Creation itself is an expansion of our Creator's thought and self-awareness. Evolution of soul entities is another aspect of this expansion. Through the process of Evolution, individual souls, each a ‘Spark’ of the Creator's Consciousness, embark on a journey of exploration and growth, ultimately returning to unity with the Creator, endowed with the fullness of wisdom and experience.

Through its evolutionary descent into the worlds of materiality the Soul first develops a growing of awareness of self as an individual entity. The ego-self gradually becomes more assertive, gaining strength and widening its field of exploration. As it descends into the worlds of density and matter, self-awareness becomes ego-centeredness, developing a desire for personal-gain and superiority, often acquired through aggression, and sometimes, even violence. When all the possibilities of its separate ego-development have been fully explored, the soul can then begin its return journey back up through higher planes to unity, learning the gentler arts of co-operation and sharing with others. The eventual culmination will be its eventual re-unification with the Unity of the Creator as an evolved, compassionate and fully ‘aware’ soul.

And so it is that we set out on the great Cycle of Evolution. As the soul or spirit descends into worlds of increasing density and matter, we develop this correspondingly increased sense of individuality.

"During the descent of Spirit, often called the downward arc, there is not only a tendency towards greater materiality, the Spirit in-volving itself in Matter in order to learn to receive impressions through it, but there is also a tendency towards differentiation, the stream of Divine Life dividing and sub-dividing itself into an ever-increasing number of streamlets and units of consciousness." ‘The Solar System’ by Arthur E. Powell - Theosophical Publishing House London Ltd.

By descending into progressively denser and denser matter, the soul experiences an increasing detachment and loss of contact with the Higher Spheres. At the same time the soul is experiencing a sense of developing separation from other souls and a corresponding increase in the awareness of self, which in turn leads to ego-centeredness. This increasing sensation of self is reinforced by the need to satisfy the requirements of a physical body in a world of dense matter, where food and protection from the elements are essential to survival. Thus the soul-plus-body combination is forced to focus on self-preservation, which can easily become competitive and exploitive in relationships with others pursuing similar objectives.

This potent combination of the effects of physical matter, ego-centeredness and bodily demands, first creates, then enhances to an extreme degree, the conflict between Ego and Unity: between Self and the Flow of Creation. This inherent conflict in turn provides the many complex opportunities for the exercise of our Creator's gift of free choice (or free will) which allows the evolving soul to explore paths and directions of evolution alternative to the Highest Wisdom, and therefore to experience and learn from their effects.

Indeed we are forced to confront, and to learn from the results of all our actions; this ‘Law’ is expressed in the Occult Wisdom and Oriental philosophies as the ‘Law of Karma’: namely that we must experience, fully comprehend and assimilate the effects of all our actions, both good and bad, before we can continue on to our next lesson or experience. Every thought, every action has its effect, which we must ultimately experience and learn from. Similarly everything that happens to us has its cause, and that cause can ultimately be seen to originate from our own past actions, or thought. Cause and effect. Everything existing now is the result of past actions, good or bad; and the future will be the result of present actions.

By experiencing the effects of its actions, the evolving soul learns to discriminate between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in the sense of those actions pursuing, and those actions opposing the path of Highest Wisdom; those actions promoting self and ego versus those actions reflecting the greatest universal collective good; those actions which are positive and creative, versus those actions which are negative and anti-creative, or destructive.

The soul thus gains a greater depth of wisdom than would otherwise be obtained by following the ‘straight and narrow path’. It is only through a knowledge of ‘bad’, both its causes and its effects, that the evolving soul can comprehend ‘good’ in the full and genuine knowing which comes of physical and emotional experience. For learning to avoid "evil" does not come without suffering its results; indeed experiencing the ill-effects of inappropriate actions is the essential key to learning, and thus an important element of evolution.

The concentration by the ego on self-motivation and self-interest, which is the dominant feature of the downward part of the evolutionary arc, leads inevitably to competitive mutual conflict, as each ego-individual tries to profit from and ‘get the better of’ others. This explains why political and social relationships on Earth have tended to dominate human thought and group activity. It also explains why we have thus far failed so abysmally to live at peace with one another. The simple rule of correct political behavior, namely: that we do nothing which is harmful to others, is accepted on almost all other more developed worlds.

