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The Consciousness of the Atom - Cosmic Evolution
We passed on then to the consideration of the second stage, that which the scientist has been studying in connection with the atom of the chemist and physicist for the last twenty years, the radioactive stage; we saw how there was a condition analogous to this in the evolution of the human atom, and that there is a period preceding [148] it which parallels the atomic stage, wherein man is purely selfish, entirely self-centered, and pays no attention to the welfare of the group of which he is a part. This prior stage is very apparent in the world today. A large percentage of the human family is in the atomic stage, but we must remember that it is a protective and necessary one; it is passed through by every unit of the human family in the process of finding its place within the group, and enables it to develop something of value to give to that group when the second stage is entered. In the world today there are also units of the human family who are passing into the second stage, they are becoming radioactive and magnetic, they influence other forms and are becoming group conscious; they are passing out of, the "I am" stage into the "I am that" realization; the life and purpose of the great Entity of Whose body they are a part, is beginning to be cognized by them; they are becoming aware of the purpose back of the life of the planetary Spirit Who is the subjective impulse lying behind objective manifestation upon our earth. They are beginning to cooperate with His plans, to work for the betterment of their group; and the difference between them and other atoms of the human family is that they are now group conscious, they have a wider horizon, a group recognition, and [149] a larger purpose. At the same time they do not lose their self-consciousness, nor their own individual identity, and their own spheroidal life remains, but they put the whole force and energy which flows through them not into the working out of their own plans, but into an intelligent cooperation with the greater Life of which they are a part. Such men are few and far between, but when they are more in number, then we can look for a change in world conditions, and for that time to arrive, of which St. Paul speaks when he says: "There should be no division in the body, but the members should have the same care one for another. Whether one member suffer, all members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all rejoice with it... it is the same God which worketh all in all. There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit; there are differences of ministries (or service) but the same Lord." When we are all group conscious, when we are all aware of the purpose which lies back of manifestation upon our planet, when we are consciously active, and throwing all our energy into the working out of group plans, then we shall have what the Christian calls the "millennium." Now, if you have in the evolution of the atom of substance, and the human atom, these two stages, if they are the basis of all future development, then within the planetary atom you will [150] have the same two stages, that in which the planetary Life is working out His own plans, and a later one in which He falls in with the greater plans of the Life which animates the solar system. Not yet being in a position to have an interview with the planetary Spirit, I am unable to tell you whether He is as yet cooperating in the purposes of the solar Logos; but we might be able to get some idea of the general purposes by the study of race evolution and the development of the great international plans within the planet. We must bear in mind also, that, though we human beings consider ourselves as the highest and greatest manifestation upon the planet, there may be other evolutions through which the central Life may be working, of which we know as yet but little. We must study not only man, but should consider also the angel evolution, or the deva evolution, as the Hindu calls it. This opens up for us an immense field of study and speculation. Again, within the solar system we shall expect to find analogous stages. We shall find, probably, that the great Life animating the entire solar system, the great Entity Who is using it for the working out of a definite purpose, energizes it by means of these great centers of force which we call planetary atoms; that these centers, in their turn, work by means of lesser centers or groups, passing their energy on down through [151] groups of human atoms to the various kingdoms of nature, and thus to the little atom of substance which, in its turn, reflects the entire solar system. This question of atomic life, if we think it out, is vastly interesting, and leads us into many lines of conjecture. One of the main points of interest which it opens up is the intimate correlation, and close interaction of the atoms of every kind, and the all-pervading unity which must ultimately be recognized. If we have found that there comes a stage in the evolution of all atoms of every kind in which they feel and search for their place within the group, and from being positive become negative in regard to a greater life, if it is true in all these manifestations of consciousness there is a self-conscious stage and group-conscious stage, is it not logical and possible that perhaps, after all, our solar system is but an atom within a greater whole? May there not be for our solar system, and our solar Logos, a central larger life towards which the informing Spirit within the solar sphere is gradually attracted, and towards Whose consciousness our Deity aspires? Are there anywhere indications of such an attractive force, or goal? Are there greater spheres of solar life outside our system, that have a definite effect upon it? This may be but a speculation, but it has its points of interest. If we study astronomical books, and seek to ascertain whether [152] astronomers say that this is so, we shall meet with a vast amount of contradictory opinion; we shall find that some astronomers say that within the Pleiades is a central point around which our solar system revolves; others say that in the constellation of Hercules is the point of magnetic attraction for our solar system. On the other hand, you will find this flatly contradicted. We shall find some astronomers talking about "star-drift," and saying that the drift, or trend, of certain stars is in a specific direction; others argue that the distances are so vast that it is impossible to determine whether certain systems are following a definite orbit or not. Nevertheless, if we go to some of the ancient books, those which we call mythological (and a myth may be defined as something which holds a great truth hidden until we are ready to understand it), and if we study the ancient books of the East, we shall find that in all of them there are two or three constellations which are regarded as having a peculiarly intimate relation to our solar system. Towards these views modern astronomers as yet hold an agnostic attitude, and from the point of view of materialistic science, rightly so. What I seek to emphasize here is that a topic upon which scientists and astronomers are divided, yet which is nevertheless a subject of [153] contention, and one upon which the Oriental books sound a clear note, must have a basis in fact, and that there is probably an aspect of truth in the assertion. I would personally suggest here that that aspect of truth will be found, not along physical lines of interpretation, but along the lines of consciousness; that it is the psychic evolution that is going on within all atoms (using psychic in the sense of the subjective consciousness) which is hinted at in these books, and the emphasis is laid upon our having an occult relationship with other solar systems. Here the truth may perhaps be found. The life subjective may be one; the energy flowing between them may be one; but in the physical form lies diversity. Perhaps in the evolution of the intelligence, in the manifestation of love, or group consciousness, and in the development of will or purpose, lies unity, the oneness of the subjective life, and the eventual recognition that within the form, and in the form only, lies separation and differentiation. The ancient books of the East point out, in considering this subject, that the seven stars of the Great Bear, the seven stars of the Pleiades, and the sun Sirius, have a very close connection with our solar system, and that they hold an intimate psychic magnetic relation to our solar Logos. [154]
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