The Way of Man by Henry T. Laurency
2. THE MONAD LADDER
2. THE MONAD LADDER
1The cosmos is composed of primordial atoms, which Pythagoras called monads. They can be divided into involutionary and evolutionary monads. Involutionary monads are involved (composed) to form ever more composite atoms of 49 different kinds in all. It is these 49 atomic kinds that make up the material content of the cosmos from the highest cosmic world (world 1) to the lowest planetary world (world 49).
2The condition of individual evolution is that an involutionary monad, involved into an atom, starts being self-active. Thereby the monad becomes an evolutionary monad. It is still involved into a composite atom but constitutes the only evolutionary monad in this compound of involutionary monads.
3There are in all 49 different, ever higher kinds of evolutionary monads. Which kind the evolutionary monad belongs to depends on which atomic world it has attained in the evolutionary process from the mineral kingdom to the highest cosmic kingdom. The higher world the evolutionary monad has attained, the fewer involutionary atoms enter into its individual atomic envelope.
4When the evolutionary monad has reached the highest world of the highest cosmic kingdom (world 1), it has liberated itself from involvation into matter. Thereby it has once again become a free primordial atom, what it was before involvation into the 49 cosmic atomic kinds. The decisive difference is that the monad before involution was without consciousness, and before evolution it lacked the faculty of self-initiated activity, but upon the conclusion of evolution it has acquired cosmic omniscience and omnipotence.
5This is involution and evolution in its simplest summary. The whole system actually proves amazingly simple when you start from the basic facts.
6It should be added that evolutionary monads can be divided according to the kingdoms they have reached — mineral monads, vegetable monads, animal monads, human monads — and according to the atomic consciousness (or world consciousness) they have acquired: causal monad, essential monad (46-monad), superessential monad (45-monad), etc.
7Evolutionary monads that have acquired self-consciousness can also be called “selves (causal selves, essential selves, etc.). The term “monad” emphasizes the matter aspect; “self”, the consciousness aspect.
1The ancient esoteric description of existence dealt mostly with the “descent of spirit into matter”, with involution (creation), with the origination of the worlds, the triads, etc., with energies from higher worlds and all the kinds of help received from there, which makes evolution possible. More important for man, however, is the knowledge of evolution, the ascent of the monads from the lowest world and the mineral kingdom, their gradual acquisition of self-activity, consciousness and envelopes of ever higher kinds.
2Laurency’s intention with his presentation is to show the path of the self’s development from the mineral kingdom to the highest cosmic kingdom. In so doing he has started from a cosmos already perfected, from a solar system already fully built out, from a triad chain already formed. How all this has come about is quite another matter and it would require quite another mode of presentation. The intention thus is to clarify, in the simplest manner possible, the actual meaning of life, the consciousness development of the monads, and the schematic process of this. The older, technical descriptions have made it unnecessarily difficult for the uninitiated to grasp this process and has prevented them from understanding and accepting esoterics.
3The risk of this presentation is that the knowledge of reality can be conceived as too simple. Then it should be pointed out that only a perfected second self (45-self) is able to fully grasp reality in the solar system. Even to such a self the cosmos remains “a vision”, just as the solar system remains a vision to man.
4In their descriptions of existence, Besant and Leadbeater started from the old presentation of the oriental esoteric orders. What these writers did not take into account, however, was that the method of teaching was completely different. The neophyte was made to follow all the processes as if he were shown a film, and so he could experience them in quite another manner than what is possible when just reading a book. The very vague notions of most theosophists are sufficient proof of the difficulty of the subject and the clumsiness of the more recent methods of presentation. The knowledge of reality must be mastered step by step just as a school with many classes is passed. The whole process is much more difficult than even a causal self can realize. The proof of this are D.K.’s extensive accounts in 18 volumes. And yet they are like “a drop in the ocean”.
1Much of what is said in the following concerning the triads has reference to the matter aspect, the technical side of the self’s consciousness development. The purpose is to clarify what goes on in the subconscious, to the service of those who feel the need of fully understanding the very process. When they have once understood the process, the insight gained has fulfilled its purpose and then the matter aspect should not occupy attention anymore. For consciousness is the most important, and attention should be wholly devoted to the process of consciousness. The material process is automatic and it is disturbed if attention is directed to it, a fact that cannot be too strongly emphasized. The individual must learn to live wholly in the consciousness aspect and to disregard the matter aspect in everything connected with the activation of consciousness.
