Updated with Mentor's comments on April 13, 2020.
220.1 Manas, Consciousness, Sentiency
Elaborate on the following two adages:
a. “The mind is the slayer of the real.”
b. “The mind is the revealer of the real.”
c. If one of these false and the other correct? Or are both false? Or are both correct? Offer your interpretation.
The mind can be both the slayer and the revealer of the real.
The excessive focus of consciousness on the lower-mind may exclude and ignore feelings, intuition and spiritual aspects. This arrogant propensity builds up a thick veil of concrete thoughtforms, which can distort the true interpretation of reality and hinder downflow inspiration from higher planes. In this case, the lower-mind becomes an agent of cleavage and illusion, and thus, the slayer of the real.
The mind only reveals when the personality is purified, integrated and soul-infused. When the analytic-lowermind and the abstract-highermind are synthetically bridged, and the mind can be illuminated by the light of the soul, it becomes the clear and holistic channel for true interpretation of reality. JC: Exactly Daisy. The distinction between the lower and higher mind is here described.
220.2 Manas or Mind
Given a reasonable understanding of the functions of each of the five levels of mind. How would you assign planets or combinations of planets to each of these five levels? Offer your reasoned justification in each case.
The five levels of mind are (1) kama-manas or desire mind, (2) concrete mind, (3) the Soul, (4) abstract mind, (5) the transcendental mind (Buddhi).
1. Kama-manas or desire mind
Kama-manas is the emotional body tinged faintly with mind, the desire-will of the lower man. It involves the astral reactions and the lower psychic nature. It can cause the problem of glamour when mental illusion is intensified by desire (illusion on the astral plane). As the elimination of desire is brought about by conscious eliminating, emotion can be sublimated through the medium of thought. And thought, with its discriminating and analysing functions, makes us aware of the glamour and beams a clear light into the mist of the astral plane. When glamour and illusion are overcome, kama-manas disappears, the astral body fades out in the human consciousness and there is no desire left for the separated self. Self-consciousness becomes group consciousness. Kama-manas with its lower desire would be elevated into its higher spiritual correspondence, which is the desire to serve and the great and final desire for liberation.
I would assign the Moon for kama-manas because this level of mind still deals much with desire and feelings, which are under the realm of the Moon. Your assignment of the moon to kamas-manas is interesting and so also, I would consider Mars as lower and Neptune as being transformative in the higher spiritual aspects of ray six and the emotional body however in EA 649 Saturn rules Kamas manas in the exoteric sense.
2. Concrete mind (Lower-mind, form building faculty)
The concrete mind relates to the Knowledge petals of the egoic lotus, expressing itself through the 5th ray of Concrete Science. It is the higher aspect of the lower self and the lower reflection of the Will aspect of Divinity. Main functions of this mind level are discrimination, form building and eventually being the searchlight of the soul. Strong development of the concrete mind is necessary and still an evolutionary goal for most people in the world. The lower mind can be brought under control through the processes of concentration. And through conscious, creative work, it can be connected to the higher abstract mind.
It should be noted that intense activity of concrete mind may deter the downflow of inspiration and shut out the higher illumination. Moreover, the imbalance development of the concrete mind which neglects the heart can cause illusion with the tendency of separation. This is the case of the sayings “Mind separates, love attracts” and “Mind disrupts and destroys whilst love produces coherence and heals.”
Mercury is assigned for this level of mind as it rules analysis, thinking and general mental functions.
3. The Soul
There are many names for this level of mind, including the Son of Mind, the Ego, the Solar Angel, the Inner Identity, the Inner Ruler, the Son of God, the Higher Self, the Thinker, the Agnishvatta… It is the product of the thought of the Universal Mind, the thinking, perceiving, discriminating, analysing identity or spiritual entity. It is characterized by pure mind, pure reason, pure love and pure will. Its nature is love, its acts are wise, and its motive is group development. The Soul expresses itself most fully through the Love petals of the egoic lotus, its innate being.
