THE WEB OF LIFE

by John Davidson

PART 6a - Akash: A Matter of Creation

This series of articles is derived from the authors book,

The Web of Life (publ. C.W. Daniel, 1988)

John Davidson is the author of a series of six books on

Science and Mysticism which look at the natural world from a mystical perspective.

The author is a Cambridge science graduate with a

life-long interest in mysticism.
8 Copyright 1988, 2015
John Davidson
www.johndavidson.org

Akash, Vacuum, the Brain and Modern Physics

While modern science recognizes the gross, outer forms of the four tattwas, it is only recently
that the gross aspect of akash has been 'discovered'. In fact, it has even been contained within
mathematical and conceptual formulation. In general and brief terms, the gross form of akash is
the all-pervasive vacuum, within and from which all subatomic particles and the fundamental
forces of nature come into being.
Contrary to previous scientific thinking, vacuum is not 'nothing with dimensions', but is actually
a balance point of ultra-high potential energy, infolded and locked-in to itself. It contains waves,
oscillations, vibrations and polarity as with any other energy manifestation, but because we
have no gross physical sense organ with which to detect it, it appears to us to be 'nothing' or
vacuum.
There are, of course, many energies already known to science for which we have no perceptual
organ. This includes most of the electromagnetic spectrum of radio waves, X-rays and so on.
These vacuum waves and polarities, then, in respect of their outward manifestation, mostly sum
to zero and hence we cannot observe even their effects. In places, however, the vacuum energy
forms a spining vortex which, by causing stresses within the 'fabric' of the vacuum energy
patterns, manifests the properties of mass, solidity and gravitation, electrical charge, and so
on. Such a vortex is a subatomic particle - the 'fundamental building blocks' of our physical
world.
All particles and forces are thus the interplay of a supremely organized pattern, spinning
bubbles and blips upon the surface of vacuum, the ultimate driving force for this play of energy
patterns being the Shabda, the mystic sound, the Creative Word of the Supreme.

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The gross form of akash, then, is the vacuum state. In fact, in mystic cosmologies we frequently
encounter descriptions of these 'skies' within. The inner 'sky' of the body, for example, is
comprised of the subtle form of akash. And it is this energy of akash that gives us our
intelligence, with the brain thus being perceivable as a physical integrator of subtle energy
activity, with pathways leading both from without-in, as well as from within-out. For the
outflow must be balanced by an inflow to complete the circuit of creation.
In fact, I believe that with the emergence of a vacuum state understanding and technology, the
brain will come to be viewed in a totally different functional capacity. Just as the advent of
present computer technology was immediately applied to brain function as the most advanced
concept we could imagine at that time, so too will an understanding of how energies come into
being out of energies deeper within themselves - to begin with, out of the vacuum state - give
us a far deeper model and visualization of brain activity and, indeed, all bodily activity. We
could therefore think of the brain as a Vacuum State Computer.
For it seems quite clear that if nature had really intended our neurological system to be built like
an enlarged domestic wiring system, we would in fact have been endowed with a system of
straight-wire conductors.
Relating this thinking to our theme, in the higher astral and causal regions, we again find these
skies, also spoken of as akash, which can sometimes cause confusion to a reader. But the inner
skies are simply higher and more inward harmonics of the same kind of balance point or
condition out of which the lower vibration is created. In just the same way, the first essence of
the five tattwas is found in the causal region of the Universal Mind, where time also first arises.

Tattwas, Consciousness and Vegetarianism

What distinguishes man from all the other species is that in him alone are all the five tattwas
active. Animals, for example, have only four active tattwas, akash being absent, while birds
have three, insects - two, and plants only one - that of water. Fire being absent from plants,
leaves only them with the inability to get up and move about!
Now, the degree of consciousness of a soul when incarnate in a physical body is according to
the number of tattwas active in its physical vehicle of expression. And man, with all five tattwas
actively present, is the only species able to perform the highest function of consciousness,
namely meditation, leading to self and God realization.
It is for these tattvic and allied karmic reasons too, that the highest spiritual paths insist on their
practitioners being fully vegetarian. The less the number of active elements, then the less is the
consciousness of the soul in that particular body. The lower the consciousness, then the less
suffering is endured by that creature when its life is taken for the purpose of food. All suffering
for which we are responsible, whether directly or indirectly, is due for later repayment through
the operations of the law of karma, cause and effect. And since the purpose of higher forms of
meditation and yoga is to clear the karmic debris of past lives which encumber the soul in its
search for light, practitioners are therefore advised to feed only on life taken from the vegetable
kingdom. Here, the suffering and karmic burden borne is likened to that of a light shirt rather
than a weight of lead. The vegetarian diet also is becoming increasingly accepted as a far
healthier diet, and good health is also a great help in meditation, too.

