Cosmology
Cosmology is the first science which is usually distinguished from metaphysics. Given that metaphysics is the science of Reality itself, there can be no question of any science being truly separate from it. However, given the position of man in the hierarchy of existence, it is often beneficial for him to study a particular aspect of Reality more closely, through the application of metaphysical principles. In this case sciences may arise which appear outwardly to enjoy an existence of their own, but are in reality a more or less specialized branch of metaphysics. This is of course, the exact same relationship as between the Absolute, and any possibility contained therein which may be singled out by virtue of the relativity of individual consciousness. The proper reason for studying a particular aspect of reality more closely is that it appears directly to man, and therefore acts for him as a symbol and a support for realization of the Absolute itself. From this it can be understood why cosmology is useful.
It may be noted that this conception of science, which is the traditional one, is in direct opposition to the science of modern people, which always takes empirical facts as its starting point and attempts to erect these into a complete theory. Such a science can never be strictly accurate or even particularly useful except in a purely practical way, because it bears only on the most relative information without any supporting principle which would allow it to be integrated into a holistic worldview. For traditional man an understanding of the world as a whole according to its fundamental principles is always more important than an accurate understanding of physical facts, but in the modern world this natural hierarchy is reversed, due to modern man’s inability to conceive of domains higher than the one to which he has confined himself.
When speaking of Being we mentioned the duality of Being and Consciousness that exists in all of manifestation. In this context a more accurate rendering of the words is Substance and Essence, although in relation to manifestation these principles are reversed. In metaphysics the masculine principle is the impassive and immutable void, whilst the female principle is the outwardly radiating and loving Infinitude of the principle. In manifestation these roles are reversed and the masculine principle becomes the giving Essence which bestows form upon the purely receptive feminine principle. This is due to a law known as metaphysical inversion, in which truths which pass from the metaphysical to the manifested realm often assume inverse relationships in the latter. The nature of this inversion can be likened to that of a reflection in a mirror, which offers a relatively accurate rendering of this metaphysical law due to the natural correspondences of lesser realities with greater ones. The Essential principle was called form by the Greeks and the Scholastics, whilst the Substantial principle is the “materia prima” of the scholastics, they could be likened to pure quality and quantity, the intelligence of the Essence provides the Substance with a temporarily intelligible reality in by virtue of form. For this reason all forms are contained as archetypes within their Essence, and it is only through their illusory existence as manifestations that they can become corrupted; this is the nature of ugliness, which we will touch on again later. This view is generally known as Platonic, and indeed, there could hardly be a better point of origin for the westerner wishing to study this aspect of metaphysics. Needless to say, Plato always took the higher principles of metaphysics to be self-evident, and that is why to the modern reader who is unaware of this, many of his assertions can seem preposterous, whereas in reality, it is only ignorance on the part of the reader that could lead to this assumption.
The analogy between macrocosm and microcosm is, as we have explained, fundamental in metaphysics and especially in cosmology. All of the diverse forms are manifested from the same principles, and therefore they all form a network of inter-relationships which traditional science endeavors to study. Nothing can exist unless it participates to a greater or lesser extent in reality itself, and all the manifested forms must participate in qualities which belong to the universal Essence, rendering them intelligible. One science which illustrates the study of metaphysical correspondences is the science of number symbolism, which is necessarily hidden from modern scientists, as are all the traditional sciences. To study this science it must be understood that nothing can exist unless it has a degree of objectivity, that is to say a degree of participation in pure Essence; therefore the integers, though they are used to express pure quantity, must also possess qualities in order to be comprehensible, as there is nothing in pure quantity which our intelligence can grasp unless it is subjected to a form bestowed by the Essential pole of manifestation. One is the reflection of metaphysical unity, which is Universal Being, and so being the immediate principle of manifestation it engenders all the other numbers by indefinite repetition of itself. Two reflects the principle of duality that is Essence and Substance, or the illusory division between Origin and manifestation as such. It can also be seen that all the cosmic dualities correspond in some degree to the primal duality of Essence and Substance, active and passive, male and female, solar and lunar, all possess the same essential qualities. The same can be said of the ternaries discussed in relation to the number three. Another realm in which the law of correspondence is applied is that of cosmic cycles, which we will now discuss in further detail as they concern us directly.
