Tuesday, April 10, 2018

QU1. Aries Study Report – Course 110.3 and 110.4

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 



1 comment:

  1. "As we shift the focus of our consciousness more and more out of the emotional nature into the mind, we will begin to think, and as we learn to think scientifically, we will begin to realize that death is not the monster we made it out to be. Death is just the withdrawal of the Soul from its temporary instruments so it may continue its evolution elsewhere (when the evolutionary goal of the Soul for the incarnation has been reached). Therefore, no reason to cry. (I know, this is easier said than done, given our current emotional polarization, and I am the first one who will cry at the passing of a loved one, smiles, however, in the Age of the Soul death will soon be recognized for what it is, and grief and sorrow will thus make room for joy and peace.)

    In emotional polarization, the emotional body is positive to the mental.
 In mental polarization, the mental body is positive to the emotional.

    What does that mean?

    In emotional polarization – when the emotional body is positive to the mental body – since the consciousness is focused in this vehicle, the emotional nature is all activated and therefore more „active“ whereas the mind is rather „passive.“ As a result, the active vibrations of the emotional nature play upon and impact the more quiescent vibrations of the mental nature. Means: Our emotions and desires greatly influence our thinking.

    In mental polarization – when the mental body is positive to the emotional body – since the consciousness is focused in this vehicle, the mental nature is activated and therefore more „active“ whereas the emotional body is more „passive.“ As a result, the active vibrations of the mental nature play upon and impact the vibrations of the emotional nature. Means: Our thoughts direct our emotions.

    Mental polarization leads to emotional control (and thus: to inner peace). Emotional polarization leads to emotional victimization (and thus: inner peace is not possible).

    To be emotionally polarized means:

    to go with the emotions (the line of least resistance) and to react emotionally to any given situation (rather than to think it through)
    to go with mass consciousness (which does not think for itself; mass consciousness, by definition, is emotionally polarized)
    to use mental energy to gratify lower self desires
    A transition from emotional to mental polarization is not achieved overnight. This is a step-by-step process that extends over many lifetimes.

    Here is an idea of steps to take to become more mental in our orientation:

    Self-observation (to become familiar with our emotions)
    Study (to learn about the nature of emotion)
    Training (to discipline the emotional nature based on the knowledge gained)
    When we purify our emotional nature, move from emotion to feeling to intuition, and transcend the desires of the lower self into the aspirations of the Soul, the emotional body slowly but surely becomes attuned to the mental nature and becomes negative to it. Hence, mental polarization is achieved and we have mastered one very important lesson on the Spiritual path ��"

    https://www.iamuniversity.org/how-to-transition-from-emotional-to-mental-polarization/

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