Spiritual & Other Hierarchies
Rene Guenon’s chapter ‘The Spiritual Hierarchies’ in his book entitled “The
Multiple States of Being” written in 1932, begins by stating that ‘the
existence of extra- or super-human beings in itself is fundamentally of
little importance to us.’ However there is most assuredly ‘an indefinite
variety of them’ and inevitably we wonder how universal metaphysics would
view them. The Myriad Realms also reflect the totality of the eternal
imperishable immutable One.
For example the ‘angelic’ states are according to Guenon purely intuitive
and what we consider as reason is exclusively a characteristic of our human
individuality. The various ‘heavens and hells’ that are described in the
later Sanskrit texts, specifically in the Puranas, represent ‘the initiatic
degrees to which their realization corresponds.’ In my words, the phantasmal
hierarchies perfectly correlate to the consciousness of those who are
magnetized to dwell within them for a time – for all these realms are
temporal illusory holograms created in consciousness throughout the Cycles
of Time.
As Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says: Those who are devoted to the gods
[devan], go to the gods; those who are devoted to the ancestors, go to the
ancestors; and those who are devoted to the spirits, go to the spirits
[BhG.IX.25]. Thus for example, Christian fundamentalists will find
themselves in a holographic realm that correlates to and expresses their
belief systems appropriately; just as the other religions will be attracted
to the realms their beliefs have generated as temporal holograms. The word
‘temporal’ here is key, for none of these realms are eternal and once our
merit (punye
in Sanskrit) is used up, we find our selves back in Samsara, the ocean of
death & birth, again seeking union with the eternal One.
Having enjoyed the vast world of heaven, they enter the world of mortals
when their merit is exhausted.
- Bhagavad Gita IX.21
Therefore we need not focus on these myriad and temporal realms, in fact
devoting our time to them and worshipping them will only ensnare us. These
realms are of no more or less importance than the variety of forms we find
in our own material world, animal vegetable and mineral. All are expressions
of the vast spectrum of creativity manifested by the One. However it is
ignorance to deny their existence and reflects our current state of
diminished consciousness.
Non-form or supra-individual states
Guenon defines spiritual hierarchies as the ‘ensemble of the states of being
which are superior to the human individuality, and more especially to the
non-formal or supra-individual states’ — and we may come to realize these
supra-states of consciousness in our human state. Such Realization is indeed
a natural consequence of Moksha or Mukti, meaning the Liberation that comes
as we approach God-Consciousness and find ourselves freed from Samsara and
the ‘ties of every special condition of existence’ — ties that are bondage
in the webs of Prakriti’s Maya-Shakti, the Matrix we have created to play
in.
Once we have achieved this state of Liberation, there can be ‘no spiritual
degree superior to that of the Yogi, meaning one who has reached Union, for
he having attained this Deliverance, which is at the same time Union [Yoga
simply means union] and the Supreme Identity, has nothing further to
attain.’ As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita VII.2, once the royal secret
of all secrets, the eternal Wisdom-Knowledge has been understood and fully
realized, nothing further remains to be known here in the world.
Guenon points out that each of us achieves Union and Realization in our own
unique way depending on our individual gunas. Some prefer the One as
unmanifest abstraction (avyaktam), while others find comfort and results in
a more personal expression through devotion in Bhakti yoga. The One pervades
All, indeed God is ubiquitous, all pervading, omnipresent (sarvatragam).
Whatever we love with a pure heart, we are in truth loving the One.
Experiences will vary accordingly with each of us — and in the course of our
realization, there are many stages which some will pass through
successively, while others experience them simultaneously.
Of no metaphysical importance in themselves…
Guenon emphasizes the idea that the degrees of spiritual hierarchies
representing ‘states which are still contingent and conditioned, are of no
metaphysical importance in themselves…for they constitute merely a
preparation…One should never lose sight of the fact that, from the
standpoint of the Infinite, the entirety of manifestation and consequently
the differences between its component states are strictly nil…’ The Oneness
views all its creation equally. So no matter how awesome are beautiful
rainbow-wings or how amazing the wonders of hyper-luminal technology, we do
not tarry long in their glory — for we have come here to seek our final
Union in the One, to return Home.
Mahar an ‘extraplanetary world’
Alain Danielou refers to the existence of extraterrestrial beings in ‘While
the Gods Play’ and suggests that the ETs may reside in Mahar, which he says
is an ‘extraplanetary world’ that has a duration longer than that of our
terrestrial world. Danielou: ‘The world where the human species live is
formed by four spheres called Bhur, Bhuvar, Svar, and Mahar. Bhur is the
earth. Bhuvar the atmosphere, Svar the planetary world, and Mahar an
extraplanetary world…[where] some men will find refuge at the time of the
catastrophe that will destroy the entire species at the end of the Kali
Yuga.’
There is a balance, a fine subtle line of balance to be found in both the
awareness that there are thousands of other beings and varieties of life
forms throughout the universe — while simultaneously realizing that we are
not to bow-down-and-worship these entities, no matter how much more advanced
their technology may be. We will not be served by worshipping beings with
bodies of light who come in inter-dimensional space-craft, or even on
magnificent golden wings. We are best served by loving and finding our sole
refuge in the God-within our own Heart.
