Man's constitution
We often say that man consists of a body, a soul and a spirit. This is a well-known distinction, also found in Bishop C.W. Leadbeater's standard work The Science of Sacraments (1), but nevertheless a rather meaningless one. Fortunately, there is a much more definite division to be found in the same schedule, to which we shall adhere during our study of the Holy Eucharist. In the column 'Principles' we find the division of man's totality in its composite parts. Here Bishop Leadbeater makes the well-known distinction of seven principles corresponding with seven 'worlds' or 'planes'. It is important for our study to divide these seven planes into three groups, thus enabling us to produce a clear-cut schedule that is frequently used in esoteric literature. Although minor differences are found in theosophical literature regarding this division, we can say that man consists of his personality, his individuality and his divine nature. (2) The personality is also called the lower self, the individuality is then the higher Self. Above these dwells the divine SELF, the divine vehicle, the Monad. The lower self, the personality, consists of the physical body, the ethereal body, the astral vehicle and the lower mental vehicle. The higher Self, the individuality, consists of the higher mental vehicle, buddhi and atma. The divine SELF, the Monad, cannot be subjected to any further analysis, as it is beyond human comprehension.

It is therefore not practicable to try and penetrate this plane of the divine SELF with our minds. It only behoves us to show quiet wonder and deep reverence. What is very important, though, is to probe deeper into the vehicles that enable us to leave the lower self and enter the plane of the higher Self, eventually leading us to the plane of the divine SELF. To this purpose, we shall now take a closer look at the mental and atmic planes.

The mental plane and the plane of the spirit, the atmic plane, are indeed of importance to us, because these planes in fact form a link to the next higher plane. In some schedules we find a dotted line running straight through the mental plane and the spiritual plane, dividing these into lower and higher mental planes and lower and higher spiritual planes. Mental plane and spiritual plane give us access to higher planes of awareness. When man manages to reach the gateway to the higher planes and he can let the higher Light pervade his consciousness, he is enveloped by the light of the higher Self and by the unimaginable splendour and brilliancy of the divine SELF. The practice of yoga is actually always directed towards opening up the planes of higher consciousness via these links.

In our Holy Eucharist, as we shall see, the same links are being used. Our Holy Eucharist is an excellent vehicle via which we are allowed a glimpse of the divine Light. It would be right and sensible to keep studying our Holy Eucharist, again and again, and with increasing intensity. This will lead us to a more and more profound experience of the wondrous mystery, which comes within our reach when we consciously take part in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

Sanskrit terms - yes or no?
Because the English terminology is often confusing, I prefer to use the Sanskrit words as they are mentioned in theosophical literature, including some of Bishop Leadbeater's works. Their use may have been criticised in the past; on the other hand there is a distinct lack of terms in European languages to describe exactly those in the Sanskrit language. By using some of the Sanskrit terminology in our schedule, we can then make the following distinction:

So what is the meaning of these terms adopted from Sanskrit? In general, without representing finality, we could explain them thus: Manas is the vehicle for thought processes. Lower manas belongs to the personality, higher manas is the lowest aspect of the individuality. Lower manas is concrete thought, thinking analytically in time and space, the thought process which works linearly, step by step. Higher manas is lightning insight, holistic thinking, the thought process that enables man to suddenly and inexplicably "know" something. This higher intelligence then, is as one with buddhi. Buddhi is the notion that man is connected with all forms of life. It indicates the One Life as it manifests itself in all living things.

Finally, atma is too enormous a concept to define in a few words: It is Life itself, the vehicle for the manifestation of divine Life, divine Light, divine Consciousness. It is through atma that the divine Spirit descends to man. It is much more than that, it is a vehicle of indescribable beauty, impossible to be put into words.

So we have arrived at a division into three aspects: The personality, the individuality and the divinity. Perhaps it would be more precise and inspiring to speak of the lower self, the higher Self and the divine SELF.

