Compilation “Mahamanvanatara” (8 pages)

 

(CF 157)  1. Inertia.  This characterises every atom at the dawn of manifestation, at the beginning of a solar cycle or mahamanvantara (or one hundred years of Brahma), at the commencement of a chain, of a globe, or of any spheroidal form whatsoever without exception.  This statement, therefore, includes the totality of manifesting forms within the solar system.

 

(CF 744) Between Two Solar Systems.  This covers the period of one hundred years of Brahma, and through the study of the planetary cycles comprehension of these greater cycles may come.  Complication comes to the student nevertheless in the fact that two of the schemes cover their cyclic periods in five rounds, while others have seven; one scheme has but three rounds, but a mystery is hidden here:  on the inner round one planet has nine cycles to run before the purpose of its Lord is completed.

 

(CF 740)  (5) The Great Pralaya.  This interval comes at the close of every one hundred years of Brahma, and sweeps into dissolution forms of every kind-subtle and dense-throughout the entire system.  It is a period analogous to that dealt with when we considered the abstraction of man from his etheric vehicle, and his ability then to function on the astral plane, dissociated from his dual physical form.  Within the system a process similar to that undergone when man withdraws the etheric body out of the dense physical vehicle, will be seen towards the close of the mahamanvantara.  It will cover the period wherein the lesser four Rays merge and blend, seeking duality, and their polar opposites.  Eventually the four become two, the two become one, and all are then synthesised into the third major Ray.  The time is not yet, but lies countless aeons ahead.  It is the first appearance of the destroyer aspect in connection with the planetary schemes, and marks the beginning of the [Page 741] time when the "Heavens will melt with fervent heat," and the Sun becomes seven suns.48

 

(CF 605)  The 5th group of Devas Fire Devas of the mental plane.

The 5th Manvantara        Three-fifths of the manasaputras achieve.

The 5th scheme The Lord of concrete science.

The 5th Mahamanvantara (or solar system) The solar Logos achieves His fifth major Initiation.

The 5th chain     Principal evolution-fire devas.

The 5th Hierarchy           The greater Builders.

Vibrations of fifth order    Manasic.

 

(CF 274)  a. Repetition in time:  The thought of cyclic activity necessitates periods of time of differing length-greater or lesser cycles-but (according to their length) of uniform degree.  A manvantara, or Day of Brahma, is always of a certain length, and so is a mahamanvantara.  The cycles wherein an atom of any plane revolves upon its axis are uniform on its own plane.

 

(CF 299)  In connection with these two planets, it must be remembered that Venus is a sacred planet and the Earth is not.  This means that certain of the planets are to the Logos what the permanent atoms are to man.  They embody principles.  Certain planets afford only temporary [Page 299] homes to these principles.  Others persist throughout the mahamanvantara.  Of these Venus is one.

 

(IHS 220) Mahamanvantara. The great interludes of time between two solar systems.  This term is frequently applied to the greater solar cycles.  It implies a period of universal activity.

 

(CF 87)   Again in the solar system itself similar action will eventuate at the close of a Mahamanvantara.  The Logos will withdraw within Himself, abstracting His three major principles.37  His body of manifestation-the Sun [Page 87] and the seven sacred Planets, all existing in etheric matter-will withdraw from objectivity and become obscured.  From the usual physical standpoint, the light of the system will go out.  This will be succeeded by a gradual inbreathing until He shall have gathered all unto Himself; the etheric will cease to exist, and the web will be no more.  Full consciousness will be achieved, and in the moment of achievement existence or entified manifestation will cease.  All will be reabsorbed within the Absolute; pralaya,38 or the cosmic heaven of rest will then ensue, and the Voice of the Silence will be heard no more.  The reverberations of the WORD will die away, and the "Silence of the High Places" will reign supreme.

