The Life of Earth
IN IN THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS has been shown how
the components were successively formed which make up the so-called
“lower nature of man” — the physical body, the
ether body and the astral body. It has also been described how, with
the appearance of a new body, the old ones must always be transformed
so that they can become carriers and instruments of the one formed
later. An advance of human consciousness is also associated with this
progress. As long as the lower man has only a physical body, he
possess merely an utterly dull consciousness, which is not equivalent
even to that of dreamless sleep of the present, although for man of
today this latter state of consciousness is in fact an
“unconscious” one. In the time when the ether body
appears, man reaches the consciousness which is his today in
dreamless sleep. With the formation of the astral body a dim image
consciousness makes its appearance, similar to, but not identical
with the one man at present ascribes to himself while he is dreaming.
The fourth, the current condition of consciousness of earth man, will
now be described.
This present condition of consciousness develops
in the fourth great universal era, that of earth which follows the
preceding Saturn, Sun, and Moon eras.
On Saturn the physical body of man was developed
in several stages. At that time it could not have been the carrier of
an ether body. And the latter was added only during the course of the
Sun. Simultaneously, the physical body was so transformed in the
successive Sun cycles that it could become the carrier of this ether
body, or in other words, that the ether body could work in the
physical body. During the Moon development the astral body was added,
and again the physical body and the ether body were transformed in
such a way that they could provide suitable carriers and instruments
for the then appearing astral body. Thus, on the Moon, man is a being
composed of physical body, ether body, and astral body. Through the
ether body he is enabled to feel joy and pain; through the astral
body he is a being with emotions, rage, hate, love and so forth.
As has been shown, higher spirits actively work on
the different members of his being. On the Moon the ether body
received the capacity for joy and pain through the Spirits of
Twilight; the emotions were implanted in the astral body by the Fire
Spirits.
At the same time, something else was taking place
during the three great cycles on Saturn, Sun, and Moon. During the
last Saturn cycle the spirit man (Atma) was formed with the
help of the Spirits of Will (Thrones). During the penultimate
Sun cycle, the life-spirit (Buddhi) was joined to it with the
assistance of the Cherubim. During the third from the last Moon
cycle, the spirit-self (Manas) united with the two others
through the help of the Seraphim. Thus actually two origins of man
were formed during these three great cycles: a lower man, consisting
of physical body, ether body, and astral body, and a higher man,
consisting of spirit man (Atma), life-spirit (Buddhi),
and spirit-self (Manas). The lower and the higher nature of
man followed separate paths at first.
The earth development serves to bring the two
separate origins of man together.
But first, after the seventh small cycle, all of
Moon existence enters a kind of sleeping state (Pralaya).
Thereby everything becomes mixed together, so to speak, in a
homogeneous mass. The Sun and the Moon too, which were separate in
the last great cycle, again become fused during the last Moon
cycles.
When everything again emerges from the sleeping
state there must first be repeated in their essentials the Saturn
condition during a first small cycle, the Sun condition during a
second, and the Moon cycle during a third. During this third cycle
the beings on the Moon, which has again been split off from the Sun,
resume approximately the same forms of existence which they already
had on the Moon. There the lower man is a being intermediate between
man of today and an animal; the plants stand midway between the
animal and plant natures of today, and the minerals only half bear
their lifeless character of today, while for the rest they are still
half plants.
During the second half of this third cycle
something else is already in preparation. The minerals harden, the
plants gradually lose the animal character of their sensibility, and
out of the uniform species of animal man there develop two classes.
One of these remains on the level of animality, while the other is
subjected to a division of the astral body into two parts. The astral
body splits into a lower part, which continues to be the carrier of
the emotions, and a higher part, which attains to a certain
independence, so that it can exercise a kind of mastery over the
lower members, over the physical body, the ether body, and the lower
astral body. Now the Spirits of Personality seize upon this higher
astral body and implant in it just that independence we have
mentioned, and therewith also selfishness. Only in the lower human
astral body do the Fire Spirits now accomplish their work, while in
the ether body the Spirits of Twilight are active, and in the
physical body that power entity begins its work which one can
describe as the real ancestor of man. It is the same power entity
which formed the spirit man (Atma) with the help of the
Thrones on Saturn, the life-spirit (Buddhi) with the
assistance of the Cherubim on the Sun, and the spirit-self
(Manas) together with the Seraphim on the Moon.
But now this changes. Thrones, Cherubim, and
Seraphim ascend to higher spheres, and the higher man now receives
the assistance of the Spirits of Wisdom, of Motion, and of Form.
