Creating the Soul Body

The idea that the human mind and body resemble the divine mind and body amounts to a profound anthropomorphic principle, which pervaded the ancient science. We have already seen that it can be used to predict accurately the smallest audible wavelength that can be heard by the human ear. Yet why does this principle work? As we have seen, the sound waves that are heard by the human ear correspond to sound waves in the ambient atmosphere of the earth. If the earth’s atmosphere were to have a different air density, then the speed of sound in air would be different, as would the wavelengths associated with a given frequency of audible sound.

In this case, the prediction regarding the smallest audible wavelength, based upon the measured arrangement of the matched pairs of layers in the metaphysical Logos, would no longer hold true. This wavelength would have a size different from 1 digit.

Yet this is not the case. The particular air density in which human beings have evolved carries the smallest audible wavelength: roughly 1 digit. This raises a fundamental question regarding the ideal nature of both the human being and our planet. According to the ancients, human beings are unique among all created beings in the sense that they are suited ideally for the realization of spiritual immortality. Moreover, this realization was deemed the ultimate purpose of creation. In order for human beings to evolve, however, they need a more or less ideal environment—an ideal planet.

Of all the planets within our solar system, only Earth provides the ideal environment for such evolution. When scientists search the starry heavens for possible signs of intelligent life, they look typically to other solar systems similar to our own that might include a planet similar to our own. It is accepted that the conditions required for the evolution of organic life, including humans, are very specific. Not just any planet will do; it has to resemble our own. If the human represents an ideal organic being capable of realizing the very purpose of creation, then the planet upon which human beings evolve must be ideal.

THE STANDARD BIOLOGICAL BODY

As we have seen, the parameters of the system of matched pairs was established in terms of the digit—the width of a human thumb. Based upon the notion that a human is created in the image of the Creator, the ancients used this particular part of the human body as a standard of measure to determine the dimensions of both the Cosmos and the Logos in accordance with principles of ratio and proportion.

The fact that this scheme can be used to make accurate, empirical predictions regarding the overall organization of the universe suggests that the human body presents a more or less ideal reflection of the whole. Put another way, we might say that the human body represents a standard biological body on the basis of which we can measure both the Cosmos and Logos. This notion of the standard biological body means that the human body—specifically, the human thumb, which forms the parameters of the system of matched pairs—can be used as a standard of measure to determine the overall dimensions of the physical Cosmos and the characteristic dimensions of the various layers within the metaphysical Logos.

THE FATHERS OF HUMANKIND

The ancients held that the human body was the gift of the gods, who were the fathers of humankind. These include universal gods, who correspond to the metaphysical layers, and celestial gods, who correspond to the celestial bodies that shine in the sky.

The celestial gods, who have presided over the evolution of human life from the very beginning, are not just abstract disembodied beings; they have concrete bodies that correspond to our sun, solar system, galaxy, local universe, and superuniverse—each of which represents a conscious celestial being with powers of consciousness that far exceed those of ordinary human beings on earth.

In the same way that the Cosmos as a whole was viewed as an embodiment of the first archetypal man (Adam Ouila), who is our Father in heaven, so also, our sun, solar system, galaxy, and so forth were viewed as relatively immortal men who are our fathers in heaven. The Hermetic texts tell us: “We must not shrink then from saying that a man on earth is a mortal god, and that a god in heaven is an immortal man.”1

The celestial gods were viewed as immortal as compared to human beings, because unlike the human body, their celestial bodies endure for billions of years. They were compared to humans because the enlightened soul of a human being and that of a celestial being are akin to one another in the sense that both are born from the same cosmic womb—the field of silent darkness that exists on the scale of the half measure. This means that the wisdom cognized by the human soul when it takes its first step on the divine ladder is the same as the first wisdom cognized by the celestial gods billions of years ago.

The difference is that the celestial gods, for billions of years, were born for a specific purpose: to uphold and preside over the appearance of the created universe within their own sphere of influence. Unlike the human being, who is born from a mortal womb as an unenlightened being and is reborn subsequently from the cosmic womb as an enlightened being, the celestial gods were born not from any mortal womb, but from the cosmic womb as already enlightened beings who immediately cognized the first wisdom and proceeded to ascend to their own cosmic stations. They then began the work of creation in accordance with the will of the Creator, who preceded and presides over them. This means that they began to create their own celestial bodies, which would serve as “worlds” for all embodied beings—including human beings. The Vedic seers held that this gradual process of creation took place over the course of billions of years.

