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In accordance with its inherent power to manifest the soul gathers together astral matter of varying grades and this will change in time based on a number of factors within and without. The soul, which is an expression of the second aspect of divinity attracts and gathers together this astral form (as it also fashions the physical and mental bodies) as a necessary vehicle for interaction and expression. The experience gained through interaction increases the soul’s ability to express, and these factors are the reasons for the soul’s foray into the worlds of human evolution.

Once in incarnation the astral or emotional body is the mechanism which is responsible for every aspect of sentiency from the feeling of an object touched with a fingertip, to the sensing of danger within the environment, or the love of all humanity. It is responsive to the environment because of the laws of resonance and the affinity of the particles of its makeup with the astral matter in its environment or that of its environing associates, be they human, animal, plant or even non-physical in nature.

Our astral vehicles are comprised totally of this matter. It permeates our bodies, and forms as the etheric and mental vehicles do, a cell by cell replica of the physical form, although this model is really reversed. The physical form is the result, not the cause. Every cell has vital energy, sentience, and mind. The totality of these lesser lives is the “organism” we call the human form. This energy also radiates out from the body at varying levels depending on the vehicle we are discussing. In the case of the astral vehicle it goes well beyond the confines of the physical form, responding to or sensing the environment at large.

Because of the natural tendency for the affinity of like particles and the repulsion of particles with dissonant frequencies, the astral body can be consciously “tuned” to certain types of emotions and emotional response. Jesus told his disciples to “Love those that hate you”. This is counter intuitive at first glance and sounds like a platitude. We tend to mirror what we encounter and respond to anger with anger or hate with hate. This attitude allows us to be controlled by our environment rather than taking action on our own behalf and that of those around us to better our world. If we are consciously generating love we are less likely to be affected by the hateful radiation of those who hate us. We are thus protected by the love we are radiating into our environment.

A passive emotional state could be likened to a placid lake. Any pebble dropped into the waters will set vibrations in motion that will send small waves to the shore which will eventually rebound and return to the point of origin. What we put out into the world returns to us. If we are placid like the pond, we are stirred by every minor undulation in the environment. Now if we imagine a waterfall on one side of the pond creating its own pattern of steady vibrations we find that the pebble’s waves are overtaken and to not affect that area of the whole.

As active radiators of loving energy we can diminish the ability of other lower emotions in our environment from affecting us negatively, but there is another beneficial effect. When we generate this loving energy we are putting our astral body in a state of higher vibration. Due to the law of resonance astral matter that is not vibrating at a frequency that is harmonious with this radiation will be thrown free. Nature abhors a vacuum, so it will be replaced with particles that are vibrating in harmony and we strengthen our radiation “field”. We are also tuning it to these loving vibrations and attracting like vibrations into our field, making it easier for us to return to this state if we are in some way distracted from it. This happens to all of us, but its effect and duration are diminished by this active control of our emotional state.

Of course this control is not gained easily. We have many years behind us of emotional habits, triggers and anchors in our mental and emotional makeup that are latent obstacles we must overcome. The mental (Manasic) and emotional (Astral) bodies are inextricably interwoven and have been programmed since childhood. Some of us have tendencies toward anger or even melancholy which will fight for their own existence. These are thought forms endowed with emotion which will control our responses until we become consciously aware of their existence and dissipate them.

My life was, until recent years filled with intolerance and anger. I have been gifted with a fairly keen mind and was impatient with anyone not so endowed. This attitude takes a gift and turns it into a curse. I was impatient with everyone and everything unless I was in a controlled environment and in the proper mood to be patient because someone near me was in need of that. Even this expression of patience is selfish in nature because the situation had to be convenient to my needs.

I raged on the road and felt like things (and people) were always in my way, and that they must be stupid or something to drive that way. Now, rather than feeling like my life is being negatively affected by “some idiot who can’t drive” and caused an accident on the highway I am struck by the idea that someone may have been seriously hurt or killed just moments ago. In any case, their lives have been affected much more severely than mine and my complaint about being delayed on my way home is something they would gladly endure given the chance to trade places with me.

