The Trinity:
Divine Spark Within
Divine Spark: the Soul Connection
‘We actually hold in our heart the spark of the Divine’.
Notice the use of the word "‘actually" in this statement because this truth has become contrary to what is commonly "accepted". We have forgotten and lost sight of a knowing so fundamental and important to our human existence as sentient, conscious cosmic beings. How did this happen? Why are so many people dimly aware of the soul and hardly ever think about their own soul? An increasing number are questioning if we even have a soul. How is it that in the historical past people would refer to the soul like it was a given yet today its very existence is questioned? It’s another human irony that in wanting to get away from the tyranny of dogmatic religions and leaders (those who exploited their position and the truth for their own ends) we have fallen for the same trap on the opposite end of the societal spectrum. We have created a society which assumes that we have "evolved" beyond our spirituality and that it has little relevance for us in the modern world.
This is, in part, a truth because our modern society does not leave much room for our human spirituality or the presence of understanding that we are all unique co-creators of the world and universe in which we live. There is also a sense, bar some exceptions, that what was known in the past was inferior to what we know today. This is a serious mistake as we can doom ourselves to history repeating itself one way or another. The consequence is that we have actually placed ourselves in a perpetual prison- a cognition trap. We have unwittingly imprisoned ourselves and let others hold power over us (the modern "idols, "kings" and "pharaohs") and be the arbiters of our reality, existence and future.
This current mode of existence that seems to most as a literal "hell on earth" has come about because when we dropped faith in our spiritual existence as being the main holder of the truth and wisdom needed in our daily life and switched to new "idols" of a power that are separate from us in politics, the entertainment industry, mass media and "factoidal"or "easily proven" sciences. Both of these endeavors are truly without soulful or philosophical intent and serve only their own ends, being led by the arrogant, ego consumed and most power hungry of society. This is, of course, not to denigrate the uses and potential of what the uses of sciences and media could be and can do. But the sad truth is that much of this century’s efforts in both have gone into new ways to enslave and program us toward the ideas of "arbitrarians" and "dictorial narrators" who seek only to replicate their mode of thought in the minds of humanity instead of expound upon it.
We have become a society so obsessed with the proof of our existence that we have stopped "existing" and creating in our scientific, philosophical and spiritual cognitions as active co-creators of our world(s) and the universe at large.
For example billions of dollars are poured into the hadron collider at CERN and some other countries are now building their own version. Yet no mention of how this costly invention improves lives or saves the earth from damage and pollution. It’s really just an experiment to see if we can break down the smallest atomic particle into the smallest component part. What for? It sounds like someone is trying to crack the creation code for the mere sake of pedestaling itself on a platform with what it views as a divinity (which it forgot to look for within itself). Meanwhile, ten's of thousands of beings suffer from war, pollution, illness, poverty and starvation everyday. Why do we, as a collective society, allow this to occur right under our noses and shy away from the idea that we are all responsible for the world in which we live, create and suffer? The truth is that the average person is willing to be uninvolved and go through life on autopilot because they believe they are just an insignificant organism and not capable of taking ownership over anything non-material.
This concept brings to mind a quote under the section "Architectural Philosophy" from the book "Planning a Computer System". In our simplest "rational" understanding of our universe it is best described as an engineered "computational system".
...When acting in is or her craft, the architect neither builds nor lives in the house, but rather is concerned with how the structure ( the domain of the "builder") achieves the function (the domain of the dweller). Computer System Architecture is the art of specifying the structure of the "building" at a level of abstraction sufficient to assure that the builder will achieve the functions desired by the "dweller".
This paragraph suggests that even within the computer systems we create in the modern world it is more important to understand the bigger picture intention of the "architecture" of the operating system than to see it as nothing more than it's nuts and bolts binary. Humanity has become so overly concerned with learning the detailed and quizzically unnecessary minutia of how we have already come to be in a material reality that we have lost sight of the continuation of the evolution and care of the "house" in which we "dwell". How can we move toward making a better more free and evolved future for ourselves and others when we are obsessed with the concepts of what we are now and what we have been in its most basic elementary existances? In our separation from our spiritual selves we have become a society spending more energy and resources picking itself apart then putting itself back together again. We must remember that the universe or "God" created with the intention for it's creation(s) to go on creating in our own unique pathways, identities and realities instead of seeking to replicate the already existing. In this way and this way alone we become creators and important within the "one eternal thing".
The majority of humanity has, to varying degrees, fallen for the illusion that this material existence is as solid as it gets. That the physical world is the only existence that has substance perceivable to you with the five bodily senses. Our true nature is much deeper and more divine. In each of us, we hold a divine spark which is fully capable of molding our reality and the world in which we exist. To break this down into more "digestible" terms it is to say that your understanding of the material world exists in your human ego and physical body like a diving suit. Imagine you are a deep sea diver who must wear a double-clad diving suit to survive the pressure and conditions to be able to operate within your environment. That is what our physical body is akin to. The body or "vessel" which holds your divine spark as well as the human ego is built to allow you to experience and learn in this physical world. Our soul or eternal spirit (which inhabits the "diving suit") is intended to be used to share and spread light, truth, eternal wisdom and create in the "darkness" which exists outside of the distractions of the world we experience on a day to day basis. Once you start working with your inner spirit in what is referred to as the subconscious, shadow, astral or world of "dark matter", the inner beauty we have is reflected in the beauty of our light body and our physical body. In our current world we have to get to know someone and allow vulnerability between our true spiritual nature and their's before we can experience their "inner" beauty due to how removed we have become from our co-existance with the eternal.
