The Paragon of Animals

Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant gods. - Dhammapada 15.4

As Above So Below

Idealist science works with the concept of higher levels existing in potential; they are not caused by material interactions, but rather emerge in the material world under the right conditions. In this emergence an embodied living being is chained to the Earth, the material level of existence. But it is born from above, from higher levels.

In the process of the involution and evolution of consciousness, what happens is consciousness descends into lower levels of reality, gradually dimming as it does, until it reaches the level of matter, which is completely dark and unconscious. By doing so, consciousness guides the evolution in the material of the forms which sustain the higher levels. This process apparently was diagrammed by Sri Auribindo.

The Kabbalist's have the concept of Adam Kadmon, or the Heavenly Man. This is the inner man using the outer body as an instrument for the gaining of experience; it is man as the thread connecting Earth to Heaven. It is in this sense that humans can be understood as "made in God's image" or as the culmination of evolution. Israel Regardie wrote about it and published a comparative analysis of related systems, which it is impossible for Big Steve to resist comparing to Amit Goswami's quantum mechanical model.

From *A Garden of Pomegranates*, Israel Regardie, 1970, Llewellyn Publications, p. 93
Tree of Life	Theosophy	Vedanta	Hatha Yoga	Rabbi Azariel	body of consciousness (from Goswami)
Keser	Atma	Atma	Sahasrara Chakra	The Point, or Monad
Chokmah	Buddhi	Anandamayakosa	Ajna Chakra	The Creative Self	Bliss
Binah	Higher Manas	Vijnanamayakosa	Visuddhi Chakra	The Intuitive Self	Supramental Intellect
Chesed	Manas	Manomayakosa	Anahata Chakra	The Intellect	Mental
Geburah	"	"	"	"
Tipharas	"	"	"	"
Netsach	Kama	"	Svaddisthana Chakra	"
Hod	Prana	Pranamayakosa	Manipura Chakra	"	Vital
Yesod	Linga-Sarira	"	Muladhara Chakra	Subconsciousness
Malkus	Sthula-Sarira	Annamayakosa		Physical Body	Physical

Adapted from *Physics of the Soul*, Amit Goswami, 2001, Hampton Roads Publishing Company
individualization	body of consciousness	worlds in the Kabbalah
ground of being	Bliss	Ain Sof - The One
cosmic	Supramental Intellect	Atziluh - Pure Thought
individual, functional	Mental	Briah - Creation
individual, functional	Vital	Yetzirah - Formation
individual, structural	Physical	Assiah - Manifestation

So You Reap As You Sow

What is the fate of this inner man? To wear out the outer body and discard it. If you believe in reincarnation, to wear out body after body in a cycle of birth, death and renewal, with karmic consequences to consider. The Tibetans have an elaborate theory of this process, the bardo model of transmigration.

If individual humans have karma, why not nations or peoples, or even geographic regions? Could a society or country be an evolving disembodied entity, with its own individualized habits and desires, and its own karmic prices to pay? While not a locus of conscious awareness, it might still have a subtle form which is sustained by the experience of its constituent members.