This self-centered concentration on developing an individuality at the expense of others has led to most of the problems experienced by Humanity throughout Earth's history. And it has also caused many souls to ‘fall’ even further. Through negative deeds and thoughts manifested in various forms of oppression, murder, torture and perversion, these souls ultimately find themselves enmeshed in the darker, denser Astral worlds of what we call the ‘Underworld’ or ‘Hell’ when they exit the Earth plane.

In addition, some particularly strong-willed ‘rebel’ souls, or those who have not developed an emotional capability, have created within our Galaxy groups of planetary worlds totally separated from the Evolutionary Plan of the Creator. These are indeed Dark Worlds and from where they have sought, through conquest and galactic wars, to gain power and advancement throughout the Galaxy, using enslavement and perversion of those weaker than themselves.

These ‘dark’ and ‘negative’ souls, collectively known in the occult world as the ‘Forces of Darkness’, have in the distant past been partially successful in taking over Planet Earth at various times. Elements of these Dark Forces have subsequently remained in the background of our world, constantly seeking to become the power behind various oppressive regimes and self-willed leaders; promoting wars, conflict and oppression. Fortunately however their influence is presently being cleansed from Earth by the Spiritual Hierarchy in time for our Planet's upcoming Ascension in the new Millennium. In fact, the Forces of Darkness are having their powers curtailed throughout our Galaxy in preparation for the approaching Cycle of the great Galactic-wide Ascension which coincides with our own.

Within our Galaxy, these Dark Forces have generally been physically held in check by the stronger and more numerous Intergalactic Forces of Light. This has not been without drama however, and there have in the past been some major interstellar battles in our Galaxy between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Darkness. Ultimately however, the Forces of Light must and always do triumph, for the positive upward path of love and awareness of others has to be the final destiny of all evolutionary Creation.

Even these rebellious souls, having 'fallen' into worlds of darkness, are also learning from their experience of evil. Eventually they have to tire of the constant competitive conflict; they finally feel moved to start looking upwards towards the Realms of Light for salvation. When they do genuinely begin to seek the Light, they are always readily assisted to move up to the higher planes by their Spiritual Guides.

And so these ‘errant’ souls will eventually rediscover for themselves, the hard way, the true direction of evolution. They will be returning to the Path of Wisdom, not only much the wiser, but indeed much stronger souls than many of us, with a much deeper depth of understanding between 'right' and 'wrong'. Thus even the most extreme expressions of ‘evil’ can contribute to the knowledge, learning and experience which forms the very essence of evolution.

As we experience Earth's wars and conflicts in all their many manifestations, between nations and ethnic or religious groups across the world, in politics and commerce at national or community level, and in our own families or within ourselves, we eventually come to a true understanding of the nature and fruitlessness of self-motivated aggression, of actions based purely on individual self-interest exercised at the expense of others.

In the growth of this realization, be it individually or collectively, we on Earth are at last coming to the end of the long downward Arc of Evolution, the phase of competitive individuality.

This is the critical turning point, the point of balance, where downward movement into separateness and away from the Creator makes a turn, becoming the upward path to Unity with all other forms of life. From this point we begin to see the advantages of collaboration and cooperation, of mutual respect and mutual assistance.

This point of turn is, not surprisingly, the point of major conflict within each soul and also collectively in societies and nations. At this critical time on Earth - and this is why many of us have chosen to be here at this time - the choices inherent in our world of duality are magnified: Self versus Unity, and Spirit versus Matter. Here too the Forces of Darkness, seeing the way we are now going, are trying desperately hard to keep a ‘last-ditch’ control on Earth, redoubling their efforts to deflect us from our return path to Unity.

"This is the great battle of the Universe, the tremendous conflict between Spirit and Matter. In this part of the Field is the point of balance. The Spirit, coming into innumerable relations with Matter, is at first over-powered; then comes the point of balance, when neither has the advantage over the other. Then slowly the Spirit begins to triumph over Matter, so that, at the end of this stage, Spirit is the master of Matter, and is ready for the ascent."‘The Solar System’ - Arthur E. Powell - Theosophical Publishing House London Ltd.

