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The Golden Lotus of the Soul
The causal body, or 'golden lotus', is an energy body that for many aeons, governs the psycho-spiritual development of a human-being. It is that part of the human soul that is inherently governed by the law of reincarnation, propelling us irresistibly down into physical embodiment, so as to ensure the evolution of our personal consciousness.
The causal lotus of every human-being resonates to the vibration of one of the seven major rays that permeate the universe, and we feel a definite 'spiritual' affinity with our brothers and sisters whose soul-ray is the same as our own.
The energy of each of the seven rays has a distinctly different quality, and each bestows differing powers to the human soul. It is this fact that will enable us (in time) to collectively fulfil the creative purpose of the Logos. Every act of creation necessitates the outpouring and utilisation of the seven diverse forces. Their guided interaction weaves together the fabric of an envisioned form.
The seven rays are usually named as follows:
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The golden lotus is located on one of the three upper levels (called the abstract levels) of the Mental plane. For average mankind it is found on the third sub-plane—a region that supervises the long and painful period of unconscious evolution. It is due (in part) to forces flowing from that sub-plane that we are encouraged to release our Selves from the bonds of the form principle—from the 'egg of matter'.
The causal body of a disciple is located on the second sub-plane of the Mental plane. Here, the dominant vibration is that of 'love-wisdom'—an energy that we utilise in our intelligent cooperation with the evolutionary impulse.
The first sub-plane vibrates to the energy of Purpose/Will and applies to Initiates of the third degree and above. (See Table 2.)
The causal body is a twelve-petalled lotus. In other words, it's sub-divided into twelve distinct zones of force. Master Djwal Khul arranges them as per Figure 1. (See: A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, by A. A. Bailey, Lucis Press.)
 Figure 1 |
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Note: In Figure 1 the large bold letters refer to the circle (or tier) of petals to which a petal belongs—Knowledge, Love, or Sacrifice—while the smaller sub-script letters describe the nature of the individual petal within that tier. Thus also the tier colours correspond as follows: green = knowledge, yellow = love, red = sacrifice, blue = the innermost petals.
Initially, the lotus is a closed bud, but as we experience our myriad incarnations and our consciousness evolves, the petals unfold. There are three 'knowledge petals', three 'love-wisdom petals', and three 'sacrifice petals'. These three groups are influenced by forces emanating from the manasic (mental) body, the buddhic (intuitive) body, and the atmic body respectively.
Note. The manasic emanation comes from the first sub-plane of the mental plane.
 Figure 2 |
The petals of the lotus open in a specific order depending on various individual factors, but in general the three knowledge petals are the first to unfold, followed by the love petals, and then the sacrifice petals. The three innermost petals are the last to open. They are activated by forces flowing from the monad during the third and fourth initiations. (See Figure 2.) These inner three enclose what is called the 'jewel in the lotus'.
Master Djwal Khul in His Treatise on Cosmic Fire gives a brief description of the nine 'outer' petals of the lotus as follows (the bracketed astrological correspondences are my own):
a. First Group of Petals—Knowledge Petals:[GEMINI] The Petal of Knowledge for the physical plane. Through the breaking of the Law and the ensuing suffering the price of ignorance is paid and knowledge is achieved. This unfoldment is brought about through physical plane experience.
[ARIES] The Petal of Love for the physical plane. Unfolds through physical relationships, and the gradual growth of love from love of self to love of others.
[TAURUS] The Petal of Sacrifice for the physical plane. This unfoldment is brought about through the driving force of circumstances, and not of free will. It is the offering up of the physical body upon the altar of desire—low desire to begin with, but aspiration towards the end, though still desire. As man in the early stages of his evolution is polarized on the physical, much of this is undergone unconsciously and without any realization of what is being consummated, but the result in the causal body is seen in a twofold increase of heat or of activity:
The physical permanent atom becomes radioactive or a radiant point of fire.
