World of the Soul
Author's Introduction
Chapter 1: The Search for Truth
Chapter 2: The Soul
Chapter 3: Life and Form
Chapter 4: The Constitution of a Human Being
Chapter 5: Awakening to the Soul
Chapter 6: Masters of the Wisdom
Chapter 7: Spiritual Hierarchy
Chapter 8: Hierarchies of Life
Chapter 9: History of the Soul
Chapter 10: The Path of Initiation
Chapter 11: First Initiation
Chapter 12: Second Initiation
Chapter 13: Third Initiation
Chapter 14: The Continuity of Revelation
Chapter Three
Life and Form
We may have all wondered about how life arose in the universe. Certainly, if we imagine that the universe is devoid of soul or consciousness, it is a perplexing puzzle.
Modern science would have us believe that random chance was the cause of the origin of life. Yet random chance is admittedly wholly inadequate to the task of creating the complex forms and organisms of the various kingdoms of nature.
Indeed, any physical attempt to find the origins of life will ultimately fail, for it cannot be identified through an analysis of material form. If we look at the most basic organic matter, a cell or amoeba or a virus, and the more simple compounds out of which they are said to have arisen, we find no clear dividing line between the "organic" and the "inorganic" — between what we normally call "alive" and what we happen to call "dead." Indeed, the whole idea that there is some clear dividing line between "living" substance and "dead" substance is an illusion. If, then, basic organic life arose out of the mineral kingdom, then that mineral kingdom must of itself contain life, in one form or another. For something cannot come out of nothing — life cannot arise out of "dead" matter.
Thus if we look back to the origin of life on this planet, we find that there is no "origin" at all; that life was always present, even in the glowing substance of the congealing fires of the primordial earth. Life was always present in the long, long ages of evolution on our world. Life was found in the molten rocks, in the arctic ice, and in the depths of the earth. This life, purely mineral in nature, could not express the soul aspect, or consciousness, or intelligence, but was nevertheless possessed of living purpose, seeing that change continued to occur and the various kingdoms of nature sequentially appeared.
As the plant kingdom appeared, life expressed itself more fully. Movement, visible growth, and reproduction by seed transcended the limitations of the form of the mineral kingdom. Life was able to express itself in new and different ways.
With the appearance of the animal kingdom, life continued to express itself more fully. Movement was speeded up, and reproduction by birth again transcended the limitations of the plant kingdom. The inner life shined forth in new splendor.
In the appearance of the human kingdom, life continues to express itself more fully. We keep our animal heritage, but at the same time express inner thought, ideas, and individuality. The inner life has new opportunities for creativity and growth.
In the appearance of the fifth kingdom, the kingdom of souls, the inner life finds even more opportunity for expression. The light and love that is the heritage of every soul will eventually radiate outward and transform the world. A "spiritual" birth awaits every member of the human kingdom, a birth into the world of the soul and an awakening of our highest Spirit.
Thus we can see the whole appearance of this planet and all its various kingdoms of nature as being the ever increasing expression of the inner life. The capacities that are hidden in a lower kingdom appear in the higher. The ability to express life that is undeveloped in a lower kingdom unfolds in the higher. It is all a sequential process for expressing LIFE.
Thus life did not "arise" in some unknown time in some unknown event out of "dead" matter. Life was present from the beginning of the world and it is the driving force that leads all matter onward and upward to fuller expression. The death and decay of the form and the breakdown of its components into the basic elements do not mean that the inner life has been destroyed, but merely that its mechanism for expression upon the physical plane has been disposed of and returned to the one source. The inner life cannot be destroyed; life goes on forever.
Thus each human death is not, and cannot be, the destruction of life — it can only be the destruction of the form. There is no death to life itself; there is no death to the soul within. In understanding this theory of universal life and its implications for us as human beings, all fear of death and dying is swept away, and our existence is seen as an eternal journey in the cosmos.
* * * * *
Then if life is pre-existent from the beginning of the earth, then there is really no originating point for life to begin. Life is ever-present in all matter and all forms throughout the universe. Everything in the universe is alive, from the tiniest atom to an entire solar system. All forms, and indeed all space, is infused with life.
This life may be vastly different from human or animal life. It may be imperceptible to our eyes and our senses. It may of a wholly different order from ours and manifest through forms which we cannot imagine or conceive of. Nevertheless all is alive, and all forms throughout the universe manifest that life to the extent to which they are capable.
Each form is the expression of this indwelling life and could not exist without it. It is not the form that makes it possible for life to appear, but rather, it is life that makes it possible for the form to appear. Or to put it better, life and form are a universal duality, or opposite poles. Just as a magnet has both a north and a south pole, so does the universe have both life and form as its manifestation. Both polarities are necessary and inevitable. Life could not express itself without form, nor could physical matter appear without life.
Thus it is not really meaningful to talk about where life arose, for it had no discernible beginning on this planet, in this solar system, or indeed, throughout the universe. Life is as present and persistent as the existence of matter. Life infuses each atom of substance, and is inseparable from it. Life infuses each human being, and is the basic, fundamental source of our existence. Life infuses each kingdom of nature, and drives it onward toward greater expression. Life infuses the whole planet Earth, for nothing is devoid of life. Life infuses the other planets of our solar system, for the life that is found in each atom of our planet is also found in all other atoms of our solar system. Life infuses our sun, for the radiance of sunlight is only the reflection of an inner, spiritual sun of life. Life infuses our whole galaxy and our whole universe, for the duality of life and form is universal and all-pervading. The whole universe is a mighty hierarchy of lives, from the vast and unknowable Life that manifests through a galaxy to the tiny life that is the atom. It is all life; it is all alive.
Humanity stands, in this universe, at a midway spot, a focal point, of the expression of life. We each are the summation of the evolution of the three lower kingdoms — the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms — and represent the goal, or end result, of the evolving lives of these kingdoms. At the same time, each human being is a reflection, or image, of the greater, planetary and solar lives. "As above, so below" runs the ancient saying of Hermes Trismegistus. Each of us is, then, the "macrocosm of the microcosm" — the greater life to the three lower kingdoms — and "the microcosm of the macrocosm" — the reflection of the greater planetary and solar lives.
We are also, so to speak, at the point where life and form manifest in equal measure. In the lower kingdoms, the form aspect dominates, and evolution is an ever increasing manifestation of life through form. In the higher kingdoms and the world of the soul, the life aspect dominates, and evolution is a process of inner unfoldment and attunement with life energy. Since we stand at the midway point, we can let our three lower personality attributes — our physical, emotional, and mental natures — dominate us, or we may decide to more fully manifest our true nature, our true self, the soul. We can seek to satisfy our lower cravings and desires, or we can seek to live the life of the soul. We can be dominated by form and matter, or we can let the light of life manifest in our lives. This is the fundamental challenge facing every one of us: to what extent do we let our inner life manifest, and to what extent do we cut off that life from expression. Insofar as we let our life express itself, we are fulfilling our destiny and bringing meaning into our lives.
Previous — End of Chapter Three — Next
Author's Introduction
Chapter 1: The Search for Truth
Chapter 2: The Soul
Chapter 3: Life and Form
Chapter 4: The Constitution of a Human Being
Chapter 5: Awakening to the Soul
Chapter 6: Masters of the Wisdom
Chapter 7: Spiritual Hierarchy
Chapter 8: Hierarchies of Life
Chapter 9: History of the Soul
Chapter 10: The Path of Initiation
Chapter 11: First Initiation
Chapter 12: Second Initiation
Chapter 13: Third Initiation
Chapter 14: The Continuity of Revelation