The first step in the process of purifying the emotional body is to become consistently observant of its state. This sounds like advice that should not be necessary but most emotional turmoil occurs in the absence of this observation. The person may look back and realize after the fact that they were being triggered into a state that really related to something that happened that morning, or even years ago, and not by the recent circumstance. At the time of the trigger however, they thought they were reacting appropriately, and to the current event. If we are vigilant and observant of our emotional state we are more likely to remain clear in spite of what may be happening around us. Through this detached observation we learn to avoid violent reactions in our emotional body. Through disciplines like meditation we tune our consciousness to higher vibration. As we do this the process becomes more and more automatic. The astral matter that surrounds us becomes less resonant to those types of responses and in turn attracts more matter of this refined nature.

Desires of physical life are slowly refocused into aspiration through the process of integration. The control of the lower bodies by the strengthening of the mind does not require the stamping out of desire. As aspiration for spiritual development takes its place in the heart of the disciple he realizes the positive power it represents to drive him on along the lighted way. This aspiration is an important tool for the aspirant and then disciple on the path. It is an act of raising the vibratory nature of the lower self in its component parts through the law of resonance. Right aspiration followed by right action raises the vibration of the lower bodies by reacting with the higher atoms present and throwing off atoms not resonant with these higher frequencies. This attracts matter that does resonate at these higher vibrations to replace that which is thrown free.

The student of the esoteric sciences is enjoined to act “as if” the integration or certain other processes have already been completed. This use of the imagination to create an image of the finished product (so to speak) is a step in creating that result. Energy follows thought, and the creation of that thought form of an integrated personality and then nurturing it on the astral plane sets up a type of vibration to which all thoughts and emotions of a lower or destructive nature are dissonant and cannot remain in proximity. As a teen I was a diver, and we were taught to visualize the dive we were learning at any particular time to enhance our ability to do it physically. If you could not visualize yourself doing it how could you expect to make the physical body do it?

To first imagine what is necessary and then “see” ourselves in that state brings us closer to its accomplishment. This is not the vague imaginings of fantasy but an important step in every creative process. Nothing has ever been created intentionally without having been imagined first. Then, seeing its usefulness, the thought form is infused with a desire to see it materialized on the physical plane. The physical body is galvanized into action and the work is done to re-create this imagined object on the physical plane. The first “creation” having been the thought form itself.

This process when applied to the disciples own development results in his development. A change in his consciousness results in a change in its expression. The expression in this case is his own behavior in the field of his service; his life.

Where was the detachment? Where was the interested observer? It seemed the more I tried to detach myself from these situations the more I attached myself to them. Anger crept back into my consciousness and over a period of time I began to slip back into old habits of thinking. I began to wonder if this was just a part of the process. Was I just more attached than I thought, gaining recognition of the fact as I looked more closely? Was I actually becoming more attached because I was looking more closely? I saw that moment as a turning point and began to come out of what was a very difficult time based on those questions arising in my mind. My lower self had seized the moment and took advantage of a weakened resolve to re-assert itself. I am still faced with a situation which seems unsustainable and could face further complications which make the outcome unknowable. It is just more OK than it was before.

Many spiritual teachers tell personal stories of great loss. Many successful business people tell of multiple bankruptcies prior to the developmental changes that lead to their eventual success. The loss of the things that one identifies one’s self with is a very traumatic and powerful moment. Eckhart Tolle tells of being suicidal and going beyond that total loss of self into a void. He came out of the other side of it into bliss. He spent the better part of 5 months homeless, sitting on park benches in what he describes as pure presence. This is the unfiltered awareness toward which discipleship is geared. He became a spiritual teacher and has dedicated his life to helping others attain that bliss through the discovery of the eternal now.

What lead to his epiphany was the loss of all that he identified with, and from which he drew his sense of self. This left nothing but the witness, and could have lead to his taking of his own life in the usual meaning of that term, through suicide. Instead it liberated him from his suffering in a different way and he took his life in a completely new direction. He died while still alive. He gave up his identification with the mortal coil, as Shakespeare called it, while the mechanism still lived. As much as I thought I had learned about detachment, I was only capable of releasing certain things. There were many things I still had very deep attachments to and still do. Of course I don’t expect to be perfect but we need to continually ascertain where we are so we know what the next step is.

This renunciation comes in stages depending on the karma, the circumstances, and developmental level and capacity of the person involved. Its culmination is the fourth initiation in which all sense of self is renounced including the Soul and its causal body is burned up in the process. Just as in the case of having a psychological death without the death of the human form, it is possible and eventually necessary to release all ties to possessions and the outcomes of our activities. If we are unable to release these ties when the time is ripe, then Egoic impulse may set events in motion that remove what we are clinging to. It seems that if we are capable of that release while these things, people, or circumstances still exist within our lives that this devastation on the physical plane is not necessary. Seek first the kingdom of God and then all else will be rendered unto you. You may not have to live in poverty or come to the edge of suicide to lose that sense of self if you are working on it consciously.

