From my research, the term coherence is not used as a proper name in any of our fields of study.  In transpersonal psychology and philosophy there is a "coherence concept of truth."  This concept of truth states if one proposition coheres (is connected naturally and consistently) with a group of propositions that are proved or accepted as truth, then this proposition is also truth without proof.  All true statements must cohere.  Coherence is used not for objective, but subjective validation.  Subjective coherence allows subjective statements or propositions to become accepted as fact or reality.

Coherence is also equated with hermeneutic and phenomenological.  The term hermeneutic refers to "resonate with internal depth," and the "art and science of interpretation."  Phenomenology is the study of phenomena.  Phenomena is simply defined as "to appear." Synonyms for phenomenon are "occurrence" and "preceding visible fact." So Coherence can also be defined as the internal appearance of phenomena preceding visible fact which are accepted as reality.  Coherence becomes the result of pre-existing reality.

Take a Journey through our 
Spirit/Matter Universe

Our Subjective Origins

by Jef Bartow

Of the last six months I have been describing the structure and composition of outer Subjectivity, including the Realms of our nightly sleep and dreaming, the home of our soul, the Realms of spiritual Beings and the origins of our own consciousness and God Within. The first or highest subjective Realm within our systemic universe as I define is Coherence. 

Simply, the first Realm of Coherence and the first Plane of Spirit are where the higher cosmic Energies, Forces and Consciousness connect into our remote "physical" environment. Cosmic Will and Cosmic Love, with Cosmic Intelligence, interrelate to create or unfold the entirety of our systemic Planes and Realms. Understanding the term coherence, which I define as the Energy component of this Realm will help explain how this process works. 

Webster's Dictionary defines cohere as: "to stick together; to be connected naturally."  Coherence is the consistently integrated connective-ness of something.  Synonyms include coalesce, congeal and coagulate.  To coalesce is to "unite into a single mass" while congeal is to "solidify into a single mass."  Finally, to coagulate is to "cause a liquid to become a soft solid mass."

I choose the term coherence to label this Realm of Subjectivity because it is exactly what happens symbolically in unfolding this cosmic physical sub-realm.  Cosmic Will and Cosmic Love creatively coalesce, congeal and coagulate this Realm of Coherence.  Cosmic Will unfolds its Purpose and 12 Characteristics of SPIRIT while Cosmic Love unfolds Consciousness and the Rays. Simplistically, the trinity of Consciousness, Rays and the 12 Characteristics of SPIRIT cohere and coalesce based on cosmic Purpose.


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In our trinity of Energy, Form and Consciousness, Coherence is the Energy component.  This energy or process produces the appearance of life and the solidification of energies into Form.  This Coherence is the "sticking together" or glue of cosmic Love as it unfolds within systemic life.  This sticking together characteristic of Coherence unfolds as the glue of Love and the affinity of Harmony discussed in Objectivity.

Rays

The Form expression within this 1st Realm of Coherence is the Rays.  Webster's defines ray as "any of several lines radiating from a center; a beam of radiant energy; stream of particles; a disclosure of spiritual enlightenment."  

I was pleasantly surprised that Lao Tzu refers to Rays.  In Hua Hu Ching's The Later Teachings of Lao Tzu, he makes reference to rays as follows:

"All rays and spirits come from the subtle nature of the universe, and single energy rays and groups of rays relate with and influence everything in their environment.  Although these rays never take concrete form, they always exist in the subtle sphere."  (pg. 94)

This poignant insight from Lao Tzu hits the mark perfectly.  Rays do influence everything in their environment, in this case our solar system.  They do originate in the subtle sphere, the Subjective.  They do not take concrete form as such, but do influence and qualify all forms and substance, whether objective or subjective.

The Rays at this level are the physical arteries and veins of our cosmic Being (Solar Logos) and extend throughout the Cosmic Physical Realm (our subjective systemic universe) and the myriad of lives which make up solar life.  As the second aspect of Cosmic Love, the Rays unfold or embody the Love of our cosmic Being in 12 streams coherently interrelated for systemic expression.  These 12 energy streams actively express Coherence from the Realm of Coherence.

Somewhat confusing, this simultaneous Form and energy aspect of the Rays is similar to the oftentimes confusing principal that the Spirit of our universe is also seen as Matter from a larger perspective.  From one perspective, think of the Rays as the life blood and arteries which channel energy in active circulation to sustain Life within our universe.

