T H E T R E E OF L I F E

THE KINGDOM (1)

Lesson T h irty -e igh t

Malkuth, the tenth Sephirah, is to K ether as is the fru it of a tre e to its ro o t. It is the point at which all the influences which descend from K ether finally converge, and the point from which, on the Way of R eturn, man’s consciousness begins its ascen t.

Its num ber, 10, com bines 0 with 1, so that by reduction, 10 corresponds to 1. Hence it is w ritten in the Qabalah that Malkuth is in K ether, and K ether is in Malkuth, but a fte r another m anner. Again, THE BOOK OF FORMATION (1:6, S tenring 's transla tion ) says: "Ten ineffable Sephiroth: th e ir appearance is like that of a flash of lightning, th e ir goal is infinite. His w ord is in them when they em anate and when they re tu rn ; at His bidding do they haste like a w hirlw ind."

What is p ic tu red h ere is w hirling motion, going out from a cen te r and re tu rn ing to i t . The "appearance" described is what p re sen ts itse lf to eyes opened to the h igher v i­sion . It is no m ere figu re of speech. Yet even those who cannot actually see the w h irl­ing outflow and inflow of the Holy Influence w ill be able to ga ther from the words we have quoted the e ssen tia l idea of a com plete c ircu it of energy .

C onsider carefu lly the idea behind the ph rase , "T h e ir goal is in fin ite ." O rdinarily , we think of goals o r ends as being u ltim ate . A book com es to an end; a play ends at the final curtain ; a hum an life seem s to end at death. Yet, in the m anifestation of a lim it­le ss power th e re can be no such thing as finality , and A geless Wisdom in all its fo rm s em phasizes th i s .

M aste r M asons a re told that they will "never, never, never d ie .” The threefo ld negative is intended to im p ress on them the idea of e te rn a l continuity. T aro t begins with a p ic tu re of a tra v e le r who has to a ll seem ing reached the lim it of his journey, but shows him with rap t gaze fixed on a height fa r above the peak whereon he s tan d s . On the r e ­v e rse of the G reat Seal of the United States is an unfinished pyram id , symbol of the sp iritu a l building, e tern al in the heavens, which, because it is e te rn a l, will never be com pleted. In like m anner, many of the g rea t ca thedra ls e rec ted by Operative Masons who preceded our Speculative Masons w ere left unfinished to indicate the tru th that the attainm ent of every goal is always the a rr iv a l at a point from which a new en te rp rise m ust be begun.

Thus Malkuth, as the fru it of the T ree , is also that which holds the seeds of fre sh m anifestations. In th is cou rse of lesso n s, we have followed the descent, o r involution, of the pow ers of the L im itless Light. Yet it would be possib le to tra c e the paths of the T ree in re v e rse o rd e r, from Malkuth back to Kether; and in so doing we should be fo l­lowing the Way of R eturn which leads to m an 's libera tion and illum ination .

It is th is way of re tu rn which is shadowed fo rth in the ritu a ls and cerem onials used by Working Builders in B .O .T .A ., and in o ther socie ties which follow the p a tte rn of the T re e of L ife. Knowledge is power, but the pitiful spectacle of the abuse of power af­forded by the s ta te of the w orld today is evidence that pow er in the hands of persons de­void of e th ical tra in ing and social conscience may becom e a cu rse ra th e r than a b lessing .

-2- THE TREE OF LIFE: 38

T rue as it is that m isuse of pow er re a c ts inevitably on p erso n s responsib le fo r it, it is equally tru e that m oral idiots, blind to everything but personal advantage, may be p e rsons fully able to understand and apply techniques fo r using subtle occult fo rces to destructive e n d s . M oral idiocy and a high degree of in te llectual power a re often found tog e th er. The tra g ic fa tes of Napoleon, of H itle r, and of M ussolini, and the d isa s te rs which have overtaken the follow ers of these blind le ad e rs , bring us an object lesson not to be ignored.

He who puts sw ords in the hands of ch ildren sh ares the responsib ility fo r w hatever in ju ries they may su ffe r. Thus the w ise men of the Inner School have always demanded from p e titioners fo r the h igher instruction convincing evidence of e th ical f itn e s s . F o r beginners, the te s ts a re not so rigo rous, and a re such as may be given by persons who have not yet reached the h igher levels of adeptship th em se lv es .

Such te s ts a re em bodied in the language of the obligations taken by p ersons adm itted to organizations such as the Working Builders of the B .O .T .A . Taking such a pledge has a profound effect on the subconsciousness of the pe rso n to whom it is adm in istered . If th e re be any m ental re serv a tio n , even one which is wholly subconscious, th e re w ill be strong re a c tio n s .

