Man's Descent and Evolution

MAN'S DESCENT AND EVOLUTION

The descent of man from his home, Paradise, in the unconscious state was prompted by an inner urge, an inner desire to become self-conscious, an inner desire to experience, which, at a particular stage forced the expulsion of such ambitious spirit seeds out of Paradise, their home. Now since such germs cannot be expelled in the upward direction, they had to go in the only way open to them, which is in the downward direction, the world of matter. In any case only the world of matter after having been prepared by the elemental beings hold the possibilities of maturing through the experiences it offers. This happening is referred to as the expulsion from Paradise, which is mentioned in the Bible but has generally being confused with the fall of man. These are two separate events which must not be confused with each other.

The Fall of man is an event that stands entirely on its own and occurred as a consequence of man making a specific decision which goes against the natural ordinance but the expulsion from Paradise was not the consequence of the fall of man. We could not have fallen in Paradise since we are told that no sin could ever enter into it. The fall of man therefore did not occur in Paradise, because this fall is a sin which is something not possible in Paradise. If, however, we continue to insist and then say that the Paradise mentioned was on earth, then it still does not answer the question of the driving away from an earthly Paradise while those driven out are still on this same earth. If we still insist then we will probably say that it was probably another earth that was referred to. The only reason why we continue to stick to conventional explanations is the unwillingness to progress further in our knowledge and as such exert ourselves.

Therefore, there can be no question of a fall in a spiritual Paradise since no sin can enter into this; and there can be no question of a driving out from an earthly Paradise because those (human beings) driven out are still here. How then do we reconcile the biblical picture story? We are the ones who must make the effort to do this. We always want ready-made answers but this has never been so in spiritual matters. There has always been a demand for human beings to exert themselves and contribute to their understanding of these matters. This is the same with the Bible stories. They refuse to allow themselves to be taken up lazily. They are there, they contain undreamed-of treasures but we have to be the ones to unearth these treasures for ourselves. If these stories are taken as they are, lazily, then we will never be able to understand and make an end to our inquiries. Therefore, let us make the effort and discover what the Bible stories have in store for us. The expulsion from the spiritual Paradise, because there is nothing yet like an earthly Paradise was nothing more than the natural process of the ejection from our home to begin on our journey towards self-consciousness. This ejection or expulsion was brought about through the urge that was inherent in the spirit germ, which urge allowed it to have a certain degree of ripeness which now made it possible for it to start on its journey towards self-consciousness.

According to the book "In the Light of Truth" the Grail Message, "this expulsion, ejection, or being driven out from Paradise is in no wise a punishment, but becomes an absolutely natural and automatic necessity when the spirit-germ is nearing a certain stage of maturity as a result of the urge to develop self-consciousness..." The spirit germ existing in the state of irresponsibility as it were had the burning urge within it also to become self-conscious and it was this urge which brought the expulsion about to start on a journey of struggle. This is even implied in the Bible story when it is said that man will eat bread in the sweat of his brows. This refers to the life struggles and the difficulty he must face in his various experiences in material creation.

The journey of the human spirit took it through the layer of the Animistic beings, then the various layers of the worlds of ethereal and gross matter until finally it finds itself on this earth. On each step, he was confronted by various kinds of vibrations or influences which aroused within him the desire to taste this or that vibration, which vibration served to awaken him more and more. Therefore, he moved about tasting of this or that and finally reaching a stage where he could actually choose which vibrations he wanted. These vibrations, in their nature would later have such a deep effect in the forming of his character and also on the conditions and the circumstances under which he would incarnate on earth. Mark us that in the intervening world of ethereal matter, he allowed himself to taste, experience this and that vibration because in this world there are different kinds of influences which approach him as vibrations, which attract him and he could decide to let himself be attracted by them and thereby in experiencing them came to know what they were. If he was pleased with a particular vibration or influence he could decide to continue to allow himself to enjoy or experience that particular vibration, or if it displeased him could change his volition and allow himself to be attracted to another vibration.

Only through experiencing these vibrations can he be able to differentiate, to discriminate and choose. Only through experiencing what each vibration offered could he be in a position to gain a knowledge of them and then make a final decision for a particular vibration, which decision has a deep impact in the forming of his character. He has absolute free will to decide for himself after having tasted of so many vibrations the particular vibration that most suited him. Those vibrations to which he clings for a long time as a result of his decision to indulge in this type send their emanations to him in unimpaired strength, which in turn determines his character and his circumstance and how he fares on earth. Already here the beginning or the origin of the diverse characteristics in human beings can be seen. These characteristics are entirely determined by us and they are the result of the roads we have chosen to follow within Creation.