The lower three petals become vibrant and begin to unfold until fully developed.
b. Second Group of Petals—Love Petals:
[LIBRA] The Petal of Knowledge, for the astral plane; unfoldment is brought about by the conscious balancing of the pairs of opposites, and the gradual utilization of the Law of Attraction and Repulsion. The man passes out of the Hall of Ignorance where, from the egoic point of view, he works blindly and begins to appreciate the effects of his physical plane life; by a realization of his essential duality he begins to comprehend causes.
[LEO] The Petal of Love for the astral plane; unfoldment is brought about through the process of gradually transmuting the love of the subjective nature or of the Self within. This has a dual effect and works through on to the physical plane in many lives of turmoil, of endeavor and of failure as a man strives to turn his attention to the love of the Real.
[VIRGO] The Petal of Sacrifice for the astral plane; unfoldment is brought about by the attitude of man as he consciously endeavors to give up his own desires for the sake of his group. His motive is still somewhat a blind one, and still colored by the desire for a return of that which he gives and for love from those he seeks to serve, but it is of a much higher order than the blind sacrifice to which a man is driven by circumstances as is the case in the earlier unfoldment. As this threefold enlightenment or unfoldment proceeds, again a dual result is seen:
The astral permanent atom comes into full activity and radiance, as regards five of its spirillae, and the two atoms of the physical and the astral planes are equally vibrant.
The three petals of the central ring of the egoic lotus come also into full unfoldment, and the heart center of the Monad is seen as a wheel of fire with six of its spokes in full display of energy and rapidly rotating.
c. Third Group of Petals—Sacrifice Petals:
[AQUARIUS] The Petal of Knowledge for the mental plane; its unfoldment marks the period wherein the man consciously utilizes all that he has gained or is gaining under the law for the definite benefit of humanity.
Each of the groups of petals is distinguished by a predominant coloring; Knowledge, on the physical plane, with the coloring of the other two subsidiary; Love, on the astral plane, with the light of sacrifice weaker in tone than the other two, which practically show forth in equal brilliancy. On the mental plane, the light of sacrifice comes to its full display, and all that is seen is colored by that light.
[SAGITTARIUS] The Petal of Love on the mental plane is unfolded through the conscious steady application of all the powers of the soul to the service of humanity with no thought of return nor any desire for reward for the immense sacrifice involved.
[CAPRICORN] The Petal of Sacrifice for the mental plane: demonstrates as the predominant bias of the soul as seen in a series of many lives spent by the initiate prior to his final emancipation. He becomes in his sphere the "Great Sacrifice."
This stage can be seen objectively to the eye of the clairvoyant as dual in effect:
The mental unit becomes a radiant point of light; its four spirillae transmit force with intense rapidity.
The three higher petals unfold, and the nine-petalled lotus is seen perfected.
[From: A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, by Alice Bailey, pp. 539-542.] (Bracketed text is my own.)
There appears to be a pattern in the above that suggests a series of correspondences between the nine petals and nine of the astrological signs of the zodiac. I summarize these correspondences as I perceive them in the following table:
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Note: The zodiacal signs that are emboldened are those that (upon reading Master DK's descriptions of the petals in the quote above) led me to perceive a pattern of correspondences that was unfolding. The capitalised words in the Petal column of the table indicate the tier of petals to which a particular petal belongs. The lower-case word identifies the nature of each petal within a particular circle of petals. See also Figure 3 below.