2However, the knowledge of the material process is valuable, since it liberates from that mystification which is typical of the stage of the mystic (the activation of higher emotional consciousness), which was characteristic also of medieval mystic aspiration and which is still rampant in modern mystic sects.
3Reality exists and is given. In that respect there are no mysteries. Consciousness development is the result of self-initiated consciousness activation. The knowledge of the three aspects of existence allows common sense to claim its right and liberates from the otherwise inevitable, desperate speculations of ignorant imagination, which usually result in unnecessary suffering. Everything pertaining to the divine is simple, direct, and natural to the highest degree. Be suspicious of everything “mystical”, which either leads you astray or is above your own level of understanding and possible ability and should then be left for the future! There are no short cuts (but often long ways round) in the matter of consciousness development; everything is methodical, systematical, inevitable process; “everything in due time”. Add to this the esoteric paradox: to walk the path means an endless series of daily discoveries by experience of the expanding content of consciousness.
1At the entry into the mineral kingdom, the evolutionary monad is involved into a 43-atom. Since a 43-atom contains all the 42 higher atomic kinds, the monad thereby has access to an unbroken chain of atomic kinds 2–43 (the monad itself is of atomic kind 1). This atomic chain is the monad’s unbreakable energy and consciousness link with all worlds in the cosmos. Evolvation implies that the monad moves along its atomic chain and so doing passes through ever higher worlds, ever higher natural kingdoms. During its whole sojourn in the solar system, the monad remains involved into its 43-atom. When the monad, some time in the future, has abandoned its three triads and passed from the solar system (43-49) to the lowest cosmic kingdom (35-42), it will continue its evolvation in the ever higher atomic kinds of its 43-atom, until, in the highest cosmic world, it has liberated itself from its involvation into matter and stands out as the primordial atomic being it has always been.
2This is the basic scheme of the monad’s evolution. It is by its own activity that the monad evolves to ever higher atomic kinds with ever greater share in the cosmic total consciousness. This is the basic problem of existence. In what way it is to be solved is the chief task of the cosmic collective building a new cosmos. Those processes are not as simple as they perhaps appear but require a complicated procedure. In the seven lowest atomic worlds (43-49) atomic density is so great that the monad must for its consciousness development make use of triads and the triads, in their turn, must use material envelopes. The immediate task of the monad is to self-activate consciousness in these triads and envelopes and, using the energies pouring in, learn to master these tools; a task which requires self-acquired qualities and abilities.
1The chain of triads is the path of the evolutionary monad through the solar system, the path of the self’s consciousness development with entering into unity, to the realization of its potential divinity thanks to its unlosable share in the cosmic total consciousness.
2The chain of triads, even more appositely called the monad ladder, is made up of three triads linked together. These may be compared to a ladder to be climbed by the monad. The three triads with three units each form the nine coils of this ladder. The triads are the inmost envelopes of the monad.
3The triad is so called since it consists of three material units: two atoms and one molecule.
4I The first or lowest triad consists of:
one physical atom (49:1)
one emotional atom (48:1)
one mental molecule (47:4)
5II The second triad consists of:
one mental atom (47:1)
one essential atom (46:1)
one superessential molecule (45:4)
6III The third or highest triad consists of:
one superessential atom (45:1)
one submanifestal atom (44:1)
one manifestal molecule (43:4)
7The mineral kingdom (the first), the vegetable kingdom (the second), the animal kingdom (the third), and the human kingdom (the fourth) are the natural kingdoms of the first triad. The essential kingdom (the fifth) is the natural kingdom of the second triad. The manifestal kingdom (the sixth) is the natural kingdom of the third triad. These six natural kingdoms develop within the solar system. The atomic worlds of the first triad are 47–49; those of the second triad, 45 and 46; those of the third triad, 43 and 44. Worlds 43–49 belong to the solar system.
8In the mineral kingdom and the vegetable kingdom, the monad is centred (enclosed) in the physical atom (49:1); in the animal kingdom, in the emotional atom (48:1). In the human kingdom, the monad should, according to the plan for normal consciousness development, be centred in the triad mental molecule (47:4). On account of the lagging behind on this our planet, this is seldom the case until at the stage of humanity.