Jesus told the rich and pious man to sell all he had and give to the poor, then follow him. The man walked away hanging his head because he had great possessions and could not imagine his life without those things. He also said that it is easier to push a camel through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom. He did not say it was impossible, but was acknowledging, I believe, the strong pull that our possessions have upon us and how cumbersome those attachments are on the path. The more we possess, the more we are possessed, if we allow it. Emerson said if you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end instantly attaches itself to you. If you believe another human being completes you than you are only half a person.

As disciples and aspirants we are supposed to practice control over our desire or emotional nature with our mental nature. It is always the higher which gains steady control over the lower. The problem is that we are also to aspire to higher learning and expression and that in itself is a desire. So how do we use desire while simultaneously shutting it down? The simple answer is we don’t. It is not necessary at this point in our lives to destroy our astral (desire) nature. What we need to do is stop letting it drive. As we use our minds and strengthen them we begin to exercise control over emotional responses.

The emotional investment is some part of what is at stake. In situations where we don’t “have a dog in the race” we can be impartial and more effective judges. It’s easy to raise other people’s kids from the sidelines. I think every kid should have a step parent; we are so much harder to manipulate. We need to be able to apply that interested detachment to our own lives as well as those situations. If we are more effective when we are detached we should try to be that effective in our own lives. It is easier said than done but not impossible.

The point is that we need to live and love without clinging. We speak of love as the law of attraction. If we don’t stop attracting, we should never need to begin clinging. A magnet does not need a hook. As long as it stays a magnet the iron won’t leave. If you want to keep someone in your life, make them happy and they will want to stay. Clinging never really kept anyone from leaving and sometimes it makes them want to. It works with everything. You have attracted all that is in your life by thinking of it and infusing that thought with emotion. If you only infuse the negative thoughts then that is what you manifest. That is why we try to think positively and radiate good feelings. We will resonate with and manifest the positive thoughts and our lives will show it.

The next step is to become acutely aware of the functioning of our minds. In the same way that we can step aside and observe our emotional state, we can observe our mental state. This means that the mind is no longer our identity. Who is watching the mind? The Soul. This is the unit of consciousness within the greater life. It has no beginning or end that we can deal with practically. It can’t use money, doesn’t need sex, a house, a job, or children, and can’t be killed. To the soul, none of these things matters, except in how they contribute to the opportunity for growth. In that case, what Eckhart Tolle experienced which seemed like the worst of possible circumstances to his personality, was a good day for his Soul.

In Esoteric Healing we are told not to invoke the will, and to realize that for the soul’s purpose, death may be the result of successful healing. We do not understand the soul’s purpose or we would be called adept. If we attach to circumstances that are of no interest to the soul, we impede its development. If we recognize our identity as the soul then the matters of daily living will take their rightful place as circumstances with which we must deal. We cannot confuse what is our life with our life situations. Emersion in that situation is effectively the same as an actor believing in the threats or dangers inherent in the play in which he plays his role. Only the character he portrays is at risk. The actor’s true self is outside of the realm of the threat or circumstance. “Be a Soul” said Ram Dass. This is what you are in essence, and you are safe to experience all the travails of life without concern. What is the real you cannot be harmed on the physical plane.

The soul on its own plane does not record experiences per se. It has no gender or nationality. It has no personality and is not simply a disembodied person. It really only registers growth and is increased in its capacity to create on the physical plane through experience. Memories are available through access to the storehouse known as the Akashic Records, but as it incarnates it does not bring with it any recollections of those experiences accept in fairly rare cases where children recount events of past “lives” they have lived. This formed the basis for much of the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson. He found that in these cases physical attributes seemed to carry over as well. There are likely many more cases of this that are written off by parents as fantasy or suppressed by them for the same reason until the child is convinced that these things are dreams that never happened. It is actually fortunate in a way that we do not remember our distant past. Memories of past wrongs could impede progress just as memories of past accomplishments could lead to an inflated sense of self, another impediment.

My father used an analogy of a computer and its programmer as a utility to express the function of the Personality (the computer) and the Programmer (the Soul). Imagine a programmer who has had as his task the tracking of inventory in a company in the past (life) and now is tasked with the tracking of payroll records. His new computer has no need for the inventory records in its memory and although his expertise increased through the experience he gained and his capacity to understand computers was enhanced through that process, even the programmer has no direct use for the information that was imperative in his last assignment.

