110.3
Discuss the threefold nature of the soul. In what significant ways is the
threefold soul distinct from yet related to the threefold personality?
The threefold nature of the soul is expressed through the Spiritual Triad
of Atma - Buddhi - Manas.
(1) Atma is the aspect of the Spiritual Will,
(2) Buddhi is the aspect of the Intuition,
Universal Love-Wisdom, the Christ principle,
(3) Manas is referred to the Higher Manas, the
Higher Mind or the Abstract Mind.
Fig. 1. The downward-pointing
triangle (the Personality) linked by the Antahkarana
or Rainbow Bridge to the upward-pointing triangle (the Soul).
[The Antahkarana is the rainbow bridge which connects the consciousness of man with his divine nature.]
The triangle of the Soul has a threefold nature corresponding to higher
aspects of the personality.
(1) The physical body has its higher counterpart
in Spiritual Will or Purpose.
(2) The emotional body has its higher counterpart
in Universal Love or Intuition.
(3) The mental body or concrete mind, rational
mind has its higher counterpart in Higher Mind or Abstract Mind.
The personality and its lower threefold nature is linked to the higher
threefold nature of the Soul through the Antahkarana - the Rainbow Bridge. The
process of evolution itself is the creation, the gradual evolvement and
building of the Antahkarana, the thread of consciousness.
The aim of evolution is to master, to purify the personality and to
awaken the nature of the Soul for an integrated soul-infused personality; thus,
this means knowing the Soul or the Higher Self and bringing the personality
under the control of the Soul.
Fig. 2. The six-pointed star of the
soul-infused personality.
The Soul is also considered as a threefold “Golden Lotus” with tiers of
petals.
(1) The tier of the three Sacrifice petals corresponds to the etheric-physical
body of the personality.
(2) The tier of the three Love petals corresponds to the astral or
emotional body of the personality.
(3) The tier of the three Knowledge petals corresponds to the mental body
of the personality.
The
central group of petals, the Synthesis petals - the ‘Jewel in the Lotus’,
symbolically reflects itself in the personality as a whole.
Fig. 3. The Egoic
Lotus
Your answer to question 110.3 is quite complete and beautiful. Congratulations! Thank you for sharing.
110.4
Please analyse the meaning of the symbolism for each of the Rules of the Road.
Share your thoughts.
RULES OF THE ROAD
1. The Road is trodden in the full light of
day, thrown upon the Path by Those Who know and lead. Naught can then be
hidden, and at each turn upon that Road a man must face himself.
2. Upon the Road the hidden stands revealed.
Each sees and knows the villainy of each. And yet there is, with that great
revelation, no turning back, no spurning of each other, no shakiness upon the
Road. The Road goes forward into day.
3. Upon that Road one wanders not alone.
There is no rush, no hurry. And yet there is no time to lose. Each pilgrim,
knowing this, presses his footsteps forward, and finds himself surrounded by
his fellowmen. Some move ahead; he follows after. Some move behind; he sets the
pace. He travels not alone.
4. Three things the Pilgrim must avoid. The
wearing of a hood, a veil which hides his face from others; the carrying of a
water pot which only holds enough for his own wants; the shouldering of a staff
without a crook to hold.
5. Each Pilgrim on the Road must carry with
him what he needs: a pot of fire, to warm his fellowmen; a lamp, to cast its
rays upon his heart and show his fellowmen the nature of his hidden life; a
purse of gold, which he scatters not upon the Road, but shares with others; a
sealed vase, wherein he carries all his aspiration to cast before the feet of
Him Who waits to greet him at the gate—a sealed vase.
6. The Pilgrim, as he walks upon the Road,
must have the open ear, the giving hand, the silent tongue, the chastened
heart, the golden voice, the rapid foot, and the open eye which sees the light.
He knows he travels not alone.
(DINA I 583-584)
***
Rule 1. The Road is trodden in the full light
of day, thrown upon the Path by Those Who know and lead. Naught can then be
hidden, and at each turn upon that Road a man must face himself.
The Road is the Spiritual Path and Those Who know and lead are
enlightened people ahead us. The light is the symbol of spiritual energy and
enlightenment is symbol of wisdom attainment. Since they are enlightened, their
lights show us the way. Under the light, everything is clear and seen, thus
nothing can then be hidden. Spiritual development is also the way of continuing
self-reflection and self-observation. Therefore, on the way, a man face
himself, and under the light, he can see himself better.
Rule 2. Upon the Road the hidden stands
revealed. Each sees and knows the villainy of each. And yet there is, with that
great revelation, no turning back, no spurning of each other, no shakiness upon
the Road. The Road goes forward into day.
On the Path full of light, everything is revealed. The man’s dark side is
revealed and transmuted by the light. He keeps go forward with firmness and
strong will as he knows that he is on the right track and he becomes better
with time.
