THE CHRIST and the SOLAR LOGOS:

''The fact is that the corporality of Jesus of Nazareth which he had left behind was so mature, so perfect, that the Sun Logos, the Being of the six Elohim, which we have described as the spiritual Being of the Sun, was able to penetrate into it. It could incarnate for three years in this corporality, could become flesh. The Sun Logos Who can shine into human beings through illumination, the Sun Logos Himself, the Holy Spirit, entered. The Universal-Ego, the Cosmic Ego entered and from then on during three years, the Sun Logos spoke through the body of Jesus. The Christ speaks through the body of Jesus during these three years.'' (Rudolf Steiner, Gospel of John: Lecture XII: The Nature of the Virgin Sophia and of the Holy Spirit)

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SON TO THE SUN?

''This Entity, Whom we call the Solar Logos, is in no sense the same as the personal God of the Christian, who is no more nor less than man himself, expanded into a being of awful power, and subject to the virtues and vices of man himself. The solar Logos is more than man, for He is the sumtotal of all the evolutions within the entire solar system, including the human, which is an evolution standing at a middle point in relation to the other evolutions...A Solar Logos, the Grand Man of the Heavens, is equally spheroidal in shape. His ring-pass-not comprises the entire circumference of the solar system, and all that is included within the sphere of influence of the Sun. The Sun holds a position analogous to the nucleus of life at the centre of the atom.

This sphere comprises within its periphery the seven planetary chains with the synthesising three, making the ten of logoic manifestation. The Sun is the physical body of the solar Logos, His body of manifestation, and His life sweeps cycling through the seven (planetary) schemes..He manifests through the Sun and the seven sacred planets, each of whom embodies one of His seven principles, just as He in His totality embodies one of the principles of a greater cosmic Entity...Cosmically considered, the Son is developing the principle of a greater cosmic Being, that principle which we call love-wisdom. That is the fundamental characteristic He has to develop during His life cycle. Each Heavenly Man, therefore, embodies predominantly a subsidiary principle of the fundamental one. In like manner He Himself has six subsidiary principles, as has the Son.'' (Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire)

For a clearer comprehension of this abstract matter, we might consider the microcosm, or man evolving in the three worlds. Man is the product of the approximation (at present imperfect) of the two poles of Spirit (the Father in Heaven) and of matter (the Mother). The result of this union is an individualised Son of God, or unit of the divine Self, an exact replica in miniature on the lowest plane of the great Son of God, the All-Self, who is in Himself the totality of all the miniature sons, of all the individualised Selves, and of each and every unit. The microcosm, expressed in other terms or from the subjective point of view, is a miniature sun distinguished by the qualities of heat and light. At present that light is "under the bushel," or deeply hidden by a veil of matter, but in due process of evolution it will shine forth to such an extent that the veils will be lost from sight in a blaze of exceeding glory.

At present the microcosmic heat is of small degree, or the magnetic radiation between the microcosmic units is but little felt (in the occult significance of the term), but as time proceeds, the emanations of heat,—due to intensification of the inner flame, coupled with the assimilated radiation of other units—will increase, and become of such proportions that the interaction between the individualised Selves will result in the merging to perfection of the flame within each one, and a blending of the heat; this will proceed until there is "one flame with countless sparks" within it, until the heat is general and balanced. When this is the case and each Son of God is a perfected Sun, characterised by perfectly expressed light and heat, then the entire solar system, the greater Son of God, will be the perfected Sun.

The system will then be characterised by a "blaze of refulgent glory," and by a radiation that will link it up with its cosmic centre, and thus effect the liberation of the Son, and His return to the far distant source from whence the primal impulse originated...Not until each cell in His body is a sphere of radiant glory—a blaze of fire and light, and a source of magnetic radiation or heat, occultly expressed, will the Son in the Heavens "shine forth." From the cosmic point of view, as we know, our sun is but of the fourth order, and on the lowest cosmic plane. When the Son has, through the Sun, attained full expression (that is, perfected His display of light and heat) then He will shine forth upon another plane, that of the cosmic mental.