 

(CF 146)  The First Logos.  The first Logos is the Ray of Cosmic Will.  His mode of action is a literal driving forward of the solar ring-pass-not through space, and until the end of this mahamanvantara or day of Brahma (the logoic [Page 146] cycle) we shall not be able to conceive of the first aspect of will or power as it really is.  We know it now as the will to exist, manifesting through the matter of the forms (the Primordial Ray and the Divine Ray), and we know it as that which in some occult manner links the system up with its cosmic centre.  In a manner inconceivable to us the first Logos brings in the influence of other constellations.  When this first aspect is better understood (in the next mahamanvantara) the work of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear,65 and the supreme influence of Sirius will be comprehended; in this present manifestation of the Son, or of the Vishnu aspect, we are concerned more closely with the Pleiades and their influence via the Sun, and, in relation to our planet, via Venus.

 

This subject of the first Logos, manifesting only in connection with the other two in the system, is a profound mystery, which is not fully understood by even those who have taken the sixth Initiation.

 

(CF 251)  [Page 251] b. A Heavenly Man contains within Himself that which corresponds to the cells within the vehicles of expression of a human being.  The atoms or cells in His body are made up of the aggregate of the deva and human units who vibrate to His key note, and who respond to the measure of His life.  All are held together and animated by His will to be, and all vibrate according to the point achieved by Him in evolution.  From the cosmic standpoint a Heavenly Man can be seen as a sphere of wondrous life, which includes within its radius of influence the vibratory capacity of an entire planetary scheme.  He vibrates to a certain measure, which can be estimated by the activity of the life pulsating at the centre of the sphere; the entire planetary scheme is tinctured by a certain color, is rotating to a fixed key which is the key of His life cycle within the still greater mahamanvantara or logoic cycle.

 

(CF 272)  b. A Heavenly Man has His source outside the solar system (as man outside the three worlds of his endeavor), has His main focal point on the second plane of the system, the monadic, and is seeking consciousness on the planes of the Triad,-this in relation to all the cells in His body.  He developed consciousness on the three [Page 272] lower planes of the three worlds during the first solar system, again in relation to the cells in His body.  Man is repeating His endeavor up to the fifth Initiation which will bring him to a stage of consciousness achieved by a Heavenly Man in a much earlier mahamanvantara.  In connection with the initiations this should be carefully borne in mind.

 

c. A solar Logos has His origin on a still higher cosmic level, has His main focal point on the cosmic mental plane but is expressing Himself through the three lower cosmic planes just as man is seeking self-expression in the three worlds.  Therefore, the seven major planes of the solar system are in the same relation to Him cosmically as the physical plane is to a human being.  They form His etheric and dense bodies.  It might be stated that:

 

(CF 334)  A man is a coherent unit in objective manifestation for very brief periods on the physical plane simply because as yet he works only through manas and not through wisdom.  His cycles are consequently soon run, and gone like a flash in the night.  A planetary Logos, Who is perfected manas and works through wisdom, has longer cycles, and from the angle of vision of man endures for aeons; His life is the basis of the comparative permanence of the egoic cycles of man.  The cycle of objectivity of a solar Logos persists for the greater mahamanvantara or solar cycle because it is based on will as well as on wisdom and manas.  Therefore, it will be apparent that:

a. Manas or intelligence is the basis of the separative manifestation of man.

b. Wisdom or buddhi is the basis of the group manifestation of a Heavenly Man.

c. Will is the basis of the One Life which synthesises all groups.

 

(CF 347)  This second method therefore is that which is brought about by the hastening of the evolutionary process through influences from outside; these tend to awaken consciousness, and to bring about the merging of the poles.  The first method touched upon was that of the earlier solar system.  The method we are now considering is the distinctive one of this solar system and will persist till the end of the mahamanvantara.

 

(CF 530)  A man can attain group consciousness; he can vibrate to the note of the Heavenly Man in Whose body he is a cell; he can demonstrate in relative perfection fire by friction and solar fire, but it remains for a later mahamanvantara to reveal [Page 530] the true nature of Spirit.  Therefore in man, functioning in the human family, this fact is apparent and the correspondence to be seen.  Until he passes out of the three worlds, and until he becomes a Master of the Wisdom, he has this truth concealed in these three aspects. 

