The Wheel Of Birth And Death

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Earlier we pointed out that, as a consequence of the Fall, mankind sank into a lower stratum of our globe and that the laws prevailing in our domain of life are dualistic, whereas in the stratum where we formerly lived they were static. By this we mean that everything in this world is subject to a process of rising, shining and fading, because all faculties continually change to their opposites. This is the signature of the world of Time, of all that is changeable, temporal and transitory. It is the world of unceasing disintegration. The world of statics, on the other hand, is everlasting, unchangeable being; it is the world of absolute freedom, only linked to God; it is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The dualistic world is at the same time a curse and a mercy. It is a curse because nothing in it is lasting, everything comes and goes, good and evil keep each other in balance and all this is utterly hopeless and without purpose. It is a mercy because, due to this instability, nothing can crystallize permanently, eternally. It continually breaks up the evil we have committed and keeps fallen mankind in motion.

In this connection we also need to consider two other laws on nature: the law of death and the law of microcosmic reincarnation. Both these merciful emergency laws are inherent in the dualistic character of our stratum of life.

Death is caused by a disharmonious metabolic process, in which the renewal of cells does not keep pace with their wastage.  The human organism normally renews itself within a period of seven years but, in the long run, this proves to be too slow; there is more use than replenishment of forces, more wear than renewal so that, due to all kinds of diseases, man must die. True, it is possible to prolong human life somewhat by means of eugenics, but death is inescapable.

There is a widespread belief that when man dies he will go to his 'eternal home', but this is a mystification and totally wrong. Like any other stratum, the dualistic (or physical) stratum consists of two halves or spheres: the earthly sphere and the hereafter, divided into heavenly and hellish spheres. At death, the visible human figure disintegrates. The dead physical body stays behind in the earthly sphere, along with the blood soul and the lower aspects of the vital (or etheric) body. The consciousness and the soul, together with the rest of the body, which consists of the higher ethers, the desire body and the mental body, after spending some time in a region of transition, depart either for the heavenly or for the hellish sphere. On 'the other side', the desire body and the mental body also disintegrate after a longer or shorter period. The consciousness and the soul remain, together with several proto-atoms from each body, in which the essence of the life-just-lived is preserved as the harvest of experience.

When the microcosm has emptied itself in this way, the admission of a new mortal personality in the field of manifestation becomes necessary, because of the powers that are unchained. These powers are concentrated in the auric being, the lipika, as the karma of the microcosm. The microcosm is again attracted to the earthly principle of existence and brought into contact with the parents of the new personality, which is then born in the earthly sphere and, during this process, also brought into contact with the blood soul of its microcosmic predecessor.

In this way a new earthly life begins, subjected to the past. The wheel begins a new, downward rotation and the journey to the grave is begun again. So man, the microcosm, remains bound to rising, shining and fading, in uninterrupted, automatic repetition, without any prospect of release, perhaps thousands of times.

How can we free ourselves from this Wheel? There is no way...unless man realizes his state as a Prodigal Son, resolves to return and begins the process of Transfiguration, the process of personality exchange. Then and only then will he be freed from the Wheel. No sooner and no later.

From "The Wheel of Birth and Death" - Elementary Philosophy of the Modern Rosycross - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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So, how does it feel to be a cosmic hamster? The foregoing represents the truth regarding the fundamental mechanics of man's existence both in the flesh and out of it. Man is stuck on a treadmill to nowhere and completely unconscious of his predicament. That is why messengers periodically incarnate in an attempt to open men's eyes so that some may see the light of truth. These Sent Ones are charged with an extremely difficult task because humanity has been so thoroughly and completely lied to and bamboozled that they believe wrong is right and right is wrong.

Death, so-called, is a necessary part of what passes for life in this emergency-order. If it were not for this periodic interruption of physical existence man would crystallize beyond salvation. If man were allowed to live for hundreds or thousands of years, the damage done to both microcosm (man) and macrocosm (the solar system) would be incalculable. Just think for a moment of humanity's present situation, of its selfish leaders, its blind followers, its selfish fads and selfish, sick perversions. Can you imagine what would happen to the world if all of these things were allowed to continue without interruption? Disaster.

Because man is ignorant (ignorant meaning 'un-informed', not 'stupid') he fears the inevitability of death. That is why it is the mission of the Sent Ones to reveal to mankind that there is a way to conquer death, but we must follow a narrow path and enter by way of a narrow gate. That is the purpose of the Gnosis, the agency of the Divine Plan of Salvation.

Only those who have a spark of Remembrance will be driven to seek the Path of Return. Those entities who are at comfortable and content with physical life and the unceasing interplay of the Pairs of Opposites will have to remain chained to the Wheel for as long as it takes for them to develop the desire to return Home.

~ g
.