CHAPTER XXIV The Celestial Ray and its Plane of Reflection
If we consider the super-imposed horizontal planes representing all the states of the being, it can also be said that, whether considered separately or all together, the vertical axis, which connects them all to one another and to the centre of the total being, symbolizes what various traditions call the "Celestial Ray" or "Divine Ray". This is the principle which the Hindu doctrine denotes by the names of Buddhi and Mahat [1], "which forms the higher, non-incarnate element in man, and which serves to guide him through the phases of universal evolution "[2]. The universal cycle, represented by our figure as a whole, and "of which humanity (in the individual, specific sense) constitutes only a phase, has a proper movement of its own [3], independent of our humanity, of all humanities, of all the planes (representing all the degrees of Existence), of which it forms the indefinite sum (which is "Universal Man ")[4]. This proper movement which it derives from the essential affinity of the "Celestial Ray" towards its origin, orients it invincibly towards its End (Perfection) which is identical with its Beginning, with an upward and divinely beneficent (that is, harmonic) guiding force "[5], which is the same thing as that "force of attraction of the Divinity" referred to in the last chapter.
What must be insisted on is that the " movement" of the universal cycle is necessarily independent of any individual will whatever, particular or collective, which can operate only within its own particular sphere, and without ever departing from the given conditions of existence to which that sphere is subjected. "Man, quä man (individual), cannot dispose of anything more or better than his hominal destiny, whose individual course he is in fact free to check. But this contingent being, endowed with contingent virtues and possibilities, cannot move, check, or influence himself outside the special contingent plane on which, for the moment, he is placed and exercises his faculties. It is absurd to suppose that he could modify, much less check the eternal course of the universal cycle "[1]. Further, the indefinite extension of the possibilities of the individual, envisaged in his integrality, alters nothing of this, because it naturally cannot release him from the whole set of limiting conditions that characterize the state of being to which he belongs quä individual [2].
The "Celestial Ray" passes through all the states of the being and, as has already been said, marks the central point of each of them by its trace on the corresponding horizontal plane, and the locus of all these central points is the "Invariable Middle " ; but this action of the "Celestial Ray" is effective only if by its reflection on one of those planes it produces a vibration which, by propagating and spreading throughout the whole being, illuminates its cosmic or human chaos. We say cosmic or human, for this can apply to the "macrocosm" as well as to the "microcosm"; in all cases, the aggregate of the being's possibilities properly constitutes only a chaos "without form and void"[3], wherein there is nothing but obscurity until the moment of this illumination which determines its harmonious organization in the passage from potency
to act [1]. This same illumination strictly corresponds to the conversion of the three gunas one into another, which was described earlier by reference to a text of the Veda : if the two phases of this conversion are considered, the result of the first, effected as from the lower states of the being, is brought about on the actual plane of reflection, whereas the second phase imparts to the reflected vibration an upward direction, which transmits it throughout the whole hierarchy of the higher states of the being. The plane of reflection, whose centre, the point of impact of the "Celestial Ray", is the startingpoint of this indefinite vibration, will then be the central plane in the assemblage of the states of the being, in other words the horizontal plane of coordinates in our geometrical representation, and its centre will in fact be the centre of the total being. In relation to the "Celestial Ray" which is the vertical branch of the three-dimensional cross, this central plane, on which its two horizontal branches are traced, plays a part analogous to that of "passive perfection" in relation to "active perfection", or that of "substance" in relation to "essence", of Prakriti in relation to Purusha. It is also, symbolically, "Earth." in relation to "Heaven", and is identified with what all cosmogonic traditions represent as the "surface of the Waters" [2]. It can also be described as the plane of separation between the "lower waters" and the "upper waters "[3], that is, the double chaos, formal and formless, individual and extra-individual, of all states, both unmanifested and manifested, the whole array of which constitutes the total Possibility of "Universal Man ".
By the operation of the "Universal Spirit" (Atma), projecting the "Celestial Ray" which is reflected on the mirror of the "Waters", there is enclosed within them a divine spark, an uncreated spiritual germ, which, in the potential Universe (Brahmânda or "World Egg"), is the determination of the "Non-Supreme" Brahma (Apara-Brahma) that the Hindu tradition terms Hiranyagarbha (that is, the "Golden Embryo") [1]. In each being envisaged in particular, this spark of the intelligible Light constitutes, if one may so put it, a fragmentary unity (an expression which is indeed inaccurate if taken literally, for unity is really indivisible and without parts). This "fragmentary unity", developing in order to identify itself in act with the total Unity, to which it is identical in potency (for it contains in itself the indivisible essence of light, just as the nature of fire is wholly contained in each spark) [2], will radiate in all directions from the centre, and will realize in its expansion the perfect unfolding of all the being's possibilities. This principle, of divine essence and indwelling in beings (in appearance only, for it cannot really be affected by contingencies, and this state of "envelopment" exists only from the viewpoint of manifestation) is again, in the Vedic symbolism, Agni [3] manifesting itself at the centre of the swastika, which as we have seen is the cross traced on the horizontal plane, and which, by its rotation about that centre, generates the evolutive cycle that constitutes each of the elements in the universal cycle. The centre, the only point that remains motionless in this rotary movement, is by very reason of its immobility (an image of the principial immutability) the mover of the "wheel of existence" ; it contains within it the " Law " (in the sense of the Sanskrit term Dharma) [4], that is, the expression or manifestation of the "Will of Heaven" for the cycle corresponding to the horizontal plane in which the rotation takes place, and, following what was said before, its influence is measured-or rather, would be measured if we
had the faculty of doing so-by the pitch of the evolutive helix on the vertical axis [1].
The realization of the being's possibilities is thus effected by an activity which is always inward, since it is exerted from the centre of each plane; besides, metaphysically, there can be no outward action exerted upon the total being, for such action is not possible except from a relative and specialized viewpoint such as that of the individual [2]. This realization is depicted in different symbolisms by the opening of a flower on the surface of the "Waters". In the eastern traditions this flower is most commonly the lotus and in the western ones the rose or lily [3] : but we have no intention of giving a detailed account of these symbols, which may vary and be modified to a certain extent, by reason of the manifold adaptations to which they lend themselves, but which always and everywhere ultimately proceed from the same principle, taking into account certain secondary considerations, which are especially based on
numbers [1]. In any event, the unfolding in question can first of all be envisaged in the central plane, that is to say, in the horizontal plane of reflection of the "Celestial Ray", as the integration of the corresponding state of the being; but it will also extend outside that plane to the totality of the states, following the indefinite development, in all directions from the central point, of the universal spherical vortex which has already been described [2].