These are now united with spirit-self, life-spirit, and spirit-man
(with Manas-Buddhi-Atma). With the assistance of these
entities the human power being characterized above develops its
physical body during the second half of the third earth cycle. It is
the Spirits of Form which act here in the most significant way. They
already form the human physical body so that it becomes a kind of
precursor of the later human body of the fourth cycle (the present
one, or the fourth round)
In the astral body of the animal beings which have
been left behind, it is exclusively the Fire Spirits which remain
active, while in the ether body of the plants it is the Spirits of
Twilight. 0n the other hand, the Spirits of Form participate in the
transformation of the mineral realm. They make the latter hard, that
is, implant rigid and fixed forms in it.
One must not imagine, however, that the sphere of
activity of the spirits we have mentioned was confined only to what
has been characterized. Always it is only the Main directions of
their activities which are meant, in a subordinate way all the spirit
beings participate everywhere. Thus at the time indicated, the
Spirits of Form also have certain functions to perform in the
physical plant and animal bodies, and so forth.
After all this has taken place, around the end of
the third earth cycle all the entities — including Sun and Moon
— again become fused and then pass through a shorter stage of
sleep (a small Pralaya). At that time everything is again a
uniform mass (a chaos), and at the end of this stage the fourth earth
cycle begins in which we are at present.
At first, everything which already previously had
had a being in the mineral, plant, animal, and human realms, begins
to separate out of the uniform mass in germinal form. First there can
re-emerge as independent germs only those human ancestors on
whose higher astral bodies the Spirits of Personality have worked in
the preceding small cycle. All other beings of the mineral, plant,
and animal realm do not yet lead an independent existence here. At
this stage everything is still in that high spiritual condition which
is called the “formless” or Arupa condition. At
the present stage of development, only the highest human thoughts
— for example, mathematical and moral ideals — are woven
of that substance which was proper to all beings at the stage we are
describing. That which is lower than these human ancestors can only
appear as an activity in a higher being. The animals exist only as
states of consciousness of the Spirits of Fire, the plants as states
of consciousness of the Spirits of Twilight. The minerals have a
double existence in thought. First they exist as thought germs in the
human ancestors mentioned above, then as thoughts in the
consciousness of the Spirits of Form. The “higher man”
(spirit-man, life-spirit, spirit-self also exists in the
consciousness of the Spirits of Form.
By degrees a densification of everything now
occurs. But at the next stage, the density as yet does not exceed the
density of thoughts. At this stage, however, the animal beings which
originated in the preceding cycle, can emerge. They separate out of
the consciousness of the Fire Spirits and become independent thought
beings. This stage is called that of the “formed” or
Rupa condition. Man advances in it insofar as his previously
formless, independent thought body is clothed by the Spirits of Form
in a body of coarser, formed thought substance. The animals as
independent beings, here consist exclusively of this substance.
Now a further densification takes place. The
condition which is now attained can be compared with that out of
which the conceptions of the dreamlike image consciousness are woven.
One calls this the “astral” stage.
The human ancestor again advances. In addition to
the other two components, his being receives a body which consists of
the substance just characterized. He now has the inner formless core
of being, a thought body, and an astral body. The animals receive a
similar astral body, and the plants emerge from the consciousness of
the Spirits of Twilight as independent astral entities.
In the further course of the development, the
densification now advances to that condition which is called
physical. At first we deal with the most refined physical condition,
with that of the most refined ether. From the Spirits of Form the
human ancestor receives the most refined ether body as an addition to
his earlier components. He consists of a formless thought core, a
formed thought body, an astral body, and an ether body. The animals
have a formed thought body, an astral body, and an ether body; the
plants have an astral and an ether body; the minerals first emerge
here as independent ether forms. At this stage of development we are
concerned with four realms: a mineral, a plant, an animal, and a
human realm. Along with these however, in the course of the
development up to this point three other realms have come into
existence. In the time when the animals separated from the Fire
Spirits at the thought stage (Rupa stage), the Spirits of
Personality also separated certain entities out of themselves. These
consist of indefinite thought substance which gathers together,
dissolves in a cloudlike manner, and thus flows along. One cannot
speak of them as of independent entities, but only of an irregular,
general mass. This is the first elementary realm. At the astral stage
something similar separates from the Fire Spirits. It consists of
shadowy images or phantoms similar to the conceptions of the
dreamlike image consciousness. They form the second elementary realm.
In the beginning of the physical stage, indefinite image-like
entities finally separate out of the Spirits of Twilight. They too
have no independence, but they can manifest forces which are similar
to the passions and emotions of men and animals. These
non-independent, buzzing emotions form the third elementary realm.
For beings which are endowed with a dreamlike image consciousness, or
with conscious image consciousness, these creations of the third
elementary realm are perceptible as a flooding light, as flakes of
color, as smell, taste, as various tones and sounds, but all such
perceptions must be imagined to be phantom-like.
