This divine state in which the creator recognizes himself may also be
expressed symbolically by numbers:
"God in his state of resting within himself is 1 in 3 and 3 in 1. 1
and 3 are still an unseparated unity.
"In the field of geometry, the form of the equilateral triangle is
the symbolic image of God in which the recognizer, the recognized and the
recognition are one and the same: 1 in 3 and 3 in 1.
'Every form is the manifestation of the force that has built it. Thus every
form is the image of the creative force that builds it and dwells within
it. Divinity in its primordial state of resting within Itself always manifests
itself in the form of a triangle. The triangle represents perfect harmony
and perfect equilibrium as its three corner points all lie exactly the same
distance from each other. On the other hand, when the aspect of God to which
we refer as "resting within itself moves out of the dimensionless state,
beyond time and space and into the three dimensions, it becomes the creative
aspect of God and always manifests itself in the number 4. As long as the
numbers 1 and 3 form a unity in divinity, they remain 3 in 1 and 1 in 3.
But when they emerge from the divine condition of unity, they separate,
and out of the "1 in 3" there emerges "1 and 3", and
that makes 4. The equilateral triangle contains, hidden within itself, 4
smaller equilateral triangles.
'This law also contains the secret of the key number of the three-dimensional
world: the number 7.
'Now try to imagine how the first energy of manifestation emerges out of
the dimensionless state into the three dimensions. Close your eyes and I'll
project this truth into your consciousness.'
I do as Ptahhotep tells me, closing my eyes and turning my attention inward.
All of a sudden I see a point, and I hear Ptahhotep's voice:
'In order for a force to emerge from the dimensionless state and manifest
itself, it needs a point of departure. A point is dimensionless, has not
yet emerged from unity, but is necessary for manifestation. Because a point
consists of only one single factor, it bears within itself the number of
unity, the number 1.
'When the force whose first manifestation was a point emerges from the dimensionless
state and is effective for a period of time, the point moves and forms a
line.'
With my inward eye I see how the point gradually becomes a line and I hear
Ptahhotep's voice.
'The first dimension, length, is born. In its essence, the line is endless
and thus, as a first manifestation, also represents the number 1. But in
the world of manifestations, the world where everything always has a beginning
and an end, a line is always bound to involve three factors, its starting
point, its end point and the intervening space between the two. Thus the
line represents the number 3, the key number for the one-dimensional world.
"Now you must have noticed that there no possibility of manifesting
or of finding the number 2 in a unity. As a matter of fact after the first
manifestation of the point, which represents only 1 single factor, we immediately
jumped to three factors - without the number 2. When a point moves, no matter
how little, to form even the tiniest, shortest line, we're already dealing
with the 3 factors not 2. A line in infinity of course, represents the number
1; but when it has a beginning and an end, it automatically represents the
number 3.
'In order for the number 2 to arise, there has to be a splitting of unity.
The number 2 can only be born when two units are set beside each other.
But inasmuch as nothing has any real existence outside unity, unity must
project a reflection outside itself. Thus there arises a fission, a separation,
which means the death of unity. That's why the word for "doubt"
- which represents a kind of cleavage within one's mind and soul - is so
closely related to the word for 2. This is true in every language.
'Let us now watch how the second dimension arises from the first. A line
consists of a series of points. Assuming the creative energy is active in
each of these points with the same force and for the same period of time,
each of these points moves outward from itself into the second dimension;
each of them becomes a line, and out of the totality of these lines a plane
is created: An equilateral rectangle.
'The second dimension - width - is born.
'The rectangle is four in one and one in four and thus consists of five
factors: the four manifested lines: Line of departure, terminal line, right
and left lateral lines, and the fifth factor: the non-manifested area enclosed
by these lines. And so the key number of the two dimensional world is the
number five.
'But creative forces continue to work. The plane also consists of points,
and if the same force works outward from each of these points in the same
direction and for the same period of time, all these points move into the
third dimension, and a cube has been created from the plane.
'The third dimension is born - height.
'The cube is six in one and one in six and it consists of seven factors:
the six manifested limiting planes and the seventh, unmanifested factor,
its cubic contents. The key number of the three-dimensional world is the
number seven.
'As you see, the basic form of matter is the cube. The various crystals
are built in conformity with this law, and in them you can find either the
cubic shape itself - as in the case of salt for example - or the basic elements
of the cube in various aspects and variations. If we now investigate the
characteristics of the cube, you will also understand the laws of the variants.