One of the interesting ramifications of the zodiacal petal system described in the table above is that the innermost circle of petals (i.e. those that enclose the 'jewel in the lotus') are apparently associated with the three 'water' signs of the zodiac—namely, Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Just why that is so is open to question and debate and meditative reflection. I would align them as follows:
| Petal Attribution | Zodiacal Sign | Element |
| Knowledge | Cancer | Water |
Love |
Scorpio |
Water |
| Sacrifice | Pisces | Water |
| Table 3(b) | ||
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| Figure3 |
This introduces an interesting question regarding the elemental attributions contained within the three outer tiers of petals. In Figure 3 above it can be seen that each outer tier of petals is comprised of one Air sign, one Fire sign, and one Earth sign, and that for instance, the Air signs in each tier each correspond with the Knowledge petal in their respective tiers. Here is a table that summarizes these relationships:
| Petal in each Tier | Element |
| Knowledge Petal | Air |
| Love Petal | Fire |
| Sacrifice Petal | Earth |
That the elemental Air should correspond with the quality of Knowledge makes sense because traditionally the Air signs have been associated with the mind. The idea that the Earth element is connected with the quality of Sacrifice might be related to the concept that the spirit principle must sacrifice (to a large extent) its freedom and universality when it embodies itself within the limiting conditions of the form principle. Likewise, every light-worker, as s/he operates under the guidance of the spirit/soul principles, is urged to sacrifice certain mundane aspects of the form principle (in their lives) upon the altar of devotion as they diligently apply themselves in their own sphere of Earth-service.
The element of Fire might relate here to the quality of Love in that the fire of mind is required to distil the essence of love from the muddy waters of the astral plane. Mundane human love is merely a distorted reflection of the divine love of the soul and must be redeemed. After all that is the whole purpose of these expressions of the zodiacal energies in the various petals of the causal lotus—to redeem the particular quality that each petal represents, and thus to symbolically unfold it.
The proposition that the three Water signs are associated with the three innermost petals of the golden lotus may perhaps be understood if they are seen to be representative of the watery quality of the buddhic plane of the intuition. I feel that this correspondence is appropriate because I perceive the 'jewel within the lotus' which is enclosed by these three petals as being the embodiment of the essence and energy of buddhic love-wisdom.
On the qabalistic Tree of Life, the golden lotus is symbolised by Tiphareth, the sixth sephirah. The jewel within the lotus is signified by the path of yod which joins Tiphareth with Hesed—the fourth sephirah. The path of yod represents the creative buddhic essence of the soul. Like a seed, it is charged with creative power. We use this power in the fulfillment of our destiny. But yod is initially in a state of immaturity and dormancy, and it's not until after many incarnations and due initiation as the petals of the lotus unfold, that its ultimate power becomes available to us.
As the petals unfurl, our consciousness is raised, our knowledge is increased, and our love and wisdom are deepened. We come more and more into alignment with the Purpose for which we were originally created by the Father. We are the issue of His seed into the womb of the Mother (Earth), and when we have found the egg within Her body (to which we are magnetically drawn by our destiny) then we are able to fertilize it with yod—the portion of the Father's creative energy that burns within our soul.
The twelve lotus petals correspond archetypally with the twelve signs of the zodiac and the twelve houses of the horoscope. In order to unfold a particular petal, our soul chooses an incarnation with a strong emphasis on a specific combination of zodiacal signs. Thus, during each incarnation we are challenged to develop certain zodiacal qualities, and as we do so, the corresponding petal(s) of our golden lotus gradually unfolds.
My present understanding is that the twelve signs/houses of the astrological birth-chart represent only a partial reflection in our lives of the causal lotus and its petals. In fact I feel that the birth-chart reflects the evolutionary condition of only one of the twelve petals of the golden lotus. It is possible that the particular petal of the causal body that is being represented by the twelve signs/houses is the particular one that is presently in process of unfoldment in the evolutionary life of the soul.
Thus our personal physical world (as portrayed by the astrological signs/houses combination) is the result of the twelve-fold radiation of our own causal body. In effect then, we are living within a (albeit somewhat limited) reflection in matter of the golden lotus of our soul.
