Antahkarana - The science of soul illumination
From Education in the New Age
Articles By Alice A. Bailey
"Antahkarana The path, or bridge, between higher & lower mind, serving as a medium of communication between the two. It is built by the aspirant himself in mental matter."
As a preparation for what students need to master, I would like to emphasize certain points by tabulating the information already given. The Science of the Antahkarana is not an easy one to learn because of the following points. These emphasized points must be accepted by students as a working hypothesis prior to all attempted work:
1. The Science of the Antahkarana
is connected with the entire problem of energy, but peculiarly with the energy handled by the individual and with the forces by which the individual relates himself to other individuals or to groups. For the sake of clarity, we will give the name of
a.ENERGY: to all forces pouring into the individual form from whatever direction and source. To these major energies, the names of "sutratma" or "life thread" or "silver cord" have frequently been given.
b.FORCE: to all the energies which - after due manipulation and concentration - are projected by the individual or group in any direction and with many possible motives, some good and many selfish.
2. The Science of the Antahkarana, technically speaking and for group purpose, is especially the science of light manifestation with its results of revelation and consequent changes. It should be remembered that:
a.Light is substantial, and from the angle of the spirit is a sublimation or higher form of material matter.
b.Light is also the quality or major characteristic of the soul in its own realm, and of the etheric body (a reflection of the soul eventually) in the three worlds of human evolution.
c.The object of the science with which we are dealing is to fuse the lower and the upper lights, so that one light shines forth in physical manifestation and a synthesis of light is consequently brought about.
d.Technically speaking, two light bodies exist - the vital or etheric body and the soul vehicle. One is the result of aeons of incarnating life and becomes in time a powerful repository of energies gathered out of a wide range of contacts, though conditioned by the ray type in its three aspects. The etheric body exists and is today functioning powerfully. The soul body is in process of being slowly constructed, and is that "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" to which the New Testament refers (II Cor. V, 1). It is interesting to note that the Old Testament refers to the etheric body (Ecc. XII, 6-7.) and its construction, and the New Testament deals with the building of the spiritual body.
3. The Science of the Antahkarana must be studied in three ways:
a.Concretely and in relation to the etheric body, which is a substantial, tangible form, and is being so considered (though not as yet universally admitted) by modern science.
b.Egoically and in relation to the soul and to the "light body" through which the spiritual man must function in the world of souls, and which - when blended and fused with the etheric body - produces the manifestation of divinity upon earth to a greater or lesser degree, according to the extent of fusion and the conscious recognition by the individual of the attained fusion.
c.Abstractly and in relation to knowledge-wisdom, which are two words used in relation to force and energy, and their use by the individual in his environment and contacts. Ponder on these words. You will realize how necessary it is that there should be some capacity for abstract thinking before the true implications of this new science can be understood.
4. The Science of the Antahkarana is concerned with the problem of the continuity of consciousness and with the problem of life and death. Keep these two themes clearly in your mind for they are basic and important.
5. The Science of the Antahkarana deals with the three fold thread which connects:
a.The monad, the soul and the personality, linking all three periodical vehicles and unifying all seven principles.
b.The triple personality and its environment in the three worlds of human enterprise, and later in the other two worlds (making five) of superhuman expression.
c.The consciously creative man and the world of ideas. These he must contact and express through creative work, thus bridging with the light:
i.Between the world of souls and the world of phenomena.
ii.Between the realm of subjective beauty and reality and the outer tangible world of nature.
iii.Between himself and others.
iv.Between group and group.
v.Later, when the divine Plan has become a reality to him, between the fourth kingdom (the human) and the fifth kingdom (the Kingdom of God).
vi.Finally, between humanity and the Hierarchy.
6. The Science of the Antahkarana is the science of the triple thread which exists from the very beginning of time and links individual man with his monadic source. The recognition of this thread and its use, consciously, as the Path and the means of ever expanding contacts, comes relatively late in the evolutionary process. The goal of all aspirants and disciples is to become aware of this stream of energy in its various diversifications and consciously to employ these energies in two ways: interiorly in self-unfoldment, and in the service of the plan for humanity.