We have the analogy in the microcosm or man. When a man's light fully shines forth, when his magnetic radiation has reached the stage of vivid interaction or group activity, then he has attained full self-expression, and has included within his sphere of influence and control the mental plane. He is then considered a Master. He also is of the fourth order; he is the quaternary. The etheric plane is the centre of his life in the physical sense, just as we are told that the sun and the planets esoterically are considered as existing in etheric matter. As above, so below, is the occult law. Therefore, the relationship of the Son of the Father, and of the Mother, is to the Sun the same as man's relationship to the vehicle through which he functions. It is His mode of enterprise, His vehicle of expression; it is the form which His life animates for the specific purpose of

a. Gaining experience.
b. Making contact.
c. Developing full self-knowledge.
d. Achieving full mastery or control.
e. Attaining "manhood" cosmically. The cosmic Christ must measure up to the stature "of a full grown man," as it is expressed in the Christian Bible. 
f. Expanding His consciousness...

It is one that has been asked under different forms by men of every school of thought-by religious people who enquire:-"Why did God create at all? Why is existence forced upon one and all?"...God, the Universal Mind, Energy, Force, the Absolute, the Unknown,-these terms and many others are forced from the lips of those who, by means of the form side, seek the Dweller within the form, and cannot find Him as yet. This failure to find Him is due to the limitations of the physical brain, and to the lack of development in the mechanism whereby the spiritual may be known, and whereby He may, and eventually will, be contacted.The problem of duality is the problem of existence itself, and cannot be solved by the man who refuses to recognise the possibility of two occult facts:

1. That the entire solar system embodies the consciousness of an Entity, who originates on planes entirely without the solar ring-pass-not.
2. That manifestation is periodical and that the Law of Rebirth is the method that evolution takes in dealing with a man, a planetary Logos, and a solar Logos. Hence, the emphasis laid in the Proem of the Secret Doctrine on the three fundamentals,

a. The Boundless Immutable Principle and
b. The periodicity of the Universe.
c. The identity of all souls with the Oversoul...

This Entity, Whom we call the solar Logos, is in no sense the same as the personal God of the Christian, who is no more nor less than man himself, expanded into a being of awful power, and subject to the virtues and vices of man himself. The solar Logos is more than man, for He is the sumtotal of all the evolutions within the entire solar system, including the human, which is an evolution standing at a middle point in relation to the other evolutions.

Man stands midway between the two, and is at the point of balance; herein lies his problem. He does not partake wholly of the material side of evolution, nor is he wholly the expression of the third Logos, the Brahma aspect of the Deity, Who is an expression of pure energy or intelligence, motivating that tenuous something which we call substance. He is not wholly Spirit, the expression of the first Logos, the Mahadeva aspect, which is an expression of pure will or necessitous desire, impelling to manifestation. It is the fundamental motive itself or the great will to be. Man is a product of the union of the two; he is the meeting place of matter or active intelligent substance, and of Spirit or the basic will. He is the child born of their marriage or at-one-ment. He assumes objectivity in order to express that which is in each of the two opposites, plus the result of their merging in himself...

In terms of quality what have we? Active intelligence at one with will or power produces that "Son of necessity" (as H. P. B. expresses it) Who embodies intelligence, will or desire, and their united latent demonstration, love-wisdom.

In terms of Fire how might we express an analogous thought? The fire latent in matter-itself a product of an earlier manifestation of the same cosmic Identity, or the relatively perfected quality worked out by Him in a previous cosmic incarnation-is set in motion again by the desire of that same Identity to circle once more the wheel of rebirth. That "fire by friction" produces heat and radiation and calls forth a reaction from its opposite "electric fire" or spirit. Here we have the thought of the Ray striking through matter, for the action of electric fire is ever forward, as earlier suggested. The one Ray "electric fire" drops into matter. This is the systemic marriage of the Father and the Mother. The result is the blending of these two fires, and their united production of that expression of fire which we call "solar fire." Thus is produced the Son. Active Intelligence and Will are united and love-wisdom, when perfected through evolution, will be the outcome.

Electric fire or Spirit, united to fire by friction (heat) produces solar fire or light.

Hence, when the cosmic Entity takes form, there is added to the active intelligence which is the product of His earlier incarnation, a further quality, which is inherent and potential, that of love-wisdom. This is the ability to love that which is objective or the not-self, and ultimately to use with wisdom the form. Pure will is as yet an abstraction, and will only be brought into full development in another incarnation of the Logos. Mind or Intelligence is not an abstraction; it is something that IS. Neither is love-wisdom an abstraction. It is in process of development or bringing into manifestation, and is the aspect of the Son.

What is above stated is in no way new, but these thoughts on essential duality are gathered together, in order to convey to our minds the necessity of viewing these things from the standpoint of their place in the cosmic scheme, and not from the point of view of our own planetary evolution and of man himself. Humanity is that evolution through which the Son aspect is to express itself most perfectly in this cosmic incarnation. Man blends the pairs of opposites, and the three fires meet in him. He is the best expression of the manasic principle and might be considered, from one very interesting standpoint, the chef-d'oeuvre of Brahma.

