not a principle." It is totally sundered from Spirit, from the Real, and from the True. As such, it is wholly fallen in nature. In the metaphysical sense, it is "evil" for it cannot lead to Spirit nor ever be one with Spirit. It cannot take part in Reality, either in the awareness of the illumined disciple or in the cosmic scheme of things. The dense body, we are told, is wholly an illusion of the senses, and when illumination is achieved, that illusion vanishes, and the physical body is no more. The physical body is simply a "mayavirupa" to the initiate, and that maya must be dissipated for illumination to be realized.
It must ever be remembered that from the point of view of Reality what we call the dense physical body, tangible and objective, is but an illusion. We are told again and again in the ancient writings that it is not a principle. Why is this so? Because it is only an appearance brought about by the merging of the higher three and the fourth, and this appearance is a fiction or a figment of the human mind. I speak not in parable; I utter only facts in nature and one that is slowly coming into mature consideration among the philosophers of both hemispheres.
A Treatise on White Magic 449-450
If the physical body is no more than an appearance, if it is only a "fiction," then we must grasp the consequences of this for each human being. There is no physical body, nor has there ever been a physical body, nor will there ever be a physical body. Looking around at our world, this of course seems the most counterintuitive and nonsensical statement that one could possibly make. Nevertheless, seen from the perspective of Being and Reality, it is so.
We can see, therefore, that it is a dualistic consciousness or awareness — the human, egoic, or personal awareness — that keeps us under the impression that the physical world exists. Our desires are tied to it, our beliefs, our hopes, our dreams, our whole life is tied to attachment to form. Yet that attachment is wholly illusory in nature, and insofar as we continue to bring about attachments between this so-called physical body and the world around us, we continue to create those karmic conditions that trap us in the round of birth and death, incarnation and reincarnation.
We might gain some interesting lessons from all this:
First, as long as we are satisfying our personal desires, as long as we are seeking to express our personal ideas, as long as we are fighting the bad and upholding the good, and as long as we are upholding the right or opposing the wrong, we are trapped in the dualistic consciousness, and are living a purely personal life and not the life of the soul or Spirit. This is true no matter how good the good is, nor how bad the evil may be. In such cases, we should clearly understand that we are trapped.
Second, freedom results from a liberation from dualistic thinking. We look around at our world, and we see that practically everyone is preoccupied with good and evil, with right and wrong, and is busily upholding one side or the other, depending upon one's individual consciousness. Everyone is trying to right the things that are wrong, and manifest that which they deem to be good. Is it not clear, therefore, that such action is purely of the ego and the little self? If we instead realize that Reality has nothing to do with such dualistic thought and the physical world, we would instead choose to rapidly free ourselves from this preoccupation, and no longer get involved with efforts to improve our personal life or crusades to save the world. We should free ourselves from duality of all kinds.
Third, that the development and improvement of the physical world is a human preoccupation. It is not possible to improve the physical world, as it lies wholly outside of Being and its radiance. Therefore, we should not seek the perfection of the physical world, but rather the expression of Being and Spirit. For when we are trapped in a dualistic consciousness we can only respond to a consciousness that is dual, we can only respond to ego and to selfishness. When on the other hand we abandon dualistic thought and seek to manifest Being and Spirit, then Spirit can reach us and lead us and guide us in all actions. Consequently we will automatically fulfill the Divine Will and the Divine Plan and do what is best for the planet. I submit that following the Divine Will is better than "doing good works" and will lead to better results in the long run.
What, exactly is this dualistic, illusory thought that is being referred to here? It is any thought that contributes to the support or detriment of any individual or group. When we support or oppose an individual, a government, a religion, a system of thought, or an ideal we are living in a dualistic, illusory consciousness. When we get involved in opposition to, or support of an individual, a political party, a religious teaching, the actions of a business, the result of artistic endeavor, a scientific finding, a religious ideal, or a world event, then we are living in a dualistic awareness in which the still small voice of the Spirit cannot speak. True, we should know good from evil; true, we should know right from wrong. It is involvement in these things, the immersion in either the good or the evil that carries the ego down to the depths of awareness, and makes it impossible for us to stand as the divine soul, the detached observer, the serene onlooker, and the neutral, inner spectator of life. It is involvement in the world of illusion that makes it impossible for the Spirit to send its messages to our minds. For we must remember that the physical world is wholly devoid of human beings, and any result that improves or harms the dense physical body is only so in seeming, and not in fact.
