The Living Being

In Martinus's cosmology, a living being is an entity in which three inseparable principles are united: an eternal self or “I” (X1), a creative and experiential ability (X2), and matter or substance (X3), manifested through the bodies and organism used for creation. ^[1] ^[2] Martinus applies the term to microcosmic and macrocosmic forms of life. Cells and smaller particles are cited in this macrocosmic argument as living beings within organisms. ^[3] Globes, solar systems and Milky Ways are presented as macrocosmic living beings. ^[4]

The expression “living being” therefore refers not only to the familiar physical body. It denotes the unity formed when the I, its creative and experiential ability, and matter are considered together. The I itself is not identical with any particular person, animal, plant or other manifestation. ^[5]

The three principles

Martinus describes the I as an invisible, nameless “Something” revealed through its activity in matter. The creative and experiential ability is the consciousness through which the being creates and experiences, while matter or the organism is the medium and manifestation of that activity. The three principles are not independent things; together they constitute one living being. ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]

The I and matter are mutually dependent in manifestation: without the I, matter would remain unmanifested, while the I is revealed through movement and creative processes in matter. When this movement is logically organised and purposeful, it reveals the third principle, consciousness or the ability to create and experience. ^[9] X1, X2 and X3 are consequently not three separate entities, but three analyses of one and the same living entity. ^[10]

The eternal I and the physical body

According to Martinus, the I has neither beginning nor end because it is not itself a created thing. Its creative ability is likewise an eternal principle, whereas each particular creation in matter is temporary. Thus the living being’s threefold principle is not mortal in the same way as the creations it produces. ^[11]

Physical death is accordingly not a separation of the I from its entire organism. It is the separation of the I from its physical body, which Martinus describes as one of several bodies or instruments. The physical body ceases to function, while the I continues as an experiencing and creating being through its other bodies. ^[12] Martinus connects the alternating physical and spiritual existence of terrestrial human beings with Reincarnation. ^[13]

Martinus describes the physical body as a tool for sensing and creating in physical matter. Its use brings wear and tear, and it eventually becomes unusable. The I’s other bodies provide other forms of manifestation, so the loss of the physical body is a change in the form of experience rather than the end of the living being. ^[14]

Living beings within living beings

In Martinus’s cosmic analysis, the organism is the bodily structure through which a living being manifests and creates conditions of life for microbeings within it. Its organs are likewise living units that serve the larger organism, and the living being can itself be a microbeing in a larger organism. ^[15] ^[16] ^[17] This relation between living being, organism and organ is also developed in The Eternal World Picture.

He presents the universe as the largest living being with which we are in contact. Within it are the Earth, the solar system, and the Milky Way, each understood as a living being and, at the same time, as an organ in a larger organism. Beyond the Milky Way, Martinus refers to still larger systems. ^[18] In this analysis, the Earth functions as an organ in the solar system; the solar system functions as an organ in the Milky Way, and the Milky Way in a still larger system. ^[19]

This hierarchy means that the same being can be viewed from two directions: as a macrobeing for the smaller beings within its organism, and as a microbeing or organ within a larger organism. The smaller beings are essential to the existence of the organism in which they live, while the larger organism provides their world and conditions of existence. ^[20]

Martinus presents this as the principle of “beings within beings”. The triangle in his description of the symbol represents the triune principle of each living being, while the nested triangles express the way living beings are incorporated into larger organisms. ^[21]

Matter and spirit

In Martinus’s own cosmic analysis, “spirit” and matter are identical in their deepest analysis. In this terminology, spirit is consciousness: organised movement or planned creation is an attribute of a living being expressing consciousness, and Martinus consequently describes “God's spirit” as God’s consciousness present in all matter. ^[22]

This is a consequence of the triune analysis: matter cannot exist independently of a living being’s organised movement and consciousness. Matter, consciousness and the I are thus different aspects of the same inseparable living reality. ^[23] ^[24]

The universe as the Godhead

Martinus applies the same threefold analysis to the universe as a whole. The universe is described as one comprehensive unity corresponding to X1, X2 and X3, and therefore as “one single great living being”. Because this being comprises the whole universe, Martinus identifies it with the “absolute and only true Godhead of existence” (Godhead). Other living beings are described as units within this total organism, or as “sons of God”. ^[25]

This relationship is expressed in the statement, “In Him we live and move and have our being”, while through living beings the Godhead also lives and moves. ^[26] The individual being is therefore part of the universal organism and participates in an ongoing interaction with it.

Development and cosmic consciousness

The I remains eternal while its created instruments and manifestations change. For the living being, this change includes an evolutionary development towards permanent Cosmic consciousness, in which it overcomes the last remains of animal nature. With permanent cosmic consciousness, the being experiences the entire mental, spiritual or cosmic world in awake day-consciousness, becomes spiritually sovereign and experiences the Godhead. ^[27]

In this condition the being lives in conscious coexistence with the Godhead and is in harmony with its consciousness. Martinus presents completely evolved beings as attaining total spiritual sovereignty and unity with the Godhead. ^[28]

References

[1] Livets Bog 2, section 314

[2] Livets Bog 2, section 319

[3] Livets Bog 1, section 58

[4] Livets Bog 1, section 54

[5] Livets Bog 2, section 314

[6] Livets Bog 2, section 314

[7] Livets Bog 2, section 318

[8] Livets Bog 2, section 319

[9] Livets Bog 2, section 314

[10] Livets Bog 2, section 318

[11] Livets Bog 2, section 315

[12] Livets Bog 2, section 319

[13] Livets Bog 4, section 1367

[14] Livets Bog 2, section 319

[15] The Eternal World Picture 1, section 11.20

[16] The Eternal World Picture 1, section 7.5

[17] The Eternal World Picture 3, section 32.12

[18] Livets Bog 1, section 270

[19] The Eternal World Picture 3, section 32.12

[20] The Eternal World Picture 3, section 32.12

[21] The Eternal World Picture 3, section 32.12

[22] Livets Bog 2, section 318

[23] Livets Bog 2, section 314

[24] Livets Bog 2, section 318

[25] Livets Bog 1, section 251

[26] Livets Bog 1, section 251

[27] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.2

[28] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.2

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