'Starting from one of the corner points of the cube, try to find a plane
in which all three dimensions of the cube are contained. If you merely cut
straight through, you get a plane containing only two dimensions of the
cube. In order to find a plane containing all three, we must begin at one
corner and cut through obliquely to the opposite corner points. Thus one
corner of the cube is cut off.
'If we continue in the same manner, we cut off all four corners of the cube,
and what's left is a very different shape: a tetrahedron., the faces of
which are bounded by four equilateral triangles.
'So now you see that hidden within the cube is a shape with quite different
laws, for the shape consists, not of rectangles, but of four triangles.
If we were to flatten out these four triangles into a plane, they would
form a single, equilateral triangle, the symbolic representation of God.
'Just like the equilateral triangle which makes up its mantle, the tetrahedron
is the very incarnation of harmony and equilibrium. Since each of its corner
points is equally distant from each of the others, there is no strain or
tension in a tetrahedron, but rather a condition of rest in equilibrium.
By way of contrast, the corner points of the cube, just like those of the
square, lie at different distances from each other, and this means that
both in the square and the cube there is a condition of everlasting stress.
The matter in our three-dimensional world is built up in cubic form, but
hidden within itself it contains the form of the tetrahedron based on divine
equilibrium. Matter cannot exist without the divine content.
'The whole three-dimensional world is built up on this same law, quite irrespective
of whether the form concerned is considered to be inanimate matter or a
living creature. Whether a given form is that of a plant, an animal or a
human, the body of each of these is subject to the laws of the three dimensional
world. Hidden and invisible within this body, however, is the higher, divine
self - life -eternal being! Only man is able to manifest his higher self
- that is God - through his thoughts, words and deeds, when he identifies
his consciousness, not with his body, but with its spiritual content, with
its self. As long as a person identifies himself only with his body, he
is like an opaque cube in that he reveals only the characteristics of matter,
crowding the divine creative principle into a latent, unmanifested state.
No one suspects that the tetrahedron - the divine self - so different from
the outward cubic shape, is dwelling within!
'On the other hand a person who uses his body, his thoughts, words and deeds
only to manifest the divine creative principle, while leaving the characteristics
of his physical existence - his person - in the unmanifested state - such
a person, to continue using the same figure of speech, is like a cut cube
whose corners and inner content are turned outward so that its inner triangles
- the equilateral triangles of the divine tetrahedron - are visible.
'Such a person uses the material, square shape only as a secure base in
the three-dimensional world, allowing his weight to rest on this base.
"But the shape of the cut cube turned inside out is the pyramid.
Thus we see the pyramid is the symbolic form of the God-man, who reveals
his divine, selfless nature and completely manifests God on earth. The salvation
of the earth, the spiritualization of matter is completed in the person
of the God-man. The divine self - the creator - is seated in complete majesty
on its throne and rules over matter, over the body.
'By way of contrast, the symbolic representation of materialistic man
who uses his intellect for the service of his material being is the cross
- or a "T" - formed out of the four squares making up the surface
of the cube. On this cross, or "T" the secret, indwelling, divine
self is crucified.
'In such persons, divinity is robbed of its power. It cannot manifest
itself and is subject to the laws of the material world. It is crucified
on the two great beams of the three-dimensional world - on time and space
- and dies on this cross of matter. Its death, however, is not final! Even
in the consciousness that has sunk down to the lowest level, the divine
creative self sometime undergoes resurrection and saves the suffering human
being. Materialistic man, in his ignorance through crucifying his own higher
self - God within himself - creates ceaseless tortures and sufferings for
himself, he becomes the criminal who is also crucified beside the divine
one. The pains awaken him; his higher consciousness is aroused, and with
the resurrection of his divine self, he experiences his own salvation because
he recognizes himself in him!
'The members of the divine race who fled to the far corners of the earth
carried these symbols with them wherever they went, proclaiming to humanity
the secret, hidden truth within them. In every part of the earth people
will find these symbols in stone, in metal, or baked clay, in various sizes,
large or small. Most people will believe that they represent a person who
has been crucified, and only a few will recognize that the representation
symbolizes the divine creative principle crucified on the two beams of time
and space.
'The pyramids will continue to stand for thousands of years, proclaiming
to humanity the highest truths which have been built into them. People with
eyes and ears will find and recognize these elements of truth, even though
they may not be able to fathom all the mathematical and astronomical laws
of the pyramids, and some few highly developed persons will even be able
to attain the truth proclaimed. On the other hand, for primitive minds the
pyramid will always be a puzzle - just like the Sphinx -until they reach
the point of being able to solve their own puzzle.
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