Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) · 207 of 225 · tr. Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon

Chapter XXIII (part 9)

Further, it should be noted, as the possession of concepts implies the possession of language, so the possession of concepts and language (which are in reality two aspects of the same thing) implies the possession of self-consciousness.

All this means that there is a moment in the evolution of mind when the receptual intellect, capable of simple consciousness only, becomes almost or quite instantaneously a conceptual intellect in possession of language and self-consciousness.

Our intellect, then, today is made up of a very complex mixture of percepts, recepts and concepts.

The next chapter in the story is the accumulation of concepts.

This is a double process, each individual accumulates a larger and larger number while the individual concepts are becoming constantly more and more complex.

Is there to be any limit to this growth of concepts in number and complexity?

Whoever will seriously consider that question will see that there must be a limit.

No such process could go on to infinity.

We have seen that the expansion of the perceptual mind had a necessary limit: that its continued life led inevitably up to and into the receptual mind; p.

318 that the receptual mind by its own growth was inevitably led up to and into the conceptual mind.

A priori considerations make it certain that a corresponding outlet will be found for the conceptual mind.

But we do not need to depend upon abstract reasoning to demonstrate the necessary existence of the supra-conceptual mind, since it exists and can be studied with no more difficulty than other natural phenomena.

The supra-conceptual intellect, the elements of which instead of being concepts are intuitions, is already (in small numbers it is true) an established fact, and the form of consciousness that belongs to that intellect may be called and has been called—Cosmic Consciousness.

The basic fact in cosmic consciousness is implied in its name—that fact is consciousness of the cosmos—this is what is called in the East the "Brahmic Splendor," which is in Dante's phrase capable of trans-humanizing a man into a god.

Whitman, who has an immense deal to say about it, speaks of it in one place as "ineffable light—light rare, untellable, lighting the very light—beyond all signs, description, languages." This consciousness shows the cosmos to consist not of dead matter governed by unconscious, rigid, and unintending law; it shows it on the contrary as entirely immaterial, entirely spiritual and entirely alive; it shows that death is an absurdity, that everyone and everything has eternal life; it shows that the universe is God and that God is the Universe.

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A great deal of this is of course, from the point of view of self-consciousness, absurd; it is nevertheless undoubtedly true.

Now all this does not mean that when a man has cosmic consciousness he knows everything about the universe.

We all know that when at three years of age we acquired self-consciousness, we did not at once know all about ourselves.

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So neither does a man know all about the cosmos merely because he becomes conscious of it.

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If it has taken the race several thousand years to learn a smattering of the science of humanity since its acquisition of self-consciousness, so it may take it millions of years to acquire cosmic consciousness.

As on self-consciousness is based the human world as we see it with all its works and ways, so on cosmic consciousness is based the higher religions and the higher philosophies and what comes from them, and on it will be based, when it becomes more general, a new world of which it would be idle to try to speak today.

The philosophy of the birth of cosmic consciousness in the individual is very similar to that of the birth of self-consciousness.

Themes

◆Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

The text describes a hierarchical evolution of mind types (perceptual, receptual, conceptual, supra-conceptual) resembling an emanation chain.

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◆Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

The passage links the individual's acquisition of cosmic consciousness to the basis of the higher world and cosmos.

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◆Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The passage claims death is an absurdity and matter is spiritual, dissolving standard dualities of life/death and spirit/matter.

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◆Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The text notes that cosmic truths are 'absurd' from the point of view of self-consciousness, using contradiction to highlight higher reality.

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◆Pneumatic Electsoteriology

A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.

The supra-conceptual intellect is noted to exist 'in small numbers,' implying a spiritual elite.

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◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

The philosophy of cosmic consciousness is compared to the birth of self-consciousness, linking knowledge of the cosmos to self-awareness.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The text references Dante's phrase describing the state as capable of 'trans-humanizing a man into a god.'

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

[auto] Whitman's quote describes the experience as 'ineffable light... beyond all signs, description, languages,' aligning with negative theology.

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◇Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

[auto] The text references 'Brahmic Splendor' and Whitman's 'ineffable light' as characteristics of the supra-conceptual state.

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◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] The text describes the supra-conceptual intellect as relying on 'intuitions' rather than concepts, representing direct experiential knowledge of the cosmos.

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◇Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

[auto] The description of cosmic consciousness includes 'lighting the very light' within the individual's experience.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The text posits that cosmic consciousness resides 'in the individual' and forms the basis for a new world.

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◇Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

[auto] Cosmic consciousness reveals the universe as 'entirely spiritual and entirely alive' rather than dead matter.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The passage describes a state capable of 'trans-humanizing a man into a god' and identifies the individual consciousness with the cosmos.

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◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

[auto] The passage outlines an evolutionary progression of the mind from perceptual to receptual to conceptual and finally supra-conceptual.