Although modern science tells us that the universe evolved as a result of chance and circumstance, the ancient science tells us that it evolved under the nonlocal guidance of divine will, which was and is directed toward a teleological purpose: the redemption of souls that have become lost and have fallen into the clutches of mortality. It is the old story of the prodigal son who became lost. The father pined for him, doing all within his power to bring his lost son back into the fold. The lost son is none other than the unenlightened soul. The universe was created—and will continue to be created, cycle after cycle, over the course of eternity—to recover the souls that have lost their way and fallen into the clutches of mortality.

In order to be redeemed, the lost soul must first be born from a mortal womb, and then reborn from the cosmic womb. According to the ancients, there is no more favorable mortal womb for this purpose than that of the human being, who is suited ideally for the realization of immortality. To provide the conditions for this spiritual redemption, material worlds must be created from which conscious, material beings can evolve. That is the job of the celestial gods, who are controlled ultimately by the universal gods, who serve as their inner controllers. In the same way that the son is created in the image of the father, so is a human created in the image of his or her celestial fathers—the gods that shine in the sky.

STANDARD CELESTIAL BODIES

If the human being is suited ideally for the realization of immortality, then the celestial gods that have presided over the evolution of the human body, mind, and soul since the very beginning must also share in that ideal.

This has a concrete meaning. If the human body serves as a standard biological body by which the dimensions of the Cosmos and Logos can be determined systematically, then the celestial bodies of the gods, who are directly responsible for the evolution of the human body, must represent standard celestial bodies. This presents a radically new cosmological concept, which deserves some explanation.

Modern astrophysical observations have revealed that there are many different types of stars in the universe, some of which are similar to our own sun and some of which differ from our sun, both in size and behavior. In recent years, it has been shown that there are solar systems associated with some of these stars that may or may not be similar to our own. There are also many types of galaxies, some of which are similar to ours and some of which are different. At this point in history, we do not know if we are alone in the universe. According to the ancient seers, we are not. For example, the Vedic texts are filled with stories of enlightened sages traveling to different worlds within our far-flung galaxy, visiting places inhabited by human beings like ourselves. Yet the texts also make clear that the seers did not visit these worlds by traveling in spaceships. Instead, they used the spiritual power of their own consciousness. If we take these stories at face value, it follows that the ancient seers did not have to speculate about other forms of life in the universe; such life was part of their direct experience.

As far as modern theorists are concerned, however, the question of the existence of other intelligent beings in the universe is still unresolved. It is recognized generally that the conditions required for the evolution of organic life within a given solar system are quite specific. The solar system must be similar to our own, which is suited ideally for the evolution of various forms of organic life, including human life. If the human represents an ideal organic being, then our sun, solar system, and galaxy must likewise be viewed as ideal celestial beings, which have also been created in the image of Cosmos, according to principles of ratio and proportion.

THE STANDARD COSMOLOGICAL MODEL

In the chapters that remain, we will discover that the ancient science of the gods was formulated in terms of a standard cosmological model: It was expressed specifically in terms of our sun, solar system, galaxy, and visible universe, which can be understood as standard cosmological bodies that represent our own celestial fathers—the celestial gods that have presided over the evolution of human life on earth from the very beginning.

The hypothesis here is that these celestial bodies, like the human body, should more or less reflect ideally the system of measured arrangement inherent within the metaphysical Logos. According to the ancients, the characteristic measure of the human body is the digit, the thumb measure. Yet the celestial gods do not have organic bodies, with limbs, arms, legs, and fingers. They take the form of spheres, the characteristic measure of which is its radius. Just as the system of measured arrangement is reflected by the width of the human thumb, which represents the characteristic measure of the standard biological body, so should it be reflected by the radii of the celestial bodies, which represent the characteristic measures of the standard cosmological bodies.

As we have seen, the digit represents an approximate unit of measure that can vary from one person to the next. The same holds true for the sizes of the standard cosmological bodies. Given the fact that there are some twenty trillion stars in the visible universe, it may turn out that there are many solar systems scattered throughout the universe that support human life. These stars and solar systems may have celestial bodies that vary somewhat in size—but just as the width of a human thumb varies only slightly from one person to another, so the size of the standard cosmological body varies only slightly. We adopt as a general principle that to be considered standard, the sizes of the cosmological bodies should be on the same order of magnitude. Any cosmological body that does not meet this standard may be viewed as immature—that is, still in the process of evolving; aged, or past its prime and in the process of decay; or deformed, perhaps by some cosmic accident such as a collision between stars or galaxies.