by The Manifestations of the Mind on the Three Planes
We have previously discussed the depth point in detail, but we will revisit it briefly. Understanding its nature at a sufficiently advanced level is essential for progressing with the mental practice of the Sixth Step.
The depth point represents the core of our being, a dimensionless space that holds the pure and untainted meaning of the individual self. Through the meditation that introduces us to the perception of an object’s form from within, we see ourselves as a spatiotemporal expression of the essence from which we originate, marking the first step toward integrating being with existence.
As we continue our mental training through the Fifth Step, we begin to experience the personal depth point. This nucleus of awareness, described by Bardon as “the centre of gravity of the human body,” is located midway between the epigastrium and the celiac or solar plexus. From this point, a process of transmutation begins, transforming our temporary individual state into an expanded experience that leads us toward the more subtle states of being.
From the soul practices of the Fourth Step, we learned that the physical and astral bodies are divided into four regions, with each region corresponding to one of the four Elements. In the physical body, these Elements align with four basic anatomical regions: Fire governs the head; Air governs the chest; Water governs the internal organs of the abdominal area; and Earth governs the lower limbs up to the sacrum, including the genitals. 1
The astral body carries feelings and emotions, representing the internal perceptions communicated by our sense organs. Bardon outlines key characteristics of the emotional patterns associated with the four Elements, using the four Hippocratic temperaments as a reference point:
| Element | Temperament | Quality | Defects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Choleric | activity, enthusiasm, fervour, determination, courage, productivity | greed, jealousy, passion, irritability, intemperance, tendency to destruction, hatred, vindictiveness, irascibility, anger, arrogance, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. |
| Air | Sanguine | insight, diligence, joy, skill, kindness, clarity, lack of affliction, contentment, optimism, fervour, independence, familiarity | persistent feeling of being slighted, contempt, tendency to gossip, lack of resistance, cunning, loquacity, dishonesty, fickleness, frivolity, presumption, floundering, squandering, and lack of balance. |
| Earth | Melancholic | respectability, reputation, autonomy, thoughtfulness, decisiveness, firmness, seriousness, scrupulousness, precision, concentration, sobriety, punctuality, confidentiality, objectivity, infallibility, responsibility, reliability, circumspection, resistance, self-conviction | insipidity, unscrupulousness, misanthropy, gloominess, tardiness, laziness, unreliability, laconicism, indolence, recklessness, melancholy, irregularity, apathy, loss of empathy, heaviness, depression. |
| Water | Phlegmatic | modesty, compassion, devotion, seriousness, docility, fervour, cordiality, understanding, meditation, calm, confidence, forgiveness, tenderness | indifference, depression, apathy, passivity, low vitality, shyness, laziness, frigidity, conformism, negligence, insolence, instability, and a tendency to live in the past. |
The mental body, the focus of the practices in this Step, operates through the four Elements in their subtle form. In the human realm, it is associated with consciousness—the ability to derive meaning from the forms and events in our experiences. It is the mental body that activates the perceptive mechanism, which then manifests as emotions in the astral body and as physical sensations in the physical body.
The Fire region of the mental body is related to willpower, enhancing our awareness of the objects we perceive and their essential meanings. The Air region represents intellect and ideas, closely connected to these meanings. The Water region evokes emotions that are then processed by the astral body, while the Earth region reflects the physical sensations that are later experienced by the physical body.
It’s important to note that describing three distinct bodies is somewhat of a “didactic” simplification. The process is more accurately seen as a continuum from subtle experiences to material density, with no clear boundary among these three states of being.
The mental exercises of the Sixth Level aim to “break down” the normal waking experience, where physical awareness is prevalent, to become aware of the functions related to the four Elements in the mental sphere, and of how it is consciousness that creates and guides the relationship between the physical, astral, and mental bodies.
- Bardon connects the Earth principle to the entire human body, as it symbolises the cohesive power that supports the body’s structure. For practical reasons, however, the Earth is specifically associated with the lower limbs due to their role in stabilising and supporting the body. ↩︎
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