The "mystical" side of religions like Christian Gnosticism, Jewish Kabbalah and ancient Sufism refer to the Divine Spark’ present in all humans as being similar to a pilot light that must not go out. This pilot light is the life-line to our soul and heart intelligence so we don’t cut ourselves off completely from the divine light within. Conventional Christianity refers to the resurrection of the soul after death. In Catholicism this means to end up in either heaven or hell or purgatory. They usually hint that most people go to purgatory with no mention of growth just repentance. But the "mystical" sides of faith and spirituality opens human possibility by saying we can evolve in our current life to higher levels of understanding and awareness. It teaches us that we exist in heaven or hell by the choice of our perceptions of the world around us and whether or not we are an active participant in crafting it into a world in which we would want to live. The Gnostics refer to the divine spark as the seed of God consciousness which can be left dormant or sparked to light up one’s being. Jesus is seen as an Avatar of the Light of God descended to earth to live and breathe among us as an ordinary man and then to ‘die to himself’ and ascend to Christ-consciousness.
What we know as "Christ" has lived on in many forms both male and female throughout history since the original Messiah. It is a consciousness which is accessible to all if they spend the time and energy trying to attain it. It was meant as an example that would guide us out of the dark and ignite the spark in men and women to wake up to their true nature. When the soul is allowed to express itself, the clingy and needy ego no longer dominates with a false perception of a poor shadow version of our true selves. We can love and integrate our shadow and return to a much richer conscious awareness that was always ours to claim. This human existence gives us the gift and opportunity in life to nurture our eternal spirit and learn how to become cosmic creators in a setting best suited for our souls trajectory in transcendence. We begin by learning to fan the divine spark within, grow it into a flame and then a roaring spiritual fire. It is the return to this understanding of consciousness and getting away from being an auto-pilot slave to society, the material world and the idea of separateness from the divine. We walk away from that which conditions us to believe we are just human "organisms" living a single pointless life. What a prison that is.
In scriptural texts the divine spark is inferred in a few places:
‘He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no [mind of] man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.’ – (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Christ says:
‘Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you’. (Luke 17:21)
But there is also reference to humanity leaving God in droves and completely abandoning their spiritual truth:
‘As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.’ (Romans 3:10-23)
The interpretation of the full Romans verse was that whatever divine spark there was in humanity was snuffed out by "sin". This sounds irretrievable and takes a hapless view of humanity leaving it up to ‘"redemption" and "salvation" through the teachings of dictorial and repentant "faith" to "save" us. But in the true understanding of the divine spark you learn quickly that no one has the right to declare any or all as having lost their divine spark. Only one's conscience and inner belief (or lack of) can truly "know" that.
One question comes to surface quickly after understanding the existence of the divine spark within. Is it possible to snuff out the light? If you look at how some humans are conducting their lives by recklessly and haphazardly creating karma and damage, it would seem they could only do those things without true individual conscience and only if they had snuffed out their pilot light or allowed others to snuff it out of them. It would not be surprising if the soul of these programmed ego-run personalities may have been disconnect or severed from their divinity.
This may sound like spiritual "woohoo" too many modern society dwellers but more recent gnostic texts suggest that the soul has more than one incarnation at a time because (according to quantum mechanics) outside of the space/time of our current dimensional understanding in the life we are experiencing "now" all past-present-future are actually co-existing simultaneously in the "eternal moment" of cosmic infinity. To exemplify this better; imagine that your soul has five separate dimensional incarnations on earth spread out over "history". The most recent incarnation that is "this" you, is meant to be the culmination of the other four whose lives exist in the "past" during a younger consciousness development stage. It’s meant to be that each "ego" life is as important and necessary to your souls path as the others. It is also said the Soul will not show interest in the ego personality of a single life until that ego personality shows an interest in the Soul or divine spark– not the other way around as we are led to believe by the current mode of operation dictated by "organized" and generally patriarchal religious institutions.
If you were to think of the soul as the palm of your hand and each finger is a soul extension (ie. one ego life), then by all technical terms the soul would be capable of cutting off, disconnecting or "severing" from one of those ego incarnations if the ego personality has used (or not used) their free will to snuff out their connection to their soul or divine origin. People who willfully choose to disconnect from their soul probably don’t realise that they have set themselves up to experience the potential of a re-integration into the the roots of the metaphorical cosmic tree that is "the one thing". This said, the chance to re-ignite the spark is endlessly available should you choose to focus your time and energy on it again since Love and Light ( the sources of all creation) are infinite and unconditional.
‘The flame that burns within your heart is the seat of cosmic consciousness, the ensign of the child of God. It is your link to Reality, to Being, and to the one eternal thing. It is the anointing by the Real Self of all souls who choose to keep the standard of the Law of the One’.
As you begin to see the divinity in yourself, yourself in others and the unity of all things in the cosmos many ask the big question:
‘If the core of my being is a “spark of God,” then where is the me in me? In what way is one person unique from another? Is this idea that I have of myself as an “individual” a fallacy?’
The truth is that this question is best answered as a greater question:
‘Why do you assume that the divine spark expresses itself identically in all things? Perhaps the opposite is true: It is that divine spark [and how it is expressed individually] that makes each of us unique and gives us purpose within creation.
In an existing nod to the intersections of spirituality and science both showing the understanding of the unity of all things is provided in the field Physics by providing a basic law of the conservation which states that all forms of energy in the universe are neither created nor destroyed.
This means that the energy of a person whose divine flame has been snuffed out and has not been re-ignited before their earthly death lose their "individuality" and their energy is returned to an unconscious state of matter existing within the unity of all things to begin again or be integrated into an existing flame. in this way no person or being is ever truly lost. It takes away the illusionary view that we are all "sinners" required to seek god outside of ourselves for redemption and returns our power to us as co-creators with the universal process. It makes far more sense since we have free will, are meant to exercise it, and are left to experience the reactions of our actions within the creative process.
