| The
Consciousness of the Atom |
Seven lectures given by Alice Bailey are brought
together in this book of seven chapters under the headings:
1. The Field of Evolution.
2. The Evolution of Substance.
3. The Evolution of Form, or Group Evolution.
4. The Evolution of Man, the Thinker.
5. The Evolution of Consciousness.
6. The Goal of Evolution.
7. Cosmic Evolution.
In these chapters the scientific relation of matter and consciousness
is discussed as evolution progressively affects the atomic substance
of all forms, subjective and objective. The purpose of the lectures
was to present "the testimony of science" to this relationship
and "to enable the hearers to observe the identical manifestation
of these relations and of certain basic laws in successively
higher states of being, thus to bring a realisation of the universality
of the evolutionary process and its actuality." Thev serve as
an introduction to the more detailed study and application of
the laws of life and human unfoldment generallv included in
the term "occMtism".
Much progress has been made during this century in atomic
science and in man's knowledge of the structure of the universe,
the constitution of man, and the relation between the two. This
book provides an intelligible basis to the occultist for a study
of consciousness in depth and in right relation to the life
pattern of the universe. The "atom" emerges as a minute but
complete replica of the energy structure common to all forms
of life--cosmic, planetary, human and subhuman. Groupings and
relationships are shown as they exist on a small and on a vast
scale within the evolutionary process, and the effects of energy
interplay on the whole structure of consciousness.
The teachings and sayings of the Christ are quoted to cement
the inescapable link between the scientific and the philosophical,
or religious aspects of divinity. Each divine principle
can be expressed in terms which relate to any human attribute
or activity. Here is the synthesis of life in form.