 

(CF 557)  First.  That in due course of time, as the Logos [Page 557] achieves liberation from the trammels of physical matter, the whole objective system will come to be regarded as an idea or concept, clothed in a veil or sheath of subtler matter than the physical, and the logoic body will be viewed as the product of will and desire, and physical matter in any of its grades will not enter into its composition; it will simply be a desire body.  This will bring about a condition of affairs inconceivable to us, and only to be somewhat apprehended by the man who can function upon the systemic buddhic plane the fourth cosmic ether.  Bear in mind here that our astral plane is but the sixth subplane of the cosmic physical plane and that this provides us with no real grounds from which to reason concerning the cosmic astral plane.  Only when the astral plane is a calm receiver of buddhic impulse, or a liquid reflector of that plane (which will not be till the close of the mahamanvantara) shall we be able to formulate any ideas anent the cosmic astral plane.

 

(CF 592)  In the fifth round this law will act as the divider, temporarily crystallising and fixing into two great classes the human Monads, as they evolve.  One group then (containing those who will reach the goal), will pass gradually out from under the domination of this law, and will come under the Law of Magnetic Control.  The other will remain under the law in a static condition, until in a later period a fresh opportunity will come; old forms will break, and in another mahamanvantara, and in its fifth period, will come the chance for which they will have waited, when they can again swing into the current of evolution and the imprisoned spirits may mount again towards their source.

 

(CF 605)  Three hierarchies are, in this mahamanvantara, of profound significance, the fourth or human Creative Hierarchy, and the two deva hierarchies, the fifth and sixth.

 

The fourth Hierarchy in the larger scheme is literally the ninth, for five hierarchies have earlier passed on and are considered as pure abstractions.  In this system concretion concerns us, and the blending of form and of energy into one coherent whole.  In the ninth, tenth and eleventh Hierarchies lie the clue to the nature of Agni, the Lord of fire, the sumtotal of systemic vitality.  He who understands the significance of these figures, and their relation to each other as the triple division of a Unity in time and space will have discovered [Page 606] one of the keys which will unlock a door hitherto fast closed.  They are the numbers of achievement, of potentiality brought into full activity and of innate capacity demonstrating in perfect fruition.  All potentiality lies in the vitalising, energising power of Agni, and in His ability to stimulate.

 

(CF 619)  In the first solar system the negative substance aspect, the Mother aspect or matter, was perfected.  The lower Pitris dominated.  In this system force activity lies in the hands of the solar Pitris or greater devas.  At the close of the mahamanvantara they will have built according [Page 619] to the plan a perfect sheath or vehicle of expression for the Divine Thought, and this through the manipulation of negative substance; they utilise the heat of the Mother to nourish the germ of the Divine Thought, and to bring it to fruition.  When the germ has developed to maturity the Mother aspect no longer has a place, and the Man occultly is freed or liberated.  This idea runs through all manifestations, and the kingdoms of nature or the form (no matter what form it may be) nourish the germ of that which is the next step on in the evolutionary process, and are considered the Mother aspect.  This aspect is eventually discarded and superseded.  For example, the third kingdom, the animal, in the early stages nourishes and preserves the germ of that which will some day be a man; the personality is the preserver of that which will some day unfold into spiritual man.

 

(CF 667)  In the Heavenly Man these two great aspects of divinity are equally blended, and in the course of the mahamanvantara the imperfect Gods become perfect.  These broad and general distinctions are pointed out as they throw light upon the relationship of Man to the devas.

 

(CF 681)  There are two statements in the Secret Doctrine which are often overlooked by the casual reader but which, if [Page 681] duly pondered upon, convey much information.  Let us make note of these two statements:

 

1. Two connecting principles are needed.  This requires a living spiritual Fire of the middle principle from the Fifth and third states of Pleroma.  This fire is the possession of the Triangles.