Understanding the Origins of the Triniity in "The Unity"
In approaching the subject of the concept of the “Divine Spark”, “Triune Flame” or “Holy Trinity,” one usually experiences a feeling of awe, humility and inherent “separateness” from self. With awe, because the imagination staggers at the immensity of the concept. With humility, because the human mind can only leap upward in search of the Infinite, and like the waves of the sea, fall back again upon itself. A “separateness” exists because of our inability to see the divinity within ourself. Yet there is no greater state which the mind can achieve than to sail in flights of imagination into the great unknown. It is only by looking inward into the unknown parts of ourselves that new truths are discovered; and it is thus that the frontiers of knowledge keep ever expanding within our own eternal minds and perceptions of reality.
When it comes to the subject of the “Divine Trinity,” we can in reality “know” nothing. We may only theorize, using a faculty higher than the “provable” in a material world. The human mind is prone to catalogue every idea that comes to it, and it does not hesitate to classify and define the Infinite as it is “informed” to by the external material world. The great danger is that this builds a wall of finality around itself and thus builds a similar wall around our approach to our own unique personification of the divine and the world(s) can can create.
We become divided in the current societal belief systems to be either “believer’s” or “unbelievers” with both paths missing the point of intersection. The “believer’s” ego is written down, wrapped up and labeled for affirmation and consumption by others. The “unbeliever” rejecting in totality everything that cannot pass a laboratory test. Both shut themselves smugly within walls of their own building. The imagination must be kept free to scale this barrier of dogma and established “fact” and to expand into realms of infinitely increasing wonder. The truest of seekers must, with increasing effort, keep from erecting fences around even their most spiritual conceptions, so that the intuitive faculties of the subconscious may be free to discover new vistas of unspeakable magnificence and beauty. The ideology of the importance of the unique perception of self led thought must motivate all that is shared to ensure that the wonder of the conception of the Infinite doesn’t become nailed upon a cross of dictatorial words.Our first understanding of “Deity” must be grounded by the idea that God is one. Any thought of the Ultimate and Androgynous God head as having a rival or competing for dominion is unsustainable. The existance of lesser deities or manifestations of the God Head exist just the same, but behind all manifestations, or as the Kabbalists call them “Emanations,” there must be the One Unmanifest, Absolute Being or Principle. This is known to many as “The Law of One.
When we turn our thoughts to the subject of the Trinity, we come up against the all too historically pervasive problem of “orthodoxy”. The history of Christianity bears evidence to the blurring and clouding of the pure teachings of its Founder. Many and bitter have been the controversies of the Church’s theologians over the subject of the “Three Persons”; and the misunderstanding concerning the Christian Creed has resulted in a wretched amount of intolerance and bigotry toward our fellow human. With this in mind one must approach the idea of the Trinity or “Three Persons in one” with an open mind and an eager intellect. One thing which must strike the seeker of comparative religions as the outstanding characteristic of Christianity is the idea of “Personality” in regards to the concept of Deity. This does not mean that Christianity, through its purest teachings, portrays an anthropomorphic God—although this may not be said of many of its more zealous exponents. It has long been stated that “God created humanity in God’s own image, and humanity has been returning the compliment ever since.” And of course, in a real sense, that is all that we can do. To each person, God can be no more than that individual’s highest perception of the God they “know”. A fuller expansion of that conception will open an awareness to a realm of higher understanding wherein God becomes the One Life, Infinite Mind or Universal Principle. Beyond this high concept, description of Deity awaits humanity’s further expansion of consciousness.
To say that Christianity is unique in its portrayal of God as a personality is not to infer that other great religions are lacking in the personal aspect of their deities. On the contrary, mythology is replete with the stories of gods and demi-gods who have assumed human form and took upon themselves human characteristics. Ancient India had Avataras, and Incarnations of the Gods, Vishnu and Shiva. However, it remained for Christianity to give to the world its particular emphasis on the personal aspect of Deity. God became a “loving Father”, vitally interested in the affairs of “his children”, and taking an active participation in influencing and guiding their destinies. Christ continually referred to God as “My Creator,” and gave to the world the prayer which is universally known as “Our Creator.” His own relationship with God was as intimate as life itself. He said, “I and my Creator are one.” In contrast, we find no such identification with Deity in the older religions. When we consider the many gods of the Greek pantheon, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that these figures are purely allegorical. In ancient Egypt, Osiris, Horus and Isis were looked upon as symbols of great cosmic processes and universal laws rather than as beings or individuals.
That said, the idea of God as a Trinity was not originally a specified part of the Christian doctrine. At least, it was not prominent in the teachings of Christ or the apostles thereafter. While Christ made continual reference to God as his Creator, it was not until his farewell discourse to his disciples regarding the “Comforter . . . even the Spirit of Truth . . . which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Creator will send . . . [who will] abide with you forever.” Just before Christ “ascended into heaven”, he told his disciples to “go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Creator, and of thyself, and of the holy ghost.” St. Paul, in his Epistles, while not mentioning the word “Trinity,” developed the idea of the three members of the Godhead. Some scholars assert that much of St. Paul’s writings show influence of the Neo-Platonic school, in which he is said to have been an initiate. It was not until the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, during the development of that document of principles known as the Nicene Creed, that the idea of the “Trinity” or “Three Beings in One” became definitely established as a Christian doctrine. In order to rationalize the idea of “three Gods in One” and meet the limitations of our understanding, we first consider the subject of the “Persons” or “Personalities” of the Trinity from two points of view: first, the nature of their being; and second, their function or work in a field of manifestation—our universe.
It is significant that the very first reference to God in the Book of Genesis is the Hebrew word Elohim. “In the beginning Elohim brought into manifestation. . . .” It is important to mention the significant fact, ignored by most translators, that the word Elohim is plural, and plural in Hebraic means more than two. Moreover, the word is both masculine and feminine or androgynous. What can that mean? Surely it means that at the point or level at which “Creation begins”, the conception or principle of “God” that exists behind and beyond all manifestation appears as a plurality, and is neither male nor female, but rather contains within itself the qualities or potencies of both. Occult tradition tells us that the “Elohim” represents a hierarchy of lesser deities, that is Logoi or Archangels, having to do with Cosmic creative processes.
