In the last session, we talked about the Macrocosm, the largest link of the chain from which proceed all the other links, down to the smallest, all being identical in nature.
The Supreme Being is the manifested aspect of the Universal Principle who is going to manifest Himself through all the modifications of the Universal Existence. Or, in other words, the realization, in the manifestation, of all the possibilities which the Supreme Being comprises and contains in His unity.
Therefore, the human state represents one of these modifications and we, individual human beings, (as well as all existing peripheral beings sharing our world) are a multitude of aspects of the Being manifested in the human state. Upon completion of this form , we will proceed to another state, no longer human, since all the possibilities must be realized in the course of the cycles of manifestation. This is why, during a cosmic cycle (Kalpa), we go through each plane of existence only once , i.e., when we leave earth, we will never return to it. We will be reborn in a different world, on another plane and another dimension, in a different form, in order to realize another possibility on the ladder of Universal Existence. (We will develop more of this concept in the chapter The Symbolism of the Cross and the multiple states of the being.
Distinction between the Self and the I.
The Self is the transcendant and permanent principle of which the human being is but one of the multitude of modifications. However, these modifications do not affect the principle which is the Supreme Principle Himself, non-manifested in the human being, yet his only reality.
In the Vedanta, the Self is called Atma and is the same as Brahma. Atma is said to reside in the center of the human being, near the heart which is considered the seat of intelligence (and not feelings, as it is generally believed). The manifestation of Atma in the individual existence, is Jivatma, the living soul, the mirror reflection of Atma. To better understand the distinction between Atma and Jivatma, we will use a familiar image: Picture a car; the car is your body, Jivatma is the driver, therefore, you are Jivatma, and Atma will be sitting next to you, motionless and silent passenger, non-manifested. Atma is the light of a candle which can light up a multitude of other candels. It is the same light while the candles are different lives.
Jivatma, the living soul, is the aspect of Atma which is manifested in every step of the ladder of Universal Existence. Contrary to Atma, Jivatma is affected by these various modifications. This means that each action (karma) of the individual imprints the soul and is going to determine its ability (or inhability) to become one with Atma, or reach the final Supreme Identity.
Jivatma receives its light from Atma through Buddhi, the pure intellect or supra-conscious. To illustrate this, let’s imagine that Atma is the sun in the sky reflecting its image in a lake. Jivatma will be the trembling image in the lake and Buddhi will be the ray from the sun realizing this reflection.
The “I” is the individual, limited by his “form” (body), mind (reason) and by the particular conditions of his present plane of existence. In the image of the driver used earlier, it is the car (or the vehicle) given to us when we come to this world. It has its own shape, “brand name”, etc.. It can be a “good” car, or a “lemon”, depending on what Jivatma has accumulated before coming to the present plane. The “I” has a character of its own, shaped by geographical, social and historical environment, as well as family heredity which have “programmed” it to respond in a certain way. It has a “mind” of its own, limited, at its best, to rational thinking. Our psychological characteristics are part of this physical body and will disappear with it after we leave the human state.
After entering its new “vehicle”, Jivatma will have to adjust to this new environment and try to “control” it rather than being controlled by it. To make this clearer we will use the image of the horse (the body) and the rider (Jivatma). The rider must tame the horse and guide it where he wants. If he fails, he will get lost and encounter all sorts of accidents and be in danger of never reaching his destination. Thus, the challenge of the soul is to overcome the obstacles represented by the carnal vehicle so that it can use it as a perfect tool for growth. Once you have solved the conflicts between your body and soul, or between your psycological and physical needs and the aspirations of your soul, you are in harmony with yourself, your regenerated “ego” becomes one with your soul. Only then can your brains be used to grasp above-reason concepts and the door is open to higher consciousness.
In addition to the obstacles represented by the new carnal vehicle, Jivatma must also deal with past karmic residues to be worked out during the present incarnation. In fact, the present incarnation is the result of past Karma (or actions) which has determined the kind of challenges to be met.