At this stage, however, we must make the observation that making such a division is in a way rather artificial. Our lower manas is probably quite satisfied with this kind of diagram, but the higher manas will know in a flash that things are much more beautiful, much greater and much more powerful. Yet I think it is useful to make this distinction. Once the lower mind has grasped the principle, the higher mind will be able to let us glimpse some of the beauty of it all.

Man's acts
It is a well-known fact that man can reach the highest plane via his acts. I remind you of a meditation given by Prof. J. van der Stok long ago, in which he said that the Divine Plan is put into effect by man's actions. But we also know, for instance, that the physical plane in which man acts out his life, is merely a reflection of the function of the atma, the divine spark in man. This reflection forms part of what is sometimes called the mirror function in man: The higher man, the higher Self, is reflected in the lower self in such a way, that the highest aspect of the higher Self is expressed in the lowest aspect of the lower self; atma, the spirit, is reflected in the lower self like the moon is reflected in the motionless surface of a lake.

Three phases
I will now endeavour to demonstrate that we can find a similar structure in the Holy Mass to the threefold composition of man, based on this very composition, which enables the threefold ascent of consciousness to take place by means of the various vehicles in which man's consciousness is moving. First, consciousness dwells in the plane of the personality; then follows an expansion of consciousness by which the level of the individuality is reached and finally consciousness exceeds the individual level and merges with the Divine Consciousness. This theory is as ancient as mankind. Still, I was gladly surprised to find it described with great clarity in a book by 17th-century author Cyrano de Bergerac. It was with much delight that I made a thorough study of his work when writing the thesis for my degree. (3) It was very enjoyable to find out how literature and esoteric study goes hand in hand in a fantastic adventure story! (4)

Although there may be a temporary expansion of consciousness during the first phase, we ought to realise that man will always be tied to the earth as it were. At the time, I demonstrated in my thesis that the hero -often called the divine hero in literature- makes an attempt to rise above the earth, but with limited success; after a brief flight in his machine he falls back to earth. His second attempt to reach the Sun is not totally successful either: Our hero comes back to earth after his second flight as well. Only at the third attempt -perseverance galore- he succeeds. The hero lands on the Sun's wondrous surface, where his guide and guru initiates him in the principles of esoteric philosophy, as for example: "...we die more than once, and because we are mere particles of the universe, we change form to live again in another place; which is not a bad thing, since it ultimately leads to perfection and infinite knowledge." (5)

When we know that man can achieve this ascent by himself, consciously and through his own efforts, in what form can we recognise this in our Holy Eucharist? The key word is 'sacrifice'. Sacrifice always proceeds in stages, during which process lower matter offers itself to the next higher matter, always resulting in a response from this next higher matter.

The beauty of it is that we can precisely recognise the threefold schedule, which we established earlier, in the Holy Eucharist. We note three phases, during each of which the sequence of sacrifice and response will recur.

Phase 1. Man, on the level of the personality, offers his sacrifice to the level of the individuality, in other words the physical, astromental man offers himself and receives a response from the level of atma-buddhi-manas.

Phase 2. Man as individuality offers his sacrifice to the level of the monad, in other words the entity atma-buddhi-manas offers itself and receives a response from the divine monad.

Phase 3. Man as monad offers his sacrifice to the Most High and receives a response from the level of the Most High, the Absolute.

During all this we must not forget that the Most High is always omnipresent in His creation as the immanent Deity, as divine Light and Life. Our physical brain, however, cannot grasp this. With our analytical brain, belonging to the level of the personality, we can only think structurally. Reality is beyond all human comprehension. Our analytical mind needs structures to function according to its capability. The miracle lies in the fact that we, through our actions, i.e. by offering up ourselves, are able to break through these restrictions. Through our actions we can exceed analytical thinking and come into contact with a Reality beyond all understanding.

As we shall see in the second part of this article, the above described structure enables us to achieve during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist a work that transcends man's normal possibilities; this work can rightly be called a 'Divine Work'.

Notes: