13 December 2014

Fishbowl (Re-post)


Originally posted on 30 July 2013

Imagine that your microcosm is a globe-shaped fishbowl with you, the personality, in the center. You are surrounded and inter-penetrated by astral fluid, just as a fish is surrounded and inter-penetrated by water. As the quality of the fish is determined by the quality of the water that surrounds it, so the quality of the human personality is determined and conditioned by the quality of the astral fluid that surrounds him or her.

Our thoughts are living creations. When we think a thought, a particular vibration is sent into the surrounding astral field. If our thoughts are impure, evil, selfish, fearful, critical, judgmental, vengeful etc., the thought-vibration we send forth will color our astral field accordingly. The emotional body is conditioned by those mental emanations and the ethers that compose the etheric body are also extracted from those astral vibrations. The etheric body, as we know, vitalizes and conditions the physical body.

From the foregoing, one should be able to see that what we think dictates our desires and eventually manifests itself in the health or disease of the physical body. Man lives in a fishbowl. Our astral creations - our thoughts - surround and inter-penetrate all four vehicles of our human personality. If, via wrong-thinking we pollute our respiration-field, the astral field that surrounds us, we have to understand that there will be consequences to deal with and a bill that must be paid.

We are what we think. When we look in a mirror, or examine our desires, or take note of our physical condition, we are seeing our thoughts being reflected back to us.  If we do not like the reflection there is but one thing we can do:

Purify our thoughts. Clean up the fishbowl.

~ g
.

2 comments:

Andrew said...

g

Could I ask you about the Causal Body? The Causal Body does not appear in the teachings of the LR or do they call it by another name? Some organizations such as Alice Bailey claim that the 3 higher aspects of the mental body are the causal body. Could you clarify this for me. Thank you.
Andrew

BrotherGee said...



andrew,

There are seven planes of activity here in the Seventh Cosmic Domain. From 1 to 7 they are: Atmic, Buddhic, Higher Mental, Lower Mental, Astral, Etheric and Physical.

Man has a vehicle that corresponds with each of these planes but most are only aware of the physical vehicle. That is why it is sometimes said that man is multi-dimensional. This is in fact so, except that the average man is currently completely unconscious on the levels higher than Lower Mental, which is the domain of the Mind.

As stated by A.B., the three higher aspects of the Mental Body collectively form the Causal Body. The following is taken from 'The Causal Body' by A. E. Powell:

"The mental plane, as we know, is the sphere of action of what we call mind or manas, in man.

As we have already seen, the plane is divided into two parts, the higher, consisting of three
upper sub-planes, and the lower, consisting, of the four lower sub-planes. The two divisions
are known as
arupa, or formless, and rupa, having form.

In man, Intellect has, as its vehicle, the causal body, with abstract thought as its function, whilst Mind has, as its vehicle the mental body, with the function of concrete thinking".


LR recognizes these aspects of the Universal Doctrine and teaches about the lower four vehicles (physical, etheric, astral and lower mental) but does not dwell on the causal body as such. There is the concept of an auric being that acts as the repository for the accumulated "powers, values and commitments" of all prior personalities in the microcosm. Within this concept, the idea of a causal body can be inferred.

The mission of the Theosophical Society at the turn of the last century was to make man aware of his latent multi-dimensionality and to educate him as to the care and feeding of his subtle vehicles. The present-day mission of LR is to teach man how to understand the role that these vehicles play in the task inherited by all human personalities: the Liberation of the Other One who sleeps within.

The concept of the causal body is quite sublime. Only speculating here, but it is possible that JVR and LR did not want to get bogged down in the technical aspect of explaining the ins and outs of this vehicle. It is more important that man gain insight on those things that will enable him to successfully walk the Path of the True Way. Knowledge of the four lower vehicles and the influence of the archons and aeons upon those vehicles is sufficient for embarking upon that task.

However, if you wish to get more immediate details, it is recommended that you read Chapters 15-18 of 'The Causal Body'. The Theosophical Society performed a great service to mankind during their time on earth by breaking down for us, in careful detail, the workings of the etheric, astral and mental bodies and their corresponding planes. Their works are in the public domain and pdfs can be found at www.hermetics.org, among other locations on the web.

all love,

~ g