He is the sheath for the life of God; he is the individualised consciousness of the Logos, manifesting through the seven divine Manasaputras, or Heavenly Men, in Whose bodies each unit of the human family finds place. He is the Vishnu aspect in process of development through the intelligence of Brahma, impelled by the will of Mahadeva. Therefore, in a peculiar sense man is very important, as he is the place of at-one-ment for all the three aspects; nevertheless, he is very unimportant for he is not the apex of the triangle, but simply the middle point...

The evolution of the Son, or the cosmic incarnation of the Christ, is of immense importance in the plans of the Being greater than the solar Logos, HE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID. The animating principles of allied constellations and systems watch the progress of the evolution of the Son with keenest attention.

Just as the planet called the earth is regarded as the turning point or the battle-ground between Spirit and matter, and is therefore, from that very consideration, of great importance, so our solar system holds an analogous place in the cosmic scheme. The cosmic man, the solar Arjuna, is wrestling for His individualised perfected self-consciousness, and for freedom and liberation from the form, and from the not-self. So man on this planet battles for similar ideals on his tiny scale; so battle in heaven Michael and His Angels, or the divine Heavenly Men, Whose problem is the same on the higher scale.

Duality, and the interplay between the two produces:

a. Objectivity, or the manifested Son or Sun.
b. Evolution itself.
c. The development of quality.
d. Time and space.

The questions we are now engaged in answering embody certain fundamental aspects of manifestation, viewed principally from the subjective or psychic angle...

Consciousness might be defined as the faculty of apprehension, and concerns primarily the relation of the Self to the not-self, of the Knower to the Known, and of the Thinker to that which is thought about. All these definitions involve the acceptance of the idea of duality, of that which is objective and of that which lies back of objectivity.

Consciousness expresses that which might be regarded as the middle point in manifestation. It does not involve entirely the pole of Spirit. It is produced by the union of the two poles, and the process of interplay and of adaptation that necessarily ensues...

The whole aim of progressive development is to bring the Son of the Father and the Mother, to a point of full realisation, of complete self-consciousness, and to full and active knowledge. This Son is objectively the solar system, inherently will or power, and subjectively He is love-wisdom. This latter quality is in process of development through the utilisation of active intelligence.

The three manifested Persons of the logoic Triad seek full development by means of each other. The will to be, of the Mahadeva aspect, seeks, with the aid of the intelligence of Brahma, to develop love-wisdom, or the Son aspect, the Vishnu aspect. In the microcosmic system, the reflection of the threefold Logos, the man is endeavoring through the three vehicles to attain the same development on his own plane. On higher planes the Heavenly Men (through atma-buddhi-manas) aim at a similar progression. These two, the Heavenly Men plus the units in Their bodies, which are composed of deva and human monads form, in their totality, the Grand Heavenly Man.

When man achieves, then the Heavenly Men likewise achieve; when They reach Their full growth and knowledge, and are self-conscious on all planes, then the Son achieves, and the solar system (His body of manifestation and experience) has served its purpose. The Son is liberated. Extend the idea of this threefold development of consciousness to the Logos in a still larger cycle (to that of the three solar systems of which this is the middle one) and we have repeated on cosmic levels in connection with the Logos, the process of the development of man in the three worlds...

If these stated aims are carefully considered, it will be seen how each has its place within the plan, and how evolution is but a term used to express the gradual development in time and space of the inherent capacity of a human being, of a Heavenly Man, and of the Grand Man of the Heavens. The place and position of one and all to each other must be borne in mind, for no one can develop without the other. What, therefore, have we?

a. The Son, the Grand Man of the Heavens. He manifests through the Sun and the seven sacred planets, each of whom embodies one of His seven principles, just as He in His totality embodies one of the principles of a greater cosmic Entity.

b. A Heavenly Man. He manifests through a planet, and embodies one of the principles of the Son, the Logos. He Himself is likewise developing through seven principles, which are the source of His essential unity with all other Heavenly Men. Cosmically considered, the Son is developing the principle of a greater cosmic Being, that principle which we call love-wisdom. That is the fundamental characteristic He has to develop during His life cycle. Each Heavenly Man, therefore, embodies predominantly a subsidiary principle of the fundamental one. In like manner He Himself has six subsidiary principles, as has the Son.

c. A Human Being, Man. He manifests on the physical plane through form, and has also seven principles; in each life cycle he works at their development. He likewise has His primary coloring, dependent upon the fundamental principle embodied by the Heavenly Man, Who is his originating source...