9In the mineral kingdom, the monad belongs to a mineral group-soul; in the vegetable kingdom, to a vegetable group-soul; in the animal kingdom, to an animal group-soul. Upon transmigration to the human kingdom, the triad is enclosed in a causal envelope, isolated in this envelope without community of consciousness with other beings.
10The triad produces vibrations in the different molecular kinds of the envelopes. It conveys energies between the different envelopes of incarnation and from the causal envelope.
11Between the centres of the different envelopes there are connecting links through which the energies from higher to lower triads pour down via the envelopes. The two most important connecting links are the “thread of life”, the thread of energy (sutratma) through the heart centres of the envelopes; and the “thread of reason”, the thread of the monad (antahkarana) through the crown centres of the envelopes.
12The triad is the self’s instrument to produce and control the envelopes. Man’s aggregate envelopes are four in number, three envelopes of incarnation and the one permanent causal envelope. The etheric envelope is shaped by the vibrations from the first triad physical atom; the emotional envelope, by those from the emotional atom; and the mental envelope, by the vibrations from the triad mental molecule. When the time for reincarnation has come, the self in the triad awakens and activates its three units. The individual received his causal envelope from Augoeides at his transition from the animal to the human kingdom.
13The triads have been formed in order to facilitate the consciousness development of the monads. The monad in a triad has three different kinds of consciousness and energy at its disposal. Higher kinds include lower kinds, and therefore higher kinds not only understand but also can control lower kinds. The triad consciousness is a synthesis of three different kinds of consciousness. Whichever of the three kinds dominates depends on the developmental level of the monad.
14The first triad enables the self (the monad) to be conscious in three different worlds, worlds 47–49, simultaneously.
15The consciousness of the first triad physical atom is three-dimensional; that of the emotional atom, four-dimensional; and that of the mental molecule, five-dimensional. Here it should be kept in mind that the higher always includes the lower. The five-dimensional consciousness of the mental molecule can see with both three-and four-dimensional vision.
16In order to objectively study the subconscious of the first triad and to follow the experiences of the triad it is as a rule necessary to have essential consciousness. In contrast, the subjective memory of the triad is accessible to self-consciousness. This memory should not be confused with the collective memories of the envelopes, which dissolve along with the envelopes.
17The second and third triads have passive consciousness until the monad is able to centre itself in them. Until then, they function as conveyors of energy from their own worlds, thus as robots. The second triad gains a greater importance when man has reached the higher emotional stage; and the third triad, when man has become a causal self (has centred himself in the second triad).
18When the monad has reached the highest kingdom in the solar system, it can dispense with its triads. However, in order to function more easily in the seven worlds of the solar system, the monad retains the first and third triads whereas the second triad can be eliminated. When the monad leaves the solar system for cosmic consciousness expansion, also the two remaining triads are of course dissolved.
19The three triads are particular expressions of the three aspects of reality. The first triad expresses especially the matter aspect; the second triad, the consciousness aspect; and the third triad, the motion, energy, and will aspect.
20The three triad units are expressions of the same relation: the lowest unit expresses the matter aspect; the middle unit, the consciousness aspect; and the highest unit, the will aspect. This prevails simultaneously as each unit has all three aspects; a recurring analogy of these three aspects in everything.
1The manner in which the triads were formed has been described in circumstantial detail, it is true. Because of their symbolic character, however, these accounts have not satisfied the demands of exact description. Much work remains to be done before the pertaining processes have been clarified scientifically.
2The individual forms his first triad himself through evolution in the three lowest natural kingdoms. He is given the two other triads at his transition from the animal to the human kingdom as he receives a causal envelope, in which process all the three triads are linked together. In the various processes of involution the self, the monad, has certainly prepared the formation of the two higher triads, but in their final shape they are the works of cosmic selves of the deva evolution.
3When the individual transits from the animal to the human kingdom, he brings along the physical atom which the monad appropriated in the mineral kingdom, the emotional atom in which the monad was encapsulated in the vegetable kingdom, and the mental molecule which the monad used in the animal kingdom, to a lowest triad which is added to the second and third triads already existing. Thereby the triad chain is completed and ready for the evolutionary monad’s further evolution in the fourth, fifth, and sixth natural kingdoms.
