Theosophy's Origin of the Universe

[Nick the Pilot]

[Nick the Pilot]

-- The Monads’ Levels of Consciousness --

The Monads did not have a level of consciousness anywhere near that of the human level of consciousness we now all enjoy. The Monads did not have any self-awareness. It was as if they were all part of clouds of consciousness that floated throughout space, at a level of existence much less dense than anything in today's physical world.

Eon after eon, these clouds of consciousness took on denser and denser layers of materiality. Finally, these clouds took on the veil of materiality we call physical matter. Physical matter appeared, and is said to be ensouled by these clouds of consciousness.

Physical awareness now began to awaken. For the first time, consciousness turned outward, recognizing contact with other entities in an external world. This was the first realization of “I” and “Not I”, although this consciousness is described as “sleeping” in the mineral world.

The mineral experiences of freezing, melting, being crushed, turning to molten metal, all impacted upon the mineral consciousness. As a result, vague answers of sympathetic vibrations arose, within the deep-slumbering consciousness. Chemical valency and the bonding of chemnical compunds were strong desire on the mineral level. There was a response within the astral part of the souls, although it was quite unorganized. There was no mental activity within the mineral souls.

When the consciousness was ready, it was guided by Devas to the plant kingdom for plant manifestation.

[Nick the Pilot]

Two concepts need to be covered: Trishna and group-souls. Trishna (“thirst”) is the desire for experiences in the material world. The Monads were driven into the physical world by a desire for experiences. This desire had propelled them down into denser and denser forms. Although these desires can be seen as being very selfish, they were quite appropriate for this level of consciousness.

Groups-souls are objects that ensoul minerals, plants, and animals. Animals, etc., do not have individual souls. Several animals belong to one “soul,” so they are said to have a group-soul. Perhaps it will help if the reader considers flocks of birds and schools of fish. They seem to belong to one consciousness — which is exactly what they are. All fish within one school of fish belong to a single group-soul. Consciousness is slowly becoming more complex, although it is still not self-conscious.

[Nick the Pilot]

At the end of the mineral kingdom phase, the activity of the mineral group-soul was transferred to the mental plane (“Heaven”). Then it nourished the already-present mental bodies, and made them gradually less vague. There was a great deal more astral activity for plants than minerals. A tree that lived a long life, for example, became able to experience pleasure and discomfort. For the first time, small amounts of mental matter accumulated around long-living trees, which manifested as faint memory, followed by faint anticipation.

Groups-souls are not individual souls. When an animal dies, its “soul” goes back into the common group-soul of its individual flock, school, etc. Is like pouring water into a bucket; when the “soul-matter” is selected for the next individual animal, part of the “water” is ladeled out, and a new “soul” is created. In the interim, all the “soul-matter” gets mixed together. Each animal, then, has a generic “chunk” of “soul-matter" from all of the previous animals of that group-soul. (This also explains animal instinct; the “soul-matter” is continutally being mixed between births, causing a general sharing of “animal instinct.”)

[Nick the Pilot]

-- The Ensouling of Animals and Humans --

When ready, a vegetable goup-soul was guided by Devas to life in the lowest of animal, for example, bacteria, amoebae, etc. Each animal group-soul slowly gathered experiences, preparing to eventually become human.

Each animal "soul" eventually became possessd of its own individual group-soul envelope, ready for human Individualization. As time went on, a group-soul gradually contained fewer and fewer individuals. When a single group-soul contained only one individual animal, and was ready, it became a part of a causal body. The upward-drawn group-soul met the downpouring from above. This, then, was the beginning of a reincarnating human, born into its first independent human incarnation.



(A chart from The First Principles of Theosophy, p. 186, showing a dog ("Jack") making its transition into its first human incarnation.)

Although I do not completely agree with the way this chart is presented, it gives the reader a good view of the basic dynamics of initial human "soul" creation.

[Nick the Pilot]

-- The Great Beings of the Universe --

Up to now, no mention has been made of the Designers of the universe. First, let's contrast with commonly-held ideas. According to many religions, the universe was created by a single Diety. Theosophy takes a different view. Once the universe began to emanate, everything was put into the hands of seven Builders. They are called Archangels in Christianity, and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism.

There are seven of them — which explains why the number seven appears so often in the Bible.

“From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God....” (Revelations 4:5)

They built the beginnings of our universe.

After the appearance of the first Builders, there was a great deal of delegating of authority which occured throughout the universe. Lower Builders built galaxies. Even lower Builders built our solar system. Still lower builders built our Earth and humanity. It is this group of Builders that is referred to in the Bible.

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...” (Genesis 1.26)

(As a sidenote, the idea that humans were built in their image is explained as such: Our Earthly Builders had astral bodies. Parts of their astral bodies were "broken off," and used to create our humanly astral bodies — thus we literally were created in their image.)

Every aspect of the building of the universe has been painstakenly supervised by one level of Builders or another. No galaxy nor animal species has appeared that was not first conceived of by a Builder.

[Nick the Pilot]

-- The Relationship of Humanity to the Universe --

This discussion would be incomplete without discussing the relationship of humans to the universe. The entire universe is evolving — even the Great Beings that were previously mentioned are evolving. Humanity is also evolving, and it is everyone's task to assist that evolution in every way they can.

Our eventual task will be to rise to the next level in our evolution. When we finally succeed, we will then be given many opportunites to assist various forms of evolution that are already occuring in our solar system. It will be a great day for humanity, when we reach that level. Our immediate task, then, is to accelerate our progress towards that goal, and leave the reincarnating human form as quickly as possible.

The signpost that we are ready to move onto the next level is called Enlightenment. It needs to be pointed out that qualifying for Enlightenment is the most difficult thing we will ever do as humans. Buddhism teaches that Enlightenment is perhaps a change of attitude, or perhaps having the right type of "aha" experience. Theosophy takes quite a different view. According to Theosophy, achieving of Enlightenment is a lot of hard work — the most difficult thing we will ever do.

Everyone, then, is invited to enter the long, hard Path to Enlightenment. The sooner we put aside the dazzling distractions of the physical world, the sooner we can move to the next level, begin assisting the evolution of the universe in a more direct way, and help the universe become what it is meant to be.

For further information on how to prepare for the Path to Enlightenment, please read the online book, At The Feet of the Master.

At The Feet of the Master, by Alcyone