The symbolism of the cross and the multiple states of the being
Everyone knows the symbol of the cross. In the Moslim tradition, it is used to symbolize, among other things, the multiple states of the being. The vertical line of the cross represents the various steps on the ladder of Universal Existence, from the bottom up to the top which the being will reach when Supreme Identity is attained. Each step represents a plane of existence, identical in principle to the previous one or to the next one, yet subjected to different conditions of existence and in a different form. The being must complete all of these steps before reaching the top. During the course of a Cosmic Cycle, the being cannot go through the same plane of existence twice, since it must realize all the possibilities of manifestation. This metaphysical evidence questions the theory of reincarnation, i.e., the return to life on earth many times around, which is the result of a misinterpretation of the doctrine of the multiple state of the being.
The horizontal line represents all the possibilities contained in any individual state (the human state being one among a multitude of others). In order to reach Union to the Principle, we have to realize all the possibilities of the state we are in. This means that we have to develop, one by one, every aspect of the human individuality (or any other if we are in a different plane). As an example of realization of one of these aspects, let’s take a child. He is a tiny little thing, yet potentially, he is the adult that he will become when his physical growth is completed. In the same manner, spiritually, we are like this child, ignorant and limited, yet potentially, we are the Principle. So, the human being who will have realized all the aspects of his individuality will have transcended his human condition and become “supra-human”, non longer subject to any of the limitations of a human. He will be able to be in different places at the same time, or to communicate telepathically with anyone of his choice, or to accomplish what we would call “miracles”, because he can act at all levels of the human state. A human being who has reached this state is called the “Universal Man” in the Muslim tradition, or the “Perfect Man” in the Taoist tradition, or the “Androgyne” in the Hermetic tradition. He has reintegrated the Primordial Perfection, the paradisiac state of Adam before the creation of Eve, when he was man and woman in one, perfect image of His creator. He is the Primordial Man of the Golden Age.
The realization on the vertical plane of the cross leads to “Yoga” or union to the Principle. (“yoga” means “union”). On any given state (or degree on the vertical plane of the cross), the being has the possibility to realize the state of Androgyne and then continue his development through realization of supra-individual states before becoming one with the Principle, which is also called Yoga (Union) or “metaphysical liberation” (the wave that becomes the ocean). He will never come back to any form in any manifested world. This is what is called “immortality”, since the being has escaped the wheel of existences, or death and rebirth.
The notion of Karma.
“Karma” means “action”, concordant action and reaction, cause and effect. Our present life is the result of past lives actions. For the “ignorant”, karma is lived in a passive way. This means that he keeps building karma that does not lead to spiritual growth and, ultimately, to metaphysical liberation. Therefore, in order to live our karma in an “active” way, we must identify with it. To explain this concept, here is a quotation from Marco Pallis “Living one’s Karma”:
“The basis of self-identification with one’s karma is the clear recognition that it is essentially just — just in principle and just in particular, including the particular we call “myself”. Similarly one’s future karma has to be acception, as if by anticipation one must expect to reap as one has sown and not otherwise…”.
In this essay, Marco Pallis stresses the difference between a “good” and a “bad” karma. For a man who is already in the path of enlightenment, “before he calls his karma good or bad, he will want to know, above all, whether or not it places him in favorable circumstances for encompassing “the one thing needful” as Christ described it…”
Therefore, wordly success, wealth, erudition, etc.. would represent more inconveniences than advantages to spiritual growth, as:
“Between a beggar woman in Tibet and an eminent professor in other lands, her simple faith, however limited, must count as an elementary knowledge, where colossal erudition directed, not to the center, but to numberless peripheral phenomena, must count as a peculiarly pretentious form of ignorance. Therefore, rebirth as that beggar woman, for the professor, would spell almost unqualified gain; the reverse, for her, unqualified loss…”