F o r exam ple, one provision of a ll such pledges is that the p e rso n who takes it w ill ex ert h is best e ffo rts to prom ote harm ony within the organization and the w elfare of mankind in g en era l. Now, it som etim es occurs that one who takes such an obligation is in h is conscious mind desirous of being helpful, and full of plans fo r human b e tte r­m ent. Yet h is re a l m otivation is a d e s ire to see h is p lans accepted and c a r r ie d out; and he fee ls slighted if they a re p assed over and the ideas of som e o ther person find fav o r.

Nobody who has had any considerable experience of what goes on behind the scenes in churches w ill have any difficulty in understanding th is . Ask any p re a ch e r about h is d ifficulties with church cho irs , o r L adies' Aid socie ties , and he can give you many am us­ing, and som e rea lly tra g ic , exam ples.

Isn’t it obvious that a p e rso n who has such an inner conflict between conscious objec­tiv es and subconscious m otivation would be strongly tem pted to m isuse occult pow ers, if he learned how to w ield them? And such a person , when he takes a solem n obligation, always finds the conflict in tensified at f i r s t . You know what happens to m ost New Y e a r 's resolutions! Well, it is the sam e thing, only m ore so, with occult p ledges.

Our experience with C hapters of Working Builders, and with the m em bers of T em ­ples of the O rder which, h is to rica lly , w as the im m ediate p re d e ce sso r of the B .O .T .A ., has shown that any conflict between conscious purpose and subconscious m otivation is su re to be brought to light when an occult student joins such an o rganization . Even the slight link estab lished with the Inner School when one becom es an A ssociate Builder brings som e intensification of the subtle fo rces behind the su rface of personality ; and the s tro n g e r tie of an obligation which invokes the aid of the studen t's H igher Soul, and brings him into c lose in te rio r contact with the Inner School, has a m arked e ffe c t.

The H igher Soul is what T aro t p ic tu re s as the angel in T em perance . F rom o ther lessons you have learned that th is is the tru e EGO in T iphareth , and that it is the rea l O perato r in the G reat Work which leads to libera tion from the delusion of se p a ra te n e ss .

THE TREE OF LIFE: 38 -3 -

To invoke th is G uardian Angel form ally is to speed up the p ro cess of personal evolu­tion, and often the consequences include bodily d iscom fort, psychological pertu rba tions, and apparent "bad luck" in a ffa irs .

All these a re t e s t s . . . te s ts of the devotion and steadfastness of the student who takes the o b lig a tio n .. . te s ts of h is insight and understanding, a lso . Thus if th e re be any tra c e in him of am bition, o r p la c e -se e k in g ,a n y hunger fo r p e rsonal pow er, any w ish fo r personal p ro fit o r advantage over o ther p e rso n s, these te s ts w ill bring his r e a l m otives to the su rfa c e .

P articu la rly if he be hungry fo r pow er, o r desirous of experiences beyond the o r ­dinary range of sensation , w ill another te s t which is found in a ll obligations such as we a re considering intensify h is co n flic ts . T h is is the te s t of p e rsev eran ce in co u rses of study p re sc rib ed in the cu rricu lu m . Many of the subjects p re sc rib ed a re not, in them ­selves, of much in te re s t . Often th e ir re la tion to what the student supposes to be s p ir i t ­ual development w ill not be obvious. Some of them will seem dry and unprofitab le . O thers, such as those subjects which req u ire the student to be fam ilia r with the c h a rac ­te r s of the Hebrew alphabet, o r with the p ro cesses of G em atria and the like , w ill bring to the su rface any tra c e of an ti-S em itism which may be lurking in subconsciousness.

Experience shows, th e re fo re , that even p ersons who have wide acquaintance with the li te ra tu re of occultism , and glib facility in the use of its technical te rm s , a re not always qualified fo r the technical w ork. Many a re called to the G reat W ork, but few a re chosen. Hence we feel it to be our plain duty to m aintain the re s e rv e s im posed on us when we received the inner instruction; and th is m eans that technical knowledge con­cern ing the Way of Return, o r g radual ascent of the T ree of L ife .cannot be given in open publication .