In the Athanasian Creed, which is a later and more detailed edition of the Nicene document, there is the statement, “In this Trinity, none is afore or after other, none is greater or less than another, but the whole Three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.” Although this absolute equality of the “Three Persons” must be accepted as a truism, it is equally true that they present a vast difference in their nature and relationship with humanity. Likewise that part of the statement which says, “none is afore or after other” needs some prerequisite with regard to the work of the “Trinity” in the creation and building of a universe, the element of time and sequence makes an appearance.
THE CREATOR
The Creator aspect of Deity most nearly represents pure “Being”. We can best describe This nature as “Spirit” and it’s expression as “Will.” This is the Kabalist’s “Kether,” also known as the “emanation of the kingdom” and represented by the head and crown chakra. The Creator is the Supreme, truly the beginning of all things, in that from Creator, and from creation alone, emanate the “Divine,” sometimes referred to as sparks from the Eternal Flame. These are the imperishable spirits which go forth from the Creator’s home and take their journey “into a far country”—the incarnate souls which are earth’s humanity. There are no words in the English language which can adequately describe these fragments of God. The Greek word Monad comes nearest to expressing the full significance of these units of divinity. In the most realistic sense, all creatures are the Creator’s children, for within each resides this “Spark” or “Seed,” which partakes of the very nature and essence of God. It is this divine “will” within each unique individual self, which is the inherent urge to grow, to progress, to evolve. This aspect of God is sometimes referred to as the “Destroyer,” for in the fullness of time all forms are eventually resolved into their native elements, and these Monads, which in the highest sense are humanity, find ultimate reunion with Creation.
CHRIST
The Second “Person” of the Trinity is usually referred to as “Christ.” Christ is, as the Nicene Creed states, “The only-begotten of God.” This particular phrasing has been responsible for much misunderstanding concerning the true state of Christ’s being. Charles W. Leadbeater in The Christian Creed interprets the original Greek as “the begotten only,” or “the alone-born,” which lifts it out of the realm of secular controversy. In the name of Christ lies the greatest mystery known to humanity; for the word Christos (Greek; meaning “the Anointed”) is in reality a title rather than a name, title of a great office in the Spiritual Hierarchy of the world. To understand this fully, is to understand the meaning of the Incarnation, of the “Word which was in the beginning . . . and was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Since Christ is God incarnate in human form, he/she would thereby become Mediator between humanity and God. In this divine aspect, we describe Christ more so as a “state of consciousness” presenting as Life and Love—Life that permeates and sustains all forms; Love that unites all creatures, great and small, into one true and spiritually purified society. As the Creator functions as “will”, Christ functions as Love-Wisdom at the intuitional level. Whether we think of Christ in a Cosmic aspect as the Second Logos, “by whose eternal sacrifice the universe is nourished and sustained,” or as that essence of God embodied in every human soul—if we hold in our mind the image as the “Word” Incarnate, the Lord of Love—we touch the mystery whereby the several layers, or shall we say phases, of Christ’s manifestation become so unified and interlocked as to be truly one with us.
THE HOLY GHOST/ SPIRIT
When we come to describe the nature of the “Third Person of the Trinity”, we find ourselves at a loss for words. “Ghost” or “Spirit” is not so readily thought of as a “Person” as are the Creator itself nor the same as the Consciousness of Christ. We are inclined to think of Spirit vaguely as a kind of force or influence emanating from the universality. References to Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments as the “Spirit of the Lord,” the “Spirit of Truth,” the “Comforter,” etc., leave our ideas indefinite. Certain physical phenomena are attributed to the spirit of God such as it’s appearance at the baptism of Chirst, as the “rush of a mighty wind,” and the “cloven tongues like as of fire which sat upon the disciples “at the day of Pentacost, followed by the speaking and understanding of strange languages or “speaking in tongues”. These are poetic and symbolic attempts at description, where realistic prose falters. And yet, by the use of that faculty which transcends the intellect, we may discover certain less obvious guideposts which clearly indicate that it is actually the Third Person of the Trinity which, both in nature and in function, comes closer to mankind in a personal way than appears on a superficial level.
As the Creator has to do with the Self or Spirit in the human being, and Christ consciousness, through the mystery of the “Incarnation”, reveals our relationship with God, it would not be difficult to accept the conclusion that the Holy Ghost, as the spirit of truth and understanding, is most intimately associated with our relationship with humanity and the world around us. In this connection it is significant to note that, while the Creator aspect expresses itself primarily on the spiritual level, Christ at the intuitional level, the work of Spirit finds its channel through the third descending plane, the “Manasic” or higher mental level, the world of abstract thought and pure reason. We recall that most abstruse statement in the above- mentioned Nicene Creed that though Christ was “begotten only of the Creator before all worlds,” the Holy Ghost as the “Lord and Giver of Life, proceedeth from the Creator and Christ.” Could it be that the framers of that famous document had some realization that the Three Persons of the Trinity revealed themselves respectively through three descending worlds of manifestation, and that the Third “Person” operated through the lowest of these planes(our corporal self)—the one most intimately, and intricately, affecting humanity?
We carry our analogy to the point where it affects humanity. The Creator, we have seen, is the spirit in ourselves and appears as free will and can often be equated with the human “Ego”. Christ as a state of consciousness is the principle of the intuition and is expressed as love and wisdom. The Holy Ghost or Spirit, especially associated with the Manasic principle, works through our mental faculties, anciently referred to as the “Fire of the Mind.” Spirit is that phase of Deity which is often referred to as the “Divine Mind.” The world scene is Spirit’s field of activity, and one’s method of influencing world affairs and guiding civilizations is through creative images emanating from one’s own plane of activity, the archetypal world. Our own higher mind, reaching upward into this world of ideas and ideals, brings these images down into the world of daily affairs. Thus does the influence of Spirit extend into every sphere of human activity: science, philosophy, art, literature, philanthropy, sociology—and even world politics. Surely no aspect of Deity could be closer to our personal lives.
Notice the use of the word "‘actually" in this statement because this truth has become contrary to what is commonly "accepted". We have forgotten and lost sight of a knowing so fundamental and important to our human existence as sentient, conscious cosmic beings. How did this happen? Why are so many people dimly aware of the soul and hardly ever think about their own soul? An increasing number are questioning if we even have a soul. How is it that in the historical past people would refer to the soul like it was a given yet today its very existence is questioned? It’s another human irony that in wanting to get away from the tyranny of dogmatic religions and leaders (those who exploited their position and the truth for their own ends) we have fallen for the same trap on the opposite end of the societal spectrum. We have created a society which assumes that we have "evolved" beyond our spirituality and that it has little relevance for us in the modern world.
This is, in part, a truth because our modern society does not leave much room for our human spirituality or the presence of understanding that we are all unique co-creators of the world and universe in which we live. There is also a sense, bar some exceptions, that what was known in the past was inferior to what we know today. This is a serious mistake as we can doom ourselves to history repeating itself one way or another. The consequence is that we have actually placed ourselves in a perpetual prison- a cognition trap. We have unwittingly imprisoned ourselves and let others hold power over us (the modern "idols, "kings" and "pharaohs") and be the arbiters of our reality, existence and future.
This current mode of existence that seems to most as a literal "hell on earth" has come about because when we dropped faith in our spiritual existence as being the main holder of the truth and wisdom needed in our daily life and switched to new "idols" of a power that are separate from us in politics, the entertainment industry, mass media and "factoidal"or "easily proven" sciences. Both of these endeavors are truly without soulful or philosophical intent and serve only their own ends, being led by the arrogant, ego consumed and most power hungry of society. This is, of course, not to denigrate the uses and potential of what the uses of sciences and media could be and can do. But the sad truth is that much of this century’s efforts in both have gone into new ways to enslave and program us toward the ideas of "arbitrarians" and "dictorial narrators" who seek only to replicate their mode of thought in the minds of humanity instead of expound upon it.
We have become a society so obsessed with the proof of our existence that we have stopped "existing" and creating in our scientific, philosophical and spiritual cognitions as active co-creators of our world(s) and the universe at large.
For example billions of dollars are poured into the hadron collider at CERN and some other countries are now building their own version. Yet no mention of how this costly invention improves lives or saves the earth from damage and pollution. It’s really just an experiment to see if we can break down the smallest atomic particle into the smallest component part. What for? It sounds like someone is trying to crack the creation code for the mere sake of pedestaling itself on a platform with what it views as a divinity (which it forgot to look for within itself). Meanwhile, ten's of thousands of beings suffer from war, pollution, illness, poverty and starvation everyday. Why do we, as a collective society, allow this to occur right under our noses and shy away from the idea that we are all responsible for the world in which we live, create and suffer? The truth is that the average person is willing to be uninvolved and go through life on autopilot because they believe they are just an insignificant organism and not capable of taking ownership over anything non-material.
This concept brings to mind a quote under the section "Architectural Philosophy" from the book "Planning a Computer System". In our simplest "rational" understanding of our universe it is best described as an engineered "computational system".
...When acting in is or her craft, the architect neither builds nor lives in the house, but rather is concerned with how the structure ( the domain of the "builder") achieves the function (the domain of the dweller). Computer System Architecture is the art of specifying the structure of the "building" at a level of abstraction sufficient to assure that the builder will achieve the functions desired by the "dweller".
This paragraph suggests that even within the computer systems we create in the modern world it is more important to understand the bigger picture intention of the "architecture" of the operating system than to see it as nothing more than it's nuts and bolts binary. Humanity has become so overly concerned with learning the detailed and quizzically unnecessary minutia of how we have already come to be in a material reality that we have lost sight of the continuation of the evolution and care of the "house" in which we "dwell". How can we move toward making a better more free and evolved future for ourselves and others when we are obsessed with the concepts of what we are now and what we have been in its most basic elementary existances? In our separation from our spiritual selves we have become a society spending more energy and resources picking itself apart then putting itself back together again. We must remember that the universe or "God" created with the intention for it's creation(s) to go on creating in our own unique pathways, identities and realities instead of seeking to replicate the already existing. In this way and this way alone we become creators and important within the "one eternal thing".
The majority of humanity has, to varying degrees, fallen for the illusion that this material existence is as solid as it gets. That the physical world is the only existence that has substance perceivable to you with the five bodily senses. Our true nature is much deeper and more divine. In each of us, we hold a divine spark which is fully capable of molding our reality and the world in which we exist. To break this down into more "digestible" terms it is to say that your understanding of the material world exists in your human ego and physical body like a diving suit. Imagine you are a deep sea diver who must wear a double-clad diving suit to survive the pressure and conditions to be able to operate within your environment. That is what our physical body is akin to. The body or "vessel" which holds your divine spark as well as the human ego is built to allow you to experience and learn in this physical world. Our soul or eternal spirit (which inhabits the "diving suit") is intended to be used to share and spread light, truth, eternal wisdom and create in the "darkness" which exists outside of the distractions of the world we experience on a day to day basis. Once you start working with your inner spirit in what is referred to as the subconscious, shadow, astral or world of "dark matter", the inner beauty we have is reflected in the beauty of our light body and our physical body. In our current world we have to get to know someone and allow vulnerability between our true spiritual nature and their's before we can experience their "inner" beauty due to how removed we have become from our co-existance with the eternal.
