The Third Nature

[QUOTING]

The struggling pupil on the Path who has not yet transcended the nature-birth and thus still stands in the nature-of-death, is constantly in danger of being victimized and deluded by the strange, sinister and capricious interplay of opposites. He is full of problems and questions, and hardly a moment passes without him demanding some sort of solution or answer. This pupil, the seeker you know so well, is protected in the midst of these great dangers by the light of the Gnosis. The true seeker, whose whole way of life is focused on the Path, is always overshadowed by the Gnosis.

The pupil who perseveres in the New Way of Life and does not forsake the Path is accompanied by the Living Soul. This companionship becomes ever more clear, ever more positive, ever more permanent until finally a firm bond is formed which exercises a powerful influence on the serpent-fire column (the consciousness fluid present in the spinal column). Only the living Soul, the Soul united with the Spirit, can truly help, heal, and liberate you, and when it does, it will demonstrate its presence throughout your being. Anyone who possesses this "staff of Mercury" is strong, and he will overcome. Those who do not yet possess it are weak, mortal beings wandering and stumbling in darkness.

Even if the Soul is not able to speak or is not yet sufficiently awake, the serious pupil who perseveres on the Path is always helped by the universal Gnosis, not only as regards to his soul, but also as regards his personality.

If you want to understand these things, you should always bear in mind that the Soul and the personality are very different in nature. The Soul has to incline itself towards the personality which is in and of this nature-of-death, and the personality has to incline itself towards the Soul, which is of the nature of Life. The central issue of gnostic alchemy, the great problem of the inner grades, is that the Soul and the personality must first incline towards each other; then they must meet, then they must fuse; then transfiguration has come about, and finally liberation itself.

So this fivefold process means that, particularly in the beginning, a new basis must be found and constructed; a basis for working in and with two natures that do not belong to each other and which absolutely cannot and may not go together, because the personality must merge into the Soul-nature. This new basis of work, especially in the early stages, in fact constitutes a third nature. It is through this nature that the liberating life can be reached, and the Great Mission accomplished.

Information about this Third Nature is needed by every pupil. On the one hand, there is the nature of Life, and on the other, the nature-of-death. In the power of the nature of Life the candidate begins his path and dissociates himself from the nature-of-death. In-between is the temporary Third Nature, which is neither one nor the other. This Third Nature is referred to in practical terms as "the Path", and it brings with it a totally different psychological condition.

Imagine that you now decide to follow the Path, or that some time ago, or a long time ago (as in a previous incarnation), you decided to do so. It is not a path that automatically connects the two extremes of the nature-of-death and the nature of Life, but it can form a link between the two. Then, from the very first second, you form for yourself a Third Nature. The Path is not there, you have to make it yourself. There is no such thing as an official, explored Third Nature. You must bring this nature to life yourself; you yourself must forge the way. If anyone says to you: 'Show me the Path. Then I will decide whether I want to follow it', you will not be able to answer, or at least, not in a direct way, because your path is your own path, your own Third Nature, and you cannot take anyone with you on it. The Third Nature begins where you begin, and is manifested where you are manifested, as a true pupil.

However, what is possible and indeed desirable, what in fact could almost be called essential, is that, as a group, working together in total surrender, brotherly love and non-conflict, we form a collective Third Nature -  an Ark, a Celestial Ship, or Living Body. The better the Ark is constructed, the more it measures up to what is required, the more the Third Nature adapts itself to the Living Nature, the faster and better your Path will unfold. So while, in theory, every pupil follows his Path autonomously, calling his own Third Nature into being, in practice going together is of the greatest importance, and is in keeping with Divine Law.

You know the commandment: 'Love God above everything'. It is because of this law that your concentration on the Divine Goal opens for you. But the law also goes on to say: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. If your pupilship is genuine, and your Third Nature is in the process of manifesting itself, you will be filled not only with love for God, but also for His creature. If you keep moving forwards and upwards, the love that is in you will compel you to serve your neighbor with your most absolute love.

Then, group-unity will be no problem. The way of Life and universal Love is the key to gnostic pupilship. This Love is, and must begin with: non-conflict. If you are willing to enter into that, the Third Nature will open for you, and for the first time, you will really be in the group, in the Celestial Ship, which is the group's Third Nature. Then, for the pupil and the group alike, the Third Nature will have become a reality. And you will be able to experience its presence anywhere, the moment you direct your attention to God, that is, to the Gnosis, or Shamballa.

Now let us consider what happens if, as a person born of nature, belonging to the nature-of-death, you decide to make it your goal to reach the Original Life-Field, Shamballa. You not only take this decision mentally and emotionally, but you also prove it, by adopting a new attitude to life. If you do so, you invoke the power of God, which is omnipresent. As a result of that power, a certain activity starts to make itself felt in your personal astral field. The effects of this are transferred from the astral to the etheric, and from the etheric to the material body. In this way, a manifestation, a creation, comes into being within and around you. This creation stands entirely in the Goodness, Love and Wisdom which is God. And that is how the Divine Trinity becomes a reality, in a direct and clearly manifested way. The Invisible becomes visible in and through Its creation, in Its creature, in a way that is totally in keeping with the creature's state-of-being.

That is why the manifestation of the Third Nature is always changing, for when the pupil progresses and Soul and personality are united once again, under the shadow of the hermetic wings, the Third Nature will manifest itself in a different way. For the Creator always accompanies His creature, until the Good End is reached.

"The Third Nature" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis Vol. IV - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

This nature-of-death and the nature of Life, the Divine Kingdom, are two separate and diametrically opposed life-fields. Thus, we need a Third Nature to act as a bridge over the chasm that separates these two fields of manifestation. Those who have gone before us on the Path have constructed Shamballa, the Third Nature for all those who have passed beyond the veil while walking the Path. Each of us must construct our own Third Nature, while in the physical, in order to link ourselves to the power-field of Shamballa

The Path is not simply mystical, occult dream-nonsense. It is a living process which, if made into the primary focus of one's physical incarnation, will deliver that one out of the nature-of-death and safely back into the Divine Kingdom.

~ g
.