So the Soul enters a new episode with the fruits of the past in capacity of expression without the un-necessary and cumbersome information about every detail. Residing in the causal body, a sheath of very fine and rarified matter on the upper mental planes it extends from itself a thread of light known as the anthakarana. Strung upon this thread are the Physical, Astral, and Mental “permanent atoms” containing all of the capacities it has gained in the experiences of the past and that it will use in constructing the new mental, emotional, and physical bodies of the coming incarnation. Don’t get hung up on the word atom as it is represented by science. That picture in your head is a cartoon anyway. The word is simply a representation of an indivisible unit of some substance. Having split atoms in the laboratory for decades, science itself admits this is a misnomer. We are talking about the smallest possible remnant of each of the three aspects of personality that is carried with the Soul in order to create a new form. I know it is hard to wrap your head around a concept like this but your physical body was created from a single cell and all the instructions to create a multi-billion celled infant in the course of nine months was held in a strand of DNA. Think of this as “Psychic DNA”.

This foray into the “three worlds” of evolution is done with purpose and in order to accomplish certain ends or growth, so it chooses a situation that will foster the possibility of that growth. Souls are said to incarnate in groups with so called “karmic ties”. A child born into a family today may have been that family’s matriarch in generations past, or someone with particularly close ties to one of the family members. If you have heard the complaint that some child has not chosen his or her parents, the Ageless Wisdom teachings contradict that notion directly. You are where you are out of your own choice and creation. This is true within a single incarnation and the much longer all encompassing life of the Soul as well.

In the perfect economy of nature nothing is lost and the new bodies will reflect the capacities and level of refinement acquired through previous incarnations. So, if I am eating and living in a way that is really purifying my body, I will theoretically carry over that purity into the creation of the next one. For this reason, it is never too late to do anything to make amends for past wrongs, even on one’s death bed. It is never too late to begin purifying the physical body, strengthening the mind or subduing the emotions. “I’m too old to change” doesn’t hold water here.

The Soul broods over an essentially useless body through the age of infancy and appropriates the physical body between the ages of four and seven. This corresponds to western psychology’s assertion of the formative years. These are the years in which outside influences of environment set the stage for all further development. The second crisis in the development of the individual happens between 14 and 17 years when the emotional body is appropriated. Anyone who has had a teenager in their home can attest to this as an emotional turmoil of the highest degree. The lower self always rebels against the imposition of control by the Soul and discipline is needed to further development. In these early stages there really is no choice. The mental body is appropriated between the ages of 25 and 28. This does not mean that the personality is fully integrated. Far from it. What is happening up to this point is really a re-capitulation of the previous spiritual development.

The soul now has a vehicle which is fully capable of responding to its impressions, if it is interested. Now is when the personality’s choices really come into the picture. You have to grow up. You don’t have to behave as a grownup. I know men in their 50’s who act like (and think like) they are still 12. If it is going to happen, the Personality really opens the door to this impression, either voluntarily or as the result of some crisis. The person has to begin to identify with the inner thinker rather than the outer expression. Sometimes this is a result of dissatisfaction and sometimes it comes as a result of the loss of all that with which it had previously identified itself. Life crises are often the focal point of revelation.

Eckhard Tolle points to being about to lose everything and in deep despair when he describes going down a tunnel in his consciousness releasing everything and emerging into bliss. He spent the better part of the next five months homeless and on park benches in what he describes as pure presence; a state of open, non judgmental consciousness or enlightenment. All that had been the source of “self”, the mental constructs and associations was gone, leaving just the witness or Soul.

I don’t believe that it is necessary to lose everything to gain enlightenment. We just have to lose our unhealthy and unproductive attachments to the material world. Revelation is said to come as a series of recognitions leading to a change in identification. You are a soul. Recognition of this and then the subsequent functioning as a Soul in the world but not of the world is the task at hand. Your level of accomplishment at this task will represent the foundation upon which the next one will be constructed.

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The withdrawal of the soul’s support is sometimes accompanied at the moment of death by the appearance of a blue spark coming out of the top of the head. This is one of the points of exit usually used when we are dealing with an advanced human being, because that is where the consciousness is centered, rather than in the solar plexus of the less developed individual. I shared a flight with a Registered Nurse, who by the way shared very little else in the way of beliefs or philosophy other than a fairly open mind. When I told her I did not believe in an anthropomorphic and interfering God she said “oh, I’m sorry”. I couldn’t help but feel the same for her. She told me she had seen this occurrence 7 times in her career.