2. These Beings are Nirvanis from a preceding Mahamanvantara.

 

(CF 685)  Again, it is only as the threefold dense physical body of a planetary Logos (as expressed by our three worlds, the mental, astral and dense physical planes) has reached [Page 685] a corresponding vibration and retraced the cyclic development of the previous mahamanvantara, that there is produced that vibratory contact which causes the shining out upon the mental plane of the egoic groups.  It brings forth a manifestation of the heart impulses of the Heavenly Man, and thus swings into objectivity those Monads (energised by the life of the Heart) who form various centres.  The old Commentary says:

 

(CF 687)  If the student endeavours to dissociate our solar system from that which preceded it, and if he considers the pralaya at the close of this mahamanvantara to be a final one, and the utter consummation of all things, he errs.  In the preceding system the cosmic physical plane attained a certain vibratory capacity, and the devas of the internal furnaces became (relatively speaking) highly evolved, the "fires of matter" then blazing forth.  Certain Existences attained self-consciousness in that earlier system, and are the "nirvanis" spoken of by H. P. B.26  As might be expected, they are characterised by active intelligence, achieved and developed by means of material evolution during a previous mahamanvantara. They [Page 687] are the Manasa devas and in their totality are the vehicles of the Divine mind, the dhyan-chohanic forces, the aggregate of the Ah-hi.  In this solar system the vibration of the cosmic astral plane is becoming dominant, and through that vibration, travelling via the fourth cosmic ether (whereon as earlier stated are the etheric centres of the planetary Logoi) and our systemic astral plane, certain eventualities become possible.  The "Sons of desire," logoic or human, can learn certain lessons, undergo certain experiences, and add the faculty of love-wisdom to the intelligence earlier gained.

 

Our solar Logos, and the Heavenly Men, are polarised on the cosmic astral plane, and the effect of Their life energy as it flows through the systemic "Heart" can be seen in the activity of the astral plane, and in the part sex and passion play in the development of man.  At the close of this mahamanvantara there will be ready for manifestation in the coming third system nirvanis who will be, in very essence, "active intelligent love"; they will have to wait until the five lower planes of the system have reached a stage of vibratory development which will permit them to enter, as the nirvanis in this system waited until the three lower planes became adequate in vibratory response.  We are here speaking in terms of the Heavenly Men.  In the Earth scheme, the analogy is hidden in the advent of the Egos in the third round, in the third root race and in the third chain.  Individualisation, as we understand it, was not possible until the "third state of pleroma" was reached, either universally where a Heavenly Man is concerned, or relatively in connection with a human unit.

 

(CF 695)  3. As earlier said, the dense physical is linked and co-ordinated with the etheric bodies of the solar logos and of the planetary Logos.  Therefore, the lower three planes are synthesised with the higher four, and the devas of an earlier mahamanvantara or solar cycle are brought into conjunction with those of a newer order who were awaiting just conditions.  The physical incarnation of the Logos is completed.  The lower three kingdoms, being negative to the higher force, the mutual attraction of these two and their interaction bring into being the fourth or human kingdom.  The three fires of mind, Spirit and matter are brought together and the work of full self-consciousness begun.

 

(CF 718)  On extra-systemic or cosmic levels, the individualisation process produces a corresponding activity in the egoic body of the Logos, and hence increased vibration in that centre in the body of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NOUGHT MAY BE SAID, which our Logos represents.  It also produces a reaction or "occult recognition" in the prototype of the Septenate, or in the seven Rishis of the Great Bear, and this reaction in cosmic circles will persist until the end of the mahamanvantara, when the Logos is set free (even though temporarily), from physical plane existence.

 

(CF 719)  The Egos awaiting opportunity will not, of course, enter in until the human type of that era is sufficiently refined for their purpose.  They are concerned with the unfoldment of the sixth petal of the logoic egoic Lotus, and are of such a nature that we can scarcely conceive of them.  They are on the line of the Buddhas of Activity, but the above named are free for this mahamanvantara, whereas these particular Egos have yet somewhat to work out.  They could only "come in" in the middle of the fifth round, and were a group of initiates who arrested their own evolution (technically speaking) in order to take up a special piece of work on the planet Vulcan; therefore, they must return to continue and complete that which has been left undone.  Owing to the results of their experience on Vulcan, the physical vehicle necessitated is of such an order that they could not at this time, and in this round, incarnate without disaster.