The origin of fate or karma is also already clear here because the vibrations which we cling to influence the forming of our characters and as a result determine the nature of our experiences on earth and the conditions under which we incarnate. If after incarnating on earth and through our experiences the consequences of the former decision brought only displeasure for us, at least through these experiences we would know that we had made a mistake in our choice of vibrations and as a result decide to change and so gradually learn to choose, which is the beginning of self-consciousness (coming to know through experiencing). Through our experiences, whether good or bad we have come to be wise, we have come to know how to choose and that indeed is a big step for us. Therefore, man can only come to know a particular thing through the experiencing of the consequences of the particular decision.

The human spirit, leaving the spiritual realm as an unconscious germ passes through in the downward direction first the Animistic realm, later he descends further down and enters the material Creation and passes through its various layers becoming heavier as it does so because in its descent he adds layer after layer of garments until finally he reaches the earth. Where he finds himself on earth as indeed in any other part of material Creation is determined solely by him through his desire to enjoy many of the varied vibrations existing. In other words, through the use of its free will to choose which type of vibrations or rather experiences he wants to indulge in, these experiences or vibrations in turn send their influences back to him in the manner of radiation which he must absorb and this strongly influences his character or his nature.

If he has chosen vibrations or characteristics which are homogenous to the abilities which he carries within himself, then these vibrations or influences stimulate these his abilities buried within him to begin to germinate and grow. These influences strengthen his abilities. This indeed is the only way the abilities we carry within us can grow and blossom forth, the development of which abilities is the purpose for which we are here in Creation. One thing that must be borne in mind is that the vibrations mentioned above are of various kinds, but in their nature are mainly qualities or virtues which appear as vibrations in Creations but have their origin from the Luminous Heights. The human spirit, however, carries abilities or virtues within himself in an undeveloped state, hence the reason for his unconsciousness. In order for the abilities which he carries within himself in an undeveloped state to develop, he needs to attract homogenous currents from within Creation, which currents act as radiation which feeds and as such allow his abilities to grow.

In the beginning, before the fall of man, he was able to uninterruptedly absorb only the good vibrations, the good virtues which are ever present in the work of Creation, but with the entrance of the evil principle, other vibrations were introduced in which human beings could also indulge. These other vibrations do not find homogeneity within the germ of the human spirit. They are not able to stimulate the abilities of the human spirit to grow. They will not be able to do this because a basis for the connection is lacking which rests in the homogeneity that must lie between the abilities of the spirit germ and the virtues that proceed from the Luminous Heights. The vibrations of evil, instead of stimulating the abilities of the spirit germs choke them, they overgrow them. It is like the human spirit, in addition to the abilities which he carries within himself, which abilities he received from his home, Paradise acquires other abilities which are impure and have no homogeneity with his own. These therefore choke his own abilities and prevent them from growing.

These other qualities were introduced by Lucifer into Material Creation and many of us have acquired these other qualities which are not provided for in the natural order of things. The result is that nothing of the qualities of the spirit can be seen; they remain buried beneath these other qualities which now determine the character of those who subject themselves to them. The consequences of acquiring these other qualities is the inability to fulfil the purpose of our existence, which is to develop our abilities through the attraction of homogenous currents naturally provided in Creation. As a result self-consciousness will never be attained and our cycles will remain incomplete because the gradual development of these qualities within the spirit germ serves to attract it gradually back home. Evil qualities he has acquired in the world of matter, he did not bring them with him from the Luminous Heights.

Just because of this fact, he is not able to go back or ascend to where he came from because these other qualities hold him back in the world of matter since this is where they originate and this is where they must be lived off. He remains behind until he relinquishes these unnatural qualities. If he does not do this on time he runs the risk of being destroyed in the disintegration which is the process that normally takes place in the world of matter for renewal and rebirth. The personality which he had developed up till then because it had been developed in the wrong direction must be torn to pieces so that the undeveloped spirit germ will become free and ascend back to where it came from without being fully developed. The self-consciousness he had gained up until then as a result of nourishing these impure qualities will be torn down because it is a personality that is not in accordance with the Will of God. What will then be left in the process will be the spirit germ which had been imprisoned in the various bodies and had been prevented from developing through the choking effect of those impure qualities.

The human spirit germ goes through all the layers of Creation which lies below his origin until he reaches the earth, which is the turning point for him. He must go back anyway to his origin but the question is whether he goes back as a fully self-conscious human spirit, or again as a spirit germ, depending on the road he chooses. If he decides to keep the impure qualities he has acquired in the world of matter, which qualities must keep him chained here in matter, he runs the risk of being dispersed and therefore returning only as a spirit germ. If, on the other hand he decides to cultivate those qualities which were originally given to him, then he returns with those qualities fully developed, thereby fulfilling the purpose of existence, which is to attain to self-consciousness.