The Akash Tattwa, the Throat Chakra and the Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands
The subtle aspect of the akash tattwa, is administered at the vishuddha (pure) chakra, also
called the kanth or throat chakra. This centre has sixteen petals and is said to be of a smokey,
dark blue-purple colour. Being the controller or mini-creator of the other chakras, we would

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expect to find a reflection of this status in the overall control of the body's physiological
processes. And this indeed is the case.
The endocrine glands of the neck are the thyroid and parathyroids, with their management
function of general metabolic controllers, in particular those aspects which our medicine has
called the Basal Metabolic Rate.
Thus, the parathyroids are known to control the levels of body calcium through the medium of
the parathyroid hormone (PTH). This might, at first sight, be thought of as an earthy and
non-general hormone to be emanating from the chakra associated with the akash tattwa. But the
role of calcium in blood-clotting, nerve signal transmission, muscle cell contraction, cell
membrane function, endocrine and exocrine cellular secretions and mediation of the action of
other peptide hormones at their target sites leaves us with a clear impression of a mechanism
which is highly integrated with all body metabolism. Just what we would expect to find from
akashic reflections at the biochemical level.
Similarly, although it used to be said in endocrinology that there is no direct functional
correlation between the parathyroid and the thyroid gland, the role of both these endocrine
glands is clearly one of overall metabolic control. Functionally, they cannot be considered as
separate entities. In fact, these days, with the role of the thyroid hormone, calcitonin,
established as providing a directly opposing effect on calcium balance to that of PTH, we once
again find a paired toning of polarities within one endocrine complex, emanating from one
centre. My guess is that as endocrine research proceeds, the further interrelationship in function
between these two glands and their secreted substances will become more fully understood.
And that the parathyroid role of maintaining calcium balance will be seen in a wider context, in
which calcium metabolism is just one aspect of general functional administration.
Akash is the vacuum state of locked-in, energy potential. It is from this point that all the
subatomic particles that comprise the other four gross tattwas dance into being. Control of
akash, therefore, gives you control over all else, below.
So while the thyroid hormones have been known about for perhaps the longest period,
historically, the complexity of their workings is one of the least understood. Even the medical
textbooks admit their lack of knowledge of real mechanisms, because almost everything seems
to be involved. And with vacuum being the substrate for gross physical reality, this is exactly as
one would suppose.
The thyroid and parathyroid hormones, therefore, would appear to be molecules that represent
the ability to shake up the three dimensional sheet of vacuum and all its subatomic patternings.
Remember our illustration of the molecule as a vibrant energy dance, spun out of the akashic
state, an effect upon the vacuum surface. Seen in this light, metabolism becomes the speed and
complexity of this integrated and inwardly patterned dance. And control of overall function lies
within the akash, with its close harmonics and tightly tied-in waveforms and patternings,
appearing to us at the subatomic and molecular level of biochemical and bioelectrical activity.

Akash and Discrimination

As we discused earlier, akash is the element that gives us conscious reason and also the ability
to meditate, to reach up within our consciousness to higher realms of vibration, experiencing
reality from within. The integration into our conscious beings of the energy crossroads of this
akashic tattwa provides us with an intelligence not possessed by the lower species.
Enlivened by its activity, the indriya of hearing is its subtle sense and the ear is its outward
sense organ. The direct motor analogue of hearing is speech, with its activity in the mouth and
throat, the centre of akashic administration. With akash playing such a vital role in the human

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constitution, its role is a frequent theme, which we will be returning to in the remaining
chapters of this book.
The degree of akashic activity in an individual gives us our discriminative faculty, something
distinct from the airy intellect of the conceptual man. While the conceptual faculty is manifested
as the intellectual idiom known to us westerners, it is actually the good idea and light innovative
touch that is the hallmark of air. Thus the quick-witted Stone Age men or women who figured
out new ways of tool-making, or of stitching garments or of softening and decorating fabrics
and skins, most probably had a good degree of active air in their make-up.
Akash is present throughout, and the airy nature may be as lacking in its manifestation as earth.
Discrimination is obscured by the play of the mind through the medium of the senses, as the
individual indulges and besports himself, playing amongst the tattvic energy realms. It is akash
that gives us our sense of inner ethics and true morality. It defines for our inner, intuitive selves,
the boundaries of correct and incorrect living, of truthfulness and dishonesty. Its manifestation
is sharpened by meditation, and our conduct of life is heightened thereby.
Amongst the siddhis or miraculous powers that come to yogis and practitioners of mystic
spirituality - and which they are cautioned not to use - the power of everything said turning out
to be true is the siddhi associated with the kanth or throat chakra. Deep inner honesty, with
far-sighted wisdom and comprehension are the qualities of akash in its highest manifestation,
providing a vision of patterns and events as they are going to be. Speech is the immediate
manifestation of such discriminative intuition and with such impeccable honesty within him, the
power of the words of such a one are considerable. They both reflect the inner truth and turn
out to be true.
Just as you or I may see a ball falling and with a knowledge based upon past experience be able
in essence to predict the future and to know that it will hit the ground, similarly the one whose
wisdom and akash are awakened can see the obvious outcome of events which to others of us
are obscured by the constant activity of our lower natures.

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