4When the triad chain is shaped as the involutionary monad transits to evolution when passing to the mineral kingdom, the composition of the third triad becomes the norm for the second and first triads. This is the reason for the saying that the two lower triads are “expressions” of the third triad. Since we have not received any detailed information about the rules of this composition or its effects, the speculations of occultists on this score may be left at that. The energies conveyed to the second and first triads come through the third triad, it is true, but these energies originate in their turn from cosmic worlds without which no lower worlds or processes of manifestations in these could exist.
5It is perhaps not precluded that the whole triad chain with its three triads has existed from the beginning, although esoteric researchers have been able to observe the three units of the lowest triad, in the three lowest natural kingdoms, as loose permanent units. Definitive data from the planetary hierarchy are not yet available.
6The evolutionary monad spends seven eons (one eon = 4320 million years) in each of three lowest kingdoms. The age of our planet, Terra, is only three and a half eons of activity; and our planet was completely remoulded at the dawn of every such eon of activity.
1From all higher kingdoms (cosmic and systemic) issue “streams of life”, which enable lower worlds to exist and develop. The source of energy is the highest cosmic kingdom. And each of the other kingdoms receives and scales down the more and more differentiated energies of the aspects of life for use in the next lower kingdom.
2The triad chain is the monad’s connection with higher worlds and kingdoms. The triad chain makes it possible to set up a consciousness connection between the highest (43) and the lowest (49) systemic world and an energy connection between the three triads and, through them, the different envelopes of the triads. It is via the triad chain that the monad receives the energies that enable the monad to exist and develop. This is the energy supply that the self must learn to use for the methodical and systematical activation of the various kinds of consciousness that enter into its superconsciousness. Without this energy supply the triads and envelopes of the self could not be formed, exist, and be kept alive.
3In the human kingdom, the individual’s consciousness development depends on his ability to utilize the consciousness aspect of the energies. At lower stages, this process of activation goes on unconsciously and automatically. When man begins striving to assimilate the consciousness of higher molecular kinds, he develops the ability to gradually discover more and more of the consciousness aspect.
4It is the “bridge of consciousness” of the triad chain that makes up the unconscious basis for the acquisition of higher consciousness under the influence of energies received. But this acquisition presupposes the self’s energetic decision to utilize the energies. Without your own work you will have no consciousness development except your participation in the slow jogtrot of total evolution (thousands of incarnations instead of tens).
5Higher consciousness is always acquired via the triad chain. This chain always serves as a conveyor of energies from the third to the first triad, energies of life that make it possible to form and preserve the triad envelopes. It is the individual’s business to activate consciousness in the envelopes and in ever higher molecular kinds via that chain. The transition from the first to the second triad is particularly difficult. It requires a method that the individual is taught as a disciple of the planetary hierarchy.
1The material worlds are enumerated from above and the triads, from below. All processes of manifestation issue from the highest world. But the monads’ self-activation and acquisition of self-identity in all the worlds begins in the lowest triad in the lowest world. That is the reason why the natural kingdoms and the triads, participating in evolution, are enumerated from below.
2The monad (which is a primordial atom) is during its consciousness development in the fourth natural kingdom enclosed in the first triad (I); in the fifth natural kingdom, in the second triad (II); and in the sixth natural kingdom, in the third triad (III).
3The monad — the individual — the self is as a human being in the fourth natural kingdom a first self; in the fifth natural kingdom, a second self; and in the sixth natural kingdom, a third self. This is the simplest manner of indicating the individual’s status. Then you can disregard the division of second selves into 46-selves and 45-selves, or of third selves into 44-selves and 43-selves, and keep this further differentiation just for special cases.
4The reader is asked to observe that the terms “first self”, “second self”, and “third self” have reference to the three triad selves within the worlds of the solar system 43–49, so that he will not confuse these terms with the terms “1-self”, “2-self”, “3-self” which refer to the three highest selves in the highest cosmic kingdom (worlds 1–7). There is no great risk of confusion, however, as the three highest cosmic selves are never discussed.
5You may, if you want, use the term “self-consciousness” of all the kinds of consciousness which the self has mastered and in which it can be self-conscious. A perfect first self thus can be said to possess physical, emotional, and mental self-consciousness.