The Tibetan makes many references to Rays throughout the books he dictated through Alice Bailey.  Simply, he defines Rays as the "energy in substance originating out of mind or Spirit."  In our case, this is the mind of our cosmic Being (or from Cosmic Intelligence).  These energies become channels by which the intent and purpose of cosmic and inter-cosmic Beings are communicated throughout our solar system, including all life.
nce (NDE). 
Most readers of metaphysics and Eastern mysticism are acquainted with the term “prana.”  As blood is to the dense physical body, prana is the life energy of the etheric double which surrounds and vitalizes our physicality.  Without the etheric double vitalizing the dense physical body, we die.  So, think of prana as the lifeblood energy of all physical life, though not visible.

The Rays are the cosmic Prana vitalizing all life within our systemic Planes and Realms.  They are creative in nature just as sex energy is creative in nature.  They are the positive aspect in manifestation, just as matter is the negative aspect in manifestation.   As all physical life on earth is vitalized from the rays from the Sun, our energy source, our entire solar continuum of Spirit/Matter is vitalized from the Rays emanating from our cosmic source, the Spiritual Sun.

Consciousness

Consciousness is the Consciousness, or result Son Aspect within the Trinity (Father, Mother, Son) of the First Realm of Coherence. Symbolically, Coherence and Rays produced Consciousness. This level of Consciousness is not the same as cosmic Consciousness extended from the heart of our cosmic Being, just as our physical body consciousness is not the same as our conscious center within our Personality. 

Consciousness may seem easy to describe, but it is difficult to define. So let’s see how various perspectives define consciousness. According to Webster's, conscious is defined as "aware; cognizant; aware of oneself as a thinking being; attaching importance to." Synonyms are sentient and cognizant. Sentient is defined as "capable of perception," while cognizant is "having perception."

From science, Amit Goswami defines consciousness as "to know with." Conscious experience is the state of being aware. Fred Alan Wolf conclude that consciousness is a "field" in the implicate order (inner source of our external world." 

Dana Zohar defines consciousness as the general capacity for awareness and purposive response. Its essential feature is the "unity of conscious experience." As a "spotlight of focused attention," consciousness demonstrates the characteristic of "unbroken wholeness." The wholeness of consciousness is like a Bose-Einstein condensate which is "that the many parts that go to make up an ordered system not only behave as a whole, they become a whole." Interestingly, she concludes that "any structure, biological or otherwise, that contained a Bose-Einstein condensate might possess the capacity for consciousness."

Within Eastern mysticism, Buddhism defines consciousness as the fifth Aggregate, which is also the sum total of all the Aggregates. Buddhism also uses awareness and reaction or response as a definition of this consciousness. In Western mysticism, Pierre Chardin defines consciousness as "to indicate every kind of psychism, from the most rudimentary forms of interior perception imaginable to the human phenomenon of reflective thought."

Metaphysically, H. W. Percival simply defines consciousness as the Presence in all things. Presence is a condition of being present, or existence. The Tibetan equates consciousness with "state of awareness and matter" and "responsive sentiency." The interaction of the pairs of opposites produces the various types of conscious reaction to experience which "we call consciousness." The triplicity of life-quality-form results in Consciousness. "We are lives, making appearance, expressing quality and slowly becoming aware of the process and the objective, as our consciousness becomes more like that of Divinity Itself." 

From the variety of definitions and descriptions of consciousness I have encountered, I conclude that consciousness is the developing awareness produced from the inner-relatedness of manifested dualities and the myriad expressions produced from these dualities. Consciousness is the responsive perception to the movement (activity) within manifested Spirit/Matter. Highly interrelated with the energy of Spirit/Matter, is a ground basis for all of Existence. As developing awareness, consciousness exists in levels and stages similar to the evolution of Spirit/Matter. 

As to the Consciousness that unfolds from or embodies the first Realm of Coherence, it is the center of physical consciousness of our Cosmic Being who is utilizing the Cosmic Physical Planes and Realms as part of the manifestation of its Personality. This center of consciousness is the subjective origin of all consciousness within our systemic universe, just as the Energy/Process of Coherence is the subjective origin of all energy and forces within our subjective universe and the Rays are the subjective origin of all systems and form within our universe.