Impenetrable protecting Veils
I do not believe that the ETs are all evil, neither are they all good. Some
definitely appear to have self-serving unpleasant toxic agendas. However if
they wanted to destroy us, they could have done so long ago. I do feel these
secret black projects that were formed to build useless weapons to defend
earth from these entities, have had unintended consequences and caused real
pain, confusion and suffering to the very humans I assume they were
initially meant to protect.
The need to accumulate incredible sums of money to fund these projects has
resulted in a loss of trust, a proliferation of the worst kind of greed and
malfeasance in economics, and perhaps the breakdown of western civilisation
itself. In seeking to save us, have our misguided short-sighted leaders led
us to the edge of the Abyss — and in the process, perhaps proving that we
earthlings do not deserve this jewel of a planet after all?
We need not concern ourselves that any group will ever be able to master a
technology that could disturb the Creator’s Divine Plan, the warp & weave of
this universe. For God’s ultimate Secrets are eternally sealed and protected
in Veils that repel all lower states of fear, tyranny and greed
consciousness. Only those who have evolved to embrace the understanding that
‘All are the One’ can lift the timeless layers of Veils, the impenetrable
Wall that keeps secret and safe ultimate Truth.
“Far from being contained in any of them…”
Guenon continues his chapter on the Spiritual Hierarchies with his clear
clean understanding of my favourite quote from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,
which for many years has remained at the very top of my website Metaphysical
Musing.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,
I.iv.10:
And to this day, [those] who...know the self as I am Brahman [the One],
become all this universe.
Even the gods [any other dimensional beings]
cannot prevent his becoming this, for he has become their Self.
...if a man worships another deity thinking: He is one and I am another, he
does not know.
He [who does not know] is like a sacrificial animal to
the gods. As many animals serve a man, so does each man serve the gods. Even
if one animal is taken away, it causes anguish to the owner; how much more
so when many are taken away!
Therefore it is not pleasing to the gods
that men should know this [that they are the One].
"Beyond all the states" meaning the Myriad Realms, spiritual
hierarchies, angelic, astral plane entities, ETs, etc.
Guenon explains: The being who has become Liberated from the bonds of
temporal illusion, possesses all states of the Absolute [the One] in all
their degrees ‘because they are integral elements of his totalization.’ In
reality those who have reached Union and are Liberated are really ‘beyond
all the states and far from being contained in any of them, contains them
all within himself’ and in no way is affected by their conditions.
This is precisely what Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita IX.4 & 5, in his
rather puzzling riddle-like statement:
“This whole universe is strung on Me [the One] and pervaded by Me in My
Unimanifest aspect. All beings abide in Me; I do not abide in them. And yet
beings do not abide in Me. Behold my divine supernal power of yoga! While
sustaining the creatures and giving them being, my Self is not confined to
any of them.”
Swami Muni Narayana Prasad translates these two mysterious verses as: “This
changeful world is pervaded by Me; I am the one reality that is here
described as ‘indistinct’ (avyakta). However, though all has come into being
exists in Me, my being is not found in them. Yet beings have no existence in
Me. This all-reigning yoga-state of Mine, you will have to perceive
intuitively. Though reigning over all-apparent forms causing their
emergence, My self-being is not in them.”
Guenon concludes his reflections on the Spiritual Hierarchies by saying that
the being who has achieved Liberation in life,
jivan mukta,
becomes essentially unconditioned, since all conditions exist for him in
their illusory mode and have not effect on his consciousness, which is
joined in God-Consciousness. The appearance of form may continue, in other
words we may remain in our data-collecting vehicle for a time.
The Samkhya Karika of Ishvara Krishna compares this period to a potter’s
wheel that continues ‘to rotate for a while even though the potter has
ceased from action, owing to the momentum of past impulses of the action.
When, however, in the course of time, the impulse is exhausted, it becomes
inactive. …Because of the momentum of this impulse, the Spirit continues to
inhabit the body for a while.’
Rene Guenon: “[The Liberated ones] remain equally ‘unaffected’ by all the
other contingencies, to whatever state, individual or supra-individual, that
is, formal [meaning in form] or nonformal, they refer in the order of
manifestation, which in itself is fundamentally only the sum of all
contingences.”
The Liberated become the Self of All!
V. Susan Ferguson
Sources:
The Multiple Sates of Being, by Rene Guenon, 1932; Larson Publications, Inc,
1984.
The Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata, A Bilingual Edition, translated by
J.A.B. van Buitenen; The University of Chicago Press, 1981.
The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Winthrop Sargeant; State University of New
York Press, 1994.
Life’s Pilgrimage Through The Gita, by Swami Muni Narayana Prasad; D.K.
Printworld, New Delhi, 2005, 2008.
While the Gods Play, Shaiva Oracles on the Cycles of History and the Destiny
of Mankind, by Alain Danielou; Inner Traditions International, Ltd.,
Vermont, 1987.
SAMKHYA KARIKA of Ishvara Krishna, translated by Swami Virupakshananda; Sri
Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Madras, 1995.
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