Evolution

Introduction

Evolution is the term Martinus uses for the living being's movement through changing forms of life, consciousness and manifestation. He describes the universe as an eternally continuing transformation process that is experienced by living beings as a process of perfecting. The successive stages form what he calls the “road of life”, which all living beings pass through. ^[1]

Martinus' use of the term is therefore broader than biological change alone. It concerns the development of the whole living being: its experience, abilities, organisms, consciousness and relationship to other beings. In this article, “evolution” refers to Martinus' cosmological analysis, not to a summary of modern evolutionary biology. ^[2]

The basic pattern of evolution

Martinus describes evolution as a movement through different forms of life experience. The living being successively experiences the effects of six basic energies. When one form of experience reaches its culmination, another becomes predominant; after the sixth energy, the sequence begins again in a higher and more perfect form. This recurring movement is what he calls evolution. ^[3] ^[4]

The six energies are instinct, gravity, feeling, intelligence, intuition and memory. Martinus presents them as fundamental sources of power for the I, combining in different ways to produce the living being's changing forms of consciousness. ^[5]

Evolution is thus both cyclical and progressive in Martinus' account. The being returns to recurring principles, but not simply to an identical state. Each passage contributes to a continuing development of experience, ability and consciousness. ^[6] ^[7]

The six kingdoms of a spiral

Martinus divides a spiral cycle into six major kingdoms: the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom, the kingdom of wisdom, the divine world and the kingdom of bliss. Each kingdom is associated with the culmination of a particular basic energy and represents a distinct mode of experiencing life. ^[8]

The animal kingdom is described as the zone in which the dark contrast culminates. The divine world is the zone in which the light contrast culminates, while the human and wisdom kingdoms lie between these culminations and are characterised by a growing hunger for light and harmony. Martinus calls the rhythm between these contrasts an eternally continuing “cosmic breathing”. ^[9]

The six kingdoms should not be read simply as a classification of species. They are stages or zones in a cosmic process. For example, the “human kingdom” in its completed sense is distinguished from the unfinished terrestrial human stage, which Martinus places within the animal kingdom's zone of darkness. ^[10]

Evolution and involution

Martinus uses “evolution” and “involution” for complementary movements in the spiral. Evolution is the movement towards increasing outward manifestation and intellectuality, while involution is the corresponding movement towards latency and inwardness. He describes these as alternating forms of growth rather than as absolute creation and destruction. ^[11] ^[12]

After a being has passed through a spiral cycle and reached the culmination of outer life experience, its sensory faculties become increasingly latent. In the kingdom of bliss, experience is primarily connected with memory. ^[13] From there, a renewed desire to sense and create in the outer world leads into a new spiral cycle. ^[14]

In this description, the transition into a new cycle begins with increasingly physical manifestation. The development proceeds through mineral and plant forms, then animal forms, and eventually the human organism, which Martinus describes as the highest physical instrument for experiencing and manifesting life. ^[15]

Experience, talent kernels and reincarnation

Martinus connects evolution with the accumulation of experience. Experiences are accumulated in the body of memory and provide the basis for understanding new experiences; the more experience a being has in a field, the greater its ability to understand and eventually master it. ^[16]

He explains the continuity of this process through the fate element and talent kernels. Repeated ways of acting gradually become automatic abilities. The resulting talent kernels are described as centres in the superconsciousness through which abilities and dispositions can survive the death of one physical organism and contribute to the creation of another. Martinus calls this renewal of physical bodies reincarnation. ^[17]

Present conscious will also has an evolutionary significance in this analysis. Martinus describes repeated manifestations as becoming habits and then independent functions, so that conscious practice can be transformed into lasting ability. ^[18]

The terrestrial human stage

Martinus describes terrestrial humanity as being in a transitional stage between animal existence and the completed human kingdom. Its development is marked by the gradual replacement of instinctive orientation with intelligence and by the accumulation of experience. ^[19]

He presents earthly disharmony, suffering and the struggle for existence as experiences that can awaken a desire for knowledge, harmony and humanitarianism. Suffering is described as an unpleasant form of experience that accumulates in consciousness and can contribute to understanding; this does not mean that suffering is desirable in itself. ^[20] ^[21]

The transformation from animal to human is consequently not described as a single decision. Martinus calls it a gradual growth process. The decisive new capacity is the ability to love one's neighbour as oneself, which he identifies with becoming a moral genius and with a way of being characterised by universal love. ^[22]

From intelligence to intuition and cosmic consciousness

In Martinus' sequence, intelligence energy culminates in the kingdom of wisdom. There, the faculty of analysing and reasoning reaches its highest development. He also describes intuition as a higher intellectual energy that provides access to concentrated ideas concerning life and existence, while intelligence is needed to work out their details. ^[23]

When intuition energy culminates, Martinus calls the corresponding zone the divine world. He associates this stage with cosmic consciousness: a form of awareness in which eternal realities and universal laws become direct experience and existence is perceived from what he calls the Godhead's own viewpoint. ^[24]

The development of cosmic consciousness is connected with the harmony of feeling and intelligence. In the symbol analysis of the spiral, Martinus describes the balance of these energies as allowing intuition to gain a foothold in consciousness. The animal kingdom is presented as the zone in which cosmic consciousness is outside ordinary day-consciousness, while the later stages represent its gradual return and culmination. ^[25]

Evolution as a movement towards love

The direction of evolution in Martinus' account is not merely greater intellectual power. It is the integration of feeling, intelligence and intuition in a way that makes the being a source of benefit to other beings. The completed human kingdom is described as a realm in which beings are a joy and blessing to one another. ^[26]

Martinus therefore connects the movement from animal to human existence with the fulfilment of “Love one another”. He presents neighbourly love as a way of living for the benefit and happiness of one's neighbour, and describes the perfected human being as one who puts the neighbour first rather than the self. ^[27] ^[28]

References

[1] Menneskehedens skæbne, section 1.9 (*)

[2] Menneskehedens skæbne, section 1.9 (*)

[3] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[4] Livets Bog 2, section 326

[5] Livets Bog 2, section 326

[6] Menneskehedens skæbne, section 1.9 (*)

[7] Livets Bog 2, section 326

[8] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[9] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[10] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[11] Livets Bog 2, section 326

[12] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[13] Livets Bog 1, section 260

[14] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[15] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[16] Menneskehedens skæbne, section 1.9 (*)

[17] Livets Bog 2, section 326

[18] Livets Bog 2, section 326

[19] Menneskehedens skæbne, section 1.31 (*)

[20] Kosmisk bevidsthed, section 1.14 (*)

[21] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.15 (*)

[22] The Eternal World Picture 3, section 33.2

[23] Livets Bog 1, section 258

[24] Livets Bog 1, section 175

[25] Livets Bog 3, section 642

[26] The Eternal World Picture 3, section 33.2

[27] Kosmisk bevidsthed, section 2.17 (*)

[28] Kosmisk bevidsthed, section 2.19 (*)

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