Humanity is living a wholly illusory life. When we realize this, our goal must inevitably be to wake people up from this illusion. If, for example, we are having a nightmare, we should not seek to have sweet dreams. Instead, we should seek to wake up. Now, humanity is living a physical plane nightmare. Many people seek to make this physical world a sweet and happy dream. But the real solution, the only solution that is permanent and lasting, is to help people to WAKE UP!
Fourth, we must learn to seek beyond the world of duality in order to reach to world of Reality.
The disciple seeks to achieve, without passion, pain or suffering, the distinction which lies between:
1. Right and wrong,
2. Good and evil,
3. Light and dark, spiritually understood,
4. Prison and liberty,
5. Love and hate,
6. Introversion and extraversion. We do well to ponder on this duality
7. Truth and falsehood,
8. Mystical and occult knowledge,
9 The self and the not-self,
10. Soul and body.
Many, many other dualities can thus be listed. Having then discovered the fact of these pairs of opposites, the task of the disciple is to discover that which is neither of them. It is this central, intermediate way that is revealed to the initiate, through the working of the Law of Repulse which occultly enables him to "push with either hand, to a distance afar from his way, that which intrudes and veils the central way of light. For neither on the right nor on the left lies safety for the man who seeks that lighted way." Does this sentence really mean aught to most of us? Let us seek to express to ourselves in words the qualifications and name of that third or central way which is, for instance, neither light nor dark, and neither love nor hate. We cannot with clarity see what it could be, nor will we until the increased stimulation which is released in us upon the Way of Initiation does its appointed work.
Esoteric Psychology Vol. II, pages 162-163
That third or central way is the way to Being, to Spirit, and to Life, that has nothing to do with any illusory duality, any illusory form, or any illusory body. When illusion is overcome, all duality is overcome, and when all duality is overcome, nothing is left but pure existence and freedom.
Fifth, since one cannot improve or perfect the illusion of the physical form and the physical world, the goal must be to abandon the illusion of physical plane existence. If we are sincerely seeking Reality, then we are seeking to live in a universe in which there is no physical incarnation whatsoever. The illusion of materiality must be broken. We must, therefore, be ready to sacrifice our material existence and be fully willing to give it all up in order to achieve liberation from the round of birth and death.
Sixth, since the soul is only the radiance of Spirit, our being guided by soul is only an interim step to being guided wholly by Spirit. We can know, therefore, the extent to which we are guided by our Divine "soul" insofar as we are led towards Divinity and are moved to withdraw from the material world rather than become more involved in it, in any way, shape, or form.
Seventh, when we realize the illusory nature of the human body, we obtain a clearer picture of the nature of human society, the rise and fall of civilizations, and the cyclic "destructions" of humanity that have occurred in Lemuria, Atlantis, and that which will soon occur in our so-called modern times. People wish to cling to their personal life and the society in which they live. They imagine that their society and their world have some transcendental value. They imagine that their civilization could not be destroyed because of all the beauty and goodness they see in it. But once more, this is dualistic thinking that imagines that good and evil have some kind of value in the world of Divine Reality, when in fact they do not. It is thinking that clings to the material body, when that body is known and seen to be an illusion, an appearance, and a figment of the mind.
When humanity was destroyed in Lemurain and Atlantean times, it was a destruction of the form nature, of the human body. Likewise today, the immanent destruction of this civilization will once more be a destruction of the human form and the human body. But we have seen that this physical world has no place within Reality, and no responsiveness to it whatsoever. Its destruction would not harm Reality, nor affect anything except the consciousness of those who desire physical plane life and those who are attached to its dualistic existence. Such destruction is, therefore, a cleansing of the world.
In all these results, we can see that our path is the rejection of dualistic materiality and acceptance of non-dual Being, Spirit, and Life. Much has been said in the esoteric literature regarding the illusory nature of the astral world, and how we should avoid entanglement within it. Equal weight should therefore be given to withdrawal and non-involvement with the physical world and the physical body. When living in dualism is rejected, we find that we naturally withdraw our attention from the physical world where that duality is expressed. When we are non-attached to the physical world, our attention naturally moves inward towards Spirit and Being. When our attention moves towards Spirit and Being, then the Light and Power of Being will become apparent, and Divine Reality will replace and transcend the illusory life of the personality.
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Are you wondering if this civilization will really be destroyed as Lemuria and Atlantis were? Then please read Atlantis, Lemuria and Today.