If we ask why ten schemes, and in effect ten planets (seven sacred and three concealed) it is because the seven sacred planets are eventually merged into the three, and finally the three are blended into the one. This can be traced along the line of analogy as we consider the seven Rays. These seven Rays, which in manifestation are diverse, are eventually synthesised. The minor four are blended, we are told, into the third major ray, and the three major rays are finally merged into the one synthetic ray, the Love-Wisdom Ray (the Dragon of Wisdom, the occult serpent swallowing its tail).

This has been pointed out by H. P. B. We have, therefore, the three crowning rays, but seven seen during the evolutionary process. In connection with the Heavenly Men, functioning through the planets, there are, therefore, three planets which might be considered as synthesising planets, and four which are blended eventually, until the three have absorbed the essence of the four; finally the one absorbs the essence of the three, and the work is completed. This process lies many millennia ahead, during the inevitable period of the gradual obscuration of our system...

A man contains within himself three major principles,-will, love-wisdom, active intelligence or adaptability-and their differentiation into the seven principles. These, making the eventual ten of perfected manifestation, are in process of vitalisation, but have not yet attained full expression. Only four principles in man are active, and he is in process of developing the fifth, or manasic principle...

Man finds his place within the group form. Egoic (soul) groups and the Heavenly Men are formed by the aggregate of human and of deva units...

A Heavenly Man contains within Himself that which corresponds to the cells within the vehicles of expression of a human being. The atoms or cells in His body are made up of the aggregate of the deva and human units who vibrate to His key note, and who respond to the measure of His life. All are held together and animated by His will to be, and all vibrate according to the point achieved by Him in evolution. From the cosmic standpoint a Heavenly Man can be seen as a sphere of wondrous life, which includes within its radius of influence the vibratory capacity of an entire planetary scheme. He vibrates to a certain measure, which can be estimated by the activity of the life pulsating at the centre of the sphere; the entire planetary scheme is tinctured by a certain color, is rotating to a fixed key which is the key of His life cycle within the still greater mahamanvantara or logoic cycle...

A Heavenly Man is distinguished by His activity on one or other of the planes which we call the Triadal, or Atma-Buddhi-Manas, in the same way as a man is distinguished by his activity on one of the planes in the three worlds, mental-astral-physical. Eventually a man is self-conscious on all three. Eventually a Heavenly Man is fully self-conscious on the higher three. Every forward movement or increased vitality in the aggregate of men in the three worlds, is paralleled by an analogous activity on the three higher planes. The action and the interaction between the life animating the groups or the Heavenly Men, and the life animating the atoms or men who form the units in groups is both mysterious and wonderful...

Man has for his primary coloring or principle that of the Heavenly Man in Whose body he is a unit. He has also the other two major principles (as has the Heavenly Man), and their differentiation into the seven as earlier said. The atom has for primary coloring or principle, that of the egoic ray of the human being for instance in whose body it finds place. This, of course, is in connection with the physical atom in a man's body. This coloring manifests as the vibration setting the measure of the major three spirillae and the minor seven.

Only four principles in the Heavenly Men are as yet manifesting to any extent, though One of Them is rather in advance of the others, and has the fifth principle vibrating adequately, while certain others are in process of perfecting the fourth. The Heavenly Man of our chain is vibrating somewhat to the fifth principle, or rather is in process of awakening it to life. His fourth vibration or principle in this fourth round or cycle, and on this fourth globe, is awakened, though not functioning as it will in the fifth round. Much of the trouble present in the planet at this time arises from the coming into activity of the higher or fifth vibration, which will be completed and transcended in the next or fifth cycle. The analogy, as in man and the atom, again holds good but not in exact detail...

A Solar Logos, the Grand Man of the Heavens, is equally spheroidal in shape. His ring-pass-not comprises the entire circumference of the solar system, and all that is included within the sphere of influence of the Sun. The Sun holds a position analogous to the nucleus of life at the centre of the atom. This sphere comprises within its periphery the seven planetary chains with the synthesising three, making the ten of logoic manifestation. The Sun is the physical body of the solar Logos, His body of manifestation, and His life sweeps cycling through the seven (planetary) schemes in the same sense as the life of a planetary Logos sweeps seven times around His scheme of seven chains. Each chain holds a position analogous to a globe in a planetary chain. Note the beauty of the correspondence, yet withal the lack of detailed analogy.