Rule 3. Upon that Road one wanders not alone.
There is no rush, no hurry. And yet there is no time to lose. Each pilgrim,
knowing this, presses his footsteps forward, and finds himself surrounded by
his fellowmen. Some move ahead; he follows after. Some move behind; he sets the
pace. He travels not alone.
The Path is the natural evolution and thus it is inevitable. Everyone
will step on it someday, sooner or later. Therefore, no one is alone on the
Path. There will always be someone ahead or behind us on the Path and all are
our companions. He does not need to compete to anyone else, there is no rush,
no hurry. But he must reflects on his own pace, and thus there is no time to
lose. He follows people ahead him and guides people behind him.
Rule 4. Three things the Pilgrim must avoid.
The wearing of a hood, a veil which hides his face from others; the carrying of
a water pot which only holds enough for his own wants; the shouldering of a
staff without a crook to hold.
The man should not hide his face from others. Trust should be there among
all the companions on the Path. The man should share his resources to his
fellowmen on the road.
[I still do not understand well the last symbol – a staff without a crook to
hold. What does it mean and why?]
Rule 5. Each Pilgrim on the Road must carry
with him what he needs: a pot of fire, to warm his fellowmen; a lamp, to cast
its rays upon his heart and show his fellowmen the nature of his hidden life; a
purse of gold, which he scatters not upon the Road, but shares with others; a
sealed vase, wherein he carries all his aspiration to cast before the feet of
Him Who waits to greet him at the gate—a sealed vase.
The man on the Path should have in him a warm heart full of love for his
fellowmen and a zest of life that can cheer them up.
A lamp helps light up the road for himself and others to see the path and
to reflect upon themselves. Again, nothing is hidden under the light.
A purse of gold is a symbol for spiritual energy that should be shared
with others and should not be wasted.
A sealed vase is a symbol that all the Disciple’s aspiration should be
kept for himself and only thrown out at the feel of his Master who would greet
him at the Initiation Gate. The man should not boast but should quietly proceed
toward realizing his aspiration.
Rule 6. The Pilgrim, as he walks upon the
Road, must have the open ear, the giving hand, the silent tongue, the chastened
heart, the golden voice, the rapid foot, and the open eye which sees the light.
He knows he travels not alone.
Walking on the Path, the man must have the open ear to listen mindfully,
the giving hand willingly to help and share with others.
The silent tongue and the golden voice refer to the art of harmless and right
speech, speaking from the Golden Soul. He knows that speech can heal or kill
and thus he should be careful and mindful with his speech, refraining from
gossiping and destructive criticism and THINK through before he speaks:
T - is it
True?
H - is it
Helpful?
I - is it
Inspiring?
N - is it
Necessary?
K - is it Kind?
The chastened heart is a pure and humble heart, a disciplined heart.
With the rapid foot, he keeps moving forward diligently without
procastination.
With the open eyes seeing the light, he troddens the road with confidence
and clarity. This eye refers to the third eye, with the soul’s vision, which
means he now begins to see the inner worlds, beyond form and full of light.
Prof. Michael Robbins said that in Kabbalahm, all form is considered as
crystallized light. When form is destroyed atomically, it released great blaze
of light.
Seeing many others around him on the way, he knows that he does not
travel alone.
Your treatment of question 110.4 is equally very complete and shows that you have the basic understanding of the subject matter. All I can do at this time is to congratulate you with your work and encourage you to continue.
Questions
1. About Rule 4, I still do not understand well the
last symbol – a staff without a crook to hold. Why and what does it mean?
2. Could you please explain to me about polarisation? Because I’m a little confused with this term. Sometimes I see it
is used with a negative meaning as in case of a psychological problem
(polarisation as cleavage?). But most of the time it is used with a positive
meaning of an achievement such as in this quote “the polarisation shifts during
the fifth period (the period of the Path of Initiation) entirely from the
Personality to the Ego, until, at the close of that period, liberation is complete,
and the man is set free.”
1. The crook? Rule 4, discusses three kinds of behavior to avoid. The third one is to shoulder a staff without a crook (meaning a simple stick to chase or hurt others) as opposed to a staff with a crook which is a support or walking stick that one or a friend may need. It could be interpreted as “no weapon” allowed although you are permitted to help yourself and others with such if necessary.
2. Polarization: In talking about electrical functioning, we have the positive, the negative and the neutral (the balance) to achieve the required state of initiation. From that set up, one can see that polarization (meaning “getting all jammed-up”) can exist in the positive or in the negative but can be avoided by the correct balancing of the two. Under this rule of interpretation, a “shift” in polarization must be looked upon as auguring a desired movement. It does of course also mean that (if not controlled or supervised properly) the polarization may simply go all the way to the other end. and still be polarized , this time, in its opposite….
Thank you for sharing. Good luck. In Love and Light.
J.
Updated on May 15th 2018