One must therefore imagine the earth, when it
condenses as a refined etheric body out of its astral precursor, to
be a conglomerate of an etheric mineral basic mass and of etheric
plant, animal, and human beings. Filling the interstices as it were,
and also permeating the other beings, are the creatures of the
elementary realms.
This earth is inhabited by the higher spiritual
entities, which, in the most diverse ways, are active in the realms
we have mentioned. They form a spirit community, so to speak, a
spirit state, and their dwelling-place and workshop is the earth,
which they carry with them as a snail does its shell. In all this it
must be borne in mind that what today is separated from the earth as
Sun and Moon, is still entirely united with the earth. Only later do
both heavenly bodies separate from the earth.
The “higher man” (spirit-man,
life-spirit, spirit-self, Atma-Buddhi-Manas) has as yet no
independence at this stage. He still constitutes a member of the
spirit state, and for the time being is bound to the Spirits of Form,
as a human hand is bound to a human organism as a dependent
member.
With this we have followed the formation of the
earth to the beginning of its physical condition. In what follows, we
shall show how everything in this condition develops further. The
previous development will then pass over into what has already been
said in preceding chapters of the Akasha Chronicle about the progress
of earth.
States of development such as those which have
been mentioned here as a formless, a formed, an astral, and a
physical condition, which thus constitute differences in a smaller
cycle (a round), are called “globes” in theosophical
texts. In this respect one therefore speaks of an Arupa, a
Rupa, an astral and a physical globe. Some have considered
such a designation incorrect. But here we shall not speak further of
matters of nomenclature. Indeed, it is not names which are important,
but rather the things themselves. It is better to endeavor to
describe the latter as well as possible than to worry very much about
names. These must after all always be incorrect in a certain sense.
For to facts of the spiritual world one must give names which have
come from the world of the senses, and therefore one can speak only
by way of similes.
The description of the development of the world of
man has been brought to the point where the earth reaches the
beginning of its physical densification. One should now represent to
oneself the condition of development of this world of man at this
stage. What later appears as sun, moon, and earth is still united in
a single body. This body possesses only refined etheric matter. It is
only within this matter that the beings which later will appear as
men, animals, plants, and minerals have their existence, For the
further progress of the development, the one heavenly body must first
separate into two, of which one becomes the later sun, while the
other contains the later earth and the later moon in a still united
form. Only later does a process of division also take place in this
latter heavenly body; that which becomes the present-day moon is
extruded, and the earth alone remains as the dwelling-place of man
and of his fellow-creatures.
The student of ordinary theosophical literature
should understand clearly that the separation of the one heavenly
body into two took place in the period in which this literature
places the development of the so-called second principal human race.
The human ancestors of this race are described as forms with refined
etheric bodies. But one must not imagine that they could have
developed on our present earth after it had already separated itself
from the sun and had expelled the moon. After this separation, such
etheric bodies were no longer possible.
If one follows the development of mankind in that
cycle to which our description has now come, and which leads us into
the present, one becomes aware of a series of principal conditions,
of which our current one is the fifth.
The preceding expositions from the Akasha
Chronicle have already dealt with these conditions. Here we shall
only repeat what is necessary for a further deepening of the
discussion.
The first principal condition shows the human
ancestors as highly refined etheric entities. The usual theosophical
literature somewhat inexactly calls these entities the first
principal race. This condition essentially continues during the
second epoch, in which this literature places the second principal
race. Until this stage of development sun, moon, and earth are still
one heavenly body. Now the sun splits off as an independent body. It
thereby takes those forces through which the human ancestors could be
maintained in their etheric condition. With the splitting-off of the
sun a densification of the human forms and also of the forms of man's
fellow-creatures takes place. These creatures must now adapt
themselves to their new dwelling-place, as it were.
But it is by no means only the material forces
which are taken away from this dwelling-place. Spiritual entities, of
whom it has been said that they formed a spirit community on the one
heavenly body we have described, also leave at the same time. Their
existence remains more intimately connected with the sun then with
the heavenly body which the sun has thrust out from itself. If these
entities had remained united with the forces which later develop on
the earth and on the moon, they themselves could not have developed
further to their appropriate levels. They needed a new dwelling-place
for this further development. This is provided for them by the sun
after it — so to speak — has cleansed itself of the earth
and moon forces. At the stage at which these beings now are, they can
act on earth and moon forces only from the outside, from the sun.
One can see the reason for the separation we have
described. Until this time, certain entities which are higher than
man have gone through their development on the one heavenly body
characterized above; they now lay claim to a part of it for
themselves, and leave the rest to man and his fellow-creatures.