At that moment of withdrawal the body is no longer subject to the cohesive and coordinating energy of the soul and begins to decompose. The etheric or energetic structure remains for a period of time and the life force of the cells themselves is still present. This is why an organ can be removed and used in another body. The cells are still alive and when placed under the influence of the other person’s soul, can begin functioning again along with the normal repair and rebuilding that replaces all of those cells over time. Keeping with the statement from Part I, over the course of 7-10 years this will no longer be foreign material but each and every cell will have been re-created under the influence of the dweller of the “new” body in which this organ now resides.

Cremation is a recommended practice in esoteric circles because it hastens the decomposition of the Physical and Etheric bodies, freeing the consciousness or soul more quickly to continue its journey.

The Soul now resides in the Astral or emotional body, but this too must be dropped when the time is right. Depending on the strength of the astral body and its attachments to the physical world, this can take a prolonged period of time. People have long reported having been “visited” by loved ones just after passing. This can be caused by strong astral or emotional ties between the two people.

In some cases of addiction or other irresistible drives toward material satisfaction the Soul may become “earthbound” and wander the astral plane searching for satisfaction it can never have without a physical body. This is a cause of possession, which is only recognized as such in the most dramatic cases but can occur without the person possessed realizing it, even after the fact. In an impaired state either due to intoxication or severe emotional distress the host is overcome by an entity seeking expression and loses control. The next day he may not know what came over him, but he knows that he was “not himself” the night before.

When the Astral vehicle is dropped the soul remains in the mental vehicle, a more refined and subtler body of the Manasic plane. Under certain conditions the astral shell may go on even though uninhabited. In some cases when a psychic is contacting a person who passed long ago, they are merely contacting a resilient thought form or astral shell and have not really contacted the being who had at one time occupied that shell.

Once the mental body is likewise abandoned the Soul now occupies the Causal Body on the upper levels of the Manasic Plane, which in Biblical texts is referred to as the Temple of Solomon. A temple “made without hands” or mortar or brick. It is here that it will process the experiences of physical form life and prepare for the next cycle on the Wheel of Life in a state known as “Devachan”.

When the soul has processed it’s “life”, and is ready to take in a new round of experiences, it begins a new cycle, endowed with the heightened capabilities and capacities it has gained through all of its experiences. The Soul, on its own level is the product of its experiences just like the man. It just has more of them. It brings these capabilities to its next incarnation without the memories of the specific experiences, just as we bring our entire childhood with very few specific memories to each situation we encounter as adults. You can see behavior in people sometimes and just know that it is the product of something that happened when that person was a child. He does not even remember the event, but its effects are obvious.

This is the basis of psychological evaluation. We even refer to the psychologist as an analyst. Unfortunately, Psychology which is the knowledge of the soul or psyche has devolved into a science of behavioral modification. Modifying the personality rather than understanding the soul. It’s like the new math; getting the answer without understanding the process. This can just bury problems deeper rather than solving them.

The soul re-enters the physical realm with specific goals and chooses the environment that will most likely allow for the needed growth and development as well as the payment of what is called karmic debt. St Gregory, in the third century AD said “It is absolutely necessary that the soul be healed and purified. If this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives.” The problem is that it enters the world in a body that is, for all practical intents, useless. This new body or, in its totality, “personality” is then basically programmed by other personalities, our parents and teachers. We have to overcome this programming through self discovery as adults so that we can realize our purpose.

If you are reading this article it is an indication of your desire to discover your true self because it is a challenge to the programming that most of us have undergone to question those things that are presented as absolute, like the nature of life and death or the existence of heaven and hell. I hope what I have had to say here has been helpful in your quest. Next month we will address the process by which the soul creates and takes hold of its mechanism.

Much of this, I believe has sprung from the need to tell our children why grandma won’t be coming over on Sundays anymore. As adults we don’t really know where she is, so it’s nice to tell our children what we hope; that she is in a better place. I believe children are much more capable of assimilating and understanding truth than we think they are, and even more capable than we are at times, but in this case no one really knows what the truth is. Even if they do they don’t have the ability to convey that understanding to us and we have no ability to verify what they say. This involves more than just the barriers and blank spots that language represents, but also abstract ideas that lie outside the ability of the concrete mind to digest.

What I have to say on the subject will proceed, as always, from my understanding of the principals contained within the Ageless Wisdom teachings which are purported to be at the core of all of the major religions of the world. There will still be no way to prove what I propose and again, as always, it is up to the individual student to use the intuition to determine what part or parts of this position resonate with his or her consciousness and warrant further consideration. This is all that one can ask under the circumstances.

It begins with an understanding of the nature of the human constitution, which we have covered in  previous articles contained within the archives section of this newsletter The articles titled “Spirit Soul and Personality” and “The Human ‘Being’” may be worth reading if you are unfamiliar with what the teachings have to say on this. In order to stay on the subject I will assume a certain level of understanding of that topic as I proceed.

Most of us believe we have a soul, or consciousness that indwells the body. Its existence is proposed in all of the world’s religions. Its departure at death is a fairly universal tenet as well. Without the soul’s support or at least presence, the body lies down and decomposes. What the Ageless Wisdom teachings tell us is that the indwelling soul is the human being and the physical body with its energetic or “etheric” counterpart, as well as the Astral (emotional) and Manasic (mental) bodies are merely sheaths taken on by the soul in order to interact in the lower three worlds or planes of manifestation. The soul has no sex, nationality, race (other than Human) or personality of its own. As a matter of fact the personality is a term used to identify the sum total of those three sheaths or bodies with which we interact and experience the physical world and, each other.

The soul is that immortal “you” which for the purposes of this conversation will not “die” and remains intact at physical death to continue on in unknowable realms when that personality is no longer of use and or the physical body no longer functions. Reincarnation is the belief that the soul takes on new forms in succession in order to further perfect is grasp of, and ability to function in, the physical world and the “use” of matter for that expression and interaction. This belief is not necessary in order to grasp the process of life and death as I understand it, but it certainly fits in and ties the pieces together for me.

In trying to understand this process people have asked me questions like; how many lives will I have? If we look at it from the perspective of the soul, the indwelling thinker in the body, the answer is “one”. Your soul, being the “real” you will live only once, through many incarnations and episodes, through many differing garments or bodies. If you think about it, even in a single lifetime we have had many different bodies. We are taught by medical science that every cell in our bodies is replaced over the course of 7-10 years and some in cell types over the course of days. You don’t have the body you occupied at your 5^th birthday, but your memories are contained in your consciousness; the consciousness or soul that is the real you. This aspect will not die, so eternal life, in the context of these teachings, is a reality.

The Christian Churches, and they are many, teach of an immortal soul that does not pre-exist birth but lives on after death. We are told that if we live and exemplary life here on earth we will go on to live in Heaven, a place with no pain or death which is depicted in the clouds with Angels playing harps. I saw a woman interviewed after the horrific murder of her sister talking about a plane ride in which she felt closeness to her sister being up in the clouds where her sister undoubtedly now resided. I find this as hard to believe as she might find the concept of reincarnation in which her sister had not died, but the physical body she had employed as a means of contact with the world we inhabit had been destroyed and she would now have a period of rest (pralaya) until she deemed it beneficial to begin the process anew. From the perspective of the Ageless Wisdom the crime of murder is that the mechanism for the soul’s purpose in the world is destroyed, ending the possibility (in that particular cycle) of the soul fulfilling that purpose.

A recent television documentary proposed the possibility that the ostuary (or bone box) used to hold the final remains of Jesus may have been recovered. After the show a panel was convened with various religious leaders arguing against the possibility that this was for real. One of these high level priests was insisting it could not be the case because Jesus had ascended in his physical body to heaven. He essentially said that the entirety of the faith hinged on this occurrence and that his belief system disintegrates if the ostuary was in fact used for Jesus’ mortal remains. I wish I were there to ask the question no one asked. If he ascended in a physical body, where did it go? How can he enter this non physical realm physically? Heaven is not a place. If it “is” at all, it “is” a state of conscious being. The polar opposite, Hell, is not an underground dungeon that can someday be excavated either. If it exists, we are in it now. This is where there is pain and suffering if we allow it and “death” as we understand it.

The process of the withdrawal of the soul from the “mortal coil” (Shakespeare) happens in stages. The death of the physical body is the first and of course the most obvious. The successive stages of withdrawal from the subtle bodies of the human personality, we will cove in Part II.

Soul is a universal principal and an aspect of the divine trinity. It is synonymous with Consciousness and represents the second aspect of Love/Wisdom. We see this aspect, therefore in expression on every possible level of manifestation for it represents itself through the synthesizing of spirit and matter. The soul is love.

It is the binding agent of the universe, if I could put it so bluntly. Every form from the grossest mineral matter on the dense physical plane up through the highest manifestation displays an aspect of this principal, as it must. As above, so below, states the Hermetic aphorism. It binds the sub atomic particles that make the atom and binds the atoms together to form a molecule. It is the support system keeping all life forms in the plant and animal kingdoms coherent and growing. Without this cohesive energy and support the life form goes through the death process of restitution and elimination, returning the matter and energy of which it was made back to the reservoirs from which they were drawn.

In the higher life forms in the animal kingdom it is known as the anima mundi and is passed from life to life through the reproductive process, carrying with it the developed characteristics of the species and extending the refining process through many lifetimes producing ever more complex and diverse manifestations of the one life. Life evolves through generation after generation to higher and more accurate expression of its divine origin.

Within the human being we see this as one of the expressions of soul, the soul of the bodily nature. We also see the reincarnating entity or individualized soul. Man is the creature in which the lower evolution is met by spirit on the path of return. Spirit in manifestation as the Monad or divine spark clothes itself in matter of the higher planes of the cosmic physical plane in order to find expression in the lower three worlds through the use of the fleshy vehicle created through this refining process. It forms sheaths of the finer matter of the Atmic, Buddhic and the highest sub-planes of the Manasic plane, creating a causal body through which it will contact the lower three worlds of manifestation.

It creates a form on the lower three planes in order to better master these worlds and matter itself. It vitalizes the lower triune expression of concrete mind, emotions, and the physio-etheric body through the life thread or sutratma, and communicates with this lower self via the consciousness thread known as the anthakarana. Over many incarnations it develops an increasing ability to find expression through these denser vehicles and grows in its ability to express through this experience. It also gains facility in building and creates vehicle of higher caliber and sensitivity over time, which of course enhances the soul’s ability to establish contact in future cycles.

I see the life of the lower self in terms of a dream of the soul. Through the experience of dreaming it becomes a more adept dreamer and begins to gain in ability to control these dreams. At first when it enters this dream state, just as the personality mechanism in its dreaming, it is not aware of its potency and is in a sense just going along for the ride. Just as a personality can gain dream control or lucidity in the dream state with practice, the soul can become an ever more effective dreamer gaining in its ability to control the life of the personality over many lifetimes.

As this development continues the soul becomes more effective in seeing its purpose fulfilled during the cycle of incarnation. It is building the antahkarana and participating in the “waking state” of the personality. The outward expression of this is a more effective human being, manifesting the love of the soul outwardly and aiding and nurturing his brothers on the path, which he may still be treading unconsciously.

As this integration between personality and soul continues the aspirant and later the disciple is said to be leading a soul infused life. Under the soul’s influence this life becomes one of study (developing the mental apparatus), Meditation (further developing soul contact), and Service.

Service is the outward expression of the effects of this soul infusion and it is also a technique which aids in group awareness. Empathy and love for his fellowmen, community, and eventually all humanity is increased as he grows in this awareness and realization that we are all in this together and even that we are all component parts of one greater organism. An organism is an assemblage of lives working together as a whole, whether conscious of this fact or, as is usually the case, unconscious of it. Having some small percentage of these contributing lives working consciously helps to move the purpose of the greater life forward.

In connection with humanity and the One Life we refer to these workers and servers as working in harmony and “cooperation” with the plan to whatever level they can understand it, but how is this accomplished?

In order to gain control over the mechanism we must first gain an understanding of what it is. If all is energy, and energy follows thought as the occult wisdom teaches, then we must gain an understanding of the energetic underpinnings of the physical world, and then learn to direct these energies, as force through the use of the mind. Gaining a working knowledge of the constitution of man, or the anatomy of consciousness is an essential step in this process. It allows us to direct our consciousness consciously. There are many external forces directing and influencing the mass of humanity, but as the student learns more about himself and his surroundings he becomes a more self directed part of the overall picture. “The student learns by self devised and self induced methods” (HPB).