The question now is: how does a human spirit make his way back to his origin after his descent to this earth? What are the steps involved in his upward journey? What does it entail? The entire developmental history of the human spirit lies in this. The entire natural history of mankind is involved here. The development of the various cultures and so on have their origin through the recognition gained on this upward climb. The human spirit must develop from below upwards and in his journey upwards he passes through steps or stages which are the developmental stages which every human spirit germ yearning for the recognition of God must go through.

Being encased in several bodies alien to his, he must break through each of these layers on his way to recognition . Before we go further into this question, we must examine further his descent and then on the other side, the happening meanwhile in the world of matter, including the earth. He cannot descend into the latter without this being prepared beforehand, as indeed this applies to the entire world of matter. He cannot without further ado enter without having a physical body already prepared for this purpose, because he could not enter, for example, into the body of a dog or a cow. A body had to be prepared and the conditions on earth had to be ripe in order for him to be able to commence with his experiences and as such fulfil his destiny. Since we have already examined the creation of man in Paradise, it is fitting for us also to examine how the world of matter is prepared for the human spirit by the animistic helpers. How the world of matter itself is formed through the help of the animistic forces, and how indeed the earth went through the various evolutionary stages before the advent of man.

In the great work of Creation, not only man arises as a spirit germ and as such in need of development. Animals with which we are familiar on earth are also in need of development and exist as group souls in their realm, the Animistic. In this realm also exist special kinds of animistic germs who also need to come to material Creation and gradually attain to a kind of consciousness of what their function should be. They also need to come here in order to work but before they can start working they need to go through a maturing process at the end of which they take on human forms with special functions. These are the various nature beings with whom we are familiar: elves, nixies, salamanders, gnomes, sylphs and so on. In addition to these, there are also those in the Animistic realm who do not need this process of development, but immediately took on form in that realm. There are many of these and they are the great Animistic beings with many special functions such as the accretion of planets, formation of various celestial bodies and the control of their courses.

The human spiritual could not unfold itself in the spiritual realm. The urge to do so, however, lies within it and this urge was like a prayer that arose to the Creator and He was merciful. He granted the formation of a realm for the human spirit and other creatures below it who also need a process of development. Therefore, the world of matter arose as an extension or a copy of the original Creation which is Spiritual, brought about by the need of the human spiritual to have a realm for itself in which it can forever develop and work. Without the granting of this request by the Creator, it would have been impossible for the human spiritual to achieve the goal of self-consciousness, which goal it can only achieve down below in the world of matter.

Hence a special realm, the world of matter was formed for the human spirit and other animistic germs, which like the human spirit also need this realm for their development. This realm is called "Subsequent Creation". This is so because it arose only subsequently as an automatic copy of the spiritual creation that lies above it. This subsequent creation had to be formed before human spirits could enter it. This forming was done under the direction and through the volition of the Primordial Beings. The hands, however, that shape the forms in subsequent creation belong to the Animistic beings. According to Abd-ru-shin in his book "Question and Answers", "Through their volition the Primordial Beings radiate in spiritual creation, that is in Paradise...." These radiations were impelled across the boundary of the spiritual realm into lower lying worlds of the Animistic and the Material. The latter at the beginning had no form. These radiations, having passed through, or through the process of passing through the Animistic realm become broken down into very small particles which are called spirit particles or motes. Each particle becomes enclosed with the essence of the Animistic and the same process repeats itself in the Material, both ethereal and gross matter.

These particles, known to us on earth as "atoms" are the elements which are used eventually by the Animistic forces to shape the world of matter. With the help of these particles, the various environments in the ethereal or the "Beyond", as well as the world of gross matter were formed: the planets and so on and all the things in them. All these were done by the Animistic beings. The human spirit could then begin his journey after all the environments had been formed, including the material globe of the earth. He did not, however, enter the earth without further ado. The earth, after having been destined to support human life in the universe had to go through a special development - a special evolutionary process. The life that it must support had to evolve in the natural course of events, it just could not happen that any steps could be jumped in the process and as such begin to appear without further ado higher animals without the basis for this been formed beforehand.

Everything therefore had to evolve from scratch. The body that the human spirit would use on earth had to evolve from scratch. From simple forms, it gradually formed, taking many millions of years. The gradual development of life-forms on earth finally led to the development of the highest animal which are called by different names, and which already stood erect and used various means for its defence and in gathering and hunting. This highest animal, which already stood erect formed the basis for the entrance of the human spirit on earth. The first human spirits that incarnated on earth at the very beginning of the entrance of the human spirit into the earth, entered or incarnated into these animal bodies and only gradually through millions of years of evolutionary development could this body be transformed into what it is today - the human body. The world of gross matter, with the appearance of the highest animals had brought forth the highest it could through the working of the animistic beings and standstill would have ensued if the human spirit had not entered to continue the development of the world of matter so that the latter could be raised to a higher state through the entrance of the human spirit.

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