The most general cycle is that of the manifestation and dissolution of the cosmos, which appears for an instant (which is pure nothingness in the face of the eternity or timelessness of the Absolute) and is then reabsorbed. We remind the reader once again that the idea of succession does not really apply here, as this is simply a possibility contained within the eternity of the Absolute itself, but nonetheless, it is from this appearance that time and all of its cycles are generated. Birth and death, creation and destructive, rise and fall, sunrise and sunset, exhalation and inhalation, all these are simply distant reflections of the ‘breath of the Absolute’. The science of cycles was known to all the ancient civilizations, and was closely associated with the number four. The human lifespan contains four phases, and these are infancy, youth, maturity and old age. Transposed into the realm of the human collective these become the Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga of Hindu cosmology. In classical antiquity these ages were likened to the metals, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron. It can be seen that these metals correspond to a gradual falling away from nobility, and this is explained that in the beginning of any cycle the manifestation is closer to its principle and then gradually falls away from it in order to exhaust all of its possibilities. Thus the possibilities expressed at the very end of the cycle will naturally be the lowest and most distant from the principle. This is of particular importance because the age in which we currently find ourselves is none other than the final moment of the Kali Yuga, or Dark Age.
It should have been evident from what has been discussed thus far that we do not hold the modern world in high regard. The attachment of man to the material world, his turning away from God and even beauty in a purely emotional sense, his gradual enslavement to his own creations, and his utter impotence in the face of ignorance are all unmistakable signs that this is the final age of this particular human collective. The end of every cycle however, is also the birth of a new one from another point of view, so it should be noted that whilst the world has become hardened to a spiritual influence, it has also begun to grow transparent for those who are aware of the nature of the modern world, due to its proximity to death and therefore re-birth. Naturally every cycle is connected by analogy with every other cycle, so the current state of mankind is not without connection to the current state of his particular cosmic sector, which has itself become spiritually hardened during this cyclic period. It should also be noted that the human lifespan does not in all ways correspond to a gradual decay. In fact this is only the case for the body, which moves closer to death with every day, whereas for the individual being, of which the body is but an outward ‘clothing’, the human lifespan can in some cases be a spiritual ascent, in which the being returns to the Absolute.This journey can be completed in life or at the moment of death, but is for most human beings living in the Kali Yuga, one which must continue after death, liberation from the individual state not being possible without some degree of pure knowledge within one’s lifetime.
We must now bring our attention to a domain of existence which is very close to the physical, so close in fact, that even modern people are not able to close themselves off to it, though many still reserve doubts about its reality. This is the subtle domain, in which forms are distinguished, but not realized in matter. This is properly the realm of individual consciousness, and also the pre-figurations of all the elements of physical manifestation. For this reason the subtle realm is also known as the animic state, because it is the immediate, animating principle of the physical. The individual consciousness is undeniably a limiting form, but is not confined to matter; therefore it properly belongs to the subtle state, as do the immediate animating principles of physical elements. The subtle state is in a way a dimension of depth in relation to the physical, in that it goes beyond the physical but is not for that reason necessarily superior to it. For this reason a science such as magic, which has as its aim the extraction of physical effects from subtle causes was not exalted in traditional civilizations, but is the cause of much curiosity among modern people, purely because they are amazed that anything can fall outside their narrow view of the world. It goes without saying that this curiosity of modern people about something non-physical would not occur unless the results were immediately visible in the physical realm. It is in the subtle state that the individual is perpetually prolonged if they have not attained any degree of realization at the moment of death.
The question has often been asked, “If God is the sovereign good, how is it possible that evil exists?” The answer lies in the fact that every form exists only by reflecting the Absolute within particular limits which define it. A form, even if it be a physical one, will appear beautiful if its limits allow it to represent the Absolute relative to the observer, that is to say if it corresponds to its essential archetype at its particular level of existence. Thus the sun, possessing as it does the defining qualities of light and warmth, which reflect knowledge and love in the corporeal domain, appears beautiful to man because it seems to be a blessing from above, which provides him with things that he requires for his very existence. By admiring the beauty of this form we are admiring the beauty of the Divine, as long as we are not tempted to enclose it within the limits that a physical form implies; therefore it is perfectly natural to say that God is the sun, but not that the sun is God. An ugly form, on the other hand, is only so by the fact that it is an erosion of certain qualities which make its archetype beautiful, because nothing ugly can exist in principle, that is to say it is only ugly through a lacking, and thus in the final analysis ugliness, or evil, reveals itself as a pure nothingness. There is therefore nothing subjective in the notion of beauty, so that from a traditional point of view it is quite natural to speak of an aesthetic error without any reservations. We will dwell further on this shortly.