The Body - Phenomenal Appearance Not much
need be written here anent this, for the body nature and the form aspect have been the
object of investigation and the subject of thought and discussion of thinking men for many
centuries. Much at which they have arrived is basically correct. The modern investigator
will admit the Law of Analogy as the basis of his premises and recognizes, sometimes, that
the Hermetic theory, "As above, so below," may throw much light on the present
problems. The following postulates may serve to clarify:
- Man, in his body nature, is a sumtotal, a unity.
- This sumtotal is subdivided into many parts and organisms.
- Yet these many subdivisions function in a unified manner, and the body is a correlated
whole.
- Each of its parts differs in form and in function, but all are interdependent.
- Each part and each organism is, in its turn, composed of molecules, cells and atoms, and
these are held together in the form of the organism by the life of the sumtotal.
- The sumtotal called man is roughly divided into five parts, some of greater importance
than others, but all completing that living organism we call a human being.
- The head
- The upper torso, or that part which lies above the diaphragm.
- The lower torso, or that part lying below the diaphragm.
- The arms
- The legs [164]
- These organisms serve varied purposes, and upon their due functioning and proper
adjustment the comfort of the whole depends.
- Each of these has its own life, which is the sum total of the life of its atomic
structure, and is also animated by the unified life of the whole, directed from the head
by the intelligent will or energy of the spiritual man.
- The important part of the body is that triple division, the head, upper and lower torso.
A man can function and live without his arms and legs.
- Each of these three parts is also triple from the physical side, making the analogy of
the three parts of man's nature and the nine of perfected monadic life. There are other
organs, but those enumerated are those which have an esoteric significance of greater
value than the other parts.
- Within the head are:
- The five ventricles of the brain, or what we might call the brain as a unified organism.
- The three glands, carotid, pineal and pituitary.
- The two eyes.
- Within the upper body are:
- The throat
- The lungs
- The heart
- Within the lower body are:
- The spleen
- The stomach
- The sex
organs
The sumtotal
of the body is also triple:
- The skin and bony structure. [165]
- The vascular or blood system.
- The threefold nervous system.
Each of
these triplicities corresponds to the three parts of man's nature:
- Physical
nature: The skin and bony structure are the analogy to the dense and etheric body of man.
- Soul nature:
The blood vessels and circulatory system are the analogy to that all pervading soul which
penetrates to all parts of the solar system, as the blood goes to all parts of the body.
- Spirit
nature: The nervous system, as it energizes and acts throughout the physical man is the
correspondence to the energy of spirit.
In the head
we have the analogy to the spirit aspect the directing will, the monad, the One.
- The brain
with its five ventricles is the analogy to the physical form which the spirit animates in
connection with man, the fivefold sumtotal which is the medium through which the spirit on
the physical plane has to express itself.
- The three
glands in the head are closely related to the soul or psychic nature (higher and lower).
- The two eyes
are the physical plane correspondences to the monad, who is will and love-wisdom or atma
buddhi, according to the occult terminology.
In the upper
body we have an analogy to the triple soul nature.
- The throat,
corresponding to the third creative aspect or the body nature, the active intelligence of
the soul.
- The heart,
the love-wisdom of the soul, the buddhi or Christ principle. [166]
- The lungs,
the analogy for the breath of life, is the correspondence to spirit.
In the lower
torso again we have this triple system carried out.
- The sex organs, the creative aspect, the fashioner of the body.
- The stomach as the physical manifestation of the solar plexus is the analogy to the soul
nature.
- The spleen, the receiver of energy and therefore the physical plane expression of the
center which receives this energy, is the analogy to the energizing spirit.
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