The "mystical" side of religions like Christian Gnosticism, Jewish Kabbalah and ancient Sufism refer to the Divine Spark’ present in all humans as being similar to a pilot light that must not go out. This pilot light is the life-line to our soul and heart intelligence so we don’t cut ourselves off completely from the divine light within. Conventional Christianity refers to the resurrection of the soul after death. In Catholicism this means to end up in either heaven or hell or purgatory. They usually hint that most people go to purgatory with no mention of growth just repentance. But the "mystical" sides of faith and spirituality opens human possibility by saying we can evolve in our current life to higher levels of understanding and awareness. It teaches us that we exist in heaven or hell by the choice of our perceptions of the world around us and whether or not we are an active participant in crafting it into a world in which we would want to live. The Gnostics refer to the divine spark as the seed of God consciousness which can be left dormant or sparked to light up one’s being. Jesus is seen as an Avatar of the Light of God descended to earth to live and breathe among us as an ordinary man and then to ‘die to himself’ and ascend to Christ-consciousness.
What we know as "Christ" has lived on in many forms both male and female throughout history since the original Messiah. It is a consciousness which is accessible to all if they spend the time and energy trying to attain it. It was meant as an example that would guide us out of the dark and ignite the spark in men and women to wake up to their true nature. When the soul is allowed to express itself, the clingy and needy ego no longer dominates with a false perception of a poor shadow version of our true selves. We can love and integrate our shadow and return to a much richer conscious awareness that was always ours to claim. This human existence gives us the gift and opportunity in life to nurture our eternal spirit and learn how to become cosmic creators in a setting best suited for our souls trajectory in transcendence. We begin by learning to fan the divine spark within, grow it into a flame and then a roaring spiritual fire. It is the return to this understanding of consciousness and getting away from being an auto-pilot slave to society, the material world and the idea of separateness from the divine. We walk away from that which conditions us to believe we are just human "organisms" living a single pointless life. What a prison that is.
In scriptural texts the divine spark is inferred in a few places:
‘He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no [mind of] man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.’ – (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Christ says:
‘Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you’. (Luke 17:21)
But there is also reference to humanity leaving God in droves and completely abandoning their spiritual truth:
‘As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.’ (Romans 3:10-23)
The interpretation of the full Romans verse was that whatever divine spark there was in humanity was snuffed out by "sin". This sounds irretrievable and takes a hapless view of humanity leaving it up to ‘"redemption" and "salvation" through the teachings of dictorial and repentant "faith" to "save" us. But in the true understanding of the divine spark you learn quickly that no one has the right to declare any or all as having lost their divine spark. Only one's conscience and inner belief (or lack of) can truly "know" that.
One question comes to surface quickly after understanding the existence of the divine spark within. Is it possible to snuff out the light? If you look at how some humans are conducting their lives by recklessly and haphazardly creating karma and damage, it would seem they could only do those things without true individual conscience and only if they had snuffed out their pilot light or allowed others to snuff it out of them. It would not be surprising if the soul of these programmed ego-run personalities may have been disconnect or severed from their divinity.
This may sound like spiritual "woohoo" too many modern society dwellers but more recent gnostic texts suggest that the soul has more than one incarnation at a time because (according to quantum mechanics) outside of the space/time of our current dimensional understanding in the life we are experiencing "now" all past-present-future are actually co-existing simultaneously in the "eternal moment" of cosmic infinity. To exemplify this better; imagine that your soul has five separate dimensional incarnations on earth spread out over "history". The most recent incarnation that is "this" you, is meant to be the culmination of the other four whose lives exist in the "past" during a younger consciousness development stage. It’s meant to be that each "ego" life is as important and necessary to your souls path as the others. It is also said the Soul will not show interest in the ego personality of a single life until that ego personality shows an interest in the Soul or divine spark– not the other way around as we are led to believe by the current mode of operation dictated by "organized" and generally patriarchal religious institutions.
If you were to think of the soul as the palm of your hand and each finger is a soul extension (ie. one ego life), then by all technical terms the soul would be capable of cutting off, disconnecting or "severing" from one of those ego incarnations if the ego personality has used (or not used) their free will to snuff out their connection to their soul or divine origin. People who willfully choose to disconnect from their soul probably don’t realise that they have set themselves up to experience the potential of a re-integration into the the roots of the metaphorical cosmic tree that is "the one thing". This said, the chance to re-ignite the spark is endlessly available should you choose to focus your time and energy on it again since Love and Light ( the sources of all creation) are infinite and unconditional.
‘The flame that burns within your heart is the seat of cosmic consciousness, the ensign of the child of God. It is your link to Reality, to Being, and to the one eternal thing. It is the anointing by the Real Self of all souls who choose to keep the standard of the Law of the One’.
As you begin to see the divinity in yourself, yourself in others and the unity of all things in the cosmos many ask the big question:
‘If the core of my being is a “spark of God,” then where is the me in me? In what way is one person unique from another? Is this idea that I have of myself as an “individual” a fallacy?’
The truth is that this question is best answered as a greater question:
‘Why do you assume that the divine spark expresses itself identically in all things? Perhaps the opposite is true: It is that divine spark [and how it is expressed individually] that makes each of us unique and gives us purpose within creation.
In an existing nod to the intersections of spirituality and science both showing the understanding of the unity of all things is provided in the field Physics by providing a basic law of the conservation which states that all forms of energy in the universe are neither created nor destroyed.
This means that the energy of a person whose divine flame has been snuffed out and has not been re-ignited before their earthly death lose their "individuality" and their energy is returned to an unconscious state of matter existing within the unity of all things to begin again or be integrated into an existing flame. in this way no person or being is ever truly lost. It takes away the illusionary view that we are all "sinners" required to seek god outside of ourselves for redemption and returns our power to us as co-creators with the universal process. It makes far more sense since we have free will, are meant to exercise it, and are left to experience the reactions of our actions within the creative process.
Understanding the Origins of the Triniity in "The Unity"
In approaching the subject of the concept of the “Divine Spark”, “Triune Flame” or “Holy Trinity,” one usually experiences a feeling of awe, humility and inherent “separateness” from self. With awe, because the imagination staggers at the immensity of the concept. With humility, because the human mind can only leap upward in search of the Infinite, and like the waves of the sea, fall back again upon itself. A “separateness” exists because of our inability to see the divinity within ourself. Yet there is no greater state which the mind can achieve than to sail in flights of imagination into the great unknown. It is only by looking inward into the unknown parts of ourselves that new truths are discovered; and it is thus that the frontiers of knowledge keep ever expanding within our own eternal minds and perceptions of reality.
