This series covers events from 01/10/1982 - 03/21/1982

This series of classes on the Kalachakra Tantra presents an extraordinary synthesis of Tibetan Buddhist teachings with Western philosophical, alchemical, and astrological traditions.

The first several classes in this series examine the Kalachakra teachings on the development of the subtle structure of the human body as it develops from conception to birth. This structure includes the subtle channels (nadis) and chakras, the vital winds (pranas) that move through the channels, and the subtle drops (bindus) that reside in the body that are associated with different levels of consciousness (waking, dream, sleep, and pristine awareness) and is composed of the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth). The process of forming the subtle and gross bodies is presided over by the mind that is taking birth, referred to as “Bodhicitta” (seed of enlightenment).

The series reaches its high point in the class on February 12, 1982. Using the symbolism of the metaphysical chart developed in previous classes, Damiani says he wants to find all the prior principles of the chart manifested in the last house, the 12th house. Here we find our universe, with three levels: the inerratic sphere, the planetary spheres, and the sublunary elements. Each of these, in turn, is threefold: causal, subtle, and gross. For example, the gross level of the planetary spheres is the planetary bodies; the subtle level, their vitality or motion; and the causal level, living images or formulas for how the Ideas are going to be embodied. The Western alchemists refer to these three levels as salt, sulfur, and mercury, respectively.

Next Damiani compares this framework to the three divisions of the Kalachakra Tantra: inner, outer, and alternative. The inner Kalachakra refers to the body and the elements making up the body. The outer Kalachakra refers to the planetary spheres. The alternative Kalachakra is the mandala of deities, which Damiani likens to the 360° of the zodiac. Damiani remarks that unlike in Plotinus’s conception, in which the soul in the Nous emanates a light that descends into the realm of Nature, the Kalachakra and Western alchemists start with this light (Bodhicitta) as already embodied in the elements of the Earth, and it must work its way up from there.

Alchemists speak about developing the quintessential body. Damiani understands this to refer to the meanings we distill from experience. The light emanated from the soul develops these qualities so that it can reflect the qualities of its immortal twin (the soul in the Nous).

Next Damiani considers the three unions, or conjunctions, of Western alchemy. The first is the unio mentalis, where love (Eros) and psyche are united. You temporarily separate from the physical body and feel that you are purely a mental being and experience tremendous love and aspiration. This then has to be brought into the body, which means that you must apply rationality to every situation. This is the second conjunction, the conjunction of soul and spirit with body. Finally, the third conjunction is when the person is united with the unus mundus, the world as prefigured in the inerratic sphere.

But in all of this, Damiani asks, where is the soul? It’s not the outer, inner, or alternative Kalachakra. Rather, soul uses these as vehicles in its quest to become a mirror that reflects the qualities of its immortal twin. First it has to evolve the man of light, and then it can begin to develop the radiant body, or the augoeides. The man of light takes you to the mental level and connects you to the outer Kalachakra, but from there you must develop the radiant body, which will return you to the star from which you came. This is the meaning of the alternative Kalachakra. The radiant body itself is made up of the reason-principles that are prior to their instantiation in the primal image. Damiani views the process as progressing from the waking consciousness of the Mercury in Pisces (Body), to the subtle, taijasa consciousness of the man of light, Mercury in Pisces (Nature), to the causal, prajna consciousness of the celestial augoeides, Venus in Pisces (Intellect).

The final classes in this series explore possible correlations between the development of the quintessential and radiant bodies and the development of the impure and pure maya bodies of Tibetan Buddhist tantra, and the connections between the four states of consciousness and the structure of the subtle body in terms of channels, chakras, winds, and drops.

Classes and documents available in this series