1) Infinitude
Nature is infinite in space and time – boundless and eternal, unfathomable and ineffable. The
all-pervading essence of infinite nature can be called space, consciousness, life, substance, force, energy,
divinity – all of which are fundamentally one.
2) The finite and the infinite
Nature is a unity in diversity, one in essence, manifold in form. The infinite whole is composed of an
infinite number of finite wholes – the relatively stable and autonomous things (natural systems or
artefacts) that we observe around us. Every natural system is not only a conscious, living, substantial
entity, but is consciousness-life-substance, of a particular range of density and form. Infinite
nature is an abstraction, not an entity; it therefore does not act or change and has no attributes. The
finite, concrete systems of which it is composed, on the other hand, move and change, act and interact,
and possess attributes. They are composite, inhomogeneous, and ultimately transient.
3) Vibration/worlds within worlds
The one essence manifests not only in infinitely varied forms, and on infinitely varied scales, but also in
infinitely varying degrees of spirituality and substantiality, comprising an infinite spectrum of vibration or
density. There is therefore an endless series of interpenetrating, interacting worlds within worlds,
systems within systems. The energy-substances of higher planes or subplanes (a plane being a
particular range of vibration) are relatively more homogeneous and less differentiated than those of
lower planes or subplanes.
4) Space and time
Just as boundless space is comprised of endless finite units of space, so eternal duration is comprised
of endless finite units of time. Space is the infinite totality of worlds within worlds, but appears
predominantly empty because only a tiny fraction of the energy-substances composing it are
perceptible and tangible to an entity at any particular moment. Time is a concept we use to quantify the
rate at which events occur; it is a function of change and motion, and presupposes a succession of
cause and effect. Every entity is extended in space and changes ‘in time’.
5) Causation/karma
All change (of position, substance, or form) is the result of causes; there is no such thing as absolute
chance. Nothing can happen for no reason at all for nothing exists in isolation; everything is part of an
intricate web of causal interconnections and interactions. The keynote of nature is harmony: every
action is automatically followed by an equal and opposite reaction, which sooner or later rebounds upon
the originator of the initial act. Thus, all our thoughts and deeds will eventually bring us ‘fortune’ or
‘misfortune’ according to the degree to which they were harmonious or disharmonious. In the long term,
perfect justice prevails in nature.
6) Analogy
Because nature is fundamentally one, and the same basic habits and structural, geometric, and
evolutionary principles apply throughout, there are correspondences between microcosm and
macrocosm. The principle of analogy – as above, so below – is a vital tool in our efforts to understand
reality.
7) Relativity
All finite systems and their attributes are relative. For any entity, energy-substances vibrating within the
same range of frequencies as its outer body are ‘physical’ matter, and finer grades of substance are
what we call energy, force, thought, desire, mind, spirit, consciousness, but these are just as material to
entities on the corresponding planes as our physical world is to us. Distance and time units are also
relative: an atom is a solar system on its own scale, reembodying perhaps millions of times in what for
us is one second, and our whole galaxy may be a molecule in some supercosmic entity, for which a
million of our years is just a second. The range of scale is infinite: matter-consciousness is both infinitely
divisible and infinitely aggregative.
8) Hierarchy
All natural systems consist of smaller systems and form part of larger systems. Hierarchies extend both
‘horizontally’ (on the same plane) and ‘vertically’ or inwardly (to higher and lower planes). On the
horizontal level, subatomic particles form atoms, which combine into molecules, which arrange
themselves into cells, which form tissues and organs, which form part of organisms, which form part of
ecosystems, which form part of planets, solar systems, galaxies, etc. The constitution of worlds and of
the organisms that inhabit them form ‘vertical’ hierarchies, and can be divided into several
interpenetrating layers or elements, from physical-astral to psychomental to spiritual-divine, each of
which can be further divided. The human constitution can be divided up in several different ways: e.g.
into a trinity of body, soul, and spirit; or into seven ‘principles’ – a lower quaternary consisting of physical
body, astral model-body, life-energy, and lower thoughts and desires, and an upper triad consisting of
higher mind (reincarnating ego), spiritual intuition, and inner god. A planet or star can be regarded as a
‘chain’ of 12 globes, existing on seven planes, each globe comprising several subplanes. The highest part of
every multilevelled organism or hierarchy is its spiritual summit or ‘absolute’, meaning a collective entity
or ‘deity’ which is relatively perfected in relation to the hierarchy in question. But the most ‘spiritual’ pole
of one hierarchy is the most ‘material’ pole of the next, superior hierarchy, just as the lowest pole of one
hierarchy is the highest pole of the one below.
9) From within outwards
Each level of a hierarchical system exercises a formative and organizing influence on the lower levels
(through the patterns and prototypes stored up from past cycles of activity), while the lower levels in turn
react upon the higher. A system is therefore formed and organized mainly from within outwards, from
the inner levels of its constitution, which are relatively more enduring and developed than the outer
levels. This inner guidance is sometimes active and selfconscious, as in our acts of free will
(constrained, however, by karmic tendencies from the past), and sometimes it is automatic and passive,
giving rise to our own automatic bodily functions and habitual and instinctual behavior, and to the
orderly, lawlike operations of nature in general. The ‘laws’ of nature are therefore the habits of the
various grades of conscious entities that compose reality, ranging from higher intelligences (collectively
forming the universal mind) to elemental nature-forces.