7. The Science of the Antahkarana teaches certain fundamental truths about the thread, some of which might be enumerated as follows:
a.The life thread comes directly from the monad or the ONE. This thread is anchored in the heart during incarnation. There is the seat of life.
b.The consciousness thread comes directly from the soul. It is anchored in the head. There is the seat of consciousness.
c.The thread of creative activity is initiated and constructed by the human being. It is anchored, when sufficiently constructed, in the throat. This thread is an extension or synthesis of the two basic threads.
The creative thread itself is triple in nature. It is slowly constructed down the ages by the man. As he becomes truly alive, from the standpoint of intelligent awareness and the desire fully to express himself, the process is materially hastened. These three self-created lesser threads which constitute the third thread of the antahkarana extend eventually:
a.From the physical body to the etheric body, passing from the heart to the spleen, and thence to the body of prana, the vital or etheric body, unites with force from the egoic will petals.
b.From the etheric body to the astral body. This thread passes from the solar plexus to the heart and from thence to the astral body, picking up the energy of the thread mentioned above, unites with force from the love petals.
c.From the astral body to the mental vehicle. This thread passes from the ajna center to the head center and from thence to the mind body, picking up the energy of the other two threads mentioned above, unites with the force from the knowledge petals.
Though these three energies are woven into one thread finally, yet they remain distinct. It should be borne in mind that the soul body is constructed of pure white light, whilst the light out of which the etheric body is made is golden.
8. The Science of the Antahkarana deals, therefore, with the entire incoming system of energy, with the processes of usage and transformation and fusion. It deals also with the outgoing energies and their relationship to the environment and is the basis of the science of the force centers. The incoming and the outgoing energies constitute finally two great stations of energy, one characterized by power and the other by love, and all directed to the illumination of the individual and of humanity as a whole, through the medium of the Hierarchy composed of individuals. This is basically the Science of the Path.
The antahkarana, therefore, is the thread of consciousness, of intelligence, and the responsive agent in all sentient reactions. The interesting point to bear in mind, and where we must now lay the emphasis, is that this thread of consciousness is evolved by the soul and not by the monad. The World Soul pours its gossamer thread of sentient consciousness into all forms, into all body cells and into all atoms. The human soul, the solar angel, repeats the process in relation to its shadow and reflection, the personality. This is part of the creative work of the soul. But, in its turn, the human being has also to become creative in the mental sense of the term and must repeat the process, for in all points the microcosm resembles the macrocosm. Therefore, through the life thread, the soul creates and reproduces a personality through which to function. Then through the building of the antahkarana, the soul first of all develops sentiency down upon the physical plane, and later bridges the gap - through meditation and service - between the three mental aspects. It thus completes the creation of the path of return to the Center, which must parallel the path of outgoing.
I have now completed my introductory presentation of the fundamentals which will in the future age dominate the educational systems. It was necessary for all of you - and for those who will later study these instructions anent the new education - to have some grasp of past foundational implications and basic tendencies and also some ideas, however vague, of the line along which major changes can be expected to come. You can begin, therefore, to work intelligently and with as little loss of time as possible.
It remains now to make the teaching which I have given practical in its implications. The New Education now must take the place of that which is old and which has proved so wrong that it could not prevent the universal holocaust which distinguished the years 1914-1945. It must be superseded. The next stage of human evolution will emerge as a result of the purificatory action of the World War. There are steps which humanity must take, and only a new type of education and a different attitude to the educational processes (imposed upon the very young of every nation) will enable mankind to take them.
A new cycle of experience, of psychological development and of new educational processes is imminent. What I have given here and elsewhere on the Science of Meditation, of Service and anent the Antahkarana gives method, mode, promise and point to it all.
Keyword Tags: Antahkarana, Soul Path, illumination, light manifestation, spiritual, Science, psychological development, Alice A. Bailey, Intuition, Intuitive, Articles, UK, South Africa, Cape Town,