T his does not mean that we set o u rse lves up as judges of the fitn ess of persons who d es ire in struc tion . It does m ean that we a re ou rse lves bound by what is quaintly ex­p re sse d in the ROSICRUCIAN CONFESSIO when it says:

"If th e re be anybody now which on the o ther side w ill com plain of our d iscretion , that we offer our tre a su re s so free ly and ind iscrim inately , and do not ra th e r re g a rd m ore the godly, w ise, o r p rincely p e rso n s than the common people, with him we a re in no w ise angry (fo r the accusation is not without moment), but w ithal we affirm that we have by no m eans made common p roperty of our a rcan a , a lbeit they resound in five languages within the e a rs of the vulgar, both because, as we w ell know, they w ill not move g ro ss w its , and because the worth of those who shall be accepted into ou r F ra te rn ity w ill not be m easu red by th e ir cu rio sity , but by the ru le and p a tte rn of ou r rev e la tio n s ."

They who c ritic iz e the ru le and re fu se to assum e the obligations fa il in the f ir s t te s t req u ired of all to whom genuine a rcan a a re im p arted . In th ese days, th e re a re many who argue plausibly that nothing should be kept sec re t; but he who takes th is stand shows a lack of d iscrim ination which is , in itse lf, sufficient to b a r him from p a rtic ip a ­tion in the work of the Inner School. We do not argue th is po in t. R eaders of these pages w ill e ith e r see it fo r them selves, in which case no argum ent is needed, o r e lse they w ill d isag ree , and then no amount of argum ent w ill se rv e to persuade th e m .

To many, perhaps, th is may seem to be a long d ig ression from the m ain topic of

-4 - THE TREE OF LIFE: 38

these le sso n s . But we have what seem to be good reasons fo r bringing it in ju s t at th is point. Think it over, and you w ill, no doubt, d iscover many of these reasons fo r y o u r­self without our having to say anything m ore .

Let us re tu rn , then, to our study of the tenth S ephirah . We have said that Mal- kuth is the fru it of the T ree of L ife. Thus it re p re sen ts the fulfilm ent of the purpose f i r s t form ulated in K ether. Rem em bering that in the cosm ic o rd e r Malkuth re p re se n ts the physical plane, and in the human constitution, the physical body, it should be ev i­dent that the whole c rea tiv e p ro cess outlined in the diagram of the T ree is one which has fo r its object the perfec ted m anifestation of cosm ic fo rces on the physical plane, and the production of a perfected physical vehicle fo r human perso n a lity .

This at once rem oves us from the idea that occult study and p rac tice have fo r th e ir objectives any such thing as escape from the physical p lane. Many w ritings now in c i r ­culation ex p ress the idea that a fte r we die we en te r into a p lace o r condition w here all that is lacking here w ill be made up to u s . Such is the gen era l position of the various fo rm s of exoteric re lig ion , except that m ost of them hold that the g re a te r num ber of us will pass from e a rth -life into conditions f a r w orse than any we experience h e re .

O thers, p a rticu la rly among the S p iritua lists , te ll us we shall en te r into a s ta te of e te rn a l p ro g ress in spheres above and beyond the physical p lane. Popular conceptions of Hinduism and Buddhism offer v a rian ts of what is essen tia lly the sam e idea of re le a se from earth conditions.

In the W estern T rad ition , however, the doctrine is that while re le a se from the lim itations which seem to be p a rt of our life on ea rth does re su lt from success in the G reat Work, that re le a se is actually the dem onstration that these lim itations a re illu ­s iv e . When we tru ly understand physical ex istence, we a re f re e from its lim ita tions, and then we enjoy a life which includes a ll the advantages of the physical plane as well as those of h igher levels of ex istence.

C areful reading of Stewart Edward W hite's book, THE UNOBSTRUCTED UNIVERSE, based on com m unications received from his wife, w ill show that the teaching of that volume is com patible with the W estern T rad ition . One point to be noticed in th is book is that the com m unicating en tities decla re explicitly that they live in a un iverse which includes the tim e, space and o ther conditions of the physical p lane. Another is that th e ir w ork is aided by the work of incarnate human p e rso n a litie s . Again, they speak of h igher and m ore advanced perso n a lities than them selves, and say that these advanced beings have pow ers g re a te r than th e ir own.

Superficial re a d e rs may conclude from th is that such m ore highly evolved p ersons have passed into h igher sp iritu a l sp h e re s . But is th e re any re a l objection to the idea that th e ir su p erio r attainm ent is rea lly th e ir ability to u tilize physical as well as su p e r­physical pow ers? . . .to live, fully incarnate , on th is earth , o r possib ly on o ther p lanets, because they a re able to fashion, from within, physical bodies suitable fo r the condi­tions of w hatever physical environm ent they may choose fo r th e ir p a rtic u la r purposes?