10) Consciousness and its vehicles
The core of every entity – whether atom, human, planet, or star – is a monad, a unit of
consciousness-life-substance, which acts through a series of more material vehicles or bodies. The monad or self in
which the consciousness of a particular organism is focused is animated by higher monads and
expresses itself through a series of lesser monads, each of which is the nucleus of one of the lower
vehicles of the entity in question. The following monads can be distinguished: the divine or galactic
monad, the spiritual or solar monad, the higher human or planetary-chain monad, the lower human or
globe monad, and the animal, vital-astral, and physical monads. At our present stage of evolution, we
are essentially the lower human monad, and our task is to raise our consciousness from the animal-human to the spiritual-human level of it.
11) Evolutionary unfoldment
Evolution means the unfolding, the bringing into active manifestation, of latent powers and faculties
‘involved’ in a previous cycle of evolution. It is the building of ever fitter vehicles for the expression of the
mental and spiritual powers of the monad. The more sophisticated the lower vehicles of an entity, the
greater their ability to express the powers locked up in the higher levels of its constitution. Thus all
things are alive and conscious, but the degree of manifest life and consciousness is extremely varied.
Evolution results from the interplay of inner impulses and environmental stimuli. Ever building on and
modifying the patterns of the past, nature is infinitely creative.
12) Cyclic evolution/reembodiment
Cyclic evolution is a fundamental habit of nature. A period of evolutionary activity is followed by a period
of rest. All natural systems evolve through reembodiment. Entities are born from a seed or nucleus
remaining from the previous evolutionary cycle of the monad, develop to maturity, grow old, and pass
away, only to reembody in a new form after a period of rest. Each new embodiment is the product of
past karma and present choices.
13) Birth and death
Nothing comes from nothing: matter and energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but only
transformed. Everything evolves from preexisting material. The growth of the body of an organism is
initiated on inner planes, and involves the transformation of higher energy-substances into lower, more
material ones, together with the attraction of matter from the environment. When an organism has
exhausted the store of vital energy with which it is born, the coordinating force of the indwelling monad
is withdrawn, and the organism ‘dies’, i.e. falls apart as a unit, and its constituent components go their
separate ways. The lower vehicles decompose on their respective subplanes, while, in the case of
humans, the reincarnating ego enters a dreamlike state of rest and assimilates the experiences of the
previous incarnation. When the time comes for the next embodiment, the reincarnating ego clothes
itself in many of the same atoms of different grades that it had used previously, bearing the appropriate
karmic impress. The same basic processes of birth, death, and rebirth apply to all entities, from atoms
to humans to stars.
14) Evolution and involution of worlds
Worlds or spheres, such as planets and stars, are composed of, and provide the field for the evolution
of, 10 kingdoms – 3 elemental kingdoms, mineral, plant, animal, and human kingdoms, and 3 spiritual
kingdoms. The impulse for a new manifestation of a world issues from its spiritual summit or hierarch,
from which emanate a series of steadily denser globes or planes; the One expands into the many.
During the first half of the evolutionary cycle (the arc of descent) the energy-substances of each plane
materialize or condense, while during the second half (the arc of ascent) the trend is towards
dematerialization or etherealization, as globes and entities are reabsorbed into the spiritual hierarch for
a period of nirvanic rest. The descending arc is characterized by the evolution of matter and involution
of spirit, while the ascending arc is characterized by the evolution of spirit and involution of matter.
15) Evolution of the monad
In each grand cycle of evolution, comprising many planetary embodiments, a monad begins as an
unselfconsciousness god-spark, embodies in every kingdom of nature for the purpose of gaining
experience and unfolding its inherent faculties, and ends the cycle as a selfconscious god. Elementals
(‘baby monads’) have no free choice, but automatically act in harmony with one another and the rest of
nature. In each successive kingdom differentiation and individuality increase, and reach their peak in the
human kingdom with the attainment of selfconsciousness and a large measure of free will. In the
human kingdom in particular, self-directed evolution comes into its own. There is no superior power
granting privileges or handing out favours; we evolve according to our karmic merits and demerits. As
we progress through the spiritual kingdoms we become increasingly at one again with nature, and
willingly ‘sacrifice’ our circumscribed selfconscious freedoms (especially the freedom to ‘do our own
thing’) in order to work in peace and harmony with the greater whole of which we form an integral part.
The highest gods of one hierarchy or world-system begin as elementals in the next. The matter of any
plane is composed of aggregated, crystallized monads in their nirvanic sleep, and the spiritual and
divine entities embodied as planets and stars are the electrons and atomic nuclei – the material building
blocks – of worlds on even larger scales. Evolution is without beginning and without end, an endless
adventure through the fields of infinitude, in which there are always new worlds of experience in which to
become selfconscious masters of life.
16) Universal brotherhood
There is no absolute separateness in nature. All things are made of the same essence, have the same
spiritual-divine potential, and are interlinked by magnetic ties of sympathy. It is impossible to realize our
full potential, unless we recognize the spiritual unity of all living beings and make universal brotherhood
the keynote of our lives.
by David Pratt. November 1997.