The consequence of the splitting-off of the sun
was a radical revolution in the development of man and of his
fellow-creatures. They fell as it were from a higher level of
existence to a lower. They had to do this, for they lost the
immediate connection with those higher beings. They would have
entered entirely into a blind alley in their own development if other
universal events had not taken place, through which progress was
stimulated anew and the development directed into quite different
channels.
With the forces which at present are united
in the split-off moon, and which at that time were still within the
earth, further progress would have been impossible. Present-day
mankind could not have been produced with these forces, but, instead,
only a kind of being in which the emotions of rage, hate and so
forth, developed during the third great cycle, the Moon existence,
would have increased to the point of the immoderate and animal.
During a certain period, this was in fact the
case. The immediate consequence of the splitting-off of the sun was
the arising of the third principal condition of the ancestors of man,
which in theosophical literature is designated as the third principle
race, the Lemurian. Again, the designation “race” for
this condition of development is not an especially fortunate one. For
in a real sense, the human ancestors of that time cannot be compared
with what today one designates as “race.” One must be
completely clear about the fact that the evolutionary forms of the
distant past as well as of the future are so entirely different from
those of today that our present appellations can only serve as
makeshifts, and really lose all meaning in relation to these remote
epochs.
Actually, one can only begin to speak of
“races” in connection with the development attained in
about the second third of the third principal condition identified
above (the Lemurian). Only then is formed what today one calls
“races.” This “racial character” is retained
in the period of the Atlantean development, and further into our time
of the fifth principal condition. But already at the end of our fifth
era, the word “race” will again lose all sense. In
future, mankind will be divided into parts which it will be
impossible to designate as “races.” In this respect,
ordinary theosophical literature has caused much confusion. This has
especially been done by Sinnett's Esoteric Buddhism, the book
which, on the other hand, has the great merit of having been the
first to popularize the theosophical world-outlook in recent times.
In this book the universal development is described as if, throughout
the cosmic cycles, the “races” forever repeated
themselves in the same way. But this is by no means the case. That
which deserves to be called “race” also comes into
being and perishes. One should only use the expression
“race” for a certain span in the development of mankind.
Before and after this, there are evolutionary forms which are
something totally different from “races.”
Only because the true deciphering of the Akasha
Chronicle fully authorizes one to make such a remark have we presumed
to make it here. In this the decipherer knows himself to be in
complete accord with true occult spiritual investigation. Otherwise
it could never occur to him to make such objections against the
meritorious books of theosophical literature. He might also make the
really quite superfluous remark that the inspirations of the great
teachers mentioned in Esoteric Buddhism are not contradicted
by what has been described here, but that the misunderstanding has
only been produced by the fact that the author of that book has
transposed the wisdom of these inspirations, which is difficult to
express, into modern every-day human language, in his own way.
The third principal condition of the development
of mankind presents itself as the one in which the
“races” first came into being. This event was brought
about by the separation of the moon from the earth. This separation
was accompanied by the originating of the two sexes. This stage of
the development of mankind has been repeatedly referred to in the
descriptions from the “Akasha Chronicle.” When the earth,
still united with the moon, split off from the sun, a male and a
female sex did not as yet exist within mankind. Each human being
combined the two sexes within its still highly refined body.
It must be remembered however that these
double-sexed human ancestors were on a low level of development as
compared with present-day man. The lower impulses acted with
immeasurable energy, and nothing of a spiritual development as yet
existed. That the latter was stimulated and that thereby the lower
impulses were confined within certain bounds, is connected with the
fact that, at the same time at which earth and moon separated, the
former came into the sphere of influence of other heavenly bodies.
This extremely significant co-operation of the earth with other
heavenly bodies, its meeting with foreign planets, in the time which
theosophical literature calls the Lemurian, will be related in a
further chapter of the “Akasha Chronicle.”
The same course of development will be described
once more, but from a different point of view. This is done for a
quite definite reason. One can never look at the truths about the
higher worlds from too many aspects. One should realize that from any
one aspect it is possible to give only the poorest sketch. And when
one looks at the same thing from the most diverse aspects, the
impressions one receives in this way only gradually complement each
each other to form an ever more animated picture. Only such
pictures, not dry, schematic concepts, can help the man who wants to
penetrate into the higher worlds. The more animated and colorful the
pictures, the more can one hope to approach the higher reality.
It is obvious that it is just the pictures from
the higher worlds which arouse mistrust in many today. A person is
quite content to be given conceptual schemes and classifications
— with as many names as possible — of Devachan, of
the development of the planets, and so forth; but he becomes more
difficult when somebody presumes to describe the supersensible worlds
as a traveller describes the landscapes of South America. Yet one
should realize that it is only through fresh, animated pictures that
one is given something useful, not through dead schemes and
names.
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