6The three triad selves are called “selves”, since the consciousness of the three triad units enable the involved monad, the self, to have a synthetic consciousness.
7To the first self the matter aspect is the directly given and so fundamental. To the second self the consciousness aspect is the directly given; and to the third self, the energy or will aspect.
8The energies of the first self are called “material energies”; those of the second self, “consciousness energies”; and those of the third self, “will energies”, pouring through the three triads.
9
dominant aspect the first self the matter aspect the second self the consciousness aspect the third self the motion aspect
10The “consciousness energies” of the second self are sovereign in the kinds of matter 45:4–49:7. The “will energies” of the third self are sovereign in the kinds of matter 43:3–49:7 and are at the same time the synthesis of all three aspects.
11The individual as a first self is an individual self; as a second and third self, an ever more expanding collective self, an ever greater self with ever more selves, of course having unlosable individual self-identity. The three selves can be called the “individual self”, the “planetary self”, and the “solar systemic self”.
12The worlds of the first self (47:4–49:7) can be called the “worlds of life ignorance”, since in these worlds it is impossible for the self to acquire a knowledge of reality and life.
13The worlds of the second self (45:4–47:3) are the worlds of unity, common consciousness, knowledge and wisdom.
14A first self cannot acquire a knowledge of the worlds of the second and third selves. Second selves can receive a knowledge of higher worlds through their connections with third selves, and third selves can receive higher knowledge through cosmic selves in the planetary government.
15Exact knowledge of the constitution of man (the first self) can be obtained only through esoterics. Man cannot “know himself” without this knowledge. You may, if you want, define esoterics as that knowledge which is inaccessible to first selves.
16The goal for the monad in the first triad is to become a causal self; for the monad in the second triad, to become a 45-self; and for the monad in the third triad, to become a 43-self. Thereupon the monad can begin to plan for the acquisition of cosmic consciousness in the lowest cosmic world by entering world 42. Cosmic consciousness thus cannot be acquired within the solar system.
17It is the task of the first self to become a second self, or more exactly: the monad’s task in the first triad is to move to the second triad. The first self cannot achieve a contact with the third self. The causal self sometimes succeeds in this.
18Not until the self (the monad) has solved the problems of the first triad (the first self) physically, emotionally, and mentally during thousands of incarnations, it is able to acquire consciousness in its causal envelope, that envelope which makes up the bridge between the first and second triads. The self becomes eventually ever more conscious subjectively in its causal envelope, long before it can be conscious objectively as a causal self. Then also the bridge is built between the first triad mental molecule and the second triad mental atom.
19When the self in the causal envelope has succeeded in automatizing the functions in its envelopes of incarnation, resulting in a purposive distribution of the energies of the etheric envelope, the development of the first self is concluded.
20When the monad has moved to the third triad, the second triad can be dissolved, since all its functions automatically enter into the third triad. The first triad is preserved if the self intends to work in the worlds of the four natural kingdoms. Not because the triad is necessary for this but because this facilitates the work of forming and preserving the lower envelopes.
21The so-called personality is the monad in the first triad, in its envelopes of incarnation. When the envelopes of incarnation are dissolved, the personality is annihilated. Without this exact definition it is impossible to grasp clearly what is meant by the “personality”. It is the monad, the triad, and the triad envelope enclosing the triad (the incarnating, lesser part of the causal envelope), all three of them, which in various respects profit by the experiences of the envelopes of incarnation.
1The triad chain makes up a continuous whole. Through the triads pass two connecting links, streams of energy, “threads” of atoms held together by magnetism.
2The one connecting link may be called the “thread of life”. Its Sanskrit name is the sutratma. It belongs to the matter and motion aspects, makes it possible to form and preserve the forms of life. The sutratma issues from the third triad. It connects all three triads and all the triad envelopes. It goes through the heart centres of the envelopes, which centres thereby also have a connection with all three triads.
3The other connecting link may be called the “thread of reason”. Its Sanskrit name is the antahkarana. It is particularly adapted to the consciousness aspect, makes it possible to vitalize the consciousness of evolutionary atoms in so far as they can be activated. The antahkarana issues from the second triad. It connects the brain with the second triad via the first triad. It goes through the crown centres of the envelopes and is anchored in the pineal gland.
4Through these two channels energies of life and of consciousness pour down from higher worlds. In order to become a causal self, the individual must by himself have built his own connecting link between the first triad mental molecule and the second triad mental atom; and to become a second self, he must go on building the link between these two triads.
5The connection between the three triads is characteristic of the individual’s possibility to be connected with still higher worlds, dimensions. Development is nothing haphazard, but the individual walks “ways prepared” also in the future. If you disregard the matter aspect and start from the consciousness aspect, then you see that evolution in all the worlds of unity is a continued consciousness expansion. The vision indicates the way and presupposes the walking of the way. Without vision there is no way. That explains the old esoteric saying, “where there is no vision the people perish”. The power of visualization is a power of imagination and thus of an emotional nature (a combination of desire and thought in which mentality dominates).
6“The fool’s soul is with Allah.” (Muhammad) That could be called a symbolic paraphrase of the fact that in the condition of “absence of mind” there is no consciousness connection between the brain and the triad (the causal envelope, the antahkarana). In contrast, the energies of life (the sutratma) function through the heart centre of the etheric envelope, and this keeps the organism alive.
1The consciousness development of the monads goes on in three successive solar systems.
2The first solar system was for individuals who began their evolution in the mineral kingdom and finished their evolution as first selves in that kind of solar system. There consciousness in the first triad developed into final objective consciousness in its worlds (47:4–49:7).
3The second solar system (our own) is for individuals who want to develop into perfect second selves. In this system consciousness in the second triad develops into sovereign consciousness in worlds 45–49.
4The third solar system will be for future third selves. Consciousness in the worlds of the third triad develops in it.
5The first system might be called the system of the matter aspect; the second system, that of the consciousness aspect; and the third system might be called the system of the motion or will aspect.
6Those who reach their goal before the fixed time pass on to other solar systems or enter the cosmic “career”. Those who do not succeed in reaching the goal for a solar system, however, are to continue their interrupted consciousness development in the next system.
1The trinity of Christian theology - the father, the son, and the holy spirit - is a gnostic symbol, which theologians have never managed to interpret, because the symbol refers to consciousness in the three triads. The causal envelope with the lowest triad was called the “temple of the holy spirit”.
2In gnostic symbolism, the third triad was called the “father”; the second triad, the “son”; and the first triad, the “mother” or the “holy spirit”. The mother gives birth to the son: in the first triad the monad has the possibility of becoming a second self; and in the second triad, of becoming a third self.
3The first triad corresponds to Brahma of the Hindus; the second triad, to Vishnu; and the third triad, to Shiva.
4In order to forestall confusion of concepts it is pointed out that in the esoteric literature the three triads are often called the “three aspects”. Since the three aspects of reality (in all worlds) are matter, consciousness, and motion (energy, will), it must be pointed out with particular emphasis that two quite different categories are intended. There is an obvious risk of confusing them also on account of the fact that the most characteristic traits of the three triads are their relations to the three aspects of reality: the first triad and the matter aspect, the second triad and the consciousness aspect, the third triad and the motion aspect.
5The same is true of the term “trinity”, which also occurs in both categories.
6In theosophical literature the second triad has been given the misleading name “the triad”, as though there were only one triad.
7The third triad has been given the name “the monad”, a misnomer which has of course caused a confusion of ideas.
8Nowhere in the older esoteric literature is there any mention of the monad as the primordial atom, the individual, and the self. It is only by the publication of the Pythagorean hylozoics that the pertaining facts have been put into their correct contexts.
9It is through the secretary of the planetary hierarchy, 45-self D.K. (Kleinias) that the requisite data have become available and it has become possible to remedy the confusion of ideas hitherto prevalent.
10It is true that the esoteric facts that have been allowed for publication after the year 1875 have been communicated through disciples of the planetary hierarchy. However, on account of the lack of Western terms of the “new” realities (higher worlds, higher envelopes, etc.) and the inability to find new words for these, the abortive terminology has resulted in a confusion of ideas and concepts.
The above text constitutes the essay The Monad Ladder by Henry T. Laurency. The essay is part of the book The Way of Man by Henry T. Laurency. Copyright © 1999 by the Henry T. Laurency Publishing Foundation.