This phenomenon is not restricted to the human condition. It is mirrored throughout the entire universe. For example, the local region of space that is occupied by our solar system is, itself, a limited expression of the causal lotus of the solar logos (Helios). And He exists within an even greater cosmic lotus that comprehends our local universe and whose central sun is possibly the star Alcyone of the Pleiades. Within its confines revolves our system along with six other solar systems. If we increase the scale again, the cosmic lotus is seen to abide within the galactic lotus (of the Milky Way galaxy).
The twelve petals of every lotus, from the human to the galactic, are modeled on the twelve zodiacal constellations. (See the article,The Twelve Petals of the Lotus.)
The limits of our Earth logos' 'personal' physical world are depicted by astrologers as twelve zones of celestial space called the Tropical zodiac. The nature of the twelve constellations is directly reflected in these twelve zones because the twelve-fold archetypal structure is a universal model. But the Earth lotus extends outward from the body of our Earth logos (i.e. from the planet Earth) and is therefore of a smaller scale—a replica in miniature of the constellations. Our planet Earth is strongly affected by the solar lotus, within the energy of which it revolves. Likewise, the solar system is much affected by the radiations of the cosmic lotus in which it finds itself.
Therefore, what astrologers generally call the zodiac is merely a name delineating a region of space divided into twelve zones (or channels) of energy emanating from the body of our Earth logos. This notion contradicts the usual idea that the twelve zodiacal signs are externally sourced and that they impinge their influences upon our planet from the outside. The name we give to each zone is based on the corresponding zone of the almighty lotus that extends from the being of the universal deity, and that we recognise as the twelve major constellations.
The cycle of our solar system within the cosmic lotus is estimated to be approximately 26,000 years. It could be said that the esoteric rate of its movement is one petal for every 2160 Earth years, giving a total revolution of 25,920 years. (See Figure 4.) This number is based on the Pythagorean triangle of 72 (i.e. of sides: 216-288-360) and coincides with the rate of the precession of the equinoxes.
 Figure 4 |
Again, increasing the scale, the cycle of our solar lotus within the galactic lotus is given as approximately 250 million years. Esoterically, this number is 259.2 million years which divided by 12 gives us 21,600,000 years per galactic petal.
The 'right-angled triangle of 72' relates symbolically to the plight of Humanity who also have a close association with the pentagram—a figure with 72 degrees between each of its five points. The precession of the equinoxes (at the rate of one degree every 72 years) is a phenomenon caused by the imbalance of the Earth's mass, giving it a tendency to wobble in its orbit. This is a symbol for the imbalance in Humanity itself.
The imperfection of Mankind is also demonstrated in the present cycle of our year. One might say, that a perfect orbit of the Earth around the sun would be at a rate of one degree per day, giving a 360 day year. At present our year is 365 days which is a 1/72 deviation. I offer these ideas to stimulate abstract thought.
When the Solar Logos embarked on His creative project, He defined the physical parameters of His art by overshadowing a region of space. He then projected a single beam of 'white' Light (creative Purpose-Will) into the cosmic ether wherein it became diffracted into seven diverse rays of light—each expressive of a different divine quality, but all united by the spiritual Purpose of the original 'white' ray.
Each of the seven rays has a specialised task to fulfil in relation to the original vision of the Logos. The Creation cannot be completed without the combined energies of all the seven rays focussed towards their common, unifying Purpose—the ultimate reason for their existence.
Every human soul is like a single photon in one of the seven streams of cosmic creative light. The soul has a mission to fulfil in relation to the collective purpose of the Whole. The individual human purpose is achieved when the creative energy (yod) of the soul is released into the body of Mother Earth and is clothed with Her form (as it was decreed in the beginning). The human causal lotus then dissolves back into the Source, having fulfilled its mission and burning desire to serve the Father, and the human consciousness ascends to a higher vibration of Light.
There are quite a few beings incarnate during these troubled times who are in the final stage of completing their earthly assignments, and who are about to leap the threshold, leaving this place wherein they've been bound for millennia.
| Mallukh AHI (Updated: October, 2005) | Copyright © 1998-2005 Patrick Mulcahy |
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