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In the case where these centers, through which the inflowing energy from these sources of supply flow, are quiescent, unawakened or only functioning partially or too slowly (as far as their vibratory rhythm is concerned), then you will have a condition of blocking. This will produce congestion in the Etheric vehicle, and consequent and subsequent difficulties in the functioning of the physical body. One of the most common of these is congestion of the lungs which—though it may be exoterically traced to certain and definite physical causes—is in reality those causes, plus an inner condition of Etheric congestion. It is the bringing together of the outer apparent cause and the apparent inner true cause which is responsible for the outbreak of the trouble. When these two conditions are brought into conjunction with each other, and you have a physical handicap and an Etheric situation which is undesirable, then you will have disease, illness, or weakness of some kind. Every outer congestion can always be traced to these two causes—an inner and an outer cause. In these cases, the outer cause is not an effect of the individual inner cause, which is interesting. You will note, therefore, that all ills are not purely subjective or psychological in origin as far as an individual is concerned, but are sometimes both exoteric and esoteric. Hence the complication of the problem.
The above statement opens up the whole question of the activity of the seven centers of force in the Etheric body. These can be regarded as dormant or unawakened, awakening but only as yet sluggishly alive, or functioning normally, which means that some of the energies which produce the form of the center are moving rhythmically, and are therefore receptive to inflow, while others are still entirely inactive and unresponsive. Other centers will be fully active, and therefore predominantly attractive to any inflowing forces; still others will be only partially so. For the majority of people, the centers below the diaphragm are more active than those above the diaphragm (I am referring here to the seven major centers and not to the twenty-one minor centers). For aspirants, centers below the diaphragm are active and the heart and Throat centers are slowly coming into activity, while in the case of disciples, the Ajna center, plus those centers below it in the body, are rapidly awakening. In the initiate, the Head center is coming into vibrant activity, thus swinging all the centers into real and coordinated rhythm. Each patient or human being, being on some Ray, responds differently; the time factor also differs; the pattern of the unfoldment varies, and the response to the inflowing forces is slightly differentiated.
Congestion
Much real difficulty can be traced to congestion or to the lack of the free play of the forces. In this connection it might be pointed out that the Etheric body is a mechanism for intake and for outlet. There is consequently a curious and intimate relation between it and such organs as the lungs, the stomach, and the kidneys. There is no symbol so relatively accurate to the whole creative process as the human frame.
The symbology here present, when correctly understood, will tend to show that there is a deep underlying esoteric relation between:
Congestion in the Etheric body, producing much distress in the physical body, can exist therefore, at the point of intake from the Astral body or from the Astral plane (Note the phrasing and the difference.) or at the point of outlet, in relation to the center to which the particular type of Etheric force most easily flows and through which it most easily passes. Where there is no free play between the Etheric body and the Astral body, you will have trouble. Where there is no free play between the Etheric body and the physical body, involving also the nerve ganglia and the endocrine system, you will also have trouble. The close relation between the seven major centers and the seven major glands of the physical system must never be forgotten. The two systems form one close interlocking directorate, with the glands and their functions determined by the condition of the Etheric centers. These, in their turn, are conditioned by the point in evolution and gained experience of the incarnate Soul, by the specific polarisation of the Soul in incarnation, and by the Rays (personality and Soul) of the man. Forget not, that the five aspects of man (as he functions in the three worlds) are determined by certain Ray forces; you have the Ray of the Soul, the Ray of the Personality, and the Rays of the Mental, the Astral and the Physical bodies.
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