Surely, to live in a condition which is cut off from full partic ipation in the ac tiv i­tie s of the physical plane is not to live in a tru ly unobstructed un iv erse . Nor is the p a r tia l partic ipa tion in the physical w orld which is achieved through utiliz ing the body of a m edium , o r the mind of a psychic, to be com pared with ou r own free use of physical p o w ers .

THE TREE OF LIFE: 38 -5-

Finally , one avowed object of the book we a re considering is to put into the hands of incarnate human beings clues to a way of life which shall enable them to en ter into the h igher levels of consciousness and existence from which these com m unications com e. He who succeeds in such work, while yet incarnate , will then live tru ly in an unobstructed u n iv e rse .

Thus it would appear that the w ork of those now on the "o ther side” w ill lead them , eventually, to the ability to incarnate on the physical plane without the necessity fo r o r ­dinary physical b irth . C onversely, the work of those who a re now in the flesh w ill have fo r its object conscious partic ipa tion in the s ta tes of existence above and beyond the physical level. P rec isely th is is what has been received by us from the Inner School as being the essence of Q abalistic and H erm etic doctrine . We do not offer it as being som e­thing our students m ust accep t. We do p resen t it as being som ething they may verify fo r them selves, if they do the w ork.

What m ust be accom plished is the transm utation and purification of the physical body, so that it may serve as an instrum ent fo r the expression of sp iritu a l pow ers, and as a receiv ing station fo r im pressions from levels of existence above and beyond the lim its of the physical p lane.

This work is what is hinted at in the legend of F reem asonry , which says that H iram refused to give the M aste r’s Word to the Fellow C rafts who demanded it, because the sanctum sanctorum , o r Holy of Holies, had not been fin ished. The tem ple is a symbol of the human body. The sanctum sanctorum is the pineal gland in the b ra in . In ord inary men and women, th is organ is in a rud im entary , o r unfinished, condition. The p rac tices of tru e occultism bring it to perfection .

Som etim es th is organ is called the T h ird Eye, because it is actually like an eye in many re sp e c ts . Some biologists, in fac t, a re of the opinion that the pineal gland is a vestig ia l organ, left over from an e a r l ie r stage of evolution, in which they suppose it to have been a re a l eye set in the top of the head of som e now extinct type of anim al. O ccultism , however, holds that th is T h ird Eye is a rudim entary organ which may be brought to the point of p e rfec t function by p rac tice s which, in the O rient, a re called Yoga, and in the W estern T rad ition a re known as Alchemy.

The T h ird Eye is known also as the Philosophers’ Stone. It is the organ of tru e sp iritu a l v ision which enables one in whom it is open to see beyond the lim its of the phy­s ica l plane, and to perceive m an 's perfec t union with his Divine Source. T his STONE, consequently, is designated in Hebrew by the w ord J2R, rep resen ting the union of 3H, the F a th e r (Chokmah) with 23, the Son (T iphareth).

Malkuth, rem em b er, is the sea t of r q j guph, the physical body. The th ree le tte rs of th is w ord afford a clue to its occult significance. The f i r s t is G im el, r e p re ­sented in T a ro t by the High P rie s te ss , and on the T ree of Life by the path which unites K ether to T iphare th . The second is Vav, p ic tu red by the H ierophant, and re la ted on the T ree to the path linking Chokmah to Chesed, and also to T iphareth itse lf . The th ird le t­te r is Peh, p ic tu red by the Tow er, and shown on the T re e as the link between Netzach and Hod; but re la ted also , as you have learned , to Yesod, because the num ber of Peh is 80.

- 6 - THE TREE OF LIFE: 38

Thus G im el in El J , guph, stands fo r the Uniting Intelligence joining Yekhidah to the EGO seated in the h ea rts of m en. It is the link between the Cosm ic SELF in Keth- e r and the human EGO. It is , m oreover, because the le tte r-n am e Gimel adds to 73, the num ber of nOHH, Chokmah, d irec tly re la ted to the life -fo rce sea ted in the second Sephirah.

Vav in 9 1 J stands fo r the EGO as the Inner T eacher p ic tu red as the H iero ­phant. The burden of a ll h is teaching is that tru e Wisdom m ust ev er find expression in loving - k in d n ess . T h is T eacher, m oreover, is also the Divine Son (the EGO inT iphareth ), in perfec t union with the F a th e r (Chokmah). Thus T aro t shows him as a g rea t High P ries t, a fte r the o rd e r of M elchizedek, without fa th e r, without m other, without begin­ning o r end of d a y s .

