What is Man?

We have entered a topic of discussion that is inherently complex. The term ‘man’ is generally applied to the physical life form (homo sapiens sapiens) on the earth. In some discussions the term applies to the indwelling spirit. In some others they refer to various spiritual ‘bodies of man’. Certain sources trace various races of humanity and use the term ‘man’ to designate their evolution.

In this section we hope to provide a simpler overview of what Man is, in a way that provides a bird’s eye view on various other prevalent concepts.

Let’s begin by stating that Man is a pattern of expression for Being. It is a pattern that may be considered eternal, or at least as old as time itself. Like any pattern - such as a cross which takes expression in myriad palettes like wood, metal, even sand - the pattern of Man has numerous manifestations.

When we say ‘pattern’, think of it as something like a template which can take expression in different media. Many mathematicians have the notion of a Platonic world where all mathematical concepts exist, and which may have translations and expressions in the real world. Similar to this, Man is a pattern that exists within the highest realms and which takes expression in multiple physical and higher forms in different ways. Waves upon waves of Being move through the pattern of Man, in a spectrum of manifestations ranging from the physical human to the cosmic super-human. A wave of Being enters the pattern of Man, evolves through higher expressions of the pattern, and finally transcends the pattern. New patterns then await its evolution.

The physical man referred to as homo sapiens sapiens, along with all the attributes and tendencies that it creates, expresses or reinforces - within any fragment of Being that inhabits it - is one embodiment of the pattern of Man. This physical embodiment continues to evolve, discovering and manifesting various aspects of its pattern.

What we are saying then is that Being discovers various attributes and capabilities within itself through experiencing certain patterns in progression. Earlier we discussed fragmentation of Being at all possible levels, and the generation of diversity. Patterns are but the blue print of this diversity. Every fragment of Being approximates and evolves along one or more such patterns. In that process it discovers more of what those patterns have to offer. It should be remembered that Being is not the pattern itself, but is expressing and discovering attributes of itself through some pattern. At some point Being exits one pattern to move on to another. As long as a fragment of Being manifests within a physical pattern (a life form), it directs the evolution of that life form and is in turn affected by that form. This is co-evolution of matter and spirit and has been covered in the chapter “Path” of our book, “The God Principle”.

Finally, the pattern of Man has innumerable manifestations throughout the manifold universes and dimensions. In each case it manifests in some specific media or material type, so to speak, and evolves within that media, discovering more of the pattern’s possibilities. In the highest possible sense the pattern of Man has always existed, and always will. It is the manifestations of the pattern of Man that are transient and subject to much discussion in different contexts.

With this covered we will take a closer look at the pattern of Man on the earth and the wave of Being (humanity) that currently manifests within that pattern.