The Birth/Death Cycle
In the previous section we promised to cover the topic of the birth/death cycle of humanity, and we will do so now.
Let us recall the Principle of Reflection, which states that matter
functions as a mirror for Being; that life-forms in matter offer
patterns of expression for Being; and that Being experiences and moves
through these patterns by being ‘bound’ in some sense to these patterns
in time.
Therefore it follows that every such experience has a beginning in
time, and also an end. In relatively primitive stages or states of
Becoming, a fragment of Being does not know how to bind or to unbind
itself from these patterns. Therefore it is required that the binding
and the unbinding be automatic. We’ll now discuss what this means.
If the life-form is to truly mirror the natures and attributes of a
given fragment of Being, then it is required that a unique life-form be developed exactly for this purpose. That is, the life-form must be developed so as to correctly reflect important aspects of that Being.
This then requires the life-form to receive inputs from
that fragment of Being, while the form is being developed, so that patterns of the physical form will reflect those of Being.
If the reader gives some further thought to the above requirement it
should then become clear that we are talking about birth and embryonic development,
viz. the establishment of a unique seed pattern that develops into a
viable new life-form within a protected high energy ambience (the womb),
and the ongoing development of that life-form into maturity. The very
process that man associates with genetics and embryonic development is a
requirement at the dense material level, and not
simply a convenience or an accidental emergence. Though the development
of the embryo itself is automatic, throughout much of this process a
fragment of Being must be actively involved in contributing its own energies
into the physical pattern so that reflection is possible. It is also
important that the development not be disturbed by extraneous energy
sources. Through such a process the creation of a new reflective
life-form is facilitated. Indeed, if it weren’t for the Principle of
Reflection such a mechanism of expression would make little sense from a spiritual perspective.
Perhaps the reader has grasped some significance of what this means. The genetic pattern and the resulting embryo development must be
actively imprinted upon by energies from Being for reflection to take
effect. Therefore any perceived imperfections in that development can
often be considered as manifestations of similar ‘imperfect’ patterns
within Being. For example, if energies contributed on the emotional
plane have significant distortions, it is well possible that the
embryonic heart may be under-developed. Each and every body part, organ
and tissue of the life form in development carries a reflection of the
energies and patterns that are projected by the fragment of Being
binding to it. Manifestations of ‘defects’ are made easier by having the
physical life forms themselves being genetically prone to such issues. Thus much of hereditary and congenital problems found in physical life forms usually have deeper origins in Being itself. In
this context we must point out that a life-form need not, and usually
does not, represent all of the patterns and energies resident in a
fragment of Being, but only a useful subset at any time.
Once Being experiences manifestation through a physical life-form, it is usually captivated, enraptured or caught up in that experience
and unable to dissociate its new identity from its true essence. In
such a situation Being is not able to observe and understand its
manifested patterns well. Therefore it is first required to temporarily
separate (or project) a portion of Being which is to be bound to the
life-form in question. The portion thus separated develops into the personality (in the case of a human form), whereas the former functions as the inner observer or the inner eye, sometimes called the higher self.
Without such a scheme Being may find itself ‘lost’ in matter and the
Prime Directive: ‘Being, Know Thyself!”, would no longer work. As the
reader might be aware, various spiritual traditions discuss “The Self”
and its nature. The Principle of Reflection provides a basis for why such a dichotomy exists.
Death
is the mechanism by which a projected fragment is automatically unbound
from the life form and is then enabled to re-integrate with its
witnessing higher portion. At this time all the experiences and memories
of the personality (the lower self) are made available to the higher.
Now this is not to imply that there is no communication between the
higher and lower portions during manifestation. Quite the opposite is
the case. The higher self establishes multiple links with the physical
life form as it develops and matures - links through which many
attributes and characteristics are projected into the personality.
Through these links the wisdom of the higher self is also available to
the personality. The same links are used to transmit assimilated
experiences from the personality back to the higher self. We discussed
these concepts in the chapter ‘Tree of Life’ in our book, “The God
Principle”. The links are sometimes called ‘chakras’ in eastern
literature.
At ‘death’, which is but the termination of a temporary phase of
experience, the lower portion (the personality) reintegrates or merges
into its higher self and various experiences and memories are
assimilated into the higher portion. At this point Being may embark on
yet another projection into matter so as to complete its current phase
of experiences. Usually it takes a number of such projections and
experiences within a given pattern before Being moves on to another
pattern.
The reader might be thinking that we are talking about reincarnation.
This is not quite the case. Reincarnation as it is generally understood
is a caricature of what actually happens. Subsequent projections of
Being may have little to nothing common in essence with earlier
projections, so it is incorrect to say that a personality reincarnates.
It is however correct to say that attributes and tendencies that once
formed a personality may find future expression in a different mix of
personalities. But the consciousness pattern of one personality need not and usually does not continue as such in another. In this sense, there is no reincarnation.
However the term is a useful abstraction in discussions, provided there
is a proper framework of understanding of the background. We discussed
this further in the chapter “Path” of the book, “The God Principle”.
In the next section we will discuss the apparent loss of memory and
its main purpose when Being projects personalities into matter.