Through dedicated and devoted service, it brings the Divine Plane into activity. The Soul is the point of unification of both concrete and abstract intelligences. At the 3rd initiation of Transfiguration, the concrete mind is taken place by the Soul. And through the Law of Sacrifice, the personality is liberated and becomes an agent of the Soul.
Both Mercury and Venus are assigned for this level of mind. Mercury is the synthesis of manas-buddhi and mind-wisdom, ruling the bridge of the Antahkarana. On the other hand, Venus in its higher, esoteric aspect rules pure love-wisdom. As the Soul is the point of unification, it relates to both Mercury and Venus. Venus also represents the Solar Angel.
4. Abstract mind (Higher-mind, pattern building faculty)
The abstract mind is also called the Higher mind. It is the lowest aspect of the Spiritual Triad and reveals itself through the 1st ray of Will and Power. It energises the Will petals (Sacrifice).
The abstract mind deals with the blue prints upon which the forms are modelled. It is brought into conscious functioning through the building of the Antahkarana. When the abstract mind is developed and sensitive, it can become the seed of the Spiritual Will, which involves responsiveness to divine purpose and is responsible for the emergence of the Plan. The Hierarchy reaches the minds of disciples through the abstract mind.
I would assign Jupiter for this level of mind as it is the ruler for higher education, for philosophy, and higher mind in astrology.
5. The transcendental mind (Buddhi)
The transcendental mind is the Intuition, the Christ principle, the combination of Buddhi-Manas or intuitive spiritual understanding and the higher abstract mind. It is the power to comprehend intangible, to understand immediately without conscious reasoning. Intuition is also considered the innate recognition of the lower aspect of the Divine Plan. It is the faculty which enables man to enter into contact with the Universal Mind and grasp divine ideas and the Plan synthetically.
I would assign Neptune for this level of mind as Neptune rules intuition, compassion (Buddhi heart) and spirituality.
220.3 Sublevels of the Mind
What, in essence, distinguishes one mental subplane from another?
Vibration is slower on the lower planes and higher on the higher planes. In essence, we can distinguish one mental subplane from another by their corresponding faculties as listed in the following table:
Mental Plane faculties Subplane form/less Sense
Spiritual telepathy 1st subplane formless
Response to group vibration 2nd subplane formless
Spiritual discernment 3rd subplane formless Smell
Discrimination 4th subplane form Taste
Higher clairvoyance 5th subplane form Sight
Planetary psychometry 6th subplane form Touch
Higher clairaudience 7th subplane form Hearing
What is the difference in the thinking process of an individual focussed primarily on the four higher subplanes of the mental plane from the process of one focussed primarily on the lowest subplane of the buddhic plane?
The difference in the thinking processes of one focussed primarily on the four higher subplanes of the mental plane (1) and one focussed primarily on the lowest subplane of the buddhic plane (2) are:
The thinking process of the 1st one would relate to the faculties of corresponding mental subplanes such as discrimination, spiritual discernment, response to group vibration and spiritual telepathy. On the other hand, the thinking process of the 2nd one would relate to the faculties of corresponding buddhic subplanes such as comprehension, healing and divine vision (see “Evolution of Man’s Senses” chart below).
While both these processes are soul-influenced, the thinking process of the 1st one is of abstract higher mind nature, surpassing the lower mind (1), while the thinking process of the 2nd one is of buddhic or intuition reason, stimulating the emotional nature (2). Your response to .3 on the subplanes of mind is excellent indeed.
220.4 Three Minds Unite
Why is manas as expressed upon the systemic mental plane divided into three parts?
We have seen many triple or three-fold symbols in the Universe that it is almost a characteristic of Nature: The Yin, Yang and the relationship between them; the positive, negative and neutral, the Trinity, the three lower bodies of man, the Spiritual Triad. And thus, as natural as it is, we have the three-fold manas, composed of the concrete-mind, the abstract-mind and the Soul - as the point of unification, connecting the lower and the higher. These three minds, on their turns, also become the bridge between the lower man (personality) with his Monad through the Spiritual Triad, manifesting the triple correspondings from all three levels (personality, Ego, Monad).
4 shows you have a reasonable understanding of the question. Many thanks for these responses, Daisy. In shared service, J.
