| e. Smelling is the faculty of keen perception that
eventually brings a man back to the source from whence he came, the archetypal plane, the
plane where his true home is to be found. A perception of difference has been cultivated
that has caused a divine discontent within the [202] heart of the Pilgrim in the far
country; the prodigal son draws comparisons; he has developed the other four senses, and
he utilizes them. Now comes in the faculty of vibratory recognition of the home
vibration, if it might be so expressed. It is the spiritual counterpart of that sense
which in the animal, the pigeon and other birds, leads them back unerringly to the
familiar spot from whence they originally came. It is the apprehension of the vibration of
the Self, and a swift return by means of that instinct to the originating source. The
consideration of this subject awakens the realization of the vastness of the region of
thought concerned - the region of the whole evolutionary development of the human being.
Yet all that is possible here, as elsewhere, is to indicate lines of thought for careful
pondering, and to emphasize certain ideas which may serve as the foundation thoughts for
the future mental activity of the immediate generation. The following facts must also be
borne in mind when considering the matter:
- That the senses have been dealt with in this division of our Treatise on Cosmic Fire
because they concern the material form. Strictly speaking the five senses, as we know
them, are the means of contact built up by the Thinker (polarized in his etheric body) and
find their expression in the physical form in those nerve centers, brain cells, ganglia
and plexus which exoteric science recognizes.
That these senses for all purposes of present manifestation, have their focal point on
the astral plane and are therefore largely under the stimulating action of the solar
plexus - that great focal point in the center of the body which is the stimulating agent
for most of the human family at this time.
That as the higher triangle comes into play and the polarization steps up to the higher
centers, the senses begin to make themselves felt on the mental level and [203] man
becomes aware on that plane. We have in the human body an interesting reflection
of the transference of the polarization from the Personality to the Ego, or into the
causal body, in the division that exists between the higher and the lower mental planes,
and the dividing line of the diaphragm between the higher and the lower portions of the
body. Below the diaphragm we have the four lower centers:
- The solar plexus.
- The spleen.
- Organs of generation.
- Base of the spine.
Above are the three higher:
- Heart.
- Throat.
- Head.
In the microcosm we have the lower quaternary separated from the Triad in a similar
manner, and this analogy will bear pondering upon. By careful thought we can therefore
work out the reflex action of the centers and the senses from the standpoint of the
different planes, remembering that as the centers are awakened the process will be
threefold:
- First. The awakening on the physical plane, and the gradually increasing
activity of the centers, until the Probationary Path is reached. This is paralleled by the
increasing use of the senses, and their constant utilization for the identification of the
self and its sheaths.
Second. The awakening on the astral plane, and the gradually increasing
activity of the centers, until the first Initiation is reached. This is paralleled by the
tremendously keen use of the senses for the purposes of discriminating between the Self
and the not-self. [204]
Third. The awakening upon the mental plane, and the gradually increasing
activity of the centers and the senses. The effect in both cases tends to identification
of the Self with its own essence in all groups and the rejection of the sheaths and the
forms.
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