ROBERT J.R. GRAHAM: 3rd Density

In the scale of densities this corresponds to living beings that have a degree of individual consciousness and corresponding free will, at least in potential. This implies that a proper being of 3rd density is a moral entity with attendant responsibilities. While the animal does primarily according to the typical behavior of the species, the 3rd density entity is supposed to have reflexive self-awareness and free will and to be thus accountable in terms of karma and soul evolution.

While the lessons of the 2nd density have to do with developing a being that has the beginnings of individual character and individual intelligence as opposed to behavior dictated by species, the lessons of the third density take these further and make the development of a permanent individuated soul possible. To provide catalyst for this direction of development, the human form is physically weaker and less specifically adapted than late 2nd density forms. Also, verbal communication and the need to learn a language are first found in third density. Animals are typically more in tune with their environment and have clearer, if also more specialized intra-species communication. According to the C’s, higher animals live in a sort of telepathically functioning species consciousness. If such exists between humans, it is weaker and less reliable, thus isolating individuals from each other. On the other hand, the relative physical vulnerability of the human form makes cooperation more necessary than with animals in general. This creates an evolutionary setting for developing individual intelligence.

The development of individual thinking and distinct personality while functioning in a human society then works as catalyst for developing an individuated soul. This essentially involves a free will choice between serving the self and serving others, which is the quintessential soul evolution choice.

This is however the province of esoteric work and is not an automatic effect of the mere fact of being a third density being.

Gurdjieff refers to man is a ‘three-brained being’ as opposed to a ‘two brained being,’ with which term he designates higher animals. The term refers to man having three centers, i.e. moving, feeling and thinking, while the higher animals have only moving and feeling centers. Thus for Gurdjieff the differentiating factor is in the development of thinking faculties.

Steiner looks at the question slightly differently. For Steiner, animals have a physical, etheric and astral body and man has in addition to these an ‘I’. While higher animals appear to have much the same basic emotions as humans, the human form is differentiated by more developed self-awareness or self-reflection. The I is however more than the psychological mechanism of self-observation or meta-cognition. For Steiner this is a reincarnating entity. The 4th Way on the other hand sees such an I only as a possibility to be realized via esoteric work. Self-awareness in the psychological sense is useful but does not in itself make a permanent I.

The issue of the third density is further complicated by the concept of the Adamic and Preadamic man, also known as the organic portal. According to Mouravieff and Cassiopaea, man always has the three lower centers of moving, feeling and thinking but may or may not have the potential for the seating of an individuated soul into the ‘higher centers.’ The Preadamic man is, as it were, the animal equipped with human body and intellect. As such, the Preadamic man is a chain in the ladder of soul evolution from the species soul pools of the second density into the individuation of the third. We could say that the place of soul in the Preadamic man is occupied by a species or ethnic collective soul. We could also say that the Preadamic man mimics the soul functions of individually souled man by sort of absorbing and reflecting higher center energies received from such. The difference is not however obvious since psychologically both kinds of man are much the same, the difference being only in the experience of the spiritual or transcendent. The difference is not necessarily in psychic sensitivity since such senses exist also in the second density and can be stronger and more reliable than in the third.

English: Basic emotions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a general rule, the emotional makeup of one becomes more conscious along the journey through the 3rd density. The basic patterns of pain, pleasure, instinctive like and dislike, territoriality, stress reactions, bonding to mate or pack, sense of hierarchy, primitive grief and such, carried over from late second density continue to exist. These are largely automatic and get their basic pattern from imprinting. These may however be less hard wired and more amenable to shaping by the person self than in the animal form. The presence of emotions should not be confused with soul development. On the other hand, as Mouravieff teaches, the more refined or ‘intelligent’ emotions, such as altruistic love, respect of free will, sense of holiness or mystery, drive for seeking the spiritual, sense of personal integrity and the like may bridge between the lower and the higher. We could say that these can be attributes of the individuated soul being formed. On the other hand, it seems that an individuated soul may also be formed on the basis of a pervasive need to control, which would correspond to the STS polarization. In either case, the entity chooses which emotions to develop and which not to express.

The notion of the two types of man simply offers a more detailed schematic for the learning of the lessons of individuation. Only towards the latter part of these lessons does the choice in individual free will between the polarities of STO and STS become relevant. This choice, when carried through to sufficient purity and consistency prepares man for the next density. Just as we see that basic emotions and social organization are developed along the range of higher animal life forms, we could say that the basics of a spiritually conscious, unconditioned free will are developed during the later part of the third density.

See Organic Portal, 2nd Density

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