We now have to make a shift of consciousness away from the perception of self as an individual self-contained unit responsible only to itself. We need to develop a perception of self as a component of a wider grouping: harmonizing within the family and community, collaborating rather than competing in the productive service of our ‘work’, respecting all of human life and ultimately all of Creation. We must learn to transmute our self-interest into care and concern for others, working together cooperatively with our fellow humans as well as the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, not seeking to take advantage of another for one's own benefit.

This ‘return to unity’ does not imply that the individual becomes ‘a cog in a wheel’, but rather a wise, experienced, compassionate, thinking, contributing component of a wider, ultimately universal grouping. Though we are joining, not separating, unifying not compartmentalizing, each Soul remains nevertheless forever throughout Unified Creation as still an ‘individual consciousness’, each enriched with its own personal accumulation of experience and wisdom.

On the returning upward Arc of Evolution, when the soul returns to its Source, it is now endowed with a fully developed consciousness and awareness of life in all its myriad aspects. Above all, we have learnt the understanding of both ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ which allows us to make informed decisions in accordance with the true direction of evolution. Although we are returning to Unity, each of us is now part of that Unity as a fully individualized consciousness.

"During the upward arc, when differentiation has been finally accomplished by the division of the Divine Life into separate human entities, the tendency is towards unity, as well as towards greater spirituality. In this stage the Spirit, having learnt perfectly how to receive impressions through matter, and how to express itself through it, and having awakened its dormant powers, learns to use these powers rightly in the service of the Logos."[‘The Solar System’ - Arthur E. Powell - Theosophical Publishing House London Ltd.]

Our Creator’s Thought Force that is continually going forth as a ‘River of Thought’ in the creation and sustenance of the Universe, also has the inherent magnetic Light-force qualities which we know of as Love. Love is an energy of cohesive and magnetic force of attraction, being the cohesive Light-force behind all manifested matter as well as being the magnetic force drawing all of Creation back into the center of His Unity. When this Force of Love is transmuted down through the life experience of individuals, it finds expression at lower levels as the feelings of emotion. Emotion can either manifest itself as a positive force, or take an opposite form as a negative force: love and hate, attraction and repulsion.

It is this positive-negative emotional experience which provides the strongest impetus for our evolution and learning. Through our feelings and emotions, we experience the pain of wrongdoing, and the joy of helping others and contributing to the flow. Likewise it is through our emotions that we take pride in our personal achievements, yet at the same time experience a continuous longing for unity, be it unity with a loved one, with a community in shared activities, or the ultimate Unity with the Source of Creation.

It is through the emotions that we are ever eager to move forward, and as a result we also experience and learn from the joys and the sorrows of our actions. It is through the emotions that we feel sympathy with others, gained through our own experiences of pain and distress. We become more sensitive and aware within ourselves; we also experience the kindness as well as the thoughtlessness of others. It is through the emotions, as well as the intellect, that we feel anger at perceived injustice, or approval of right conduct, and thus we learn how to behave more correctly towards others.

While the development of individuality is a necessary part of the process of evolution as we are currently experiencing it, we may also wish to remind ourselves from time to time that fundamentally we are all a part of, and at one with all of Creation. This great truth is something we can easily forget, enmeshed as we are in a world of individuality and separateness. But the recollection of our true underlying unity with all of Creation can give comfort in times of stress, providing a sense of context and reality as well as reassurance and guidance.

We are all inter-linked, both through a shared origin, and through the Creator’s continuous River of Creative Thought. We are linked, not only as humans with humans, but with every particle, rock, plant, animal and insect. And we are all intimately linked with our Creator, for we are a part of His Life-substance, and through us He is always in touch with our every experience. We are ourselves an extension of our Creator, experiencing and learning together with Him on our long journey of evolution.

"Know that you are not - and never have been separate from your Source. You truly have never been separate from each other. You have never really been separate from all of the brothers and sisters you have on countless planets throughout your galaxies. You have never been separate from any creature of your planet. Not separate from your Sun and your Moon; not separate from any leaf, or blade of grass, or flower that blossoms in your garden. You have forgotten, that is all, and in your pain and in your judgment of who you are, you have closed down. You have forgotten that who you are is God/Goddess smelling the rose of the vibrancy and excitement of this dimension of reality."The Master P'TAAH of The Pleiades, channeled by Jani King, in The P'taah Tapes: An Act of Faith - Triad Publishers Pty Ltd, Cairns, Queensland, Australia – 1991

Book Of Life: Chapter One - CREATION here!