A solar Logos contains within Himself, as the atoms in His body of manifestation, all groups of every kind, from the involutionary group-soul to the egoic groups on the mental plane. He has (for the animating centres of His body) the seven major groups or the seven Heavenly Men, who ray forth Their influence to all parts of the logoic sphere, and who embody within Themselves all lesser lives, the lesser groups, human and deva units, cells, atoms and molecules.

Seen from cosmic levels, the sphere of the Logos can be visualised as a vibrating ball of fire of supernal glory, containing within its circle of influence, the planetary spheres likewise vibrating balls of fire. The Grand Man of the Heavens vibrates to a steadily increasing measure; the entire system is tinctured by a certain color,-the color of the life of the Logos, the One Divine Ray; and the system rotates to a certain measure, which is the key of the great kalpa or solar cycle, and revolves around its central solar pole.

The solar Logos is distinguished by His activity on all the planes of the solar system; He is the sumtotal of all manifestation, from the lowest and densest physical atom up to the most radiant and cosmic ethereal Dhyan Chohan. This sevenfold vibratory measure is the key of the lowest cosmic plane, and its rate of rhythm can be felt on the cosmic astral, with a faint response on the cosmic mental. Thus the life of the logoic existence on cosmic levels, may be seen paralleling the life of a man in the three worlds, the lowest of the systemic planes.

On His own planes the Logos likewise shows forth:

First. Rotary motion. His life as it cycles through a day of Brahma, can be seen spiralling around His greater wheel, the ten schemes of a solar system.

Second. Discriminatory capacity. His first act, as we know, was to discriminate or choose the matter he needed for manifestation. That choice was controlled by:

Cosmic Karma.
Vibratory capacity.
Responsive coloring or quality.
Numerical factors involved in cosmic mathematics.

He is the embodiment of cosmic manas, and through the use of this faculty He seeks-by means of animated form-to build into His cosmic causal (soul) body, a paralleling quality of love-wisdom.

Third. Ability to progress, to increase vibration, and to gain full self-consciousness on cosmic levels
.
-The solar Logos contains within Himself the three major principles or aspects, and their differentiation into seven principles. These make the ten of His ultimate perfection and are eventually synthesised into the one perfected principle of love-wisdom. This ultimate principle is His primary coloring. Each principle is embodied in one of the schemes, and is being worked out through one of the Heavenly Men. Only four principles are as yet manifested to any extent, for the evolution of the Logos parallels that of the Heavenly Men.

-The solar Logos is governed by the Law of Synthesis. He holds all in synthetic unity or homogeneity. His subjective life is governed by the Law of Attraction; His material form is governed by the Law of Economy. He is coming under another cosmic law as yet incomprehensible to men, which law is but revealed to the highest initiates.

-The solar Logos is in process of ascertaining His place within the greater system in which He holds a place analogous to that of a Heavenly Man in a solar system. He seeks first to find the secret of His own existence, and to achieve full Self-Consciousness; secondly to ascertain the position and place of His polar opposite; thirdly to merge and blend with that polar opposite. This is the cosmic marriage of the Logos.

- A solar Logos is distinguished by His responsiveness to outer stimulation. This concerns itself with:

Electrical stimulation or His response to electrical fohatic force emanating from other stellar centres, and controlling largely the action of our system and its movements in space in relation to other constellations.

Magnetic stimulation, acting upon His subjective Life, and emanating from certain cosmic centres hinted at in the Secret Doctrine. These find their source on cosmic buddhic levels. It is their united effect which induces steady development.

The solar Logos is distinguished:

1. By the spheroidicity of His manifesting existence. His solar ring-pass-not is definite and seen. This can only be demonstrated as yet by the endeavour to ascertain the extent of the subjective control, by the measure of the solar sphere of influence, or the magnetic attraction of the Sun to other lesser bodies which it holds in circular motion around itself.

2. By the activity of the life animating the ten schemes.

3. By the extent of the control exerted by the Logos at any given period.

4. By the ultimate synthesis of the seven schemes into three and thence into one. This covers the obscuration of the schemes and the unification of the seven principles which they embody.

5. By His subjection to the Law of His Being.

6. By His group relation.

7. By His unfoldment of Consciousness, the time factor being controlled by the measure of the unfoldment of all the conscious units in His body.

Here we have traced very briefly some of the analogies between the four factors earlier mentioned, and have in a cursory way answered the question. These points, if dwelt upon, will be found of real assistance in developing the mental appreciation of the student, and in increasing his apprehension of the beauty of the entire solar scheme...(A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, pp. 261-69)