 

(CF 720)  Thus, in the mahamanvantara, the three methods of individualisation in connection with our planetary scheme are to be seen

 

a. In the Moon chain, the gradual evolution of self-consciousness under natural law.

b. In the Earth chain that of achieved self-consciousness through the aid of extraneous agencies.  It is the distinctive method of this system.

c. In the next round and chain the method will be abstraction through will power, but this in an embryonic manner.

 

(CF 732)  Identification with the aggregate of all groups might be the term used to express the final stages of the evolutionary process; it marks a period towards the close of the mahamanvantara when all groups begin consciously to work out the eternal Will.  It involves a type of realisation, incredible to man now but which is conceivable [Page 732] (though not yet practicable) to the Chohans of the Hierarchy now on Earth.  They work consciously carrying out the Will of the planetary Logos in the planet, but even They are as yet far from appreciating fully the Will and purpose of the Logos as He works through the system.  Glimpses They may get, and an idea of the general plan, but the details are as yet unrecognisable.

 

(CF 740)  (5) The Great Pralaya.  This interval comes at the close of every one hundred years of Brahma, and sweeps into dissolution forms of every kind-subtle and dense-throughout the entire system.  It is a period analogous to that dealt with when we considered the abstraction of man from his etheric vehicle, and his ability then to function on the astral plane, dissociated from his dual physical form.  Within the system a process similar to that undergone when man withdraws the etheric body out of the dense physical vehicle, will be seen towards the close of the mahamanvantara.  It will cover the period wherein the lesser four Rays merge and blend, seeking duality, and their polar opposites.  Eventually the four become two, the two become one, and all are then synthesised into the third major Ray.  The time is not yet, but lies countless aeons ahead.  It is the first appearance of the destroyer aspect in connection with the planetary schemes, and marks the beginning of the [Page 741] time when the "Heavens will melt with fervent heat," and the Sun becomes seven suns.48

 

(CF 742)  Before we take up planetary and cosmic pralaya, we might here consider the relationship of the Agnishvattas [Page 742] (who caused the individualisation of animal man on this planet), to other and previous cycles of evolution, and why we have only dealt with them from the point of view of a mahamanvantara, and of a kalpa.  The reason we have not considered specifically the group of Agnishvattas, Kumaras and Rudras connected with the Earth has been because we have handled the entire subject from the planetary standpoint, and not from that of the human family.  The student who seeks detailed information as to the Agnishvattas of the Earth chain has but to study the Secret Doctrine.  We have attempted to carry the thought of the student beyond his own tiny sphere to the consideration of the work of the Manasadevas in the solar system.  In every scheme They have Their place, but in some-as in the Jupiter scheme-They are just beginning Their work, and in others-as in the Vulcan and Venus schemes-Their work is nearly completed.  Venus is in her last round, and has nearly developed her fourth kingdom to perfection, or as much as it is possible in the system.  In the Earth scheme, They are in full tide of work, and only in the next round will They demonstrate the height of Their activity.  They pass cyclically through the schemes and under Law-the Law of Karma for the planetary Logos, for They are essentially concerned with His Life as it actuates His centres.  They come into a scheme on a wave of manasic energy from the head centre of the Logos, and in the process of passing through his Heart centre three things

 

(CF 744)In considering planetary pralaya we might briefly enumerate the following periods of quiescence:

 

Between Two Globes in a Chain.  This covers the period of abstraction of the seeds of all life, and its transference from one sphere to another.  The seed manu of a globe gathers all the life forces into Himself, as does the Logos at the close of a system, and as also transpires at the close of a chain, and holds them quiescent in His aura.  This covers a period of a manvantara, or of one day of Brahma.

 

  Between Two Chains.  This covers the period of a mahamanvantara, or of one year of Brahma.

There are many ways of arriving at the greater cycles, but there is no need to confuse with the intricacies of figures.  The ten Prajapatis or Rishis, or [Page 744] the ten planetary Logoi, manifest through Their ten schemes in time and space, the hour of Their appearing differing.  Each likewise manifests as does the Logos through a septenate and a triad, making again a ten of perfection.

