The Central Position Of The Etheric Body - Part II

"THE human personality has a very complex structure. Apart from the physical body there are also an etheric body and an astral body. Fourthly, there is also a mind, a mental body, which is still in a very elementary stage of development.

The purpose of the gnostic process of development is to give back to the fourfold personality its Original destination as intended by God, and to make it completely subservient to this destination, because only on that basis is Divine-human life possible.

Striving to enter this Divine-human state of life in an uninterrupted flow of new manifestations of life is the essence of the gnostic aim. All of this aims for the unification with the Christ*.

* The Christ is not a man who walked the earth 2,000 years ago and was crucified, but a mighty radiation power that permeates this solar system and is present here and now, surrounding and penetrating every creature and creation on earth. ~ g

No doubt your self-knowledge is great enough for you to experience tangibly the great chasm that stretches between your fourfold personality and the Christ. If you can experience even a the slightest part of this divine greatness, you will feel completely unworthy. Hence, you will know, and see it clearly and distinctly before you, that unification of your fourfold nature-born personality with the Christ is unthinkable. That would mean the burning up of your personality.

And yet, an encounter with this Supreme Power of Liberation can neither be avoided nor postponed. Actions to slow down progress cannot be catered for in the Gnosis' great process of development, because the processes of development of the world and humanity have to continue; they have to run their course as determined by the Logos, with or without the co-operation of the entities concerned.

For this reason the atmospheric changes and developments that are occurring at present form a situation of the greatest urgency for all of humanity. It is of no use for any mortal to try his best to cultivate an aspect of his personality, or to achieve a splitting of the personality*, in the expectation of thus achieving a union with the Most High, because due to the present and future atmospheric developments, all imitations will be completely unmasked.

*"cultivation of the personality" is when people attempt to adjust their behaviour so that they may become as 'cultured', 'refined' or as 'spiritual' as possible, in the hopes that 'being good' will be enough to get them into man's so-called 'heaven'. "Splitting of the personality" is what the occultist trains himself to do so that he can travel in his astral body, fully-conscious, during periods of sleep or trance, while the etheric body remains with the physical body. ~ g

It is therefore necessary to draw your attention once again to your fourfold nature-born personality, and the etheric body in particular, also called the etheric double or vital body, for this vehicle contains the center of gravity of the development in the period that has now commenced.

The present astral atmospheric conditions and the current exchange of the inflowing and outgoing radiations of the Holy Seven-Spirit, of the Gnosis of the fulfilment, force every human being to a very radical re-orientation of his directedness, and a multi-faceted shift of interest, from the physical body to the etheric body. For there, in the etheric double, in the 'vehicle that is in the middle', the nucleus of the liberating conscious has to be anchored.

When we speak in the Spiritual School about soul-rebirth, we mean the creation of a new soul consciousness, emanating from and living in the etheric body.  This consciousness will begin to guide the entire personality, while the matter-born "I" must be fully prepared to entrust itself completely to this guidance. Only then will a total transfiguration of the whole personality be able to begin. The personality is now still held prisoner by all the chains of matter.

The current change of the radiation conditions has consequences not only on the physical plane, as you will understand, but also on the astral and etheric planes. More complicated and more polluted than the physical plane is the etheric plane of life that is populated by myriads of beings. All life and activity in the etheric planes is being hounded by the new radiation values of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, causing all these beings in the tenuous, subtle planes to seek refuge in the physical plane.

On the one hand, we have humanity in which the etheric double is in the process of being viviified, but which, with a few exceptions, is totally unconscious of this vehicle of the personality. On the other hand, there are the forces and powers which are seeking a safe refuge and are swooping down on the developing etheric vehicles of the great masses. This is the only explanation for the senseless crimes being committed in all parts of the world and in all strata of society, apparently without any reasonable explanation.

It is not only great criminality that seeks our attention in this context; it is also all the strange, often illogical and impulsive behavior that takes place on the edge of, or just above, the criminal or at least very questionable sphere.

Now you may be inclined to focus your attention on the criminal elements outside your own immediate sphere. Or perhaps you could think of someone you know closely and who, in your opinion, is behaving strangely, and to whom the above description could very well apply.

But no matter how much your perception of things outside yourself may confirm the urgent distress of humanity -- in the first instance you should include yourself in your perception. For as long as you are not living out of the fire of Divine grace, out of the gnostic astral forces, you are forced, with your disturbed magnetic system, to live out of the astral sphere of death and the ethers that develop from there, with all the resulting consequences. Just like every other human being, you are open to the ordinary dualistic ethers which are saturated with undivine life.

The choice will therefore be quite apparent to the true pupil of the School of the Golden Rosycross. In self-surrender to the soul, he will try to live, work and strive on the basis of the fire of Divine grace and thus serve a two-fold cause:

-- firstly, the New Soul will take shape in him or her, thus in principle liberating the soul,

-- secondly, he will thus become a living stone in the group of the young Gnostic Brotherhood. This group will be strong both inwardly and outwardly and possess a conscious Spirit-Soul.

He or she will testify and prove that everything that humanity still experiences as a time of great distress, can be turned into a Blessing. After all, that is the purpose of the atmospheric developments in the great order of things".

"The Central Position of the Etheric Body" - The Living Word - Catharose de Petri
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