When it comes to the subject of the “Divine Trinity,” we can in reality “know” nothing. We may only theorize, using a faculty higher than the “provable” in a material world. The human mind is prone to catalogue every idea that comes to it, and it does not hesitate to classify and define the Infinite as it is “informed” to by the external material world. The great danger is that this builds a wall of finality around itself and thus builds a similar wall around our approach to our own unique personification of the divine and the world(s) can can create.
We become divided in the current societal belief systems to be either “believer’s” or “unbelievers” with both paths missing the point of intersection. The “believer’s” ego is written down, wrapped up and labeled for affirmation and consumption by others. The “unbeliever” rejecting in totality everything that cannot pass a laboratory test. Both shut themselves smugly within walls of their own building. The imagination must be kept free to scale this barrier of dogma and established “fact” and to expand into realms of infinitely increasing wonder. The truest of seekers must, with increasing effort, keep from erecting fences around even their most spiritual conceptions, so that the intuitive faculties of the subconscious may be free to discover new vistas of unspeakable magnificence and beauty. The ideology of the importance of the unique perception of self led thought must motivate all that is shared to ensure that the wonder of the conception of the Infinite doesn’t become nailed upon a cross of dictatorial words.Our first understanding of “Deity” must be grounded by the idea that God is one. Any thought of the Ultimate and Androgynous God head as having a rival or competing for dominion is unsustainable. The existance of lesser deities or manifestations of the God Head exist just the same, but behind all manifestations, or as the Kabbalists call them “Emanations,” there must be the One Unmanifest, Absolute Being or Principle. This is known to many as “The Law of One.
When we turn our thoughts to the subject of the Trinity, we come up against the all too historically pervasive problem of “orthodoxy”. The history of Christianity bears evidence to the blurring and clouding of the pure teachings of its Founder. Many and bitter have been the controversies of the Church’s theologians over the subject of the “Three Persons”; and the misunderstanding concerning the Christian Creed has resulted in a wretched amount of intolerance and bigotry toward our fellow human. With this in mind one must approach the idea of the Trinity or “Three Persons in one” with an open mind and an eager intellect. One thing which must strike the seeker of comparative religions as the outstanding characteristic of Christianity is the idea of “Personality” in regards to the concept of Deity. This does not mean that Christianity, through its purest teachings, portrays an anthropomorphic God—although this may not be said of many of its more zealous exponents. It has long been stated that “God created humanity in God’s own image, and humanity has been returning the compliment ever since.” And of course, in a real sense, that is all that we can do. To each person, God can be no more than that individual’s highest perception of the God they “know”. A fuller expansion of that conception will open an awareness to a realm of higher understanding wherein God becomes the One Life, Infinite Mind or Universal Principle. Beyond this high concept, description of Deity awaits humanity’s further expansion of consciousness.
To say that Christianity is unique in its portrayal of God as a personality is not to infer that other great religions are lacking in the personal aspect of their deities. On the contrary, mythology is replete with the stories of gods and demi-gods who have assumed human form and took upon themselves human characteristics. Ancient India had Avataras, and Incarnations of the Gods, Vishnu and Shiva. However, it remained for Christianity to give to the world its particular emphasis on the personal aspect of Deity. God became a “loving Father”, vitally interested in the affairs of “his children”, and taking an active participation in influencing and guiding their destinies. Christ continually referred to God as “My Creator,” and gave to the world the prayer which is universally known as “Our Creator.” His own relationship with God was as intimate as life itself. He said, “I and my Creator are one.” In contrast, we find no such identification with Deity in the older religions. When we consider the many gods of the Greek pantheon, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that these figures are purely allegorical. In ancient Egypt, Osiris, Horus and Isis were looked upon as symbols of great cosmic processes and universal laws rather than as beings or individuals.
That said, the idea of God as a Trinity was not originally a specified part of the Christian doctrine. At least, it was not prominent in the teachings of Christ or the apostles thereafter. While Christ made continual reference to God as his Creator, it was not until his farewell discourse to his disciples regarding the “Comforter . . . even the Spirit of Truth . . . which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Creator will send . . . [who will] abide with you forever.” Just before Christ “ascended into heaven”, he told his disciples to “go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Creator, and of thyself, and of the holy ghost.” St. Paul, in his Epistles, while not mentioning the word “Trinity,” developed the idea of the three members of the Godhead. Some scholars assert that much of St. Paul’s writings show influence of the Neo-Platonic school, in which he is said to have been an initiate. It was not until the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, during the development of that document of principles known as the Nicene Creed, that the idea of the “Trinity” or “Three Beings in One” became definitely established as a Christian doctrine. In order to rationalize the idea of “three Gods in One” and meet the limitations of our understanding, we first consider the subject of the “Persons” or “Personalities” of the Trinity from two points of view: first, the nature of their being; and second, their function or work in a field of manifestation—our universe.
It is significant that the very first reference to God in the Book of Genesis is the Hebrew word Elohim. “In the beginning Elohim brought into manifestation. . . .” It is important to mention the significant fact, ignored by most translators, that the word Elohim is plural, and plural in Hebraic means more than two. Moreover, the word is both masculine and feminine or androgynous. What can that mean? Surely it means that at the point or level at which “Creation begins”, the conception or principle of “God” that exists behind and beyond all manifestation appears as a plurality, and is neither male nor female, but rather contains within itself the qualities or potencies of both. Occult tradition tells us that the “Elohim” represents a hierarchy of lesser deities, that is Logoi or Archangels, having to do with Cosmic creative processes.