 

(CF 744) Between Two Solar Systems.  This covers the period of one hundred years of Brahma, and through the study of the planetary cycles comprehension of these greater cycles may come.  Complication comes to the student nevertheless in the fact that two of the schemes cover their cyclic periods in five rounds, while others have seven; one scheme has but three rounds, but a mystery is hidden here:  on the inner round one planet has nine cycles to run before the purpose of its Lord is completed.

 

(CF 845)  First, the fact that our three planes, physical, astral, and mental, form the dense body of the solar Logos, and are therefore not considered as forming principles.

 

The second fact is that the lesser "lives" or the elemental essence are the "refuse" of an earlier system, and react to inherent impulses so powerfully that it was only possible to control them through the dynamic will of the Logos, consciously applied.  The word "refuse" must be interpreted analogically, and as is understood when it is said that man gathers to himself in each fresh incarnation matter to form his dense physical body which is tinged with the earlier vibrations of preceding incarnations.  These "lives" have been gradually drawn in during the entire mahamanvantara as it became safe and possible to control and bend them to the will of the greater Builders.  Much of the earlier energy-substance in systemic construction has been passed on into that force-matter which we call that of the lunar Pitris, and its place has gradually been taken by this type of energy, gathered in from the greater sphere in which our Logos has place.  The twelve evolutions are after all but the twelve types of energy, manifesting ever in three groups of forces, and again as one group when synthesised during the process of manifestation.  They are fourfold in interaction, and have a systemic ebb and flow about which little is known.

 

(CF 1074)  b. Radiation in the Five Kingdoms.  We have seen that the cause of radiation is the response of the positive life in any atom to the attractive power of the positive life in a greater atom.  Expressed in other words, we might say that the deva life of any atomic form proceeds with its evolution, and by a series of "releases" transfers itself during the manvantaric cycles out of one kingdom into another until every atom has achieved self-determination, and thus the purpose of the Heavenly Man for any particular mahamanvantara is satisfactorily accomplished.  As might be expected, therefore, when the subject is viewed as a whole and not from the standpoint of any one kingdom, there are in the evolutionary process five major at-one-ments.

 

(CF 1075)  The radioactive period is much the longest in the mineral kingdom, and shortest of all in the human.  We are not concerned with radiation in the spiritual kingdom at the close of the mahamanvantara, so no comment will here be made.

 

(CF 1091)  Our solar Logos has not yet attained true rhythm, but for millenia of cycles the equilibrising process must go on.  Nor has our planetary Logos achieved equilibrium, and the even balancing of forces, therefore until His point in evolution and His objective vision is known and it is known also which centre in the solar body is vitalised by His life, it will be the part of wisdom to refrain from dogmatic assertion, and a too free utterance in connection with incarnating, and non-incarnating, Monads.  All are turning upon the monadic cosmic wheel; each is being [Page 1091] swept into some form of activity upon the lesser revolution of this particular systemic wheel, but not all in any particular cycle are to be found revolving upon a specific planetary wheel.  Many wait for development and for more appropriate seasons in interplanetary spaces, and some must wait until the entering in of a new mahamanvantara.  Students should bear carefully in mind the words of H. P. B. where he tells students of the Secret Doctrine that the stanzas and their Commentary deal primarily with our particular planetary Logos.  This is oft forgotten.

 

(CF 1094)  This may seem to be a great complexity, but it is not so much stranger after all than the phenomenon of the Monad (in time and space and during evolution) demonstrating forth as the Triad, the Ego and the Personality.  This type of triple Avatar only makes its appearance under a peculiar series of cycles concerned with a group of Monads who were the most progressed and advanced at the opening of the mahamanvantara.  As yet, there are not many progressed enough to do this triple work; the Buddha and nine others being the only Ones as yet remaining in touch with our particular planet in this particular manner.  A few are as Christ is, and have the power to make a dual appearance.  This type of monad is only found on Rays two, four, six.