Peh in B1J stands fo r the destruction of e r r o r p ic tu red in T a ro t by Key 16. As the num ber 80, the le tte r B rep re se n ts also the w ord H D ', and thus re fe rs to the pow ers of the autom atic consciousness.

91J , guph, consequently, indicates tha t the physical body is a point at which the pow ers of the Cosm ic SELF (Yekhidah) a re linked with those of the cen tra l EGO. At, o r in, th is sam e fie ld of physical expression the life -fo rce of Chokmah is ac tiv e . And it is during m an 's life in his physical body that he m ust accom plish the w ork which overcom es the delusions which seem to lim it h im .

In sh o rt, physical ex istence, rep resen ted on the T re e by M alkuth, is the s tartin g - point fo r the work which leads to libera tion . Not th is only, fo r it is also the plane in which the G reat Work finds com pletion.

Thus The E m erald Tablet says of the One F o rce that its pow er is in tegrating , if it be turned into e a r th . T his One F o rce is Chaiah, the life -fo rce in Chokmah. Another name fo r it is n o ro , Kachm ah, and th is te rm has been explained in Lesson 14.

Again, The E m erald Tablet says that in the Operation of the Sun th is fo rce ascends from ea rth to heaven, and descends to ea rth again . E arth , o r the physical p lane, is the s ta rtin g -p o in t. When the c ircu it is com pleted, ea r th is also the scene of the final p e rfe c ­tio n . Hence that g rea t Q abalistic book, the Apocalypse, d escribes the consum ation of the G reat Work as a cubical c ity , the New Jerusa lem , which descends from heaven to e a r th . T h is tran sp a ren t, golden cube is a symbol of T iphareth , because a cube is the geom etrical correspondence to 6 because of its six equal fa c e s . The New Jerusa lem and the alchem ical Cubic Stone a re two sym bols fo r the sam e thing, which is the p e rfec t physical embodiment of the pow ers of the Ego seated in T iphare th .

In the Apocalypse the E go ,o r C h ris to s, is sym bolized a s the Lamb enthroned at the cen te r of the cubical c ity . And because the Ego is the source of illum ination, the Apo­calypse says of the city: "And the city had no need of the sun, n e ith e r of the moon, to shine in it: fo r the g lory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light th e re o f .”

The Lamb is what the ancient Egyptians person ified as K hoor. In India the sam e cen tra l Ego was nam ed K rish n a . In C hristian ity , th is illum inating p resen ce in the h ea rt

THE TREE OF LIFE: 38 -7-

of m an is the C hris to s, a G reek w ord meaning "The A nointed," that is to say, "the K ing," which in Hebrew is 37 C, Melek, a nam e fo r the sixth Sephirah. In F reem aso n ry thesam e EGO is Khurum , o r H iram . In R osicrucian trad ition it is person ified by "O ur Brother and F a th e r ( i . e . , Ben, the Son, o r T iphareth , and Ab, the F a th er, o r Chokmah) C .R . ," whose in itia ls a re equivalent to the Hebrew w ord 13, C a r , meaning "L am b ."

The Lamb opens the book with the seven sea ls , and these sea ls a re the sam e as the seven alchem ical m etals; the sam e as the seven chakras of the Yogis; the sam e as the seven in te rio r s ta r s . The book is the book of life . It is also the human body, w rit­ten within and w ithout. And when its sea ls a re opened, the G reat Work is com pleted, and the cubical city descends to e a r th .

That city is called also the Bride and th is is one of the special nam es fo r M alkuth. We shall consider it in Lesson 39.

M a n ife s ta tio n r e q u i r e thT he a p p e a ra n c e of s e p a r a te p a r t .W hen I show fo r th m y p o w er,W hat I b r in g in to e x is te n c e M u st s e e m o th e r th an m y se lf ;A nd b e c a u s e I a m w holly f r e e ,I p r e s e n t m y s e lf to m y s e lf In an e n d le s s v a r ie ty of f o r m s .Y et is th e s e e m in g is o la t io n o f c la s s an d k ind ,The s e p a r a te n e s s o f c r e a tu r e s ,N augh t b u t i l lu s io n w h ich d e lu d e th m e n o t.N o r a r e th ey by i t d e c e iv e d In w hom m y w isd o m h a s r ip e n e d .

(F ro m TH E BOOK O F TO K EN S, by D r . P a u l F o s te r C ase )