This act of self direction represents the transmutation of the desire based aspiration into spiritual will and the student of occult wisdom becomes and active participant in the forwarding of the divine will or plan, as he understands it. Through the understanding of the etheric substance and centers of vitalizing force of the physical frame as well as the response mechanism to the directing energies of the astral and mental natures the student refines and perfects the mechanism, tuning it to the souls influence. Resonance with the higher vibrations of the soul simultaneously represents dissonance with the lower vibratory nature of what are called negative emotions such as hate.

Understanding of our unity with all life naturally fosters harmlessness. With what part of ourselves will we wish to make war? Who’s resources would we steal? What part of humanity deserves to starve once we realize we are one? What part of the earth shall we destroy when we realize she is our source and not a resource?

The individualization of consciousness is a stage which is important to our development. As is the case with every other stage, there comes a time when we must transcend it and move on. Becoming trapped within emotional consciousness curtails the development of mind. The mind can become a similar trap if it is not treated as the gateway to the soul. We must develop and then transcend each of these states of awareness, and then lose our separateness as well. As the Tao Te Ching tells us “The student grows by daily increment. The way is gained by daily loss.”

A video clip of a recent Talk I did on the symbolic nature of the Gospel stories. This section, as indicated in the title of the blog is about the temptations in the wilderness after the Baptism at the river Jordan. Jesus is driven into the desert by the revelation at the baptism and undergoes several tests which, if seen symbolically contain a great wealth of information about the  spiritual path.

There are moments in our lives that may seem unimportant at the time but their significance is realized later. Sometimes we have an intuitive understanding even at that moment but the “gravity” of it still needs to creep in over time. I am a little hesitant to share this particular story because it may seem unimportant and shallow at first but it was a moment of deep meaning and change for me. I am about to expose myself in a way that makes me feel just a bit uncomfortable but this at the same time makes it seem more important that I do.

After my father died I was left with the responsibility of bringing his work to the world. I did not feel there was anyone else that could or would accomplish this. The family as a whole has been behind me all the way and in my absence I am sure one of them would have taken up this mantle, but at the time it did seem that if this was going to happen, it would have to be me. I took the responsibility very seriously.

At the same time, I was trying to find an appropriate business in which I could invest so that we could make a living and support our family. My wife does not work outside the home and with little recent business experience it is difficult for her to find work that is not mundane, or earn a wage that makes the sacrifices we would have to endure worthwhile. There was some money from his estate and we were trying to find the best way to use this to change our circumstances. It was difficult for other reasons as well. We don’t drink, and have not for 9 years now, so buying a bar would not work even though I would like to have an outlet like that for my music. We don’t believe in eating meat so there was no sandwich shop, etc. I have left behind so much of the common interests of people that we struggled to find something we could do that would be popular enough to make money, but that we could believe in and not feel we were pedaling poison.

One day I was driving down the road listening to a motivational speaker named Jeffery Combs. We had met at a seminar and shared some conversation. I had given him a copy of Book I in my father’s trilogy and he had given me this CD. He was talking about wealth and success and those sorts of things and he said that sometimes we come across a situation where there is little or no risk, little or no “down side” and everything possible on the “up side”. It’s very rare but when you come across that you have got to go “all in”.

I realized that what my father had left behind really represented the “work” I needed to do, whether it ever made a dime to support my family or not. I would not be pushing sugar or some other addiction. I would not be compromising any principal in order to make a dollar. It was something I had set myself to and intended to do. Part of the issue with starting a business was that it would be an all consuming pursuit, especially at the outset and I did not want to be a prisoner to it because I had all of this other work to do.

I began to cry, and remember saying “OK dad, I’m in”. In with both feet, no matter what the results might be. I was using his money to complete his work, and it has become mine. It has cost a fortune but it was not a mistake. The work itself and the commitment have had a profound effect on my life. I have had moments of pain when I felt I had made a mistake in committing the resources, because I have not really gotten these books to the world… yet. It was just impatience.

I realize that if it takes the rest of my life, I can’t stop anyway, so how was starting a mistake? I do not compromise my ethics for money. I will not change my work for the lack of it. It was a profound lesson in detachment. Dad told me once that the sun doesn’t whine or complain when clouds get in the way and its rays are not enjoyed by anyone. It simply shines because that is its nature. He also said if these books were perchance never read that represented a mechanism for him to work on himself and had thus served a purpose anyway. They, along with the rest of the teachings to which I have now exposed myself, have changed my life in ways I could never have anticipated including its overall direction.

Sometimes when we take that leap of faith we think we know where it will lead and just hope we succeed in getting there. Sometimes success comes in the form of course corrections we can’t foresee.

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