In the Athanasian Creed, which is a later and more detailed edition of the Nicene document, there is the statement, “In this Trinity, none is afore or after other, none is greater or less than another, but the whole Three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.” Although this absolute equality of the “Three Persons” must be accepted as a truism, it is equally true that they present a vast difference in their nature and relationship with humanity. Likewise that part of the statement which says, “none is afore or after other” needs some prerequisite with regard to the work of the “Trinity” in the creation and building of a universe, the element of time and sequence makes an appearance.
THE CREATOR
The Creator aspect of Deity most nearly represents pure “Being”. We can best describe This nature as “Spirit” and it’s expression as “Will.” This is the Kabalist’s “Kether,” also known as the “emanation of the kingdom” and represented by the head and crown chakra. The Creator is the Supreme, truly the beginning of all things, in that from Creator, and from creation alone, emanate the “Divine,” sometimes referred to as sparks from the Eternal Flame. These are the imperishable spirits which go forth from the Creator’s home and take their journey “into a far country”—the incarnate souls which are earth’s humanity. There are no words in the English language which can adequately describe these fragments of God. The Greek word Monad comes nearest to expressing the full significance of these units of divinity. In the most realistic sense, all creatures are the Creator’s children, for within each resides this “Spark” or “Seed,” which partakes of the very nature and essence of God. It is this divine “will” within each unique individual self, which is the inherent urge to grow, to progress, to evolve. This aspect of God is sometimes referred to as the “Destroyer,” for in the fullness of time all forms are eventually resolved into their native elements, and these Monads, which in the highest sense are humanity, find ultimate reunion with Creation.
CHRIST
The Second “Person” of the Trinity is usually referred to as “Christ.” Christ is, as the Nicene Creed states, “The only-begotten of God.” This particular phrasing has been responsible for much misunderstanding concerning the true state of Christ’s being. Charles W. Leadbeater in The Christian Creed interprets the original Greek as “the begotten only,” or “the alone-born,” which lifts it out of the realm of secular controversy. In the name of Christ lies the greatest mystery known to humanity; for the word Christos (Greek; meaning “the Anointed”) is in reality a title rather than a name, title of a great office in the Spiritual Hierarchy of the world. To understand this fully, is to understand the meaning of the Incarnation, of the “Word which was in the beginning . . . and was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Since Christ is God incarnate in human form, he/she would thereby become Mediator between humanity and God. In this divine aspect, we describe Christ more so as a “state of consciousness” presenting as Life and Love—Life that permeates and sustains all forms; Love that unites all creatures, great and small, into one true and spiritually purified society. As the Creator functions as “will”, Christ functions as Love-Wisdom at the intuitional level. Whether we think of Christ in a Cosmic aspect as the Second Logos, “by whose eternal sacrifice the universe is nourished and sustained,” or as that essence of God embodied in every human soul—if we hold in our mind the image as the “Word” Incarnate, the Lord of Love—we touch the mystery whereby the several layers, or shall we say phases, of Christ’s manifestation become so unified and interlocked as to be truly one with us.
THE HOLY GHOST/ SPIRIT
When we come to describe the nature of the “Third Person of the Trinity”, we find ourselves at a loss for words. “Ghost” or “Spirit” is not so readily thought of as a “Person” as are the Creator itself nor the same as the Consciousness of Christ. We are inclined to think of Spirit vaguely as a kind of force or influence emanating from the universality. References to Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments as the “Spirit of the Lord,” the “Spirit of Truth,” the “Comforter,” etc., leave our ideas indefinite. Certain physical phenomena are attributed to the spirit of God such as it’s appearance at the baptism of Chirst, as the “rush of a mighty wind,” and the “cloven tongues like as of fire which sat upon the disciples “at the day of Pentacost, followed by the speaking and understanding of strange languages or “speaking in tongues”. These are poetic and symbolic attempts at description, where realistic prose falters. And yet, by the use of that faculty which transcends the intellect, we may discover certain less obvious guideposts which clearly indicate that it is actually the Third Person of the Trinity which, both in nature and in function, comes closer to mankind in a personal way than appears on a superficial level.
As the Creator has to do with the Self or Spirit in the human being, and Christ consciousness, through the mystery of the “Incarnation”, reveals our relationship with God, it would not be difficult to accept the conclusion that the Holy Ghost, as the spirit of truth and understanding, is most intimately associated with our relationship with humanity and the world around us. In this connection it is significant to note that, while the Creator aspect expresses itself primarily on the spiritual level, Christ at the intuitional level, the work of Spirit finds its channel through the third descending plane, the “Manasic” or higher mental level, the world of abstract thought and pure reason. We recall that most abstruse statement in the above- mentioned Nicene Creed that though Christ was “begotten only of the Creator before all worlds,” the Holy Ghost as the “Lord and Giver of Life, proceedeth from the Creator and Christ.” Could it be that the framers of that famous document had some realization that the Three Persons of the Trinity revealed themselves respectively through three descending worlds of manifestation, and that the Third “Person” operated through the lowest of these planes(our corporal self)—the one most intimately, and intricately, affecting humanity?
We carry our analogy to the point where it affects humanity. The Creator, we have seen, is the spirit in ourselves and appears as free will and can often be equated with the human “Ego”. Christ as a state of consciousness is the principle of the intuition and is expressed as love and wisdom. The Holy Ghost or Spirit, especially associated with the Manasic principle, works through our mental faculties, anciently referred to as the “Fire of the Mind.” Spirit is that phase of Deity which is often referred to as the “Divine Mind.” The world scene is Spirit’s field of activity, and one’s method of influencing world affairs and guiding civilizations is through creative images emanating from one’s own plane of activity, the archetypal world. Our own higher mind, reaching upward into this world of ideas and ideals, brings these images down into the world of daily affairs. Thus does the influence of Spirit extend into every sphere of human activity: science, philosophy, art, literature, philanthropy, sociology—and even world politics. Surely no aspect of Deity could be closer to our personal lives.
