What Is the Material Universe?
The Material Universe Includes...
The material universe is considered the temporary, ever-changing world of matter — which includes causal, subtle astral, and gross physical planes of existence. There’s a consensus amongst the mainstream scientific community that the material universe includes all energy, matter, information, and time — including billions of galaxies.
According to the Law of One (13:7), each galaxy is created by a logos – the creative principle also known as love. Several esoteric resources, including the Law of One, suggest that each logos creates astrological archetypes, sacred geometric patterns, natural laws, catalysts, and lessons to be learned for each galaxy or planetary system — all within the confines of universal laws. For example, it has also been scientifically proven that our current material universe is governed by at least 4 fundamental forces of nature: electromagnetism, gravity (metaphorically speaking the pressing towards light/love per Law of One, 29:15-19), weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force.
Yes fellow souls, because each logos creates galaxies using astrological archetypes, like the seven rays (attributes of Source and blueprints for soul evolution), there is value in studying tarot or astrology. Our research suggests using them as tools to better understand our relationship with the material universe as opposed to using them for prediction purposes.
The Nature of the Material Universe
According to Vedic teachings, purusha and prakriti embody the full spectrum of material existence. Purusha represents consciousness. Prakriti or intelligent energy is the primordial form of Source’s creative energy, which is classified into two forms: para prakriti (spiritual energy, love/light) and apara prakriti (material energy, light/love, matter). Apara prakriti is governed by three qualities or gunas. It’s the interplay of these gunas that is said to create the cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution — binding purusha to the cycle of rebirth through the illusionary force of maya.
Maya (Bhagavad Gita, 7:13-14) is considered the cosmic illusionary force that veils Source. Keep in mind that when we refer to this illusionary force, it doesn’t mean that the material universe doesn’t exist at all. It simply means that the material universe is not what it appears to be.
The Bhagavad Gita identifies mahamaya as Source’s illusory power that creates the illusion of maya to bind souls to material existence (7:14, 14:5-15). The three gunas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) are the operational qualities or constituent principles of maya. Everything within the material universe — from physical elements to thoughts — is considered a permutation of these three forces of material nature. Through the interplay of these fundamental forces, material energy manifests as the material universe. Ergo, everything in the material universe is a manifestation of the gunas in their various forms.
Three Gunas
The three gunas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) are the operational qualities or constituent principles of maya. Sattva is considered the nature of goodness and selflessness. Could sattva be considered higher vibrational energy (Bhagavad Gita, 14:18) — energy that’s loving, calming, and harmonious? Rajas is considered the nature of passion, desires, and pain. Could rajas be considered neutral vibrational energy? Tamas is considered the nature of ignorance and stagnation. Could tamas be equivalent to lower vibrational energy — energy that’s heavy, stagnant, fearful, or judgmental?
Ernest Wood (1883 – 1965, Yogi, Sanskrit Scholar, and Theosophist) translates the three gunas into natural energy (rajas), natural laws (sattva), and matter (tamas).
On gross physical planes, which includes our current existence, the gunas are fully expressed and often dominated by the grossest qualities: tamas (inertia, decay) and rajas (passion, restless activity). It’s said that souls are most intensely bound by maya through the five senses.
On subtle astral planes, the gunas are said to exist in a more refined state. These planes are predominantly influenced by sattva (light, knowledge, peace) and rajas (passion, restless activity), allowing for higher forms of perception and subtle pleasures. The binding force on subtle astral planes is considered less crude but still based on attachment to subtle forms and experiences.
On causal planes, the gunas are said to exist in their most undifferentiated and extremely subtle state — closest to pure consciousness, yet still material in nature. Souls on causal planes are bound by the seed-form of karma (the potential for desire), which is considered the final veil of maya before true liberation (moksha).
Platonic Solids
The Shift of the Ages (C3) suggests that there is a correlation between ether (aether, intelligent energy, prakriti), the 5 platonic solids (sacred geometry), and the 5 gross elements. Platonic solids represent the three-dimensional geometric patterns of vibrations, made notable by Plato and Euclid. They’re said to form the structure of ether and govern how ether organizes itself to create what we perceive as light, gravity, and matter.
No matter where we are in the material universe, even in vacuum space, it’s thought that ether will always be pulsating in these geometric patterns. These crystalline geometric patterns are also considered the blueprints and archetypes that give form to the 5 elements. The platonic solids are the tetrahedron or pyramid (fire), hexahedron or cube (earth), octahedron (air), dodecahedron (universe or ether), and icosahedron (water).
The Divine Cosmos (4:41) suggests that waves/particles like photons and atoms are harmonic ether vortexes in the shape of the platonic solids. For example, Buckminster Fuller (Architect, Inventor, 1895 – 1983) discovered that the photon was composed of two tetrahedrons. What’s more, each of the platonic solids are said to fit perfectly inside of a sphere (The Divine Cosmos, C3), perhaps symbolizing the symmetry and unity of creation.