The synoptic table
Improvised lecture (abbreviated)
given by Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov in 1972“That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below”, said Hermes Trismegistus. The existence within man, of certain subtle principles, each of which has its own needs and activities, can be readily understood if one takes the needs and activities of the physical body as a starting point. This is what I want to show you with the help of this synoptic table, in which I have attempted to combine all the principal elements of our physical and psychic life.
PRINCIPLE IDEAL NOURISHMENT PRICE ACTIVITY SPIRIT
divine consciencetime
eternity
immortalityliberty truth identification
union
creationSOUL
superconsciencespace
immensity
infinityimpersonnality
altruismfusion
dilatation
ecstasycontemplation
adoration
prayerINTELLECT
self-conscienceknowledge
learning
lightthought wisdom meditation
studying
understandingHEART
consciencejoy
hapiness
warmthfeeling love music
singing poetry
harmonyWILL
subconsciencedomination
power
movementforce gesture
breathbreathing
gymnastics
paneurythmyPHYSICAL BODY
inconsciencehealth
lifefood money activity
dynamism
physical work
Let's begin with the physical body : what are its needs? First and foremost it needs health. In order to be healthy it has to eat, so it needs food. But then it must have money in order to buy food and it cannot have money unless it works for it. You see? It is simple! And now, since what is below on the physical level, is like that which is above on the spiritual level, it stands to reason that we will find exactly the same pattern at work on the other, subtler levels, in connection with man's other, subtler principles: his will, heart, mind, soul and spirit. Each of these principles has its own particular goal ; in order to attain its goal it needs nourishment ; in order to obtain that nourishment it needs money, and it can only earn the money it needs by doing a particular type of work.
Take the case of the will : the goal of the will is movement and power. It needs to act on other objects, beings and situations in order to shape and transform them. But in order to be active the will needs nourishment, and its nourishment is force. Only if the will is nourished by force can it manifest itself, and in order to purchase the force it needs, the will needs money, and its money is the physical gesture. If you want to set your energies in motion you have to begin by freeing yourself from the grip of inertia and immobility. When the will aquires the habit of acting, of moving, of doing, it purchases force and becomes strong and powerful. Every physical effort you make helps to strengthen your will.
Next we come to the heart. What does the heart need? It needs to feel itself expanding with warmth, joy and hapiness. The food of the heart is feelings and the currency it uses to purchase that food is love. When you love, your love is “money” which enables you to “buy”, that is to say, to experience, all kinds of feelings, sensations and emotions. If you lose your love you lose all that warmth and hapiness; you find yourself in the cold. How can you keep the wealth that your love has earned you? By cultivating harmony in your relations with the universe and all its creatures.
And the intellect, the mind, what is it looking for? The intellect needs to be illuminated, it seeks light, knowledge. The food of the intellect is thought. The money with which it can buy the best food is wisdom, and the activity by which the intellect earns wisdom is meditation. Only wisdom is capable of nourishing your mind with the very best thoughts so that it can obtain the light it seeks.
The ideal of the soul is space, immensity. The human soul is a tiny particle of the Universal Soul and it feels so constricted and hemmed in within man that its one desire is to be allowed to expand in limitless space. In order to attain this goal the soul, too, needs nourishment to keep up its strength, and the particular type of food which suits it best is all the qualities and virtues of the higher consciousness: impersonality, abnegation and self-sacrifice. The coin with which it buys this food is ecstasy, fusion with the divine world, and the work which enables it to earn this fusion is the work of prayer and contemplation. Yes, the specific activity of the soul is contemplation.
The ideal of the spirit is eternity, for the essence of the spirit is immortal; it transcends time. But in order to attain eternity, the spirit, too, needs food and the food of the spirit is freedom. The soul needs to expand in space and the spirit needs to break its bonds and free itself. Truth is the coin with which the spirit purchases freedom. Every truth, about anything whatsoever, is liberating. Jesus said, “Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Yes, it is truth which sets us free and the activity which puts us in possession of truth is identification with the Creator. He who identifies with the Creator becomes one with Him, possesses the truth and is free! When Jesus said, “My Father and I are one”, he summed up in those few words this whole process of identification.
In this table I have tried to put together a unified, coordinated picture of the principal elements of our physical and, especially, of our psychic life which are usually scattered and disconnected, and these notions could, of course, be developped and detailed almost indefinitly. The table does not contain everything, of course; there are a certain number of notions that you will not find in it, but you can, at least, see where the different levels of degress of consciousness fit in: the unconscious, the subconscious, consciousness, self-consciousness and the super-conscious.
A great many philosophers, psychologists and psychoanalysts have studied this question of the different levels of human consciousness. Their findings are very interesting but it is often difficult to see exactly how they relate to one's everyday experience, so let me give you a simple example which you will easily understand. Suppose that you have had a bad fall and hit your head so hard that you are knocked unconscious. If someone gives you first aid you will begin to stir, but your eyes remain closed : this is a state of subconsciousness. After a little while you open your eyes and realize that you are lying on the ground, that there are people around you, but you still have no idea of what has happened to you : this is the state of consciousness. Before long you are back to normal : you can feel pain and you remember what happened to you and how it happened: this is the state of self-consciousness. And finally, when you have completely recovered, you can feel joy and gratitude to Heaven for having been protected, for it could have been so much worse. This is the state of superconsciousness. I think that should be perfectly clear to you now.
And now, let us see how the different elements which constitute our being correspond to these different levels of consciousness. The physical body itself corresponds to the unconscious. The manifestations of physiological life (breathing, digestion, circulation of blood, elimination, growth, etc.) correspond to the subconscious. That which concerns the will and the heart corresponds to the level of consciousness, whereas self-consciousness begins only on the level of the intellect. Finally, superconsciousness corresponds to that which concerns the soul and spirit; in fact one could say that the domain of the spirit corresponds to the divine superconsciousness.
But to revert to the essential purpose of this table: it shows clearly how to work with all the different principles within you without neglecting any one of them. Only those who learn how to work every day with their physical body, their will, heart, mind, soul and spirit, will one day reach perfect fulfilment.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
France, February 6, 1972
Man's psychic life: elements and structures, Izvor collection, © Prosveta Editions