The Hierarchies: Nine Classes of Angelic Beings in Three Groups Man as the Tenth (becoming) Hierachy



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Bhagavad Gita, where a sentence throws a very significant light on the connection between human life and the hierarchies. It is the following: (8th Chap. beginning with 23rd verse) ‘I will explain unto thee, oh man seeking for truth’ (it is thus generally translated) ‘under what circumstances those who know the Eternal leave the earth through the gate of death, to be later reborn or not. I will tell thee: Behold the fire, behold the day, behold the time of the waning moon, behold the half year when the sun is high — those who die at that time, who die in fire, in the day, in the time of the waxing moon, those enter through the gates of death into Brahma, but those who the in the sign of the smoke, in the night, when the moon is waning, in the half year when the sun stands low, these when they leave the world and pass through the gates of death enter only into the light of the moon, and return again to the world.’ Here you have, my dear Anthroposophical friends, a sentence from the Bhagavad Gita, in which it says that the condition of man's progress and of his reincarnation depends on whether he dies in the sign of the light, by day, with the waxing moon, during the half year when the sun stands high, or whether he dies in the sign of the smoke, by night, when the moon wanes and when the sun is low. It is said that this refers to the material sun. Of those who die in the sign of the fire by day, with the moon waxing, and during that half of the year when the sun is high, it is said that they do not need to return. Those who die in the sign of the smoke, by night, with the moon waning, and when the sun is low, must return into the world. This sentence out of the divine song of the East presents the greatest difficulty to all those who want to explain it within the limits of exoteric life. It can be explained only when it is illuminated by the light of spiritual knowledge, by the light in which it was received and written, the light which streams out of the Mystery schools, which can be increased. which has known its juvenescence through Christianity and which shows us how to find the link which binds the names Moon to Angels, Mercury to Archangels, Venus to the Archai and so on. With its help we shall find the key to such sentences as the one we gave as an example. Our course of studies will start from the explanation of this sentence in the Bhagavad Gita, a thing which is impossible in exoteric life; and after we have found the key to it, we shall pass on to further explanations of the spiritual hierarchies.”

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, Śrīmadbhagavadgītā, Sanskrit pronunciation: [ˈbʱəɡəʋəd̪ ɡiːˈt̪aː]), The Song of the Bhagavan, often referred to as simply the Gita, is a 700-verse scripture that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is a sacred text of the Hindus, and any student of Spirituality.





Bronze chariot, depicting discourse of Krishna and Arjuna in Kurukshetra

The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide Lord Krishna. Facing the duty to kill his relatives, Arjuna is "exhorted by his charioteer, Kṛiṣhṇa, among others, to stop hesitating and fulfill his Kṣatriya (warrior) duty as a warrior and kill." In this appeal to ksatriyadharma (heroism) is "a dialogue [...] between diverging attitudes concerning and methods toward the attainment of liberation (moksha).



The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis of the Brahmanic concepts of Dharma, theistic bhakti, the yogic ideals of liberation through jnana, and Samkhya philosophy.



An ancient manuscript illustration of the battle of Kurukshetra, fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, recorded in the Mahabharata.

Numerous commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad Gita with widely differing views on the essentials. Vedanta commentators read varying relations between “Self” and Brahman in the text:

Advaita Vedanta sees the non-dualism of Atman and Brahman as its essence, whereas Bhedabheda and Vishishtadvaita see Atman and Brahman as both different and non-different, and Dvaita sees them as different. The setting of the Gita in a battlefield has been interpreted as an allegory for the ethical and moral struggles of the human life.

The Bhagavad Gita's call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the Indian independence movement including Mohandas Karamchand (Mahamatma) Gandhi, who referred to the Gita as his "spiritual dictionary."






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