Namaskar. Welcome to Session 2 of the Cosmic Philosophy course.
The universe is made up of five fundamental factors: the ethereal factor (space), aerial (gas), luminous (heat/light), liquid, and solid. Each factor is formed from the subtler factor preceding it; from the transformation of part of the factor from which it comes. Hence the aerial factor comes from the ethereal factor, the luminous from the aerial and so on. All factors exist within the Cosmic Mind from which they came, and the Cosmic Mind is inherent within them all. The universe is thus a thought-projection of the Cosmic Mind. As the Cosmic Mind also exists within the Cosmic Consciousness, everything is a part of Him and He is within everything.
The dominance of the Operative Principle (Force) over the Cognitive Principle (Consciousness) increases with each successive stage, each stage being cruder and denser than the one before it, the solid factor being the crudest and densest stage of manifestation.
Energy is formed in each factor from the “friction” caused by the pressure of the static force on that factor. Vital energy is formed from the combination of all the different energies of each fundamental factor within a solid body. So each factor has its own energy, but the solid factor also has vital energy – the combination of the energies of all the factors that are within it.
Due to the continued pressure of the static force on the solid factor, eventually the pressure becomes excessive and one of two things happens:
1. Explosion
If the factors within it are not in the right balance, eventually the solid factor (as a celestial body) will explode, and all the factors within it will merge back into their respective factors of the universe. For example, the ethereal factor will merge back into the surrounding space, the aerial factor into gas, etc.
2. Life
If the environment is favorable, and the factors are in the right balance, some portion of the solid factor gets pulverized subtler than ether, and the “I have done” feeing within it (remember the fundamental factors originally came from the “I have done” feeling of the Cosmic Mind) manifests as mind-stuff, which gives the feeling of “I have done” (or “done-I”) to a new unit mind. That mind gets attached to an appropriate body and controls the vital energy of that body, which in turn controls the body’s functions.
Because the individual mind originally comes out of the solid factor from a small part of the Cosmic Mind within that factor, it is said that “the microcosm is a miniature of the Macrocosm.” It can therefore be seen that mind comes from matter, and matter – via the Cosmic Mind – from Consciousness.
Now we’re into the second half of the cycle. The first half was up to the crudest manifestation of the solid factor. You could say this is the inanimate phase. Now in the second half (the animate phase) we have all the individual unit minds evolving back to their source: the Cosmic Consciousness. In this “returning phase” of the cycle, Consciousness gradually withdraws the power from His Force. He has allowed Her to bind Him to the ultimate state of crudity. Now He contracts Her power until the unit mind merges back into Him. This corresponds to the gradual freeing of the mind through expansion, ultimately to infinity.
In this process the unit mind gradually evolves over many different births, in many different bodies. It adopts more complex physical structures as it evolves, appropriate to what it wants to express. Note that there is a clear distinction here between body and mind. The body is the vehicle that the mind adopts according to its degree of evolution, “life” being the existence of mind in association with a particular body, and “death” being the temporary loss of a physical body until a new one is attained by the mind.
“This path to attain happiness… I call absolute devotion. Carry on performing your worldly duties with sincerity, and at the same time think about the pure Self within you. The constant thought of your pure inner Self will certainly one day establish you in your original source, and this is the ultimate aim of spiritual practice.”
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
When you’re ready, go to the next session…
Contact us if you have any questions