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◇Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

[auto] The passage explicitly states that cosmic consciousness shows 'the universe is God and that God is the Universe,' affirming non-duality as a central theme.

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Related passages · 10 parallels

◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1b

“(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole. (3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal. (1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness beyond ordinary human understanding, with Passage A describing the transition to 'Cosmic Consciousness' and Passage B detailing the intuitive, spiritual perceptions of angelic minds and the potential for human souls to achieve similar states through contemplation.

◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter IIIb

“Now in the former treatises the course of the argument, as it came down from the highest to the lowest categories, embraced an ever-widening number of conceptions which increased at each stage of the descent, but in the present treatise it…”

Both passages discuss the transcendence of human thought and language in the pursuit of divine or ultimate reality. They describe a process where the mind moves beyond conceptual understanding to a state of unity or direct experience, although they use different terminology and frameworks.

◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter Vc

“begins with the notion of Goodness (which he holds to be possessed by all things) and proceeds thence to Existence (which is not possessed by things that are either destroyed or yet unmade), and thence to Wisdom (which is not possessed eith…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness and the transcending of ordinary intellectual faculties. Passage A describes the progression from perceptual to conceptual to supra-conceptual (cosmic) consciousness, while Passage B outlines a similar journey from sensory perception to thought to a state where the distinction between subject and object disappears, culminating in a direct experience of the divine.

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 2)

“That Will, by conceiving of its own self, thereby creates a mirror within its own self. The same takes place in the microcosm of man. By conceiving of his own self man creates a mirror in which he " feels " his own self, and thereby he be…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness, from self-consciousness to a higher, more encompassing form of awareness. Passage A describes the transition from conceptual to supra-conceptual intellect, leading to cosmic consciousness, while Passage B explains the divine self-consciousness and the process of divine revelation, which parallels the idea of higher consciousness.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 275 (part 1)

“Section 9 9. Clearly a Being of this nature is not the primal existent; there must exist that which transcends it, that Being [the Absolute], to which all our discussion has been leading. In the first place, Plurality is later than Unity.…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness and the transition to a higher state of awareness. Passage A describes the progression from conceptual to supra-conceptual intellect, leading to cosmic consciousness, while Passage B discusses the progression from contemplation in nature to contemplation in the Intellectual-Principle, leading to a unity of Knower and Known.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 280 (part 2)

“But intellection does not mean self-ownership; it means turning the gaze towards the Primal: now the act of intellection is itself the Primal Act, and there is therefore no place for any earlier one. The Being projecting this Act transcend…”

Both passages discuss the nature of higher consciousness and its relationship to the ultimate reality. Passage A from Plotinus explores the concept of The Good and the transcendence of intellection, while Passage B discusses cosmic consciousness and its implications for understanding the universe. Both texts emphasize the limitations of ordinary consciousness and the existence of a higher, more encompassing state of awareness.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 283

“Section 1 1. In the Intellectual Kosmos dwells Authentic Essence, with the Intellectual-Principle [Divine Mind] as the noblest of its content, but containing also souls, since every soul in this lower sphere has come thence: that is the wor…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness and intellect, with Passage A describing the progression from perceptual to conceptual to supra-conceptual (cosmic) consciousness, and Passage B discussing the relationship between intellection, self-consciousness, and the Primal Good. Both explore the limits and nature of higher states of awareness.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 343 (part 1)

“Section 23 23. A first principle is that the knowing of sensible objects is an act of the soul, or of the living conjoint, becoming aware of the quality of certain corporeal entities, and appropriating the ideas present in them. This appr…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness and the transition from one level of awareness to another. Passage A describes the progression from perceptual to conceptual to cosmic consciousness, while Passage B explores the soul's ability to perceive and understand external objects through an intermediary, suggesting a higher level of awareness.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 424

“Section 8 8. This is the explanation of Plato's Triplicity, in the passage where he names as the Primals the Beings gathered about the King of All, and establishes a Secondary containing the Secondaries, and a Third containing the Tertiarie…”

Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness and the existence of a higher, more encompassing state of awareness. Passage A describes the transition from conceptual to supra-conceptual intellect, leading to cosmic consciousness, while Passage B discusses the Intellectual-Principle and the archetypal world, which is a higher, immortal sphere of divine mind and being.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 710 (part 1)

“Section 6 6. In what sense, then, do we assert this Unity, and how is it to be adjusted to our mental processes? Its oneness must not be entitled to that of monad and point: for these the mind abstracts extension and numerical quantity an…”

Both passages explore the nature of ultimate reality and consciousness. Passage A discusses the concept of The One, an ultimate unity that is self-sufficient and transcendent, while Passage B describes cosmic consciousness, a state of awareness that perceives the universe as a spiritual and alive entity. Both texts delve into the idea of a higher, transcendent state beyond ordinary human understanding.